North Korea may have restarted one of its nuclear reactors, satellite pictures taken earlier this year suggest.
According to the Institute for Science and International Security, images of the Yongbyon plant show patterns of melting snow indicating new activity.
Yongbyon’s reactor was shut down in 2007 but was restarted in 2013.
Six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear program have been stalled since early 2009.
The think-tank’s report says that its assessment in late 2014 was that the reactor at Yongbyon, in the country’s west, had been “shut down or partially shut down” but more recent images suggested the plant “may be operating at low power or intermittently”.
As well as the patterns of melting snow, the satellite photos are also said to capture a stream of warm water coming out of the reactor’s discharge pipeline and steam rising off the turbine.
In 2008, North Korea walked away from six-party talks with South Korea, the US, China, Japan and Russia on its denuclearization.
The other countries have since tried to persuade North Korea to return to the negotiating table.
Earlier this year North Korea offered to stop nuclear tests if the US stopped holding military drills with Seoul, but the offer was rejected.
North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests, in 2006, 2009 and 2013.
McDonald’s China fries supplier got Beijing’s biggest ever pollution fine, state media report.
Beijing Simplot Food Processing will have to pay 3.9 million yuan ($629,000) after its waste water was found to have levels of impurities above legal limits.
The company said it also serves other companies in East Asia.
Photo Reuters
IBeijing Simplot Food Processing said it had paid the fine and would take steps to avoid a recurrence.
McDonald’s said in a statement that it took the issue “very seriously” and would be monitoring Beijing Simplot’s compliance. It said it suppliers “must comply with all relevant local laws and regulations”.
A small amount of polluted water had entered the city’s main water pipes, but was not dangerous to the public, a local official was quoted as saying by Jinghua Daily News.
China has been facing international pressure to clean up its environment and an increasing number of local protests concerning pollution.
A Baltimore mother has become an internet sensation after beating her son for throwing rocks at police during Freddie Gray riots in the city.
The woman, later identified as Toya Graham, said she turned on the evening news and saw her son, Michael, 16, on TV throwing rocks at cops in the streets during April 27 riots.
Toya Graham told CBS News of the moment she spotted her son: “I was shocked. I was angry, because you never want to see your child out there doing that.”
“At that point, I just lost it.”
She said she run to the scene, smacked some sense into Michael and half-dragged, half-shamed him back home.
Toya Graham’s actions, caught on video that has since gone viral, earned her praise on social media on April 28 as “Mom of the Year”.
“He knew he was in trouble,” Toya Graham told CBS.
“He said, <<When I seen you>>, he said, <<Ma, my instinct was to run>>.
“I’m a no-tolerant mother. Everybody that knows me, know I don’t play that,” she said.
When asked if hero moms like herself could help curb violence in the city, Toya Graham said: “I think so.”
“A lot of mothers have to provide for their children,” she said.
“As parents, we just have to follow through to make sure that’s where they’re supposed to be at.”
Toya Graham, meanwhile, became a social media sensation – with hundreds on Twitter hailing her under the hashtag “#momoftheyear”.
A Nepalese boy has been rescued after surviving for five days in the quake rubble.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal on April 25 and killed more than 6,000 people.
A huge crowd cheered as rescuers brought the teenage boy out of the rubble in the capital, Kathmandu. The boy has now been taken to a field hospital.
Meanwhile, bad weather is hampering the delivery of relief to remote villages, a Nepal government spokesman said.
The government has been criticized for its response to the disaster.
Outside Kathmandu, the relief effort has relied heavily on helicopters, with mountainous roads blocked by landslides triggered by the earthquake.
In the capital, rescue workers from Nepal and the US worked for hours to free the boy from the rubble of the building.
The 15-year-old boy, named in the media as Pema Lama, eventually emerged blinking into the sunlight, to cheers from a crowd.
He was carried out away on a stretcher with a blue brace strapped around his neck, and has now been taken to an Israeli-run field hospital.
Andrew Olvera, an official from the US Agency for International Development, earlier told the Associated Press news agency that the boy had been trapped between the collapsed floors of the building but was not “too far down”.
Frustration has been growing in parts of rural Nepal over the pace of relief efforts, with some badly-affected villages yet to receive any assistance.
The UN has appealed for $415 million to help provide emergency relief over the next three months. Officials say last week’s quake injured at least 11,000 people.
The UN says more than 8 million people have been affected by the quake and some 70,000 houses have been destroyed.
Despite extensive damage, experts say the number of casualties in many villages was lower than feared because people were working outdoors at the time the quake struck.
In Kathmandu, riot police clashed on April 29 with protesters angry at a lack of transport out of the city and delays in distributing aid. Thousands were waiting for buses to take them to rural areas.
Witnesses said a truck carrying drinking water was forced off the road and protesters climbed on top of it, throwing the bottles into the crowd.
However, there have been some signs that parts of Katmandu are returning to normal.
Some people have decided to return to their homes, having spent several nights in the open. Cash machines have been refilled and some shops and street vendors have once again started trading.
The 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War is being commemorated with a military parade through the streets of Ho Chi Minh City.
On April 30, 1975, Ho Chi Minh City – which was then called Saigon and was the capital of South Vietnam – was captured by communist troops from the North.
North Vietnam’s victory ended the war in which at least three million Vietnamese died, as well as 58,000 US soldiers.
The re-unification process was completed in 1976.
Regiments of soldiers in dress uniform and elaborate floats are slowly making their way through city streets.
Army Lt-Gen Nguyen Quoc Khanh told crowds: “The April 30 victory was a golden turning point for the Vietnamese people.”
Forty years ago North Vietnam’s tanks smashed through the gates of the Presidential Palace, the final assault on the US-backed South.
The North’s victory reunited Vietnam under the communist government after decades of war.
Vietnam War was very divisive in the US as well, as it was the first to be extensively covered by the Western media. It was also the first to be lost by a modern global superpower.
Several cities across the US are holding protests over Freddie Gray, whose death from injuries sustained in police custody has stoked unrest in Baltimore.
Hundreds people have gathered in New York’s Union Square, where police arrested at least 60 people.
There were also rallies in Washington DC, Boston and Minneapolis.
A national debate over the use of police force has been going on since August 2014, when black teenager Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, Missouri.
The US Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the death of Freddie Gray, who suffered fatal spinal injuries when arrested by police.
Freddie Gray’s funeral took place on April 27 and was followed by widespread rioting, arson and looting.
Since then a curfew has been in place on the streets of Baltimore from 22:00 to 05:00.
Hours before the second night of curfew, on April 29, a large march made its way through Baltimore’s streets.
In New York, where protesters said they were demonstrating in solidarity with the people of Baltimore, protesters chanted “no justice, no peace” and “hands up, don’t shoot”.
How Freddie Gray got his injuries is unclear. As well as the Department of Justice investigation, a separate internal inquiry is being conducted by the police.
The preliminary results of that police probe will not be released on May 1st, as was expected, it has emerged.
Six police officers have been suspended with pay while this investigation is carried out.
Weight Watchers founder Jean Nidetch has died at her Florida home at the age of 91.
Jean Nidetch turned worrying about one’s weight into a million-dollar industry.
Using calorie counting, meetings and sharing stories, Jean Nidetch encouraged her members to be responsible, take exercise and eat lots of fish.
As a child, Jean Nidetch had been overweight and she described herself as a fat housewife when she founded the dieting company in the early 1960s.
Within two years she had became a millionaire and today, more than 30,000 weight watchers meetings take place across the world.
Jean Evelyn Slutsky was born in Brooklyn in 1923, weighing 7lbs 3oz.
But she piled on the pounds as a child, and was dieting without success before she even reached high school.
When Jean attended an obesity clinic sponsored by the New York City Board of Health in 1961, she was 5ft 7in and 214lbs.
But the advice she received there gave new impetus to her attempts at weight loss.
The tips included no skipping meals, more fruit and vegetables, fish five times a week, and two pieces of bread and two glasses of skimmed milk a day.
Later Jean Nidetch would summarize the regime simply in four words: “Drop the damn fork!”
The new diet worked but she was unhappy about the lack of stories exchanged among others who were also dieting at the clinic.
So she set up her own group in the living room of her home in Queens, with six friends who had similar eating compulsions to her.
In October 1962, Jean Nidetch reached her target weight of 142lbs and the following year she and two friends founded Weight Watchers International.
The new business first conquered New York and then the globe. For its 10th birthday, Bob Hope was on stage entertaining 16,000 people in Madison Square Garden.
Jean Nidetch became the face of the company, travelling the world to talk about the company’s calorie-counting principles.
In 1978, the company was sold to Heinz for $71 million and Jean Nidetch retired to south Florida.
Jean Nidetch says she kept her lifelong vow never to surpass 150lbs.
Dozens of American Airlines planes have been grounded by a faulty iPad application.
The glitch caused iPad software – used by the planes’ pilots and co-pilots for viewing flight plans – to stop working.
AA’s cockpits went “paperless” in 2013 to save its staff having to lug heavy paperwork on board. The company estimated the move would save it more than $1.2 million in fuel every year.
American Airlines said that it had now found a fix for the problem.
A spokesman for the carrier said: “We experienced technical issues with an application installed on some pilot iPads.”
“This issue was with the third-party application, not the iPad, and caused some departure delays last night and this morning.
“Our pilots have been able to address the issue by downloading the application again at the gate prior to take-off and, as a back-up, are able to rely on paper charts they can obtain at the airport.
“We apologize for the inconvenience to our customers.”
AA pilots use an app called FliteDeck, which is made by the Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen.
A spokesman for Jeppesen provided further detail.
“The issue was caused by a duplicate chart for Reagan National Airport in American’s chart database,” said Mike Pound.
“The app could not reconcile the duplicate, causing it to shut down.
“We were able to remedy the situation quickly, and instruct pilots to uninstall and reinstall the app.
“Until the chart database is updated, AA pilots flying to or from National will use PDF [portable document format] images of the chart, outside of the app.”
American Airlines is not the only carrier whose pilots and cabin crew have switched from using physical charts and paper manuals to tablets.
United Airlines was also an early adopter of iPads, while Delta has opted for Microsoft’s Surface tablets instead.
British Airways and Ryanair are among others still in the process of shifting to so-called Electronic Flight Bag-based systems.
In addition to saving on fuel costs, it is also suggested that such kit reduces flight preparation time, reduces the likelihood of injuries and helps staff by offering real-time updates.
Gazprom has reported a big drop in its annual profits after being hit by the fall in the value of the Russian currency.
Russia’s largest energy company reported a net profit of 159 billion rubles ($3.1 billion) for 2014, down 86% from a 1.14-trillion-ruble profit in 2013.
Last year’s fall in oil prices also contributed to the plunge in Gazprom’s profits.
At the same time, a debt and pricing dispute meant Gazprom cut gas supplies to Ukraine, one of its key markets.
Meanwhile, gas sales to Europe and other countries declined by 8.5%.
A 15-year-old Muslim student was sent home from a French school because she was wearing a long black skirt.
The girl, named as Sarah, was twice blocked from classes because the principal said her skirt broke a ban on religious signs in schools.
The girl removed her headscarf but said the skirt was not a religious symbol.
The case has provoked angry reactions online.
The hashtag #JePorteMaJupeCommeJeVeux (I wear my skirt how I want to) has had more than 45,000 tweets since April 28.
Sarah was sent home in Charleville-Mezieres in the northern Champagne-Ardenne region twice in April, according to reports.
Nicolas Cadene, an official advising the prime minister on secular issues, has said that wearing a long black skirt to school does not break the rules.
A ban on Muslim headscarves and other “conspicuous” religious symbols at state schools was introduced in 2004, and widely welcomed in a country where the separation of state and religion is enshrined in law.
However, critics say some schools are increasingly imposing extreme interpretations of the ban.
Eight Muslim students were told to change by their school in Montpellier when they arrived in long skirts last month, local media say.
The Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) said they had recorded nearly 130 similar incidents in the country last year.
In 2011, France became the first European country to ban the full-face Islamic veil – the niqab – in public places.
Most of the population – including most Muslims – agree with the government when it describes the face-covering veil as an affront to society’s values. Critics – many outside France – say it is a violation of individual liberties.
The European Court of Human Rights upheld the ban in July 2014 after it was challenged by a 24-year-old French woman, who argued that it violated her freedom of religion and expression.
France has about 5 million Muslims – the largest Muslim minority in Western Europe – but it is thought only about 2,000 women wear full veils.
Faure Gnassingbe has won a third term as Togo’s president, electoral officials say.
According to provisional results, Faure Gnassingbe gained 59% of the vote, extending his family’s 48-year hold on power.
Observers from the African Union and regional bloc ECOWAS (Economic Community of Western African States) said the election was free and fair, despite opposition complaints of voting irregularities.
Faure Gnassingbe, 48, has ruled since the death of his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, who took power in a coup in 1967.
His main rival, opposition candidate Jean-Pierre Fabre, took 35% of the vote.
On April 27, Jean-Pierre Fabre called for a delay in announcing the results, citing widespread irregularities.
Later, Jean-Pierre Fabre said that he would leave the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) “to do its work”.
The results still need to be confirmed by the country’s Constitutional Court.
Turnout was around 53-55%, according to CENI – at least 10% lower than the last elections in 2010.
The 2005 elections, which brought Faure Gnassingbe to power, were overshadowed by fraud allegations and violent protests which left at least 400 people dead.
In 2014, opposition protests failed to bring about constitutional changes limiting the president to two terms in office – a move that would have prevented Faure Gnassingbe from standing.
Togo’s GDP has more than doubled since 2005 and economic growth reached 5.6% in 2014.
However, Faure Gnassingbe’s critics say the benefits have mainly gone to a wealthy minority, while most ordinary Togolese still suffer from high poverty and unemployment rates.
While the stereotypical man might only need a shirt, a pair of jeans, and some shoes to be dressed, the reality is much more complex. Though men’s fashion choices will never really rival those dealt with by women, there are a lot more options out there for the average guy than you might think. And while some of those options are nothing more than personal preference, some clothing choices should be made with a focus on intended use instead of purely what you like. The realm of men’s underwear is one of those areas.
When it comes to picking the right underwear, you should consider more than whether there’s an entertaining pop culture reference or other joke on them. While considering the size, fit, material, and other design aspects are important, you can alternatively just decide which main style you want; boxer, brief, boxer brief, thong, jockstrap, and bikini.
Picking the Right Style
When it comes to picking the right style of underwear for your nether regions, form and style are just as important as the look. Additionally, what you are doing should also be taken into account when deciding what to wear; what you wear on a daily basis might not work as well when you’re out exercising or doing something more strenuous.
While the breadth of underwear choice has definitely increased for men over time, the age old debate of “boxers versus briefs” is still the biggest question when it comes to picking underwear. So which is best? Well according to Everyday Health, Dr. Gregory D. Albert, MD, states that it’s really just a matter of personal preference. Boxers provide more airflow and breathing room while briefs provide more support, but can lower fertility.
If you can’t pick between either of those two styles, you can compromise and get either boxer briefs or boxer trunks, the hybrid offspring of boxers and briefs. While the difference between the boxer briefs and trunks may seem very minimal, trunks are basically low-rise variants of boxer briefs, Dappered discusses in some detail how trunks are a much sexier alternative that also has less chance of bunching up into a sort of “underwear diaper”.
While a number of additional styles like thongs and bikinis were mentioned in the intro, those are beginning to veer away from underwear designed for regular use. While it’s possible to wear underwear like thongs and bikinis during regular day-to-day life, it’s not usually recommended as those types of underwear are designed for sexiness and aesthetics instead of function. EBay’s guide for men’s underwear warns that wearing more revealing underwear with pants can cause discomfort due to sweating and riding up. Even so, picking a sexy top underwear brand like VK Nagrani Men’s Designer underwear can really help put a spring in your confidence and might just spice up that special night.
Your Body Type Matters
Buying underwear for the aesthetics alone is likely to end up with you being very uncomfortable in your pants. So it’s important that you take the time to find underwear that will fit your body type. If you’ve never taken the time to figure out what sort of body shape you have, perhaps now is a good time to begin.
Though all underwear types can technically fit all body types, The Underwear Expert emphasizes the fact that different underwear styles fit certain body types better than others. The main body types they discuss are apple-shaped, pear-shaped, slim, short, and tall. Each of these body types can run into issues with how underwear fits, how good its coverage is, and how large or small the underwear looks on the wearer. It’s best to take some time to figure out what sort of body shape you have and pick underwear accordingly.
Unusual Circumstances
What you wear during your workout and your day-to-day life won’t always cut it when you’re doing something more adventuresome than running to the gym. There are specialty underwear types that you may want to look into if you’re a more outdoorsy kind of guy. Looking into thermal underwear styles can be beneficial if you intend on going anywhere particularly cold, whether camping, skiing, or just visiting the north. Additionally, since most thermal underwear is ankle length, they can be used as loungewear at home as well.
While not as common as regular underwear, undershirts also come in various styles and uses. Depending on your preferences, picking up some undershirt underwear can be a good idea.
There is one more style of underwear you can always fall back on if you can’t find any others that work for you. This fall back style is known as Going Commando and actually consists of not wearing any underwear. As odd as it may seem to those of you who have never tried it, Going Commando can be an incredibly comfortable style. However, as warned by Everyday Health, it’s best to proceed with caution when opting for the no underwear look as some clothing can be too revealing without underwear and sweating up a storm can lead to nasty chaffing.
According to South Korea’s intelligence, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered the execution of 15 people in 2015, including several top officials.
South Korea’s spy agency told a parliamentary meeting on April 29 that they were executed by firing squad on spying charges.
Those killed include two vice ministers who challenged Kim Jong-un over his policies and members of an orchestra, intelligence officials said.
Kim Jong-un purged and executed his once-powerful uncle Chang Song-thaek for treachery in 2013.
South Korean politicians were told that one of the officials killed was a forestry minister who had complained about North Korea’s forestation plan, Yonhap news agency reported.
“Excuses or reasoning doesn’t work for Kim Jong-un, and his style of rule is to push through everything,” said Shin Kyung-min, a member of South Korea’s parliamentary intelligence committee, quoting an intelligence official.
Shin Kyung-min’s office told Reuters news agency that the unnamed official had added that the executions were a “showcase” in response to what Kim Jong-un saw as a challenge to his authority.
Four members of North Korea’s Unhasu Orchestra are also believed to have been executed in March.
Reports say that Kim Jong-un’s wife, Ri Sol-ju was a singer in the orchestra before her marriage.
South Korean politician Lee Cheol-woo told Yonhap that the head of the orchestra had been executed, possibly for leaking family secrets.
There has been no confirmation from North Korea about the executions but Kim Jong-un has purged his opponents before.
This year Israel celebrates 67th anniversary of its independance. On the eve of this event, Site Jewish News has collected 10 most interesting facts you didn’t know about this Jewish State.
1. Till 1979, relations between Israel and Iran were quite warm.
Up until al-Khomeini revolution, Iran supplied Israel with oil and got modern weapon in return. Moreover, Iran was one of the first muslim countries to recognise the independence of Israel. There was a tight collaboration between the two countries and the airline “El Al” served regular flights to Tehran.
2. Golda Meir – world’s third woman prime minister.
10 Interesting Facts About Israel
Being a native of Kiev, in the late 60s, Golda Meir has repeated the success of Indira Gandhi and Sirimavo Bandaranaike, by having taken the Prime Minister office of her country. Up to the present days, the role of Golda Meir in the history of Israel remains very controversial.
3. Descendants of the Third Reich leaders still live in Israel.
Such statement was made by the creators of one of the documentary films, released in 2013. What is known for sure, is that after the war some Nazi kinsmen really embraced Judaism and intermarried with Jews.
4. TV broadcasting in Israel appeared only in the late 1960s.
Up until 1986, TV broadcasting was occasional and there was only one channel in the country. Only in 1990, with the advent of Cable TV, Israel television began quickly developing.
5. Prime Minister of Israel initiated the manufacture of synthetic rice.
In 1950s, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion designated one of the country’s food producers, create a full analogue of rice, which has not got recognitions in the Middle East.
6. American airline has evacuated thousands of Jews from Yemen.
During one year (1949-1950), while rescuing Jewish Yemenis from anti-semitic demolitions, Alaska Airlines has evacuated about 50 thousand Jewish Yemeni.
7. Mother-in-law of the British Queen is buried in Israel.
The remains of Princess Alice of Battenberg (the mother of Prince Philip and mother-in -law of Queen Elizabeth II) was buried in the cemetery of the Mount of Olives in 1988. In war-time, this brave, deaf-mute princess has saved a jewish woman and several children.
8. Albert Einstein could have become the president of Israel.
A famous scientist got this offer from the Prime Minister Ben-Gurion in 1952. Einstein refused the offer without giving any reasons to his refusal.
9. The Mount Scopus is de-facto a part of East Jerusalem.
The mountain territory came under the control of Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967.
10. It has been 25 years since Israel adopted the law regulating water heating using solar energy.
It turned out to be an effective solution to overcome a severe energy crisis. Today, 9 of 10 houses use solar water heaters.
Ford has reported lower-than-expected profits for Q1 2015 after it sold fewer vehicles in North America and continued to lose money in Europe and South America.
Pre-tax profit for Q1 2015 rose $24 million to $1.4 billion, but revenue slipped $2 billion to $33.9 billion.
The carmaker sold 1.57 million vehicles, down 21,000 compared with a year earlier.
There were 678,000 sales in North America – a fall of 39,000.
The introduction of a new F-150 pickup affected sales in North America as vehicles are still being sent to dealers, while customers waited for a new model of the Ford Edge SUV. The two models are among the company’s most profitable.
However, Ford said it expected a “very strong year” in North America, despite a slight fall in revenue to $20 billion and an 11% slide in pre-tax profit to $1.34 billion.
Ford – which employs about 194,000 people globally at 66 plants – maintained its full-year forecast for pre-tax profits of between $8.5 billion and $9.5 billion.
Ford CFO Bob Shanks said the carmaker was on track for a “breakthrough year”.
CEO Mark Fields also said Ford would “grow progressively stronger” as recent launches “start to pay off”.
The results were lower than analysts had expected, Ford said, because they had forecast a tax rate of 29% for the quarter, while the company paid 34%.
Europe remained a weak spot even though sales rose 2% to 376,000 vehicles in the quarter, with revenue down $900 million to $6.9 billion and pre-tax losses totaling $185 million.
There was robust demand for commercial vehicles such as the Transit van.
Revenue in South America fell 20% and the carmaker remained in the red for the region with a $189 million loss as it replaced legacy products with those from its “One Ford” range.
That was better than the $510 million loss for the period in 2014, which included a $310 million charge to offset currency devaluation in Venezuela.
Prospects in Asia were brighter, as sales rose 16,000 to 366,000 vehicles and a $103 million profits.
The financing operation, Ford Credit, returned a profit of $483 million on the back of higher lending.
Ford Q1 dividend was raised by 20% to 15 cents a share.
Baltimore Police fired gas to enforce a curfew on the streets, a night after violence and arson rocked the city.
After an evening of largely peaceful protests, a few hundred people defied the deadline of 22:00.
In the face of thousands of troops on the city streets, the remaining crowds later dispersed and police said the curfew was working.
The protests have gone on daily since the death of African American Freddie Gray in police custody on April 19.
Freddie Gray’s death is the latest in a string of high-profile cases where black men have died after contact with the police.
There was an outbreak of violence after Freddie Gray’s funeral on April 27, but a different atmosphere characterized the streets the following night.
Two hours after the start of the curfew, which runs from 22:00 to 05:00, Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said it was working well.
Photo Getty Images
There were “no major issues” and only 10 arrests, he said.
A few individuals threw bottles and gas canisters at police but there were no major clashes.
The National Guard had been sent to Baltimore to stop unrest for the first time since 1968, when some of the city’s neighborhoods went up in flames after the assassination of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
Baltimore leaders and pastors had urged calm on April 28, after about 200 people were arrested the previous night as more than 100 cars were set alight and 15 buildings destroyed.
A mother who was filmed smacking her rioting son, instantly becoming an overnight celebrity, has spoken out about her widely praised actions.
“He knew he was in trouble,” Toya Graham told CBS News.
“I’m a no-tolerant mother. Everybody that knows me, knows I don’t play that.”
At a news conference on April 28, President Barack Obama harshly criticized the perpetrators of “senseless violence and destruction”.
Barack Obama described the issues behind the protests – the use of force by police against African American men – as a “slow-rolling crisis”.
The person hoping to follow him in the White House, fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, also spoke out, calling it “heartbreaking”.
“We have to restore order and security,” Hillary Clinton told a fundraising event in New York.
“But then we have to take a hard look as to what we need to do to reform our system.”
Freddie Gray, 25, died after suffering unexplained injuries to his spinal cord in police custody and spending a week in a coma.
The Kingsmen lead singer Jack Ely, who was best known for 1960s hit Louie Louie, has died aged 71.
His son, Sean Ely said the singer died at home in Redmond, Oregon after a long battle with an illness.
Jack Ely’s incoherent singing on Louie Louie led the FBI to investigate the famous track.
He had a falling out with the band shortly after the song was recorded and later trained horses in Oregon.
Louie Louie was recorded in 1957 by Richard Berry, who had written it two years earlier.
The song is written from the perspective of a man who wants to sail to Jamaica to return to a girl he loves.
It was Jack Ely’s rendition that popularized the song, which became a huge hit.
After the investigation, FBI agents reportedly concluded, in a lengthy investigative report, that the song was “unintelligible at any speed”.
Despite hundreds of covers by artists including Otis Redding, the Beach Boys, and the Sonics, the Kingsmens’ version of Louie Louie remains the definitive recording.
King Salman of Saudi Arabia has announced a major cabinet reshuffle that puts in place a new generation to succeed him as head of the kingdom.
The new king has appointed his nephew, Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, as Crown Prince, replacing Prince Moqrin bin Abdul Aziz.
His son, Mohammed bin Salman, believed to be in his early 30s, has been made deputy crown prince.
King Salman, 78, came to the throne in January 2015 after the death of his half-brother Abdullah.
Photo Getty Images
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, who was thought to be aged about 90, had been on the throne since 2005 and Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader for the 10 years before that.
King Salman has pushed aside allies of the late monarch such as his half-brother Moqrin bin Abdul Aziz, who was Crown Prince.
The rise of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, and Mohammed bin Salman means a new generation is now in line to lead the kingdom for the first time.
The appointment of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef is likely to be welcomed by the United States, with whom he has a close relationship.
The kingdom’s veteran security chief, he is known for his strong stance against Islamist militants and narrowly survived an assassination attempt by al-Qaeda in 2009.
The new deputy Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has enjoyed a meteoric rise within the Saudi leadership.
He was appointed defense minister in January, and in the last month has been overseeing the Saudi-led operation in Yemen.
In other appointments, the world’s longest-serving Foreign Minister Saud el Faysal – who has been in his job since 1975 – has been replaced by the Saudi ambassador to the US Adel Jubeir, who is not a member of the royal family.
King Salman has been pushing a more assertive, muscular foreign policy to push back against Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran with the new appointments reinforcing that trend.
It has been found by a UK based online travel agency that there are certain things that really annoy holiday makers, particularly during couples’ holidays. Trying to, and failing to, speak a native language was one of these annoyance, particularly if people were over the top about it. Women in particular found this very annoying. Men were mainly irritated by exhibitionism and by finding their partners to strict in terms of how they could and couldn’t spend their holiday money.
An online UK travel agency has recently performed a piece of research to determine what UK holiday makers were most annoyed with when they were on holiday. Men and women alike were annoyed by their partners “being an embarrassing drunk”. However, there were other things that annoyed people about their partners as well.
The poll is a part of the Sunshine.co.uk study that aims to find out what people’s habits and preferences are when they are on holiday. Some 1,578 people, divided equally between men and women, from all over the United Kingdom were surveyed. Each of these were over the age of 18, in a current relationship and had vacationed with their current partner in the past 12 months.
The first element of the survey was to determine whether their partner actually engaged in any type of behaviour that caused them some sort of annoyance while being on holiday. A whopping 75% answered yes to this particular question. Those who did answer positively would then be asked what type of behaviour annoyed them. There were marked differences between the answers of men and women, however.
Men’s Top 5 Peeves
Going topless while sunbathing was mentioned in 67% of all cases.
Being too strict, or overly frugal, when it comes to how the holiday budget was spent was mentioned in 51% of all cases.
Taking too much time in order to get ready was mentioned in 46% of all cases.
Spending too long working on a suntan was mentioned in 32% of cases.
Being embarrassing while drunk was mentioned in 21% of cases.
Women’s Top 5 Peeves
Trying, and failing, to speak the native language was mentioned in 47% of cases.
Being embarrassing while drunk was mentioned in 38% of cases.
Ogling other women was mentioned in 32% of cases.
Making a mess in the accommodation was mentioned in 27% of cases.
Sweating excessively was mentioned in 16% of cases.
Respondents were also asked whether they had confronted their partner. This received a 46% yes vote. Of these, 77% also said that this then led to an argument. At the same time, however, 71% of all respondents said that they felt happier with their partner while on holiday.
“I suppose for some people it can be a bit of a shock going from only spending evenings and weekends with your partner, due to busy work schedules, to spending 24/7 with them on holiday”, says Chris Clarkson, Sunshine‘s Managing Director. “This extra time together and the relaxed holiday environment often bring things to the fore which you hadn’t noticed about your partner previously, or which seem to irritate you.
“Our advice would be to just kick back and enjoy your holiday and the time you have to spend together. So what if your other half is having a go at speaking the language? Good on them! If there are certain behaviours that start to bug you, like them checking out other people, just let them know how you feel to try and nip it in the bud.”
President Barack Obama said those who looted and started fires in Baltimore “should be treated like criminals”.
He also said police violence against African-Americans is a “slow-rolling crisis” after a night of violence in Baltimore.
The Baltimore rioting came after the funeral of Freddie Gray, a black man fatally injured in police custody in the city.
A week-long curfew has been announced and thousands of troops have been deployed to Baltimore.
The National Guard has been sent to Baltimore to stop unrest for the first time since 1968, when some of the city’s neighborhoods went up in flames after the assassination of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
About 200 people were arrested on April 27, when more than 100 cars were set alight and 15 buildings destroyed.
Photo AP
Barack Obama harshly criticized “a handful of people” for “senseless violence and destruction”.
“That is not a protest, that is not a statement, they are stealing.”
However, Barack Obama said the rioting had distracted from the frustration over Freddie Gray’s death.
“This has been a slow-rolling crisis. This has been going on for a long time. This is not new. And we shouldn’t pretend that it’s new,” Barack Obama said.
The president added such problems would not be solved just by changes to policing.
“It would require everybody saying this is important, this is significant, and that we don’t just pay attention to these communities when a CVS burns and we don’t just pay attention when a young man gets shot or has his spine snapped.”
At an afternoon briefing, Baltimore Captain Eric Kowalczyk was asked why the police had not responded with more resources to prevent fires and rioting.
Capt. Eric Kowalczyk said police had originally deployed for a “high school event”, expecting young students.
“I don’t think there’s anyone in the country that would expect us to deploy automatic weapons and armored vehicles to an event with 13, 14 and 15 year olds,” but saw it turned into an incident that drew in older troublemakers and escalated in violence.
Out of 235 arrests, 201 were adults, Capt. Eric Kowalczyk said.
He also noted there was a large group at a major intersection in Baltimore on April 28 who were protesting peacefully.
“That’s what we’re used to seeing in Baltimore.”
Volunteers and city workers began cleaning up affected areas on Tuesday morning. Smoke still rose from buildings set alight the night before.
Freddie Gray, 25, died on April 19 after suffering unexplained injuries to his spinal cord and spending a week in a coma.
Officials have suspended six police officers who were involved in the case.
Greece’s PM Alexis Tsipras has said his country is in the final, critical stretch of talks with its international creditors and that he believes an interim deal will be in place by May 9.
Greece’s objective was to find an agreement this week or next week at the latest, Alexis Tsipras said in a marathon TV interview on April 27.
Alexis Tsipras defended Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, who was sidelined from Greece’s negotiating team on April 27.
However, the prime minister admitted mistakes had been made in talks with EU partners.
Since Greece’s left-wing Syriza party came to power on January 25, it has sought to renegotiate the terms of the country’s €240 billion ($260 billion) bailout from the IMF and EU.
Greece’s negotiators have so far failed to satisfy the country’s international creditors with the scope of economic reforms required before the EU hands over the latest €7.2 billion tranche of the bailout, which the government needs to pay its bills.
Yanis Varoufakis was left isolated at an EU finance ministers meeting in Latvia on April 24, skipping a state dinner and tweeting a line from late US President Franklin Roosevelt.
Describing Yanis Varoufakis as an important asset for Greece, Alexis Tsipras argued that he had annoyed his European colleagues because he spoke their language better than they did.
From now on, Greece’s negotiations will be led by another economist in the government, Euclid Tsakalotos.
In his three-hour appearance on Greece’s Star TV, Alexis Tsipras acknowledged there was a “negative atmosphere” surrounding the talks but he suggested it was all a standard part of negotiations.
Alexis Tsipras was also critical of the government’s European negotiating partners, accusing them of reneging on a verbal commitment in February to allow Greek banks to finance the government.
“I believe we are close. I believe that if no-one wants to undermine or torpedo [the talks] we are close to an accepted package,” he said.
There would be concessions, the prime minister said, such as the part privatization of Piraeus port and the leasing of 14 regional airports.
Greece is facing a €200 million debt interest payment to the IMF on May 1st and has appealed to various public bodies to provide money from their cash reserves.
The big debt interest payment to the IMF is due on May 12, when the Greek government will have to find another €750 million.
Almost half the international investors surveyed by German research group Sentix believe Greece will leave the euro in the next 12 months.
Sentix’s break-up index for Greece rose from 35.5% in March to 48.8% in April, based on a survey of around 1,000 investors.
Alexis Tsipras rejected the idea of snap elections if EU talks failed but he did say that a referendum could be held on a final deal.
Baltimore has declared a state of emergency amid violent protests linked to Freddie Gray’s death.
The African American man was fatally injured in police custody.
A week-long curfew has been announced and as many as 5,000 National Guard troops could be deployed.
After dark, a community building that was under construction was engulfed in flames.
On April 27, dozens of people were seen confronting police, and 15 officers were injured.
Freddie Gray, 25, died on April 19 after a week in a coma. The justice department is investigating exactly where and when his spinal injuries were sustained.
Officials have suspended six police officers who were involved in the case.
Monday’s clashes began hours after Freddie Gray’s funeral.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said it was very clear there was a difference between the “peaceful protests of those who seek justice” and the “thugs who want to incite violence”.
Authorities were “deploying every resource possible to regain control of the situation”, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said.
Later, following violence, looting and fires in various spots across the city of more than 620,000 people, she said: “This destruction we’ve seen this evening is heart-breaking.”
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has ordered a week-long curfew from 22:00 to 05:00 starting on April 28. Public schools are to be closed on Tuesday.
National Guard commander Linda Singh said that up to 5,000 troops could be put on the streets.
“We will be out in massive force,” she said, adding that armored vehicles would be used, but Baltimore would not be under martial law.
Extra police officers are also being drafted in from the Mid-Atlantic region.
Earlier, President Barack Obama said his administration would provide whatever assistance was needed.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan issued an executive order to “protect the lives and property of citizens being impacted by this public emergency”.
Larry Hogan said calling in the National Guard was a “last resort” and that he had “not made this decision lightly”.
Capt. Eric Kowalczyk of Baltimore Police said the 15 injured officers were wounded by thrown objects including bricks and bottles. Two remain in hospital.
Police made at least 27 arrests.
On April 27, fire broke out at a newly constructed community building near a church in eastern Baltimore.
Kevin Harris, a spokesman for the mayor, said the fire was at the Mary Harvin Transformation Centre, described online as a community-based organization that supports young people and families.
Before nightfall, scenes included a blaze at a CVS chemist, stores being looted and police vehicles being burned and vandalized.
Baltimore’s Major League Baseball team the Orioles cancelled Monday night’s game against Chicago’s White Sox as a result of the violence.
Freddie Gray’s death is the latest in a string of high-profile cases where black men have died after contact with the police.
According to a new report, Khloe Kardashian and her estranged husband Lamar Odom are actually secretly talking,
Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom “are not romantic and are not talking reconciliation, but they don’t want to close the door on the marriage either,” TMZ reported, adding that that’s why the former couple’s divorce case still remains unresolved for more than a year.
Photo Instagram
It’s believed that if neither side acts quickly, a judge will throw out the divorce case.
The website claims that Khloe Kardashian “still has feelings for [Lamar Odom]” and wants him to make a “grand gesture,” which he apparently isn’t willing to do.
It was also reported that Khloe Kardashian simply doesn’t want to hurt Lamar Odom by sealing the deal on the divorce.
Artificial sweetener aspartame has sparked controversy since it was first approved for use in the 1980s, despite being one of the most thoroughly tested and studied food additives.
Aspartame, also known as E951 or NutraSweet, is about 200 times sweeter than sugar but contains very few calories.
Foods and drinks around the world use aspartame as a sugar substitute, including breakfast cereals and sugar-free chewing gum.
Food safety experts have been keeping aspartame’s use under close scrutiny since a number of anecdotal reports pointed to potential side-effects.
A study published by the Ramazzini Foundation in Bologna, Italy, in July 2005 claimed to have shown that rats given dosages of aspartame equivalent to those in humans may develop tumors.
However, European regulators who assessed this research were not convinced by it and concluded that aspartame could still be used as a food additive.
The FDA says there are more than 100 studies that support aspartame’s safety.
Regulators also agree that there should be a limit to how much of the sweetener people consume.
An adult would have to consume 14 cans of a sugar-free drink every day to reach this limit.
There are some people who cannot safely consume aspartame. These are people with an inherited disease called phenylketonuria (PKU).
People with PKU are unable to metabolize a component of aspartame.
