Kate Middleton’s sister, Pippa, gave her first ever sit-down TV interview with NBC’s morning program Today Show.
In extracts of Matt Lauer’s interview, Pippa Middleton talks about the bridesmaid dress that made her a household name.
The Duchess of Cambridge’s sister has said she considered the Royal Wedding to be a family event and her now-famous dress an “insignificant” part of the proceedings.
Pippa Middleton gave her first ever sit-down TV interview with Today Show’s Matt Lauer (photo NBC)
Pippa Middleton, 30, said the experience of Prince William and her sister’s wedding had been “surreal” and attention focused on her derrière both flattering and embarrassing.
“It was completely unexpected,” Pippa Middleton said of the attention her gown received.
“You know, I think the plan was not really for it to be a significant dress. Really just to sort of blend in with the train.”
Speaking to Today Show’s host Matt Lauer, Pippa Middleton said: “I suppose it’s flattering,” although she admitted she also found it “embarrassing, definitely” because “it wasn’t planned”.
United Airlines flight 1463 from Chicago to Santa Ana, California, made an emergency landing in Wichita, Kansas, after an evacuation slide accidentally inflated mid-flight on Sunday night.
After landing, passenger Sara Schroeder tweeted: “Gentlemen in shiny metallic suits checking out the @united plane.”
Nobody was injured, the airline said.
United Airlines flight 1463 from Chicago to Santa Ana, made an emergency landing in Wichita after an evacuation slide accidentally inflated mid-flight (photo abc7)
Flight 1463 made a rapid descent, according to Flight Aware website, and landed in Wichita at 10:36 p.m. local time (11:36 p.m. ET).
The Boeing 737-700 with 96 aboard took off from Chicago at 8:18 p.m. (9:18 p.m. ET), according to United Airlines spokeswoman Christen David.
Christen David added that the airline was flying in another aircraft to resume the flight “and get our customers to their final destination as quickly as possible.”
The US Supreme Court has ruled Christian-owned company Hobby Lobby can claim a religious exemption to a legal requirement that employers pay for their workers’ contraception.
The owners of Oklahoma-based craft supply shop chain Hobby Lobby argued the mandate in President Barack Obama’s healthcare law violated their religious beliefs.
The 5-4 decision applies only to “closely held” companies.
It does not apply to other healthcare some find morally objectionable.
The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that some corporations can hold religious objections that allow them to opt out of the requirement, written into Barack Obama’s signature 2010 health overhaul, that companies with 50 or more employees offer a health insurance plan that covers contraception.
The case turned in large part on whether the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which bars the US government from taking action that “substantially burdens the exercise of religion”, applies to for-profit companies.
The Supreme Court has ruled Hobby Lobby can claim a religious exemption to ObamaCare requirement to pay for workers’ contraception
“We reject [the Department of Health and Human Services’] argument that the owners of the companies forfeited all RFRA protection when they decided to organize their businesses as corporations rather than sole proprietorships or general partnerships,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court.
“The plain terms of RFRA make it perfectly clear that Congress did not discriminate in this way against men and women who wish to run their businesses as for-profit corporations in the manner required by their religious beliefs.”
The decision marks the first time the Supreme Court has found a profit-seeking business can hold religious views under federal law, analysts say.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called the ruling a “decision of startling breadth”.
The ruling is a blow to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which has been beset by legal challenges since it passed in 2010.
However, it is unclear whether any women employees will actually lose birth control coverage, because the Obama administration had already devised a mechanism under which workers of non-profit organizations that object to the contraception mandate could keep coverage without the organization having to pay for it.
In the case decided on Monday, the Supreme Court ruled on challenges by Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp, a wood cabinetmaker owned by Mennonites.
Hobby Lobby, an arts and crafts chain, employs 13,000 full-time employees. Conestoga employs 950 people.
The owners of Hobby Lobby – David Green, Barbara Green and several relatives – had described themselves as “committed evangelical Christians” and said their religious beliefs “forbid them from participating in, providing access to, paying for… or otherwise supporting abortion-causing drugs and devices”.
The Affordable Care Act, known by critics and supporters as ObamaCare, has been subject to countless legal and political challenges from Republicans and conservatives since its passage.
Considered the largest overhaul of the US healthcare system since the 1960s, it aims to extend health insurance coverage to the estimated 15% of the US population who lack it.
The Supreme Court has already ruled on the law. In 2012, the court affirmed the constitutionality of the act’s central provision, a requirement that most individuals who do not receive health insurance from the government or their employers purchase it or face a fine.
China’s top military official, General Xu Caihou, has been accused of accepting bribes and expelled from the Communist Party, state media report.
Gen. Xu Caihou was once a member of China’s elite decision-making body, the Politburo. He will now be handed over to prosecutors for a court martial.
Xu Caihou is believed to have been held under house arrest for several months.
Analysts say this could be the biggest military scandal China has seen for many years.
General Xu Caihou has been accused of accepting bribes and expelled from China’s Communist Party
Xinhua agency reported that China’s President Xi Jinping had presided over a Politburo meeting about military discipline and approved the decision to expel Gen. Xu Caihou and hand him over to military prosecutors.
Rumors about the investigation into Gen. Xu Caihou had circulated for months. Many believed poor health – he is reported to have been treated for cancer – would save him from prosecution.
However, this move is being presented in state media as part of the government’s battle against corruption.
Two other high profile figures were also expelled from the Communist Party for corruption on Monday – Jiang Jiemin, the former head of the state asset regulator, and Wang Yongchun, the deputy head of the state energy giant China National Petroleum Company (CNPC).
The spate of expulsions comes at a time when speculation is rife about the fate of one of China’s most powerful politicians, former Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang, who is allegedly being investigated over allegations of corruption and abuse of power.
Tens of thousands of officials have been arrested since President Xi Jinping began an anti-corruption campaign in 2012.
Meshach Taylor died on Saturday, aged 67, at his home near Los Angeles after suffering from colorectal cancer.
Actor Meshach Taylor was best known for the 1980s comedy Mannequin and the show Designing Women.
His agent told Reuters: “He fought valiantly and died surrounded by his loving family.”
Meshach Taylor won praise for Designing Women, which ran from 1986 to 1993, and is fondly remembered as flamboyant window dresser Hollywood in Mannequin.
Meshach Taylor was best known for the 1980s comedy Mannequin and the show Designing Women (photo Newscom)
He was lauded for his comic timing in his portrayal of affable assistant Anthony Bouvier in Designing Women, a show about an outspoken feminist who runs a design company out of her Atlanta home.
The series also starred Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Annie Potts and Jean Smart.
Over its seven series run, it was nominated for many awards including two Golden Globes.
In 1989, Meshach Taylor was nominated for an Emmy award for best supporting actor in a comedy series.
The 1987 movie Mannequin, about a young artist who creates the “perfect woman” mannequin who miraculously comes to life, has become something of cult classic.
Mannequin starred Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall with Meshach Taylor playing department store window dresser Hollywood Montrose.
Meshach Taylor went on to star in the 1991 Mannequin sequel Mannequin: On The Move. He also had parts in TV shows Dave’s World, The Incredible Hulk and ALF; and enjoyed a successful stage career.
Meshach Taylor was born in Boston on April 11, 1947.
In 1978, he moved to California to pursue an acting career in Hollywood.
Meshach Taylor is survived by his wife Bianca, four children and his 100-year-old mother.
English band Kasabian has closed the 2014 Glastonbury Festival with a powerful, bombastic set that drew tens of thousands to the Pyramid Stage.
Kasabian covered Fatboy Slim’s Praise You and Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy, and paid tribute to soul legend Bobby Womack, who died this weekend.
“Ten years ago, we opened the Other Stage, when I was just 23,” said Tom Meighan.
“Thank you for this, Glastonbury. So much respect.”
The stage was lit in pink as the band took the stage shortly before 22:00 BST, launching into Bumblebee, the first song from their new album 48:13.
It was Kasabian’s first headline slot at Glastonbury, but lead singer Tom Meighan was an effective rabble rouser.
Kasabian, who have never taken themselves too seriously, brought comedian Noel Fielding onstage dressed as Vlad the Impaler during the song of the same name.
Kasabian has closed the 2014 Glastonbury Festival with a powerful, bombastic set that drew tens of thousands to the Pyramid Stage
Tom Meighan also changed the song’s refrain to “Bobby Womack – see you on the other side” in respect of the late soul star, whose hit song Across 110th Street played on the PA before Kasabian took the stage.
Compared to the po-faced Metallica and the self-consciously quirky Arcade Fire, Kasabian appeared to be enjoying their headline slot.
In the event, Kasabian drew a slightly bigger audience (an estimated 100,000) than either of the other headliners – but not as big as Dolly Parton earlier on Sunday.
The final day of the Glastonbury festival opened with a performance from the English National Ballet, who paid tribute to those who died in World War One.
Their performance, Dust, was choreographed by Akram Khan, who helped put together the opening of the London 2012 Olympics with Danny Boyle.
Sombre but powerful, the performance moved some in the early morning audience to tears.
Other acts on the final day included Ed Sheeran, who played the Pyramid Stage unaccompanied, using his acoustic guitar and a series of effects pedals.
Despite breaking several strings along the way, Ed Sheeran was warmly welcomed by the crowd in the mid-afternoon heat.
On The Other Stage, Ellie Goulding delivered an energetic, full-throttle run-through of her biggest dance hits as the sun set, while Disclosure brought several special guest vocalists – including Eliza Doolitle, Sam Smith and Aluna Francis to their headline set at the West Holts stage.
Against the bombast of Kasabian, Glastonbury organizers had programmed some more mellow bands to aid the come-down at the end of the festival.
Massive Attack’s hushed version of Teardrops was a highlight on The Other Stage, while London Grammar’s lush, melancholy album If You Wait drew huge crowds to the John Peel Stage.
However, Dolly Parton was the star turn of the day, if not the festival.
Dolly Parton, 68, charmed the crowd with her ornery banter and diamante-studded hairpiece, and led lusty singalongs to hits such as 9 to 5, Jolene and I Will Always Love You.
The mud will be traded for traffic jams during Monday as the 175,000 revelers leave Worthy Farm and head back home.
Glastonbury festival organizer Michael Eavis has confirmed the event will be back next year, and that he’s already booked all three headliners.
Prince – widely rumored to top the bill this year – is still refusing to come to Somerset, but at least one of the bands will be coming from abroad.
Transformers: Age of Extinction has topped the North American box office, taking $100 million, the biggest opening weekend of the year so far.
The fourth installment in Michael Bay’s franchise also added another $201.3 million from 37 international territories, including $90 million in China alone.
Transformers: Age of Extinction stars Mark Wahlberg as a mechanic who helps the shape-shifting Autobots fight a new enemy.
Made for a reported $200 million, Age of Extinction met industry predictions for its opening weekend.
The new installment topped Dark of the Moon, the third film in the series, which took in $97.9 million in its opening weekend in 2011, but failed to eclipse the $108.9 milion debut of the second film, Revenge of the Fallen.
Transformers: Age of Extinction has scored the biggest opening weekend of the year so far
Transformers: Age of Extinction is expected to secure a strong second week of release, coinciding with the 4th of July weekend.
The three previous Transformer outings starring Shia LeBeouf as a teenager who befriends robot Optimus Prime, generated nearly $2.7 billion worldwide.
Elsewhere on the chart, 22 Jump Street held firm at number two with $15.4 million, with animation How To Train Your Dragon 2 at three with $13.1 million in box office takings.
Last week’s chart topper, Kevin Hart’s comedy Think Like a Man Too, fell to four with $10.4 million.
Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent was at five with $8.2 million, bringing its total domestic US gross to more than $201 million and its international haul to $586 million.
Pakistan’s army has launched a ground offensive against Taliban militants in North Waziristan.
According to a statement issued by the Pakistani army, operations had begun around Miranshah, the main town in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
The move follows air strikes which the army says have killed 370 militants. There is no confirmation of the figure.
North Waziristan has long been a sanctuary for militants. Correspondents say many are thought to have left the area before the offensive began.
Pakistan’s army has launched a ground offensive against Taliban militants in North Waziristan (photo AFP)
The assault comes three weeks after militants attacked Pakistan’s largest airport in Karachi, leaving more than 30 people dead.
For the past two weeks, Pakistani forces have been carrying out air strikes against what it says are militant hideouts in North Waziristan.
Among their targets, they say, have been Uzbek militants who claimed responsibility for the Karachi attack and their Pakistani Taliban (TTP) allies.
Monday’s army statement said troops were now conducting a door-to-door search in Miranshah.
“Troops have recovered underground tunnels and IED [improvised explosive device] preparation factories,” the statement said.
The town has been one of the main TTP bases during recent years when militants who had at times been tolerated by the military killed thousands of people in a bombing campaign across Pakistan.
In public statements, Pakistani commanders have said they will not discriminate between so-called good and bad Taliban.
However, there are widespread reports from within North Waziristan that many militants were allowed to escape before the operations began.
Nearly half a million people have left North Waziristan since the offensive was announced following the Karachi airport attack.
ISIS militants have announced they are establishing a caliphate, or Islamic state, on the territories the Islamist group controls in Iraq and Syria.
ISIS (the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) also proclaimed the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as caliph and “leader for Muslims everywhere”.
Setting up a caliphate ruled by the strict Islamic law has long been a goal of many jihadists.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s army continued an offensive to retake the northern city of Tikrit from the ISIS-led rebels.
Tikrit was seized by the insurgents on June 11 as they swept across large parts of northern-western Iraq.
ISIS militants have announced Islamic state on the territories the Islamist group controls in Iraq and Syria
In a separate development, Israel called for the creation of an independent Kurdish state in response to the gain made by the Sunni rebels in Iraq.
ISIS announced the establishment of the caliphate in an audio recording posted on the internet.
The group also said that from now on it would be known simply as “the Islamic State”.
The declaration harks back to the rise of Islam, when the Prophet Muhammad’s followers conquered vast territories in the Middle Ages.
The Sunni-Shia split happened because of a dispute over the succession to Muhammad, with the Sunnis following caliphs as their religious authority.
ISIS said the Islamic state would extend from Aleppo in northern Syria to Diyala province in eastern Iraq.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi would become the leader of the state and would be known as “Caliph Ibrahim”.
In the recording, the rebels also demanded that all Muslims “pledge allegiance” to the new ruler and “reject democracy and other garbage from the West”.
On Sunday, Iraqi government jets struck at rebel positions and clashes broke out in various parts of Tikrit, witnesses and officials said.
Troops had reportedly pulled back to the nearby town of Dijla as Saturday’s initial offensive met stiff resistance.
Oscar Pistorius did not have a mental disorder when he killed Reeva Steenkamp, a psychological report said as his murder trial resumed in Pretoria.
The report was presented following an evaluation into his mental health.
Oscar Pistorius’ defense team has argued he was suffering from an anxiety disorder at the time of the shooting.
Oscar Pistorius did not have a mental disorder when he killed Reeva Steenkamp
Both prosecution and defense have accepted the results of the report.
The defense team is now hearing from Dr. Gerry Versfeld, who amputated Oscar Pistorius’ legs when he was just 11 months old.
Oscar Pistorius had been born without the fibulas in both of his legs but went on to become an Olympic athlete.
Dr. Gerry Versfeld is testifying about the impact of the disability on Oscar Pistorius, now 27, and to what extent he can walk without his prosthetic legs.
The defense is expected to finish presenting its evidence in the next few days.
Reeva Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and law graduate, was shot through a toilet door at Oscar Pistorius’ house in Pretoria on Valentine’s Day last year.
The couple had been dating for three months.
“Mr. Pistorius did not suffer from a mental illness or defect that would have rendered him criminally not responsible for the offence charged,” said state prosecutor Gerrie Nel, reading from the psychologist report.
The prosecution requested the evaluation after a defense witness said the double amputee was suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (Gad).
Oscar Pistorius underwent a month of tests as an outpatient at Weskoppies psychiatric hospital in Pretoria.
North Korea has announced that it will put detained US citizens Matthew Todd Miller and Jeffrey Fowle on trial, accusing them of “committing hostile acts”.
Matthew Todd Miller and Jeffrey Fowle had been investigated and would be brought before a court, the state news agency KCNA reported.
North Korea said that suspicions about the two men had been confirmed by evidence and the pair’s own statements, but gave no further details.
Another US citizen, Kenneth Bae, is currently serving a 15-year sentence.
Kenneth Bae was arrested in November 2012 and later convicted of trying to overthrow the North Korean government.
US attempts to secure Kenneth Bae’s release have so far proved unsuccessful, despite fears over his health.
Matthew Todd Miller and Jeffrey Fowle entered North Korea on tourist visas.
US citizen Jeffrey Fowle was arrested in North Korea because he left a Bible at a hotel
Jeffrey Fowle, 56, entered North Korea on April 29 and was detained in early June as he was leaving the country, according to North Korean reports.
Japanese agency Kyodo said Jeffrey Fowle was arrested because he left a Bible at a hotel.
Matthew Todd Miller was detained on April 10, KCNA reported.
The North Korean state agency said Matthew Todd Miller had torn up his tourist visa, shouting that he had “come to the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] after choosing it as a shelter”.
North Korea has in the past been accused of using arrested Americans as diplomatic bargaining chips.
The US wants Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions in return for economic and diplomatic incentives, but talks on a deal agreed in 2007 have been stalled for several years.
Last year, North Korea carried out its third nuclear test and launched a three-stage rocket that Washington called a banned test of long-range missile technology.
The US has no formal diplomatic ties with North Korea. But in the past, senior US figures including former President Bill Clinton have travelled to North Korea to ensure the release of American detainees.
Religious activity is severely restricted in North Korea and missionaries have been arrested on many previous occasions.
Kenneth Bae, the highest-profile of the currently detained Americans, was sentenced to 15 years’ hard labor in May 2013.
North Korea says Kenneth Bae used his tourism business to form groups to overthrow the government.
The US has tried on at least two occasions to arrange a visit by a senior human rights envoy, Robert King, to discuss his case, but Pyongyang has cancelled both these visits.
Detainees from other nations can be treated differently – earlier this year, Pyongyang deported Australian missionary John Short, who was detained after apparently leaving Christian pamphlets at a tourist site.
Also on Monday, North Korea proposed a suspension in hostilities and slander between the two Koreas.
The proposal comes after a volley of short-range missile launches by North Korea, and just days ahead of a visit to Seoul by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has warned that ultra-low interest rates have lulled governments and markets “into a false sense of security”.
The BIS – usually dubbed the “central banks’ central bank” – urged policy makers to begin to normalize rates.
“The risk of normalizing too late and too gradually should not be underestimated,” the BIS said.
Markets have rallied since January.
The BIS has warned that ultra-low interest rates have lulled governments and markets into a false sense of security (photo Flickr)
The FTSE all-world share index is up 5% so far this year, while the VIX, a measure of implied US market volatility known as the “fear index”, is at a seven-year low.
“Overall, it is hard to avoid the sense of a puzzling disconnect between the markets’ buoyancy and underlying economic developments globally,” the BIS said in its annual report.
The BIS said that low interest rates had helped increase demand for higher risk investments on stock markets as well as in property and corporate bonds markets.
The organization doesn’t set policy but serves as a forum for central bankers to exchange views on relevant topics from the global economy to financial markets.
While global growth has improved, the BIS said it was still below its pre-crisis levels.
“Growth has disappointed even as financial markets have roared: The transmission chain seems to be badly impaired,” the BIS said.
It said policy makers should take advantage of the current upturn in the global economy to reduce the emphasis on monetary stimulus.
And it warned that taking too long to do this could have potentially damaging consequences, by encouraging investors to take too much risk.
“Over time, policies lose their effectiveness and may end up fostering the very conditions they seek to prevent,” it said.
“The predominant risk is that central banks will find themselves behind the curve, exiting too late or too slowly,” the BIS added.
The BIS was founded in 1930 and is the world’s oldest international financial institution. Its 60-strong membership includes the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the US Federal Reserve, the People’s Bank of China and the Bank of Japan.
Bulgaria’s President Rosen Plevneliev has announced he will dissolve parliament and appoint an interim government, amid concerns over the country’s banking system.
Rosen Plevneliev’s comments came after crisis talks with leaders of the main political parties.
Earlier today, five people were arrested on suspicion of plotting to destabilize Bulgaria’s banks.
They are suspected of spreading false information, prompting runs on two of Bulgaria’s biggest banks.
Five people were arrested on suspicion of plotting to destabilize Bulgaria’s banks (photo Euronews)
On Sunday, President Rosen Plevneliev confirmed that the current parliament would be dissolved on August 6, paving the way for early elections on October 5.
The president also said he would name a caretaker cabinet in August.
The country’s Socialist-led minority government of PM Plamen Oresharski has been in power for barely a year, and the main parties had already agreed to hold early elections.
Referring to the concerns about the banking sector, President Rosen Plevneliev said: “The money of the citizens and the companies invested in the banking institutions in Bulgaria is secure and guaranteed. The banks will continue working in a normal manner.”
Bulgaria’s central bank earlier said there had been a systematic attempt to undermine the country’s banking system.
Last week, it took over Corporate Commercial Bank, Bulgaria’s fourth-largest lender, following a run on deposits.
Speculation that the run could spread hit bank share prices towards the end of the week.
On Friday, depositors rushed to withdraw savings from First Investment Bank, the country third-largest lender. The bank was forced to close until Monday after depositors withdrew 800 million lev ($525 million) in a matter of hours.
Shares in First Investment Bank plunged 23% as a result.
Government forces are continuing an offensive to retake Iraq’s northern city of Tikrit from Sunni rebels.
Aircraft have struck at rebel positions and clashes have broken out in various parts of Tikrit, witnesses and officials have said.
Troops had reportedly pulled back to the nearby town of Dijla as Saturday’s initial offensive met stiff resistance.
The city of Tikrit was captured by Sunni rebels on June 11 as they swept across large parts of northern Iraq.
Government forces are continuing an offensive to retake Iraq’s northern city of Tikrit from Sunni rebels
“The security forces are advancing from different areas,” Lt-Gen. Qassem Atta told journalists.
“There are ongoing clashes.”
Insurgents, led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), were reported to have shot down a helicopter and captured the pilot.
The witnesses said the Iraqi forces had been hampered in their bid to retake Tikrit by the large number of improvised explosive devices laid on the approaches to the city.
Iraq said on Sunday it had received the first batch of military jets ordered from Russia in order to help fight the militants.
The defense ministry said five Sukhoi aircraft would enter service in “three to four days”.
Jackson Galaxy is a cat behaviorist with more than fifteen years of experience and the host of Animal Planet’s hit show My Cat From Hell.
Like millions of other Americans, food was Jackson Galaxy’s first addiction, something he continues to battle today.
Jackson Galaxy is a cat behaviorist with more than fifteen years of experience and the host of Animal Planet’s hit show My Cat From Hell (photo Facebook)
The tipping point for the 48-year-old came when he tipped the scales at 400 pounds and almost died.
According to catwisdom101.com website, gastric-bypass surgery saved Jackson Galaxy as did A.A.
Jackson Galaxy now tries to eat healthier, exercises, stopped smoking.
The cat behaviorist never talked about his weight loss.
Jackson Galaxy, born Richard Kurschner on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, legally changed his name when he was in his twenties.
Dolly Parton took to the Pyramid Stage on day three of this year’s Glastonbury festival.
The country singer has drawn a huge crowd for her debut Glastonbury set, performing some of her biggest hits as thousands of fans chanted her name.
The audience was larger than that for Friday and Saturday’s headliners, Arcade Fire and Metallica.
Dolly Parton told the audience: “I’ve been waitin’ a long time for this.”
She sang tracks including Why D’You Come In Here Lookin’ Like That?, 9 to 5, Jolene and Coat of Many Colors.
Dolly Parton took to the Pyramid Stage on day three of this year’s Glastonbury festival (photo Getty Images)
Dolly Parton said: “I’m just glad you came to see me.”
She also performed a song about the mud that she wrote in the early hours of Sunday morning, which included the lyrics: “Mud, mud, mud, mud/Up to our bums in all this crud.”
Dolly Parton, 68, wooed the crowd with lots of classics and her encore, I Will Always Love You.
The singer played for about an hour on the Pyramid Stage.
“I grew up in the country, so this mud ain’t nothing new to me – and it ain’t nothing to you either,” she said.
Before her show, Dolly Parton was presented with a special award in recognition of selling more than 100 million records worldwide. The singer said she would hang it in her Dollywood Museum in Tennessee.
Metallica played for 90 minutes on Glastonbury’s famous Pyramid Stage on Saturday, with highlights including One, Cyanide and an extended version of Master Of Puppets.
The band is the first metal act to headline the festival since its inception in 1970.
Drummer Lars Ulrich said: “That was sensational. I don’t remember much of it… the energy was fantastic.”
Asked to describe his Glastonbury experience in one sentence, Lars Ulrich simply said: “Other-worldly.”
Even the band’s detractors would have been hard-pushed to deny their musicianship.
Fans and supporters lined the back of the stage as they ended the main set with Nothing Else Matters and Enter Sandman.
“Metallica. Glastonbury. Together at last,” declared songwriter James Hetfield.
Metallica played for 90 minutes on Glastonbury’s famous Pyramid Stage
“That felt good.”
Returning for an encore of Whiskey in the Jar and Seek and Destroy, the band launched dozens of black Metallica-branded weather balloons into the audience, triggering a giant game of dodgeball between the audience and security guards.
“Metallica loves you, Glastonbury,” said James Hetfield as the band took their final bow.
“You made us feel so good. Thank you for having us.”
Taking the microphone, Lars Ulrich added: “There’s no place on this earth like this beautiful Glastonbury Festival. Thank you for letting us be part of your experience and we hope to see you one more time.”
Formed 33 years ago, Metallica’s best-known songs include Enter Sandman, Nothing Else Matters and Master of Puppets.
Prior to their arrival on the Pyramid Stage, Metallica played a clip of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, in tribute to actor Eli Wallach, who died this week.
Ennio Morricone’s Ecstasy of Gold, which features in the classic Western, has been Metallica’s introduction music for many years.
The band also addressed criticism of James Hetfield’s involvement with pro-hunting groups head-on, showing an extended clip of an English fox hunt, soundtracked by Sweet’s glam rock classic Fox on the Run.
At the climax of the hunt, four men in bear costumes shot the riders from their horses.
The bear’s heads were removed to reveal the four grinning members of Metallica.
Metallica rocked Glastonbury with a strange mix of arrogance and humility.
Speaking to the crowd 15 minutes into the set, James Hetfield said: “Glasto – Metallica is grateful to be invited to such an event.
“We’re very proud to be representing the heavier side of music.”
Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, the US’s most well-known compensation expert, is scheduled to reveal the terms of General Motors’ plan to pay victims of crashes caused by bad ignition switches on Monday.
GM CEO Mary Barra has said there will be no cap on payments.
Also, GM won’t have any say in Kenneth Feinberg’s awards, she told a US House subcommittee during a hearing earlier this month.
“He will have complete independence,” Mary Barra said under questioning.
“General Motors wants to reach with this compensation program everyone who lost a loved one due to this issue, or who suffered serious physical injury.”
GM says the faulty switches are responsible for at least 54 crashes and more than 13 deaths, but lawyers and lawmakers say the death toll is closer to 100, with hundreds of injuries. That would send GM’s payments into the millions, if not billions of dollars.
Kenneth Feinberg is scheduled to reveal the terms of GM’s plan to pay victims of crashes caused by bad ignition switches
The company was sitting on a $27 billion cash stockpile as of March 31. So far, it has announced or taken charges of $2 billion for recall expenses.
Kenneth Feinberg, who also administered the government’s $7 billion fund for the 9/11 victims, is likely to follow a similar plan in the GM case, with detailed formulas setting payments based on severity of injuries and age. The average award to the 2,880 families who filed death claims from September 11, 2001, was $2.1 million. The fund also paid an average of about $400,000 each for the 2,680 accepted claims of injuries; the smallest injury award was $500, the largest $8.6 million.
The 9/11 fund was set up to protect financially troubled airlines from thousands of potential lawsuits. It was a success, limiting the number of lawsuits to about 80.
The GM compensation likely will be limited to victims of crashes of older small cars, of which GM recalled 2.6 million earlier this year because the switches can cause engines to stall, shutting off power steering and brakes. That can cause drivers to lose control of their vehicles and also disables the air bags. The cars include the Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn Ion, both of which are no longer made.
Kenneth Feinberg could use air bag activation to decide if people are paid. If the air bags deployed in an accident, that means they were not disabled by the switches, so the switches were not at fault.
GM has said Kenneth Feinberg would start taking claims August 1.
Mary Barra said she did not know how much the company would have to spend to settle the claims.
To get a payment, victims would have to agree not to sue GM. The company is vulnerable to legal claims because it has admitted knowing about the switch problem for more than a decade, yet it didn’t recall the cars until this year.
Kenneth Feinberg is scheduled to hold a news conference in Washington on Monday to release details “including eligibility, scope, rules for the program, and timing of submitting claims,” a spokeswoman for the attorney said in an email. The program also will launch a website on Monday.
A 5.2-magnitude earthquake hit southeastern Arizona near the New Mexico state line on late Saturday.
A 5.2-magnitude earthquake hit southeastern Arizona near the New Mexico state line
There were no initial reports of major damage or injuries.
According the US Geological Survey, the quake struck at 10 p.m. PT (1 a.m. ET Sunday) and was centered about 31 miles northwest of Lordsburg, New Mexico, and about 179 miles east-southeast of Phoenix. The epicenter was shallow and was in a sparsely populated area north of Interstate 10 and just south of the small town of Duncan, Arizona.
Duck Dynasty’s Si Robertson will offer another autograph session on Wednesday, July 2, at the Duck Commander Store in West Monroe, Louisiana.
Si Robertson will offer another autograph session on Wednesday, July 2, at the Duck Commander Store (photo Facebook)
Uncle Si wrote on his Facebook page: “HEY JACK! Yesterday was so much fun, I am going to take another break from napping and sign some more autographs! Next Wednesday, July 2nd! Same time, same place! (Noon-2PM at the Duck Commander Store in West Monroe). Who, knows, I may even do it again July 9th!”
Duck Dynasty’s Uncle Si Robertson will start the 4th of July celebration early this year with a Rock Springs Church charity picnic on Sunday, June 29, in Milner, Georgia.
Si Robertson will start the 4th of July celebration early this year with a Rock Springs Church charity picnic in Milner (photo Facebook)
America’s favorite uncle wil be joined by his son, Scott Robertson, his daughter-in law, Marsha Markert Robertson, and two friends.
Si Robertson wrote on his Facebook page: “Hey JACK! I’m gonna start the celebration early this year because I love this country so much! Come celebrate with me, my son and daughter in law and my friends Diamond Rio and Mac Powell and help us raise some money for a good cause at Rock Springs Church in Milner, GA this Sunday! The party starts at 5:00pm, don’t be late, OK?! #RSPicnic.“
Facebook is fighting a New York court order in which the social media website was forced to hand over data belonging to 381 people involved in a benefit fraud trial.
Facebook said the request was “by far the largest” it had ever received from a government body.
Photographs, private messages and other information were supplied to a New York court last year, but the process was only made public by a judge this week.
The ruling defined Facebook as a “digital landlord”.
A judge said this definition meant the company must comply with search warrants.
The original case investigated fraudulent claimants of US federal disability benefits, whose Facebook accounts apparently showed that they were in fact healthy.
Facebook is fighting a New York court order in which it was forced to hand over data belonging to 381 people involved in a benefit fraud trial
The social media site was ordered to hand over information from the 381 accounts, which the court said contained “evidence of criminality”.
After an appeal was denied, Facebook complied with the request but protested that it violated the Fourth Amendment of the US constitution, which protects against “unreasonable searches and seizures”.
Facebook also voiced concerns about the lack of date restrictions on the warrant, which it argued allowed the US government to keep the data indefinitely, and the range of data requested, which it said would contain private material which bore no relation to the trial.
The proceedings have been kept private by the court, but after a fresh appeal by Facebook a New York judge has now made the court filing public.
Facebook said the government had obtained “gag orders”, preventing it from telling the account holders that it had been forced to hand over their data.
“This unprecedented request is by far the largest we’ve ever received – by a magnitude of more than ten – and we have argued that it was unconstitutional from the start,” wrote Chris Sonderby, a legal adviser to Facebook.
“Of the 381 people whose accounts were the subject of these warrants, 62 were later charged in a disability fraud case.
“This means that no charges will be brought against more than 300 people whose data was sought by the government without prior notice to the people affected.”
But a spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney defended the court’s actions.
“This was a massive scheme involving as many as 1,000 people who defrauded the federal government,” said Joan Vollero.
“The defendants in this case repeatedly lied to the government about their mental, physical, and social capabilities. Their Facebook accounts told a different story.”
In a summation of the legal justification for the court’s decision, the judge wrote: “Facebook could best be described as a digital landlord, a virtual custodian or storage facility for millions of tenant users and their information.
“Hence, the search warrants authorize the search and seizure of digital information contained within the Facebook server.”
