The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has banned all US airlines from flying over Iraq until further notice.
The FAA said the ban was introduced due to the “hazardous situation” created by fighting between militants from the Islamic State (IS) and Iraqi security forces.
The FAA has banned all US airlines from flying over Iraq until further notice
The US launched air strikes against IS in Iraq on Thursday.
The FAA had previously banned all air travel over Iraq below 30,000 feet on July 31.
On Saturday, Australian airline Qantas said it had suspended flights over Iraq, following similar actions by German airline Lufthansa, Dubai-based Emirates, Virgin Atlantic and Air France.
Flying over conflict areas has come under increasing scrutiny since the crash of MH 17 in Ukraine in July.
Earlier in July, the FAA and other European carriers briefly suspended flights to Israel’s Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv after a rocket landed near the airport.
German bank BayernLB has rejected a 25 million euros settlement from Bernie Ecclestone.
BayernLB claims he collected commissions, and undervalued its stake in the global motor racing business, which it sold in 2005.
This week a German court halted a bribery trial against Bernie Ecclestone, relating to the sale of Formula 1 rights, in exchange for a payment of $95 million.
BayernLB has rejected a 25 million euros settlement from Bernie Ecclestone (photo Getty Images)
The 83-year-old Formula 1 boss had been accused of funneling some $42 miliom to jailed BayernLB banker Gerhard Gribkowsky to ensure that a company he favored could buy a stake in F1.
Bernie Ecclestone had denied wrongdoing, and his payment was accepted by the district court in Munich.
He walked free and continues running the sport. It also meant Bernie Ecclestone was found neither guilty nor innocent.
Gerhard Gribkowsky was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison in 2012 for accepting bribes.
Bernie Ecclestone’s lawyers last week had offered to pay public-sector bank BayernLB 25 million euros, but also said that damage to the company was not evident.
The offer expired on Friday with the bank rejecting it, without giving reasons.
It has not said what its next move would be – it could either negotiate another sum or could launch civil proceedings against him.
In 2005 BayernLB sold its stake in Formula 1 to the private equity firm CVC, making it the largest stakeholder in the business.
A new study suggests that older people who have a severe vitamin D deficiency have an increased risk of developing dementia.
UK researchers, writing in Neurology, looked at about 1,650 people aged over 65.
This is not the first study to suggest a link – but its authors say it is the largest and most robust.
However, experts say it is still too early to say elderly people should take vitamin D as a preventative treatment.
Vitamin D comes from foods – such as oily fish, supplements and exposing skin to sunlight.
Older people who have a severe vitamin D deficiency have an increased risk of developing dementia
However older people’s skin can be less efficient at converting sunlight into Vitamin D, making them more likely to be deficient and reliant on other sources.
The international team of researchers, led by Dr. David Llewellyn at the University of Exeter Medical School, followed people for six years.
All were free from dementia, cardiovascular disease and stroke at the start of the study.
At the end of the study they found the 1,169 with good levels of vitamin D had a one in 10 chance of developing dementia. Seventy were severely deficient – and they had around a one in five risk of dementia.
Dr. David Llewellyn said: “We expected to find an association between low vitamin D levels and the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, but the results were surprising – we actually found that the association was twice as strong as we anticipated.”
He said further research was needed to establish if eating vitamin D rich foods such as oily fish – or taking vitamin D supplements – could “delay or even prevent” the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
However, Dr. David Llewellyn added: “We need to be cautious at this early stage and our latest results do not demonstrate that low vitamin D levels cause dementia.
“That said, our findings are very encouraging, and even if a small number of people could benefit, this would have enormous public health implications given the devastating and costly nature of dementia.”
True Detective creator has denied claims that dialogue from its main character has been copied from a pre-existing work.
Writer Nic Pizzolatto said “nothing in the show is plagiarized”, adding Rust Cohle’s thoughts “are not unique to any one author”.
A blog post contended that his words are “borrowed” from other authors, particularly Thomas Ligotti.
True Detective creator has denied claims that dialogue from its main character has been copied from a pre-existing work
Broadcaster HBO called True Detective “a work of exceptional originality”.
“The story, plot, characters and dialogue are that of Nic Pizzolatto,” the network’s statement continued.
“Philosophical concepts are free for anyone to use, including writers of fiction, and there have been many such examples in the past.”
“We stand by the show, its writing and Nic Pizzolatto entirely,” HBO concluded.
Nic Pizzolatto maintains that his talented but troubled chief protagonist, played by Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey, is an “autodidact pessimist” who “speaks toward that philosophy with erudition and in his own words”.
“The ideas within this philosophy are certainly not exclusive to any writer,” he added.
Blog writer Mike Davis, responding to research carried out by Jon Padgett of the Thomas Ligotti Online website, claimed “exact quotes” by author Thomas Ligotti had been used in scripts for True Detective.
The US army has launched an airstrike against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq.
The Pentagon said American aircraft attacked artillery that was being used against Kurdish forces defending the northern city of Irbil.
President Barack Obama authorized air strikes on Thursday, but said he would not send US troops back to Iraq.
The US army has launched an airstrike against IS militants in Iraq (photo Reuters)
The Sunni Muslim group IS, formerly known as Isis, now has control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria.
In June, IS took control of the city of Mosul. Earlier this week, its fighters seized Qaraqosh, Iraq’s biggest Christian town.
The advance of IS also forced tens of thousands of people from the Yazidi community – another minority group in northern Iraq – to leave their homes and seek shelter on a nearby mountain.
According to the Pentagon statement, two F/A-18 aircraft dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on mobile artillery near Irbil.
Pentagon press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said IS had been using the artillery to shell Kurdish forces defending Irbil, where US personnel are based.
The air strike is the first time the US has been directly involved in a military operation in Iraq since American troops withdrew in late 2011.
The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak an international health emergency.
WHO officials said a coordinated international response was essential to stop and reverse the spread of the virus.
The announcement came after experts convened a two-day emergency meeting in Switzerland.
The WHO has declared the spread of Ebola in West Africa an international health emergency (photo Getty Images)
So far more than 960 people have died from Ebola in West Africa this year.
The WHO said the outbreak was an “extraordinary event”.
“The possible consequences of further international spread are particularly serious in view of the virulence of the virus,” the UN health agency said in a statement.
More than 1,700 cases of Ebola have been reported in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
WHO director-general Dr. Margaret Chan appealed for help for the countries hit by the “most complex outbreak in the four decades of this disease”.
Dr. Margaret Chan said there would be no general ban on international travel or trade.
Toyota is being caught in China’s anti-monopoly investigation.
The Japanese car maker said that Chinese regulators were looking into its Lexus luxury brand.
Audi, Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz are among carmakers and parts suppliers already under scrutiny for as-yet unspecified anti-competitive issues.
Toyota is being caught in China’s anti-monopoly investigation
A Toyota spokesman said the company was “co-operating fully with the queries from the authorities on Lexus”.
Although regulators have not set out the basis of their concerns, there have been reports in China of customers complaining about the high prices of imported vehicles and spare parts.
The technology and pharmaceutical sectors have also faced investigations in what analysts have said looks like an attempt to force down prices.
The investigations are being led by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which earlier this week raided a Mercedes office in Shanghai.
According to state news agency Xinhua, “inspectors are still collecting evidence and investigating whether Mercedes-Benz has used monopolistic tactics”.
Last month, China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce – the body responsible for enforcing business laws – said it was looking into “alleged monopoly actions” by US tech firm Microsoft.
Oscar Pistorius’ lawyer has said in closing remarks that prosecutors have twisted the facts to discredit the South African athlete in his murder trial.
Barry Roux said Oscar Pistorius should have faced a lesser charge of culpable homicide over the shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Oscar Pistorius, 27, denies prosecution claims that he deliberately shot Reeva Steenkamp.
Barry Roux conceded that he should be found guilty for negligence for discharging a firearm in a restaurant.
Oscar Pistorius pleaded not guilty to all the charges he faces, including two counts of shooting a firearm in public and the illegal possession of ammunition.
In the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, Oscar Pistorius says he mistook his girlfriend – a model and law graduate – for an intruder when he shot her through a toilet door in his home in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria.
Oscar Pistorius denies prosecution claims that he deliberately shot Reeva Steenkamp
Once concluding arguments are finished, Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa is expected to adjourn the trial to consider her ruling. Analysts say this process could take between a week and a month as she has 4,000 pages of evidence to consider.
The prosecution is trying to characterize Oscar Pistorius as a “hothead” who intentionally killed Reeva Steenkamp after an argument.
His defense team wants to portray him as having a heightened response to perceived danger due to his disability and background.
In court on Friday, Barry Roux said growing up with a disability conditioned Oscar Pistorius always to confront danger because he could not flee.
He described it as a “slow burn” of insecurities and compared it to an abused woman shooting her abuser.
Barry Roux also dealt with phone data evidence on the night of the shooting to show that the timeline of events fits the defense’s argument that Oscar Pistorius fired the shots at the toilet door first on his stumps.
Realizing he had shot Reeva Steenkamp by mistake, the defense says Oscar Pistorius put on his prosthetics and used a cricket bat to knock down the door at 03.17 local time – five minutes after he says shots were fired.
The prosecution alleges that the noises heard at 03.17 were the shots being fired.
Barry Roux said analysis of the evidence showed there was anxious high-pitched screaming followed by shouts of “help, help, help” between the two sounds, which near neighbors say were made by a man, not a woman as other witnesses testified.
Earlier, the defense said that there had been “no respect for the crime scene”, saying the state’s case was discredited as Oscar Pistorius’ house was tampered with inadvertently, with a fan and duvet being moved.
State prosecutor Gerrie Nel, in his closing statement on Thursday, argued the athlete “cannot escape” a murder conviction, accusing him of being a “deceitful witness” who told the court a “snowball of lies”.
Known as the “bull terrier”, prosecutor Gerrie Nel said the athlete’s lawyers had presented two lines of defense that “can never be reconciled”.
Oscar Pistorius said he had fired both involuntarily and also out of fear, Gerrie Nel argued, insisting the court had to choose only one of his defenses.
Last month, a psychiatric report said Oscar Pistorius had post-traumatic stress disorder but no mental illness that could prevent him being held criminally responsible for his actions.
Washington authorities believe they have found the body of Jenise Wright, a 6-year-old girl who vanished from her home last weekend.
A planned autopsy by a forensic pathologist and painstaking examination and mapping of the wooded spot where the body was found are among the tools they will use.
The body believed to be that of Jenise Wright was found Thursday in woods near the Bremerton-area mobile home park where she lived. The FBI‘s Specialty Search Dogs Unit discovered the body after volunteer canine search teams reported their dogs showed interest in a particular area, Kitsap County sheriff’s Deputy Scott Wilson said.
The girl’s family was notified.
Formal identification of the body was expected Friday, Scott Wilson said.
In a statement, the sheriff’s department said a coroner will make official confirmation of the identity, but “it appears that the body is that of Jenise”.
The body believed to be that of Jenise Wright was found Thursday in woods near the Bremerton-area mobile home park where she lived (photo AP)
“This is going to be a criminal investigation, there’s no doubt about that,” Wilson told a news briefing Thursday. Authorities are trying to track down anyone responsible, and they’re “not ruling out anything,” he said.
Determination of the manner and cause of death is pending, Scott Wilson said, but “we suspect that she just did not go off by herself and fall into some bushes and die.”
There have been no arrests in the case, authorities said.
A forensic pathologist under contract to the county will perform the autopsy, Scott Wilson said.
Jenise Wright was last seen when she went to bed Saturday night. Her parents waited a day before calling for help because they say the girl had wandered around the Steele Creek Mobile Home Park on her own in the past. She was outgoing and unafraid to talk to anyone, family said.
Scott Wilson said in an interview Thursday that there were no signs of forced entry at the girl’s home and no indication that she was taken from her room.
An FBI evidence research team has finished checking the area where the body was found, and a forensic mapping team from the Washington State Patrol’s criminal investigation division planned to map the spot, Scott Wilson said Thursday evening.
More than 350 people, including officers from 15 law enforcement agencies, searched for Jenise Wright, going door to door at Steele Creek Mobile Home Park on the west side of Puget Sound, across from Seattle.
After the search began, state child welfare workers removed two other children, an 8-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl, from the home.
Jenise Wright’s father, James Wright, was charged more than a decade ago with molesting two girls, ages 8 and 15, court records show.
James Wright eventually pleaded guilty in Whatcom County Superior Court in December 2001 to a misdemeanor assault charge related to the older girl. It was not immediately clear why the molestation charges were dropped.
A judge in Whatcom County Superior Court sentenced James Wright to a year in jail but suspended the entire jail term on the condition that he follow certain conditions, including paying fees.
Scott Wilson said at a news briefing Wednesday that authorities were aware of the past charge against the father, but that officers were focused on finding the girl.
Israel has resumed air strikes in Gaza after Palestinian militants fired rockets following the end of a three-day truce on Friday morning.
The Israeli army called the renewed rocket attacks “unacceptable, intolerable and short-sighted”.
Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, earlier rejected any extension of the truce, saying Israel had failed to meet its demands.
Some 1,940 lives have been claimed in four weeks of fighting in Gaza.
Israel has resumed air strikes in Gaza after Palestinian militants fired rockets following the end of a three-day truce (photo PressTV)
At least 1,890 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died, according to latest United Nations figures.
Israel’s government says 64 soldiers have been killed, along with two Israeli civilians and a Thai national. It also claims that about 900 Palestinian militants have died in the violence.
Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on July 8 with the stated aim of halting rocket fire from militants in Gaza and destroying the network of tunnels it said were used by militants to launch attacks inside Israel.
On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was striking “terror sites across the Gaza Strip” in response to renewed rocket attacks on Israeli cities.
Palestinian militants began firing missiles from Gaza shortly before the ceasefire ended at 08:00 local time.
The violence resumed after Egyptian-brokered talks between Israel and Palestinian factions hit a deadlock.
Malaysian state fund Khazanah Nasional has proposed a “complete overhaul” of national carrier Malaysia Airlines.
Khazanah wants to buy the shares it does not already own in Malaysia Airlines and delist the carrier.
The airline has been hurt by two major tragedies – the crash of flight MH17 in Ukraine and disappearance of flight MH370 – in recent months.
The two incidents have triggered concerns about the airline’s future.
Khazanah, which currently owns 69.4% of Malaysia Airlines, has offered to pay 0.27 ringgit ($0.08) per share for the remaining stock, a 12.5% premium to the closing price on Thursday.
Khazanah Nasional has proposed a complete overhaul of Malaysia Airlines
Trading in shares in Malaysia Airlines was suspended on Friday, ahead of the announcement.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing on March 8 while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, leading to a massive search and rescue operation that is still continuing and may cost millions of dollars.
The majority of the passengers on board that flight were from China.
The crisis led to a high number of cancellations and reputational damage to the carrier, including a 60% drop in sales from China.
Malaysia Airlines suffered another major setback in July after all 298 people on board flight MH17 died as the plane was brought down in eastern Ukraine, close to the border with Russia.
The company has been losing money for many years and its market value has fallen by more than 40% in the past nine months.
In May, it reported that its net loss had widened by 59% to 443 million ringgit ($138 million) in the January-to-March period.
That marked that the fifth straight quarter of losses for the airline.
Khazanah, which has invested more than $1bn into the airline in recent years, had previously indicated that a major restructuring was on the cards.
On Friday, the state fund said it would look at restructuring all aspects of Malaysia Airlines’ operations including its business model, finances and human capital.
“Nothing less will be required in order to revive our national airline to be profitable as a commercial entity and to serve its function as a critical national development entity,” the fund said in a statement.
Adam Sandler has won a lawsuit against Deanne McDonald, his kids’ former nanny, after she accused him of treating her like a slave.
A California appeals court judge has ruled that Deanne McDonald must repay the $80,000 she received for signing a confidential settlement, agreeing not to disclose anything about Adam Sandler nor disparage him.
Deanne McDonald accused Adam Sandler of criminal activity and slavery (photo Getty Images)
Deanne McDonald was hired by Adam Sandler and his wife in 2009, and when her employment ended less than a year later, she raised employment claims that were squashed when Sandler agreed to pay her $48,000 and her attorneys $32,000 to stay quiet.
Last year, Deanne McDonald threatened to challenge the settlement agreement and sue Adam Sandler and his business partner brother Scott Sandler, so the siblings took her to private arbitration.
The former nanny then accused Adam Sandler of criminal activity and slavery.
An arbitrator ruled Deanne McDonald had breached the settlement agreement by repudiating it, disclosing confidential information and threatening to sue, and she was ordered to return the money and restrained from filing a future lawsuit.
Willie Nelson’s iconic braids are set to go under the hammer as part of Waylon Jennings memorabilia auction in New York.
Willie Nelson’s iconic braids are set to go under the hammer as part of Waylon Jennings memorabilia auction in New York
The clumps of hair were cut off by Willie Nelson in 1983 and given to fellow country star Waylon Jennings, who died in 2002, as a show of solidarity to support Jennings’ attempt at sobriety.
Willie Nelson’s plaits are listed among 500 items that once belonged to Waylon Jennings, including Buddy Holly’s motorcycle, which he was given after the Peggy Sue hitmaker’s death in 1959, Muhammad Ali’s boxing gloves and a robe and a letter John Lennon sent to the singer.
President Barack Obama has authorized targeted air strikes against Islamic militants in northern Iraq but will not send US troops back to the country.
Barack Obama said Islamic State (IS) fighters would be targeted to prevent the slaughter of religious minorities or if they threaten US interests.
No strikes have been made yet but the US has made humanitarian air drops to Iraqis under threat from the militants.
IS has seized Qaraqosh, Iraq’s biggest Christian town, forcing locals to flee.
The Sunni Muslim group, formerly known as Isis, has been gaining ground in northern Iraq since it launched its onslaught in June.
It now controls large swathes of Iraq and Syria and says it has created an Islamic caliphate in its territory.
Speaking at the White House on Thursday evening, Barack Obama said US military aircraft had dropped food and water to members of the Yazidi religious minority community trapped on Mount Sinjar by IS fighters.
Barack Obama has authorized two operations against Islamic militants in northern Iraq
Officials had warned that the Yazidis faced starvation and dehydration if they remained on the mountain, and slaughter at the hands of the IS if they fled.
Barack Obama said the US could not turn a “blind eye” to the prospect of violence “on a horrific scale”, especially when the Iraqi government had requested assistance.
The president said the US would act “carefully and responsibly, to prevent a potential act of genocide”.
US air strikes would target IS fighters, should they threaten Baghdad or move towards Irbil, where there is a significant presence of US diplomats and military advisers, Barack Obama said.
In addition, he authorized strikes “if necessary” to help Iraqi government forces break the siege at Mount Sinjar and rescue the trapped civilians.
“The only lasting solution is reconciliation among Iraqi communities and stronger Iraqi security forces,” Barack Obama added.
The president spoke hours after the UN Security Council met. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was “deeply appalled” by the situation.
As many as 100,000 Christians are believed to have fled their homes ahead of the IS advance, and most of them are thought to have gone toward the autonomous Kurdistan Region.
Kurdish forces, known as the Peshmerga, have been fighting the IS militants’ advance in the area around Qaraqosh for weeks, but on Wednesday night it appeared they had abandoned their posts.
Last month, hundreds of Christian families fled nearby Mosul after the Islamist rebels gave them an ultimatum to convert to Islam, pay a special tax, or be executed.
Iraq is home to one of the world’s most ancient Christian communities, but numbers have dwindled amid growing sectarian violence since the US-led invasion in 2003.
About 50,000 Yazidis, meanwhile, are thought to have been trapped in the mountains after fleeing the town of Sinjar over the weekend – although the UN says some of them have now been rescued.
Almost 200,000 civilians have been displaced from Sinjar town, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned.
Those trapped on the mountain are facing dehydration, and 40 children are reported to have died already.
Theodore Wafer has been found guilty of second-degree murder for killing an unarmed black woman who banged on his door at night last year.
Jurors rejected Theodore Wafer’s claim that he acted in self-defense when he fired a shotgun through his screen door at Renisha McBride, 19, in November.
Theodore Wafer, 55, faces up to life in prison, but it is likely his actual sentence will be much shorter.
Theodore Wafer has been found guilty of second-degree murder for killing Renisha McBride
Renisha McBride, who was drunk, had crashed her car nearby some hours before.
The case has raised the issue of the use of guns in self-defense in America, analysts say.
Theodore Wafer told jurors he fired after being awaked in the early hours of November 2, 2013, by loud banging on his door, because he was afraid and did not want to be a victim in his own home, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan.
However, prosecutors said Theodore Wafer should have called the police.
In his closing remarks on Wednesday, prosecutor Patrick Muscat said it was likely that Renisha McBride was looking for help after crashing her car nearby.
As well as being convicted of second-degree murder, Theodore Wafer has also been found guilty of manslaughter.
Delta Air Lines has announced it is ready to re-route flights from the US to Asia if Russia imposes a ban on access to its airspace.
The Russian government is considering banning EU and US airlines from crossing its airspace in retaliation for western sanctions over Ukraine.
Delta says that 12 services would be affected if airlines are banned from Siberian airspace.
Delta is ready to re-route flights from the US to Asia if Russia imposes a ban on access to its airspace (photo Getty Images)
It is the first airline to publicly announce a contingency plan.
However, it is likely that other airlines are also looking at the issue.
In a statement, a spokesman for Delta said: “As a routine matter in running a global airline, Delta continually weighs geopolitical considerations when developing flight plans for the safe and secure aircraft routings of customers and employees.
“Delta is prepared to quickly make alternate routings around closed airspace if necessary, including Russian Siberia.”
Shares in airlines were hit on Tuesday when it was first rumored that Russia was considering a ban on foreign airlines crossing its airspace.
Rudy Kurniawan has been sentenced to 10 years in jail and ordered to pay $20 million for his role in selling millions of dollars worth of fake wine.
The 37-year-old wine fraudster has also been ordered to pay $28.4 million in restitution to victims, who include billionaire William Koch.
Rudy Kurniawan is the first person ever to go to jail for selling fake wine in the US.
Rudy Kurniawan has been sentenced to 10 years in jail and ordered to pay $20 million for his role in selling millions of dollars worth of fake wine
He was found guilty of mixing old wine with newer vintages in his kitchen.
Rudy Kurnaiwan then passed them off as even more expensive wines.
The scheme ran from 2004 to 2012, according to government prosecutors. In December, he was found guilty of committing wire and mail fraud.
As an Indonesian national, Rudy Kurniawan will be deported once his sentence is served. He has already spent two years in jail since being arrested in March of 2012.
An avid collector himself, Rudy Kurniawan was once considered one of the best aficionados in the world.
In 2006 alone, it was believed he sold up to 12,000 bottles at auction.
Authorities were said to have found thousands of labels for fine Burgundy and Bordeaux wine along with full, unlabelled bottles in Rudy Kurniawan’s home.
Prosecutors argued Rudy Kurniawan deserved a longer sentence because he flaunted his ill-gotten gains “with extravagant purchases of authentic wine, luxury cars, a Beverly Hills mansion, flights on private jets, designer watches and clothing, fine art and much more”.
Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) – known as the world’s oldest surviving bank – has reported a bigger-than-expected loss.
MPS, which has been in business since 1472, reported a second quarter loss of 179 million euros, three times the loss analysts had been expecting.
Monte dei Paschi di Siena is known as the world’s oldest surviving bank (photo Getty Images)
It was the bank’s ninth consecutive quarterly loss.
MPS, which was bailed out by the state last year, blamed the rising costs of bad loans.
The bank has been through some turbulent years since buying rival bank, Antonveneta for more than 10 billion euros at the height of the financial boom in 2007.
That deal stretched the finances of MPS and the subsequent global financial crisis almost caused the bank to collapse.
The Italian government had to step in and bailout the company.
In June, MPS raised 5 billion euros on the stock market which it used to pay back state aid and boost its financial situation.
A New York man who was admitted to hospital with a high fever and stomach problems after travelling through West Africa has tested negative for Ebola.
The patient in New York had been isolated shortly after arriving at Mount Sinai hospital on Monday.
An outbreak in West Africa has killed more than 900 people and a state of emergency has been declared in Liberia.
The US infectious disease agency is now operating at its highest emergency response in order to free up resources.
Ebola is one of the deadliest diseases known to humans, with a fatality rate in this outbreak of between 50% and 60%.
The Ebola suspected patient has been isolated shortly after arriving at Mount Sinai hospital
It is spread through contact with the bodily fluids of Ebola patients showing symptoms.
Two other Americans infected with Ebola were flown this week from Liberia to a hospital in Atlanta to receive treatment.
They are reportedly improving after receiving an experimental drug called ZMapp, produced by a firm in San Diego, but it is unclear if the drug is responsible for their improving health.
At least one country involved in the outbreak is interested in the drug.
Nigeria’s health minister, Onyenbuchi Chukwu, said at a news conference that he had asked US health officials about access. Nigeria has seen seven confirmed cases.
Officials said the manufacturer would have to agree. A spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said director Dr. Tom Frieden “conveyed there are virtually no doses available”.
Dr. Tom Frieden was expected to testify in front of Congress about the outbreak on Thursday.
The treatment, tested only in animals, boosts the immune system’s ability to fight off Ebola through antibodies made by lab animals exposed to elements of the virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has planned to convene a panel of medical ethicists next week to discuss the ramifications of using an untested drug.
In a statement, it said the use of ZMapp “has raised questions about whether medicine that has never been tested and shown to be safe in people should be used in the outbreak and, given the extremely limited amount of medicine available, if it is used, who should receive it”.
Some public health officials were wary of ramping up production of the drug at the expense of traditional isolation and testing measures.
Peter Piot, who co-discovered the virus in 1976, and two other Ebola experts, urged the drug be made more widely available.
The FDA has separately given the US defense department an emergency authorization to use an Ebola diagnostic test overseas.
It will be used in labs designated by the defense department to respond to the Ebola outbreak.
California-based Adriana’s Insurance Services settled a lawsuit with a Los Angeles man with 17 buckets of coins, said to contain $20,000.
Andres Carrasco, 76, filed a lawsuit in 2012 against Adriana’s Insurance Services, a Rancho Cucamonga-based company.
The East Los Angeles man alleged that during an argument over why the company had cancelled his auto insurance, an agent assaulted him by physically removing him from the office.
The company reached a settlement in June and last week delivered partial payment in the form of a check, but also tried to leave buckets of loose change in his lawyer’s East Los Angeles office, attorney Antonio Gallo said.
Adriana’s Insurance Services settled a lawsuit with 17 buckets of coins, said to contain $20,000
Antonio Gallo said he refused to accept the delivery because he couldn’t verify the amount in the buckets. But, he said, the cash was left the next day when he was at court.
His assistant said eight people came in “and just dropped it off in the lobby,” Antonio Gallo said.
Antonio Gallo, who wouldn’t disclose the settlement figure, estimated there may be $20,000 or more in coins.
“There’s maybe 17 buckets of coins,” he said.
“They probably (each) weigh anywhere between 70 to 100 pounds. I’m assuming, because I can’t lift them.”
One bucket is entirely full of pennies, he added.
Antonio Gallo said he didn’t think the payment was illegal in California but it is unique.
“It’s insulting to my client. He’s 76 years old, he just had a hernia operation. Come on,” Antonio Gallo said.
“He feels that he wasn’t treated as a human being.”
Antonio Gallo said he has been in contact with the company’s attorney and would like to see the insurer issue a check for the rest of the settlement and take away the coins by Friday. Otherwise, he will have to hire someone to count the stash.
Hurricane Iselle is poised to roar across Hawaii on Thursday, blasting the island paradise with heavy rains, damaging winds.
Hurricane Iselle is 245 miles east of Hilo and is expected to make landfall on Thursday afternoon.
Hawaiian officials have urged residents to stock up on emergency supplies in the remote US state.
Hurricane Iselle is 245 miles east of Hilo and is expected to make landfall in Hawaii
Another Pacific storm, Hurricane Julio, strengthened overnight but is too far out to determine whether it will hit the islands in the next few days.
Julio is now a category two storm, with maximum sustained winds of 105mph, as of Thursday morning.
The last cyclone to hit Hawaii, Hurricane Iniki in 1992, killed six and caused $2.4 billion in damage.
Hawaii County, the state’s largest island, is under a hurricane warning. The rest of the state remains on a tropical storm warning.
Iselle had maximum sustained winds of 80mph as of early Thursday morning.
Five to eight inches of rain are forecasted, along with heavy winds and potential flash flooding in some parts of the state.
Wave swells of up to 15ft to 25ft were expected on the Big Island, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Cantin said the size and terrain of the Big Island would help weaken Iselle into a tropical storm as it passes Maui and Oahu.
The state’s department of emergency management has asked residents to prepare a seven-day emergency kit, including non-perishable food and water.
Hawaii’s remoteness from the mainland makes it hard to get emergency supplies to the state. Stores have had to quickly restock bottled water and other supplies.
Some tourists did not let the threat keep them from enjoying their vacation.
An inter-island airline has cancelled flights on Thursday between Maui and Lanai islands and all flights on Friday.
Schools on the Big Island, Maui, Molokai and Lanai will be closed on Thursday.
Russia has granted Edward Snowden permission to stay three more years with the right to travel abroad, his lawyer says.
Edward Snowden’s year-long leave to stay in Russia had expired on July 31.
He fled the US in 2013 after leaking details of the National Security Agency’s surveillance and telephone-tapping operations.
The US has charged Edward Snowden with theft of government property and communicating classified information.
Edward Snowden’s lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, told journalists that the request for an extension had been accepted.
“Accordingly, Edward Snowden was given a three-year residence permit,” which will allow him to move about freely and travel abroad, Anatoly Kucherena said.
Russia has granted Edward Snowden permission to stay three more years with the right to travel abroad
The former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor has been hailed by privacy activists for revealing the extent of the NSA’s surveillance operations and details of alleged US spying on foreign leaders, including US allies.
The US Congress has since attempted to impose restrictions on the NSA’s electronic surveillance activities.
However, US leaders have accused Edward Snowden of damaging national interests and harming the country’s security.
In May, Secretary of State John Kerry said Edward Snowden was a fugitive from justice who should “man up” and return home.
Edward Snowden had fled the US via Hong Kong in May 2013.
He remained in a transit zone in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport for more than a month after the US revoked his travel documents, before being granted temporary asylum in Russia in August 2013.
Russia’s decision to shelter Edward Snowden was strongly criticized by the US.
Little is known about his activities in Russia, although his lawyer says he is working as an “IT specialist” and as a rights defender.
Anatoly Kucherena stressed on Thursday that Edward Snowden had not been granted asylum, but “temporary leave to remain on the territory of Russia,” Interfax news agency reports.
“In the future Edward will have to decide whether to continue to live in Russia and become a citizen or to return to the United States,” he said.
Russia has imposed a “full embargo” on food imports from the EU, US and some other Western countries, in response to sanctions over Ukraine.
PM Dmitry Medvedev said it would include fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, milk and dairy imports.
Australia, Canada and Norway are also affected.
Russia is also banning Ukrainian airlines from transit across its territory, he said in televised comments to the government.
Furthermore, the Russian government is considering banning transit flights for EU and US airlines in retaliation for sanctions over Ukraine, he said.
Barring airlines from Siberian airspace would significantly increase costs and flying time for many jets bound for Asian destinations.
EU food exports to Russia last year were worth 11.8 billion euros ($15.8 billion) while US food exports to Russia were worth 972 million euros ($1.3 billion).
Russia has imposed a full embargo on food imports from the EU, US and some other Western countries
Russia was the EU’s second-biggest market for food exports (10% of total), after the US (13%).
The European Commission said the Russian embargo was “clearly politically motivated”. It is considering how to respond.
Western governments accuse the Kremlin of fomenting the unrest in eastern Ukraine by supplying weapons and expertise to the pro-Russian separatists.
Last month the EU and the US tightened sanctions on Russia, with Brussels applying restrictions to key sectors of the economy as well as individuals. The first round of sanctions came after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region in March.
The crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 last month, killing 298 people, exacerbated tensions between the West and Russia, as the separatists in eastern Ukraine were widely blamed. It is strongly suspected that a Russian missile system was used to down the jet.
Dmitry Medvedev ordered the agriculture ministry and producer organizations to find ways to boost Russian farm output in order to prevent price rises for consumers.
Western exports of baby food to Russia are not on the sanctions list. Western pet food is not banned either, and Russians are not barred from buying Western food abroad, within customs limits.
The Russian authorities say they are confident the supermarket shelves will not be left empty – they are searching for alternative suppliers in South America, Turkey and China.
It is estimated that in big cities, like Moscow, more than 60% of food in the shops is imported.
Researchers at Capital Economics say “far and away the most vulnerable to the Russian sanctions is Lithuania, where exports of the banned products to Russia are equivalent to 2.5% of GDP”.
The major food exporters to Russia last year were, in order of importance: Belarus ($2.7 billion), Brazil ($2.4 billion), Ukraine ($1.9 billion), Germany ($1.8 billion) and Turkey ($1.68 billion), Reuters news agency reports.
In 2013 the biggest food sector in EU exports to Russia was cheese and curd, followed by pork, then alcoholic drinks, then apples, pears and quinces.
At the end of July Russia banned all fruit and vegetable imports from Poland, which has been among the most vocal critics of Russia’s involvement in Ukraine.
In January Russia also imposed a ban on imports of pigs and pork from the EU. The European Commission says that move was “disproportionate”, closing a market worth 25% of total EU pig and pork exports.
More than 25% of Iraq’s Christians are reported to be fleeing after Islamic militants seized Qaraqosh, the minority’s biggest town in the country.
The Islamic State (IS) group captured Qaraqosh in Nineveh province overnight after the withdrawal of Kurdish forces.
Meanwhile, the UN says some of the 50,000 members of the Yazidi religious minority trapped by IS on Mount Sinjar have been rescued.
IS controls parts of Iraq and Syria and says it has created an Islamic state.
Nineveh, located 250 miles north-west of Baghdad, is home to a large number of religious minorities.
Up to a quarter of Iraq’s Christians are reported to be fleeing after Islamic militants seized Qaraqosh
Tens of thousands have been forced to flee since the Islamist rebels launched their onslaught in the north in June.
A majority of Nineveh inhabitants left their homes overnight, according to Fraternite en Irak, an international Christian organization based in Paris.
As many as 100,000 people are believed to be fleeing toward the autonomous Kurdistan Region.
Kurdish forces, known as the Peshmerga, have been fighting the IS militants’ advance for weeks.
The Peshmerga’s commander in Qaraqosh reportedly told the town’s archbishop late on Wednesday that the forces were abandoning their posts.
Several senior clergymen in Nineveh confirmed the town had fallen.
“It’s a catastrophe, a tragic situation: tens of thousands of terrified people are being displaced as we speak,” said Joseph Thomas, the Chaldean archbishop of the northern city of Kirkuk.
Eyewitnesses in Qaraqosh said IS militants were taking down crosses in churches and burning religious manuscripts.
The town – referred to as Iraq’s Christian capital – is located 20 miles south-east of the city of Mosul, which was captured by IS in June.
Last month, hundreds of Christian families fled Mosul after the Islamist rebels gave them an ultimatum to convert to Islam or face death.
Iraq is home to one of the world’s most ancient Christian communities, but numbers have dwindled amid growing sectarian violence since the US-led invasion in 2003.
Prince William is to become an air ambulance pilot next spring, Kensington Palace has announced.
Kensington Palace said Prince William will join the East Anglian Air Ambulance flying both day and night shifts.
It will become the Duke of Cambridge’s main job, but his rota will take into account any duties he will continue to undertake on behalf of the Queen.
A spokesman said Prince William was “hugely excited and motivated” by the role.
“The duke sees this as a true form of public service, helping people in their most difficult times,” he said.
“He regards his work with the RAF search and rescue force as having been an exceptional privilege and the duke wanted to make his own contribution to the outstanding work of the air ambulance service.”
Prince William is to become an air ambulance pilot next spring
The charity’s chief executive, Patrick Peal, said: “We’re delighted His Highness has decided to fly with us.
“We are confident this will help raise the profile of the charity and other air ambulance charities in the region and across the UK.”
The charity said Prince William would be based at Cambridge Airport and fly missions in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Bedfordshire.
He will be paid a salary which he will donate in full to the charity, Kensington Palace said.
Cambridge Airport is well placed between the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s new home at Anmer Hall in Norfolk and their apartment at Kensington Palace.
There had been speculation surrounding the move since Prince William, who is qualified to be a captain or pilot of a Sea King helicopter, ended his active service as an RAF search and rescue pilot last September.
During his service he carried out more than 150 missions and completed more than 1,300 flying hours.
His main duties will involve flying an EC145 T2 aircraft and working alongside medics to respond to emergencies ranging from road accidents to heart attacks.
In order to gain this license, Prince William must complete five months of training followed by 14 exams and a flight test.
Initially Prince William will be employed as a co-pilot but, after a period of training he will be qualified as a helicopter commander.
