Duck Dynasty’s Si Robertson created a YouTube page, and his nephew Jep filmed a golf tutorial video with Uncle Si as the instructor.
Jase Robertson described the making of Uncle Si’s instructional golf video.
[youtube bFeawsSWZXI 650]
Duck Dynasty Halloween Season Finale
As the church can’t host their annual trick or treat event, the Duck Dynasty cast offer to hold the Halloween event at Duck Commander.
The Robertsons all come together to decorate the Duck Commander warehouse and transform it into a “scarehouse.”
Everyone dresses up and Willie Robertson desperately tries to be the scariest, but none of the kids are afraid of him.
Meanwhile, Miss Kay Robertson is decorating her house for Halloween and enlists the youngest kids to help her. When they try to get Phil into the Halloween spirit, he puts his own twist on Halloween decorating by making a Jack-o-lantern with a shotgun.
Duck Dynasty Season Finale Quack O’Lanterns will air Wednesday, October 23, at 10/9C on A&E.
Halloween 2013: Top 5 hottest costumes
Miley Cyrus VMA outfits are one of the most popular Halloween costumes in 2013.
While a lot of people are going out and buying Miley Cyrus’ teddy bear leotard, others are thinking about making their boyfriends or husbands dress up as Robin Thicke to really get the point across.
The other most popular Halloween costumes include Duck Dynasty outfits – with beards, bandanas, and “redneck chic”.
Also, foxes (inspired by the What Does the Fox Say YouTube video), characters from Breaking Bad and minions from Despicable Me have rounded out the top 5 most searched for Halloween costumes on Google.
[youtube 191OPZgHnUA 650]
Halloween 2013: Breaking Bad and Duck Dynasty most popular costumes
Breaking Bad and Duck Dynasty Halloween costumes are the most popular in 2013 and quickly selling out, according to recent reports.
Breaking Bad recently ended its fifth season, but people still can’t get enough of Walt and Jesse.
According to Google, Breaking Bad and Duck Dynasty costume searches are up 30% this Halloween.
The Breaking Bad store offered a hazmat suit for $49.99, but now it’s completely sold out.
For more family-certified, redneck approved Halloween looks, A&E Networks Consumer Products and In Character Costumes are selling three new costumes from Duck Dynasty.
The “Willie” and “Phil” adult costumes (one size fits most, ages 14+) includes a special Duck Dynasty camouflage vest, a beard and patriotic bandana with an attached wig. The “Uncle Si” (one size fits most, ages 14+) includes a Duck Dynasty camouflage vest and cap with an attached wig, beard and glasses. The costumes are currently available nationally at Wal-Mart and Party City and online at Buycostumes.com. Prices range from $29.98 to $39.98.
The Robertson family will celebrate Halloween with a costume party on a new episode that airs on October 23. The Duck Commander warehouse is transformed into a haunted house and everyone dresses up in costumes.
[youtube 191OPZgHnUA 650]
Barack Obama catches fainting pregnant woman during Rose Garden speech
President Barack Obama helped catch a pregnant woman who was apparently about to faint while he hosted a press conference at the White House.
Karmel Allison, who has type 1 diabetes, began to swoon as she stood behind the president during his 25-minute speech in the White House Rose Garden.
“You’re OK. I’m right here. I got you,” the president told the woman.
Barack Obama was addressing glitches in his administration’s healthcare-insurance website during his speech.
“This happens when I talk too long,” Barack Obama quipped.
Karmel Allison – a member of White House staff – recovered and said later she was a pregnant diabetic, tweeting: “I’m ok world- just got a little lightheaded. Thanks, @BarackObama for catching me!”
[youtube JVTTJbtdij8 650]
Pavel Dmitrichenko to go on trial over Bolshoi acid attack
Bolshoi Ballet soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko is due to go on trial over the acid attack on company’s artistic director Sergei Filin in January this year.
Pavel Dmitrichenko is accused of organizing of the attack on Sergei Filin, whose eyesight was badly damaged when sulphuric acid was thrown at him outside his Moscow flat.
The dancer denies arranging the attack. If convicted, Pavel Dmitrichenko could face 12 years in jail.
The attack revealed bitter infighting and rivalries inside the Bolshoi.
Also on trial are the man accused of throwing the acid, Yuri Zarutsky, and Andrei Lipatov, who allegedly drove the getaway car.
After initially admitting to masterminding the attack, Pavel Dmitrichenko later said he had discussed an assault on Sergei Filin but not the use of acid.
Following a pre-trial hearing, Pavel Dmitrichenko’s lawyer alleged that the defendant had been beaten by masked police – a claim that the Russian interior ministry has denied.
On Monday, ahead of the trial in Moscow, lawyer Sergei Kadyrov said: “Dmitrichenko does not consider himself guilty of causing grave harm to Filin’s health.”
“I hope the court will be able to distance itself from the public resonance of this case and deliver a well-grounded and just verdict.”
Sergei Filin has had more than 20 operations to try to save his eyesight.
Following treatment in Germany, he returned to Moscow for the inauguration of the Bolshoi’s season last month, wearing dark glasses.
In March, more than 300 members of the Bolshoi Ballet wrote to President Vladimir Putin, saying that the idea that Pavel Dmitrichenko was behind the crime was “absurd”.
[youtube f1BdupDywAw 650]
Starbucks China under fire over coffee pricing
Starbucks has come under fire in China for reportedly charging locals higher prices than in other major markets.
The official China Central Television (CCTV) claimed Starbucks earns higher margins in China due to its pricing.
Starbucks is the latest foreign company to come under scrutiny from Chinese media over its pricing practices.
Earlier this year, Apple and Nestle were also put under pressure to review their prices or customer service.
Starbucks is rapidly expanding in China, which is set to overtake Canada as its second-biggest market next year.
In the CCTV report that aired on Sunday, it said a medium-size latte in Beijing costs 27 yuan ($4.43), or about one-third more than at a Starbucks in Chicago.
“Starbucks has been able to enjoy high prices in China, mainly because of the blind faith of local consumers in Starbucks and other Western brands,” Wang Zhendong, director of the Coffee Association of Shanghai, told CCTV.
Starbucks said its prices reflect higher food and logistical costs in China.
The issue became one of the most popular talking points on Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, where many users seemed to rally to Starbucks’ side.
[youtube 5-ecXgGj6H0 650]
Venezuela downs two planes suspected of drug trafficking
Venezuela has announced two light aircrafts have been shot down after entering the country’s airspace over the weekend.
These were the first mid-air attacks by fighter jets since a bill authorizing such action against illegal planes was approved earlier this month, the Bolivarian Armed Forces said.
The aircraft were allegedly smuggling drugs from Central America and refused to follow the military pilots’ orders.
Another 11 unauthorized planes have been disabled on the ground this year.
Venezuelan security forces say more than 35 tonnes of drugs have been found this year.
The head of Venezuela’s Strategic Operational Centre, General Vladimir Padrino Lopez, told the country’s state television that a plane had been targeted after “all other means of persuasion had been exhausted” in the early hours of Saturday.
“This was the first plane shot mid-air in the country since the approval of the Law and Control Regulation for the Integral Defense of the National Airspace, following the orders of our commander-in-chief, President Nicolas Maduro,” Gen. Vladimir Padrino Lopez said.
Another plane allegedly tried to evade the authorities by trying to land on an illegal airstrip in the jungle and was also shot down.
“These are drug trafficking mafias which intend to use our country as a platform for drug distribution, trespassing our airspace,” the head of the National Anti-Drugs Agency, Alejandro Keleris Bucarito said, after posting a photo of the destroyed plane on Twitter.
After the approval of the airspace bill, earlier in October, President Nicolas Maduro threatened “international narco-traffickers”.
“Any plane entering Venezuela is going to be obliged to land in peace. If not, it will be brought down by our Sukhoi jets, our F-16s and by all of the Venezuelan military aviation,” he said.
During the late President Hugo Chavez’s period in power, the US Drug Enforcement Administration was expelled from the country provoking criticism from Washington that the Venezuelan authorities weren’t doing enough to tackle drug cartels operating in the country.
Oarfishes wash up California beach sparking quake rumors
A giant oarfish washed up on a California beach – the second such discovery in several days.
The 14ft dead snake-like fish was found in the city of Oceanside – five days after another and larger specimen (18ft) had been found.
Reports on social media recall an ancient Japanese myth linking extremely rare oarfish sightings earthquakes.
But scientists remain skeptical of any link to increased tectonic activity.
They remain puzzled, however, by the two discoveries of this rare deepwater fish near the beach.
The larger specimen, found on Santa Catalina island, has now been dissected and it appears well-fed, healthy and with little sign of disease.
“It looks good enough to eat – if you have a 13ft pan,” biologist Ruff Zetter said.
Tests are also being done for radiation, following Japan’s Fukushima nuclear leak on the other side of the Pacific.
But it is also a rare chance to gather information about a little-known species that hovers vertically in the ocean and grazes on passing proteins.
The elusive fish – which can grow up to 15m – dives to depth of up to 1,000m and is found in all temperate to tropical waters.
[youtube 1lFPtAF_TXk 650]
Australia bushfires rage out of control near Sydney
Australian fire fighters deliberately joined up two large fires near the Blue Mountains as part of efforts to control bushfires across New South Wales.
Extensive back-burning operations were being deployed in anticipation of worsening conditions on Wednesday, the New South Wales fire commissioner said.
On Tuesday morning more than 60 blazes were still alight, with 13 uncontained.
The region experienced light rain on Tuesday, but fire fighters say this will not be enough to quench the fires.
New South Wales declared a state of emergency on Sunday, after being caught in some of the region’s worst fires in years.
NSW Rural Fire Services Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said that the fires at State Mine and Mount Victoria had “been deliberately and tactically joined” to try and prevent them from merging with a third fire at Springwood.
“We are seeing positive results of these very deliberate, very targeted, very decisive strategies being deployed particularly in relation to back-burning operations… particularly in light of [Wednesday’s] weather conditions.”
The emergency fire at State Mine has been downgraded to “watch and act” after some light rain at the fire zone.
However, Shane Fitzsimmons added that “there’s still a way to go” and that fire fighters would be braced for higher temperatures and stronger winds expected on Wednesday.
“We have got now probably 24 hours before we see the worst of the weather starting to develop and build across all these fire ground areas,” he said. The conditions on Wednesday would be “about as bad as it gets”.
A “fairly active storm cell” was heading towards the back end of the Blue Mountains, which could bring on stronger winds and “erratic weather behavior”, he added.
More than 1,500 fire fighters were tackling the blazes on Tuesday.
All schools in the Blue Mountains, and some schools in other affected areas, will be closed on Wednesday.
One man has died – possibly of a heart attack – while trying to protect his home. Hundreds of people have been left homeless by the bushfires.
[youtube x78yQwgPZfs 650]
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West get engaged on her 33rd birthday
Kanye West has reportedly proposed to Kim Kardashian on her 33rd birthday (October 21), and she accepted.
The rapper popped the question in front Kim Kardashian’s friends and family at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Monday night, E! Online reported.
Kanye West had attended the Hollywood Film Awards in Los Angeles just hours before, and hopped a plane to the Bay Area to ask Kim Kardashian for her hand in marriage.
According to E! Online, Yeezy rented out the entire stadium (home to the San Francisco Giants) in order to get down on one knee with a “flawless” 15-carat diamond ring from jeweler-to-the-stars Lorraine Schwartz.
He also had a 50-piece orchestra on hand (the playlist included Lana Del Ray’s Young and Beautiful and Kanye’s own Knock You Down) as fireworks and Roman candles lit the sky.
A huge screen at the park urged Kim Kardashian to accept by flashing the message: “PLEEEASE MARRY MEEE!!!”
Kanye West also made sure he had the green light from Kim Kardashian’s mother, Kris Jenner. The rapper reportedly asked for her permission before making this Kim Kardashian’s happiest birthday ever.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West took their romance public in April 2012, several months after Kim’s infamous split from Kris Humphries after 72 days of marriage.
This will be Kim Kardashian’s third marriage and Kanye West’s first. The reality star divorced music producer Damon Thomas in 2004.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West welcomed their daughter, North West, on June 15, 2013.
Barack Obama addresses glitches with Healthcare.gov
President Barack Obama has said there is “no excuse” for the glitches that have plagued the rollout of an element of his 2010 healthcare law.
In a White House press conference, Barack Obama said that despite its problems, the website was delivering affordable coverage.
Those attempting to sign up for health insurance have reported persistent issues since the 1 October rollout.
Barack Obama said a “tech surge” was under way to fix the snags.
The website’s issues have been overshadowed by the recent partial government shutdown, in which Republican lawmakers attempted to gut the law through budgetary brinkmanship.
During Monday’s Rose Garden event, Barack Obama conceded that healthcare.gov “hasn’t worked as smoothly as it was supposed to work”.
“The number of people who’ve visited the site has been overwhelming, which has aggravated some of these underlying problems.”
Barack Obama added: “There’s no sugar coating – the website has been too slow, people have been getting stuck during the application process and I think it’s fair to say that nobody’s more frustrated by that than I am.”
The president said that notwithstanding the website’s problems, there was “massive demand” and the homepage had been visited nearly 20 million times since its launch.
“Precisely because the product is good, I want the cash registers to work; I want the checkout lines to be smooth,” said Barack Obama.
“And there’s no excuse for the problems, and these problems are getting fixed.”
Barack Obama was joined at Monday’s event by people who have successfully enrolled during the first three weeks.
Janice Baker, a Delaware business owner who was the first person in her state to enroll for coverage through the exchange website, introduced Barack Obama.
She said she had “a number of frustrating attempts” to use the site, but kept trying as she had been rejected from insurance plans previously because of a pre-existing condition.
Janice Baker said she expected to save $150 a month with the policy she had signed up for on the exchange.
The website is supposed to be a clearinghouse for uninsured Americans searching for medical coverage.
The site acts both as a check on whether applications qualify for government subsidies for private insurance, as well as being the first enrolment step for specific plans.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projects the exchanges will be the gateway for providing health coverage to an estimated seven million Americans during the first year.
The White House has said almost half a million people have applied for healthcare through both federal and state-run exchanges since October 1st.
Exchanges run by individual states do not appear to have been plagued to the same extent by malfunctions.
White House officials initially blamed the gremlins on heavy interest in the site, but they recently conceded the flaws were larger and involved software and system design issues.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which runs the exchanges, said in a blog post it had already begun to make improvements.
But the administration has offered few details on who was being brought in from outside the government and the specific causes of the ongoing glitches.
Passed in 2010, the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, has rolled out in multiple steps, including coverage requirements on insurance companies and future tax penalties for those who remain uninsured.
Republicans have repeatedly attempted to repeal or remove funding from the law, most recently during a 16-day government shutdown which ended with no major concessions from Barack Obama.
Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has also been criticized by Republican lawmakers for declining an invitation to testify about the snags on October 24th.
Although the law remains divisive, a recent Gallup poll suggests only 29% of the public favors a complete repeal.
[youtube LSOFmYa6ngk 650]
Rihanna kicked out of Abu Dhabi’s Grand Mosque over photo shoot
Overseers of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque asked Rihanna to leave the compound after she posed for photographs considered to be at odds with the “sanctity” of the site.
The mosque staff later explained that Rihanna had been in an area that was typically off-limits to visitors and that her fashion-style shoot didn’t support the “status and sanctity of the mosque.”
Images of the photo shoot, which Rihanna posted to her Instagram account, depict her in a black outfit with her hair covered striking poses and lying down around the grounds of the mosque. Rihanna, who performed in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, has yet to respond publicly to the overseers’ statements.
[youtube G2OpF3-SiuE 650]
Mystery girl Maria: Roma couple charged with abducting young blonde girl
The Roma couple keeping mystery girl Maria in their camp have been formally charged in Greece with abduction.
The couple have been placed in detention pending a trial.
Maria was found during a raid on a Roma camp in central Greece last week.
DNA tests showed that she was not related to the couple, who insist they were given her legitimately.
Maria is being cared for by a charity in Athens, which has received more than 8,000 calls after an appeal.
The Roma couple appeared before judges on Monday to answer charges of abducting a minor and holding false papers.
The 39-year-old man and 40-year-old woman were identified by Greek police as Christos Salis and Eleftheria Dimopoulou.
The Roma community where the girl was found has rallied around the couple, saying they looked after her well.
The head of the Roma association in Farsala in central Greece says the pair treated her better than their biological children and that she loved them.
Ahead of Monday’s hearing, a lawyer representing the Roma couple, Kostas Katsavos, said that they were carrying out a search for the girl’s mother.
He said the couple claim the woman had given Maria to them because she could not look after her daughter.
“Our clients’ claim is that <<we never abducted this child, we just adopted her>> in a way that was not legal, that we can confess,” said Kostas Katsavos.
But the couple are suspected by social workers of kidnapping the girl and sending her out to beg.
Police initially raided the Roma camp to search for drugs and weapons.
They noticed the lack of resemblance between the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, pale-skinned little girl and her parents, and found further discrepancies when they investigated the family’s documents.
The couple had registered different numbers of children with different regional family registries.
The Greek authorities say the couple were in possession of false papers which suggested the woman had given birth to six children within a 10-month period.
When questioned about how they came to have Maria, the couple made “constantly changing claims”, Thessalia Province Police Director Vassilis Halatsis said.
Through Interpol, Greece has requested assistance from other European countries.
Police decided to appeal internationally as the girl looked as if she might be from northern or eastern Europe.
[youtube Zsq8S6Hs3IU 650]
Autographed Porter Ridge Country Auto Parts baseball caps on sale
Porter Ridge stars are now taking pre-orders for Country Auto Parts baseball caps.
As seen on Porter Ridge!
The distressed baseball caps are embroidered with the Country Auto Parts logo. Hats are $20, with $6 shipping. If you would like to have the hat autographed by your favorite Porter Ridge cast members, you will have to add an extra $5 per autograph.
Hats can be autographed by Terry Porter, Jeff The Bear Man, Dirty Andy, Elvis Larry, Danny Bob, Kayla Wood, Barry, and/or Kenny.
Orders can be sent via a private message on Porter Ridge’s Facebook page.
Shipping time is estimated to 6-8 weeks due to high demand, the Porter Ridge’s Facebook page writes.
[youtube MaOxkgrnSYM 650]
Porter Ridge coming back on November 5th
Porter Ridge reality show will be back on Discovery Channel with brand new episodes on November 5th.
Porter Ridge‘s producers promise seven new episodes, including a Christmas special.
Stay tuned!
[youtube jZZscwxG4eo 650]
Dario Franchitti and Ashley Judd back together
According to new reports, Ashley Judd is getting back together with her reportedly estranged husband, Dario Franchitti.
Ashley Judd and Dario Franchitti were giving their relationship another try, sources confirmed to Us Weekly.
According to Contactmusic, Dario Franchitti was recently discharged from the hospital after undergoing surgery to treat injuries he received after being in an accident at the Houston Grand Prix in Texas.
“They are going to give it another try after he recovers,” a source told Us Weekly.
“His accident made her realize how much she loves him.”
Ashley Judd reportedly rushed to the hospital after learning about Dario Franchitti’s accident.
Dario Franchitti suffered from a concussion, a fractured spine and a fractured right ankle after colliding with Takuma Sato, a fellow driver, and slamming into a fence on October 6.
Kanye West kicks off Yeezus tour at Seattle’s Key Arena
Kanye West kicked off his Yeezus tour on Saturday night in Seattle.
Kanye West, 36, performed mainly selections from the new album on a spectacular Key Arena stage that featured a 60-foot tall white mountain as a centerpiece with a gigantic circular projection screen hanging above.
The rapper wore a series of masks while performing On Sight, New Slave and Send It Up, along with some of his older material.
Toward the end of the show the stage mountain split apart and spewed clouds of white smoke – along with the Virgin Mary and a large crucifix as Kanye West sang I Wonder.
[youtube yCnP388mHCw 650]
Carol Burnett honored with Mark Twain Prize at Kennedy Center
Carol Burnett has been honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts on Sunday.
Julie Andrews, Tony Bennett and Tina Fey were among those who performed in her honor at the Kennedy Center.
Carol Burnett’s variety show began in the 1960s and ran for 11 years, averaging 30 million viewers a week.
“This is very encouraging… it was a long time in coming,” Carol Burnett, 80, joked as she accepted the prize.
She added: “I understand because there are so many people funnier than I am, especially here in Washington.
“With any luck, they’ll soon get voted out, and I’ll still have the Mark Twain Prize.”
Tina Fey – creator and star of 30 Rock – applauded Carol Burnett for opening doors for other female comedians. When Carol Burnett first launched her own show, a TV executive told her the genre was “a man’s game”.
“You mean so much to me,” Tina Fey said.
“I love you in a way that is just shy of creepy,” she joked.
Carol Burnett got her first break when she was talent-spotted by bookers for the Ed Sullivan Show.
She then landed a role on Broadway and began to appear on The Garry Moore Show.
This led to Carol Burnett signing a 10-year contract with CBS to do guest slots on sitcoms and perform in one TV special a year.
The comedian launched the Carol Burnett Show in 1967, with guest stars including Lucille Ball, Jimmy Stewart and Ronald Reagan.
Carol Burnett Show won 22 Emmy awards. The comedian was best known for her “Tarzan” yell and for ending each show by tugging her ear, which was a personal message to her grandmother.
Tim Conway, one of Carol Burnett’s co-stars on her show, joked that he now spends his time travelling around the US for Burnett to receive awards.
[youtube PRm6L6ljDc0 650]
Saving Mr. Banks: Marry Poppins film gets world premiere at BFI London Film Festival
Saving Mr. Banks – a film about the long and difficult process of making the Disney musical Mary Poppins – had its world premiere in London on Sunday night.
The film, which stars Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, officially brought this year’s BFI London Film Festival to a close.
Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks walked the red carpet in Leicester Square to the delight of hundreds of fans who had braved heavy rain earlier in the day.
The film focuses on the real-life battle of wills between prickly author PL Travers, played by Emma Thompson, and Walt Disney over the movie rights to her famous literary creation.
Directed by John Lee Hancock, the film is already being tipped for Oscar success.
This year’s BFI London Film Festival kicked off with maritime thriller Captain Phillips, a true story in which Tom Hanks plays a ship’s captain taken hostage by Somali pirates in 2009.
Speaking about his role as Walt Disney, Tom Hanks said: “In a lot of ways Mary Poppins was the crowning achievement of everything he did, it won all the Academy Awards, it was a huge monster hit and it was the last movie that he truly was hands-on.”
In reality, Walt Disney had spent some 20 years in pursuit of the film rights to Mary Poppins. The main focus of the film is the two weeks in 1961 that PL Travers reluctantly spent with Walt Disney in Los Angeles as he tried to win her over.
During the visit she was played songs by the Sherman brothers, which ended up in the 1964 film, such as A Spoonful of Sugar and Let’s Go Fly a Kite.
PL Travers, who died in 1996, so disliked the Oscar-winning Disney production that she never allowed any more Mary Poppins books to be adapted into films.
The cast of Saving Mr. Banks also includes Irish actor Colin Farrell and English actress Ruth Wilson, who play the parents of the young PL Travers in 1906 Australia.
[youtube a5kYmrjongg 650]
China smog closes schools, highways and airport in Harbin
China’s smog has forced schools, highways and airport to shut in northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province.
The density of airborne particles was several times above World Health Organization (WHO) recommended limits.
Visibility was reduced to below 160ft in parts of the city, reports said.
Local media have linked the pollution to the city switching on its public heating system for winter.
PM2.5 levels, used to measure the amount of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres in the air, were above 500 micrograms per cubic metre on Monday morning, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
WHO guidelines say average daily concentrations of PM2.5 should be no more than 25 microgrammes per cubic metre.
All of Heilongjiang province’s highways, and the Taiping International Airport in Harbin were forced to close, Xinhua reported.
A red alert for thick smog had been issued in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, the news agency added.
Earlier this year, air pollution in China’s capital, Beijing, also soared past hazardous levels.
[youtube kBOuxek0-J8 650]
Nairobi mall attack: Westgate CCTV footage shows Kenyan soldiers looting goods
Nairobi shopping center’s security camera footage shows what appear to be Kenyan security forces looting goods during last month’s siege of the Westgate mall.
In the footage, some soldiers can be seen carrying white shopping bags, while others appear to take white boxes from a mobile phone store.
At least 67 people died when suspected al-Shabab militants stormed the Nairobi shopping centre on September 21.
The Kenyan military says it is investigating the looting allegations.
News agencies say the CCTV footage is taken inside the entrance to the Westgate mall’s Nakumatt supermarket, which sells everything from food to televisions.
In one section of footage, several soldiers are seen walking out of the supermarket, past a blood-spattered floor, carrying plastic carrier bags.
In another clip, Kenyan soldiers can be seen next to a mobile phone outlet.
One reaches over the counter, and apparently removes a white item.
Then more soldiers remove white items, which the Reuters news agency describes as mobile phone boxes.
The Westgate attack sparked a four-day siege in which large parts of the shopping centre were destroyed.
The Kenyan military says it has launched an investigation into the looting allegations, which correspondents say will have angered many Kenyans.
At the weekend, Kenya’s biggest-selling newspaper, The Nation, ran an article entitled Shame of soldiers looting Westgate.
The footage of the alleged looting emerged as the Kenyan authorities announced they had recovered the body of what they consider to be a fourth attacker.
“Today, Sunday 20 October 2013, we recovered a fourth body, which we know from CCTV footage to be that of a terrorist,” said the Kenyan interior minister, Joseph Ole Lenku.
“DNA and other investigations will confirm their identities. We have also recovered four AK47 assault rifles which we know were used by the terrorists in the assault. We also recovered 11 magazines of AK47 assault rifles.”
Officials had initially said 10 to 15 gunmen were involved, but CCTV footage appears to show only four militants.
[youtube O8_Jhri2Y5s 650]
Katyn massacre: European court criticizes Russia over inquiry
Russia has failed to explain why it kept key files secret when it investigated the 1940 Katyn massacre of more than 20,000 Polish war prisoners, the European Court of Human Rights says.
Russia failed to comply with a human rights obligation to provide evidence, the Strasbourg judges ruled.
Soviet Russia only admitted to the atrocity in 1990 after blaming the Nazis for five decades.
But the ruling also said the court had no authority to rule on the killings.
The massacre in Katyn forest took place before the European Convention on Human Rights was signed.
The court’s examination came after 15 relatives of the victims claimed that Russia had failed to carry out an adequate investigation.
They said Moscow had prevented them from finding out the truth about the killings in western Russia.
Moscow started a criminal investigation into the killings the same year, but the inquiry was discontinued in 2004 on the orders of the Russian chief military prosecutor’s office.
Files about that decision remain classified, and the Polish claimants have not had access to it or any other information about the investigation.
No-one has ever been convicted in connection with the massacre, with Russian prosecutors arguing that those responsible are now dead.
However, in 2010 Russia’s parliament issued a statement saying more work needed to be done in “verifying the lists of victims… and uncovering the circumstances of the tragedy”.
The parliament also said the killings had been carried out on Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s orders.
In 2010, Russia also published online six once-secret files on the mass killings. The documents had until then only been available to researchers.
Poland has repeatedly demanded that Russia open all its files on Katyn.
The killings were carried out by the Soviet secret police (NKVD) in April and May 1940 in the Katyn forest near the city of Smolensk, and also near the village of Mednoye, in the Tver region, and the village of Pyatykhatky in what was then Soviet Ukraine.
The victims were members of the Polish elite, arrested after the USSR invaded and annexed eastern Poland in 1939.
They were shot on the recommendation of NKVD head Lavrenty Beria, according to one of the published secret files.
In a letter to Joseph Stalin dated March 5, 1940, Lavrenty Beria says the Polish prisoners of war should be executed and refers to them as “steadfast, incorrigible enemies of Soviet power”.
“Each of them is just waiting for liberation so as to actively join the struggle against Soviet power,” it says.
The letter bears Joseph Stalin’s signature in blue pencil, with the comment: “In favor”.
In April 2010, Polish President Lech Kaczynski and more than 90 other government officials were killed when their plane crashed as it was trying to land at Smolensk airport to attend an event marking the Katyn massacre.
Edward Snowden NSA leaks: France summons US ambassador over spy scandal
France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has summoned the US ambassador over Le Monde newspaper claims that the US spied on millions of phone calls in France.
France has labeled such activity between allies as “unacceptable”.
Le Monde says the data, based on leaks from ex-intelligence analyst Edward Snowden, suggest the US NSA monitored businesses and officials as well as terrorism suspects.
The intercepts were apparently triggered by certain key words.
Le Monde says the US National Security Agency (NSA) spied on 70.3 million phone calls in France in just 30 days between December 10, 2012, and January 8, 2013.
The NSA also apparently captured millions of text messages.
It was unclear whether the content of the calls and messages was stored, or just the metadata – the details of who is speaking to whom.
Le Monde did not say whether the operation, codenamed US-985D, was still in progress.
Laurent Fabius announced that he had summoned the US ambassador to discuss the claims “immediately”.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls had earlier said the allegations were “shocking”, and added: “If an allied country spies on France, this is totally unacceptable.”
Le Monde reported in July that the French government ran a huge snooping operation on its own citizens, giving its intelligence agencies access to vast amounts of personal data.
The latest revelations follow claims in the German media that US agents hacked into the email account of former Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
Edward Snowden, a former NSA employee, went public with revelations about US spying operations in June.
The information he leaked led to claims of systematic spying by the NSA and CIA on a global scale.
Targets included rivals like China and Russia, as well as allies like the EU and Brazil.
The NSA was also forced to admit it captured email and phone data from millions of Americans.
Edward Snowden is currently in Russia, where he was granted a year-long visa after making an asylum application.
The US wants Edward Snowden extradited to face trial on criminal charges.
Gravity tops US and Canadian box office for a third week
Space thriller Gravity has held on to the top of the US and Canadian box office for a third week.
Sandra Bullock’s 3D thriller, co-starring George Clooney, took $31 million according to figures from Rentrak.
Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks, stayed in second place, taking $17.3 million in its second week.
WikiLeaks drama The Fifth Estate, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange, had 2013’s worst debut weekend so far, taking just $1.7 million.
Julian Assange, who founded whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, had claimed Disney’s film would be a failure. Last week, an email he wrote to Cumberbatch urging him not to take part in the project was released online.
Gravity, directed by Alfonso Cuaron and starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts stranded in space, has now made more than $170 million in three weeks.
IMAX screenings have proved particularly popular because of the film’s groundbreaking visuals, accounting for $38 million in ticket sales, with 82% of audiences opting for 3D showings.
Warner Brothers’ Jeffrey Goldstein has attributed the film’s success to “phenomenal word of mouth”.
Paul Greengrass’s true story-based Somali pirate drama Captain Philips also held off newcomer Carrie. The horror remake, starring Kick-Ass actress Chloe Grace Moretz, took third place, with $17 million.
The original 1976 film, based on Stephen King’s novel, saw Oscar nominations for actresses Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie.
Family favorite, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, was in fourth after taking $10.1 million in its fourth week.
Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new action film Escape Plan rounded off the top five with $9.8 million.
In a limited release of just 19 cinemas, Steve McQueen’s Oscar-tipped slavery epic 12 Years a Slave, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, opened with a promising $960,000.
North American box office Top 5:
1. Gravity – $31 million
2. Captain Phillips – $17.3 million
3. Carrie – $17 million
4. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs – $10.1 million
5. Escape Plan – $9.8 million
Figures from Rentrak
[youtube _KJHRF6RlTQ 650]