Home Blog Page 473

Taiwan elections 2014: PM PM Jiang Yi-huah resigns after ruling pro-China party loses poll

Diane A. Wade
-
0
Taiwan elections 2014: PM PM Jiang Yi-huah resigns after ruling pro-China party loses poll

Taiwan PM Jiang Yi-huah has resigned after his ruling pro-China party suffered stiff defeats in local elections.

The Kuomintang party (KMT) appears to have lost control of districts across Taiwan, including the mayor’s office in the capital, Taipei.

Saturday’s polls were widely seen as a referendum on relations with China.

KMT supporters had argued for good relations with China, which views Taiwan as a renegade province.

China and Taiwan, a close US ally, have been ruled separately since the end of a civil war in 1949.

Jiang Yi-huah told reporters he was stepping down in order to take responsibility for the defeat.

Moments later, President Ma Ying-jeou, who is also KMT chairman, apologized to supporters “for making everyone disappointed”.

“I’ve received the message people have sent via these elections,” President Ma Ying-jeou told a news conference.

“It’s my responsibility and I will quickly offer a party reform plan to address everyone’s demands. I won’t avoid responsibility.”

The race in Taipei was watched with particular attention as a test of Ma Ying-jeou’s pro-China policy.

In the event, an independent opposition-backed candidate, Ko Wen-je, claimed victory over the KMT’s Sean Lien.

Sean Lien publicly bowed in defeat along with his solemn-faced supporters.

“We congratulate Mr. Ko,” he said in his concession speech.

“I’m sorry I didn’t win this election.”

More than 18 million eligible voters were registered to vote, choosing from among 20,000 candidates who were running for more than 11,000 positions.

Some voters fear that if the KMT is allowed to continue building strong ties with China, Taiwan may become too economically dependent on the mainland and vulnerable to its pressures to reunify one day.

They distrust the KMT, regardless of whether the deals signed with Beijing are good for Taiwan.

KMT supporters, on the other hand, feel that Taiwan needs good relations with its biggest trade partner to breathe new life into the island’s ailing economy.

They feared a victory by the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) could cause relations with China and Taiwan’s economy to regress.

The DPP supports Taiwan’s formal independence from China, something Beijing strongly opposes.

In 2016, Taiwan will hold the more important presidential and legislative polls.

[youtube q52HJYGpNMg 650]

Frida Kahlo’s garden and studio to be recreated at New York Botanical Garden

Sonia Pantiss
-
0
Frida Kahlo’s garden and studio to be recreated at New York Botanical Garden

Frida Kahlo’s garden and studio will be recreated at the New York Botanical Garden in 2015.

Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden, Life will be the late artist’s first solo show in New York for more than 25 years.

The exhibition will include original paintings by the Mexican artist which reflect the use of botanical imagery in her work.

Frida Kahlo, who died 60 years ago, remains best known for her searing self-portraits and her use of intense, vibrant colors.

The exhibition follows a similar project at the New York Botanical Garden in 2012 which re-imagined Claude Monet’s flower and water gardens at Giverny.

The Kahlo show, which opens on May 16 and runs to November, will see the Botanical Garden’s Enid A Haupt Conservatory transformed into Frida Kahlo’s family home Casa Azul (The Blue House).

It will recreate the blue courtyard walls, a scale version of a pyramid created to display pre-Columbian art collected by her husband, muralist Diego Rivera, and frida Kahlo’s studio. There will also be a lava rock path lined with native flowers from Mexico.

Frida Kahlo lived her entire life, from 1907 to 1954, in the cobalt-blue house in Coyoacan, outside Mexico City.

She began to paint in 1925 while recovering from a bus accident that left her in constant pain and permanently disabled, leading to more than 30 operations.

Frida Kahlo’s inclusion of plants and nature in her work spans her entire career, but was most intensive during the 1940s and ’50s when her health declined and she was increasingly confined to her home.

The exhibition, curated by Mexican art specialist Adriana Zavala, “will celebrate the energy and sophistication of Mexican culture” and provide and “in-depth look at Kahlo’s work”, said Gregory Long of the Botanical Gardens

Chespirito dead: Comic icon Roberto Gomez Bolanos dies in Cancun at 85

Sonia Pantiss
-
0
Chespirito dead: Comic icon Roberto Gomez Bolanos dies in Cancun at 85

Mexican comic icon Roberto Gomez Bolanos, known as Chespirito (Little Shakespeare), has died at the age of 85.

The actor’s work delighted children over four decades.

His characters included El Chapulin Colorado, the inspiration behind The Simpsons‘ Bumblebee Man.

Roberto Gomez Bolanos, who died at home in the resort of Cancun, appeared in several movies and plays. His live shows played to packed out stadiums.

His television work was exported to 90 countries, translated into dozens of languages, and still shows today.

The cause of death was not immediately known.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted that the country had lost an “icon whose work transcended generations and borders”.

Chespirito himself had some 6.6 million Twitter followers.

His nickname stemmed from his short stature.

In 2011 Roberto Gomez Bolanos said: “Nicknames are the most essential in life, more valuable than names.”

One of his biggest hits was the show El Chavo del Ocho, about a naive child who hides in a barrel.

The Chapulin Colorado, or Red Grasshopper, character was a comic superhero whose red and yellow outfit and hood which bore antennae inspired The Simpsons‘ Bumblebee Man.

Roberto Gomez Bolanos is survived by his second wife, Florinda Meza, six children from his first marriage and 12 grandchildren.

[youtube MT-82OT_MU0 650]

Francois Hollande and Julie Gayet photos shake Elysee Palace

Lisa.Felice
-
0
Francois Hollande and Julie Gayet photos shake Elysee Palace

Five members of French President Francois Hollande’s staff have been reassigned as police investigate photos taken of the president with actress Julie Gayet inside the Elysee Palace.

The photos in Voici magazine show Francois Hollande and Julie Gayet sitting on a terrace in the grounds of the presidential palace.

Their alleged love affair made worldwide headlines in January.

Police believe the photos may have been taken by a member of Francois Hollande’s staff last month on a mobile phone.

Voici magazine described the photos of Francois Hollande and Julie Gayet – published earlier this month – as a “tender moment… behind the walls of the Elysee”, where she spends “several nights a week”.

Newspaper reports say some of the staff who have been transferred as police investigate the security breach were appointed by Francois Hollande’s predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Photos in January of Francois Hollande in a scooter helmet visiting Julie Gayet in a Paris apartment set off a media frenzy as the president was at the time in a relationship with Valerie Trierweiler.

In March, a French court ordered Closer magazine to pay Julie Gayet 15,000 euros ($19,000) over a breach of privacy for revealing the affair.

Valerie Trierweiler, a journalist, published a bestselling memoir soon afterwards detailing their relationship, in which she depicted Francois Hollande as a self-centered champagne socialist with no time for the poor.

[youtube ns8lQZVx-VA 650]

Hosni Mubarak murder trial: Egypt court dismisses charges due to lack of jurisdiction

Roy Siemens
-
0
Hosni Mubarak murder trial: Egypt court dismisses charges due to lack of jurisdiction

An Egyptian court has dismissed charges against former President Hosni Mubarak for conspiring in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising due to a technicality and lack of jurisdiction.

Hosni Mubarak and his sons Alaa and Gamal were also cleared by Chief Judge Mahmoud Kamel al-Rashidi of corruption charges related to exporting gas to Israel.

In 2013, an appeals court overturned an initial life sentence given to Hosni Mubarak in 2012 on technical grounds.

Hosni Mubarak, 86, will not be released as he is serving a three-year sentence for embezzling public funds.

He denies all the charges against him.

Hosni Mubarak had been accused along with the former police commanders of involvement in the killing of 846 demonstrators during the 2011 revolt that ended his three-decade rule. Only 239 of the deaths were considered by the court, the presiding judge said.

In 2012, Hosni Mubarak – along with former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly – was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for complicity in the deaths of demonstrators during the 2011 revolt that eventually forced him to resign.

In January 2013, the Court of Cassation upheld an appeal by the two men against their convictions on technical grounds and ordered a retrial.

In August, a court ordered Hosni Mubarak’s release from prison and transfer to a military hospital in Cairo, where he is being held under house arrest.

Hosni Mubarak’s Islamist successor Mohamed Morsi lasted only a year in power following elections before being ousted by the military in July 2013.

The move followed four days of mass anti-government protests and Mohamed Morsi’s rejection of an ultimatum from the generals to resolve Egypt’s worst political crisis since the 2011 upheaval.

The former army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, was later elected as the country’s new president.

[youtube -0SsF8gafeg 650]

Taiwan elections 2014: Pro-China test for ruling party KMT

Diane A. Wade
-
0
Taiwan elections 2014: Pro-China test for ruling party KMT

Taiwan is holding the island’s biggest local election, which is widely seen as a referendum on the China policy of the ruling party.

Almost 20,000 candidates are running for more than 11,000 posts on nine levels of government.

Critics say the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party is too close to China, while its supporters say Taiwan needs good relations with its powerful neighbor.

China sees Taiwan as renegade province with which it should be re-united.

Taiwan and China have been ruled separately since the end of a civil war in 1949.

Taiwan only began allowing truly democratic elections – with opposition party candidates and universal suffrage – in the late 1980s.

Polling stations across the island opened at 08:00 local time, with more than 18 million eligible voters registered.

The KMT currently holds the presidency, a legislative majority, and most of Taiwan’s cities and counties, although recent opinion polls have suggested that it risks losing its traditional strongholds such as Taipei and Taichung.

Some voters fear that if the KMT is allowed to continue building strong ties with China, Taiwan may become too economically dependent on the mainland and vulnerable to its pressures to reunify one day.

They distrust the KMT, regardless of whether the deals signed with Beijing are good for Taiwan, our correspondent says.

KMT supporters, on the other hand, feel that Taiwan needs good relations with its biggest trade partner to breath new life into the island’s ailing economy.

They fear a victory by the opposition DPP party could cause relations with China and Taiwan’s economy to regress.

The DPP supports Taiwan’s formal independence from China, something Beijing strongly opposes.

In 2016, Taiwan will hold the more important presidential and legislative polls.

[youtube WKPzmq_QbW0 650]

Pope Francis meets Muslim and Christian leaders in Istanbul

Diane A. Wade
-
0
Pope Francis meets Muslim and Christian leaders in Istanbul

Pope Francis is due to arrive in Istanbul meet Muslim and Christian leaders of the city on the second day of his three-day visit to Turkey.

Istanbul, previously known Constantinople, was Byzantine’s capital until the Ottoman conquest in 1453.

Pope Francis will also visit a mosque and hold mass at a Catholic cathedral.

Yesterday the pontiff called for an interfaith dialogue to counter fanaticism and fundamentalism during a visit to the Turkish capital Ankara.

He also called for a renewed Middle East peace push, saying the region had “for too long been a theatre of fratricidal wars”.

Pope Francis’ trip is only the fourth visit by a pontiff to Turkey. Most of the country’s 80 million citizens are Muslims, and there are about 120,000 Christians.

The Pope will begin his visit to Istanbul with a visit to Hagia Sofia – for almost 1,000 years the most important Orthodox cathedral, then for nearly five centuries a mosque under the Ottomans, currently a museum.

He will then hold meetings with Muslim leaders at the Blue Mosque, one of the greatest masterpieces of Ottoman architecture.

Later in the day, Pope Francis will celebrate mass at the Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Spirit and then will meet Bartholomew I – the “first among equals” of the Orthodox Church.

Correspondents say Pope Francis and Bartholomew I have a strong personal relationship, and discussions are expected to focus on healing the schism in the Christian Church that divided it between Rome and Constantinople.

In Ankara, Pope Francis stressed the need for reconciliation and dialogue between the religions.

[youtube ohRLqX5aIjA 650]

Ray Rice wins appeal against NFL suspension in domestic abuse case

Clyde K. Valle
-
0
Ray Rice wins appeal against NFL suspension in domestic abuse case

Ray Rice has won his appeal against an indefinite suspension from the NFL games, and is now eligible to play again immediately.

The 27-year-old NFL running-back was handed an indefinite ban in September when a video emerged of him punching his then-fiancée (now wife) Janay Palmer in the face.

Raymell Mourice Rice was released by the Baltimore Ravens, but he is now allowed to play should he sign for a new team.

The appeal, heard on November 5 but announced on November 28, had to decide if the NFL overstepped its authority.

American football’s governing body had modified Ray Rice’s two-game suspension, making it indefinite after the video of the incident went public.

Ray Rice has been eligible to sign for a new team since his ban was put in place, but he had not yet accepted a contract.

[youtube c7NMjcmBL2I 650]

Mickey Rourke defeats Elliot Seymour in Moscow exhibition boxing match

Clyde K. Valle
-
0
Mickey Rourke defeats Elliot Seymour in Moscow exhibition boxing match

Mickey Rourke has won an exhibition boxing match in Moscow after returning to the ring for the first time in 20 years at the age of 62.

Mickey Rourke defeated Elliot Seymour – a former California Golden Gloves champion 33 years his junior.

The former Hollywood star sent 29-year-old Elliot Seymour to the canvas twice in the second round before the referee stopped the fight.

Mickey Rourke was an amateur boxer before finding fame in Hollywood movies such as 9 1/2 Weeks.

The organizers of the match said the boxers were receiving “large amounts of money” in fees but declined to give details.

“I’m very happy to be back to the boxing ring. Thank God for letting me do this,” Mickey Rourke said ahead of his fight with Elliot Seymour.

The actor refused to go into detail about his motivations for returning to the ring, but told Russian TV boxing had “sort of saved me from myself”.

Mickey Rourke is reported to have lost more than 33lbs for the fight, weighing in at 179.2lbs, the same as his rival.

Elliot Seymour is ranked 256th in the US and before the fight with Mickey Rourke had one knockout and nine losses in 10 bouts.

Mickey Rourke returned to boxing as a professional in the 1990s and was undefeated in eight fights, with six wins and two draws.

However, he suffered a number of facial injuries, which required surgery and changed his appearance.

In 2008, Mickey Rourke won a BAFTA and Golden Globe for his role in the film The Wrestler, which told the tale of a former wrestling professional who decided to return to the sport.

[youtube IScF_C_rJDg 650]

Austin gun attack at Mexican Consulate and government buildings

Nancy Clayson
-
0
Austin gun attack at Mexican Consulate and government buildings

Downtown buildings and the Mexican Consulate in Austin, Texas, have been attacked by a gunman on Friday morning.

The white, middle-aged man, who fired at the consulate, the police headquarters and a courthouse may have had political reasons, police say.

The gunman was shot by police but it is not clear whether he was fatally wounded or took his own life.

Police said it looked like an “anti-government” attack and pointed to the “heated” immigration debate.

When asked if it was a political attack on the government, Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said: “If you look at the targets that were hit, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that that’s a potential.”

The political discourse around immigration, Art Acevedo added: “Becomes very heated and very angry and sometimes the rhetoric is not healthy.”

No-one was injured in the attack and a fire the man started at the consulate caused very little damage.

The man was unidentified but described as white and about 50 years old.

After being shot, officers noticed cylinders in his vehicle nearby and discovered he was wearing a vest they thought might be rigged to blow up.

A bomb squad was called but they determined that the items were not explosive.

The man’s home is now being searched.

[youtube ShAj9Envo4A 650]

Black Friday 2014: Lower sales expected as many stores opened on Thanksgiving Day

Clyde K. Valle
-
0
Black Friday 2014: Lower sales expected as many stores opened on Thanksgiving Day

This year’s Black Friday was notably less intense as bargains spread over two days.

The crowds, gathering at the biggest shopping centers, appeared to have exhausted some of their shopping enthusiasm on Thursday.

As last year, many retailers had opened their doors early to try to pull shoppers in ahead of rivals.

“The consumer clearly enjoys shopping on Thanksgiving,” said Target’s chief executive, Brian Cornell.

When opening the New York Stock Exchange for Friday’s shortened day of trading, Brian Cornell welcomed the way the holiday season “has moved from an event on Black Friday morning to a multi-day event”.

Many shoppers headed straight to the shops whilst still digesting their Thanksgiving turkey on Thursday, forming queues outside Macy’s by 6PM on what is becoming known as “grey Thursday”.

But if footfall was subdued, online sales came to the fore.

Wal-Mart said Thursday was its second-highest online sales day ever after last year’s Cyber Monday, the first Monday in December when many people order items they’d like to arrive in time for Christmas.

BestBuy’s website went offline after what the company said was “a concentrated spike in mobile traffic.”

The hope for many retailers is that the slowly improving US economy, combined with lower petrol prices, could push consumers to buy more than they have in recent memory.

Black Friday has been the top sales day of the year since 2005, according to ShopperTrak which tracks data on stores globally, beating into second place the Saturday before Christmas when last-minute shoppers stock up on Christmas gifts.

However, that could change this year as Thanksgiving shopping and online sales eat into Black Friday’s peak performance.

The earlier start to holiday shopping has placed even more focus on the plight of workers who must often leave their families in order to help shops open on Thanksgiving.

[youtube r67wNUkmV4Y 650]

2014 White House Christmas Tree welcomed by Michelle Obama

Nancy Clayson
-
0
2014 White House Christmas Tree welcomed by Michelle Obama

The 2014 official Christmas Tree has arrived at the White House.

A horse-drawn wagon hauled the 20-foot white fir up the driveway to the North Portico for inspection on Friday morning.

Receiving the tree were first lady Michelle Obama, daughters Malia and Sasha and family dogs Bo and Sunny.

The family circled the tree, smelled it and conferred before the first lady said: “Thumbs-up. It’s a go. We’re taking the tree.”

Malia Obama, holding Bo’s leash, said of the tree: “It’s great. It’s big.”

It’s tradition for the first lady to preside over the tree delivery on the morning after Thanksgiving. The odds are slim to none that it would ever be rejected.

The tree is chosen weeks in advance at the farm that wins the National Christmas Tree Association contest. The winner has presented the official White House tree since 1966.

In late September, a group of White House staffers including the chief usher, groundskeeper and chief horticulturist traveled to the Crystal Spring Tree Farm in Lehighton, Pennsylvania, to search for a tree they agreed is perfect enough to stand in the Blue Room, albeit tethered to its ceiling, as the main attraction throughout the White House holiday season. The Blue Room tree cannot be taller than 18 ½ feet, so this tree will be trimmed to fit.

The farm, run by Christ Botek, a second-generation Christmas tree farmer, also provided the official White House tree in 2010 and 2006.

The delivery marked the start of an intense few days of round-the-clock tree trimming, wreath laying and other decorating by an army of volunteer decorators who help turn the White House into a winter wonderland. Many of the decorations honor military families, a group that Michelle Obama is trying to support through a nationwide initiative.

Michelle Obama has invited military families to the White House for a first look at the decorations on Wednesday, November 27.

The National Park Service and the National Park Foundation announced December 4 as the date for the 92nd annual National Christmas Tree Lighting on the White House Ellipse at President’s Park.

The 2014 National Christmas Tree Lighting is Thursday, December 4, at 5 PM.

Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Fifty Harmony, Patti LaBelle, NE-YO, Chely Wright, Nico & Vinz and The Tenors will perform at this year’s ceremony.

Free tickets for the lighting ceremony have been awarded through an online lottery.

[youtube 0-2iaS7O0I8 650]

Russian plans to introduce quota on foreign films abandoned

Sonia Pantiss
-
0
Russian plans to introduce quota on foreign films abandoned

The Russian proposed plans to cut the number of foreign films shown in local cinemas by 50% have been shelved by the country’s parliament.

The State Duma canceled a debate on the idea, saying that introducing a quota would be “superfluous”.

The decision comes just days after President Vladimir Putin spoke out against the draft bill.

The bill was submitted earlier this year when relations between Russia and the West began to sour.

“Today, regulating film exhibition by introducing quotas on Russian or foreign films would be superfluous,” Leonid Levin, head of the Duma’s committee, said.

He added: “If a good Russian film is released, people will come and watch it anyway.”

The Motion Picture Association of America, the US body which represents Hollywood studios and gives US movies their ratings, has welcomed the decision.

Speaking to Variety, Chris Marcich, the association’s president, said: “We welcome the remarks by President Putin. We have long enjoyed close relations with Russian film-makers and have a shared interest in a healthy local market.”

The draft bill was submitted to the Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, in March by Robert Schlegel, a member of the United Russia party.

Robert Schlegel said that a quota would attract more investors to the Russian film industry and allow the Russian government to make back money from their investment in the Russian film world.

Speaking last week, President Vladimir Putin said he did not think it would be right to impose such a ban.

“It wouldn’t be correct to limit our consumer when it comes to products people generally want to have. And films belong to those major products,” he said.

Vladimir putin added: “The Americans are talented and successful people and there is a lot we can learn from them.”

The move could have cost Hollywood studios dearly.

Out of the top 20 grossing films at Russia’s box office this year, only two films were made in locally, with Transformers: Age of Extinction the most popular, having taken $45.2 million.

Foreign films are currently limited in China, where in 2012 the government introduced a strict quota of allowing just 34 foreign films to be screened there each year.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens first official trailer unveiled

Sonia Pantiss
-
0
Star Wars: The Force Awakens first official trailer unveiled

Star Wars: The Force Awakens first official trailer has been unveiled online and in US cinemas.

The 7th installment of the Si-Fi saga trailer gives fans an 88-second glimpse of the new film, the first new addition to the series since 2005.

Featuring shots of the Millennium Falcon and a new T-shaped lightsaber, it is enough to whet fans’ appetite.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which reunites original stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher is scheduled to be released in cinemas on December 18, 2015.

The trailer opens with a sweeping desert landscape, with a voice saying: “There has been an awakening, have you felt it?” before John Boyega appears wearing a Stormtrooper uniform.

It goes on to feature a football-like droid, a Stormtrooper army and Daisy Ridley on a type of speeder bike.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set about 30 years after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.

[youtube OprvFVBGtEc 650]

Nigeria: Scores of people killed in three explosions at Kano’s Central Mosque

Roy Siemens
-
0
Nigeria: Scores of people killed in three explosions at Kano’s Central Mosque

Scores of people have been killed in three explosions during Friday prayers at one of the biggest mosques in the Nigerian city of Kano, reports say.

The Central Mosque is close to the Emir of Kano’s palace and is where the influential Muslim leader usually leads prayers.

The Emir, Muhammad Sanusi, is currently in Saudi Arabia.

An eyewitness said he had counted about 50 bodies, but this figure has not been verified.

Other reports say some gunmen went on a shooting spree in the northern city after the blasts.

The militant Islamist Boko Haram group has targeted the city, the largest in northern Nigeria, several times during its five-year insurgency.

But most of its attacks are further east.

Earlier this month, the Emir called on people to defend themselves against Boko Haram.

At a prayer meeting Muhammad Sanusi said residents should “acquire what they need” to protect themselves.

A police spokesman said the Emir’s comments were a “call for anarchy” and should not be acted on.

The Emir, who until earlier this year was governor of Nigeria’s central bank, normally stays silent on political matters.

Pele is improving his clinical condition but remains in ICU

Clyde K. Valle
-
0
Pele is improving his clinical condition but remains in ICU

Pele’s health condition is improving but the soccer legend remains in intensive care after being admitted to hospital with a urinary infection earlier this week.

The news follows a tweet from his account on Thanksgiving Day that said the three-time World Cup winner was “doing fine” in Sao Paulo’s Albert Einstein Hospital.

Pele’s personal assistant Jose Fornos also played down the news.

However, the hospital said Pele “continues under temporary kidney support, lucid and with no need of breathing support”.

The statement added: “[Pele is] improving his clinical condition and remains in the intensive care unit.”

Initially on November 27, the hospital said that Pele had been admitted with “clinical instability”.

Later that day, Pele, 74, tweeted: “I was simply relocated to a special room within the hospital for privacy purposes only.

“While I appreciate all the visitors that came to see me, I really need to continue my treatment and recovery in peace.

“I am looking forward to spending the upcoming holidays with my family and will start the new year with renewed health, with many international trips already planned! Thank you!”

A World Cup winner in 1958, 1962 and 1970, Pele was initially discharged from hospital on November 13 after surgery to remove kidney stones.

Local media said it was possible Pele picked up an infection during the procedure and that the current treatment was usually straightforward.

Widely regarded as the greatest player of all time, Pele scored a world record total of 1,281 goals in 1,363 games during his 21-year career.

[youtube fFHxSn_hnW4 650]

Austria: Thirteen jihadi suspects arrested over recruiting young people for Syria

Roy Siemens
-
0
Austria: Thirteen jihadi suspects arrested over recruiting young people for Syria

Thirteen people suspected of radicalizing young people and recruiting them to fight in Syria have been arrested by Austrian police, prosecutors say.

Reports in the Austrian media said 500 police were involved in searches at mosques, flats and prayer rooms in Vienna and the cities of Linz and Graz.

Authorities also seized “terrorist propaganda material”, prosecutors said.

It comes amid a European crackdown on fighters who have joined jihadist forces in Syria and Iraq.

A statement from Austria’s state prosecutor’s office said 16 people had been questioned following the searches in the early hours of November 28.

The 13 suspects had been arrested on suspicion of membership of a terrorist organization.

Local media said a Bosnian preacher, who was the main suspect, was among those held.

Along with “propaganda material”, officers seized electronic material, cash and brass knuckles, according to reports.

In recent months, the Austrian authorities have said they are investigating more than 150 people believed to have joined radical militant groups in Iraq and Syria.

Hundreds of European Muslims are known to have travelled to Syria to join jihadist groups such as Islamic State fighting in the country’s civil war.

EU member states are trying to prevent radicalization at home and are also taking measures to tackle the security threat from jihadists returning from Syria.

Ebola outbreak: 15-minute blood and saliva test to be trialed in Guinea

Kathryn R. Bown
-
1
Ebola outbreak: 15-minute blood and saliva test to be trialed in Guinea

British scientists will trial a 15-minute blood and saliva Ebola test in Guinea.

The solar-powered, portable laboratory should deliver results six times faster than tests currently used in West Africa.

The researchers involved say faster diagnosis would increase the chances of survival and reduce transmission of the virus.

The trial will take place at an Ebola treatment centre in Conakry, Guinea.

Ebola is currently diagnosed by hunting for the virus’s genetic material in the blood of a patient.

The test requires dedicated laboratories that can keep the components of the test at very low temperatures.

Patients in Conakry will still have the proven test, but the new faster method will be trialed at the same time so the results can be compared.

The project, led by the Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Senegal, uses a mobile suitcase laboratory’.

It is portable, solar-powered and can be used at room temperature.

The project is being funded by the Wellcome Trust medical charity and the UK’s Department for International Development.

Dr. Val Snewin, the international activities manager at the Wellcome Trust, said: “A reliable, 15-minute test that can confirm cases of Ebola would be a key tool for effective management of the Ebola outbreak – allowing patients to be identified, isolated and cared for as soon as possible.

“It not only gives patients a better chance of survival, but it prevents transmission of the virus to other people.

“This pilot study is particularly promising because researchers have considered how to make the test suitable for use in remote field hospitals, where resources – such as electricity and cold storage – are often in short supply.”

Thanksgiving weekend travel 2014: Icy roads in Northeast

Nancy Clayson
-
0
Thanksgiving weekend travel 2014: Icy roads in Northeast

Icy roads will be a hazard in the Northeast as millions of Americans return home from Thanksgiving this weekend.

An onslaught of storms, bringing snow and rain, will disrupt travel in the West.

While drier and milder weather will arrive across the Northeast this weekend, refreezing of melted snow remains a concern.

A winter storm on November 26 knocked out power to more than 300,000 customers in the Northeast at the height of the storm. Thousands remained in the dark on Thanksgiving Day.

As milder weather reaches the snow-packed Northeast, the snow will melt during the day.

The icy roads will be the most prevalent travel threat this weekend, especially across the interior.

Those traveling at night or around dawn this weekend should be prepared for slick spots.

The snowmelt could bring standing water across low-lying and poor drainage areas, but any flooding should be isolated.

A few brief rain showers and even a few flurries will be found over the interior this weekend, but there will be no widespread weather-related threats to ground or air travel.

Snow will slow travel across Montana and the northern Rockies, while periods of rain will soak northern California this weekend.

A cold storm will usher in periods of snow for the northern Rockies and much of Montana on November 29.

Travelers on Interstates 90 and 15 should anticipate snow-covered roadways on Saturday as several inches of snow piles up in the region. Some passes through the Rockies may become closed for a time.

Drier weather will settle into the region on Sunday, but frigid weather will keep snow and ice on many roads. The cold weather may even bring some wintry weather across the Pacific Northwest.

Farther south, periods of rain will visit northern California this weekend, including San Francisco. The rain will make roads slick as it combines with oil buildup, including I-5 from Redding to Sacramento, California, as well.

The rain will not be heavy though, so incidents of flooding and disruptions to air travel should be limited.

An expansive area of dry and rather mild weather will encompass nearly the entirety of the southern US. Sunshine will prevail for the most part as highs soared into the 70s and 80s.

[youtube 9vNrEvacY9w 650]

Black Friday 2014: Ferguson protesters target major retailers over grand jury decision

Nancy Clayson
-
0
Black Friday 2014: Ferguson protesters target major retailers over grand jury decision

Ferguson protesters began targeting Black Friday sales at major retailers overnight in a new tactic to vent their anger at a grand jury decision not to indict a white Officer Darren Wilson who fatally shot black teenager Michael Brown.

About 75 demonstrators protested peacefully, chanting “Hands up, don’t shoot!”, bemusing bargain-hunters pushing their brimming shopping carts inside a Walmart in another nearby suburb of St. Louis.

They dispersed peacefully when ordered by a small group of police, moving on to a Target store where they staged a similar demonstration. More protests were planned for Friday.

Ferguson became a flashpoint for often troubled US race relations after Officer Darren Wilson shot dead Michael Brown on August 9.

The grand jury’s decision on November 24 not to charge Darren Wilson prompted a spasm of fury in Ferguson. About a dozen businesses were torched and more than 100 people were arrested in clashes with riot police that rumbled on into Tuesday night.

Before heading in convoy to Walmart late on Thursday, a group of some 100 demonstrators ate Thanksgiving dinner, sang, prayed and discussed their new strategy in the basement of a St. Louis church.

Ferguson, home to about 21,000 people, is a predominantly black city where almost all the political leaders and police are white.

[youtube IL9Yfkv2SmA 650]

Black Friday 2014: Pastor Jamal Bryant urges African-Americans to buy only from black people businesses

Nancy Clayson
-
0
Black Friday 2014: Pastor Jamal Bryant urges African-Americans to buy only from black people businesses

Pastor Jamal H. Bryant, a spiritual advisor to Michael Brown’s family, is urging African-Americans to buy exclusively from businesses owned by black people on Black Friday, America’s busiest shopping day.

Michael Brown, 18, was killed by white Officer Darren Wilson on August 9, in Ferguson, Missouri.

Jamal Bryant launched his campaign earlier in the week using the hashtag #handsupdontspend – a reference to a slogan used by Ferguson protesters. It’s been tweeted more than 7,000 times, with other hashtags pushing the campaign including #notonedime, #boycottblackfriday and #blackoutblackfriday.

“It’s my hope that black businesses and the black community will benefit,” he says, citing a study that said African-Americans collectively spend $1 trillion a year.

Jamal Bryant says that a sustained campaign of economic pressure would serve as a protest against police violence.

“America responds to money more than they do to masses,” he says.

Kicking back against Black Friday isn’t a new idea. For more than 20 years the anti-capitalist magazine Adbusters has urged people to give the shops a miss on what it calls Buy Nothing Day.

Jamal Bryant stressed his action isn’t a boycott but rather a call to support businesses owned by black people across the US.

The events in Ferguson over the past week have inspired a number of online fundraising drives, including one by a bakery that was damaged during rioting and the Ferguson public library.

Jamal Bryant cited the 1960s civil rights movement as an example of the power of economic action.

Pope Francis to make historic visit to Turkey

Diane A. Wade
-
0
Pope Francis to make historic visit to Turkey

Pope Francis will arrive in Turkey for what is billed as a historic visit to promote religious dialogue in the country.

The pontiff is to be greeted in Ankara by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and will later travel to Istanbul to meet the head of the Orthodox Christian church.

This is only the fourth visit by a pope to Muslim-majority Turkey.

During his trip, Pope Francis is likely to touch on humanitarian issues, such as the plight of Syrian refugees.

The three-day papal visit comes as Islamic State insurgents have captured swathes of neighboring Iraq and Syria.

Turkey is now home to at least 1.6 million people from Syria, most of them living close to the border.

In an interview on the eve of his visit, Pope Francis made his feelings on the Syrian conflict known,.

The pontiff told an Israeli newspaper that the persecution of Christians in the region is “the worst” it has been since Christianity’s earliest days.

Vatican officials say religious tolerance will be high on the agenda when Pope Francis meets President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – whose AK Party is rooted in political Islam – and Mehmet Gormez, Turkey’s top cleric.

In Istanbul, Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Istanbul’s Sultan Ahmed mosque, the 17th-Century place of worship popularly known as the Blue Mosque.

The pontiff is also due to sign a joint declaration with Patriarch Bartholomew I, the leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians, on trying to bridge the divides between Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity.

Although most of Turkey’s 80 million citizens are Muslims, there are about 120,000 Christians in the country – once the centre of the Orthodox Christian world.

[youtube yiHSFLB0N0o 650]

One Direction’s Four album tops Billboard 200 chart

Sonia Pantiss
-
0
One Direction’s Four album tops Billboard 200 chart

One Direction has become the first group to have its first four albums debut at No 1 in the US.

Their fourth album, conveniently named Four, topped the Billboard 200 album chart having sold 387,000 copies in its first week.

Four is the second-fastest selling album of the year in the US. Only Taylor Swift’s 1989 sold more in its opening week with 1.28 million sales.

The album also went to No 1 in the UK on November 23.

One Direction members were named artists of the year at this week’s American Music Awards with Four also being named album of the year and favorite pop/rock album.

One Direction was also named best international artist at the Aria Awards in Australia on November 26.

Oil prices fall after OPEC meeting in Vienna

Clyde K. Valle
-
0
Oil prices fall after OPEC meeting in Vienna

Oil prices plunged after the OPEC oil producers’ cartel decided not to cut output at its meeting in Vienna.

OPEC’s secretary general Abdallah Salem el-Badri said they would not try to shore up prices by reducing production.

“There’s a price decline. That does not mean that we should really rush and do something,” he said.

Following the announcement Brent crude fell below $72 a barrel, hitting lows previously seen in August 2010.

The 12 OPEC members decided to maintain production at 30 million barrels per day as first agreed in December 2011.

“We don’t want to panic. I mean it,” said Abdallah Salem el-Badri.

“We want to see the market, how the market behaves, because the decline of the price does not reflect a fundamental change.”

Crude oil prices have fallen 30% since June on sluggish global demand and rising production from the US.

The fall in the oil price has been causing concern for several members of the oil cartel, as most require a price above $80 a barrel to balance their government budgets and many need prices to be above $100 a barrel.

“Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states can resist for a while,” said Simon Wardell, energy expert at Global Insight.

“They have significant financial assets that mean they can sustain a lower oil price. They can secure their budgets without a higher oil price.”

Saudi Arabia is the largest producer within the OPEC oil producing cartel.

Analysts suggest the strategy of maintaining output may be aimed at retaining dominance of the market in the face of increasing shale oil production in the US.

The shale boom has been one of the drivers behind the decline in the oil price.

As the oil price dips, shale becomes less economical to produce.

If oil prices are allowed to remain low for some time that could cap shale production over the longer term.

OPEC accounts for a third of the world’s oil sales.

[youtube 0rHwmgg5pMk 650]

Ferguson decision: Governor Jay Nixon rejects calls for new grand jury

Nancy Clayson
-
0
Ferguson decision: Governor Jay Nixon rejects calls for new grand jury

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has reportedly rejected calls for a new grand jury to decide whether to charge Officer Darren Wilson for killing Michael Brown.

It follows two days of unrest in St Louis and 12 other cities over a ruling not to charge Darren Wilson for the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

Demonstrations appeared to dwindle on November 26 amid heavy snowfall on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday.

A handful of protesters remain in Ferguson, where Michael Brown was killed.

The family of Michael Brown said they were left “crushed” by the ruling, which has triggered nationwide debates over relations between black communities and law enforcement.

A spokesman for state governor Jay Nixon said he would not entertain the idea of bringing in a special prosecutor to present the case to a new grand jury, the St Louis Post reports.

Earlier, Jay Nixon said the “ramped up presence” of the National Guard – which more than tripled from 700 to 2,200 on Tuesday night – in the St Louis suburb had been “helpful”.

He said he would continue to monitor the situation to see if more resources were needed.

Monday’s ruling by a grand jury not to charge Darren Wilson led to violent protests and looting in Ferguson, and dozens of arrests.

Anger spread to 12 other cities, including Philadelphia, New York, Cleveland, Los Angeles and Boston.

In Oakland, California, rallies turned violent when protesters started a street fire, while in Los Angeles there were reports of 130 people arrested.

Business owners and residents were seen clearing up the streets of Ferguson on November 26.

Some celebrities are reportedly calling for a boycott to take place on Black Friday – one of the country’s busiest shopping days after Thanksgiving – over the grand jury ruling.

[youtube eLVL_jFNGwI 650]

1...472473474...1,245Page 473 of 1,245