Danny Wells, whose real name was Jack Westelman, died on November 28 in Toronto at the age of 72.
Danny Wells died on November 28 in Toronto
The Canadian actor starred in a plethora of TV series throughout his five decade career in the business, playing Charlie the bartender in The Jeffersons and Luigi in the TV adaptation of popular Nintendo video-game franchise Super Mario Brothers, alongside wrestler-turned-actorLou Albano.
Dany Wells also appeared in TV shows such as Columbo, The A-Team and Kojak, and films including Private Benjamin and The Last Kiss.
China has banned its banks from handling Bitcoin transactions.
The ban came in a notice issued by the People’s Bank of China, financial watchdogs and the nation’s IT ministry.
Bitcoins are a “virtual good”, have no legal status and should not be used as a currency, it said.
The decision comes after bitcoins’ rapid rise in value was called a “bubble” by Alan Greenspan, former US Federal Reserve chairman.
The ban was imposed because bitcoins were not backed by any nation or central authority, said the notice.
It added that it was planning to step up its efforts to curb the use of bitcoins to launder cash.
China has banned its banks from handling Bitcoin transactions
Individuals were still free to trade in bitcoins but should be aware of the risks involved, said the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), adding that it planned to formalise the regulation of exchanges that dealt in the digital cash.
Experts told Reuters the PBOC was moved to make its decision because Chinese nationals were heavily involved in trading the virtual currency. Many believe this is because it helps them avoid controls on trade in the yuan.
The value of bitcoins traded on Chinese exchanges fell after the announcement was made.
Interest in the virtual currency has seen its value soar in recent weeks.
On November 28, the value of one Bitcoin surpassed $1,000 for the first time.
The swift rise in value led Alan Greenspan to say the exchange rate for the virtual currency was “unsustainably high” in an interview with Bloomberg.
“It’s a bubble,” he said, going on to question the financial value people had pinned on Bitcoin.
“You have to really stretch your imagination to infer what the intrinsic value of Bitcoin is,” he said.
“I haven’t been able to do it. Maybe somebody else can.”
Fast-food restaurant workers are staging a 24-hour strike in protest against low wages.
Walkouts were reported in New York, Chicago, Washington DC, and also Detroit, Michigan; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Organizers hoped workers in as many as 100 cities will participate in what is the latest in a series of such actions.
Unions want a $15-an-hour federal minimum wage. The current one, set in 2009, is $7.25 per hour.
President Barack Obama, who has backed a Senate measure to increase the minimum to $10.10, specifically mentioned fast-food workers “who work their tails off and are still living at or barely above poverty”, in an economic policy speech on Wednesday.
Barack Obama’s Democratic allies, who control the upper chamber of Congress, have said a vote on the matter could be held this month.
But even if it passes the Senate, it is not clear if it would be approved by the Republican-led House of Representatives.
Nearly 100 protestors gathered around a Wendy’s restaurant in Brooklyn, New York, at midday, carrying signs saying “stick together for $15/hr”.
Fast-food restaurant workers are staging a 24-hour strike in protest against low wages
In Detroit, about 50 demonstrators turned out for an early morning rally in front of a McDonald’s, including a handful of employees who walked off the job. However, the restaurant stayed open.
Another 40 demonstrators rallied at a Burger King in Atlanta.
The American fast-food industry has come under increasing scrutiny because part-time jobs, including retail and food positions, have made up most of the job growth since the recession.
It is not yet clear how many fast-food restaurants will be affected by Thursday’s industrial action.
The workers’ last nationwide strike, in August, was patchy, with some restaurants appearing to function normally while others were unable to do business.
The National Restaurant Association, an industry lobbying group, called the strikes a “campaign engineered by national labor groups”, claiming the vast majority of participants were in fact union protestors.
The association said firms already face “great uncertainty”.
“Calls to double the minimum wage only intensify the challenges faced by job creators.”
This week, a measure in the tiny airport town of SeaTac, Washington state, to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour passed by 77 votes.
As a result, some 6,300 workers at SeaTac’s airport, which primarily serves the region’s largest city, Seattle, will be paid the highest minimum wage in the nation.
Nelson Mandela – South Africa’s first black president – has died at the age of 95, President Jacob Zuma announces.
Nelson Mandela led South Africa’s transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s, after 27 years in prison.
He had been receiving intense home-based medical care for a lung infection after three months in hospital.
Nelson Mandela was South Africa’s first black president
In a statement on South African national TV, Jacob Zuma said Nelson Mandela had “departed” and was at peace.
“Our nation has lost its greatest son,” Jacob Zuma said.
Nelson Mandela was one of the world’s most revered statesmen after preaching reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate had rarely been seen in public since officially retiring in 2004.
“What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves,” Jacob Zuma said.
“Fellow South Africans, Nelson Mandela brought us together and it is together that we will bid him farewell.”
Nelson Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was elected South Africa’s first black president in 1994. He stepped down after five years in office.
10 slices white bread, toasted in the oven and crumbled
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
4 large eggs, beaten
1 heaping teaspoon rubbing sage
Directions:
Make the duck: In the large pot, combine the ducks, bay leaves, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Add water to cover by 2 inches and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower to a simmer, cover, and cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes or until the ducks are tender. Set aside the ducks, covered with foil. Save the broth.
Heat the oven to 325ºF. Make the dressing: In the large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions, bell peppers, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes.
In the roasting pan, using your hands, combine the cornbread, saltines, Ritz crackers, and white bread. Add the vegetables and mix well. Add duck broth slowly until the dressing is pourable but still thick. Add the evaporated milk, eggs, and sage; mix well with a large kitchen spoon.
Place the ducks on the dressing, breast side up. Push the ducks down into the dressing, but leave the breast showing. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes.
6 to 8 large jalapeño peppers, cut in half lengthwise, seeds and ribs removed
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 pounds breakfast sausage, formed into 12 to 16 patties
1 pound bacon, sliced thin
1 stick (¼ pound) butter, melted
Willie Robertson’s Armadillo Eggs
Directions:
If you’re using a grill, heat it to medium. If not, heat the oven to 400ºF. Fill each jalapeño half with cream cheese. Mold sausage around each jalapeño half, making sure to cover the entire jalapeño. Wrap each “armadillo egg” with a slice of bacon.
Cook the eggs on an open grill until the sausage is cooked through and the bacon is crispy. If you don’t have an outdoor grill, bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, then broil until the bacon is crispy.
Remove the eggs from the grill or oven and cover with melted butter.
FIFA has admitted that Sao Paulo stadium where the opening match of the 2014 World Cup is due to be played in Brazil will not be ready until April.
“We have received information that it will be ready on 14 or 15 April,” said FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
However, Sepp Blatter reaffirmed that “there’s no plan B” and the opening match will go ahead as planned in Sao Paulo on June 12, 2014.
Five other stadia are still under construction.
Sao Paulo stadium where the opening match of the 2014 World Cup is due to be played in Brazil will not be ready until April
Two people died last week at the opening match venue – Sao Paulo’s Arena Corinthians, or Itaquerao – as a construction crane collapsed.
Sepp Blatter said the venues will be ready in time: “We believe it is a question of trust. It will be done.”
He was speaking at Costa do Sauipe, a seaside resort in Bahia state where on Friday FIFA will carry out the draw that will define the groups for the opening stage of the World Cup.
On Thursday, Brazil’s Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo said six venues – in Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Cuiaba, Manaus and Natal – would miss FIFA’s original December 31 deadline and only be ready in January.
Brazil’s other six stadiums, including a revamped Maracana stadium in Rio, were opened ahead of last June’s Confederations Cup.
The Brazilian government’s preparations for the World Cup have been repeatedly criticized, as they have run over budget and behind schedule.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg turned on the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lights just before 9 p.m. on Wednesday, setting off a dazzling 45,000 multi-colored LED lights and a 9 ½-foot-wide Swarovski star that topped the 12-ton tree.
The Rockefeller Center Christmas was illuminated for the first time this holiday season in a ceremony that’s been held since 1933
The holiday event in midtown Manhattan also was watched by millions on television. The tree will be on display until January 7, after which it’ll be milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity.
Artists such as Mary J. Blige, the Goo Goo Dolls, Jewel, Mariah Carey and Leona Lewis performed.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg turned on the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lights
The approximately 75-year-old tree made the 70-mile trip to New York City on a tractor-trailer from its home in Shelton, Connecticut, last month.
Today Show’s Matt Lauer, Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie and Natalie Morales co-hosted “Christmas in Rockefeller Center,” which aired on NBC.
They dedicated the broadcast to James Lovell, 58, a married father of four and a sound and lighting expert who worked on the tree.
James Lovell was one of four people killed when a Metro-North commuter train derailed in Bronx area on Sunday. He was on his way to work on the tree when the accident occurred.
Alec Baldwin defended Martin Bashir on Twitter late Wednesday and had some harsh words for MSNBC after the journalist’s resignation.
“I wish @MartinBashir the best of luck,” Alec Baldwin wrote.
“Some of these cable venues really are Off-Off Television.”
“And their need for a reliable, even forced, homogeneity is more apparent than ever.”
Alec Baldwin defended Martin Bashir on Twitter and had some harsh words for MSNBC after the journalist’s resignation
Alec Baldwin, whose own MSNBC show Up Late was canceled two weeks ago after the actor was caught on camera using a gay slur, said Martin Bashir’s career shouldn’t have been ruined by one transgression.
“Broadcasters on certain networks are called upon to offer analysis of events and public policy, day in, day out, often with tremendous aggression and scalding language,” Alec Baldwin wrote.
“If, over the course of hundreds of hours on air, they commit a foul… then it’s like high-sticking in hockey or a late hit in the NFL. Throw a flag. But to end someone’s job?”
Martin Bashir resigned from the network Wednesday following flap over comments he made on air criticizing former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
Forecasters warned that an arctic blast will knock out power by coating parts of the South and Midwest with ice and send temperatures sinking by as much as 50 F Thursday.
The worst of the ice storm should stretch from Texas through Arkansas, the boot heel of Missouri and parts of Tennessee and Kentucky. Some places could get a half-inch or more of ice, enough to weigh down power lines and snap tree branches.
“Just prepare, plan and hunker down once this starts later tonight,” said Tom Niziol, an expert for The Weather Channel.
Kevin Roth, a lead meteorologist at the network, said that the region faced a “good 12 to 14 hours of freezing rain and ice” as an arctic air mass pushing south from Canada collides with moisture streaming up from the Gulf of Mexico.
Forecasters warned that an arctic blast will knock out power by coating parts of the South and Midwest with ice
The rough weather will be accompanied by jarring drops in the temperature. In Dallas, it was almost 80 F on Wednesday and will be in the 30s on Thursday night. In Lubbock, Texas, the high Tuesday was 77, and the forecast low for Friday night is 10.
A winter storm alert was posted for the Dallas area from 6 p.m. Thursday until 6 p.m. Friday.
Farther north and west, people faced extreme cold and snow. Temperatures could dip to minus 20 or worse in the northern midsection of the country, forecasters said. Snow totals could also approach 3 feet in northeastern Minnesota, where the weather has contributed to hundreds of traffic collisions around the state.
Colorado homeless shelters opened extra beds as temperatures in Denver were expected to drop just below zero through Friday but remain below 20 through the middle of next week. The storm dumped several inches of snow in Denver, and parts of Colorado’s mountains could get up to 3 feet by the end of the day.
Some Rocky Mountain ski resorts surpassed 100 inches of snow for the season on Wednesday.
Chicago could plunge from the mid-50s on Wednesday to the low teens by Friday night. Snow accumulations of 4 to 8 inches are possible from southern Missouri to northern Ohio through Friday night.
Technical problems and possible pilot error are responsible for the plane crash that killed Jenni Rivera last year, Mexican authorities said.
Jenni Rivera, 43, perished along with four members of her entourage and two pilots when the Learjet she was travelling in crashed in Mexico on December 9, 2012.
Officials at Mexico’s General Civil Aviation Administration have now published a report into what caused the accident, just days before the first anniversary of the tragedy.
Technical problems and possible pilot error are responsible for the plane crash that killed Jenni Rivera last year
A “series of factors” has been pinpointed as possible causes, including the age of the plane, which was more than 40-years old.
The aircraft was too badly damaged for conclusive findings, according to the report.
The investigation also mentioned the age of the pilots – one was 78, the other just 21 – as possible risk factors, and revealed the plane suffered a “sudden and abrupt lack of control” which caused a sheer vertical drop. This could have been caused by mechanical failure, according to the findings.
The report ruled out weather conditions or a fire/explosion onboard the plane as possible factors in the crash that killed Jenni Rivera.
Nigella Lawson has revealed during a court hearing that she is “not proud” of having used drugs.
Giving evidence for a second day at Isleworth Crown Court, Nigella Lawson said: “I would rather be honest and ashamed… not bullied with lies.”
Nigella Lawson, 53, admitted taking cocaine while she was living with her late husband, John Diamond, and her ex-husband, Charles Saatchi.
Responding to claims from the defense that she was not honest about her drug use, Nigella Lawson said: “No-one really wants their errors having the spotlight put on them.
“When I needed to tell the truth, I told the truth.”
Nigella Lawson has revealed during a court hearing that she is “not proud” of having used drugs
Under cross-examination, the TV cook said: “I’m not proud of the fact I have taken drugs but that does not make me a drug addict or a habitual drug user.”
Nigella Lawson was accused by defense barrister Karina Arden of using the court case as “damage limitation” and a vehicle to explain herself to the world’s media.
She denied the allegation, saying she did not want to attend the hearing at all because she had been “menaced”.
The court was told Nigella Lawson first used the Class A drug with him in 1999.
She said she took it again in July 2010 after she felt she had been “subjected to intimate terrorism” by Charles Saatchi.
Nigella Lawson said her ex-husband had “made up” a story after he was photographed gripping her throat and tweaking her nose outside Scott’s restaurant in central London.
Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson divorced in July, months after the pictures emerged.
Pope Francis will set up a Vatican committee to fight abuse of children in the Catholic Church and offer help to victims.
The announcement, by Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston, follows a meeting between Pope Francis and his eight cardinal advisers.
It comes days after the Vatican refused a UN request for information on alleged abuse by priests, nuns or monks.
Pope Francis has said dealing with abuse is vital for the Church’s credibility.
Earlier this week the Pope expressed his compassion for the many victims of abuse by priests around the world.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley said the proposed panel of experts could provide codes of conduct for clergymen, guidelines for Church officials and better checks for would-be priests.
Pope Francis will set up a Vatican committee to fight abuse of children in the Catholic Church and offer help to victims
“Up until now there has been so much focus on the judicial parts of this but the pastoral part is very, very important. The Holy Father is concerned about that,” he said.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley added that the move was in line with the approach of the former Pope, Benedict XVI, who referred to the “filth” in the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict was, however, accused of failing to do enough to address the problem.
He said the new committee was suggested by the council of cardinals, which was convened to discuss reforms to the Catholic Church, and Pope Francis approved it on Thursday, according to AFP news agency.
The archdiocese of Boston was the centre of a child abuse scandal involving Catholic priests in the US in 2002. It ultimately led to the resignation of the archbishop at the time.
The Catholic Church has faced a raft of allegations of child abuse by priests around the world and criticism over inadequate responses by bishops.
Earlier this year the Pope strengthened Vatican laws on child abuse, broadening the definition of crimes against minors to include abuse of children.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child put a wide-ranging questionnaire to the Holy See – the city state’s diplomatic entity – last July, asking for detailed information about the particulars of all abuse cases notified to the Vatican since 1995.
The Vatican refused, saying the cases were the responsibility of the judicial systems of countries where abuse took place.
Vatican officials are due to be questioned about child abuse, among other issues, by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in January.
Martin Bashir has resigned from MSNBC after controversial remarks about former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
In November, Martin Bashir referred to Sarah Palin, a Republican, as a “world-class idiot”, then suggested she “eat f**ces”.
Martin Bashir has since called his remarks – about her comparison of the US national debt to chattel slavery – “ill-judged”.
The British journalist joined MSNBC three years ago as a daytime chat show host.
“Martin is a good man and respected colleague – we wish him only the best,” MSNBC president Phil Griffin wrote in a statement announcing the decision on Wednesday.
Martin Bashir later released his own statement saying he had offered his resignation after a meeting with Phil Griffin and upon “further reflection” of his remarks.
Martin Bashir has resigned from MSNBC after controversial remarks about Sarah Palin
“It is my sincere hope that all of my colleagues… will be allowed to focus on the issues that matter without the distraction of myself,” he wrote.
“I deeply regret what was said, will endeavor to work hard at making constructive contributions in the future and will always have a deep appreciation for our viewers.”
Martin Bashir’s fall from grace follows comments he made on air on November 15.
“America’s resident dunce Sarah Palin scraping the barrel of her long-deceased mind and using her all-time favorite analogy in an attempt to sound intelligent about the national debt,” he said on MSNBC.
“Given her well-established reputation as a world-class idiot, it’s hardly surprising that she should choose to mention slavery in a way that is abominable to anyone who knows anything about its abominable history.”
Martin Bashir then suggested she eat f**ces, which he described as a punishment for wayward slaves.
Martin Bashir later apologized to Sarah Palin and network viewers for his “deeply offensive” comments.
Norman Rockwell’s painting Saying Grace has been sold for $46 million at Sotheby’s in New York, a new record for a piece of American art sold at auction.
Saying Grace shows a crowded restaurant with a grandmother and grandson bowed in prayer at a table they are sharing with two young men.
The painting’s pre-sale estimate by Sotheby’s was $15 million to $20 million. The buyer’s identity was not disclosed.
Ten Norman Rockwell works in total were sold at the auction.
Norman Rockwell’s painting Saying Grace has been sold for $46 million at Sotheby’s in New York
The Gossips sold on Wednesday for just under $8.5 million, while Walking to Church fetched more than $3.2 million.
Many came from the family of Kenneth Stuart, the art editor at the Saturday Evening Post at the time when many of Norman Rockwell’s paintings were featured on the magazine’s covers.
The paintings were part of a larger American art auction at Sotheby’s that took in almost $84 milion in total proceeds.
The previous record for the sale of an American painting at auction was set in 1999, also at Sotheby’s, when George Bellows’ Polo Crowd sold for $27.7 million.
Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro committed suicide being frustrated by conditions in his cell, obsessed with the quality of prison food and convinced that guards were mistreating him, two consultants concluded Tuesday.
The two, considered national experts on prison conditions, rejected suggestions that Ariel Castro may have died accidentally, as an earlier review by the state prisons agency suggested.
Ariel Castro’s death on September 3 was a suicide, the new report said.
All available evidence pointed to suicide, including a shrine-like arrangement of family pictures and a Bible in Ariel Castro’s cell, an increasing tone of frustration in his prison journal and coming to terms with spending the rest of his life in prison while subject to constant harassment.
Subsequent reviews by the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Franklin County coroner reached the same conclusion, the report said.
“Based upon the fact that this inmate was going to remain in prison for the rest of his natural life under the probability of continued perceived harassment and threats to his safety, his death was not predictable on September 3, 2013, but his suicide was not surprising and perhaps inevitable,” the report said.
Fred Cohen, a retired professor at the State University of New York at Albany who helped monitor Ohio’s youth prison system as part of a federal court order, and Lindsay Hayes, who directs the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives and is an expert on prison suicides, conducted the review for the state.
Ariel Castro, 53, pleaded guilty in August to imprisoning three women in his Cleveland home for a decade while repeatedly raping and assaulting them. He fathered a girl with one of the victims.
He was found dead kneeling in his cell with his pants down; he was hanging from a sheet attached to a window hinge, according to an earlier prisons report. Ariel Castro had just begun serving his sentence of life plus 1,000 years.
Ariel Castro committed suicide being frustrated by conditions in his cell
The two consultants said it was likely Ariel Castro was harassed by guards, based on interviews with inmates who said they had heard it.
“I don’t know if I can take this neglect anymore, and the way I’m being treated,” Ariel Castro wrote in a journal on August 22, according to the report.
“I will not take this kind of treatment much longer if this place treats me this way,” Ariel Castro wrote on August 31.
“I can only imagine what things would be like at my parent institution. … I feel as though I’m being pushed over the edge, one day at a time.”
The report said Ariel Castro complained constantly about the quality of food and wrote in his journal he believed his food was being tampered with. He complained in late August that his cell and toilet were filthy.
Ariel Castro was housed at the state’s Correctional Reception Center south of Columbus, awaiting transfer to a permanent prison, when he died. None of the multiple health assessments he received indicated anything that would have required suicide-prevention measures, the consultants said.
Messages left Tuesday with Ariel Castro’s attorneys seeking comment about the report weren’t immediately returned.
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction is committed to following recommendations in the report, spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said in a statement. They include beefing up staff training on suicide prevention and ending the use of online training.
Ohio prison inmate suicides were below the national rate over the past five years but above it this year alone, the study found.
Some inmates, who had not seen Ariel Castro, suggested of his appearance when he died that his pants slipped because of his 10-pound weight loss since entering prison, the report said.
Two prison guards were placed on paid administrative leave during the state’s investigation into Ariel Castro’s death. The corrections department alleged they falsified logs documenting the number of times guards checked on Ariel Castro before he died.
Those two guards and an additional one received formal warnings Monday that any future violations would result in immediate firings that can’t be challenged.
The consultants’ report criticized the falsification but said it didn’t contribute to Ariel Castro’s death since he was seen alive minutes before he hanged himself in a check that met prison standards.
The union representing prison guards says the state is scapegoating front-line employees for supervisory failures.
Ariel Castro abducted Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus from the streets of Cleveland from 2002 to 2004 when they were 20, 16 and 14. He periodically kept them chained in rooms, sometimes in the basement, and restricted access to food and toilets.
Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus were rescued May 6 when one of them broke out part of a door and called for help.
A double attack on Yemen’s defense ministry in Sanaa left at least 29 dead and more than 70 hurt, officials say.
A suicide car bomb blew up at the gates of the complex in Sanaa’s Bab al-Yaman district, at the entrance to the old city, and a gunbattle followed at a hospital inside.
At least two foreign medical staff are among the dead, medical sources say.
Yemeni security forces are fighting regional rebels and al-Qaeda, while combating lawlessness and army splits.
Defense Minister Mohammed Nasser is currently on a visit to Washington.
No group has said it carried out Thursday’s attack.
Correspondents say it bears the hallmarks of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
However, one government minister has blamed people linked to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Officials said the situation was under control and most of the gunmen had been killed.
Deadly attacks hit Yemen defense ministry in Sanaa
“The attack took place shortly after working hours started at the ministry when a suicide bomber drove a car into the gate,” a ministry source said, quoted by Reuters.
The blast was heard hundreds of metres away.
“The explosion was very violent, the whole place shook because of it and plumes of smoke rose from the building,” an eyewitness told the agency.
Officials said a second car followed whose occupants opened fire at the complex, and a battle ensued involving gunmen in military uniforms.
The gunmen occupied a hospital at the complex, they added, but security forces later regained control of the building, which was badly damaged.
“The assailants took advantage of some construction work that is taking place to carry out this criminal act,” the defense ministry said.
They were said to be armed with assault rifles, hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades.
“Most” of the gunmen were killed, officials said, but it was not clear how many were involved.
The incident comes to aid tight security in the last few weeks following a series of hit-and-run attacks on officials by militants on motorbikes, blamed on AQAP.
President Barack Obama has said the US must fix what he described as profound income inequality and a lack of social mobility.
He called for a rise in the minimum wage and for stronger collective bargaining laws, among other measures.
The president also said his embattled healthcare overhaul would ease one part of American families’ financial struggle.
Barack Obama’s approval ratings have plummeted in recent weeks amid that law’s botched rollout.
While acknowledging the political difficulty of passing any such government action with a divided and acrimonious Congress, Barack Obama’s speech in Washington DC gave a broad overview of economic themes for the rest of his term, analysts say.
The president said the country had accepted higher levels of economic inequality than other developed nations because Americans “were convinced that America is a place where even if you’re born with nothing, with a little hard work you can improve your own situation over time”.
But Barack Obama, a Democrat, said rising income inequality had been accompanied in recent decades by diminishing opportunities for social mobility. He faulted tax cuts for wealthy Americans, declining investment in schools and infrastructure, and laws that have weakened labor unions, compounded by broad structural changes in the global economy.
Barack Obama has said the US must fix what he described as profound income inequality and a lack of social mobility
“The combined trends of increased inequality and decreasing mobility pose a fundamental threat to the American Dream, our way of life, and what we stand for around the globe,” Barack Obama said.
“The idea that so many children are born into poverty in the wealthiest nation on Earth is heartbreaking enough. The idea that a child may never be able to escape that poverty because she lacks a decent education or healthcare, or a community that views her future as their own, that should offend all of us and it should compel us to action.”
The US president argued rising inequality was eroding trust in institutions and reducing civic and community involvement. And he said the “growing gap” was as much about class as it was about race.
To remedy the growing income inequality, Barack Obama called for a rise in the national minimum wage, currently $7.25 – as low as it was during the administration of President Harry Truman in the 1950s in terms of spending power, he said.
Several states and cities have raised their own minimum wages, most recently New Jersey and Washington DC.
A proposal is currently being floated in the Senate to increase the national minimum wage to $10.10 in three steps and tie further increases to changes in the cost of living, but its path even through the Democratic-controlled Senate is unclear.
Barack Obama also suggested targeted programmes for cities and regions hardest hit by the 2008 recession and other sea changes in the US economy, universal preschool education for young children, a shoring-up of the US pension and social safety net schemes, and laws to make it easier for workers to organize into labor unions.
He pressed Congress to extend unemployment benefits to 1.3 million people who have been unemployed long-term, set to expire toward the end of December.
Additional weeks of benefits have been approved since 2009, but on Tuesday, a senior Republican congressman, Representative Tom Cole, said his party opposed an extension.
According to new Washington Post report, the National Security Agency (NSA) tracks the locations of nearly 5 billion cellphones every day overseas, including those belonging to Americans abroad.
The NSA inadvertently gathers the location records of “tens of millions of Americans who travel abroad” annually, along with the billions of other records it collects by tapping into worldwide mobile network cables, the newspaper said in a report on its website.
Such data means the NSA can track the movements of almost any cellphone around the world, and map the relationships of the cellphone user. The Post said a powerful analytic computer program called CO-TRAVELER crunches the data of billions of unsuspecting people, building patterns of relationships between them by where their phones go. That can reveal a previously unknown terrorist suspect, in guilt by cellphone-location association, for instance.
Former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden
As the NSA doesn’t know which part of the data it might need, the agency keeps up to 27 terabytes, or more than double the text content of the Library of Congress’ print collection, the Post said. A 2012 internal NSA document said the volumes of data from the location program were “outpacing our ability to ingest, process and store” it, the newspaper said.
The program is detailed in documents given to the newspaper by former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden. The Post also quotes unidentified NSA officials, saying they spoke with the permission of their agency.
Shawn Turner, a spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, declined to comment on the report.
The DNI’s general counsel, Robert Litt, has said that NSA does not intentionally gather bulk location data on US cellphones inside the US — but NSA Director Keith Alexander testified before Congress his agency ran tests in 2010 and 2011 on “samples” of US cell-site data to see if it was technically possible to plug such data into NSA analysis systems.
Keith Alexander said that the information was never used for intelligence purposes and that the testing was reported to congressional intelligence committees. He said it was determined to be of little “operational value,” so the NSA did not ask for permission to gather such data.
DJ Mel Greig, who was at the centre of Kate Middleton prank call, linked to the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, has resigned from Australian radio station 2Day FM.
Mel Greig, who will leave her post at the end of December, has also dropped legal proceedings against her employer Southern Cross Austereo (SCA).
She launched a claim against the company in July, claiming it failed to maintain a safe workplace.
An SCA statement said the dispute had been “amicably resolved”.
Exactly one year ago, Mel Greig and her co-host, Michael Christian, made a prank call to the King Edward VII hospital where pregnant Kate Middleton was being treated for morning sickness.
Mel Greig and Michael Christian pretended to be the Queen and Prince Charles seeking information on Kate Middleton’s condition.
Mel Greig has resigned from Australian radio station 2Day FM
Nurse Jacintha Saldanha, who answered the phone, transferred the call to a colleague. The 46-year-old was found hanged three days later.
The incident prompted widespread criticism of the DJs, who apologized in the wake of the incident.
Mel Greig has remained off air but co-host Christian returned to work two months later.
She wanted it “made clear” that she was not responsible for the decision to broadcast the call.
In the statement about Mel Greig’s departure from the company, Southern Cross Austereo reiterated its position that recording and broadcasting the call was “not unlawful”.
It also said 2Day FM decided to broadcast the call despite suggestions from Mel Greig that it should be changed. It stressed that SCA had “at all times taken complete responsibility for the hoax call”.
In February, the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service decided there was insufficient evidence to charge Michael Christian and Mel Greig with manslaughter over Jacintha Saldanha’s death.
Mel Greig is expected to give a statement at the inquest into Jacintha Saldanha’s death. SCA added that they would also co-operate fully.
North Korea has been urged by Amnesty International to close two political prisoner camps, where it says torture is rampant and execution commonplace.
Amnesty International has released new satellite images of the Kwanliso 15 and 16 camps.
It quotes one former official as saying that inmates are forced to dig their own graves and women disappear after “servicing” officials.
Amnesty alleges that hundreds of thousands of people are held in detention facilities in North Korea.
The organization says it has passed its latest evidence to the UN Commission of Inquiry investigating human rights abuses in North Korea.
The rights group says it interviewed one former security official from Kwanliso 16 last month.
North Korea has been urged by Amnesty International to close two political prisoner camps
The official, referred to as Mr. Lee, said prisoners were forced to dig their own graves and were then killed with blows to the neck.
Mr. Lee said he witnessed prison officers strangling detainees and beating them to death with wooden sticks.
He added: “After a night of <<servicing>> officials, women had to die because the secret could not get out. This happens at most of the political prison camps.”
The new satellite images show both camps.
Kwanliso 15 covers 142 sq miles and is in central North Korea, about 45 miles from the capital Pyongyang.
Kwanliso 16, near Hwaseong in North Hamgyong province, covers approximately 556 sq km.
Amnesty said it was not able to verify prisoner populations, but said there might have been a slight increase at Kwanliso 16 and a slight decrease at Kwanliso 15.
The report’s author, Amnesty North Korea researcher Rajiv Narayan, said: “Under its new leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea is violating every conceivable human right.
“People are sent to the political prison camps without charge, let alone a trial, many of them simply for knowing someone who has fallen out of favor.”
Rajiv Narayan added: “We are calling on the North Korean authorities to acknowledge the existence of the camps, close them, and grant unhindered access to independent human rights monitors like Amnesty International.”
President Nicolas Maduro has signed a decree controlling the price of new and second-hand cars in Venezuela.
New cars are currently hard to find, and Venezuelans often have to pay very high prices for an used car.
Nicolas Maduro, who previously legislated on the prices of electronics, toys and clothes, has accused criminal gangs of creating artificially high prices in the used car market.
The legislation says old cars cannot be sold at prices higher than new cars.
More details will be available when the legislation (decree number 625) is published on Thursday.
Nicolas Maduro has signed a decree controlling the price of new and second-hand cars in Venezuela
People will be “expressly forbidden to speculate on the prices of second-hand vehicles as though they were new,” Nicolas Maduro told the official Agencia Venezoelana de Noticias.
Those who break the new law will face jail sentences of six to 12 years, Nicolas Maduro said.
The government hopes that the regulations will put a halt to a popular loophole used by Venezuelans to guard against one of the world’s highest inflation rates (21.1% in 2012).
But critics say government intervention will encourage the black market.
They blame the government’s left-wing policies for keeping foreign investment away and hurting the economy.
Nicolas Maduro was elected in March by a narrow margin, succeeding the late President Hugo Chavez, who died of cancer after 14 years in office.
Last month, Nicolas Maduro requested special powers to rule by decree for a year to deal with the economic crisis.
This is the third decree Nicolas Maduro has signed since he was granted the controversial special powers.
In his address to the nation on his birthday, King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand has urged people to support each other for the sake of the country.
Thailand is marking the 86th birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej amid a truce after days of violent protests in Bangkok.
Speaking at his palace in the coastal resort of Hua Hin, King Bhumibol Adulyadej said that Thailand had been peaceful because of the unity of the people.
There were violent clashes earlier in the week between police and protesters.
The demonstrators, who are demanding that the current government resign, began protesting on November 24.
They agreed to stop their attacks on government buildings for the birthday celebrations, but have said they will be back right after them.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand has urged people to support each other for the sake of the country
On Thursday, thousands of people had headed to the town of Hua Hin, near the king’s Klai Kangwon palace, in the hope of seeing him, the Bangkok Post reports.
Special bus and train services had been laid on by the transport ministry to bring people to the town, the paper says.
The kings traditionally deliver a speech to the nation on his birthday – an audience keenly anticipated for any hints of his thinking on events in Thailand.
He called on people to do their duty to support each other for the sake of the country.
“All Thais should realize this point a lot and behave and perform our duties accordingly, our duty for the sake of the public, for stability, security for our nation of Thailand,” the king said.
The current wave of protests began in Bangkok relatively peacefully, but things took a violent turn over the weekend and on Monday.
Protesters tried to topple police barricades and storm the prime minister’s office, Government House. Clashes broke as police used tear gas and water cannon to repel them.
The situation calmed down on Tuesday after security forces stepped back from protesters.
Some anti-government protesters headed to the police headquarters in Bangkok on Wednesday. A few hundred of the protesters were allowed inside the compound by the police and then withdrew.
The protesters say there is more to come.
“After the king’s birthday, we will start fighting again until we achieve our goal,” former deputy prime minister and protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban told AFP on Tuesday.
The protesters want the current government under PM Yingluck Shinawatra to step down and be replaced by an unelected “People’s Council”.
Print issues of Newsweek magazine will be available at the newsstands starting next year.
Editor-in-Chief Jim Impoco says Newsweek‘s owners, IBT Media, want to “hit the reset button” and move to a business model where a weekly print magazine would be mainly supported by subscription fees instead of advertising.
Jim Impoco said in an interview Wednesday that officials haven’t decided how much the magazine will cost, but it’s expected to be less than $10 per issue.
Print issues of Newsweek magazine will be available at the newsstands starting next year
Newsweek had been struggling for years when The Washington Post Co. sold it for $1 in 2010 to stereo equipment magnate Sidney Harman, who died the following year. Before he died, Sidney Harman placed Newsweek into a joint venture with IAC/InterActiveCorp’s The Daily Beast website, a move intended to help widen its online audience.
Newsweek ceased print publication at the end of 2012. The online magazine was sold to IBT, which owns online publications including International Business Times, Medical Daily and Latin Times, in August for an undisclosed sum.
Many magazines and newspapers have reduced or shut down their print editions in recent years because of weak demand from advertisers. But Impoco says officials are confident that they will be able to drum up enough print subscribers.
Kanye West has hired Monica Warhol, Andy Warhol’s cousin, to paint a portrait of his fiancée Kim Kardashian.
Monica Warhol spoke with Page Six about her new commission, and says she thinks her famed cousin would have loved Kim Kardashian.
“She’s famous for nothing,” Monica Warhol said.
“Kim is beautiful. She’s so manufactured. She looks like a human Barbie.”
Kanye West has hired Monica Warhol, Andy Warhol’s cousin, to paint a portrait of his fiancée Kim Kardashian
Monica Warhol also revealed she never met Andy, who died in 1987 when she was 10. She claims to have never studied Andy Warhol’s past work, saying she never even owned a book of his artwork until about a year ago.
However, Monica Warhol’s prints are reminiscent of her cousin’s signature pop art style. The younger Warhol has already drawn portraits of rapper Flo Rida and Lenny Kravitz.
After an elaborate October proposal at San Francisco’s AT&T Park, Kanye West has been over the moon when talking about Kim Kardashian, his future wife and mother of his daughter North.
“Our love story’s a love story for the ages,” Kanye West raved of his romance with Kim Kardashian in a recent interview.
“I felt like when we first got together, it was like a Romeo and Juliet kind of thing.”
