British composer John Tavener has died at the age of 69.
Sir John Tavener, one of the leading British composers of the past 50 years, was known for music that drew on his deep spirituality.
In 1992, The Protecting Veil topped the classical charts for several months and in 1997 John Tavener’s Song For Athene was played at the funeral of Princess Diana.
John Tavener had suffered ill health for much of his life, including a major heart attack in 2007. He died at his home in Child Okeford, Dorset, on Tuesday.
John Tavener, one of the leading British composers of the past 50 years, was known for music that drew on his deep spirituality
He made his name with the avant-garde oratorio The Whale, which was released by The Beatles on their Apple label in 1968.
John Tavener went on to become one of the few contemporary composers to find wide acclaim beyond the classical world.
His other well-known works included his setting of William Blake’s poem The Lamb and A New Beginning, which was chosen to see in the new century at the end of 1999 in the Millennium Dome in London.
John Tavener was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize twice – in 1992 and 1997 – and was knighted in 2000.
Having started his musical career as a teenage organist at a Presbyterian church in London, John Tavener converted to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1977 and once said that “my way towards God has been to write music”.
John Tavener was also known for his imposing 6ft 6in frame and his flowing hair. As well as music, one of his great passions was luxury cars.
He had suffered a stroke in 1979, and in 1990 was diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome, a hereditary condition that can cause heart defects.
In 2007, John Tavener suffered a heart attack that caused him to spend six months in intensive care.
John Tavener defied doctors who did not expect him to return to work, and in his last months described composing as a welcome distraction from constant pain.
A Duck Dynasty event for a Christian organization in Bristol has now been canceled because of Duck Commander business deal.
Organizers of the Family Ministries benefit announced the cancellation of Willie Robertson’s appearance Monday evening.
They say a recent partnership between Duck Dynasty and Duck Commander Wines will send the wrong message to young people who were attending the event.
A Duck Dynasty event for a Christian organization in Bristol has now been canceled because of Duck Commander business deal
“Our greatest responsibility is to the young people we serve. Therefore, we feel that in light of the recent news that the stars of the show <<Duck Dynasty>> are partnering with Trinchero Family Estates to launch Duck Commander Wines, to continue with this event would send mixed messages to the young people who go through our Adolescent Drug and Alcohol program,” said Derek Bell, director of development for Family Ministries, in a press release.
Tickets will be refunded by the Viking Hall Civic Center. The event was scheduled for April 12, 2014.
Nissan plans to reveal the new deltoid-shaped BladeGlider concept vehicle at the upcoming 43rd edition of Tokyo Motor Show.
The way the prototype gets its power is as revolutionary as the design itself.
While the DeltaWing used a small but high-performance gasoline engine, the BladeGlider is all-electric. But unlike Nissan’s now-familiar Leaf battery-electric vehicle, the new concept vehicle puts power to the pavement through a pair of in-wheel motors.
The Tokyo Motor Show, which opens November 22, has a history of providing show-goers with wild, weird and wacky concept vehicles. But unlike most of the prototypes unveiled at the biennial event, Nissan is broadly hinting that the BladeGlider could reappear in production form in the not-too-distant future.
The concept vehicle’s shape, with its long, tapered nose and broad rear, immediately brings to mind a fighter jet and, in a sense, the two have much in common, as automotive designers have come to realize that improving aerodynamics can significantly reduce fuel consumption, improve performance and enhance vehicle stability, especially at high speeds.
Nissan plans to reveal the new deltoid-shaped BladeGlider concept vehicle at the upcoming 43rd edition of Tokyo Motor Show
To give perspective to the radical design, the BladeGlider measures just 3.3 feet at the front, but 5.9 feet in the rear. Like the DeltaWing, the concept’s front wheels are relatively close together, though the rear tires are positioned in the more classic automotive layout.
The approach might seem to defy conventional automotive logic as the BladeGlider has a 30/70 front-to-rear weight distribution, in sharp contrast to the 50/50 layout considered ideal for today’s cars. Meanwhile, the extensive use of lightweight carbon fiber reduces vehicle weight, improves the concept’s rigidity and helps sculpt a design with significant high-speed downforce.
The interior is laid out in an unusual 1+2 configuration, with two passengers sitting slightly to the rear of the driver. When the doors are opened, the driver’s seat swings out of the way to allow access to the rear seats.
BladeGlider was penned by Ben Bowlby, who also drafted both the DeltaWing and the Zero-Emission On Demand, or ZEOD, racer Nissan will sponsor in the 2014 race at Le Mans. He was inspired by both the F14 fighter jet and the elegant shapes of high-performance gliders.
But Nissan’s clean sheet approach doesn’t stop with the BladeGlider’s design. The powertrain could prove just as revolutionary.
Instead of using an electric motor that simply replaces a conventional gasoline engine under the hood, Nissan is using twin motors, one mounted inside each of the rear wheels. That approach has a number of potential advantages. Among other things, it eliminates the need for a bulky engine compartment. It moves power directly to the wheels and makes it possible to adjust the torque coming out of each driven wheel. In turn, that makes it possible to “vector” torque to help steer through corners.
New York City’s newly erected One World Trade Center has been declared the tallest building in the US, at 1,776 ft (541 m).
The Height Committee of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat announced its decision in Chicago.
The previous title holder was that city’s tallest building, the Willis Tower, at 1,451 ft (442 m).
The committee ruled a 408ft needle at the top counted toward its height.
One World Trade Center has been declared the tallest building in the US
Antony Wood, executive director of the committee, which is seen as the final official word on building heights around the world, said the needle counted as a permanent structure.
Without that needle, the building measures 1,368 feet, well below the height of the Willis Tower, which was formerly known as the Sears Tower.
Both skyscrapers fall well short of the world’s tallest building, the 2,723 ft (830 m) Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
One World Trade Center was built on the lower Manhattan site of the iconic Twin Towers, which were destroyed in the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 along with other buildings in the World Trade Center complex.
More than 2,000 people were killed there.
One World Trade Center ‘s height of 1,776 ft is a symbolic reference to the year of the signing of the US declaration of independence from Britain.
Experts already know that people with major depression are at increased risk of age-related diseases such as cancer, diabetes, obesity and heart disease.
This might be partly down to unhealthy lifestyle behaviors such as alcohol use and physical inactivity.
Depression can make us physically older by speeding up the ageing process in our cells
But scientists suspect depression takes its own toll on our cells.
To investigate, Josine Verhoeven from the VU University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, along with colleagues from the US, recruited 2,407 people to take part in the study.
More than one third of the volunteers were currently depressed, a third had experienced major depression in the past and the rest had never been depressed.
The volunteers were asked to give a blood sample for the researchers to analyze in the lab for signs of cellular ageing.
The researchers were looking for changes in structures deep inside cells called telomeres.
Telomeres cap the end of our chromosomes which house our DNA. Their job is to stop any unwanted loss of this vital genetic code. As cells divide, the telomeres get shorter and shorter. Measuring their length is a way of assessing cellular ageing.
People who were or had been depressed had much shorter telomeres than those who had never experienced depression. This difference was apparent even after lifestyle differences, such as heavy drinking and smoking, were taken into account.
Furthermore, the most severely and chronically depressed patients had the shortest telomeres.
Dr. Josine Verhoeven and colleagues speculate that shortened telomeres are a consequence of the body’s reaction to the distress depression causes.
“This large-scale study provides convincing evidence that depression is associated with several years of biological ageing, especially among those with the most severe and chronic symptoms,” they say.
However, it is unclear whether this ageing process is harmful and if it can be reversed.
Egypt’s government has decided to lift the state of emergency and the night-time curfew.
The move came two days earlier than expected, after a court ruling.
The state of emergency and the night-time curfew were introduced on August 14 after security forces forcibly ended sit-ins in support of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.
The measures had been due to last a month, but the government extended them for two more months on September 12.
The state of emergency and the curfew were lifted with effect from 16:00 local time.
Egypt’s government has decided to lift the state of emergency and the night-time curfew
This followed the ruling by the administrative court that said the decree extending the measures should only be effective for two calendar months.
The army-backed government said it would abide by the verdict.
The state of emergency and the 01:00-05:00 curfew had allowed the authorities to make arrests without warrants and search people’s homes.
Many people had also blamed the curfew for a fall in business in Cairo – at a time when the government was trying to create jobs and revive the economy.
The measures were introduced after hundreds of people died following the clearing of the pro-Morsi camps in the capital.
Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president, was ousted by the army in July following widespread demonstrations against his rule.
Egyptians lived under a state of emergency – which gives extra powers to the security services – for more than three decades, until President Hosni Mubarak was forced from power amid mass protests in 2011.
Good Morning America‘s correspondent Amy Robach has revealed she will have a double mastectomy this week, a month after undergoing a mammogram on the show.
Amy Robach, 40, discovered she had breast cancer after reluctantly agreeing to have a screening filmed for the ABC show.
She said GMA anchor Robin Roberts had persuaded her that if the story saved one life, it would be worth it.
“It never occurred to me that life would be mine,” said Amy Robach.
Producers chose Amy Robach to cover the mammogram story because it is recommended that women at the age of 40 regularly check for breast cancer.
During Monday’s programme, and in a blog post following the show, Amy Robach said doctors had not yet determined what stage the cancer had progressed to, or whether it had spread.
The original story, which was part of the GMAGoes Pink breast cancer awareness day, featured Amy Robach emerging from her on-air mammogram, before telling colleagues that it hurt much less than she thought it would.
Amy Robach has revealed she will have a double mastectomy this week, a month after undergoing a mammogram on the show
A few weeks later she was told she had cancer, after returning for what she thought would be some follow-up images.
Amy Robach said that her husband, actor Andrew Shue, had returned from his work trip that night and her parents had also caught a flight to New York to join her.
“We started gearing up for a fight,” she said, as she revealed that she would have both breasts removed this Thursday, followed by reconstructive surgery.
Amy Robach joined ABC in 2012 from NBC, where she was a Weekend Today host.
She frequently filled in as a presenter on ABC’s top-rated morning show GMA, while host Robin Roberts was fighting a serious blood and bone marrow disease.
Amy Robach said that with a full-time job and two children she had always found reasons to put off having a mammogram herself.
However, a doctor told her that the test had saved her life.
“I can only hope my story will inspire every woman who hears it to get a mammogram, to take a self-exam,” said Amy Robach.
“No excuses. It is the difference between life and death.”
David Ayer, the director of Brad Pitt’s latest movie, has apologized for filming war scenes featuring extras in Nazi uniforms on Remembrance Sunday.
David Ayer, the director of Fury, expressed his “heartfelt apologies for any disrespect caused”.
Pre-dawn explosions and scenes using extras dressed in Nazi uniform were filmed in an Oxfordshire village, UK.
Parish council chairman Ian Hill earlier said that “local people were very angry” with the decision to film.
According to a report in the Daily Mirror, the film’s makers rejected a plea to suspend their operations.
David Ayer has apologized for filming war scenes featuring extras in Nazi uniforms on Remembrance Sunday
Producers Sony also issued an apology, stating that they “deeply regret any misunderstandings caused”.
An extra who was filming on Sunday told the Mirror: “This was grotesquely disrespectful and offensive. I can’t believe I wore an SS uniform on Remembrance Sunday.”
Nearby residents were told to expect gunfire and explosions throughout the making of the film, which is expected to take place in the area until November 15.
David Ayer added in his message on Twitter: “I am a veteran myself. It is an honor to film here in the UK,” and posted a picture of a Veterans’ Day ceremony at Arlington Cemetery in the US.
He has also been regularly posting photographs from the set of his World War 2 tank battle movie, including one dated Sunday, November 10.
Fury, which also stars Jason Isaacs and Shia LaBeouf, is due to be released in October next year.
David Ayer’s other credits include writing the screenplay for 2001 film The Fast and the Furious, while he directed Sabotage starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which is expected to come out next April.
Former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin stopped by the Today show on Monday, where she promptly got into with host Matt Lauer about healthcare.
Matt Lauer asked if President Barack Obama’s apology for the Affordable Care Act’s rollout woes was sufficient. Sarah Palin scoffed, asking “what apology?” and saying that the Healthcare.gov’s serious flaws were the least of America’s worries.
“This broken website, I think, is symbolic of a broken administration,” Sarah Palin said.
“Take over one-sixth of our economy and the socialized medicine that’s being crammed down our throat – that’s what’s broken.”
Matt Lauer then asked Sarah Palin what the Tea Party proposed as a solution to America’s health care problems, if ObamaCare was not a workable one, and that’s where things got a little dicey.
Sarah Palin attempted to repeat her talking points instead.
Sarah Palin stopped by the Today show on Monday, where she promptly got into with host Matt Lauer about healthcare
“It’s not just the independent grassroots Tea Party movement saying this, it’s many in the Republican party and many Democrats, too…”
“But where’s the plan from the Tea Party?” Matt Lauer asked again.
”… especially Democrats in red states that are running for re-election who are… ” Sarah Palin continued.
“Where’s the plan?” Matt Lauer repeated.
”…running for political cover,” Sarah Palin concluded.
Sarah Palin then said the Tea Party’s plan was to allow for healthcare reform to sort itself out in the free market and encourage more competition and “less tort reforms threats,” before going back to “what thwarts those plans is the far left. It’s President Obama and his supporters who will not allow the Republicans to usher in free market, patient-centered, doctor-patient relationship uh links to reform healthcare.”
Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson announced that Duck Commander Wines will hit stores this month.
According to People magazine, the Robertsons have partnered with the winemakers of the Trinchero Family Estates in Napa. They offer the Triple Threat Red Blend, Miss Priss Pink Moscato, and Wood Duck Chardonnay with bottles decked out in camo-inspired labels.
Willie Robertson announced that Duck Commander Wines will hit stores this month
Willie Robertson said he wants to prove that wine can be delicious and affordable at a price under $10 a bottle.
Willie Robertson said of the collection: “Yuppie folks ain’t the only ones who can enjoy good wine. This is good wine for good people, and it’s made by good people.”
Negotiators in Brussels have clinched a deal on the 2014 EU budget after a night of hard talks, cutting spending by about 6% compared to 2013.
Spending will total 135.5 billion euros (181.3 billion), or 0.5bn less than the Commission sought and 0.9bn short of the European Parliament’s target.
However, the budget is 0.5 billion euros bigger than what austerity-conscious government leaders were demanding.
It reflects stricter new terms agreed by EU leaders in February.
About two-thirds of the budget will go on subsidies for farmers and on development projects in the EU’s poorer regions, as in previous years. But the spending on such projects – called the “cohesion” budget – is being cut by about 7 billion euros.
Negotiators in Brussels have clinched a deal on the 2014 EU budget after a night of hard talks
Four governments voted against the compromise deal – the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, German ARD television reported. They wanted the EU to make deeper cuts.
The deal was reached after 16 hours of negotiation, and still requires final approval from the parliament and EU ministers next week.
There remains some opposition to the deal in the European Parliament, however.
The deal, once signed off, should pave the way for the European Parliament to adopt the EU’s long-term trillion-euro budget for 2014-2020.
At the same time, the negotiators in Brussels agreed to allocate an extra 3.9 billion euros to pay outstanding bills for 2013 incurred in cohesion projects.
An additional 400.5 million euros will also be spent from the EU “solidarity” fund to help areas of Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria and Romania which were hit by flooding this year.
According to a poll of gender experts, Egypt is now the worst country for women’s rights in the Arab world.
The study found s**ual harassment, high rates of female genital mutilation and a growth in conservative Islamist groups contributed to the low ranking.
The Comoros islands came top in the survey, which was conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The poll surveyed more than 330 gender experts in 21 Arab League states as well as Syria.
It is the foundation’s third annual study focusing on women’s rights since the Arab Uprisings in 2011.
Iraq ranked second-worst after Egypt, followed by Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen.
Egypt is now the worst country for women’s rights in the Arab world, according to a poll of gender experts
The Comoros, where women hold 20% of ministerial positions, is followed at the top of the rankings by Oman, Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar.
The poll asked experts to assess factors such as violence against women, reproductive rights, treatment of women within the family and women’s role in politics and the economy.
Discriminatory laws and a spike in trafficking contributed to Egypt’s place at the bottom of the ranking of 22 Arab states, the survey said.
“There are whole villages on the outskirts of Cairo and elsewhere where the bulk of economic activity is based on trafficking in women and forced marriages,” said Zahra Radwan of US-based rights group Global Fund for Women.
However, s**ual harassment was cited as the main factor.
A UN report in April said 99.3% of women and girls in Egypt had been subjected to s**ual harassment.
“The social acceptability of everyday s**ual harassment affects every woman in Egypt regardless of age, professional or socio-economic background, marriage status, dress or behavior,” said Noora Flinkman of Egyptian campaign group HarassMap.
Meanwhile, the survey said Iraq was now more dangerous for women than under Saddam Hussein, with women disproportionately affected by the violence of the past decade.
Saudi Arabia ranked poorly on women’s involvement in politics, workplace discrimination, freedom of movement and property rights.
However, the conservative country scored better than many other Arab states when it came to access to education and healthcare, reproductive rights and gender violence.
UK and US ships were heading to the Philippines as the UN appealed for aid amid the large-scale devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan.
The US has deployed an aircraft carrier and navy ships to the Philippines, while the UK is sending a naval destroyer.
At least 10,000 people are feared to have been killed, and thousands of survivors desperately require aid.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino has declared a state of national calamity.
In a statement, Benigno Aquino said the two worst affected provinces, Leyte and Samar, had suffered massive destruction and loss of life.
A huge international relief effort is under way, but rescue workers have struggled to reach areas cut off since the storm.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described images of the impact of the storm as “heartbreaking”.
The UN would launch a large-scale humanitarian plan, and allocate $25 million “to fund critical relief efforts”, Ban Ki-moon said.
“Many thousands of people are reported to have died and almost 10 million people have been affected… Let us all show our solidarity with the people of the Philippines at this time of need,” he added.
One of the most powerful storms on record to make landfall, Typhoon Haiyan – named “Yolanda” by Philippine authorities – struck the coastal provinces of Leyte and Samar on Friday.
Typhoon Haiyan then headed west, sweeping through six central Philippine islands.
Humanitarian aid needed at large scale after Typhoon Haiyan barreled through the Philippines over the weekend and killed an estimated 10,000 people
Air Force Capt Antonio Tamayo told AP news agency the scene in Tacloban, one of the worst-hit areas, was “overwhelming”.
“We need more medicine. We cannot give anti-tetanus vaccine shots because we have none.”
Officials said looting was widespread and order was proving difficult to enforce. Correspondents say many ordinary people are simply scavenging for the food and water needed to survive.
The government says it has deployed armored vehicles to Tacloban to deter looters.
“We are circulating [the vehicles] in the city to show the people, especially those with bad intentions, that the authorities have returned,” Interior Secretary Mar Roxas told DZMM radio.
In a statement, the US said that aircraft carrier USS George Washington and other navy ships should arrive in the Philippines “within 48-72 hours”.
“As needed, these ships and aircraft will be able to provide humanitarian assistance, supplies, and medical care in support of the ongoing efforts led by the government and military of the Republic of the Philippines,” the statement said.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Darling would soon head to the disaster zone from Singapore.
It would take five days to arrive but once in the Philippines would bring engineering and first aid expertise, as well as the use of a Lynx helicopter.
Other countries have also pledged millions of dollars in assistance. Japan is providing $10 million and Australia $9 million in humanitarian aid, while New Zealand has pledged over $1.5 million.
Reports from Tacloban say soldiers have been distributing food and water to some residents and the US military has sent marines to the city.
A Philippine military spokesman was quoted as saying on Monday that 942 people had died in the typhoon’s aftermath, though it is clear the official death toll will rise significantly.
UN humanitarian official John Ging said: “Many places are strewn with dead bodies.”
“The first priority of response teams, once they were able to navigate their way into these areas, is to mobilize the burial of dead bodies because of the public health issues,” he said.
“As we get more and more access we find the tragedy of more and more people killed in this typhoon,” he added.
International aid:
Australia: Aus$10 million ($9.4 million), including medical personnel
China: $100,000
European Commission: 3 million euros ($4 million)
Indonesia: Aircraft, personnel, drinking water, food, generators, medicine
Japan: $10 million, 25 emergency medical personnel
New Zealand: NZ$2.15 million ($1.7 million)
Taiwan: $200,000
UK: £10 million ($15 million) non-food aid package
UN: central emergency relief fund: $25 million
US: At least 180 marines and sailors, transporter planes, emergency food, water, shelter and hygiene materials
Wal-Mart announced that it will begin its in-store Black Friday sales at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, two hours earlier than last year.
In addition, Walmart.com will begin offering Black Friday sales on a limited number of items Thursday morning.
The announcement comes as a growing list of retailers – from Best Buy to Toys R Us, and most recently Target – said they will push their Black Friday initiatives to Thursday.
Wal-Mart announced that it will begin its in-store Black Friday sales at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, two hours earlier than last year
“We’re always looking at what’s going on in the competitive environment,” said Duncan Mac Naughton, executive vice president, chief merchandising and marketing officer for Walmart U.S.
Wal-Mart will bring back its one-hour guarantee during events at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, followed by an 8 a.m. event on Black Friday. If customers are in a designated line within an hour of one of these sales’ kickoffs, they are guaranteed to receive an item at a certain price either that night or before Christmas.
The program is expanding to 21 products this season from three last year, ranging from a Vizio 60-inch LED HDTV for $688, to a one-carat diamond and sterling silver pendant and earring set for $98. The stores will integrate wristbands so shoppers can browse the store while waiting for the events to begin.
Wal-Mart is also ramping up its social media and online components, advertising “manager’s specials” – when managers will lower prices for an entire category – on its local Facebook pages, and curating deal maps on its website to be viewed while in-store.
Police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas to break up violent clashes during Poland Independence Day march in capital Warsaw.
A number of people were injured during the annual rally organized by far-right and nationalist movements.
The violence started when groups of youths broke off from the main march to attack a squat and set fires to cars.
They also set ablaze a rainbow-colored arch symbolizing tolerance, and tried to attack the Russian embassy.
Police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas to break up violent clashes during Poland Independence Day march in capital Warsaw
The protesters – many of them wearing masks – threw firecrackers at the diplomatic mission. Several youths also tried to scale the building’s fence but were stopped by the police.
“There is no justification for hooliganism,” Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Marcin Wojciechowski said.
The authorities also said that at least four police officers were among those injured during the violence.
Thousands of people took part in the main march, which began noisily but peacefully. They carried white-and-red Polish flags and chanted: “God, honor, fatherland!”
For the third year in a row violence broke out during the march.
The rally commemorates the day Poland regained its independence at the end of World War One in 1918.
Before that, Poland had been carved up between Russia, Prussia and the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Duck Dynasty ’s Christmas album debuted as No 1 in Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart this week.
Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas debuted this week in the Billboard chart knocking Luke Bryan’s album from first to fourth.
The album took over the top spot ahead of Thomas Rhett’s It Goes Like This and Toby Keith’s Drinks After Work, which are also in their first week on the chart.
Duck Dynasty ’s Christmas album debuted as No 1 in Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart this week
Duck the Halls is also ranked second on the publication’s list of Top Holiday Albums behind Kelly Clarkson’s Wrapped in Red.
Duck Dynasty’s album is currently listed as fourth on the Billboard 200, which ranks top-selling albums for the week across all genres. The Christmas record is situated behind new albums from Arcade Fire, Katy Perry and Clarkson.
The Robertsons are joined on their album by country music stars like Luke Bryan, Alison Krauss, Josh Turner and George Strait, who won the Country Music Association award for Entertainer of the Year on Wednesday.
Duck the Halls features a blend of original songs, such as Ragin’ Cajun Redneck Christmas, and more traditional Christmas tunes, including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and I’ll Be Home for Christmas.
President Barack Obama spends Veterans Day on Monday honoring those who sacrificed for the nation.
In the early morning, Barack Obama hosts a White House breakfast for invited veterans and their families.
Later, the president travels to Arlington National Cemetery for the traditional wreath laying ceremony.
President Barack Obama traveled to Arlington National Cemetery for the traditional Veterans Day wreath laying ceremony
In his weekend radio address, President Barack Obama said Veterans Day is a chance for all Americans “to say two simple words: <<Thank you>>.”
President Barack Obama said: “Thank you to that greatest generation who fought island by island across the Pacific, and freed millions from fascism in Europe. Thank you to the heroes who risked everything through the bitter cold of Korea and the stifling heat of Vietnam. And thank you to all the heroes who have served since, most recently our 9/11 Generation of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.”
President Nicolas Maduro announced the Christmas season would come early in Venezuela and holiday bonuses would be issued in November.
Nicolas Maduro said state workers will receive the first two-thirds of their Christmas bonuses and pensions on November 10-11 instead of December this year in what the president said was an effort to lift people’s spirits, NPR reported last week.
“We made Christmas earlier because happiness and The Nativity and waiting for the arrival of the baby Jesus, it is the best medicine,” Nicolas Maduro said at the Socialist Christmas Fair in Caracas.
During his visit to the so-called Socialist Christmas Fair 2013, organized by the government in a central area of Caracas, Nicolas Maduro exchanged a few words with actors posing as the Three Kings, sang traditional Venezuelan Christmas songs and witnessed the sale of typical holiday food and items.
President Nicolas Maduro announced the Christmas season would come early in Venezuela and holiday bonuses would be issued in November
Last weekend Nicolas Maduro lit the Nativity lights at the Presidential Palace of Miraflores and said that the last two months of the year should be premonitory of what 2014 will be.
“Merry Christmas 2013, Christmas early, early victory, early happiness for the whole family,” Nicolas Maduro said.
“We wanted to declare the arrival of Christmas because we want happiness for everyone,” he added.
Political experts, though, said the move may be an effort by Nicolas Maduro to get votes for municipal elections on December 8, NPR reported.
Nicolas Maduro won by a slim margin in the spring, and Venezuela’s economy has been suffering, with 45% inflation and a shortage of toys in retail stores for the holiday season.
Bulgarian students have chained the doors of Sofia University as anti-government unrest continues.
After occupying a lecture hall for nearly three weeks, they declared “total and effective occupation” to demand the government’s resignation.
Thousands joined a student march through the city on Sunday.
Unrest over poverty and corruption in the EU’s poorest state has continued despite early elections in May.
A Socialist-backed technocratic government was formed under Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski, but has lost support amid allegations of corrupt ties with business groups.
Similar popular unrest had plagued its predecessor in power, a centre-right minority government led by Boyko Borisov.
Academic business at the university was “brought to a complete halt” as protesters were not allowing either teachers or administrative staff to enter the university, according to the Novinite news agency.
Bulgarian students have chained the doors of Sofia University as anti-government unrest continues
Sit-ins, the agency added, were under way at 15 universities across the country.
“We are protesting against poverty and unemployment,” a student declaration said, quoted by AFP news agency.
“We are protesting before we become beggars with a higher education.”
On Sunday, university professors and teachers issued a statement condemning the “lies and <<tycoonisation>>” of the political and social environment”.
One banner, seen by Reuters news agency, read “Your time is up! 24 years of false transition is enough”, referring to administrations since the end of communist rule in 1989. Other banners read “Down with the mafia” and “We stay, you emigrate”.
President Rosen Plevneliev, who is from Boyko Borisov’s GERB party, told a French magazine he supported citizens calling for a “moral revolution”
Asked by Le Nouvel Observateur about the allegation that the current government was backed by a “Red Mafia”, Rosen Plevneliev added: “The mafia does not have a definite colour. What is certain is that what we call ‘mafia’ is a pathology of our democracy that we must eradicate.”
The desperation of many Bulgarians has been brought home by a series of self-immolations since the start of the year. At least nine people have burnt themselves to death, according to Novinite’s figures.
Wal-Mart erroneously priced a handful of computer monitors at a heavy discount online last week.
Monitors ranging from a high-definition, 24-inch product by Viewsonic to a 20-inch version made by Hewlett-Packard were made available at the bargain price of $8.85.
The suggested retail price of those two monitors are $199.99 and $185, respectively, although retailers often offer them at discounts.
Wal-Mart erroneously priced a handful of computer monitors at a heavy discount online
Many of the monitors were sold out by 8 a.m. ET, although the prices persisted on Walmart.com.
Wal-Mart says that a technical error caused a number of products to be priced absurdly low or high on its website earlier Wednesday. The company says it is working to resolve the issue and that the site may have intermittent problems with availability until then.
A spokesperson declined to specify whether an error was made, but said the tech goodies were unavailable in the retailer’s brick-and-mortar stores and are “no longer available” online. She also couldn’t immediately comment on whether people who swooped in on the pre-holiday snafu would be able to buy the monitors at the specified prices.
Black Friday 2013 is just days away and the Iowa Attorney General’s office warns consumers to be savvy shoppers and read the fine print when using ads to map out shopping strategies.
Officials there and at the National Retail Federation offer these tips:
• Read store ads carefully. Is the store offering sale items at a limited quantity? Can you get a rain check if it’s an out-of-stock sale item?
• Use the Internet to compare prices, not just the Black Friday ads but also retailers’ regular websites.
Black Friday 2013 is just days away and the Iowa Attorney General’s office warns consumers to be savvy shoppers and read the fine print when using ads to map out shopping strategies
• Take the ad with you when you go shopping to make sure you find the precise item at the price advertised. It’s often a good idea to go to the store now to see if the items you want have the quality and features you desire.
• Check to see if your favorite retailer offers an option to buy online and pick up in store. That will allow you to skip the frenzy and head to the customer service counter.
• Focus on bottom-line prices, not discounts. Discount claims may not reflect real savings if the seller inflated the original price of an item.
• Know retailers’ return and exchange policies. Some have a specified number of days in which to return items. Others will give the recipient credit for their after-holiday clearance price without a gift receipt, and some won’t let you return an item bought online to a physical store.
Black Friday is just days away, and shoppers already have started to refine their shopping lists, searching for ads online that reveal gotta-have gifts and rock-bottom prices at major retailers.
The holiday shopping season represents the bulk of many merchants’ yearly sales, so luring shoppers early is important, retail analysts say. Dozens of Black Friday websites entice shoppers with early releases of ads.
Retailers count on shoppers poring over their newspaper inserts. Papers’ Thanksgiving Day editions often are the largest of the year.
“This is the one time of year when consumers have the opportunity to see all this sales stuff in advance,” said Brad Wilson, who has a website called BradsDeals.com.
“It gives people three or four weeks to strategize about what they are going to buy.”
Online sneak-peak ads for Black Friday come out earlier every year, he said.
Black Friday 2013
“Consumers love the game of it all,” Brad Wilson said.
“They want to find the best deals. And they want to be able to get to the right stores at the right time.”
Shoppers caught up in the adrenaline rush of getting the best Black Friday deals – like last year’s $97 flat screen television – will be in for even better deals this year, Brad Wilson is predicting.
“The bargains have gotten better every year for a while,” he said.
Some of the websites that already have started posting Black Friday ads:
President Benigno Aquino has declared a state of national calamity in Philippines in order to speed relief efforts for victims of Typhoon Haiyan.
In a statement, Benigno Aquino said the two worst affected provinces, Leyte and Samar, had suffered massive destruction and loss of life.
Thousands of survivors are still desperately waiting for the aid effort to reach them.
Up to 10,000 people are feared to have been killed.
Tacloban is one of the worst affected cities.
Hundreds of thousands more people have been displaced after the high winds and floodwaters destroyed their homes. Damage to roads and airports has delayed the delivery of aid.
One of the most powerful storms on record to make landfall, Typhoon Haiyan – named “Yolanda” by Filipino authorities – struck the coastal provinces of Leyte and Samar on Friday.
President Benigno Aquino has declared a state of national calamity in Philippines in order to speed relief efforts for victims of Typhoon Haiyan
It then headed west, sweeping through six central Philippine islands.
More than nine million people have been affected in the Philippines. Many are now struggling to survive without food, shelter or clean drinking water.
A huge international relief effort is under way, but rescue workers have struggled to reach some towns and villages cut off since the storm.
However, reports from Tacloban say that soldiers have been on the streets distributing food and water to some residents and the US military has sent marines to the city.
The head of the Philippine Red Cross, Richard Gordon, described the situation as “absolute bedlam”.
Jane Cocking, the humanitarian director for Oxfam, said her colleagues witnessed “complete devastation… entire parts of the coastline just disappeared”.
A Philippine military spokesman was quoted as saying on Monday that 942 people had died in the typhoon’s aftermath, though it is clear the official death toll will rise significantly.
Almost 630,000 people have been reported displaced.
Typhoon Haiyan’s aftermath in Philippines:
The exposed easterly town of Guiuan, Samar province – population 40,000 – is said to be largely destroyed
Tacloban, Leyte province, was largely flattened by a massive storm surge and scores of corpses are piled by the roadside, leaving a stench in the air as they rot, say correspondents. Hundreds of people have gathered at the airport desperate for food and water, others trying to get a flight out
In the far north of Cebu province had shown some towns had suffered “80-90% damage”
Baco, a city of 35,000 in Oriental Mindoro province, was 80% under water, the UN said.[youtube mAERAlp5bTk 650]
John Lennon’s school detention documents are being put up for sale.
Teachers from Liverpool’s Quarry Bank High School for Boys wrote that 15-year-old John Lennon was punished for “fighting in class” and “sabotage”.
The two documents from 1955 were rescued by a teacher in the 1970s who had been told to burn all of the books in a storage room at the school.
The sheets are expected to be sold for up to £3,000 ($5,000) each at auction.
The documents reveal that on two occasions John Lennon received three detentions in one day.
Other reasons given by his teachers for punishment include “nuisance”, “shoving” and “just no interest whatsoever”.
John Lennon’s school detention documents are being put up for sale
The documents cover the periods when he was in Class 3B between May 19 and June 23, 1955, and in Class 4C from November 25, 1955, to February 13, 1956.
John Lennon went on to meet Paul McCartney in 1957 and together they formed the Beatles, who had their first hit in late 1962 with the song Love Me Do.
The details of the young John Lennon’s detentions were discovered by an enterprising teacher in the late 1970s.
He had been asked to clear out a storage room to make space for a newly-appointed teacher and had been instructed to burn all the books stored in the room.
But spotting the name “Lennon” in the top of some of the pages he realized they related to the famous former student and tore the sheets from the book to retain as a keepsake.
A number of the pages he had taken out of the book and kept were destroyed at a later date in an accident involving chemicals.
Other sheets he gave away but these pages are some of the few that have survived.
The sheets have been authenticated by John Lennon’s close school friend, Pete Shotton, who wrote a book John Lennon: In My Life.
Peter Beech, who was John Lennon’s general science teacher at the time, said: “The sheet is typical of John Lennon, he was an extremely cheeky boy.
“He did, however, know his limits. In the classroom, if you settled John down, you generally settled the class down.
“His chemistry teacher Eric Oldman said that John could actually go far.”
John Lennon died aged 40 after he was shot outside his New York apartment on December 8, 1980, by Mark Chapman.
Online bidding for the detention sheets and other items of Beatles memorabilia starts at TrackAuction.com on November 22.
