Paul Walker’s autopsy report revealed the actor was killed in a car crash by the combined effects of the impact and subsequent fire.
Paul Walker, 40, who was a passenger in the car driven by his friend and financial adviser Roger Rodas, died Saturday when the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT smashed into a light pole and tree then exploded in flames.
Paul Walker’s autopsy report revealed the actor was killed in a car crash by the combined effects of the impact and subsequent fire
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office released the autopsy results Wednesday. The report also says Roger Rodas was killed by the impact.
Paul Walker starred in all but one of the six Fast & Furious blockbuster films that glorified fast cars and dangerous driving.
Sheriff’s investigators are still trying to determine exactly what caused Roger Rodas to careen out of control. They have said speed was a factor.
The 911 recordings from the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, were released Wednesday.
Less than two weeks before the first anniversary of the tragedy, the recordings were made public after the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission approved a request from the Associated Press and the state’s attorney decided not to appeal.
The 911 recordings from the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown were released
Prosecutors had argued that audio of seven calls placed from inside Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012, would cause anguish for the families of the 20 children and six staffers slain.
A court agreed they would be “a searing reminder of the horror and pain of that awful day” but said would also underscore the “bravery and professionalism” of the first responders.
While many family members opposed the release of the tapes, others were in favor of public airing.
The recordings were put out days after state law-enforcement officials released a long-awaited report on the shooting and 20-year-old gunman Adam Lanza.
The Kardashian – Jenner clan revealed their latest family holiday card on Sunday’s Keeping Up With the Kardashians: a Very Merry Christmas.
Shot by fashion shutterbug David LaChappelle against a backdrop of Hollywood movie theater props and old tabloids, the family photo features plenty of cleavage, leg and general oddball behavior. Various photos of the family members – including one in the form of Bruce Jenner on an old Wheaties box from his Olympian era – also dot the scenery.
The Kardashian – Jenner clan revealed their latest family holiday card
In previous years, the family’s holiday card has included Kim, Khloe and Kourtney’s significant others, but this year, Scott Disick, Kanye West and Lamar Odom are notably absent.
Also missing from the frame is Kim Kardashian’s 6-month-old daughter, North, although the lack of a few loved ones doesn’t seem to have dampened anyone’s photo shoot fun.
“I loved working with David LaChapelle,” Kris Jenner recently told E! News of the shoot.
Kanye West is planning to tie the knot with Kim Kardashian at the Palace of Versailles in France, Us Weekly reported.
A source told the magazine: “Kanye has never been married and wants a big [wedding].”
Another insider added: “They are not working with a budget. He says this is his moment, marrying his ideal woman.”
Kanye West is planning to tie the knot with Kim Kardashian at the Palace of Versailles in France
Kanye West would want to marry at a place that redefined opulence and excess.
However, Gossip Cop quoted a Kardashian insider as saying the Versailles report is completely false: “They haven’t picked a location, date or wedding planner yet.”
Kanye West, 36, recently called Kim Kardashian, 33, “the most beautiful woman of all time! I’m talkin’, like, arguably of human existence – the top 10 of human existence”.
1 loaf French bread (12 inches long and about 9 ounces)
Crazy Bread is one of Willie Robertson’s favorite recipes
1 stick (¼ pound) butter, melted
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon garlic salt
4 slices bacon, cut in thirds crosswise
Directions:
Heat the oven to 400ºF. Slice the bread about 1 inch thick without cutting all the way through. Place the bread on the cookie sheet. Pour butter between the slices, then stuff cheese between the slices. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Top the bread with the bacon slices without overlapping them.
Bake until the cheese has melted, about 5 minutes. Turn the oven to broil and cook the bacon to your taste.
Fast & Furious 7 production has been put on hold after Paul Walker’s death on Saturday.
Filming had been scheduled to resume in Atlanta this week but has so far been cancelled and Universal Pictures has declined to say when it will restart.
Paul Walker, 40, died when a Porsche being driven by his friend Roger Rodas, who also died, crashed near Los Angeles.
The film company will donate proceeds from the upcoming DVD release of Fast & Furious 6 to Paul Walker’s charity.
Paul Walker founded Reach Out Worldwide in 2010 to give first-response aid to victims of natural disasters and had been hosting a fundraiser for the charity on Saturday afternoon when he went for a drive with fellow car enthusiast Roger Rodas.
Fast & Furious 7 production has been put on hold after Paul Walker’s death
The lucrative Fast & Furious franchise became one of Hollywood’s biggest hits thanks to its reliable formula of high-speed chases, underground gangs and thrilling stunts and has starred Paul Walker in all but one installment.
Fast & Furious 6 became the highest-grossing film in the series to date, earning more than $788 million worldwide when it was released in May.
Its follow-up is scheduled for release in July 2014, and although Universal Pictures is expected to go forward with the film, it has not yet announced how it will handle Paul Walker’s unfinished performance.
A large portion of the car-racing movie has been shot since filming began in September, but it is currently incomplete.
Paul Walker starred in two further films that have yet to be released. Hurricane Katrina drama Hours, which the actor also produced, is being released in the US later this month.
Brick Mansions, a remake of the French action film District B13, is due for release early next year.
Paul Walker’s family has asked that donations be made to the late actor’s charity Reach Out Worldwide instead of flowers or gifts.
The Duck Dynasty clan stopped by Good Morning America to share their go-to recipes from their cookbook, Miss Kay’s Duck Commander Kitchen, to make at home.
The Robertson family kicked things off with their recipe for duck and dressing, which roasts a whole duck over a hearty cornbread and cracker dressing.
“We’re not losing weight on this meal,” Miss Kay Robertson admitted.
Next up were Willie Robertson’s famous armadillo eggs.
“This is low-fat,” Willie Robertson joked.
“It only has sausage, bacon and cream cheese.”
These meat-wrapped jalapeño poppers are grilled for crunch and smoky flavor, and then finished off in the oven.
Willie Robertson presented his famous armadillo eggs
Jase and Missy Robertson took the reins next with a banana pudding.
“If you didn’t get enough fat from the sausage and the bacon and the butter,” Missy Robertson quipped.
“There are two sticks of butter in this and two cups of sugar to start off with.”
The banana pudding is a no-cook recipe, and Jase Robertson shared its secret.
“That’s lemon juice – you dip [the bananas] in there so they don’t turn brown,” he said.
Miss Kay Robertson attempted to make things healthier with Aunt Judy’s cranberry salad.
“It is a salad!” Miss Kay Robertson insisted of the dessert dish with marshmallows and whipped topping.
Willie Robertson quickly cut off any of her healthy claims.
“But what you really want is the cheesy bread right here,” he said of his recipe for crazy bread.
“This is more bacon on top of French bread with a little butter and olive oil with garlic and you toast it.”
A&E’s Duck Dynasty Christmas Special will air on December 11 at 10/9 C.
Nigella Lawson appeared in court today saying her ex-husband Charles Saatchi threatened to “destroy” her with “false” allegations of drug use.
The TV cook and author said Charles Saatchi made the threat after she had shown reluctance to give evidence at the trial of her assistants.
Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo face fraud charges at Isleworth Crown Court.
The Grillo sisters’ defense has claimed they were allowed to spend on credit cards by Nigella Lawson in return for covering up her use of drugs.
Nigella Lawson said that the allegations that have been made about her at the trial had followed “a long summer of bullying and abuse”.
“I have been put on trial here where I am called to answer, and glad to answer the allegations, and [in] the world’s press,” she said.
Nigella Lawson said she had been reluctant to give evidence in the trial, which had provoked an angry reaction from Charles Saatchi.
Nigella Lawson has told a court her ex-husband Charles Saatchi threatened to “destroy” her
“He had said to me if I didn’t get back to him and clear his name, he would destroy me,” she said.
Nigella Lawson said following the “awful incident at Scotts”, the “false” allegations began circulating on a “PR blog”.
Charles Saatchi was cautioned for assault after images of him grasping Nigella Lawson by the neck at the London restaurant appeared in a newspaper.
She said the allegations on the blog were “dedicated to salvaging Charles Saatchi’s reputation and destroying mine”.
On Friday, Charles Saatchi told the court that he had “no proof” that Nigella Lawson had ever taken drugs.
The couple divorced in July after 10 years of marriage.
The Grillo sisters, Francesca, 35, and Elisabetta, 41, are accused of using credit cards loaned to them by the couple to spend more than £685,000 on themselves.
Nigella Lawson told the court Elisabetta did not have a strong moral compass, but she said the 41-year-old was a “stalwart” who had helped her through the death of her first husband.
She said the allegations of fraud “broke our heart” when they were revealed to her and Charles Saatchi.
Nigella Lawson said Elisabetta Grillo had been “a rock”, adding: “I would have done anything for her.”
Defending, Anthony Metzer QC asked Nigella Lawson if Charles Saatchi had a temper.
She said that he “did have a temper and I don’t think that anyone can be in any doubt he had a temper”, adding that she had confided in Elisabetta about Charles Saatchi’s outbursts.
Nigella Lawson told the court that Charles Saatchi used to shout and swear at her, and she told the defendant privately: “I don’t know how long I can take this.”
The European Commission has fined eight banks a total of 1.7 billion euros for forming illegal cartels to rig interest rates.
The cartels operated in markets for financial derivatives, which are products used to manage the risk of interest rate movements.
Two of the eight, Barclays and UBS, were excused their financial penalties for revealing the cartels’ existence.
The European Commission it was shocking that competing banks were in collusion.
UBS and Barclays stood to pay the largest fines of 2.5 billion euros and 690 million euros, but avoided paying anything because they assisted the investigation.
A number of banks were engaged in the rigging of interest rate products intended to reflect the cost of interbank lending in euros, while another group fixed prices for products based on the Japanese yen.
The rates are used to set the price of trillions of dollars of products, including mortgages.
The European Commission has fined eight banks a total of 1.7 billion euros for forming illegal cartels to rig interest rates
Some were involved in both markets and more than one cartel, including RBS, which was fined a total of 391 million euros.
Aside from RBS, Barclays and UBS, the other organizations involved were Deutsche Bank, which received the biggest fine of 725.36 million euros, Societe Generale, JP Morgan, Citibank and the brokers RP Martin.
Banks that have not yet settled fines but are being investigated are HSBC and Credit Agricole, as well as JPMorgan, which accepted a fine for rigging in one market but not another.
The fine, the first for interest-rate rigging from the EU, is also a record for its regulators.
Other global authorities have fined financial institutions including UBS, RBS, Barclays, Rabobank and ICAP for manipulating rates.
A handful of individuals are facing criminal charges.
FIFA has unveiled “Brazuca” – its official match ball for the 2014 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro.
The official match ball made by Adidas was named “Brazuca” in 2012 following a public vote in Brazil which involved more than one million fans.
Brazuca’s design is said to be “inspired by vibrant colors, passion and heritage of Brazil”. Its name is a term used by natives of the country, meaning “Brazilian” or to describe the Brazilian way of life.
Brazuca’s design is said to be inspired by vibrant colors, passion and heritage of Brazil
The ball was unveiled during a spectacular 3D event held at the iconic Parque Lage in Rio de Janeiro, but went through a rigorous two-and-a-half-year testing process which involved more than 600 of the world’s top players.
Players such as Lionel Messi, Iker Casillas, Bastian Schweinsteiger and former France international Zinedine Zidane were all involved in the process and have since signed off on its use for next year’s World Cup.
Adidas say the technology used will “meet and exceed all FIFA metrics” and will “ensure top performance for every condition”.
“A new structural innovation with a unique symmetry of six identical panels alongside a different surface structure will provide improved grip, touch, stability and aerodynamics on the pitch. Brazuca has been thoroughly tested to meet and exceed all FIFA metrics for an official match ball, ensuring top performance for every condition,” an Adidas statement read.
Nelson Mandela is putting up a courageous fight from his “deathbed”, his daughter Makaziwe Mandela says.
Makaziwe Mandela told national broadcaster SABC that the anti-apartheid icon was “still with us, strong, courageous”.
“Even for a lack of a better word… on his deathbed he is teaching us lessons – lessons in patience, in love, lessons of tolerance,” she added.
Nelson Mandela, 95, is receiving home-based medical care.
He was discharged from hospital in September after being treated for nearly three months for a recurring lung infection.
Nelson Mandela is receiving home-based medical care
Nelson Mandela is widely respected for his role in fighting racism in South Africa, and for forgiving his former white captors after his release from prison in 1990.
He spent 27 years in jail and was elected South Africa’s first black president in 1994. He stepped down after five years in office.
“Every moment I get with him I’m amazed,” Makaziwe Mandela told SABC.
“There are times where I have to pinch myself that I come from this man who is a fighter even though you can see he is struggling, but the fighting spirit is still there with him.”
Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Ndaba Mandela, told SABC that the ex-president was “not doing well in bed”.
Last month, Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said he was no longer talking “because of all the tubes that are in his mouth to clear [fluid from] the lungs”.
The South African presidency has repeatedly described Nelson Mandela’s condition as critical but stable.
Russian company Yota has launched a smartphone with two screens – one of which uses e-ink technology and is “always on”.
Yota said the phone would go on sale online immediately in Russia, Austria, France, Spain and Germany.
The Android-powered phone promises to extend battery life by transferring web pages and other applications to the e-ink screen.
Experts said it may prove attractive to users fed up with drained batteries.
The phone has one LCD display, similar to those found on other smartphones, and a second e-ink screen which the company says lets users see the information they want without having to wake up the phone.
“The typical user picks up and activates their smartphone more than 150 times a day,” said Yota Devices chief executive Vlad Martynov.
“Why? Because users worry that messages or information they need or want are hidden behind their phone’s black screen. This is a huge distraction and can impede meaningful interaction with our friends, families and colleagues.”
YotaPhone has one LCD display and a second e-ink screen which lets users see the information they want without having to wake up the phone
St Petersburg-based Yota is best known for making modems and router equipment. The dual-screen smartphone, which was first announced in 2012, is the company’s first mobile phone.
Yota plans to launch the phone in 20 other countries by March 2014.
It also features a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and a 12-megapixel rear camera and will cost 499 euros.
E-ink displays are commonly used for e-book readers and consume very little power. They are also easier to read in the sun than their LCD equivalents, but offer a slower refresh rate making them unsuitable for videos or most games.
The YotaPhone has some smart ideas about how the secondary e-ink screen could be used.
E-readers could be slimmer in future after a thinner screen was developed by the company E Ink.
The new screen technology, known as Fina, is up to 50% lighter and thinner than current screens according to the company.
Animal rights group Nonhuman Rights Project is calling on a New York court to recognize a chimpanzee as a legal person, in what is believed to be a legal first.
The Nonhuman Rights Project wants chimp Tommy to be granted “legal personhood” and thus entitled to the “fundamental right of bodily liberty”.
The group is planning to file the same lawsuit on behalf of three other chimps across New York this week.
It wants the four to be released from their captivity.
They should be taken to a sanctuary that is a member of the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance, the group argues.
The group filed the lawsuit on behalf of Tommy on Monday.
“We are claiming that chimpanzees are autonomous – that is, being able to self-determine, be self-aware, and be able to choose how to live their own lives,” its founder Steven Wise told the Associated Press news agency.
The Nonhuman Rights Project wants chimp Tommy to be granted legal personhood and thus entitled to the fundamental right of bodily liberty
Scientists’ evidence is included in the lawsuits.
“Once we prove that chimpanzees are autonomous, that should be sufficient for them to gain legal personhood and at least have their fundamental interests protected by human rights,” Steven Wise said.
Tommy, the group said, “is being held captive in a shed at a used-trailer lot” in Gloversville, New York.
Patrick Lavery, owner of the site where Tommy lives, said the chimp’s cage was spacious “with tons of toys”.
He said he rescued Tommy from his previous home, where he had been badly treated, but had been unsuccessful in placing him in a sanctuary because there was no room.
“If [the Nonhuman Rights Group] were to see where this chimp lived for the first 30 years of his life, they would jump up and down for joy about where he is now,” Patrick Lavery told the New York Times.
The lawsuit invokes the common law writ of habeas corpus, the right to challenge unlawful detention.
The Nonhuman Rights Group says it is dedicated to changing the common law status of species considered autonomous, and could eventually file lawsuits on behalf of gorillas, orangutans, whales, dolphins and elephants.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has said he has proof that Monday’s massive power cut in the capital Caracas and other cities was caused by “right-wing” saboteurs.
Appearing on state TV, Nicolas Maduro showed a picture of what looked like a cut conductor cable.
He said the saboteurs’ aim was to destabilize the country ahead of local elections scheduled for this weekend.
Caracas’ metro ground to a halt and people had to be led out of shops and offices – but power was later restored.
Government opponents say poor maintenance was the likely cause of the blackout.
Power cuts are common in Venezuela, especially in the inland states, but they rarely affect the capital.
Speaking on state TV, Nicolas Maduro said that “we always face these attacks by the right-wing fascists”.
Nicolas Maduro has said he has proof that massive power cut in Caracas and other cities was caused by “right-wing” saboteurs
“They wanted to make me, as president of the republic, decree a state of emergency and suspend the elections.
“Whoever made this criminal attack wanted to leave our Venezuela without electricity for 24 to 48 hours… thinking that would convince people not to continue with the revolution.”
Nicolas Maduro promised to give more details on Wednesday.
He earlier tweeted that the outage had been triggered in the same place as a blackout in September.
The power cut plunged Caracas into darkness after 20:00 on Monday as Nicolas Maduro was addressing the nation on television.
The blackouts did not affect Venezuela’s oil refineries, which are powered by separate generator plants.
Sometimes after the outage, Electricity Minister Jesse Chacon said power had been restored to most of Caracas. He said the blackout had originated in central Venezuela.
The opposition says the governments of President Nicolas Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, have failed to maintain the power grid to meet growing demand, instead resorting to conspiracy theories to divert attention from mismanagement.
Correspondents said that while Caracas was in darkness, people could be heard banging pots – a frequent means of protest.
US Vice-President Joe Biden has arrived in Beijing for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.
His visit to Asia has been dominated by a row over China’s newly-declared air zone, which covers East China Sea disputed islands controlled by Japan.
Joe Biden arrived from Tokyo, where he reaffirmed the US alliance with Japan.
The vice-president attended an official welcome ceremony in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People where he met China’s Vice-President Li Yuanchao, and said China and the US should expand practical co-operation and deliver results.
On Thursday he will visit China’s leadership compound, known as Zhongnanhai.
While in Tokyo, Joe Biden said he would raise concerns over China’s new air zone “in great specificity” during meetings with China’s leaders.
Jo Biden and Xi Jinping are said to enjoy a relatively close relationship.
Joe Biden has arrived in Beijing for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang
China announced a new Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) last month, and said aircraft flying through the zone must follow its rules, including filing flight plans.
The ADIZ covers islands claimed and controlled by Japan, and a submerged rock claimed by South Korea.
The US, Japan and South Korea have rejected China’s zone, and flown undeclared military aircraft through the ADIZ.
On Friday, China scrambled fighter jets to monitor US and Japanese planes flying in the area.
Tokyo has told its national carriers not to file flight plans with the Chinese side when transiting the zone, but on Friday the US said it expected its carriers to “operate consistent with Notams [Notices to Airmen] issued by foreign countries”.
This did not indicate “US government acceptance of China’s requirements for operating in the newly-declared ADIZ”, the state department said.
Speaking in Tokyo on Tuesday, Joe Biden said the US was “deeply concerned by the attempt to unilaterally change the status quo in the East China Sea.”
On Wednesday, Chinese state media criticized Joe Biden’s comments.
“Washington has obviously taken Japan’s side,” state-run newspaper China Daily said in an editorial.
Hassan Lakkis, a senior commander of the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah, has been killed near Beirut, the group says.
Hassan Lakkis was “assassinated” near his home in Hadath – 4.3 miles south-east of the Lebanese capital, Hezbollah TV channel Al-Manar said.
Hezbollah blamed Israel for his death but Israel denies the accusation.
Little is known publicly about Hassan Lakkis, but he was reputedly close to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The news comes a day after Hassan Nasrallah said Saudi Arabia was behind last month’s bombings outside the Iranian embassy in Beirut.
Iran is a major backer of Hezbollah, which has sent fighters to Syria to back the government of Bashar al-Assad.
Hassan Lakkis was reputedly close to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah
The conflict in Syria has increased sectarian tensions in its smaller neighbor.
A statement issued by Hezbollah on Wednesday said Hassan Lakkis was killed as he returned home from work around midnight.
The group said Israel had tried to kill him several times previously, but had failed.
Lebanese security officials said assailants lying in wait opened fire on Hassan Lakkis with an assault rifle while he was in his car, according to the Associated Press news agency.
He was attacked in the car park of the building where he lived and was taken to a nearby hospital but died early Wednesday, the unnamed officials were quoted as saying.
Israel denied any involvement in the death.
“These automatic accusations are an innate reflex with Hezbollah,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said.
“They don’t need evidence, they don’t need facts. They just blame anything on Israel.”
Hezbollah – or the Party of God – is a powerful political and military organization in Lebanon made up mainly of Shia Muslims.
The organization emerged with financial backing from Iran in the early 1980s and began a struggle to drive Israeli troops from Lebanon.
Hezbollah fought a destructive 34-day war with Israel following the capture of two Israeli soldiers in 2006.
The group said that one of Hassan Lakkis’s sons had been killed fighting Israel in the 2006 conflict.
Pentagon has decided to halt its ground cargo shipments from Afghanistan via Pakistan because of the risk to drivers after protests over US drone strikes.
Pentagon spokesman Mark Wright said this would affect outgoing shipments of military equipment and other goods from US units on Afghan soil.
Mark Wright said deliveries could be resumed “in the near future”.
Pakistanis have blocked the US main supply route to Afghanistan, blaming the drones for causing civilian deaths.
Pentagon has decided to halt its ground cargo shipments from Afghanistan via Pakistan because of the risk to drivers after protests over US drone strikes
Protesters have been harassing truck drivers, turning back vehicles carrying NATO provisions.
The blockade is centered on a road in Pakistan’s north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province,
Islamabad says it is committed to allowing supplies through, but as yet has done nothing to stop the vigilante action, which has caused huge disruption, correspondents say.
There are two crossings in Pakistan used to take NATO troop supplies to and from Afghanistan – the other crossing in south-west Balochistan province has not been affected by a blockade.
Washington has already redirected many supplies coming into Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan.
The US military is sending equipment home as it reduces the number of its troops in Afghanistan.
On Cyber Monday, the biggest day of the year for e-commerce in the US, online sales rose 18.4% to $1.735 billion, a record for a single day, according to comScore.
Online sales grew at a torrid pace, rising 22% between Thursday and Cyber Monday, according to data firm comScore.
That does not include sales made using a mobile device such as a smart phone or a tablet.
Cyber Monday fell on December 2 in 2013.
The long Thanksgiving weekend sets the tone for the holiday season, when retailers get about 30% of their annual sales.
Total in-store sales between Thanksgiving Day on Thursday and Sunday rose 1% compared to the same period last year, while the number of visits to stores fell 4%, ShopperTrak said. ShopperTrak has forecast sales at stores will rise 2.4% for November and December together.
During “Black Weekend” 2013, shoppers spent an estimated $22.2 billion, compared to last year’s $22 billion, said ShopperTrak.
Cyber Monday fell on December 2 in 2013
On Sunday, the National Retail Federation estimated Americans had spent 2.9% less over the weekend.
Shoppers appeared to be waiting a bit longer to do their Christmas shopping, perhaps holding out for deals. An Ipsos poll of almost 1,400 Americans over the weekend found 77% had done at least some of their holiday shopping by Black Friday, compared to 81% on the same day last year.
According to IBM data, sales through mobile devices rose 55%.
The biggest beneficiaries of the surge in online sales were marketplaces run by e-commerce leaders Amazon.com and eBay, according to data released by ChannelAdvisor, a provider of e-commerce software to retailers that tracks online sales.
Sales on Amazon‘s and eBay‘s marketplaces rose 30% on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
They did well in part because of how well suited their sites are to use on mobile devices, said ChannelAdvisor CEO Scot Wingo.
Wal-Mart Stores said Monday was the all-time highest online sales day but declined to give a figure or a growth rate compared with last year.
Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson hit the stage with Luke Bryan for a funny performance during the CMA Country Christmas special.
Willie Robertson and Luke Bryan performed Hairy Christmas and they were making jokes about Willie’s beard.
Willie Robertson hit the stage with Luke Bryan for a funny performance during the CMA Country Christmas special
The Duck Dynasty star recently spoke about performing with Luke Bryan and said: “It’s quite an honor to be invited here with our Christmas album out now, Duck the Halls, we really wanted to show up when we could actually contribute something.”
Duck Dynasty is among the TV shows influencing the hottest trends in baby names in 2013.
Silas “Si” Robertson finds himself with unlikely namesakes this year.
According to BabyCenter, Silas jumped to No. 112 among boys’ names on its annual list of popular baby names. Phil, the name of the patriarch of the Duck Dynasty family, the Robertsons of West Monroe, Louisiana, rose 32%, or 860 spots, on the list.
Korie, the name of Willie Robertson’s wife, jumped an amazing 89%, or 13,262 spots, on the list.
Si Robertson finds himself with unlikely namesakes this year
No one’s rushing to name their sons, or daughters, after Breaking Bad‘s Walter White – the name Walter fell 12%, or 55 spots – and most other character names on the show also dropped on the list. Two character names, however, saw significant jumps: the name Mike is up 20% and Marie is up 21%.
Kate Middleton’s son, Prince George, also had a big impact for such a little guy. BabyCenter found that the name George climbed 10% for boys – and 37% for girls.
And don’t forget the ever-popular Kanye West-Kim Kardashian family.
While the name of their daughter North did not show a great increase, the name Kanye jumped 38%, or 2,228 spots. Little North West’s nickname, Nori, also saw an increase of five spots on the list.
The HBO series Girls had an impact on two fronts: the name of character Marnie jumped 62%, or 3,286 spots, and the name of series creator and star Lena Dunham rose 26%.
Elsewhere, the names Jackson, Aiden and Liam topped BabyCenter’s list of the top 100 baby names for boys. Sophia, Emma and Olivia topped the list of the most popular girls names.
NATO foreign ministers at a meeting in Brussels have condemned the use of “excessive force” during protests in Ukraine.
US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Ukraine to “listen to the voices of its people”.
Earlier, Ukraine’s PM Mykola Azarov apologized in parliament for the use of police force against protesters.
Mass protests were sparked by the government’s decision not to sign an association deal with the EU last week.
Thousands demonstrated outside the parliament building in Kiev on Tuesday, with protests in the city once again continuing into the evening.
“We urge all sides to conduct themselves peacefully. Violence has no place in a modern European state,” John Kerry told reporters.
The ministers said in a statement that they urged “Ukraine… to fully abide by its international commitments and to uphold the freedom of expression and assembly”.
“We urge the government and the opposition to engage in dialogue and launch a reform process,” they added.
Mass protests in Kiev were sparked by the government’s decision not to sign an association deal with the EU
Earlier on Tuesday, the Ukrainian parliament rejected an attempt to force the resignation of the government.
The opposition tabled the motion of no-confidence, which was defeated.
Before parliament voted on the motion, Mykola Azarov addressed an emergency session:
“On behalf of our government, I would like to apologize for the actions of our law enforcement authorities on Maidan [Independence Square],” he said, referring to violence at the weekend.
“The president and the government deeply regret that this happened.”
Speaking above boos by opposition deputies in parliament, the prime minister called for protests outside the government buildings in Kiev to end, and appealed for Ukrainians not to return to the unrest of the Orange Revolution of 2004.
“We reach out our hand to you. Push away the plotters, the plotters seeking power and who are trying to repeat the scenario of 2004,” Mykola Azarov said.
Later he said the government was ready for dialogue with protesters but that they must “stop occupying government buildings and interfering with the work of the government administration”.
The newspaper Ukrainska Pravda published a series of videos and photographs which it says backs up the claims.
The images appear to show a group of young men wearing masks and helmets pushing against police lines in front of the presidential building. Soon afterwards several are seen beckoning to others in the crowd and then passing through the blockade, without resistance from officers.
At least one of the men is also pictured standing uninterrupted behind the riot police.
President Barack Obama is planning to rally support for ObamaCare and stem a wave of bad publicity over his flagship domestic achievement.
The president was joined at the White House by Americans who said they had benefited from the Affordable Care Act.
The new healthcare.gov website, which sells medical insurance, is now working at acceptable levels after its disastrous launch, says the administration.
The act aims to provide health coverage to some 15% of US citizens who lack it.
Barack Obama sought to remind Americans that under his health programme, insurers can no longer deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, and young people can now stay on their parents’ coverage until age 26.
He discussed the intensive efforts to repair the healthcare.gov website, which has been a flop since it went online on October 1st.
“Today the website is working well for the vast majority of users,” Barack Obama said.
President Barack Obama is planning to rally support for ObamaCare
“More problems may pop up, as they always do when you’re launching something new. And when they do we’ll fix those, too.”
The White House is also due to hold a youth summit on Wednesday, in the latest attempt to promote the law among the young and healthy, a demographic crucial to the strategy of reducing overall healthcare costs.
It is part of a multi-pronged effort by the administration to counter the Republican argument that the act known on both sides of the political divide as ObamaCare is “a train wreck”.
The law’s problems have sent Barack Obama’s job approval ratings plunging and threaten to damage fellow Democrats in next year’s congressional elections.
Elsewhere in Washington DC on Tuesday, the White House’s chief of staff told a public policy forum that more than one million new visitors had logged on to healthcare.gov a day earlier.
Denis McDonough said the website’s new queuing system, used in times of high traffic, worked “pretty well”.
“No matter what, we’re going to see this thing through,” he said.
He did not provide updated figures for how many people had signed up for insurance plans.
The administration aims to enroll 7 million people in insurance plans before the end of March, when all Americans are required to have coverage or pay a fine.
But problems reportedly persist. Insurers say they are receiving enrolment forms that have errors or are duplicated, while others go missing altogether.
Facebook unveils the “Unfollow” button which work in the same way that users were able to “Hide All” from friends in the past, simply with new phrasing, TechCrunch reported.
The idea is that users can block content they don’t want to see from their friends without going so far as defriending them.
In the past, the “Hide All” option pretty much did the same thing, keeping all updates from a user hidden, a discreet way to make someone disappear from your virtual life without the awkwardness of unfriending them.
Facebook unveils the “Unfollow” button
On Facebook, you can already unfollow news organizations and people you are following but are not friends with. The ability to unfollow all users will simply standardize the language across the site, not to mention add an element of schadenfreude when banishing exes from your News Feed.
Find an update from someone you don’t want to follow anymore, click on the drop-down menu on the top-right corner of the post, and select “Unfollow”.
The unfollow option is the much the less confrontational way of making someone disappear, since they won’t be notified of your secret vote of disinterest and will still see you in their friends list.
Guardian’s editor Alan Rusbridger revealed only 1% of files leaked by Edward Snowden have been published.
Alan Rusbridger told the Home Affairs Select Committee in UK parliament that the Guardian was not a “rogue newspaper”.
He insisted the paper’s journalists were “patriots” and patriotic about democracy and a free press.
Alan Rusbridger said senior officials in Whitehall and the US administration had told the paper “no damage” had been caused.
Last month intelligence chiefs used their appearance before a different committee to criticize the Guardian, suggesting it had endangered national security.
However, Alan Rusbridger said their accusations were “very vague and not rooted in specific stories”.
“There are different views about this,” he said.
Alan Rusbridger revealed only 1 percent of files leaked by Edward Snowden have been published
“It’s impossible to assess because no one has given me specific evidence.”
He added: “There are countries – and they are not generally democracies – where the press are not free to write about this and where the security services do tell editors what to write.
“That’s not the country we live in, in Britain, and it’s one of the things we love about the country.”
The Guardian editor said the paper had “made very selective judgments”‘ about what to publish and had not revealed the names of any officials.
He said the files taken by Edward Snowden, a former contractor with the National Security Agency (NSA) were in four locations – with The Guardian and the Washington Post newspapers, as well as in Rio de Janeiro and Germany.
Alan Rusbridger said editors of “leading” newspapers had also decided to publish details in the NSA files.
A research team from University of Pennsylvania has found that men and women’s brains are wired in completely different ways which may explain why they excel at certain tasks.
The researchers scanned the brains of nearly 1,000 men, women, boys and girls and found striking differences.
Male brains are wired front to back, with few connections bridging the two hemispheres.
In females, the connections criss-cross between left and right.
These differences might explain why men, in general, tend to be better at learning and performing a single task, like cycling or navigating, whereas women are more equipped for multitasking, say the researchers in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Men and women’s brains are wired in completely different ways which may explain why they excel at certain tasks
The same volunteers were asked to perform a series of cognitive tests, and the results appeared to support this notion.
Experts have questioned whether it can be that simple, arguing it is a huge leap to extrapolate from anatomical differences to try to explain behavioral variation between genders.
In the study, women scored well on attention, word and face memory, and social cognition, while men performed better on spatial processing and sensori-motor speed.
Study author Dr. Ruben Gur said: “It’s quite striking how complementary the brains of women and men really are.
“Detailed connectome maps of the brain will not only help us better understand the differences between how men and women think, but it will also give us more insight into the roots of neurological disorders, which are often s** related.”
