Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, have met cast and production members from Game of Thrones during a tour of the Paint Hall Studios in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Game of Thrones series is partly filmed in the city’s Titanic Quarter, and is a focal point for Northern Ireland’s burgeoning film industry.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were presented with a miniature version of the infamous Iron Throne, which appears in Game of Thrones
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh began their second day of engagements at Crumlin Road Gaol in north Belfast.
They are on a three-day visit to Northern Ireland.
As well as meeting cast and production staff, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were also given a short overview of the series and the impact it has had on Northern Ireland, not only in terms of employment, but also in the creative arts field.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip also viewed some of the props that have featured in Game Thrones.
Before leaving, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were presented with a miniature version of the infamous Iron Throne, which appears in the series.
French police have detained 23 people in relation with the killing of Monaco heiress Helene Pastor last month, including her daughter and son-in-law.
Helene Pastor, from one of Monaco’s richest families, was ambushed by a man armed with a shotgun as she left hospital in the French city of Nice.
Her chauffeur, Mohamed Darwich, 64, also died of his wounds.
Sylvia Pastor, 52, and her husband, Poland’s honorary consul to Monaco Wojciech Janowski, were among those detained in Nice, Marseille and Rennes.
Helene Pastor was one of the wealthiest women in Europe
Wojciech Janowski’s bank account had seen suspicious financial flows which needed explanation, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin told reporters on Tuesday. There were also apparent links with two intermediaries who had been in direct contact with two suspects in the shooting.
The two men were traced after police studied DNA evidence and CCTV footage from the area on May 6, he said. The pair were described as aged 24 and 31, originally from the Comoros islands, and having a string of criminal convictions.
Video from railway stations and elsewhere showed that the two men had taken a train from Marseille to Nice on the afternoon of the shooting, gone to a hotel, and then made their way to the scene of the shooting, he said. French media had earlier reported they had spent 500 euros ($680) on a taxi back to Marseille afterwards.
The shots from the sawn-off shotgun were fired through the window of the car, hitting Helene Pastor, 77, in the face and throat. She eventually died on May 21.
Helene Pastor’s father, Gildo, became one of Monaco’s wealthiest men when Prince Rainier gave him permission in 1966 to build high-rise buildings along the sea front, AFP news agency reports. Prince Albert II attended her funeral.
Helene Pastor rarely left her luxury home in Monaco and had just visited her son in hospital when she was shot, reports say. Her income was derived from owning several prestige properties.
The family’s lawyer in Paris refused to comment on the arrest of her daughter and son-in-law.
Microsoft is launching its first phone – Android-powered handset Nokia X2 – after completing its takeover of Nokia’s handset division.
Android operating system, developed by Google, is usually seen as a rival to Microsoft’s own Windows Phone OS.
The company said the Nokia X2 offered it a way to hook users into its cloud-based services, several of which come pre-installed as apps.
Microsoft completed its takeover of Nokia’s handset division on April 25 at a cost of 5.4 billion euros ($7.4 billion).
The X2 is the follow-up to the original X, launched in February before Nokia sold its mobile business.
The original model became the best-selling mobile in Pakistan and the third best-selling handset in India – according to market-research company GfK – as well as achieving strong sales in Russia, Kenya and Nigeria.
Microsoft is launching its first phone, Android-powered handset Nokia X2
Nokia X2 features:
a slightly bigger 4.3in (11cm) screen
1GB of RAM – double the amount of memory previously included
a more powerful battery
the addition of a front-facing camera for selfies
The handset will cost 99 euro ($135) when released in July.
Microsoft’s video chat app Skype, its Outlook email service and its OneDrive internet storage apps all come pre-loaded.
The company is also promoting some of its other apps – including Bing Search, the Yammer business-focused social network and the OneNote idea jotting service – as optional free downloads for the device.
The tile-based homescreen and ability to see apps displayed as a scrollable list on the X2 mirrors the Window Phone user interface, which might help encourage consumers to later make the leap to Microsoft’s more expensive Lumia range.
Windows Phone now boasts over 250,000 apps including Instagram and Vine, which were high-profile absentees until November.
But several banking apps, games, video on-demand software, and apps used to control wearable fitness trackers – all available on Android – remain absent.
The Nokia X2 can run the bigger library of Android apps, but unless users hack the device they can only browse available software via the Nokia Store – which excludes some programs – rather than the more fully-stocked Google Play.
Japan has announced its plans to cut the country’s corporate tax to below 30% in several stages starting 2015.
The move is part of PM Shinzo Abe’s plan to revive Japan’s economy, a pledge made when he took office in December 2012.
Japan’s corporate tax rate, at nearly 36% for large companies operating in the capital Tokyo, ranks among the highest in the industrialized world.
The latest move has been dubbed as Shinzo Abe’s “third arrow”.
The first two arrows launched last year and focused on using fiscal and monetary policies to turn the economy around.
Details in terms of how the tax cut will be implemented are yet to be revealed by the Prime Minister’s office.
Japan plans to cut the country’s corporate tax to below 30 percent in several stages starting 2015
Shinzo Abe’s previous economic reform measures included working with the country’s central bank, the Bank of Japan to embark on an aggressive quantitative monetary easing policy, through monthly bond purchases.
That helped drive down the value of the Japanese yen against the US dollar, and helped to benefit Japanese exporting companies, such as the automakers.
The central bank has also set an inflation target of 2%, which it hopes to achieve in a few years’ time.
Japan had been battling deflation, or falling prices for nearly two decades. But that may be changing, as prices have been rising over the last several months.
That was helped by a raise in sales tax in April this year, to 8% from 5%.
That’s the first increase in the sales tax, in 17 years. And it will rise again to 10% in October 2015.
The gradual increases in the sales tax are aimed at covering rising social welfare costs linked to Japan’s ageing population.
Japan currently has one of the lowest birth rates in the world.
It also has the world’s highest ratio of elderly to young people, raising serious concerns about future economic growth.
Shinzo Abe also said he would end compulsory overtime payments for workers earning over 10 million yen a year and raise the proportion of female managers to 30% by 2020 from last year’s 7.5% rate.
However, economists warned it would be years before Japan benefitted from the planned changes.
“Various legislation must be enacted and it will take time for companies to begin to act. Therefore, it will be 10 to 20 years before the potential growth rate rises,” said Kenji Yumoto, vice chairman of the Japan Research Institute.
Rick Ross had to cancel his Detroit concert on Saturday after an angry mob blocked his entrance to the venue and reportedly made threats against his life.
Rapper Rick Ross had been due to perform for fans at the Summer Jamz gig in the Chene Park Amphitheater, but upon arrival, he was faced with a “human blockade” of around 150 people.
Rick Ross had to cancel his Detroit concert after an angry mob blocked his entrance
The demonstration was reportedly sparked by local rapper Trick Trick’s song No Fly Zone, which encourages fans not to support stars who fail to collaborate with artists from Detroit, but the activists took the fight one step further by allegedly hurling abuse and threats at Rick Ross and his associates, prompting them to ax the show.
A statement released by venue representative Shahida Mausi reads: “Reports from our venue operations and security teams indicate 100-150 individuals orchestrated a human blockade around the service entrance to the venue, preventing Mr. Ross and his entourage from entering the premises. A decision was made from Mr. Ross’ team (that) the conditions were becoming threatening and posed a security risk.”
However, Rick Ross wrote on Twitter: “Luv #Detroit I wuz ready to killm (kill them, put on a great performance) 2nite,heard it wuz a peace protest wit picket signs and locked gates haa (sic)”.
The Gwanju court has begun hearing evidence in the trial of the Sewol ferry captain and 14 crew members.
The Sewol ferry crew is charged with negligence and abandoning ship. The captain and three officers are also charged with “homicide through willful negligence”.
Captain Lee Joon-sok’s lawyer suggested he would contest the murder charge because there was no intent to kill.
The Sewol ferry capsized and sank on April 16, with 476 people on board.
Captain Lee Joon-sok’s lawyer suggested he would contest the murder charge in Sewol ferry case because there was no intent to kill (photo EPA)
A total of 304 people are believed to have died. Divers have conducted an extensive search of the sunken ship to recover their bodies and on Tuesday retrieved the remains of a female passenger.
That brings the number of bodies recovered to 293, with 11 people still unaccounted for. Most of those on board the ferry were teenagers on a school trip.
Prosecutors say the ship capsized because it was overloaded, with cargo improperly stowed. Five executives from ferry operator Chonghaejin Marine are also facing charges.
The tragedy has caused shock and outrage in South Korea.
The crew has been accused of prioritizing their own safety over that of passengers, and also of causing more deaths by instructing people to remain in their cabins instead of evacuating the ship.
They are being tried at the district court in the southern city of Gwangju.
Students who survived the sinking are to testify next month at a court close to their homes near Seoul, instead of at the court in Gwangju, it was also announced on Tuesday.
The decision was aimed at minimizing further stress to the students, court officials said.
Meanwhile South Korea’s President Park Guen-hye, whose government has also faced tough criticism over the disaster, suffered another blow when her second nominee for prime minister withdrew from consideration.
The incumbent, Chung Hong-won, has tendered his resignation over the handling of the ferry disaster.
However, Park Geun-hye’s first choice as his replacement withdrew amid questions over his finances, and her second, Moon Chang-keuk, over controversial Japan-related comments that he made.
President Barack Obama has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the flow of weapons into Ukraine and halt support for separatists.
The White House said that in the phone call Barack Obama warned of further sanctions if Moscow failed to act.
The Kremlin says Vladimir Putin urged direct talks between Kiev and the rebels in the east. Russia denies arming them.
The separatists have said they will observe a truce initiated by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
President Barack Obama has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the flow of weapons into Ukraine and halt support for separatists
The week-long ceasefire – part of a 15-point peace plan announced by Petro Poroshenko last week – is due to expire on Friday.
Late on Monday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters: “The president spoke to President Putin and once again urged him to support peace instead of allowing the provision of arms and materiel across the border and continuing support for militants and separatists who are further destabilizing the situation in Ukraine.”
“Russia will face additional costs if we do not see concrete actions to de-escalate the situation,” he said.
The US and EU have already imposed a number of sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials, after Moscow annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea in March.
Washington said last week that a number of Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers had crossed the border into the east of Ukraine.
The Russian government has strenuously denied that any of its tanks crossed the border into Ukraine.
On Monday, the US State Department said Washington also had new information that tanks were being readied at a site in south-western Russia to be sent into Ukraine.
As diplomatic efforts to ease the crisis continued, Vice President Joe Biden spoke to Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko in a phone call on Monday, telling him that the US would continue to strongly support his peace plan, the White House said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil to hold talks with Kurdish leaders as Sunni rebels continue their offensive.
John Kerry’s trip comes a day after he visited Baghdad and pledged US support for Iraqi security forces.
He said Iraq faced a moment of great urgency as its very existence was under threat.
The Sunni rebels say they have fully captured the country’s main oil refinery at Baiji, north of Baghdad.
Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil to hold talks with Kurdish leaders
John Kerry’s meetings with Kurdish leaders come as Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani strongly suggested that his region would seek formal independence from the rest of Iraq.
Speaking on Monday, John Kerry said Iraq’s PM Nouri al-Maliki and other leaders had committed themselves to the “essential ” step of forming an inclusive unity government by the end of the month.
Insurgents, spearheaded by Islamists fighting under the banner of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), have overrun a swathe of territory in the north and west including the second-biggest city, Mosul.
They are bearing down on a vital dam near Haditha and have captured all border crossings to Syria and Jordan.
The Baiji refinery, in Salahuddin province, had been under siege for 10 days, with militant attacks repulsed several times. The complex supplies a third of Iraq’s refined fuel and the battle has already led to petrol rationing.
A rebel spokesman said it would now be handed over to local tribes to administer, and that the advance towards Baghdad would continue.
Speaking at the US embassy in Baghdad, John Kerry said US support would “allow Iraqi security forces to confront [ISIS] more effectively and in a way that respects Iraq’s sovereignty”.
“The support will be intense, sustained, and if Iraq’s leaders take the steps needed to bring the country together it will be effective,” he said.
First lady Michelle Obama has denied she may run for office after her family leaves the White House.
In an interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts on Monday, Michelle Obama was asked if she might enter politics after President Barack Obama leaves office. The first lady said “definitely” not. Instead, Michelle Obama will opt to pursue something that is “service focused,” though she did not specify what.
Michelle Obama was asked if she might enter politics after President Barack Obama leaves office
Michelle Obama was one of Barack Obama’s most effective surrogates and fundraisers during his successful 2012 re-election campaign. She delivered a well-received speech at the Democratic National Convention, prompting some political onlookers to speculate she could have a political future after her husband’s term is over.
Though Michelle Obama repeated her adamant desire to avoid politics, she did seem to give a nod to another first lady who did enter into the political arena – Hillary Clinton.
When asked about the prospect of a female president, Michelle Obama said she would like to see one “as soon as possible” and that “we have some options”.
A prehistoric cave in southern France dubbed Sistine Chapel has been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list.
The 1,000 drawings carved in the walls of the Decorated Cave of Pont d’Arc, or Grotte Chauvet, are 36,000 years old and include mammoths and hand prints.
Cave experts only discovered it in 1994 as the entrance had been concealed by a rockfall 23,000 years earlier.
It was one of several cultural and natural wonders granted the status by a committee of delegates in Doha, Qatar.
UNESCO said the cave, located in the Ardeche region of France featured “the earliest and best-preserved expressions of artistic creation of the Aurignacian people”, who were believed to be the first modern human culture in Europe.
“The large number of over 1,000 drawings covering over 8,500 square metres [90,000 square feet], as well as their high artistic and aesthetic quality, make Grotte Chauvet an exceptional testimony of prehistoric cave art,” said UNESCO.
The 1,000 drawings carved in the walls of the Decorated Cave of Pont d’Arc, or Grotte Chauvet, are 36,000 years old and include mammoths and hand prints
“Its state of preservation and authenticity is exceptional as a result of its concealment over 23 millennia.”
The entrance was found 25 metres underground, with the cave stretching into several branches covering around 800 metres.
Fewer than 200 researchers a year are allowed inside the cave and the more remote parts remain unexplored.
The painted images, which are the oldest known human drawings, include dozens of animals such as wild cats, rhinos, bison and bears.
Remnants and prints of real ancient animals have also been found, including the remains of large cave bears which are believed to have hibernated at the site.
The Decorated Cave of Pont d’Arc is the oldest cultural property classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.
A full-scale replica of the cave, the Cavern of Pont-d’Arc, is currently under construction nearby and is due to open next year, in a bid to share the discovery with a wider audience.
“The inscription of the Cave as a World Heritage site is a wonderful tribute to the first artists in history,” said Pascal Terrasse, president of the Cavern of Pont-d’Arc Grand Project.
“It guarantees the conservation of the cave and allows us to understand and explain its significance as heritage.”
Researchers believe the cave was never permanently inhabited by humans “but was instead of a sacred character” and “used for shamanist ritual practice”.
“It is our whole human and artistic history which is summarized in what has been rightly called, the prehistoric Sistine Chapel,” said Jean-Jack Queyranne, the president of the Rhône-Alpes Region.
“Everything is there: profile, perspective, movement, but also a desire to communicate a message of humanity and creation, which is also that which we bear through our proposal as a World Heritage List nomination or through the creation of The Cavern Pont-d’Arc.”
A memorial for the late DJ Casey Kasem has been held in Bel Air, Los Angeles.
Mourners at the small, private ceremony in Bel Air heard recordings of Casey Kasem’s old radio shows, including his famous American Top 40.
Casey Kasem died in Washington state last week, aged 82.
Casey Kasem had suffered from Lewy body disease, a form of dementia
He had suffered from Lewy body disease, a form of dementia, and had recently been at the centre of a bitter family court battle over his care.
Casey Kasem’s death came days after a judge allowed the star’s daughter Kerri to withhold food, liquid and medication from her father against the wishes of his wife of 34 years, Jean.
Between 100 and 150 mourners attended the memorial on Saturday at Bel Air Protestant Church, including Casey Kasem’s adult children, family spokesman Danny Deraney told TheWrap.
Casey Kasem’s second wife, Jean, and their daughter, Liberty, were not present.
“The children – Kerri, Mike, Julie and Julie’s daughters – gave speeches, in addition to his close friends and brother,” Danny Deraney said.
Many of Casey Kasem’s former radio colleagues also attended, while pop music arranger David Campbell played a violin version of Stephen Sondheim’s Send in the Clowns, one of Kasem’s favorite songs.
Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine have announced that they will observe a ceasefire until Friday morning, responding to the Ukrainian forces’ unilateral ceasefire.
The rebel announcement was made in Donetsk by Alexander Borodai, a leader of the self-styled “Donetsk People’s Republic” which is defying Kiev.
On June 20, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced a 15-point peace plan and declared a week-long truce.
Alexander Borodai is known as one of the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic
Alexander Borodai was speaking after attending preliminary peace talks in Donetsk.
The high-level talks also involved representatives of the other breakaway region – Luhansk – and Viktor Medvedchuk, an opponent of the Kiev authorities who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia’s Ambassador Mikhail Zurabov was also there, along with former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, who is seen as a mediator for President Poroshenko. European mediators from the OSCE security organization also participated.
Last week President Putin cautiously welcomed the Kiev ceasefire. The plan involves decentralizing power, holding early elections, and creating a 6-mile buffer zone on the Ukrainian-Russian border.
The rebels say they will not disarm until Ukrainian government troops have left the east. The militants still control key government buildings across Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
“The ceasefire will take effect as announced earlier – until 10:00 on June 27,” Alexander Borodai said, referring to President Poroshenko’s declaration on Friday.
“During that time there will be ceasefire monitoring by Russia and the OSCE.
“We hope that during the ceasefire both sides will manage to reach agreement and start consultations on how to proceed with talks and a peace settlement.”
Michael Schumacher’s medical files are being offered for sale, his management team has warned.
Manager Sabine Kehm said it was unclear whether the documents were genuine.
However, Sabine Kehm said documents were “clearly stolen” and warned that criminal charges would be pressed if such “confidential files” were bought or published.
Michael Schumacher, 45, was placed in a coma after a skiing accident in December but has now left hospital.
It is not clear what the alleged medical data might contain or relate to.
Michael Schumacher was placed in a coma after a skiing accident in December but has now left hospital
However, in a statement Sabine Kehm said: “For several days stolen documents and data are being offered for sale. The offerer claims them to be the medical file of Michael Schumacher.
“We cannot judge if these documents are authentic. However, the documents are clearly stolen. The theft has been reported.”
She added: “The contents of any medical files are totally private and confidential and must not be made available to the public.
“We will therefore, in every single case, press for criminal charges and damages against any publication of the content or reference to the medical file.”
Michael Schumacher’s management team announced on June 16 that the F1 champion had left hospital in Grenoble in France and was no longer in a coma.
The seven-time F1 champion has been transferred to Lausanne university hospital in Switzerland.
Michael Schumacher was placed in a medically induced coma after suffering a severe head injury in a skiing accident in the French Alps on December 29.
Medical experts say rehabilitation from this sort of injury could take months or years.
Senior Afghan election official Zia ul-Haq Amarkhail at the centre of fraud claims in the presidential run-off vote has resigned.
Zia ul-Haq Amarkhail said he was stepping down “for the sake of national unity”, denying allegations of ballot box-stuffing earlier this month.
His resignation comes after audio tapes were released allegedly revealing that Zia ul-Haq Amarkhail was trying to influence the outcome of the vote.
They were published by the camp of one of the candidates – Abdullah Abdullah.
However, Abdullah Abdullah’s rival Ashraf Ghani has also made allegations of fraud.
Zia ul-Haq Amarkhail’s resignation comes after audio tapes were released allegedly revealing that he was trying to influence the outcome of the vote
The official results of the June 14 run-off are yet to be published.
In a dramatic turn of events on Monday, Zia ul-Haq Amarkhail tendered his resignation on national television.
He vehemently denied any wrongdoing, saying he had been the victim of a plot.
Zia ul-Haq Amarkhail also described the tapes as “fake” and blamed the country’s security services for interfering in the election.
In an apparent reference to ballot box-stuffing, the tapes appear to show Zia ul-Haq Amarkhail urging a colleague to “bring the sheep stuffed and not empty”.
The reference to sheep and goats – ballot boxes and people or votes – is made several times during the recorded exchanges.
Reacting to the latest developments, Abdullah Abdullah said the resignation of Zia ul-Haq Amarkhail had opened the door for discussions with Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission.
Abdullah Abdullah also said his recent decision to stop co-operating with the election authorities had not been intended to disrupt the process, but to prevent a fraudulent election result and to protect people’s votes.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has moved to outpatient care on a Texas military base.
The soldier held captive for five years by Taliban-linked militants will no longer be in hospital all day, but specifics of his location will not be made public.
“His reintegration process continues with exposure to more people and a gradual increase of social interactions,” an Army spokesman said.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 28, has not spoken about his ordeal publicly since his release on May 31.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was held captive for five years by Taliban-linked militants (photo CBS News)
He was swapped for five prisoners in a US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a move that sparked a heated political row.
Fellow soldiers have also argued Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl knowingly wandered away from his unit while deployed in Afghanistan in June 2009.
The Army has opened an investigation into Bowe Bergdahl’s disappearance, but has said they will not interview him until he is finished with the reintegration process.
Bowe Bergdahl arrived at the US military base near San Antonio on June 13, after a period of recovery at a military hospital in Germany.
In short statement, the Army said Bowe Bergdahl continued to be counseled by psychologists on the military base in San Antonio “to ensure he progresses to the point where he can return to duty”.
In their last update, Army officials said Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl had not yet been in contact with his family, which they described as his own choice.
It is unclear if Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has now spoken to his family.
Two people are feared dead after a civilian Learjet plane has crashed in western Germany after a mid-air collision with a German air force Eurofighter jet.
The Learjet crashed in woodland near the town of Olsberg. The fate of the two people on board is not yet known.
Two people are feared dead after a civilian Learjet plane has crashed in western Germany after a mid-air collision with an air force Eurofighter jet
The Eurofighter returned safely to its base near Cologne. The incident happened during an exercise with another Eurofighter, German media say.
Die Welt news website says the Learjet was also taking part in the exercise.
Firefighters have found wreckage of the Learjet. Witnesses quoted by the German broadcaster WDR say the Learjet came down just 264ft from a block of flats.
Olsberg lies in the Ruhr Valley, in North-Rhine Westphalia state.
Mariam Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman sentenced to death for abandoning her Islamic faith has been freed from jail, her lawyer has announced.
Mariam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag’s death penalty was overturned by an appeal court, the official Suna news agency reported.
She is married to a Christian man and was sentenced under Sharia law to hang for apostasy in May after refusing to renounce Christianity.
Mariam Ibrahim was sentenced to death in Sudan for abandoning her Islamic faith
Mariam Ibrahim’s husband, Daniel Wani, said he was looking forward to seeing her.
The death sentence for Mariam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, who gave birth to a daughter in prison not long after she was convicted, sparked international outrage.
Born to a Muslim father, Mariam Ibrahim, 27, married Daniel Wani, a Christian, in 2011.
She has been in jail since February, along with her young son.
Sudan has a majority Muslim population. Islamic law has been in force there since the 1980s.
Even though Mariam Ibrahim was brought up as an Orthodox Christian, the authorities consider her to be a Muslim.
Her husband, who was born in South Sudan before it became independent from Sudan, went to the US in 1998 at the height of the civil war.
Daniel Wani met Mariam Ibrahim in 2011 on a visit to Sudan and they were married at the main church in Khartoum.
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski called his country’s ties with the US “worthless”, Wprost news magazine reports, giving excerpts of a secretly recorded conversation.
Wprost magazine is already at the centre of another scandal over leaked tapes involving the Polish government.
Radek Sikorski called Poland’s stance towards the US “downright harmful because it creates a false sense of security”, according to the new leak.
The foreign minister has not denied using such language.
According to the excerpts, Radek Sikorski told former Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski that “the Polish-US alliance isn’t worth anything”.
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski called his country’s ties with the US worthless
He also warned that such a stance would cause “conflict with the Germans, Russians”.
Radek Sikorski also used a racially loaded term to describe the Polish stance – “murzynskosc”, which suggests a slave mentality.
“[We are] suckers, total suckers. The problem in Poland is that we have shallow pride and low self-esteem,” Radek Sikorski was quoted as saying.
Earlier this month Radek Sikorski, a conservative and leading critic of Russia in the current Ukraine crisis, was nominated by the Polish government to replace Baroness Catherine Ashton as EU foreign policy chief.
Baroness Catherine Ashton, known as the EU High Representative, will step down in November, but EU leaders have not yet decided who will replace her.
Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski told reporters on Monday that the US was a “very important ally and partner”. Radek Sikorski and PM Donald Tusk hit back at the leak, accusing an “organized crime group” of being behind the revelations.
State prosecutors are already examining material provided by Wprost on Saturday, days after a controversial police raid to find separate leaked tapes published by the magazine a week ago. The magazine’s editor had refused to hand over his laptop during the raid, which was broadcast live on Polish TV.
Bugging of conversations to gain information is illegal in Poland, punishable by up to two years in jail, Polish national radio reports. But prosecutors were widely criticized for the raid and PM Donald Tusk said he may have to call snap elections.
In last week’s leak, Wprost published the content of an alleged private conversation in which the head of the National Bank of Poland discussed the next election with a minister.
Under Polish law, the central bank must remain independent of politics.
French cooking methods and traditions have a strong presence in US eating culture. The very words Americans use to describe most eateries are borrowed right out of the French language. “Restaurant,” “Café,” and “Bistro” are all terms borrowed from the French language to describe an eating experience.
Early Restaurants in the US
While American Colonial period inns typically offered some sort of food and drink, they did not generally offer a selection of choices and none had a menu. The first precursors to modern restaurants were brought to the U.S. by French immigrants, shortly after the American Revolution. They had already seen restaurants’ popularity and revenue potential blossom in their home country. After the French revolution, cooks who had been under the aristocracy started opening up their own establishments, catering to the new French middle class.
The first documented successful French-style restaurant in the US opened shortly after the French helped the American colonies win their independence from Britain. It was opened in Boston in 1794 by Jean Baptiste Gilbert Playpat, former cook to the Archbishop of Bordeaux. The French restaurants of the time specialized in “restorative” soups and stews, and Julien’s Restorator was no different. The roots of the modern restaurant business model can be seen in his menu of different soups, all with set prices aimed at middle class buyers with a taste for epicurean food.
The 1939 World’s Fair
The next giant leap forward for the French restaurant industry in the U.S. happens at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. “Le Restaurant du Pavilion de France,” establishes what modern diners in the U.S. and worldwide have come to expect from a fine French restaurant dining experience right down to chefs donning traditional chef coats.
Henri Soule refused to return to France in the autumn of 1940, preferring to remain in New York
The restaurant project for the fair was headed by Jean Drouant and Louis Barraya who between them owned or managed seven restaurants in the Paris area. They brought with them 98 of the best cooks, waiters, m’aitres d’hotel, and wine stewards recruited from their own establishments and restaurants across from France. No attempt was made to change the dishes’ names or ingredients to appear more familiar to the American palate of the time. Their goal was to recreate the best dining experience that was available in Paris’ most elite restaurants. According to William Grime’s Appetite City:
“Once visitors to the fair entered the French Pavilion, they were in France. And when in France, they ate as the French did, on dishes like leg of lamb boulangère, coq au vin, suprême de barbue Mornay, and crêpes suzettes.”
Under the watchful eye of Maitre d’ Henri Soulé, the restaurant introduced diners to table-side service, desserts flambé, and all the pageantry and beauty of the Paris dining scene.
The restaurant was full with lines into the street every night it was open in 1939, and arguably the most successful restaurant on the grounds. As well as introducing the public to “haute cuisine,” it is also credited with introducing the current system of chefs and divisions of kitchen duties between individuals still in use in professional kitchens today.
The World’s Fair continued the summer of 1940, but World War had started and attendance to the fair fell off sharply. France was already fighting with Germany. Maitre d’ Henri Soulé had already joined the French Army, but decided to come back to America when he found out the government had decided to open the restaurant after all, with a much reduced staff from the previous year.
Two weeks after the restaurant re-opened, Germany invaded France, and the Frenchmen in America carried with their mission to introduce French culture and cuisine to fair goers amid the horrible reports of the war back home.
When the World’s Fair closes for good in the Fall of 1940, Henri Soulé and 9 other staff have no home to return to. They open “le Pavilion” Restaurant in New York ushering in the modern age of haute cuisine in the USA.
Just a few decades ago dial-up was the norm and broadband was practically nonexistent.
Today five megabit per second connections are the normal minimum almost everywhere with faster connections available in many areas. Infrastructure continues to be improved and speeds get faster every day. Xfinity high speed Internet is among the fastest available. But how fast can Internet connections become and why should we care?
Whatever the maximum speed of Internet connections is, it is very fast. Gigabit connections are being rolled out in some areas as the infrastructure is upgraded, with promises of even faster speeds in the future. This is 50 times faster than the average US speed. When these connections become ubiquitous the Internet will become a very different place. Just as today’s Internet is much more powerful than the dial-up systems of the past, the future Internet will be useful in new and unimaginable ways.
There is a difference between advertised speeds and actual speeds, which is worth noting when talking about what users actually experience.
Infrastructure continues to be improved and Internet speeds get faster every day
One major improvement caused by faster connections is media formats. As the Internet has become faster audio and video has become better to take advantage of it. Low quality tiny videos have been replaced by full HD. Movies have become digitized and are becoming better as well. And more companies have been taking advantage of the Internet to sell media. Cable connections are being replaced by video on demand services that are often more convenient and cheaper.
Video chat, once the realm of science fiction, has become ubiquitous as the Internet has improved. Today it is often blocky and prone to stuttering. Even higher Internet speeds will change that by providing more space to send the video data. This may lead to video chat becoming the standard, taking over regular telephone conversations (or has texting already done that?).
Improvements in video chat may also lead to changes in other parts of life. For example distance learning can become a mainstream method of teaching. When all the students are able to have high quality video links it’s easy to simulate the classroom environment over the Internet. Universities are already starting to experiment with distance learning courses and they can only become more integral over time.
Public services can also greatly benefit from better video chat. Police and fire officials can send multimedia between themselves, each other, and headquarters. A fleeing suspect can be monitored in real-time with the video being transmitted to the appropriate people. Officers can quickly get detailed information about a house that they’re searching or a suspect that they’re detaining.
Video games will also benefit from increased connection speeds. Broadband has already enabled Internet multiplayer games as the connections have become good enough to keep all the players synchronized with each other. Future speeds will allow multiplayer gaming to improve further.
Another possibility is more interaction with the real world. For instance, traffic lights can be connected to a municipal Wi-Fi network. Their light change schedules can be altered if traffic or an emergency dictates it depending on a flow of information equal to the road traffic. Roadside signs can also be connected to the Internet to provide up to the minute information.
Better Internet connections will mean that relatively slower connections will become easier to get and cheaper, making them more often used (if they’re not phased out).
Improving Internet infrastructure will provide very fast connection speeds to even the rural parts of the US. Connecting the entire US will help rural areas by linking them to the economic growth the Internet offers. Businesses can expand their local markets. People and business can get specialized services from distant areas where the appropriate business is located.
The Internet has gotten much faster since its inception and it will likely become much faster in the future. As it becomes an increasingly large part of society the faster connection speeds will make everyone more connected. This will benefit society as information can travel more quickly and people can always be in contact with each other.
Kevin Hart comedy Think Like A Man Too topped the US box office chart with $30 million.
Clint Eastwood’s film adaptation of hit musical Jersey Boys has only managed to debut at number four.
Jersey Boys, about Frankie Valli’s group, based on the Tony award-winning musical, took just $13.5 million over the weekend.
It featured a mainly unknown cast aside from Christopher Walken and got mixed reviews.
Think Like A Man Too topped the US box office chart with $30 million
Think Like a Man Too took $30 million in a slow weekend, narrowly beating 22 Jump Street, which took $29 million in its second week of release.
Dreamworks’ animated sequel How To Train Your Dragon 2 slipped to third spot with $25.3 million, ensuring that the weekend’s top three were all sequels.
Think Like A Man Too only managed to get a 22% rating on the Rotten Tomatoes review site but that did not stop fans flocking to the cinema.
Jersey Boys won the Tony award for best musical in 2006, and productions of it have played all over the world.
Nearly three-quarters of the first-weekend audience for Jersey Boys were over the age of 50, so producers will be hoping the film will be popular for a few weeks – older audiences tend not to rush out to catch a film on its opening weekend.
Angelina Jolie’s live action fairytale Maleficent, rounded out the top five.
The movie passed the $500 million over the weekend at the international box office, making it Angelina Jolie’s highest-grossing live-action film of all time, not accounting for inflation, according to Hollywood Reporter.
Katie Couric and John Molner married in a small ceremony in East Hampton, New York, Saturday.
After nearly two years of dating, Katie Couric and John Molner said their nuptials in front of 50 guests in Couric’s backyard. Shortly after the wedding she posted this to Twitter.
Katie Couric and John Molner married in a small ceremony in East Hampton (photo Twitter)
“The reception decor complimented Couric’s garden perfectly with centerpieces that included garden roses, peonies, dahlias, and hydrangeas, among others. Hank Lane provided the music…”Us Magazine reported.
The magazine noted Katie Couric “wore an ivory crystal beaded and embroidered Chantilly lace halter gown designed by Carmen Marc Valvo”.
This is the second marriage for both Katie Couric and John Molner.
Katie Couric’s first husband, Jay Monahan, died in 1998 after a battle with colon cancer.
