Bow Wow and girlfriend Erica Mena got engaged, after just six months of dating.
The rapper, real name Shad Moss, confirmed his happy news via Instagram, showing off not only fiancée Erica Mena’s new bling, but also his matching diamond-encrusted Rolex watch.
The 27-year-old Love and Hip Hop New York star first let slip her happy news at the BET Awards in Atlanta on Saturday, September 20.
Bow Wow and Erica Mena got engaged, after just six months of dating (photo Instagram)
When E! asked Erica Mena about her boyfriend, the reality star replied: “Uh … he’s actually my fiancé!”
After thanking fans for their well wishes via Twitter, Bow Wow, 27, who started his professional life as Lil Bow Wow aged 13, proceeded to share the snap of the all important engagement ring.
According to reports, the couple met when Erica Mena appeared on Bow Wow’s BET show 106 & Park. After sharing a kiss on the famous couch, Bow Wow and Erica Mena became boyfriend and girlfriend.
Mike Tyson stopped traffic to rescue a man from a horrific motorcycle crash.
Ryan Chesley was heading to Las Vegas on his motorcycle when a cab cut him off on the freeway and led to his taking a dangerous spill on the side of the road, TMZ reported.
Mike Tyson stopped traffic to rescue a man from a horrific motorcycle crash
The man says Mike Tyson saw the whole thing and immediately pulled over to help, stopping traffic and then working to keep him calm until paramedics arrived.
Ryan Chesley reportedly suffered multiple injuries, including broken bones, nerve damage and a shoulder that will need surgery. He told TMZ he intends to send Mike Tyson a thank you card and a gift basket.
Sierra Leone’s three-day curfew aimed at containing the Ebola outbreak has been declared a success by authorities.
They say more than a million households were surveyed and 130 new cases discovered.
Sierra Leone is one of the countries worst affected by the outbreak, with nearly 600 of the almost 2,800 total deaths recorded so far.
Some health groups have criticized the lockdown, saying it would destroy trust between patients and doctors.
Nearly all of the deaths in the world’s worst Ebola outbreak have been recorded in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says the situations in Senegal and Nigeria have now been “pretty much contained”.
Sierra Leone’s three-day curfew aimed at containing the Ebola outbreak has been declared a success by authorities
According to the UN agency, the number of overall deaths from Ebola has risen to 2,793 and the disease remains “a public health emergency of international concern”.
The deadly virus is transmitted through sweat, blood and saliva, and there is no proven cure.
About 100 dead bodies believed to be of Ebola victims, which could otherwise have been secretly buried without homes being quarantined, were retrieved and buried, officials say.
Bodies of Ebola victims are highly contagious and their swift burial is considered key to containing the disease.
Many people have been reluctant to seek treatment for Ebola, on the basis that there is no cure, even though about half of those infected have recovered with the help of rest and rehydration.
Ambulances are in short supply, as are the isolation wards to look after patients, with almost all Ebola treatment centers confined to the east of the country.
There are also too few teams available to bury the dead, partly because of the social stigma attached to the role.
The curfew in Sierra Leone came into force on September 19, with the country’s six million inhabitants confined to their homes.
Around 30,000 medical volunteers travelled to affected neighborhoods to find patients and distribute soap.
South Park creators are set to skewer the Washington Redskins over its use of the name in an upcoming episode of the highly satirical show, currently heading into its 18th season.
A teaser trailer aired during Sunday’s Redskins-Eagles game, though it reportedly was limited to the Washington, D.C. market.
South Park creators are set to skewer the Washington Redskins over its use of the name in an upcoming episode of the highly satirical show
In the trailer, Redskins owner Daniel Snyder is depicted as furious at Eric Cartman for naming his new company the Washington Redskins, taking advantage of the trademark protection on the term being rescinded after being deemed offensive.
The faux Daniel Snyder argues that Eric Cartman’s use of the term is offensive and derogatory to the team, while Cartman contends he is using it as a token of respect for the Washington Redskins and out of his deep appreciation for “their people”. Much the same argument Daniel Snyder has used in defending his team’s continued use of a term many Native Americans consider a slur.
Mike Harari, one of Israel’s best-known spies, has died at the age of 87.
He oversaw a string of operations involving the assassination of Palestinian militants abroad.
Mike Harari orchestrated missions including the targeting of militants whom Israel held responsible for the massacre of its Olympics team in 1972.
The Mossad agent also played a key role in the rescue, by Israeli commandos, of hostages at Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976.
In 1998 he was indicted in Norway for a killing in a case of mistaken identity.
Mossad legend Mike Harari oversaw a string of operations involving the assassination of Palestinian militants abroad
It followed the shooting by suspected Mossad gunmen of a Moroccan waiter in the town of Lillehammer in 1973. The man was mistaken for one of the architects of the Olympics attack.
The killing was part of Operation Wrath of God, in which militants from the Black September group were targeted across Europe for nearly a year.
The group had killed two Israeli athletes in the Olympic Village in Munich. Nine others whom they had also taken hostage were killed during a gun battle between the militants and West German police at a nearby airfield. The group was trying to take the hostages out of the country.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon paid tribute to Mike Harari, saying his influence on Mossad was “still felt today and will be for years to come.”
Mike Harari was born in 1927 near Tel Aviv, in the British Mandate of Palestine, and served in Israeli paramilitary organizations before joining the intelligence agency.
An offer to resign in the wake of the Lillehammer killing was turned down by then Prime Minister Golda Meir, and Mike Harari continued in clandestine operations until retiring in 1980.
Ultrasonic CEO Qingyong Wu, who was reported missing last week along with most of the company’s cash, has spoken to Chinese media and denied wrongdoing.
Qingyong Wu said in an interview with Chinese news service Sina that he had been on holiday with his grandson and had lost his mobile phone.
Last week, the Chinese footwear company said it had dismissed Qingyong Wu from his post.
Ultrasonic said Qingyong Wu and his son, who is chief operating officer, had vanished.
The company, which is listed in Germany, said that both the men, Qingyong Wu and Minghong Wu, had “apparently left their homes and are not traceable”.
At the same time, its cash reserves in China and Hong Kong had been transferred and were “no longer in the company’s range of influence”.
Ultrasonic executives, Qingyong Wu and his son Minghong Wu, have apparently left their homes and are not traceable
In response to Qingyong Wu’s interview, Ultrasonic said the chief executive had contacted the company’s chief financial officer, Chi Kwong Clifford Chan, over the weekend to say he would return to the company and bring back the money.
Ultrasonic added that its supervisory board had been unable to speak to Qingyong Wu in person.
The Cologne-based firm has said that its German holding company still has a “relevant six-figure amount” of money under its control, so it is still able to meet its payment obligations as normal.
Ultrasonic specializes in the design, production and sale of shoe soles, sandals, slippers, urban footwear and high-end accessories.
With several facilities in the People’s Republic of China, it targets the country’s burgeoning middle class.
Ultrasonic had been enjoying steadily rising revenues and profits.
Revenues had grown nearly 10% to 163.8 million euros over the last five years, while net income had risen nearly 14% to 35 million euros.
In 2013, Ultrasonic had more than 100 million euros of cash reserves.
According to an Oxford University study, involving mice, roasted peanuts are more likely to trigger an allergic reaction than raw peanuts.
Scientists say chemical changes caused by dry roasting processes may prime the body’s immune system – sparking future allergic reactions.
However, much more work is needed before humans should consider swapping roasted nuts for raw ones, they say.
The research appears in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Mice were exposed to peanut proteins through the skin or the stomach.
Roasted peanuts are more likely to trigger an allergic reaction than raw peanuts
Animals given the dry roasted samples had a much stronger immune response – the body’s way of fighting things that appear foreign to it – than mice given the raw versions.
In humans, immune responses vary. Some can be mild, causing rashes for example, but others can be extremely dangerous, leading to swelling of the mouth and breathing difficulties.
Scientists say it is likely to be the high temperatures used to roast nuts that are responsible for the chemical changes that, in turn, prompt the allergic reactions.
Prof. Quentin Sattentau, who led the research, said: “This is the first time, to our knowledge, that a potential trigger for peanut allergy has been directly shown.”
And researchers believe the findings may explain the lower allergy rates in East Asian populations where boiled, raw or fried nuts are a more common part of the diet than roasted ones.
However, they warn that much more work is needed before doctors make any specific dietary recommendations.
Prof. Quentin Sattentau said: “We know that children in families with other allergies are more likely to develop peanut allergy.
“However our research is at an early stage and we think that it would be premature to avoid roasted peanuts and their products until further work has been carried out to confirm this result.”
Scientists are now exploring methods to get rid of the particular chemical changes that may be responsible for kick-starting the immune system.
People with peanut allergies are advised to avoid them and many carry auto-injector pens to reduce the severity of any reactions that do occur.
Ukraine will start the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from separatist rebel lines in the east, the military says.
The two sides agreed on September 20 to set up a buffer zone in eastern Ukraine, more than a fortnight after a shaky ceasefire came into force.
Although the truce is still in place, clashes have continued around the cities of Donetsk and Mariupol.
More than 3,000 people have died since fighting broke out in the two regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in April.
Ukraine’s parliament passed a bill last week granting three-year “self-rule” to parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions – a decision condemned by some lawmakers as “capitulation”.
Under the terms of the nine-point deal agreed in Belarus, both the pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces are to pull back their heavy artillery 9.5 miles from the line of engagement, creating a 20 miles buffer zone.
Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman Col Andriy Lysenko said pro-Russian rebels had for their part begun moving their heavy artillery, but it was “not as massive as we expected”.
Ukraine will start the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from separatist rebel lines in the east (photo Reuters)
Artillery and armored vehicles with a caliber greater than 100mm would be moved, but all other units and their weapons would remain in place, he said.
According to the deal, military aircraft are banned from flying over the conflict zone and “foreign mercenaries” are to be withdrawn on both sides.
Foreigners are known to be fighting on both sides and Russia has repeatedly insisted that any of its citizens fighting alongside separatists in Ukraine are doing so in a private capacity.
Checkpoints manned by Ukrainian forces had come under heavy shelling at Donetsk airport and near Mariupol, Ukrainian media reported on Monday.
Col. Andriy Lysenko said that two servicemen had been killed in the past day.
According to new reports, the Rockefeller family, which made its vast fortune from oil, is to sell investments in fossil fuels and reinvest in clean energy.
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund is joining a coalition of philanthropists pledging to rid themselves of more than $50 billion in fossil fuel assets.
The announcement will be made today, September 22, a day before the UN climate change summit opens.
Some 650 individuals and 180 institutions have joined the coalition.
It is part of a growing global initiative called Global Divest-Invest, which began on university campuses several years ago, the New York Times reports.
Pledges from pension funds, religious groups and big universities have reportedly doubled since the start of 2014.
Rockefeller Brothers Fund director Stephen Heintz said the move to divest from fossil fuels would be in line with oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller’s wishes.
The Rockefeller family is to sell investments in fossil fuels and reinvest in clean energy
“We are quite convinced that if he were alive today, as an astute businessman looking out to the future, he would be moving out of fossil fuels and investing in clean, renewable energy,” Stephen Heintz said in a statement.
The philanthropic organization was founded in 1940 by the sons of John D. Rockefeller. As of July 31, 2014, the fund’s investment assets were worth $860 million.
“There is a moral imperative to preserve a healthy planet,” Valerie Rockefeller Wayne, a great-great-granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller and a trustee of the fund, is quoted by the Washington Post as saying.
A climate change summit is due to start on September 23 at the UN headquarters in New York, with 125 heads of state and government members expected to attend.
It is the first such gathering since the unsuccessful climate conference in Copenhagen in 2009.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hopes leaders can make progress on a universal climate agreement to be signed by all nations at the end of 2015.
On September 21, hundreds of thousands of marchers took to the streets in more than 2,000 locations worldwide, demanding urgent action on climate change and calling for curbs on carbon emissions.
Business leaders, environmentalists and celebrities also joined the demonstrations, which were organized by The People’s Climate March.
Turkey has decided to close some of its border crossings with Syria after about 130,000 Kurdish refugees entered the country over the weekend.
On September 21, Turkish security forces clashed with Kurds protesting in solidarity with the refugees. Some protesters were reportedly trying to go to Syria to fight Islamic State (ISIS).
Most refugees are from Kobane, a town threatened by the advancing militants.
ISIS has taken over large swathes of Iraq and Syria in recent months.
Before the latest influx, there were already more than one million Syrian refugees in Turkey. They have fled since the start of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011.
Some of the new arrivals are being sheltered in overcrowded schools, as Turkey struggles to cope with the influx.
On September 19, Turkey opened a 19-mile section of the border to Syrians fleeing the town of Kobane, also known as Ayn al-Arab.
Turkey has decided to close some of its border crossings with Syria after about 130,000 Kurdish refugees entered the country over the weekend
However, on September 22, only two out of nine border posts in the area remained open, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said.
Clashes broke out on Sunday after a demonstration by Kurds on the Turkish side of the border.
Some protesters threw stones at security forces, who responded with tear gas and water cannon. There were no reports of serious injuries.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a banned militant group that fought a civil war for autonomy within Turkey for decades, has called on Kurds to join the fight against ISIS.
The Syrian conflict has reawakened old hostilities and shaken a fragile peace between Kurds and Turkish authorities.
PKK-affiliated forces have been battling IS in northern Iraq for months.
ISIS is closing in on the predominantly Kurdish town of Kobane, having seized dozens of villages in the area in recent days.
It began the assault on Tuesday, and by Sunday militants were about 6 miles away, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Reports suggest that IS has used heavy weaponry, including tanks, in the attack.
The US has said it will attack the group in Syria as part of a strategy to destroy it, though so far it has carried out air strikes against ISIS only in Iraq.
Attacking ISIS in Syria is considered more complicated, partly because of the strength of the country’s air defense system and because foreign strikes do not have the approval of President Bashar al-Assad.
President Barack Obama has previously ruled out the involvement of US ground troops, and has instead promised to provide arms and training to local forces fighting against ISIS.
Air France pilots are extending their week-long strike over plans to expand low-cost operations abroad.
More than 80% of pilots from SNPL union voted to continue industrial action beyond deadline, September 22, according to Jean-Louis Barber, head of the union’s Air France section.
On Sunday, September 21, only 38% of flights were assured, the lowest proportion since the strike began.
Pilots are protesting against plans by Air France to fight competition from low-budget carriers and boost earnings by setting up foreign bases for its low-cost Transavia brand.
Air France pilots are extending their week-long strike over plans to expand low-cost operations abroad
The main pilots’ union fears the airline may abandon Transavia’s development in France altogether and move jobs out of the country.
Air France has condemned the move to continue the strike, insisting neither the airline nor its staff will be harmed by its plans.
It says the strike is costing the company 10-15 million euros a day.
According to Air France, the flights operated by other airlines, including HOP, KLM and Delta, are not affected by the strike.
Jesse Matthew, the man believed to be the last person to see Hannah Graham before she disappeared, was being sought on arrest warrants charging him reckless driving, a police chief said on September 21, adding authorities also want to ask him about the missing teen.
Virginia State Police have issued warrants for Jesse Matthew on a charge of misdemeanor reckless driving, Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo said at a news conference on September 21.
Jesse Matthew has not been charged in the disappearance of 18-year-old Hannah Graham, who was last seen early on September 13 in Charlottesville.
Timothy Longo said police want to talk to Jesse Matthew, who was seen with Hannah Graham before she disappeared.
“I believe Jesse Matthew was the last person she was seen with before she vanished off the face of the Earth because it’s been a week and we can’t find her,” Timothy Longo said.
“I’ve made no mistake about it. We want to talk to Jesse Matthew. We want to talk to him. We want to talk to him about his interaction with this sweet, young girl we can’t find,” he added.
Timothy Longo said Jesse Matthew had stopped by the Charlottesville Police Department’s station on September 20 with several family members and asked for a lawyer. He was provided with a lawyer but left in a vehicle, driving at a high rate of speed that endangered other drivers, according to the police chief. He said Jesse Matthew was there for about an hour.
Hannah Graham was last seen early on September 13 in Charlottesville
Virginia State Police said they have focused on Hannah Graham’s movements the night of September 12 and into the early morning hours of September 13.
Hannah Graham, a sophomore from northern Virginia, met friends at a restaurant for dinner, stopped by two parties at off-campus housing units and left the second party alone, police have said.
Surveillance videos showed her walking, and at some points running, past a pub and a service station and then onto the Downtown Mall, a seven-block pedestrian strip lined with shops and restaurants.
Hannah Graham’s parents appeared at the news conference and her father, John Graham, appealed for anyone with any information to call a police tip line.
“This is every parent’s worst nightmare,” John Graham said.
“We need to find out what happened to Hannah and make sure it happens to no one else.”
More than 1,000 volunteers participated in a weekend search for Hannah Graham, according to authorities.
Hannah Graham’s disappearance has sent a ripple of fear through the quiet college town of Charlottesville. Students have said they’ve begun walking in pairs at night and are paying closer attention to their surroundings.
At least three other young women have disappeared in the area in the last five years, though police have said they do not think Hannah Graham’s disappearance is linked to that of any of the other missing women.
University of Virginia President Teresa A. Sullivan issued a statement September 21 saying the university was committed to helping authorities in the search for Hannah Graham and “return her safely to her family”.
Thousands of students in Hong Kong have begun a week-long boycott of classes to protest against China’s stance on electoral reform in the territory.
The movement is a prelude to a larger protest on October 1 planned by pro-democracy group Occupy Central.
Beijing has rejected open nominations for the city’s leadership poll, dashing hopes of those seeking full democracy.
The boycott is being organised by groups such as the Hong Kong Federation of Students and Scholarism.
Student activists are also organising a series of rallies and public lectures in a park near government offices.
Thousands of students in Hong Kong have begun a week-long boycott of classes to protest against China’s stance on electoral reform in the territory
About 400 academics and non-teaching staff are also taking part in support of the students, according to the South China Morning Post.
A larger pro-democracy protest is due to take place next month. Occupy Central has pledged to stage a sit-in at Hong Kong’s financial district, which critics have said may shut down the area.
The issue of how Hong Kong can choose its leader gripped the city in recent months, sparking protests from both the pro-democracy and pro-Beijing camps.
The Chinese government has promised direct elections for Hong Kong’s leader, the chief executive, by 2017.
But in August, it ruled that voters would only have a choice from a list of two or three candidates selected by a nominating committee.
Democracy activists say China will use this committee to screen out candidates it disapproves of.
Pro-Beijing activists, meanwhile, believe the other camp is disrupting Hong Kong’s peace and stability.
The protesting students say Beijing’s decision does not amount to the greater democracy Hong Kong was promised when it was handed back from Britain to China in 1997.
However, the communist leadership in Beijing is turning firmly against ideas of political reform at home and has no interest in encouraging noisy critics.
General Motors is recalling more than 220,000 vehicles to correct a brake defect that could increase the risk of fire.
The carmaker says it is not aware of any deaths or injuries resulting from the defect.
GM recall affects Cadillac XTS model from 2013 and 2014 and recent versions of the Chevrolet Impala. Most of the owners are in the US and Canada.
It is the latest safety concern for GM, which is under investigation for taking more than a decade to identify a problem with ignition switches.
That fault has been linked to 19 deaths and it forced the company to recall more than 15 million cars worldwide this year.
GM recall affects Cadillac XTS model from 2013 and 2014 and recent versions of the Chevrolet Impala
In April GM’s chief executive Mary Barra apologized for the fault when she appeared at a congressional hearing over the issue.
“I cannot tell you why it took years for a safety defect to be announced… but I can tell you that we will find out,” said Mary Barra in April, testifying before a US House of Representatives panel investigating the issue.
Last week the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration David Friedman appeared before US lawmakers and was asked why his agency failed to detect the ignition problem.
David Friedman blamed GM for withholding critical information.
The latest recall is over the parking brake, which in some cases remained partially engaged causing the brakes to heat up.
Recalls have hit GM’s financial performance – in the second quarter profits fell 85% to $190 million, the company said.
Tens of thousands of Russians have marched in Moscow to protest against the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine.
People carrying Russian and Ukrainian flags chanted “No to war!” and “Stop lying!” Similar rallies took place in Sankt Petersburg and other Russian cities.
Ukraine accuses Russia of arming rebels in the east and sending Russian troops across the border. Moscow denies this.
More than 3,000 people have died in fighting since April.
A truce was agreed on September 5 but there have been repeated violations since then.
The fighting began after Russia annexed Ukraine’s southern Crimea peninsula in March – a move condemned by Ukraine and the West.
The demonstrators marched from Pushkin Square to Sakharov Avenue in central Moscow.
Organizers had hoped up to 50,000 people would take part to denounce what they described as Russia’s “aggressive foreign policy”.
Tens of thousands of Russians have marched in Moscow to protest against the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine
Moscow police said there were about 5,000 protesters but a reporter for the AP news agency estimated that the crowd was at least 20,000-strong.
Police stepped up security in the capital and there were only minor scuffles reported between rival demonstrators.
It is Russia’s first major anti-war rally since the fighting began five months ago in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
A number of supporters of the pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine held their own rally in Moscow.
In Ukraine, fighting was reported to be continuing on Sunday close to the city of Donetsk despite an agreement on September 19 to set up a 19 miles buffer zone as part of the Minsk memorandum.
The government in Kiev said its military forces would not pull back until pro-Russian forces stop firing and Russian troops leave. Russia denies that its forces are involved.
Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said violations of the ceasefire continued, telling reporters: “In the last 24 hours we have lost two Ukrainian soldiers, eight have been wounded.”
On September 20, General Philip Breedlove, NATO’s supreme commander in Europe, said the cease-fire existed “in name only”.
Gen. Philip Breedlove said the numbers of artillery rounds fired recently was comparable to periods before the truce came into effect two weeks ago.
NFL boss Roger Goodell has said he “got it wrong” in dealing with the violence scandals that have plagued the American football league.
In his first public statement in a week, Roger Goodell apologized for his mistakes and pledged to implement new personal conduct policies.
“We strongly condemn and will punish behavior that is totally unacceptable,” he said.
He has faced calls to resign after a series of assaults involving players.
The commissioner said on Friday he had not considered stepping down and that he had the support of the team owners.
“We will get our house in order,” Roger Goodell said at a press conference in New York.
Roger Goodell announced the NFL plans to set up a new personal conduct committee and draft new rules for the league’s players and staff, which he hoped would be in place for the Super Bowl in early 2015.
The NFL, and Roger Goodell in particular, have been criticized over their handling of an abuse case involving running back Ray Rice from the Baltimore Ravens.
Roger Goodell has said he got it wrong in dealing with the violence scandals that have plagued the NFL
Roger Goodell initially banned Ray Rice for two games after video emerged of him punching his then-fiancée in the face and knocking her out in a lift in Atlantic City in February.
It was only after the video was posted online in August that Ray Rice was cut by the Ravens and banned from the league indefinitely by Roger Goodell.
“I got it wrong in the handling of the Ray Rice matter,” he said on September 19.
“But now I will get it right and do whatever is necessary to accomplish that.”
The NFL has also come under fire for its handling of other abuse cases, including Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who has been charged with child abuse in Texas after allegedly whipping his four-year-old son.
In recent days, some NFL sponsors have made public statements urging it to do more to address the issue.
On September 19, Procter & Gamble announced it was dropping an on-field breast cancer awareness promotion it had been planning with the NFL.
“Domestic violence is completely unacceptable and we have strongly urged the NFL to take swift and decisive action to address this issue,” said a spokesman.
“Our decision to cancel this on field activity was related to this ongoing issue.”
Other sponsors like PepsiCo and Anheuser-Busch have expressed concern. Women make up about 35% of the average television audience of games.
Roger Goodell said NFL staff would be required to undergo training on the prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault starting within 30 days.
Roger Goodell said the league will partner with the National Domestic Violence Hotline and National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
Multiple street protests demanding urgent action on climate change have been taking place around the world, with marches reported in more than 2,000 locations.
The People’s Climate March is campaigning for curbs on carbon emissions, ahead of the UN climate summit in New York next week.
Huge demonstrations have been taking place in Australia and Europe.
In Manhattan, tens of thousands of people are at a march that is also being attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
“This is the planet where our subsequent generations will live,” Ban Ki-moon told reporters.
“There is no <<Plan B>>, because we do not have <<Planet B>>.”
Street protests demanding urgent action on climate change have been taking place around the world
The UN Secretary General was accompanied by primatologist Jane Goodall and the French Ecology Minister, Segolene Royal.
Organizers of the Manhattan event said they had attracted 550 busloads of marchers, billing it as the biggest protest on the issue for five years.
They said the massive mobilization was aimed at transforming climate change “from an environmental concern to an <<everybody issue>>. ”
Business leaders, environmentalists and celebrities are expected to join the demonstration.
Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio also took part, having been appointed as a UN representative on climate change last week.
In Australia, organizers said up to 20,000 people had turned out in Melbourne to call on PM Tony Abbott to do more to tackle climate change.
On September 23, the UN will host a climate summit at its headquarters in New York with 125 heads of state and government – the first such gathering since the unsuccessful climate conference in Copenhagen in 2009.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN’s Secretary General, hopes leaders can make progress on a universal agreement to be signed by all nations at the end of 2015.
He said he would “link arms with those marching for climate action” to show that the UN stands “with them on the right side of this key issue for our common future.”
The New York rally is part of a global protest that includes events in 161 countries.
Angelina Jolie will direct Africa, a film about celebrated conservationist Richard Leakey’s battles with ivory poachers.
The screenplay has been written by Eric Roth – who won an Oscar for Forrest Gump.
Richard Leakey is former head of the Kenya Wildlife Service and was key to stemming the trade in illegal ivory.
Angelina Jolie said: “I’ve felt a deep connection to Africa and its culture for much of my life.”
Angelina Jolie will direct Africa, a film about celebrated conservationist Richard Leakey’s battles with ivory poachers (photo Reuters)
Richard Leakey’s extreme measures to tackle poachers, including sending helicopter gunships into the national park, have helped Kenya’s elephant and rhino populations recover from the brink of disaster.
He made international headlines in 1989, when a stockpile of 12 tonnes of ivory was burned in Nairobi National Park.
Angelina Jolie said Africa is about “a man drawn into the violent conflict with elephant poachers, who emerged with a deeper understanding of man’s footprint and a profound sense of responsibility for the world around him”.
Producer David Ellison – whose company Skydance co-produced films including True Grit and Jack Reacher – called Richard Leakey “inspirational,” adding: “Africa is a story that deserves to be told.”
Angelina Jolie’s next movie, Unbroken, is due in cinemas later this year.
Angelina Jolie is currently directing and starring opposite her husband Brad Pitt in the film By The Sea, based on her own screenplay.
Afghanistan’s presidential contenders Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah have signed a deal to form a government of national unity at a ceremony in Kabul.
The signing – broadcast live on national TV – comes after months of wrangling following presidential elections in April and June.
Under the deal, Ashraf Ghani becomes president while runner-up Abdullah Abdullah nominates a CEO with powers similar to those of prime minister.
Both sides had accused the other of fraud following the election.
The final result of the bitterly contested poll is due to be announced later.
Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah signed the agreement at a ceremony inside the presidential palace in the capital, Kabul. They then stood and embraced each other.
The power-sharing deal was finally reached after a comprehensive audit of all eight million votes which began in July.
The agreement says the new CEO will be answerable to Ashraf Ghani, although he has lost a battle to be sworn in after the announcement of the election result.
Instead, the two men have signed the national unity agreement before the election result is announced.
The new chief executive – nominated by Abdullah Abdullah – will be side-by-side with the president when he is inaugurated.
Presidential contenders Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani have signed a deal to form a government of national unity in Afghanistan (photo Reuters)
Abdullah Abdullah will be able to appoint senior positions on terms of “parity” with Ashraf Ghani. The agreement says “the two teams will be equally represented at the leadership level”.
However, there will not be a one-for-one handout of jobs further down and that could lead to arguments.
The agreement calls for a spirit of partnership. But after a bitter election campaign and months of wrangling, the stability of this government cannot be guaranteed, he adds.
A spokesman for Ashraf Ghani said that there was no longer any dispute between the two sides.
“Both camps have agreed 100% on everything and we’ll sign the deal tomorrow,” Faizullah Zaki told Reuters on Saturday, September 20.
The audit of ballots was part of a deal brokered in July by Secretary of State John Kerry to try to avert a descent into violence.
Both candidates pledged to accept the audit results and form a unity government.
One of the new president’s first tasks is widely expected to be signing a bilateral security agreement with the US.
The deal will allow a small force of soldiers to remain beyond 2014 to train Afghan security forces.
Incumbent President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign the security agreement, which is linked to the continuation of aid needed to pay Afghan civil servants, teachers and soldiers.
Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah have both promised to sign the agreement.
In a recent interview, actress Tea Leoni said she and her ex-husband, David Duchovny, have remained on friendly terms after finalizing their divorce last month as they co-parent their children.
“David gave me the two greatest gifts on the planet,” Tea Leoni, 48, told Parade magazine of the couple’s daughter Madelaine, 15, and son Kyd, 12.
“I don’t know how I could ever hate him. We’ve always loved each other, and we adore these kids.”
After a rocky few years and at least one of reconciliation, Tea Leoni and David Duchovny, 54, divorced this past August after 17 years as husband and wife.
Tea Leoni and David Duchovny have remained on friendly terms after finalizing their divorce as they co-parent their children
In 2008, David Duchovny infamously checked himself into rehab for s** addiction. He and Tea Leoni separated in 2011.
“I’m not playing stupid,” Tea Leoni continued to Parade magazine.
“I understand feelings can get hurt and things can get icky. We’ve had our moments like that. But these kids are too important, and he feels the same way, I know it. He’s a good guy.”
Tea Leoni and David Duchovny share custody of their children. The actress told Parade that Madelaine and Kyd spent “most of the summer” with their dad.
“It’s fun to spend time as this unit that we still are, and it’s easy to communicate about them,” she added.
David Duchovny agreed on the couple’s friendly vibe: “Téa and I had a long time together.”
“We’ll always be connected and there for each other,” the actor told Parade.
More than 1,000 volunteers, some driven by worry for the safety of their own families, fanned out from the University of Virginia campus on September 20 to search for Hannah Graham, a sophomore who disappeared a week ago.
Volunteers met at the university’s basketball arena before going out in teams throughout Charlottesville to search for 18-year-old Hannah Graham.
Police said on September 19 they have spoken with a man they believe was with Hannah Graham in a bar on the night she went missing, but did not have enough information to arrest or detain him after searching his car and apartment.
In an emotional appeal, Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo asked anyone who might have seen Hannah Graham and the man early September 13 on the Downtown Mall to contact authorities. Timothy Longo stopped short of calling the unidentified man a suspect, but said police are keeping an eye on him.
Police have focused on Hannah Graham’s movements the night of September 12 and into the early morning hours of September 13. The sophomore from northern Virginia met friends at a restaurant for dinner, stopped by two parties at off-campus housing units, and left the second party alone, police have said.
Surveillance videos showed her walking, and at some points running, past a pub and a service station and then onto the Downtown Mall, a seven-block pedestrian strip lined with shops and restaurants.
Hannah Graham disappeared after she met friends at a restaurant for dinner, stopped by two parties at off-campus housing units, and left the second party alone
Hannah Graham’s disappearance has sent a ripple of fear through the quiet college town.
Maria Faidas, a sophomore who volunteered to help search on September 20, said she lives a block from Hannah Graham and has walked home alone before without thinking twice of the possible dangers.
Students said they’ve started walking in pairs at night and are paying closer attention to their surroundings.
At least three other young women have disappeared in the area in the last five years. Nineteen-year-old Samantha Ann Clarke, who vanished after leaving her Orange County town house in September 2010, and 19-year-old DaShad Laquinn Smith, who disappeared in Charlottesville in November 2012, remain missing.
Morgan Harrington, a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student, disappeared from the University of Virginia‘s John Paul Jones Arena while attending a rock concert in October 2009. Her remains were found three months later in a rural area. No arrests have been made.
Police have said they do not think Hannah Graham’s disappearance is linked to any of the other missing women.
Emily Kilroy, a consultant who also helped search, said the episodes are “starting to feel like a pattern” that’s especially unfortunate in a college town with so many young women.
Virginia Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Dawn Eischen said there were 981 volunteer searchers as well as 100 others who had search-and-rescue training.
The search for Hannah Graham would continue Sunday, September 21, Dawn Eischen said.
Barbara Henning, the wife of British taxi driver Alan Henning who is held hostage by Islamic State (ISIS), has pleaded with the militants to “see it in their hearts” to release him.
Alan Henning, 47, was seized while on an aid mission to Syria in December 2013.
In a statement released via the UK’s Foreign Office, Barbara Henning said her husband had been driving an ambulance stocked with food and water at the time.
Barbara Henning said she had sent messages to ISIS but had received no response.
The ISIS militants issued their threat to kill Alan Henning in a video released last Saturday, September 13, which showed the killing of another British man, David Haines.
The full statement released from the Henning family read: “I am Barbara Henning, the wife of Alan Henning.
“Alan was taken prisoner last December and is being held by the Islamic State.
“Alan is a peaceful, selfless man who left his family and his job as a taxi driver in the UK to drive in a convoy all the way to Syria with his Muslim colleagues and friends to help those most in need.
“When he was taken he was driving an ambulance full of food and water to be handed out to anyone in need. His purpose for being there was no more and no less. This was an act of sheer compassion.
The ISIS militants issued their threat to kill Alan Henning in a video released on September 13
“I cannot see how it could assist any state’s cause to allow the world to see a man like Alan dying.
“I have been trying to communicate with the Islamic State and the people holding Alan. I have sent some really important messages but they have not been responded to.
“I pray that the people holding Alan respond to my messages and contact me before it is too late.
“When they hear this message I implore the people of the Islamic State to see it in their hearts to release my husband Alan Henning.”
Alan Henning, nicknamed Gadget by the men he was travelling with, was abducted the day he arrived in Syria to help those affected by the country’s civil war.
In video footage filmed as he stopped en route in Turkey he said “no sacrifice we do is anything compared to what they’re going through every day”.
Barbara Henning’s written appeal comes a day after two high-profile imams in the UK had called for Alan’s release in a video posted on YouTube.
Haitham al-Haddad, an imam from the Islamic Sharia Council, said executing the British hostage would be “totally haram (forbidden), impermissible, prohibited according to sharia for a number of reasons”.
Shakeel Begg, imam at Lewisham Islamic Centre in south London, said he wanted to make it clear he stood “with Alan Henning” and added: “I urge you to understand the nature of this prisoner you are holding – a man of peace.”
The scholars’ appeal to release Alan Henning came after more than 100 British Muslim imam organizations and individuals expressed their “horror and revulsion” at the “senseless murder” of David Haines, and the threats to Alan Henning.
The Secret Service has stepped up security at the White House and launched a “comprehensive review” of procedures there after two attempted breaches in 24 hours.
The more serious incident saw a man wielding a knife enter the building on September 19, prompting a partial evacuation.
President Barack Obama was not present at the time of the incident.
The following day, another man drove up to a security gate. Both men have since been arrested.
President Barack Obama said he still had “full confidence” in the Secret Service, which is tasked with protecting senior American officials and visiting leaders.
The Secret Service has stepped up security at the White House after two attempted breaches in 24 hours
The man involved in latest incident, Omar Gonzalez, was only stopped after entering the North Portico doors, the Secret Service said.
Video footage showed the intruder running across a White House lawn after scaling a fence. He was later found to be carrying a 3.5 inch folding knife.
“Although last night the officers showed tremendous restraint and discipline in dealing with this subject, the location of Gonzalez’s arrest is not acceptable,” the Secret Service said in a statement.
“Every day the Secret Service is challenged to ensure security at the White House complex while still allowing public accessibility to a national historical site,” it added.
The president and his daughters had just left the White House by helicopter before Omar Gonzalez entered. The man was later taken to a Washington hospital after complaining of chest pains, officials said.
An apparently unrelated incident on September 20 saw a man drive up to a vehicle gate in the complex and refuse to leave.
Secret Service agents shut down nearby streets and searched the vehicle for explosives.
Officials said Saturday’s incident was an “everyday occurrence”.
The review of security was initiated by director Julia Pierson, who also ordered “the immediate enhancement of officer patrols and surveillance capabilities” around the White House.
A White House spokesman said President Barack Obama expected the review to be conducted “with the same professionalism and commitment to duty that we and the American people expect from the US Secret Service”.
Honey Boo Boo’s parents June Shannon and Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson have separated, Mama June confirmed in a statement.
June Shannon wrote on her Facebook account: “Sugar Bear and I have decided to take some time apart to figure out some things in our relationship. We are taking things day by day, but regardless of what happens, the girls will always be our number one priority. We want to thank y’all for your support.“
According to a new report, Mama June is convinced Sugar Bear cheated on her. To make matters worse, she even caught him on online dating sites.
June Shannon and Sugar Bear have decided to take some time apart just 16 months after commitment ceremony in May 2013 (photo Facebook)
“I love to hunt fish and ride 4wheelers and have a good time. I like spending time at home watching movies cuddling spending time with family. I love muddy Boggs and love to ride in the mudd,” Sugar Bear’s profile reads.
June Shannon is reportedly planning on taking her four children and moving out of their Georgia home once Here Comes Honey Boo Boo reality show is done filming.
Even though the couple never officially married, they did have a commitment ceremony in May 2013 resulting in Mama June wearing a wedding ring.
