James Blunt married Sofia Wellesley in Majorca ceremony in front of close family and friends on September 19, Daily Mail reported.
The couple previously married in a private ceremony at a London registry office on September 5.
James Blunt, 40, and Sofia Wellesley quietly exchanged vows earlier this month one day after attending Elton John’s annual End of Summer party in Windsor.
James Blunt and Sofia Wellesley got engaged in December 2013 after dating for a year
The singer and the socialite got engaged in December 2013 after dating for a year.
Sofia Wellesley graduated from the prestigious Edinburgh University and is currently a legal consultant for a London based company. Her father is Lord John Henry Wellesley and she’s the granddaughter of the Duke of Wellington.
North Korean weightlifter Om Yun Chol has set a clean and jerk world record after lifting 170 kg in the men’s 56-kg class at this year’s Asian Games.
Om Yun Chol, the 2012 Olympic champion and 2013 world champion, beat his own world record on September 20 by 1kg to win North Korea’s first gold medal at the games, a regional version of the Olympics.
North Korean weightlifter Om Yun Chol has set a clean and jerk world record after lifting 170 kg in the men’s 56-kg class at this year’s Asian Games (photo Reuters)
He also had a combined total of 298 kg to mark an Asian Games record after lifting 128 kg in the snatch.
North Korea has 150 athletes competing in 14 sports at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
Chrysler has decided to recall almost 189,000 Jeep Grand Cherokees and Dodge Durangos in the US to fix a fuel pump problem that can cause the SUVs to stall.
However, a safety advocate says the recall doesn’t cover enough models, contending the same problem can happen in millions of other Chrysler, Jeep and Ram vehicles.
The recall, posted on September 20 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, covers some 2011 models with 3.6-liter V6 or 5.7-liter V8 engines.
Chrysler says a relay can fail, increasing the risk of a crash, although the company said that as of Aug. 25, it wasn’t aware of any crashes or injuries.
The company began looking into the problem in October of 2013 and traced it to a spring that can become deformed because of heat.
The vehicles also might not start, and the fuel pump could keep working even when the engine is shut off. The company says that as of August 25 it’s not aware of any crashes or injuries from this problem.
Chrysler is recalling almost 189,000 Jeep Grand Cherokees and Dodge Durangos in the US to fix a fuel pump problem that can cause the SUVs to stall
The recall covers SUVs built from January 25, 2010 through July 20, 2011, according to the NHTSA documents.
Dealers will replace the fuel pump relay for free starting October 24.
The Center for Auto Safety, a nonprofit advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader, says the recall is inadequate because more than 5 million other Chrysler vehicles have the same fuel pump power control module as the Grand Cherokee and Durango.
The group filed a petition last month asking NHTSA to investigate power system failures in Chrysler vehicles that could cause them to stall while being driven.
In the petition, the group contended that an electrical power control module used by Chrysler in millions of vehicles since 2007 can go haywire, causing them to stall in traffic and cut off devices powered by electricity. The allegation covered Ram pickup trucks, Chrysler and Dodge minivans, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Durango and Dodge Journey SUVs, the Jeep Wrangler, and other models.
The safety group says it has received over 70 complaints and that the government has received hundreds.
NHTSA has yet to make a decision on whether to investigate the matter. Chrysler said it is investigating consumer complaints and retrieving components from vehicles in the field for a closer analysis. The company says its vehicles meet all federal safety standards.
The center’s petition said that Chrysler’s “Totally Integrated Power Module,” which includes a computer, relays and fuses, distributes electrical power through the entire vehicle. In addition to stalling, the faulty modules have may have caused air bags not to inflate and fuel pumps to keep running, causing unintended acceleration and fires, the petition said.
Kentucky firefighter Tony Grider, who was severely injured a month ago while helping college students take part in an Ice Bucket fundraiser, died on September 20 from his injuries, authorities said.
Captain Tony Grider, 41, of Campbellsville was hurt along with three other firefighters when an aerial ladder got too close to a power line as their department doused a university band with water.
Tony Grider died at noon at University of Louisville hospital, chief of Campbellsville Fire and Rescue Kyle Smith has said.
Kentucky firefighter Tony Grider was severely injured while helping college students take part in an Ice Bucket fundraiser
“His family would like to sincerely thank all of those who have been there for them following this tragic accident,” Kyle Smith said in a statement.
Tony Grider and his three colleagues were injured on August 21 when they were attempting to help students at Campbellsville University participate in the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise funds to fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
He and another firefighter, 22-year-old Simon Quinn, sustained electrocution injuries in the initial incident. Two other firefighters suffered lesser injuries coming to their aid, officials said.
Simon Quinn was released from hospital earlier this week.
Arrangements for Tony Grider’s funeral service were still pending.
Some 6 million people are expected to this year’s Oktoberfest, the world’s biggest beer party that runs from September 20 to October 5 in Munich, Germany.
Munich mayor Dieter Reiter opened the city’s annual Oktoberfest with the traditional call of “Ozapft is” to the delight of thousands who had managed to get a place in the main beer tent on September 20.
According to Oktoberfest website, on weekend the tents often close before 11 AM, because of overfilling. During the week the tents are normally open until afternoon.
This year’s Oktoberfest runs from September 20 to October 5 in Munich
The first Oktoberfest was held in 1810 in honor of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig’s marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The festivities began on October 12, 1810 and ended on October 17th with a horse race. In the following years, the celebrations were repeated and, later, the festival was prolonged and moved forward into September.
The locals in Munich fondly refer to Oktoberfest as “die Wiesn” because of its location, Theresienwiese, which was named after Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.
The main highlight of the Wiesn events and an important must-see is the Oktoberfest Costume and Riflemen’s Parade. The parade happens every year on the first Wiesn Sunday.
Other important events are the Parade of Oktoberfest Landlords and Breweries, the Official Tapping of the Keg, the Oktoberfest Mass , “Böllerschießen” (handheld canon salute) in front of the Bavaria statue and – this year- an agricultural festival.
Actress Polly Bergen died on September 20 at the age of 84, her publicist has announced.
Polly Bergen played the terrorized wife in the original Cape Fear and the first woman president in Kisses for My President.
The actress died at her home in Southbury, Connecticut, surrounded by family and close friends, publicist Judy Katz said. She had battled emphysema and other ailments in the late 1990s, a result of 50 years of smoking.
Polly Bergen played the terrorized wife in the original Cape Fear and the first woman president in Kisses for My President
Polly Bergen made albums and played leading roles in films, stage musicals and TV dramas. She also hosted her own variety series, was a popular game show panelist, and founded a thriving beauty products company that bore her name.
In recent years, she played Felicity Huffman’s mother on Desperate Housewives and the past mistress of Tony Soprano’s late father on The Sopranos.
Polly Bergen won an Emmy in 1958 portraying the tragic singer Helen Morgan on the famed anthology series Playhouse 90. She was nominated for another Emmy in 1989 for best supporting actress in a miniseries or special for War and Remembrance.
Some 200,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in the Philippines after tropical storm Fung-Wong has brought flooding, heavy rains and high winds.
Five people were also killed in the storm, two of them electrocuted while wading through flood waters, an emergency official said.
Manila and the northern provinces were worst hit, with residents being rescued from the roofs of flooded homes.
Fung-Wong is now heading north, and is expected to hit Taiwan on September 21.
Some 200,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in the Philippines after tropical storm Fung-Wong has brought flooding, heavy rains and high winds (photo Reuters)
Some 50,000 troops have been placed on standby on the island for potential rescue and relief operations.
The flood waters began to subside in parts of the Philippines on Saturday, allowing displaced residents to return home and begin clearing up.
Fung-Wong had struck the archipelago with winds of 59mph and gusts of 70kph, gathering strength as it moved north. Three weeks’ worth of rain is reported to have fallen overnight in parts of the country.
Roofs were blown away, trees toppled and highways flooded across the island of Luzon, seat of the capital, Manila.
Local media reported a river burst its banks in an eastern part of Manila on September 19, prompting the evacuation of more than 20,000 people. Other residents, however, chose to stay put.
Fung-Wong also lashed Cebu City in central Philippines, leaving parts of it 6ft underwater.
Tropical storms frequently strike the Philippines: Fung-Wong is the second in two weeks.
According to Turkish officials, some 45,000 mainly Syrian Kurds have crossed into Turkey in the past 24 hours as Islamic State (ISIS) militants advance in northern Syria.
Turkey opened its border on September 19 to Syrians who had fled the Kurdish town of Kobane in fear of an IS attack.
Activists say some 300 Kurdish fighters have crossed into Syria from Turkey to help defend the strategic town.
ISIS controls large areas of Syria and Iraq and has seized dozens of villages around Kobane, also called Ayn al-Arab.
Turkey – which shares a border with Iraq and Syria – has taken in more than 847,000 refugees since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began three years ago.
Turkish Deputy PM Numan Kurtulmus confirmed on Saturday that 45,000 refugees had crossed the border within a 24-hour period.
“No country in the world can take in 45,000 refugees in one night, bring them here unharmed and find them a shelter without a problem,” he said.
Some 45,000 mainly Syrian Kurds have crossed into Turkey in the past 24 hours as ISIS militants advance in northern Syria
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 300 Kurdish fighters had joined Syrian Kurdish ranks in the Kobane area to fend off the IS advance. The activist group did not specify which Kurdish group the fighters belonged to.
“Islamic State sees Kobane like a lump in the body, they think it is in their way,” the Observatory’s Rami Abdulrahman said.
Syrian activists say IS has seized as many as 60 villages surrounding Kobane since fighting began earlier this week.
The head of Syria’s Kurdish Democratic Union, Mohammed Saleh Muslim, has appealed for international assistance in the battle against the jihadists.
“Kobane is facing the fiercest and most barbaric attack in its history,” Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.
“Kobane calls on all those who defend humane and democratic values… to stand by Kobane and support it immediately. The coming hours are decisive,” he added.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has received a record $490 million fine after a Chinese court found it guilty of bribery.
The record penalty follows allegations the pharmaceutical giant paid out bribes to doctors and hospitals in order to have their products promoted.
The court gave GSK’s former head of Chinese operations, Mark Reilly, a suspended three-year prison sentence and he is set to be deported.
Other GSK executives have also been given suspended jail sentences.
The guilty verdict was delivered after a one-day trial at a court in Changsha, according to the Xinhua news agency.
GSK has received a record $490 million fine after a Chinese court found it guilty of bribery
Chinese authorities first announced they were investigating GSK in July last year, in what has become the biggest corruption scandal to hit a foreign firm in years. The company was accused of having made an estimated $150 million in illegal profits
GSK said it had “published a statement of apology to the Chinese government and its people”.
“Reaching a conclusion in the investigation of our Chinese business is important, but this has been a deeply disappointing matter for GSK,” said GSK CEO Andrew Witty in a statement.
“We have and will continue to learn from this. GSK has been in China for close to a hundred years and we remain fully committed to the country and its people,” he said.
“We will also continue to invest directly in the country to support the government’s health care reform agenda and long-term plans for economic growth.”
Keyshia Cole was arrested early Friday morning after being charged with battery, Entertainment Tonight reported.
According to the LAPD, Keyshia Cole was brought in Friday on a private person’s arrest, and charged with battery.
Keyshia Cole was arrested after allegedly assaulting a woman at her rumored boyfriend Birdman’s condo
The incident took place at 5 a.m. at the home of Keyshia Cole’s rumored boyfriend, rapper Birdman, where Cole allegedly assaulted a woman she found there, TMZ reported.
Keyshia Cole attacked the woman and left scatches on her faces.
Keyshia Cole has since posted a $46,000 bail and been released.
The body of missing Central Texas sheriff’s deputy Jessica Hollis has been found in Lake Austin on September 19.
On Thursday, September 18, Jessica Hollis’ patrol car was found swamped by floodwaters minutes after she radioed for help while checking flooded low-water crossings.
Efforts to locate the deputy had been suspended before nightfall Thursday because of the storms, which were remnants of Hurricane Odile.
The National Weather Service forecasts more heavy rain through Saturday over much of West Texas, with flash flood watches issued through Friday night. Rain fell Friday in Southeast Texas and elsewhere in the state, with high waters clogging roadways and impeding traffic in metro areas such as Austin and Houston.
Deputy Jessica Hollis worked with the Travis County Sheriff’s Office for seven years (photo Travis County Sheriff’s Office)
Jessica Hollis, 35, a seven-year veteran of the department, was checking low-water crossings during storms. She radioed shortly before 2 a.m. CDT Thursday to say her patrol car was being washed away in an Austin-area subdivision, Travis County sheriff’s spokesman Roger Wade said.
Her empty car was found a short time later, but she could not be located.
Earlier this week, rainfall pelted parts of the state. In Plainview, about 45 miles north of Lubbock, 4½ inches of rain was reported over 24 hours ending at 2 p.m. CDT Thursday.
The Austin area received 5 to 7 inches of rain early Thursday, Van Pelt said. About 40 miles north of Austin, near Jarrell, a weather service observer measured almost 1½ inches of rain within 30 minutes.
The $30 million lawsuit filed against Nicki Minaj by her former wig designer Terrence Davidson has been rejected by District Judge Harold Murphy in Atlanta.
In the lawsuit filed in February 2014, Terrence Davidson accused Nicki Minaj and Pink Personality LLC of breaking verbal contracts.
Terrence Davidson also claimed Nicki Minaj went back on talks to launch a reality TV show and a wig line and that she stole his designs.
Lawyers for Nicki Minaj filed a motion in May to dismiss the lawsuit.
Judge Harold Murphy agreed that Terrence Davidson did not have grounds to claim.
Terrence Davidson said in the $30 million lawsuit that he began working as Nicki Minaj’s hair stylist in early 2010.
He created various wigs for the rapper, known for her flamboyant hairpieces that she wore to a pre-show for MTV’s Video Music Awards, during media appearances in London and for her video SuperBass.
Terrence Davidson said he turned down a contract for a reality TV show after talking to a representative of Nicki Minaj.
Terrence Davidson claims Nicki Minaj launched a reality TV show and a wig line after stealing his designs
The hair stylist, whose celebrity clients include singers Patti LaBelle and Jennifer Hudson, said Nicki Minaj and her team shut him out months into talks about a reality show and a line of wigs.
Terrence Davidson stopped working as Nicki Minaj’s stylist in early 2013.
He said Nicki Minaj took his designs without his consent and used them to start her own wig line.
Nicki Minaj’s lawyers said that Terrence Davidson was “upset because he lost his most famous client” and was seeking to force himself into a business relationship that Minaj and Pink Personality developed without him to get money from them that he didn’t earn.
The judge wrote in his order that the verbal promises of future business Terrence Davidson said he got from Nicki Minaj and her team were too vague and that it was unreasonable for Davidson to rely on them as a done deal.
The judge said that Terrence Davidson claimed his wigs were distinctive because of their design and color.
He added that there was no evidence that Terrence Davidson made any attempt to connect them to himself in the public mind or that anyone was confusing the wigs sold by him with wigs sold by Nicki Minaj.
Forty nine hostages seized by Islamic State (ISIS) from the Turkish consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul have been freed and are back in Turkey.
Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the 49 had been taken to the southern city of Sanliurfa by the Turkish intelligence agency.
Details are unclear but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it had been a “detailed and secret operation”.
The hostages were seized after ISIS militants overran Mosul in a rapid advance in June.
Turkey has refused direct involvement in the military campaign against ISIS partly because of fears over the hostages’ safety.
Deputy PM Bulent Arinc said the 49 hostages were employees from the consulate – 46 Turks and three local Iraqis – and included Consul General Ozturk Yilmaz, other diplomats, children and special forces police.
Ahmet Davutoglu said they were all in good health and that they were released early on Saturday.
“I am sharing joyful news which as a nation we have been waiting for,” he said.
PM Ahmet Davutoglu said the hostages had been taken to the southern city of Sanliurfa by the Turkish intelligence agency (photo AP)
“In the early hours our citizens were handed over to us and we brought them back to our country. They have crossed into Turkey and I am on my way to see them.”
Ahmet Davutoglu was cutting short a visit to Azerbaijan to meet the released hostages.
He did not give details on the circumstances of their release but broadcaster NTV reported that Turkey had not paid a ransom. It did not say how it obtained the information.
More than 30 Turkish truck drivers, who were also seized in Mosul in June, were freed a month later but details of their release were not made public.
ISIS has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria. Estimates say the group could have up to 30,000 fighters.
The US has carried out more than 170 air strikes against the jihadists in Iraq since mid-August, supporting Iraqi government and Kurdish ground troops.
French jets carried out their first strikes on Friday, hitting an ISIS depot in north-eastern Iraq.
Also on September 19, Turkey opened a stretch of its south-eastern border to thousands of Syrian Kurds fleeing an ISIS advance.
Turkish troops had earlier blocked them from crossing, triggering angry protests from Turkish Kurds in the border village of Dikemetas.
Turkey has been under pressure from Western countries to tighten up its borders with Syria and Iraq and to stem the flow of foreign fighters joining the militants.
More than 847,000 Syrian refugees have crossed into Turkey since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011.
More than 30 nations have joined a US-led coalition to take on ISIS militants, but Turkey has said it will only allow humanitarian and logistical operations from a NATO air base on its soil.
Syria and Iran have been excluded from the coalition.
Kiev and pro-Russia rebels have agreed a memorandum on a peace plan for the conflict in east Ukraine.
The nine-point deal includes setting up a 19-mile buffer zone, a ban on overflights of part of eastern Ukraine by military aircraft and the withdrawal of “foreign mercenaries” on both sides.
The agreement was announced at talks in the Belarusian capital Minsk, where a ceasefire was agreed on September 5.
More than 3,000 have died in fighting in two eastern regions since April.
The original cease-fire has been frequently violated but is still holding.
Ukraine accuses Russia of arming separatists and sending Russian troops to the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Kremlin denies it has any role there.
In a separate development on Saturday, a humanitarian convoy of about 200 trucks from Russia has arrived in the city of Donetsk, Russian news agencies report.
They say the convoy – Russia’s third in recent weeks – delivered food, water and generators, but this was done without Ukraine’s authorization.
Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, representing Kiev at Minsk talks, said that all sides had agreed to move back some of their heavy weapons (photo AP)
The deal was reached after late-night talks between representatives of Ukraine, Russia, eastern separatists and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Correspondents say it is an effort to add substance to the fragile ceasefire agreement.
Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, representing Kiev at Minsk talks, said that all sides had agreed to move back some of their heavy weapons.
“Heavy artillery will be moved 15 km away from the front line,” he said.
He added that the deal would be implemented within 24 hours and monitors from the OSCE would travel to the buffer zone to check for compliance.
Separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko said that the two sides did not discuss the status of the rebel-held areas of Luhansk and Donetsk.
“We have our opinion on it while Ukraine has its own,” he said.
Earlier this week, Ukraine’s parliament passed a bill granting a three-year “self-rule” to parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions – a move described as “capitulation” by some Ukrainian lawmakers.
The Russian ambassador to Ukraine, Mikhail Zurabov, representing Moscow at the talks, said that “mercenaries” were fighting on both sides, and called on OSCE to oversee their removal.
Russia has repeatedly said that any of its citizens fighting alongside separatists in Ukraine are doing so in a private capacity.
The Catalan parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favor of giving its regional president the power to call an independence “consultation”.
Spain’s government opposes the Catalan “consultation” vote and is taking the dispute to the Constitutional Court.
The move comes a day after Scotland voted against independence from the United Kingdom.
Catalan President Artur Mas said Scotland’s referendum had “shown the way” for Catalonian independence.
Artur Mas is preparing Catalonia for a similar vote on November 9, with large-scale support for independence from Spain.
Catalonian lawmakers voted by a margin of 106 to 28 in favor of authorizing the consultation.
Spain’s Constitutional Court is expected to consider the Catalan case on September 23 and could suspend the region’s vote on independence.
Artur Mas earlier said Scotland’s rejection of independence was “not a setback” and that having the chance to vote was “the key point”.
Catalonia has a large-scale support for independence from Spain (photo AFP)
“This is a powerful and strong message that the UK is sending to the entire world – that if there is such a conflict elsewhere in the world you have the right way to try to resolve these differences,” he said.
Scotland “has shown the way to others – the Catalan process continues”, he added.
“My main commitment is to… organize the referendum and let the Catalan people vote,” Artur Mas said.
“If they think in Madrid that by using legal frameworks they can stop the will of the Catalan people, they are wrong.”
Spain’s PM Mariano Rajoy warmly welcomed the Scottish “No” to independence.
“With their decision, the Scottish have avoided the grave economic, social, institutional and political consequences that would have resulted from its separation from the United Kingdom and Europe,” he said.
“They chose between integration and segregation, between isolation and openness, between stability and uncertainty, between security and a real risk, and they have chosen the most favorable option for everyone, for them, for the rest of the British citizens and for Europe.”
Catalonia is one of Spain’s richest and most highly industrialized regions, and also one of the most independent-minded.
Until recently, few Catalans had wanted full independence, but Spain’s painful economic crisis has seen a surge in support for separation, correspondents say. There is resentment over the proportion of Catalan taxes used to support poorer regions.
Artur Mas can count on support from 79% of the deputies in Catalonia’s parliament, the Spanish news agency EFE reports.
The pro-independence movement in Catalonia believes that once Artur Mas signs the new law, the region can go ahead with the independence vote.
Alibaba’s shares closed significantly above their initial price on the NYSE on Friday, September 19.
Shares in the company made their debut in the US at $92.70, after being priced at $68 late on Thursday.
They ended the $93.89 – 38% above the initial asking price.
More than 100 million shares were traded in the minutes after the stock was launched – more than Twitter.
Earlier in the day, founder and chairman Jack Ma rang the opening bell.
The NYSE was festooned with the orange and white logos of the company to herald its arrival on public markets.
The company raised nearly $21.8 billion in its share sale, indicating strong investor appetite for China’s e-commerce giant.
Alibaba is now valued at $231.4 billion – making it significantly larger than Amazon and Facebook.
Alibaba’s shares closed significantly above their initial price on the NYSE (photo Reuters)
If Alibaba’s bankers decide to take up an option in which they can purchase 48 million shares themselves, then Alibaba’s launch will have raised nearly $25 billion – breaking the previous $22.1bn record set by China’s Agricultural Bank in 2010.
Alibaba operates a series of online marketplaces in China and elsewhere, handling more transactions than Amazon and eBay combined.
It is responsible for more than 80% of online e-commerce in China.
Alibaba’s share sale is being viewed as a way to invest in e-commerce growth in China.
Already, the country is home to the largest population of internet users on the planet – and most estimates say that only half of China’s 1.3 billion residents have signed online.
That is why investors have been angling for some time to get a piece of Alibaba – long the market leader in e-commerce in China.
However, investors are not buying shares directly in Alibaba’s companies operating in China, but rather in a holding company in Cayman Islands which has a profits contract with Alibaba.
That has made some wary, and it is one reason why Alibaba did not list on Hong Kong’s stock exchange.
Either way, the sale is expected to make millionaires out of a large number of the company’s managers, software engineers and other staff.
Currently Alibaba’s single largest shareholder is Japan’s Softbank which holds a 32% stake. Yahoo also has a stake.
Alibaba made a profit of almost $2 billion in the three months to the end of June, with sales up by 46% year-on-year to $2.54 billion.
Adel Abdul Bary, who is accused of helping to plan the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, has pleaded guilty in Manhattan Federal Court.
However, Judge Lewis Kaplan has not yet accepted a plea deal for the 54-year-old Egyptian that would see him serve 25 years in prison.
Adel Abdul Bary was charged with conspiracy to murder and the use of weapons of mass destruction, among other counts.
More than 200 people were killed when the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam were attacked in August 1998.
Adel Abdul Bary was extradited from the UK in 2012 along with Mustafa Kamal Mustafa, also known as Abu Hamza.
He pleaded guilty on September 19 to several of the lesser of the more than 285 charges against him, including threatening to kill by means of explosive and conspiracy to murder US citizens abroad.
The judge has yet to rule on hundreds of other charges against him, including the murders of each person killed in the attacks and conspiracy to attack US national defense utilities.
On September 19, Adel Abdul Bary wiped tears from his eyes and shook his head as he made the plea, according to Reuters news agency.
Adel Abdul Bary is accused of helping to plan the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania (photo AP)
Adel Abdul Bary admitted to using fax machines and phone calls to deliver messages of responsibility for the attacks to the news media, messages which included future threats against Americans.
Judge Lewis Kaplan said he wanted to hear further arguments before the more serious charges could be dropped.
He gave lawyers for both sides one week to submit arguments on why he should accept the deal, which would see Adel Abdul Bary sentenced to 25 years, potentially with credit for time served in the UK.
“You can well appreciate why I have questions in my mind,” Lewis Kaplan said.
Adel Abdul Bary would be permitted to withdraw the plea and proceed to trial if the judge rejects the deal.
Prosecutors told the hearing the US Attorney’s office felt the plea deal was “appropriate with regard to this defendant and the role he played in a much larger conspiracy”.
He was originally set to go on trial in November, alongside two others charged in terrorism cases.
Adel Abdul Bary was arrested in the UK in 1999. The US requested his extradition soon after, alongside radical preacher Abu Hamza and three others accused in a lengthy terrorism indictment.
Adel Abdul Bary is the father of the British man suspected to kill American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.
Six people have been arrested in Iran for appearing in a video dancing to Pharrell Williams’ song Happy.
They have been sentenced to up to one year in prison and 91 lashes, their lawyer says.
The sentences were suspended for three years, meaning they will not go to prison unless they reoffend, he adds.
The video shows three men and three unveiled women dancing on the streets and rooftops of Tehran.
In six months, it has been viewed by over one million people on YouTube.
The majority of people involved in the video were sentenced to six months in prison, with one member of the group given one year, lawyer Farshid Rofugaran was quoted by Iran Wire as saying.
The Happy we are from Tehran video was brought to the attention of the Iranian authorities in May 2014, after receiving more than 150,000 views
The Happy we are from Tehran video was brought to the attention of the Iranian authorities in May 2014, after receiving more than 150,000 views.
Members of the group behind the video were subsequently arrested by Iranian police for violating Islamic laws of the country, which prohibit dancing with members of the opposite gender and women from appearing without a headscarf.
They later appeared on state-run TV saying they were actors who had been tricked into make the Happy video for an audition.
The arrests drew condemnation from international rights groups and sparked a social media campaign calling for their release.
Pharrell Williams, whose song was nominated for an Oscar earlier this year, also protested at the arrests.
The singer wrote on his Facebook account: “It is beyond sad that these kids were arrested for trying to spread happiness.”
Ukraine has announced its withdrawal from next year’s Eurovision Song Contest due to limited finances.
“We don’t want to do something badly, and we don’t have the money to do something well,” said Zurab Alasania, of the state broadcaster NTU.
Zurab Alasania said the broadcaster had to “optimize” its funds given the unstable financial and political situation caused by the conflict in east Ukraine.
Ukraine came sixth at the event this year in Copenhagen.
The 2015 Eurovision contest will be held in May in Vienna
The NTU (National Television Company of Ukraine) said it was focusing funds on creating public service broadcasting.
A statement said it had made a deal with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to exit the competition for the coming year, with a view to returning in 2016.
The 2015 contest is being held in May in Vienna, following the triumph of Austria’s Conchita Wurst at the event earlier this year.
The Denmark contest was overshadowed by the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, with Russia’s entry – The Tolmachevy Sisters – being booed by sections of the audience during the results.
Russia ended the night in seventh place with 89 points, behind Ukraine’s entry – singer Mariya Yaremchuk – with 113.
Ukrainian singer Ruslana won the event in 2004 and has subsequently become one of the leading voices of protest in opposition to Russia’s influence in her country.
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond has announced his resignation after voters rejected independence in the recent referendum.
Alex Salmond will also resign as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), which he has led for a total of 20 years.
Scottish voters backed the country staying in the UK by 2,001,926 votes to 1,617,989 in Thursday’s referendum.
Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth II has said Scotland’s vote to stay in the Union was “a result that all of us throughout the United Kingdom will respect”.
She added: “Knowing the people of Scotland as I do, I have no doubt that Scots, like others throughout the United Kingdom, are able to express strongly-held opinions before coming together again in a spirit of mutual respect and support.”
Dozens of rival Union and independence supporters have gathered in George Square, in the centre of Glasgow, where they are being separated by police. Officers on horseback are also at the scene.
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said there were about 100 people in each of the two groups, and although there had been some “minor disorder” it had been dealt with quickly, with no arrests so far. The square is closed to traffic with local diversions in place.
The square had hosted a party by “Yes” supporters ahead of the referendum.
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond has announced his resignation after voters rejected independence (photo AP)
UK’s PM David Cameron said the three main Westminster parties would now deliver their campaign pledge to boost the powers of Scotland’s devolved parliament.
Alex Salmond, 59, is Scotland’s longest-serving first minister, having held the post since the SNP won power at the Scottish Parliament in May 2007.
Speaking from his official residence at Bute House in Edinburgh, the first minister told journalists: “For me as leader my time is nearly over, but for Scotland the campaign continues and the dream shall never die.
“I am immensely proud of the campaign that Yes Scotland fought and particularly of the 1.6 million voters who rallied to that cause.”
Alex Salmond said he would resign as SNP leader at the party’s conference in November, before standing down as first minister when the party elects its next leader in a membership ballot.
He said there were a “number of eminently qualified and very suitable candidates” to replace him.
Nicola Sturgeon, the current deputy first minister and deputy SNP leader, is seen as a clear frontrunner.
Alex Salmond, who will stay on as MSP for Aberdeenshire East, added: “It has been the privilege of my life to serve Scotland as first minister.
“But, as I said often during the referendum campaign, this is not about me or the SNP. It is much more important than that.
“The position is this. We lost the referendum vote but can still carry the political initiative. More importantly Scotland can still emerge as the real winner.”
Nicola Sturgeon said she could “think of no greater privilege than to seek to lead the party I joined when I was just 16,” but said she would not make an announcement today.
She added: “Alex Salmond’s achievements as SNP leader and Scotland’s first minister are second to none. He led the SNP into government and has given our country a renewed self confidence.”
Alex Salmond also used his resignation statement to question David Cameron’s more powers pledge.
“We now have the opportunity to hold Westminster’s feet to the fire on the ‘vow’ that they have made to devolve further meaningful power to Scotland,” he said.
“This places Scotland in a very strong position.
“I spoke to the prime minister today and, although he reiterated his intention to proceed as he has outlined, he would not commit to a second reading vote (in the House of Commons) by 27 March on a Scotland Bill.
“That was a clear promise laid out by Gordon Brown during the campaign.
“The prime minister says such a vote would be meaningless. I suspect he cannot guarantee the support of his party.”
On referendum night, 28 of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas voted in favor of staying in the UK.
Glasgow, Scotland’s largest council area and the third largest city in Britain, voted in favor of independence by 194,779 to 169,347.
The 75% turnout in Glasgow was the lowest in the country, and hoped for breakthroughs in other traditional Labour strongholds such as South Lanarkshire, Inverclyde and across Ayrshire never materialized for the nationalists.
Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital, clearly rejected independence by 194,638 to 123,927 votes, while Aberdeen City voted “No” by a margin of more than 20,000 votes.
Across Scotland, 84.6% of registered voters cast their ballot in the referendum – a record for a national election.
France has launched its first air strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Iraq, the office of President Francois Hollande says.
A statement said planes had attacked an ISIS depot in north-east Iraq, and there would be more raids in the coming days.
The US has carried out more than 170 air strikes against the jihadist group in Iraq since mid-August.
ISIS remains in control of dozens of cities and towns in Iraq and Syria, where it has declared a caliphate.
Friday’s air strike comes a day after President Francois Hollande said he had agreed to an Iraqi request for air support, but it would only target IS in Iraq and not in neighboring Syria.
Francois Hollande also insisted that he would not send ground troops.
France has launched its first air strikes against ISIS militants in Iraq
France had already been carrying out reconnaissance flights over Iraq and providing weapons to Kurdish fighters in the north.
Francois Hollande’s office said Rafale planes had carried out the attack and “the objective was hit and completely destroyed”.
It did not give details on the type of material at the depot, or its exact location.
However, Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for the Iraqi military, said four French air strikes had hit the town of Zumar, killing dozens of militants, AP news agency reported.
On September 15, France – which opposed the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq – hosted an international conference on the crisis.
It saw 26 countries pledge their commitment to supporting the new Iraqi government in its fight against ISIS “by any means necessary, including appropriate military assistance”.
Nicolas Sarkozy has announced his return to French politics.
On his Facebook page, the former French president said he would seek the leadership of the opposition UMP party, widely seen as a first step towards a presidential bid in 2017.
Nicolas Sarkozy, 59, wrote: “I am a candidate to be president of my political family.”
The statement ends months of speculation about the intentions of Nicolas Sarkozy, who vowed to give up politics after he failed to be re-elected as president in 2012.
The UMP party elections are due to be held in November.
“After a lengthy period of reflection, I have decided to offer the French people a new political choice,” Nicolas Sarkozy wrote.
Nicolas Sarkozy has announced his return to French politics (photo Facebook)
He said he could not “remain a spectator given the situation in which France finds itself, given the destruction of political debate and the persistence of the derisory splits within the opposition”.
Nicolas Sarkozy has many supporters who believe his energy are essential to pull France out of its current difficulties.
However, Nicolas Sarkozy remains a divisive figure. He was defeated by Francois Hollande in the 2012 election, becoming the first French president not to be re-elected for a second term since 1981.
Meanwhile, opinion polls suggest President Francois Hollande has now become the most unpopular French president in modern times.
Although Nicolas Sarkozy has kept a low profile since leaving office, he has faced a series of legal investigations that involve him in some capacity.
In July, he was placed under formal investigation on suspicion of seeking to influence judges who were looking into his affairs.
Other inquiries include one into Nicolas Sarkozy’s links with former Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi and another into illegal campaign funding in 2012. He denies any wrongdoing.
Duck Dynasty’s Si Robertson became a collectable figurine which is available on A & E online store.
Si Robertson became a collectable figurine available on A & E online store
The small vinyl figurine features Uncle Si Robertson in a camo hat, with his frames and incredible grey beard. He wouldn’t be complete without his instantly recognizable turquoise cup.
The figurine is up for sale on A & E Shop website for $3.99.
Alibaba shares have been priced at $68, the top end of the range, in a sign of strong investor appetite for the Chinese e-commerce giant.
With trading starting on the New York Stock Exchange later on Friday, September 19, the share sale will raise $21.8 billion, making it one of the largest flotations ever.
It values Alibaba, which accounts for 80% of all online retail sales in China, at $167.6 billion.
That value surpasses such corporate titans as Walt Disney and Boeing.
The final amount raised from the sale could change, depending on the final allotment allocation. If underwriters exercise an option to sell more shares, the money raised could increase to $25 billion, beating the record listing held by Agricultural Bank of China. That flotation in 2010 raised $22 billion.
Alibaba operates a series of online marketplaces in China and elsewhere, handling more transactions than Amazon and eBay combined.
The company was formed 15 years ago by former teacher Jack Ma, who wants to use some of the proceeds to expand in the US and other markets.
Alibaba shares have been priced at $68 ahead of NYSE flotation
Trading in Alibaba shares is expected to be frenetic in the early hours after the market opens. Many experts expect the share price to go higher once trading begins as institutions add Alibaba stock to their investment portfolios.
US search giant Yahoo, already a shareholder in Alibaba, is selling some $8 billion worth of its holding in the offering, leaving it with about 16% of the company.
Japan’s Softbank is not selling for now and will be left with a 32% stake, making it the largest single shareholder.
However, control will remain in the hands of Jack Ma and other company veterans. A group of 27 manager dubbed the “Alibaba Partnership” will have the power to nominate a majority of board members.
Regulators at the Hong Kong stock market objected to this structure, which resulted in Alibaba deciding to list in New York.
Alibaba says the arrangement will help it to preserve its innovative culture.
Jack Ma’s stake is reportedly worth about $14 billion, while the sale is expected to make millionaires out of a large number of the company’s managers, software engineers and other staff.
Alibaba acts as an online marketplace for wholesalers, retailers, and small businesses, and handles e-payments and financial transactions. The company has also branched out into cloud computing and instant messaging.
Alibaba has about 279 million active buyers visiting its sites at least once a month.
Online spending by Chinese shoppers is forecast soar over the next few years. And Alibaba has plans to expand into emerging markets as well as Europe and the US.
Alibaba made a profit of almost $2 billion in Q2 2014, with sales up by 46% year-on-year to $2.54 billion.
