Iraq’s most senior Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has issued a call to arms while Sunni-led insurgents seize more towns.
The call by representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Sheik Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalaie, came during Friday prayers, as the militants widened their grip in the north and east, and threatened to march south.
Iraq’s most senior Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has issued a call to arms while Sunni-led insurgents seize more towns
The UN says hundreds have been killed – with militants carrying out summary executions of civilians in Mosul.
Both the US and Iran have promised to help the fight against the insurgency.
Led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), the Sunni insurgents have threatened to push to the capital, Baghdad, and regions further south dominated by Iraq’s Shia Muslim majority, whom they regard as “infidels”.
Julius De Boer instantly became famous when he pretty much saved Jay-Z from a vicious attack by his sister-in-law Solange Knowles, as captured in the surveillance video in a hotel elevator following the Met Gala after-party.
Price fixing, although it resembles the strong-armed business approach one might associate with the criminal underworld, is a white collar crime often perpetrated by company executives.
Just as a few local gangs might get together to agree on who gets to operate in which turf or who might handle the prostitution in a certain area, corporate executives get together in conference calls or at high-powered business powwows and settle secret deals on how pricing for various goods and services might be controlled.
That said, price fixing scams can be so far-reaching into a business sector that they can reach gigantic proportions involving some of the world’s best-known companies and some of the biggest dollar amounts ever associated with crime.
Rolling Stone Magazine recently ran a lengthy article on the Libor fixing scandal that could be the largest crime in terms of dollar losses ever committed. The world’s largest banks in the United States, Europe and Asia, including Barclays, UBS, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and the Royal Bank of Scotland ,have been caught up in that mess. The actual misdeed was bankers reporting false data to British regulators to try to manipulate the London interbank offered rate, which is supposed to be the average rate banks use when they loan money to each other. But some bankers tried to tip the scales their way to enhance specific deals or to make the bank appear healthier than it was, because a better position is appealing to stockholders.
Price fixing is a white collar crime often perpetrated by company executives
The problem is that an estimated six trillion dollars in commercial and consumer loans use the Libor as a benchmark rate. Tips the rate one way or another and it affects millions of consumers around the world.
Price fixing scams are frequently put into action by companies that are not exactly household names. Look for Ford Motor Company and price fixing online, for example, and you will see Ford is suing auto part suppliers for price fixing. That’s because companies like Ford are too much in the public eye to fix prices. If they change the headlight design of a car that becomes headline news, let alone trying to sneak a price-fixing scheme past the public.
Instead companies like Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., a Japanese company with a client list that included Toyota, Subaru and Nissan, was charged with fixing prices of anti-vibration rubber parts. In November 2013, Toyo settled with the U.S. Justice Department, agreeing to pay $120 million to have an investigation against it dropped..
A series of settlements over price fixing involving well-known and lesser-known airlines has been announced in recent years, but here, again, it is the air cargo side of the business — a little less visible to the average consumer — that has included, to date, 23 settlements by companies that colluded to control prices on air shipping services.
In February, the global law firm Hausfeld LLP, announced that Cathay Pacific had agreed to pay $65 million to settle charges of price fixing for its shipping services. That added to an already impressive list of class action victories that involved All Nippon Airways, American Airlines, British Airways, SAS, Cargolux, Lufthansa and 15 others who paid fines of $3.2 million (Malaysia Airlines) to $115 million (Korean Air) to settle charges against them. In total, the conspiracy has resulted in $758 million in fines that largely get dispersed to Hausfeld’s class action clients who were cheated by the collusion.
Price fixing impacts consumers in two ways. First, controlling prices generally results in artificially high prices for goods or services. Secondly, price fixing can box out competing companies, which hurts their business, resulting in fewer jobs.
Former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton and her husband Marc Mezvinsky are expecting their first child.
Chelsea Clinton and her husband Marc Mezvinsky are expecting their first child (photo Getty Images)
So when can we expect Chelsea Clinton’s first child to arrive? Chelsea Clinton hasn’t yet announced a due date, but based on her announcement, we can speculate a time frame.
She announced her pregnancy on April 17. Typically parents wait at least two months before announcing a pregnancy to friends and family. If that’s the case with Chelsea Clinton, then her due date would be roughly late October to early November.
Ukraine’s troops have won back the port city of Mariupol from pro-Russian separatist rebels after heavy fighting.
Interior Minister Arseny Avakov said the security forces had successfully brought separatist strongholds in the city “under control”.
Five pro-Russian rebels were reported killed and at least four government soldiers injured in the city.
Rebels elsewhere in the region have confirmed they now have three tanks.
Ukraine’s troops have won back the port city of Mariupol from pro-Russian separatist rebels after heavy fighting (photo Reuters)
The appearance of the tanks, filmed in various towns in the Donetsk region, sparked a row between Kiev and Moscow, with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko protesting to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
Russia denied Ukrainian allegations that the tanks had entered Ukraine from its territory.
Hundreds of combatants and civilians have been killed since pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk regions declared independence after holding referendums last month, which were deemed illegal by the government in Kiev.
Arsen Avakov said government forces had raised the national flag over Mariupol’s council building. The port city lies on the Sea of Azov in the south of Donetsk region which has changed hands several time during the conflict.
The operation had begun at 04:50, the interior minister added.
Confirming that four soldiers were injured, Ukraine’s National Guard said on its website that its recently formed Dnepr and Azov “volunteer” units were being used in the operation.
A rebel source told Russia’s Interfax news agency that five fighters had been killed. Several charred rebel armored cars could be seen in the streets after the battle.
Wal-Mart truck driver Kevin Roper has pleaded not guilty to charges of death by auto and assault by auto charges in court.
Prosecutors said Kevin Roper had not slept for more than 24 hours before the crash on the New Jersey Turnpike, when he swerved to avoid traffic that had slowed down, ploughing into Tracy Morgan’s limo bus.
Wal-Mart has said it believes Kevin Roper was in compliance with federal safety regulations but has promised to cooperate with the investigation.
Another two people were seriously injured in the accident after the limo bus flipped over, fellow comedian Ardie Fuqua Jr. and Tracy Morgan’s assistant, Jeffrey Millea.
Lewis Kay told reporters he had been informed by Jeffrey Millea’s wife that her husband had also “shown much improvement over the past few days”.
The US government will auction $18 million worth of the virtual currency Bitcoin, which was seized by the FBI when it shut down the Silk Road online marketplace in October last year.
Silk Road, which operated on the so-called “dark net”, traded in drugs and other illegal goods.
Payments were made via crypto-currencies, to ensure anonymity.
The Bitcoins were seized during the arrest of Ross Ulbricht, the alleged mastermind behind Silk Road.
The US government will auction $18 million worth of the virtual currency Bitcoin seized by the FBI when it shut down the Silk Road
Ross Ulbricht, 29, who was known online by the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts, or DPR, is currently awaiting trial.
In a statement, the US Marshals Service, which is conducting the sale, said the 29,656.51306529 Bitcoins up for auction were those that had “resided on Silk Road servers”, but did not include the stash on Ross Ulbricht’s personal computers.
The US authority added that it would “not sell to any person who is acting on behalf of or in concert with the Silk Road and/or Ross William Ulbricht, and bidders will be required to so certify”.
Last year, Carnegie Mellon University estimated that over $1.22 million worth of trading took place on the Silk Road every month.
Prospective bidders will have to put forward a deposit of $200,000, and all offers must be made in cash.
Oil prices have reached a nine-month high amid concerns that developments in Iraq may affect global supplies.
Brent crude futures rose 3% to $113.27 per barrel, while US crude gained more than 2% to $106.71, the highest reading for both since September.
Insurgents have taken over two Iraqi cities, prompting the US to say it was considering “all options” to help Iraq.
Oil prices have reached a nine-month high amid concerns that developments in Iraq may affect global supplies
Iraq is the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) group.
The developments have also hurt global stock markets. Shares in the US fell on Thursday and major stock indexes in Asia were also down in early trade on Friday.
Sunni Islamist insurgents have taken control of the Iraqi cities of Mosul and Tikrit.
Led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), the insurgents are believed to be planning to push further south to the capital, Baghdad, and regions dominated by Iraq’s Shia Muslim majority.
Middle East is one of the biggest oil producing areas in the world and there are fears that if this conflict escalates further, it may hurt global oil supplies.
On Thursday, President Barack Obama said his government was looking at “all options”, including military action, to help Iraq fight Islamist militants.
Demi Moore will replace Sarah Jessica Parker in comedy movie Wild Oats.
Demi Moore will replace Sarah Jessica Parker in comedy movie Wild Oats
Sarah Jessica Parker signed on for Andy Tennant’s film last month, but she has since exited the project for unknown reasons.
According to Variety.com, Demi Moore will join an all-star cast, including Shirley MacLaine, Jessica Lange and Judd Hirsch, in the film about a woman on the run from law enforcement officers.
Clint Eastwood is dating hostess Christina Sandera, Us Weekly reported.
Clint Eastwood, 84, and Christina Sandera were last photographed together shopping at an LA Whole Foods on June 1.
Clint Eastwood is dating hostess Christina Sandera
Christina Sandera works at Eastwood’s Mission Ranch Hotel in Carmel, California.
This is Clint Eastwood’s second relationship since splitting with TV news anchor wife Dina Eastwood. Last year, Dina Eastwood filed for divorce after 17 years of marriage, citing “irreconcilable differences”.
Post-breakup, Clint and Dina Eastwood were involved in a shocking exes swap. He romanced photographer Erica Tomlinson-Fisher soon after as Dina, 48, began to date Tomlinson-Fisher’s ex–husband, University of Hawaii basketball coach Scott Fisher.
According to LA officials, Justin Bieber won’t face a charge of assault over a row about a mobile phone.
Justin Bieber, 20, had been accused of the crime by a woman who claimed she had a row with him over her mobile phone.
Justin Bieber had been accused of attempted robbery by a woman who claimed she had a row with him over her mobile phone
The woman said Justin Bieber pulled her phone out of her bag to see if she was filming him, while he was hitting balls in a batting cage at a family entertainment centre.
She said she showed the singer her phone to prove that she wasn’t taping him.
Although the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has declined to file a felony charge, the case has been referred to the Los Angeles city attorney’s office for consideration of a possible misdemeanor prosecution.
In the US, misdemeanors are generally viewed as less serious crimes which carry less severe punishments than felonies.
The district attorney’s report stated that the woman also said her daughter was crying but when police interviewed the girl, she said she was crying out of excitement at seeing Justin Bieber.
Donald Sterling’s lawyers have hired four private investigation firms to dig up dirt on the NBA’s former and current commissioners and its 29 other owners, a source familiar with LA Clipper owner’s legal strategy told the AP.
Investigators were given a six-figure budget over the next 30 days to examine the league’s finances, allegations of previous discriminatory conduct and compensation to past Commissioner David Stern and current Commissioner Adam Silver.
Donald Sterling’s lawyers have hired four private investigation firms to dig up dirt on the NBA’s former and current commissioners and its 29 other owners
The source said the investigators also are looking into whether other owners made any off-color jokes, or racist or s**ist remarks.
Donald Sterling, 80, is suing the NBA for $1 billion in federal court after the league tried to oust him as LA Clippers owner for making racist remarks to girlfriend V. Stiviano that were recorded and publicized. Adam Silver fined him $2.5 million and banned him for life.
The suit alleges the NBA violated Donald Sterling’s constitutional rights by relying on information from an “illegal” recording. It also said the league committed a breach of contract by fining Sterling and that it violated antitrust laws by trying to force a sale.
Donald Sterling’s attorneys will also be facing off with his wife’s attorneys in probate court during a four-day hearing scheduled for July.
Families of MH370 passengers have begun to receive initial compensation payments of $50,000.
So far six Malaysian families and one Chinese family have received the money, and insurers are assessing the claims of 40 more Chinese families.
Relatives of all 239 missing passengers can claim up to $175,000 each.
Flight MH370 went missing on March 8 as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. No trace of the plane has been found.
Families of MH370 passengers have begun to receive initial compensation payments of $50,000 (photo Getty Images)
Malaysian deputy foreign minister Hamzah Zainudin stressed that the government has not yet declared the plane lost.
“When we talk about the full payment, we have to wait until we announce the issue on the tragedy MH370 is over,” he said.
Malaysia Airlines’ insurer, a consortium led by Germany’s Allianz, is making the payments.
Many of the relatives also refuse to accept that their relatives may be dead.
A group of families has joined together to raise $5 million to investigate the plane’s disappearance and encourage anyone who might have information to come forward.
A massive search operation conducted in seas hundreds of miles from any land has failed to find any debris from the plane.
Experts are continuing to survey the sea floor and are bringing in specialist equipment.
They believe the jet ended its journey in the Indian Ocean, hundreds of miles north-west of the Australian city of Perth.
Actress and civil rights activist Ruby Dee has died at the age of 91 at her home in New Rochelle, New York.
Ruby Dee died of natural causes on Wednesday evening.
The Emmy-winning actress was married to screen legend Ossie Davis for 56 years.
Among Ruby Dee’s most famous screen rolls were A Raisin in the Sun and Do the Right Thing
Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis frequently collaborated, sharing the stage in five productions, appearing together in five movies and starring in a radio show, The Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee Story Hour.
“We have had her for so long and we loved her so much,” Ruby Dee’s daughter, Nora Davis Day, told US media following her death.
Ruby Dee was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and later raised in Harlem, New York, where she later pursued acting.
She met Ossie Davis in 1945 when she auditioned for Broadway play Jeb, and the couple married in 1948.
They were active in civil rights issues, including promoting black performers in the entertainment industry.
Among Ruby Dee’s most famous screen rolls were A Raisin in the Sun and Do the Right Thing.
Ossie Davis died in 2005, and the couple is survived by their three children, Nora, Hasna and Guy.
The 2014 World Cup officially got under way with a colorful opening ceremony before hosts Brazil kicked off against Croatia.
A cast of 660 dancers paid tribute to Brazil’s nature, people and football with a show around a “living” ball on the Arena de Sao Paulo pitch.
The final act saw a performance of official World Cup song We Are One by Jennifer Lopez and rapper Pitbull.
The month-long tournament sees 32 nations compete in 64 games.
A cast of 660 dancers paid tribute to Brazil’s nature, people and football with a show around a living ball on the Arena de Sao Paulo pitch (photo Getty Images)
Many fans took to the streets to sing and chant their support for Brazil as excitement built in the hours before the tournament began.
But there were also demonstrations from those unhappy with the expense of hosting the tournament.
Performers dressed as trees, flowers and various musical instruments all performed in three acts before the central ball opened to reveal singers Claudia Leitte, Jennifer Lopez and rapper Pitbull as they sang the official World Cup song as the finale.
The opening game of the tournament between Brazil and Croatia kicks off at 17:00 local time.
No host nation have ever lost their opening World Cup game, with the previous 20 producing 14 victories and six draws for the hosts.
Brazil starts as favorite to win the World Cup for a sixth time, while holders Spain are aiming to win a fourth major tournament in a row after winning the European Championship two years ago.
The other seeded teams are Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Argentina, Germany and Belgium.
FIFA said it had sold more than 2.9 million tickets, but they were still available for several matches on Wednesday, including some involving Germany, Italy and France.
A French court was wrong to convict Paris-Match magazine for revealing that Prince Albert II of Monaco had a love child in 2005, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled.
The public interest outweighed privacy arguments in the case, the ECHR ruled.
After the Paris-Match article appeared, in May 2005, Prince Albert sued the magazine, but later acknowledged that the child was his.
The boy was born to Nicole Coste, a French-Togolese flight attendant.
When Prince Albert, the reigning monarch in Monaco, learnt that Paris-Match was going to publish the article he told its owner, publisher Hachette Filipacchi Associes, not to do so. But the magazine went ahead, including photos of the prince with the child. The revelation also appeared in Bunte magazine in Germany.
Prince Albert of Monaco’s son was born to Nicole Coste, a French-Togolese flight attendant
In France, Prince Albert was awarded 50,000 euros ($68,000) in damages, but in Germany his court action against Bunte was dismissed.
In its ruling, the ECHR found that the French court in Nanterre was wrong to convict Paris-Match over the article. It breached the magazine’s freedom of expression, the ECHR said.
The ruling said the French court had erred in failing to distinguish between “information which formed part of a debate of general interest and that which merely reported details of the private life of the Prince of Monaco”.
The child could not succeed to the throne, under Monaco’s constitution, but the court found that “the public had a legitimate interest in knowing of the child’s existence and being able to conduct a debate on the possible implications for political life in the Principality of Monaco”.
“The court concluded that, in disclosing the information, [Nicole Coste] had sought to secure public recognition of her son’s status and of the fact that the prince was his father, which were crucial factors in ending the secrecy surrounding him.”
Back in 2005, Nicole Coste was quoted as saying she met Prince Albert on a flight in 1997, leading to a relationship and the birth of the boy, Alexandre, in August 2003.
Prince Albert has two children from previous relationships – 22-year-old daughter Jazmin and 10-year-old son Alexandre.
Last month Prince Albert and Princess Charlene announced they were expecting their first child.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will return to the US on Friday, officials have said.
Bowe Bergdahl, 28, will fly to a military medical centre in Texas for the next part of what the military calls a “reintegration mission”.
Officials previously said he would be reunited with his family there.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was freed on May 31 in exchange for five Taliban commanders held at Guantanamo bay, a deal criticized by the Republicans.
He has been recuperating at a military hospital in Germany since his release.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will return to the US on Friday
Critics of the prisoner swap, which include some Democrats, have objected to the fact Congress was not given notice of the deal, and they say the detainees are too dangerous to free.
Shortly after his release, several commentators and soldiers came forward to brand him a deserter and call for him to be punished.
The Pentagon has concluded he left his post in Paktika Province without authorisation but it is unclear if he intended to desert from the Army. The Army has said it will investigate the circumstances of his capture, leaving open the possibility he could be prosecuted for misconduct.
His family has received death threats and a welcoming party in his hometown in the state of Utah was cancelled amid safety concerns.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has not made any public comment since his release, but on Thursday, the Daily Beast website published a letter it said was one of two the soldier sent to his parents during his captivity through the International Red Cross.
In the letter, Bowe Bergdahl says he left because conditions were deteriorating at the base.
Excerpts of Bowe Bergdahl’s journals sent to a friend before he went missing, published by the Washington Post, suggest a young soldier struggling to handle the mental stress of war.
Sao Paulo riot police have used tear gas to break up a protest against Brazil’s World Cup, hours before the opening match.
At least one person was arrested and five others were injured, three of them journalists.
Protesters had tried to block a road leading to the stadium where the opening ceremony will take place.
Sao Paulo riot police have used tear gas to break up a protest against Brazil’s World Cup, hours before the opening match
Further protests are planned in other Brazilian cities over the expense of hosting the tournament.
In another development, striking airport workers in Rio de Janeiro blocked a road outside the airport, demanding a wage increase and a World Cup bonus.
The strike was to have lasted for 24 hours but union leaders called it off early for legal reasons.
Striking teachers also staged a rally in Rio city centre, further disrupting traffic.
Police charged with batons and riot shields, firing rubber bullets over heads of scores of protesters near a metro station on the route to the Arena Corinthians. Riot police moved in after the demonstrators refused to clear the road.
The demonstrators had been chanting “there won’t be a Cup”.
The violence happened about 8 miles from the stadium where Brazil will play Croatia at 20:00 GMT.
Three tanks have crossed the eastern Ukrainian border from Russia, Ukraine’s interior minister Aresen Avkov has said.
The tanks entered Ukraine along with other armour through a checkpoint controlled by rebels in the Luhansk region, Arsen Avakov said.
Ukraine’s army engaged two of them and destroyed part of the column, he said.
Russia has rejected Arsen Avakov’s statement as “another fake piece of information”.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who was elected last month, and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had a “substantial” conversation by phone on Kiev’s plan of peaceful settlement in the east, Ukraine’s [residency said in a statement.
Three tanks have crossed the eastern Ukrainian border from Russia
Petro Poroshenko said that it was “unacceptable” for the tanks to be crossing into Ukraine, his press secretary said.
Pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions declared independence after holding referendums last month which were deemed illegal by the government in Kiev.
Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of supporting and arming the rebels – a claim denied by Moscow.
Arsen Avakov said the tanks had crossed the border from Russia along with armoured personnel carriers and artillery pieces in the Dyakove area of Luhansk region, before moving into the neighbouring Donetsk region.
There, Ukraine’s interior minister said, the tanks headed for the town of Snizhne on Thursday morning. Two then proceeded to the town of Horlivka and were attacked by government forces.
“The fight is under way,” Arsen Avakov said.
“I cannot say about its final outcome, but part of this column has been destroyed.”
Unverified video has been posted on YouTube of a battle tank rolling down a street said to be in Snizhne. The footage was shot from a flat overlooking the street.
A second clip, also said to have been recorded in Snizhne, shows a similar tank passing a roundabout.
A rebel spokesman told Russia’s Ria-Novosti news agency that they were fighting a force of 40 Ukrainian tanks north of the city of Luhansk.
The tanks had been stopped at the village of Makarovo, the spokesman said.
George H.W. Bush celebrated his 90th birthday on June 12 by making a tandem parachute jump near his summer home in coastal Maine.
The US’s 41st president made the jump delivering on a vow he made five years ago even though he can no longer use his legs.
The former president jumped from a helicopter at 6,000 feet harnessed to Sgt. 1st Class Mike Elliott, a retired member of the Golden Knights, the Army’s parachute team, near Kennebunkport. Mike Elliott guided George H.W. Bush to a gentle landing five years ago.
On Thursday morning, the helicopter picked up George H.W. Bush outside his home, known as Walker’s Point. His family transported him from his wheelchair to the chopper, then sang “Happy Birthday” before it took off.
George H.W. Bush could later be seen floating to the ground using a red, white and blue parachute. He landed safely near St. Ann’s Church, where friends and family had gathered, according to a spokesman, out of the sight of reporters.
George H.W. Bush celebrated his 90th birthday by making a tandem parachute jump near his summer home in coastal Maine
“He had a big smile for the crowd. You could tell he was exhilarated,” said Diana Untermeyer, a family friend from Houson.
“He’s an amazing man. This is just another sign of that. I think that like most of America, our family loves him to pieces. It was just a real thrill to do this again.”
The jump was kept secret partly to give George H.W. Bush himself the option of bagging it.
Spokesman Jim McGrath said the former president likes both a surprise and an adrenaline rush.
“It’s vintage George Bush,” Jim McGrath said.
“It’s that passion for life. It’s wanting to set a goal, wanting to achieve it. I’m sure part of it is sending a message to others that even in your retirement years you can still find challenges.”
The first time George H.W. Bush jumped from an airplane was when his plane was shot down in World War II over the Pacific. Later, he decided to jump from a plane of his own accord and marked his 75th, 80th and 85th birthdays by skydiving.
The former president said on his 85th birthday that he’d like to do it again on his 90th.
Other birthday festivities included a private dinner with more than 200 relatives and friends, including some from his White House days: press secretary Marlin Fitzwater, White House counsel Boyden Gray and political director Ron Kaufman, Jim McGrath said. His children, including former President George W. Bush and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, will be there, Jim McGrath said.
Kennebunkport is a special place for George H.W. Bush. As a boy, he visited the family home at Walker’s Point every summer, except during World War II. The retreat was later dubbed his “summer White House.”
George H.W. Bush now uses a wheelchair or scooter because of a form of parkinsonism that has robbed him of use of his legs.
Kim Jong-un has blasted North Korea’s weather service for “incorrect” forecasts in a rare public dressing down of a government body in the reclusive nation, which suffers regular natural disasters.
The North Korean criticised the science used in observations and called for the use of modern equipment in the unusual rebuke, which came during an inspection of the Hydro-meteorological Service, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Tuesday.
“There are many incorrect forecasts as the meteorological observation has not been put on a modern and scientific basis,” Kim Jong-un said, urging the agency to “fundamentally” improve its work and equipment.
Kim Jong-un has blasted North Korea’s weather service for incorrect forecasts
Accurate forecasts are needed to protect the “lives and properties” of people from disasters caused by “abnormal climatic phenomenon”, he said.
Calling the weather service “very important work directly affecting the overall economic affairs”, Kim Jong-un also underscored the need to “modernise meteorological observation equipment at a high level”, KCNA said.
It was not clear when Kim Jong-un visited the agency, but public criticism of government officials during field trips by North Korean leaders is extremely rare.
Undated pictures released by KCNA showed Kim Jong-un giving “field guidance” inside the weather service in the capital, some of his audience standing attentively with arms by the side.
North Korea has suffered regular chronic food shortages under the ruling Kim dynasty, with the situation exacerbated by floods, droughts and mismanagement.
In May, state media reported that North Korea was hit by its worst spring drought in more than three decades, threatening thousands of acres of staple crops.
Expedia has become the latest company to accept Bitcoin transactions as a form of payment.
The travel agency will initially accept the virtual currency for hotel bookings only, and is currently restricting the trial to its US site.
Expedia’s announcement comes after a turbulent few months for Bitcoin, which has been plagued by security concerns.
Expedia has become the latest company to accept Bitcoin transactions as a form of payment
A number of smaller online travel sites already accept virtual currencies, including Travel Keys and CheapAir, but Expedia is the first company of its size to adopt Bitcoin.
In a statement, Expedia’s global vice-president, Michael Gulmann, said the company was “in a unique position” to “solve travel planning and booking for our customers and partners alike by adopting the latest payment technologies”.
Expedia will use Bitcoin exchange Coinbase for processing transactions, but Michael Gulmann told the Wall Street Journal that the company would not hold the currency, but would convert its Bitcoin deposits back into US dollars every 24 hours.
Bitcoin, which is the world’s most prominent crypto-currency, has been the subject of much controversy in recent months.
The collapse of Japanese Bitcoin exchange MtGox, following a number of security breaches, harmed the currency’s reputation, and there have been several controversies surrounding taxation of transactions made with Bitcoin.
The digital currency took another step closer to the mainstream this week, with both Google and Yahoo adding its conversion price to its financial tools.
More than 60,000 online retailers now accept Bitcoins worldwide.
AirAsia is set to start flights in India on Thursday.
AirAsia is the first airline with foreign investment to operate in India.
The airline has been set up by one of Asia’s biggest low-cost carriers, AirAsia, and India’s Tata Group.
The carrier’s promise to become the “lowest-cost” airline in India has triggered a fresh price war in the sector.
Most of India’s domestic airlines have been mired in losses owing to high fuel costs and intense price competition.
AirAsia is the first airline with foreign investment to operate in India
Only one of India’s six main carriers, IndiGo, has been making profits in recent years.
India has seen a surge in demand for air travel in recent years, making it one of the faster-growing aviation markets in the region.
But despite huge potential, airlines have struggled to make money, not least because they have been trying to cut fares in an attempt to attract more customers.
For its maiden flight between Bangalore and Goa, AirAsia India has offered tickets for as low as $17, cheaper than the train fare for a second-class air conditioned cabin.
The move has triggered a price war, with other domestic carriers slashing their fares and also offering heavy discounts.
While that may be good news for travelers, it is not so good for airlines because most of them have been struggling financially.
For its part, AirAsia India said its model had always been about keeping the fares low and its costs “razor-thin”.
AirAsia chief executive Mittu Chandilya said the model had worked in similar markets for the past 12 years.
India opened up its aviation market to foreign investment in 2012 in an attempt to boost growth in the sector and the overall economy.
