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Billboard Music Awards 2015: Taylor Swift Wins Eight Categories

Sonia Pantiss
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Billboard Music Awards 2015: Taylor Swift Wins Eight Categories

Taylor Swift is the big winner of this year’s Billboard Music Awards, winning eight of the 14 categories in which she was nominated.

Among Taylor Swift’s prizes were best female artist, best streaming song for Shake It Off and the ceremony’s top honor, artist of the year.

Sam Smith won best new artist – and accepted his trophy using flash cards after having vocal surgery.

Kanye West was booed as he closed the show with a medley of hits.

Audience members jeered as Kanye West’s sisters-in-law, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, introduced his set; and the booing continued during his performance.

Surrounded by pyrotechnics and largely in the shadows, Kanye West’s delivery on All Day and Black Skinhead was angry and intense. And while some disapproved, other fans could be seen pumping their fists to the tracks.

Photo AP
Photo AP

TV audiences were also left mystified as the first minute of his set was censored by broadcasters ABC – reminiscent of Kanye West’s performance at the Brit Awards earlier this year.

Other artists were more favorably received, with Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea receiving a standing ovation for the first performance of their new song, Pretty Girls.

Simple Minds took to the stage to perform Don’t You Forget About Me, marking the 30th anniversary of teen movie The Breakfast Club, which featured the song in its closing moments.

One Direction came away with two trophies, for best group and best touring artist, dedicating the latter to “our brother Zayn” Malik, who left the band in March.

Taylor Swift opened the show with the premiere of her star-studded new video, Bad Blood – which features the likes of Ellie Goulding, Selena Gomez, Jessica Alba and Cindy Crawford.

The singer, who has successfully transitioned from country artist to pop star, accepted the prize for best album by thanking the fans who “embraced change”.

“I love you so much, more than I will be able to say to you,” Taylor Swift said.

Sam Smith, who is recovering from throat surgery, sent his acceptance message in a special video.

He held up a series of cards, reading: “Thank you Billboard for this incredible honor. Secondly, thank you to my amazing fans. It’s times like this that I realize how lucky I am to have you in my life.

“I can’t wait to get this surgery out of the way so I can sing my ass off for you again.”

Iggy Azalea won top rap song for Fancy, her collaboration with Charli XCX, while John Legend won Top radio song for All Of Me.

Meghan Trainor’s All About That Bass was named top digital song and top Hot 100 song, recognizing its US chart performance.

Coldplay won best rock album for Ghost Stories, while Irish singer Hozier picked up best rock song for Take Me To Church.

In tribute to the late singer Ben E King, rock band Imagine Dragons performed Stand By Me to an audience that included the late singer’s daughters and granddaughters.

Presenter Ludacris also gave a touching tribute to blues star BB King, who died on May 15.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZRaJ_OjFSs

Pitch Perfect 2 Tops US Box Office with $70.3 Million

Sonia Pantiss
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0
Pitch Perfect 2 Tops US Box Office with $70.3 Million

Pitch Perfect 2 has topped the US box office with $70.3 million on its opening weekend.

The comedy sequel earned more in its first weekend than the $65 million that the first installment pulled in over the course of its entire US run in cinemas.

Universal’s Nick Carpou described the musical sequel’s success as “amazing”.Pitch Perfect 2 tops US box office

Directed by actress Elizabeth Banks, Pitch Perfect 2 marks the highest ever opening for a first-time feature film director.

Pitch Perfect 2 sees Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson reprising their original roles, alongside newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, as the fictional a capella singing group The Barden Bellas.

Mad Max: Fury Road racked up $44.4 million after receiving positive reviews when it premiered at Cannes Film Festival last week.

Pitch Perfect 2 cost a modest $29 million to produce, while Mad Max: Fury Road carries a significant $150 million price tag.

North American box office Top 10:

  1. Pitch Perfect 2 – $70.3 million
  2. Mad Max: Fury Road – $44.4 million
  3. Avengers: Age of Ultron – $38.8 million
  4. Hot Pursuit – $5.8 million
  5. Furious 7 – $3.6 million
  6. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 – $3.6 million
  7. The Age of Adaline – $3.2 million
  8. Home – $2.7 million
  9. Ex Machina – $2.1 million
  10. Far from the Madding Crowd – $1.3 million

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqCYlxcq84c

Steve Jobs Trailer: Michael Fassbender Portrays Apple Co-Founder in Danny Boyle’s Movie

Sonia Pantiss
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Steve Jobs Trailer: Michael Fassbender Portrays Apple Co-Founder in Danny Boyle’s Movie

Michael Fassbender is portraying Steve Jobs in Danny Boyle’s new movie about the late Apple co-founder, the film trailer has revealed.

Michael Fassbender is seen wearing Steve Jobs’ trademark glasses and black polar neck in scenes recreating one of his famous product launches.

The biopic, called Steve Jobs, reportedly uses three such launches to probe the Apple co-founder’s life and relationships with colleagues.

Kate Winslet and Seth Rogen also appear in the biopic, out on November 13.

The first plays former Macintosh marketing chief Joanna Hoffman, while the latter plays Steve Wozniak, another Apple co-founder.Michael Fassbender plays Steve Jobs

“The musicians play the instruments. I play the orchestra,” Michael Fassbender is heard saying cryptically in the minute-long promo.

“I sat in a garage and invented the future… because artists lead, and hacks ask for a show of hands.”

“No one sees the world the same way you do,” actor Jeff Daniels is also heard saying in his role as John Sculley, Apple’s former CEO.

Steve Jobs co-founded Apple in the late 1970s but was driven out of the company in a boardroom coup in the 1980s.

He was later bought back and spearheaded the production of the highly successful iPod and iPhone, before dying of pancreatic cancer in 2011.

Written by Aaron Sorkin of The Social Network and The West Wing fame, Steve Jobs is based on Walter Isaacson’s biography of the late entrepreneur.

An earlier Steve Jobs biopic, starring Ashton Kutcher in the title role and Matthew Modine as John Sculley, met with a tepid response in 2013.

Lion Shot Dead After Killing Keeper at China’s Taian Tiger Mountain Park

Nancy Clayson
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Lion Shot Dead After Killing Keeper at China’s Taian Tiger Mountain Park

A Chinese zoo has shot dead a lion after it killed one of its keepers and escaped its enclosure.

The incident took place on May 17 in the eastern province of Shandong, at the Taian Tiger Mountain Park.

The 65-year-old keeper was cleaning the enclosure when the lion bit him on his shoulders and neck, authorities say. The man died later from his injuries.

The lion was on the loose in the zoo for more than an hour before it was shot dead by police.Lion shot dead China zoo

Reports in Chinese media did not say how the lion managed to get out of its enclosure after the early morning attack.

Officials put up steel barriers at the park’s entrance, while zoo staff as well as visitors who had arrived for a morning swim in a pond in the park were evacuated.

Beijing Youth Daily quoted a police spokesman as saying they mobilized local officers as well as special forces to the park.

The spokesman said they cornered the lion by a wall within the zoo grounds, and shot it dead to “ensure the safety of park visitors”.

The park reopened for business in the afternoon.

The incident is currently the third most popular trending topic on the Chinese microblog network Weibo.

Many questioned if it was necessary to kill the lion and raised concerns about the safety and living conditions in zoos, which have been criticized by animal rights groups.

The Taian Tiger Mountain Park houses a range of animals including deer, pigs, camels and birds in wire cages. An undercover report by Iqilu.com last year found it was in “serious disrepair”.

The Fall of Ramadi: Iraq Sends Shia Militias to ISIS-Held City

Roy Siemens
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The Fall of Ramadi: Iraq Sends Shia Militias to ISIS-Held City

Iran-backed Shia militias have been sent by the Iraqi government to Ramadi to recapture the city seized by Islamic State (ISIS) militants on May 17.

About 500 people are reported to have died when the Iraqi military abandoned positions in Ramadi – only 70 miles West of Baghdad.

A regional government official spoke of people fleeing Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, “in great numbers”.

Photo Reuters
Photo Reuters

The US has said it is confident the capture of Ramadi can be reversed.

Speaking in South Korea, Secretary of State John Kerry said: “I am convinced that as the forces are redeployed and as the days flow in the weeks ahead that’s going to change.”

The Shia militias, known as the Popular Mobilization (Hashid Shaabi), were key to the recapture from ISIS of another city, Tikrit, north of Baghdad, in April. But their use has raised concern in the US and elsewhere.

The militias pulled out of Tikrit following reports of widespread violence and looting.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Defense Minister, Hossein Dehghan, has arrived in Baghdad on a visit arranged before the latest developments in Ramadi.

The police and military made a chaotic retreat from Ramadi, which has been contested for months, after days of intense fighting.

A statement purportedly from ISIS said its fighters had “purged the entire city”. It said ISIS had taken the 8th Brigade army base, along with tanks and missile launchers left behind by troops.

Prince Harry’s Cinderella Moment with New Zealand Girl

Lisa.Felice
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Prince Harry’s Cinderella Moment with New Zealand Girl

Prince Harry had a Cinderella moment with a little girl during his visit to New Zealand on May 15.

Kensington Palace shared on Instagram the sweet moment.

Photo Instagram
Photo Instagram

The picture shows how Harry, 30, proves to be a true Prince Charming as he kneels down with the girl’s shoe and is ready to help her put it back on.

The young New Zealander had Prince Harry bending down to help her with her shoe which had fallen off.

The adorable moment came just days after Prince Harry admitted that he would love to settle down and start a family, adding it would be great to have someone to “share the pressure” of royal life with.

Prince Harry is currently on tour in New Zealand, following a month-long Army secondment in Australia, and has been larking around as he visits local charities and trusts.

Dean Potter Dies After Attempting Wingsuit Flight from Taft Point

Clyde K. Valle
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Dean Potter Dies After Attempting Wingsuit Flight from Taft Point

Daredevil Dean Potter has died while attempting a wingsuit flight from the 7,500 ft Taft Point promontory in California’s Yosemite National Park on May 16, a park spokesman said.

Dean Potter, 43, was one of America’s best extreme athletes.

Graham Hunt also died when their attempt to fly at high speed through a narrow gap in the skyline went wrong.Dean Potter dead at 43

Rescuers found the bodies soon after contact had been lost with the men.

No parachutes had been deployed, reports say.

Dean Potter was regarded as a hugely innovative rock climber.

He was the first to climb Yosemite’s three most famous big walls in a single day.

Dean Potter was also renowned for his high-line walks and high-risk parachute jumps, some of which he carried out with his dog.

Cystic Fibrosis: New Therapy Profoundly Improves Quality of Life

Kathryn R. Bown
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Cystic Fibrosis: New Therapy Profoundly Improves Quality of Life

A new therapy could profoundly improve cystic fibrosis patients’ quality of life, say doctors.

Patients suffering from cystic fibrosis often die before their 40s as mucus clogs and damages their lungs and leaves them prone to infection.

A major international trial on 1,108 patients, in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed a combination of drugs could bypass the genetic errors that cause the disease and may increase life expectancy.

Errors in sufferers’ DNA – inherited from their parents – damage the microscopic machinery that controls salt and water levels in the linings of the lungs.Cystic fibrosis new therapy

The result is a thick mucus that inexorably damages the lungs.

Antibiotics help prevent infection and drugs can loosen the mucus, but nothing deals with the fundamental problem for most patients.

The combination of drugs – lumacaftor and ivacaftor – were designed to repair that microscopic machinery.

The trial showed that those patients given the cocktail for 24 weeks had better lung function.

Cystic fibrosis also affects the mucus lining in the gut so the doctors were pleased to see the patients also gained weight in the trial.

There are however, many types of error in the DNA that can culminate in cystic fibrosis.

This treatment combination should work on around half of patients, while one of the drugs on its own corrects a small proportion of errors.

New treatments are still required for the remaining patients.

The therapy is being examined by regulators around the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBMu02_KIPY

Waco Shooting: Nine Killed in Biker Gangs Shootout at Twin Peaks Sports Bar and Grill

Nancy Clayson
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Waco Shooting: Nine Killed in Biker Gangs Shootout at Twin Peaks Sports Bar and Grill

Nine people have been killed in a shootout between rival biker gangs in Waco, Texas police officials say.

The incident happened at the Twin Peaks Sports Bar and Grill in a shopping area called the Central Texas Market Place.

Eight people had died at the scene and a ninth died in hospital, police say. Several other people were injured.

Photo AP
Photo AP

One witness quoted by the Waco Tribune-Herald said the car park of the restaurant resembled “a war zone”.

Michelle Logan said: “There were maybe 30 guns being fired in the parking lot, maybe 100 rounds.”

Waco police said the shooting happened shortly after midday when two rival gangs got into a fight.

Police spokesman Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said the fight started with punches and then involved knives and firearms.

He said there were concerns that groups involved in the shooting may have moved to other locations in and around Waco.

Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton asked residents to avoid the area until an all-clear is issued.

Waco police said no officers had been injured in the shooting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zft_JYm0tjQ

Iraq: ISIS Captures Ramadi after Days of Intense Fighting

Roy Siemens
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Iraq: ISIS Captures Ramadi after Days of Intense Fighting

The Islamic State (ISIS) has seized the Iraqi city of Ramadi after government forces abandoned their positions, officials say.

The police and military made a chaotic retreat after days of intense fighting.

Iraq’s PM Haider al-Abadi had ordered troops to stand their ground, saying he was deploying Shia militia to the city.ISIS captures Ramadi in Iraq

Ramadi is the capital of Iraq’s largest province, Anbar, and is just 70 miles West of Baghdad.

A statement purportedly from ISIS said its fighters had “purged the entire city”. It said ISIS had taken the 8th Brigade army base, along with tanks and missile launchers left behind by troops.

Footage posted on social media showed military vehicles speeding away from Ramadi, with soldiers hanging off the sides.

Reports said Iraqi forces fled following a series of suicide car bomb attacks on May 17.

Four almost simultaneous explosions hit police defending the Malaab district in southern Ramadi. Later, three more suicide bombers drove explosive-laden cars into the gate of the provincial military headquarters, the Anbar Operation Command, officials said.

PM Haider al-Abadi called on pro-government forces to “hold their positions and preserve them and not allow Daesh (ISIS) to extend to other areas in Ramadi”.

Anbar province covers a vast stretch of the country west from the capital Baghdad to the Syrian border, and contains key roads that link Iraq to both Syria and Jordan.

ISIS reportedly controls more than half of Anbar’s territory.

Cannes 2015: Cate Blanchett’s Carol Tipped to Win Palme D’Or

Sonia Pantiss
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Cannes 2015: Cate Blanchett’s Carol Tipped to Win Palme D’Or

Carol movie is being tipped for this year’s Cannes Film Festival glory in France.

The film, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, tells the story of two women having an illicit romance in 1950s New York.

Carol – based on a 1952 novel by Patricia Highsmith, author of The Talented Mr. Ripley – is winning rave reviews for its lead performances.

Cate Blanchett denied speculation suggesting she drew on her own early gay relationships to create the role.Carol movie 2015

The actress said: “In 2015, the point should be: who cares?”

Carol, directed by Todd Haynes, follows the blossoming relationship between a glamorous married woman (Cate Blanchett) and an impressionable shop girl (Rooney Mara).

Last week, double Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett, 46, reportedly admitted to Variety magazine that she had had many female partners.

However, at a news conference in Cannes, the actress was quick to scotch reports of a gay past.

Carol is seen by some critics as a companion movie to Todd Haynes’ Far From Heaven, about an illicit romance between a white woman and a black man, also set in the 1950s.

Vladimir Putin Plays Hockey at Gala Match in Sochi

Nancy Clayson
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Vladimir Putin Plays Hockey at Gala Match in Sochi

Vladimir Putin has played hockey at a gala match with retired NHL players in Sochi.

The Russian president scored eight goals – with a little help from Pavel Bure and Valeri Kamensky – and his team won 18-6.

PM Dmitry Medvedev was among audience.Vladimir Putin hockey Sochi

Vladimir Putin, 62, better known for his love of judo, only recently took up hockey and clearly enjoyed himself.

The president’s performance on skates drew jokes on social media.

The Sochi match, held to celebrate 70 years since Victory in World War Two, coincided with Russia’s national hockey team winning the semi-final in the ice hockey world championship against the US 4-0.

In March, questions were raised about the health of Vladimir Putin, who plunged the world into uncertainty last year by annexing Crimea from Ukraine, when he disappeared from public view for 10 days before re-emerging without explanation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN2FMGRTvoc

Pope Francis Canonizes Palestinian Nuns Mariam Bawardy and Marie Alphonsine Ghattas

James J. Williams
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Pope Francis Canonizes Palestinian Nuns Mariam Bawardy and Marie Alphonsine Ghattas

Two 19th Century nuns, who lived in what was then Ottoman-ruled Palestine and were native Arabic speakers, will be canonized by Pope Francis on Sunday, May 17.

The nuns, Mariam Bawardy of Galilee and Marie Alphonsine Ghattas of Jerusalem, will be among four new saints declared in Rome’s St Peter’s Square.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and over 2,000 Christian pilgrims from the region will be present at the ceremony.

The move is seen as a token of Vatican support for dwindling Christian communities in the Middle East.

On May 16, Pope Francis met Mahmoud Abbas at the Vatican.

Mahmoud Abbas’ visit came just days after the Vatican formally recognized Palestinian statehood in a treaty.Palestinian nuns Mariam Bawardy and Marie Alphonsine Ghattas canonization

The treaty states that the Holy See favors a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel and allows the Vatican to oversee aspects of Roman Catholic life in the areas President Mahmoud Abbas controls.

Israel expressed disappointment with the treaty, which uses the term “Palestinian state”.

Mariam Bawardy was born in Galilee to Greek Catholic parents from Syria and Lebanon.

A mystic, she is said to have carried out many miracles and to have experienced stigmata – wounds representing those suffered by Jesus on the cross.

Marie Alphonsine Ghattas – who was born to a Palestinian family in Jerusalem – co-founded the Congregation of the Rosary Sisters, which today runs many kindergartens and schools.

Both nuns lived through tough conditions, overcoming male dominance in Ottoman society, poverty and ill-health while helping others.

They are said to have seen apparitions of the Virgin Mary and remained in close communication with her.

By granting these women sainthood, the Catholic Church is celebrating their good works but it is also showing support for Christians in the birthplace of their religion.

The total number of Christians in Israel and the Palestinian territories has declined to less than 2% of the population.

This is partly because of growing Jewish and Muslim populations, but also because of the conflict and the chance of better opportunities abroad.

Abu Sayyaf: ISIS Leader Killed in First US Ground Raid in Syria

Roy Siemens
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Abu Sayyaf: ISIS Leader Killed in First US Ground Raid in Syria

Senior ISIS member Abu Sayyaf and captured his wife in a rare US special forces ground raid in eastern Syria.

According to a US Department of Defense statement, Abu Sayyaf helped direct oil, gas and financial operations for the Islamic State, as well as holding a military role.

The statement said forces tried to capture Abu Sayyaf, but he was killed after engaging them.

It is the first time the US is known to have carried out a ground operation to attack ISIS within Syria.

The operation was authorized by President Barack Obama and was carried out by forces based in Iraq.

US officials said Abu Sayyaf was Tunisian, with one official telling CNN he was the chief financial officer “of all of [ISIS]” and that the US had seized “reams of data on how ISIS operates, communicates and earns its money”.

On Arabic social media, however, Abu Sayyaf was not being spoken of as a known public figure.ISIS leader Abu Sayyaf killed in US raid in Syria

Oil and gas have been an important source of revenue for ISIS, which gained swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq last year.

On May 16, the group took control of the northern part of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, which it has been advancing on for three days, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights – a UK-based network that uses activists within Syria.

The US said the operation in Syria was conducted “with the full consent of Iraqi authorities”, though it did not inform the Syrian government in advance.

“We have warned [President Bashar al-Assad’s] regime not to interfere with our ongoing efforts against [ISIS] inside of Syria,” said National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan, adding that “the Assad regime is not and cannot be a partner in the fight” against IS.

The Pentagon said Abu Sayyaf’s wife, Umm Sayyaf, is suspected of being an ISIS member and of being complicit in the enslavement of a young Yazidi woman who was rescued in the raid.

It said it believed at least 12 militants had been killed at the scene, that there was hand-to-hand fighting and that militants had tried to use women and children as shields.

Umm Sayyaf has been taken into military detention in Iraq.

The operation lasted for about 30 minutes around dawn in the residential quarters of the al-Omar oil field, which houses about 500 families of ISIS fighters.

In Iraq on Saturday, ISIS militants tightened their grip over the centre of the city of Ramadi but reportedly withdrew from a key government compound they had seized a day earlier.

Neither ISIS nor its supporters on social media were commenting publicly on the raid against Abu Sayyaf, with Twitter posts focusing instead on Ramadi.

The US has been carrying out air strikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria since August 2014. Shortly after they began, the Pentagon said there had been a failed raid in Syria to free American hostages – the only other ground operation inside the country it has acknowledged.

Charlotte Brown: Blind Pole Vaulter Wins Bronze Medal in Texas High School Championships

Clyde K. Valle
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Charlotte Brown: Blind Pole Vaulter Wins Bronze Medal in Texas High School Championships

Blind pole vaulter Charlotte Brown has won a bronze medal in the Texas state high school championships on May 16.

For three years, 17-year-old Charlotte Brown has been chasing a medal by trying to jump over a bar she couldn’t see.

Charlotte Brown cleared 3.5m and was joined on the podium in Austin by her guide dog Vador.

She had qualified for the state meet each year since 2013 with Emory Rains High School. She finished eighth as a sophomore and improved to fourth as a junior.

Charlotte Brown developed cataracts at 16 weeks and had artificial lenses inserted, but her vision began to worsen aged 11 and she is now blind with only a “jigsaw puzzle” of light and dark shades.Charlotte Brown blind pole vaulte

Despite her disability, Charlotte Brown takes pride in her fierce spirit of independence, born out of growing up in a family with two older brothers who pushed her to help herself in the rural town of Emory, about 76 miles east of Dallas.

She first took up pole vaulting, which is not a Paralympic sport, in seventh grade because she wanted something a little “dangerous and exciting”.

She counts the seven steps of her left foot on her approach, listening for the sound of a faint beeper placed on the mat that tells her when to plant the pole and push up.

Charlotte Brown, who is heading to university at Purdue on an academic scholarship, said: “It took me three years to get on the podium, and I finally did it.”

“If I could send a message to anybody, it’s not about pole vaulting and it’s not about track. It’s about finding something that makes you happy despite whatever obstacles are in your way.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zp4fzm2N8g

Mohamed Morsi Sentenced to Death over Egypt Mass Prison Break

Roy Siemens
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Mohamed Morsi Sentenced to Death over Egypt Mass Prison Break

Egypt’s ousted President Mohamed Morsi and more than 100 other people have been sentenced to death over a mass prison break in 2011.

Mohamed Morsi is already serving a 20-year prison term for ordering the arrest and torture of protesters while in power.

Egypt’s religious authorities will now have to give their opinion before the sentence can be carried out.

Mohamed Morsi’s supporters from his Muslim Brotherhood movement have described the charges against him as “farcical”.

He was deposed by the military in July 2013 following mass street protests against his rule.

Since then, the authorities have banned the Muslim Brotherhood and arrested thousands of his supporters.

In a separate case on May 16, an Egyptian court banned football fan clubs known as the Ultras, who played a leading role in protests during the 2011 uprising against then-president Hosni Mubarak.

The former president raised both fists in defiance as the sentences were given.

Mohammed Morsi, who escaped from Wadi Natroun prison in January 2011, was accused of colluding with foreign militants in a plot to free Islamists during the mass prison breaks.Egypt's Islamist former president Mohamed Morsi in court

Many of his 104 co-defendants were Palestinians accused of being members of militant group Hamas, and were charged in absentia.

The court also issued rulings on another case, sentencing 16 Muslim Brotherhood members, including deputy leader Khairat al-Shater, to death on spying charges.

Mohamed Morsi, who also faces espionage charges, will be issued a verdict in that case at a later date.

Hundreds of people have been sentenced to death in a crackdown on the Brotherhood following Mohamed Morsi’s removal in 2013.

However, it is thought that only one such death sentence has been carried out so far.

All death sentences must first be sent to the grand mufti, Egypt’s highest religious authority, for his non-binding opinion on whether they should stand.

Convictions are still open to appeal, even if the grand mufti gives his approval.

The death sentence was condemned by Amnesty International, which said it had become a tool “to purge the political opposition”, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who likened it to a return to “ancient Egypt”.

Mohamed Morsi was Egypt’s first freely elected president, but protests began building less than a year into his rule when he issued a decree granting himself far-reaching powers.

The armed forces, led by then-military chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, ousted Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

In May 2014, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi became president after securing a landslide victory in presidential elections with a turnout of 46%.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtIedu4LHC8

Can I Bring My Dog to Australia?

Nancy Clayson
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Can I Bring My Dog to Australia?

Australia’s agriculture conditions for dogs:

  • A dog can be taken to Australia, but only if it came from an approved country, is not pregnant and is not a banned breed or domestic/non-domestic hybrid.Johnny Depp and Amber Heard dogs
  • The dog must first be fully vaccinated and microchipped before it can get an import permit
  • Within 45 days of travel it has to test clear for diseases including Ehrlichia canis, Leptospirosis, rabies and parasites
  • Five days before travel it must be health-checked by a government-approved vet in the export country
  • On arrival it must go into government quarantine for a minimum of 10 days on arrival, longer if it is seen as coming from a riskier country or it shows signs of ill-health
  • Private jets are subject to the same regulations as any other vessel or aircraft

Source: Australian Department of Agriculture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cszvCdH-Ln0

#WarOnTerrier: Johnny Depp’s Dogs Leave Australia

Nancy Clayson
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#WarOnTerrier: Johnny Depp’s Dogs Leave Australia

Johnny Depp’s Yorkshire Terriers Boo and Pistol have been flown out of Australia after facing being put down, the country’s agriculture minister has said.

Barnaby Joyce tweeted: “Dogs gone.”

Johnny Depp was accused of not declaring the dogs to customs officials when they flew into Queensland by private jet in April.

Thanking Johnny Depp and his wife Amber Heard for co-operating, Barnaby Joyce said Australia had “strict biosecurity requirements for good reasons”.

Australia’s agriculture minister had given Johny Depp a deadline of May 16 to return the dogs to the US or they would be put down.Johnny Depp dogs leave Australia

Australia’s quarantine regulations aim at preventing diseases such as rabies reaching its shores.

Barnaby Joyce has been criticized for his strong stance, with thousands signing a petition to spare them. He received praise and condemnation from people using the #WarOnTerrier hashtag.

The minister defended his position by saying: “If we start letting movie stars… to come into our nation, then why don’t we just break the laws for everybody?”

The dogs’ illicit entry appears to have been uncovered after a grooming salon on the Gold Coast posted pictures of them on its Facebook page.

Biosecurity officials then visited the vast Gold Coast house Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are renting on May 13 and ordered the dogs into quarantine.

Johnny Depp is in Australia to shoot the fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cszvCdH-Ln0

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Sentenced to Death for Boston Marathon Bombings

Diane A. Wade
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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Sentenced to Death for Boston Marathon Bombings

Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been sentenced to death by lethal injection.

Three people were killed and 260 were injured when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan placed bombs at the finishing line of the Boston Marathon in 2013.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, now 21, is likely to be moved to a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, to await execution, but there could be years of appeals.

Victims sobbed as the sentence was read, but Dzhkhar Tsarnaev showed no emotion.Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sentenced to death

“Now he will go away and we will be able to move on. Justice. In his own words, <<an eye for an eye>>,” said bombing victim Sydney Corcoran, who nearly bled to death and whose mother lost both legs.

After 14 hours of deliberations, the jury concluded that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev showed no remorse and therefore should be put to death.

“The jury has spoken. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will pay for his crimes with his life,” said US Attorney Carmen Ortiz.

Massachusetts as a state ended the death penalty in 1984, but Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was tried on federal charges, meaning he was eligible for execution.

After the sentence was announced, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said: “The ultimate penalty is a fitting punishment for this horrific crime and we hope that the completion of this prosecution will bring some measure of closure to the victims and their families.”

However, not all of the victims supported the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

The parents of Martin Richard, an 8-year-old boy killed in the blast, wrote an article in the Boston Globe newspaper last month asking the government to not seek a death sentence as it would delay their emotional closure.

Xavier Bettel Marriage: Luxembourg PM Marries Partner Gauthier Destenay

Nancy Clayson
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Xavier Bettel Marriage: Luxembourg PM Marries Partner Gauthier Destenay

Luxembourg’s PM Xavier Bettel married his partner Gauthier Destenay on May 15 in a private ceremony at the capital’s town hall.

Xavier Bettel has become the first serving EU leader – and second leader in the world – to marry a same-gender partner.

The prime minister and his partner are among the first to benefit after the country changed its laws to allow gay marriages last year.

The union comes after Iceland’s then-PM Johanna Sigurdardottir married her same-gender partner in 2010.

Photo Wort
Photo Wort

Xavier Bettel formed a government in December 2013 to become Luxembourg’s first openly gay prime minister.

He announced that he and his civil partner Gauthier Destenay, an architect, would be getting married just months after lawmakers approved the law change in June 2014.

“I could have hidden it or repressed it and been unhappy my whole life,” Xavier Bettel reportedly told a Belgian broadcaster the night before the nuptials.

“But I told myself that if you want to be a politician and be honest in politics, you have to be honest with yourself and accept that you are who you are.”

Former Belgian PM Elio di Rupo was the EU’s first openly gay national leader.

The Luxembourg newly-weds are not expected to go away on a honeymoon, as Xavier Bettel has to attend an economic forum in Kazakhstan, according to AFP news agency.

A friend of the couple told the French news agency Xavier Bettel was keen to keep his private life out of the public spotlight.

Among the guests spotted in the crowd was Belgian PM Charles Michel, according to Luxemburger Wort newspaper.

Correspondents say Luxembourg was previously a conservative Catholic country but attitudes have changed in recent years, in part due to the high number of immigrants and foreign workers.

Piet Mondrian’s Composition No III Fetches $50.6 Million at New York Auction

Sonia Pantiss
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Piet Mondrian’s Composition No III Fetches $50.6 Million at New York Auction

Piet Mondrian’s 1929 oil painting Composition No III, with Red, Blue, Yellow and Black has sold for $50.6 million at a New York auction.

The sum is an auction record for the Dutch artist’s work.

The painting features the geometric style for which the artist became renowned.Piet Mondrian Composition No III

The sale price, which includes a 12% buyer’s premium, was more than twice its estimate of $15million to $25 million.

Piet Mondrian’s previous auction record was $27.6 million.

The auction capped two weeks of sales that have brought in record sums of money at both Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction houses.

Christie’s alone took more than $1.3 billion during the course of its two days sales this week.

The Edge Falls off Stage During Vancouver Concert

Sonia Pantiss
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The Edge Falls off Stage During Vancouver Concert

The Edge fell off stage during the opening night of U2’s world tour.

The rock band’s guitarist, real name David Howell Evans, has said he is fine.

U2 were performing their encore at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver when the 53-year-old took a tumble.

A video posted online of the incident shows the guitarist appearing to misjudge the unconventional shape of the stage and stepping off the side.The Edge falls off stage in Vancouver

The Edge later posted a picture of his grazed arm on Instagram saying: “Didn’t see the edge, I’m ok!”

U2 have just begun their Innocence + Experience tour, which will see them play some 70 dates across North America and Europe.

U2’s frontman Bono has also taken a dive on several occasions.

Bono fell backwards off stage at a Miami concert in 2001 and slipped off a rainy stage in Washington DC in 1987 – dislocating his arm and requiring him to wear a sling for a dozen shows.

He also fell in 1983 during a gig in Germany after trying to climb a barricade.

Last November, Bono also underwent five hours of surgery after breaking his arm in six places and suffering a broken eye socket as a result of a “high-energy bicycle accident” in New York.

Khalid al-Fawwaz Jailed for Life over 1998 US Embassies Bombings

Roy Siemens
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Khalid al-Fawwaz Jailed for Life over 1998 US Embassies Bombings

Osama bin Laden’s former aide Khalid Abdulrahman al-Fawwaz has been sentenced to life in jail for aiding in the bombing of US embassies in east Africa in 1998 that killed 224 people.

Saudi national Khalid al-Fawwaz was arrested in London the same year as the bombings, and was extradited to the US 14 years later.

Photo Reuters
Photo Reuters

He has been called Osama bin Laden’s spokesman and al-Qaeda’s media adviser in London.

Khalid al-Fawwaz was convicted in February of four conspiracy charges.

Prosecutors say he operated an office in London where he disseminated Osama bin Laden’s fatwas, or religious decrees, to media outlets.

Khalid al-Fawwaz was also accused of using the office to send communications equipment, including a satellite phone, to the al-Qaeda leader.

The sentence was read out by a Manhattan jury at a heavily guarded downtown courthouse.

Khalid al-Fawwaz’s lawyers argued that he was a peaceful political dissident and not a violent terrorist.

Candy Crush Saga: King Digital Shares Fall After Weaker Profits

Clyde K. Valle
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Candy Crush Saga: King Digital Shares Fall After Weaker Profits

King Digital shares fell as much as over 14% in after hours trading after it warned of weaker profits.

Candy Crush maker said it expects fluctuations in foreign currency and a lack of new releases to hold back its earnings in the current quarter.

The big drop in King Digital (KING) shares came despite the release of first quarter sales figures that beat market expectations.

The company has been struggling to increase market share.King Digital Candy Crush Saga shares

King Digital’s revenue fell 6.1% to $569.5 million in the first three months of the year from a year ago, but that was higher than analysts’ forecasts of $563.4 million.

“We look toward the remainder of the year, we expect the mid-year period to be seasonally softer, returning to growth trends in the latter part of the year,” the company said in a statement on May 14.

The company is launching a new game this year, but that will not be released until the later half of the year.

King Digital said that falls in both gross bookings and revenue in the first quarter were largely due to lower sales from its Candy Crush Saga and other “more mature games” – a sign that players are moving on to other games.

Tammy Rivera Launches ZEL by Trivera Hair and Product Line

Lisa.Felice
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Tammy Rivera Launches ZEL by Trivera Hair and Product Line

Tammy Rivera has launched ZelByTrivera, the official website for her highly anticipated hair and product line on May 13.

Waka Flocka Flame’s wife wrote on Instagram: “ZEL IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS NOW!!!! ZEL TRIVERA.com.”

Photo Instagram
Photo Instagram

According to the website, ZEL luxury hair extensions “provide style flexibility, a way of changing or enhancing your look with real human hair. Zel Hair Extensions are a great solution for problems with your own hair due to temporary or permanent damages.”

“True virgin indian hair is completely natural and unprocessed. All the cuticles and strands are aligned in the same direction at time of wefting to prevent permanent tangle. The best benefit of buying virgin is the longevity factor. Processed hair has been steamed with rods to make patterns and will lose curl after a few washes if not the first.”

Tammy Rivera Malphurs is known for using her Instagram account quite regularly and often posts pictures of her life with Waka Flocka Flame, aka Juaquin Malphurs. She got married to Waka Flocka Flame on May 26, 2014.

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