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Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a Senate panel that an estimated 70% of intelligence workers had been placed on unpaid leave.
Also, the head of the US electronic spy agency said morale had been devastated.
The US government closed non-essential operations on Tuesday after Congress failed to reach a new budget deal.
James Clapper appeared before a Senate judiciary committee hearing on Wednesday, warning lawmakers the damage to US intelligence capabilities caused by a shutdown would be “insidious”.
“This is not just a Beltway issue,” he said, referring to the Washington DC area.
“This affects our global capability to support the military, to support diplomacy, and to support our policymakers.”
James Clapper also warned that foregoing paying employees during the shutdown could cause them financial hardship, making them inviting targets for foreign spies.
“This is a dreamland for foreign intelligence services,” he said.
General Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency (NSA), said the electronic spying agency had placed thousands of mathematicians and computer scientists on unpaid leave.
“Our nation needs people like this,” he said.
“And the way we treat them is to tell them, <<you need to go home because we can’t afford to pay you, we can’t make a deal here>>.”
The government shutdown has left more than 700,000 employees on unpaid leave, and closed national parks, tourist sites, government websites, office buildings and more.
It came after weeks of wrangling between Democrats in the White House and Senate and the Republicans who control the US House of Representatives.
House Republicans have demanded repeal, defunding or delay of a healthcare law passed in 2010 by the Democrats as a condition for continuing to fund the government. President Barack Obama and the Democrats have refused, leading to the current morass.
The spy chiefs’ remarks came after the White House announced Barack Obama would cut short a planned four-nation tour of Asia next week.
President Barack Obama will attend regional summits in Indonesia and Brunei, but skip Malaysia and the Philippines due to the government shutdown.
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Silvio Berlusconi had initially promised to topple the government by withdrawing his party’s support – a move which prompted the Senate vote.
But he backed down when it became clear that several of his senators would back the government.
Enrico Letta had earlier said that if he were defeated in the vote, it might prove a “fatal risk” for Italy.
In the event he won easily: the Senate voted 235 to 70 in favor of the government.
Some of Silvio Berlusconi’s most hardline followers left the chamber and did not vote at all.
The result of the vote increases the possibility of Silvio Berlusconi being thrown out of the Senate on the grounds he is a convicted criminal.
On Friday a Senate committee is due to vote on whether to strip him of his seat following his conviction for tax fraud.
As he left the Senate building on Wednesday, people outside greeted him with catcalls, whistles and cries of “go away”.
Last weekend, Silvio Berlusconi demanded that five ministers from his centre-right People of Freedom party (PDL) leave the government and bring it down.
But Silvio Berlusconi’s close ally Renato Schifani insisted he had not been weakened by the vote, telling Italian news agencies that his leadership “has been strengthened”.
When he rose to speak in the Senate to announce his turnaround, Silvio Berlusconi said: “Italy needs a government that can produce structural and institutional reforms. We have decided, not without internal travail, to back the confidence vote.”
The Milan stock exchange gained nearly 2% on the announcement.
In his address to the Senate, Enrico Letta defended his government’s performance and said Italy “runs a risk, a fatal risk” if it were to fall.
He said: “Give us your confidence to realize [our] objectives. Give us your confidence for all that has been accomplished… a confidence vote for Italy and Italians.”
Silvio Berlusconi had accused Enrico Letta of allowing his “political assassination through judicial means” – a reference to Berlusconi’s criminal conviction for tax fraud in August.
The former prime minister said he asked his ministers to defy the government to protest against an impending rise in VAT, not because of the attempts to throw him out of the Senate.
Enrico Letta accused Silvio Berlusconi of using the VAT issue as an “alibi” for his own personal concerns.
He refused to accept the resignation of the five PDL ministers and hence called the vote of confidence.
Silvio Berlusconi’s plan to bring the government down began to unravel when the ministers signaled their own unwillingness to leave the government, and even his deputy and party secretary, Angelino Alfano, said that PDL members should back Enrico Letta.
Analysts say the crisis threatened to hamper badly needed reforms to tackle Italy’s economic problems that include debt, recession and high youth unemployment.
Enrico Letta’s cross-party alliance was formed in April after two months of political deadlock following an inconclusive election.
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Manufacturer Blizzident uses the same scans dentists use to fit braces and an extremely precise 3D printer to create a brush for each individual customer.
Each brush contains about 400 soft bristles and requires the wearer to grind their teeth in order to clean.
Blizzident says the toothbrush eliminates brushing errors that people typically make, but experts say more research is needed.
The technology comes at a price – a customer’s first brush, which will last for a year, costs 299 euros ($405).
Subsequent brushes are cheaper, and old ones can be reconditioned for less than 100 euros, the company says.
“Because you are brushing all your teeth at the same time, you are brushing extremely quickly,” the company says.
“You brush all the difficult-to-reach and interdental regions without even having to think about it.”
The typical toothbrush has long been considered fit for purpose by most people – but there have been several attempts to reinvent its design.
One recent example, from a former student of New York’s School of Visual Arts, took inspiration from the traditional miswak stick, a “tooth-cleaning twig” used mainly in the Middle East and parts of Asia.
The miswak stick – which grows on a Salvadora persica tree – is used by biting off a small part of the stick for each use, exposing a fresh set of bristles.
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Five books from the Robertson family already are out, including such top sellers as Happy, Happy, Happy and The Duck Commander Family.
Scheduled for next year are Faith in the Duck Blind, The Women of Duck Commander and Phil-Osophy.
The Duck Dynasty series first aired in 2012. Set in Louisiana bayou country, it follows a brood of brothers who manufacture duck calls and love to go bird hunting.
Faith in the Duck Blind will be written by Jase Robertson, and according to Simon & Schuster’s website, will detail “his personal family life, his childhood days with a drunken father, and how he came to faith.” Jase Robertson will share “his strong commitment to not be like Phil had been, opting for total abstinence from drinking and s**,” and his first date with wife Missy.
The Women of Duck Commander will bring together Miss Kay, Korie, Missy, Jessica, and Lisa Robertson‘s thoughts about what’s great – and what’s challenging – about supporting the bearded men in their lives.
No official synopsis on Phil-Osophy has been posted yet, but based on the title, it sounds as though Phil Robertson will be sharing more of his beloved nuggets of wisdom about living life to the fullest.
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They were among a 30-strong crew on a Greenpeace ship that was protesting against oil drilling in the Arctic.
The group was arrested last month after two of the protesters tried to board an oil platform owned by the Russian state-controlled firm Gazprom.
Greenpeace has called the charges “irrational, absurd and an outrage”.
The 14 activists were taken from jail to the Murmansk office of the Investigative Committee, the Russian equivalent of the FBI.
There they were formally charged with “piracy of an organized group”, an offence that carries a 15-year prison sentence.
Those charged include Kieron Bryan, a freelance video producer from London; Anthony Perrett from Newport in Wales; Alexandra Harris, originally from Devon, and Philip Ball from Chipping Norton.
Greenpeace said more activists are expected to be formally charged on Thursday.
The group’s international executive director, Kumi Naidoo, said the charges were “extreme and disproportionate”.
“A charge of piracy is being laid against men and women whose only crime is to be possessed of a conscience. This is an outrage and represents nothing less than an assault on the very principle of peaceful protest,” Reuters news agency quoted Kumi Naidoo as saying.
Kumi Naidoo said the way Russian officials had treated the protesters represented “the most serious threat to Greenpeace’s peaceful environmental activism” since the bombing of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in New Zealand in 1985, when the group was campaigning against French nuclear testing in the Pacific.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously said the activists were “not pirates”, but may have broken international law.
The Investigative Committee said earlier this week that peaceful aims would not justify what it has described as an “attack” that posed a threat to the rig and its personnel.
Last month the Greenpeace ship approached the Prirazlomnaya platform, Russia’s first offshore oil rig which is scheduled to start operating by the end of the year.
Two activists tried to climb up onto the platform and tie themselves onto it, in an attempt to draw attention to the issue of the expansion of oil and gas exploration in the Arctic Ocean.
They were detained after a short skirmish in inflatable dinghies in which armed Russian FSB officers in balaclavas fired warning shots into the water.
Greenpeace has released cameraphone images it says show the moment Russian security forces boarded the Arctic Sunrise ship.
The Arctic Sunrise ship, with its crew comprising 18 nationalities, was then towed to Murmansk.
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Si Robertson, his nephew, Alan Robertson, and their beloved neighbor Mountain Man, known to the IRS as Tim Guraedy, will be at Grace Church in Eden Prairie to talk about how a TV show has made millionaires of the quirky Louisiana makers of duck calls.
The 3 to 6 p.m. event, for which tickets can be bought at www.itickets.com, is a fundraiser for Southwest Christian High School in Chaska and Chapel Hill Academy in Chanhassen.
Duck Dynasty Season 4 premiere attracted 11.8 million viewers, shattering cable records.
The Duck Commander warehouse in Monroe, Louisiana, attracts nearly 3,000 people daily, with hopes of catching a glimpse of a Si Robertson.
Uncle Si Robertson may be just as elusive after arriving in Minnesota via private plane.
“We have a bunch of corporate sponsors who made it possible for the Minnesota visit, so they are going to be cranking,” said Si Robertson.
“They only are going to autograph if you have a VIP ticket. There are only a few people who will actually get their autographs.”
Ticket prices range from $30 to $250.
Tom Clancy wrote a string of best-selling spy and military thrillers.
Several of his books featuring CIA analyst Jack Ryan were adapted into successful films, including The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games.
The former insurance broker died in a Baltimore hospital near his Maryland home, according to reports.
The Hunt for Red October (1984) was Tom Clancy’s first published novel and sold more than five million copies.
President Ronald Reagan helped to fuel the success of the book when he called it a “perfect yarn”.
The novel was made into a successful film in 1990, starring Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan and Sean Connery as Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius.
Harrison Ford went on to play Jack Ryan in film versions of Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, while Ben Affleck played him in 2002 release The Sum of All Fears.
Jack Ryan: Shadow One, a new film to feature the character directed by Kenneth Branagh, is set for release this December.
As well as a successful writer, Tom Clancy also became closely associated with the world of video gaming.
In the 1990s he founded Red Storm Entertainment, later bought by Ubisoft, which developed games based on Tom Clancy’s ideas.
Blockbuster video game titles bearing his name included Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six.
After the match got underway at the New Den rival fans faced-off at London Bridge train station.
There was a heavy police presence at the station in order to contain the charged atmosphere as fans from the two clubs met, and amid the mayhem one fan filmed a mad moment when a police dog got a little bit confused.
Rather than looking to contain the fans, the police dog set about attacking one of the policemen by biting his behind.
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The 75-year-old Italian actor was involved in a collision near Rome, Italy.
Giuliano Gemma was taken to hospital but died shortly after his arrival.
After working as a stuntman, Giuliano Gemma began acting in 1962. He became famous for his roles in spaghetti westerns, appearing in films such as A Pistol for Ringo, Blood for a Silver Dollar and Day of Anger.
Giuliano Gemma went on to win the David di Donatello, Italy’s equivalent of the Oscar, for his performance in Desert of Tartars in 1976, according to Hollywood.com.
Nikos Michaloliakos was one of six MPs arrested over the weekend amid outrage over the recent murder of an anti-racist musician.
Three of the detained MPs have been freed pending trial while a fourth was remanded in custody.
All four denied the charges against them during a marathon court hearing in Athens.
In all, 22 people were detained following the September 18 murder of Pavlos Fyssas.
A man held for the stabbing told police he was a Golden Dawn supporter, though the party strongly denies any link.
Nikos Michaloliakos faces charges including murder, assault and money-laundering.
According to Greek law, he will set out a preliminary defense argument when he appears before an investigative judge on Wednesday.
The judge will then decide – on the basis of the charges and the defense statement – whether to grant bail or remand Nikos Michaloliakos in custody pending his full trial, which the authorities are keen to conclude swiftly.
MP and party spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris was freed on Wednesday on bail of 50,000 euros ($68,000) and banned from leaving the country. Fellow MPs Ilias Panagiotaros and Nikos Michos were freed under travel bans but with no bail set.
A fourth MP, Yannis Lagos, was remanded in custody.
The plea session lasted 18 hours, Reuters news agency reports.
Nikos Michaloliakos’s deputy, Christos Pappas, is set to appear in court in the coming days.
Any MPs finally convicted would lose their seats in parliament, prompting by-elections and – the government hopes – leading to the destruction of Greece’s neo-Nazi party.
During Tuesday’s court appearances, there was a heavy presence of riot police – a reminder that despite falling popularity in the opinion polls, the party still commands significant support.
Supporters outside court chanted slogans, including “You are heroes!”
Details from witness testimony have been emerging about the way in which the party operated.
The testimony speaks of a strict hierarchical structure – or “Fuehrer principle” as the indictment calls it – as well as assault squads and military-style training.
Searches of the homes of some MPs have found Nazi paraphernalia as well as unlicensed weapons, ammunition and bundles of cash.
The crackdown was sparked by outrage at the murder of rapper Pavlos Fyssas, 34, whose stage name was Killah P.
George Roupakias, 45, who said he was a supporter of Golden Dawn, was arrested in connection with the killing.
On Friday, Golden Dawn – which won nearly 7% of the vote in 2012 elections – threatened to pull its 18 MPs out of the 300-strong parliament.
The governing coalition headed by PM Antonis Samaras, which has 155 seats, would then face by-elections.
Speaking on a visit to the US on Monday, Antonis Samaras vowed to eradicate the “shame of neo-Nazism”.
In recent months, Golden Dawn has been accused of perpetrating attacks on migrants and political opponents.
Golden Dawn officially denies being a neo-Nazi movement, despite its swastika-like insignia.
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Enrico Letta told the Senate the collapse of his government could be fatal for the country.
The vote was called after former PM Silvio Berlusconi ordered ministers in his centre-right People of Freedom party (PDL) to leave the government.
But some key PDL figures have defied him, saying they will back Enrico Letta.
Enrico Letta earlier rejected the resignations of the five PDL ministers.
Silvio Berlusconi has accused Enrico Letta of allowing his “political assassination through judicial means” – a reference to Berlusconi’s criminal conviction for tax fraud in August.
“Even though I understand the risks that I am taking on, I have decided to put an end to the Letta government,” Silvio Berlusconi said in a letter to the weekly magazine Tempi.
However, Silvio Berlusconi appeared more circumspect on arrival at the Senate on Wednesday, saying: “We’ll see what happens. We’ll listen to Letta’s speech and then we’ll decide.”
Addressing the Senate, Enrico Letta defended his government’s performance and said Italy “runs a risk, a fatal risk” if it were to fall.
He said: “Give us your confidence to realize [our] objectives. Give us your confidence for all that has been accomplished… a confidence vote for Italy and Italians.”
In an apparent break with Silvio Berlusconi, his deputy and party secretary Angelino Alfano said PDL MPs should back Enrico Letta in the confidence vote.
“I am firmly convinced that our party as a whole should vote confidence in Letta,” said Angelino Alfano, who is also Italy’s interior minister.
The first vote on Wednesday is in Senate and is expected around midday. This will be the crucial moment, as it is where Silvio Berlusconi’s allies have a narrow majority. The chamber of deputies will vote later.
Enrico Letta needs 161 votes in the Senate but can only count on the support of about 137 members, meaning he will need about 25 votes from others.
There are reports that between 30 and 40 PDL senators may vote for the government.
Angelino Alfano’s comments had caused the Italian stock market to jump on Tuesday as investors appeared increasingly confident that the government would not fall.
Carlo Giovanardi, a senator from Silvio Berlusconi’s party, indicated he would support the government, adding: “We want to remain a moderate force.”
Fabrizio Cicchitto, a PDL deputy, said: “Making the government fall would be a mistake.”
He said any new government would be “hostile to the PDL” and would be a boon for Enrico Letta’s centre-left Democratic Party.
On Tuesday, Enrico Letta refused to accept the resignations of five ministers from the PDL, Italy’s Ansa news agency reported, citing a government source.
Enrico Letta called the vote of confidence after Silvio Berlusconi ordered his ministers to leave the government in protest at a rise in VAT (sales tax).
The prime minister accused Silvio Berlusconi of using the issue as an “alibi” for his own personal concerns.
Analysts say the crisis threatens to hamper badly needed reforms to tackle Italy’s economic problems that include debt, recession and high youth unemployment.
The International Monetary Fund has warned that political tensions are a risk to the Italian economy.
Enrico Letta’s cross-party alliance was formed in April after two months of political deadlock following an inconclusive election.
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NASA’s website was unavailable as non-essential services were closed, and the White House web page was not being updated, after a lapse in federal funding.
The US Department of Homeland Security was not responding to public emails submitted via its website.
US government employees affected by the shutdown were not able to access email.
Republican opposition to President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law, the Affordable Care Act, lead to the government shutdown on Tuesday.
The act, known also as Obamacare, has caused legislative deadlock. Congress failed to pass legislation to fund the government on Monday.
Thousands of federal workers who had been sent home on Tuesday were barred from accessing work emails as part of US government policy.
The same US law which gave the legal basis for the shutdown, the Antideficiency Act, also prohibited work “via mobile devices or remote computer connections” for employees who had been sent home.
Communications channels for members of the public were also affected by the shutdown.
US citizens can normally use federal websites and Twitter feeds to put queries to government institutions.
On Tuesday, email questions from the public were not being processed by US bodies including the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.
“Due to the lapse in government funding, information on this website will not be routinely updated, the transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the department may not be able to respond to inquiries until funding has been restored,” read a notice on the Department of Justice site.
People trying to reach NASA’s main website were redirected to a US government notice explaining that the page was not available.
Other federal websites such as the US Department of Agriculture and the US Census Bureau displayed holding pages.
Dozens of Twitter feeds, including tweets from the National Park Service for the Statue of Liberty, were stopped.
Smaller federal institutions such as the Smithsonian National Zoo were affected by the shutdown.
The zoo’s webcams, which normally stream images of giant pandas, cheetahs, flamingos, and naked mole rats, were also down.
“None of our live animal cams will broadcast,” said a notice on the Smithsonian National Zoo web page.
“The cams require federal resources, primarily staff, to run and broadcast. They’ve been deemed non-essential during the shutdown.”
Malaysia had already announced Barack Obama would be replaced by Secretary of State John Kerry for the visit next week.
The US government has partially shut down after the two houses of Congress failed to agree a new budget.
More than 700,000 federal employees face unpaid leave, and national parks, museums and many buildings are closed.
Barack Obama earlier vowed not to allow Republicans to undermine his signature healthcare legislation as a condition to restart the US government.
“They demanded ransom,” Barack Obama said.
Barack Obama had been scheduled to begin his four-nation Asian trip on Saturday to boost economic ties.
Earlier, the office of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Barack Obama had called him on Wednesday to inform him that Mr Kerry would address an entrepreneurship conference in Kuala Lumpur on October 11 in his place.
Barack Obama has been forced to call off trips to Asia before.
In 2010, a vote on health care and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill forced separate cancellations in March and June, though he did make it to India, South Korea, Japan and Indonesia in November of that year.
The US government ceased operations deemed non-essential at midnight on Tuesday, when the previous budget expired.
National parks and Washington’s Smithsonian museums are closed, pension and veterans’ benefit cheques will be delayed, and visa and passport applications will go unprocessed.
However, members of the military will be paid.
One group of elderly military veterans managed to bypass the shutdown when the WWII Memorial in Washington DC – that they had travelled from Mississippi to see – was opened for them.
President Barack Obama has blamed conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives for the government shutdown, saying “one faction of one party” was responsible because “they didn’t like one law”.
“They’ve shut down the government over an ideological crusade to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans,” the president said.
The White House rejected a Republican plan to fund only a few portions of the government – national parks, veterans’ programmes and the budget of the District of Columbia.
The Republicans have called for more negotiations.
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Used beside conventional cancer-fighting drugs, losartan could improve life expectancy, experts believe.
Following successful testing in mice, doctors plan to give losartan to patients with pancreatic cancer to see if it can tackle this hard-to-treat disease, Nature Communications reports.
Currently, only 5% of pancreatic cancer patients survive for at least 5 years.
This is partly because only one in 10 people with the disease has a tumor that is operable.
Investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the US are currently recruiting volunteer patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer to test out the new drug combination of chemotherapy plus losartan.
Although the treatment will not cure them, the researchers hope it will give the patients more months or years of life than they might otherwise get.
Losartan has been used for more than a decade as a safe blood pressure medication.
It works by making the blood vessels relax or dilate so that they can carry more blood, easing pressure.
The Massachusetts team found that losartan was beneficial in mice with breast and pancreatic cancer.
Losartan improved blood flow in and around the tumors allowing more of the chemotherapy drugs to be delivered to their target.
Mice given this treatment, rather than standard chemotherapy alone, survived for longer.
The study looked at hundreds of trials involving nearly 340,000 patients to assess the merits of exercise and drugs in preventing death.
Physical activity rivaled some heart drugs and outperformed stroke medicine.
The findings suggest exercise should be added to prescriptions, say the researchers.
Experts stressed that patients should not ditch their drugs for exercise – rather, they should use both in tandem.
Too few adults currently get enough exercise. Only a third of people in England do the recommended 2.5 hours or more of moderate-intensity activity, such as cycling or fast walking, every week.
In contrast, prescription drug rates continue to rise.
There were an average of 17.7 prescriptions for every person in England in 2010, compared with 11.2 in 2000.
For the study, scientists based at the London School of Economics, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute at Harvard Medical School and Stanford University School of Medicine trawled medical literature to find any research that compared exercise with pills as a therapy.
They identified 305 trials to include in their analysis. These trials looked at managing conditions such as existing heart disease, stroke rehabilitation, heart failure and pre-diabetes.
When they studied the data as a whole, they found exercise and drugs were comparable in terms of death rates.
But there were two exceptions.
Drugs called diuretics were the clear winner for heart failure patients, while exercise was best for stroke patients in terms of life expectancy.
Duck Dynasty stars Willie and Korie Robertson shared their secret to a wildly delicious meal in their new book, The Duck Commander Family.
Fried Alligator Balls
Ingredients:
1 stick butter
2 white onions, diced
1/4 cup green onions, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
8 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 cup parsley flakes
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
2-3 dashes of Louisiana hot sauce
1 lb lump crabmeat (cleaned)
1 lb crawfish tails, cooked
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups Italian breadcrumbs
2/3 cups all-purpose flour
Peanut oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
On medium-high heat in a medium size pan, sauté butter, white onions, green onions, bell pepper and celery until vegetables are soft, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Add garlic, parsley, thyme, basil and hot sauce. Place mixture in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper.
Add crabmeat and crawfish tails. Mix well. Beat eggs and add to mixture. Mix well.
Add enough bread crumbs to hold mixture together. Make small patties and roll in flour.
Deep-fry in peanut oil on medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes or until golden brown.
“We are doing this story for the same reason we do all others – we think it has a good emotional through line,” Al Jean told The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday, keeping under wraps whether the character would be killed off or pass away.
“The story will be produced this year though it may air in season 26.”
Al Jean hinted that “the actor playing the character won an Emmy” for the role, stopping short of revealing which of the beloved animated gang would not survive.
He told The Hollywood Reporter that the episode would happen sometime in mid- to late-2014.
In its 25 seasons, The Simpsons has killed off seven characters – Homer’s Las Vegas wife, Amber (season 16) and Ned’s wife Maude Flanders (season 11) among them.
Pressed for details, Al Jean would not comment beyond the Emmy clue when asked if the death would lead into a “Who Shot Mr. Burns?”-type story, only noting that he hoped the stunt would get “Breaking Bad-type numbers”.
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Angelino Alfano, Silvio Berlusconi’s deputy and secretary of People of Freedom, urged the party to unite behind PM Enrico Letta on Wednesday.
Earlier, Silvio Berlusconi had ordered his ministers to leave the government, provoking its probable collapse.
But amid signs it would survive, Italian markets jumped on Tuesday.
The blue-chip stock index rose 2.5%, Reuters reports.
Investors also showed greater confidence in Italian bonds, with the interest rate paid to hold 10-year government debt falling as a result.
Silvio Berlusconi had threatened to topple the government, following moves to expel him from the Senate after his conviction for tax fraud.
However, Angelino Alfano, Silvio Berlusconi’s protégé, said on Tuesday: “I am firmly convinced that our party as a whole should vote confidence in Letta tomorrow.”
Angelino Alfano spoke after similar calls by other People of Freedom politicians such as Carlo Giovanardi, a senator and former minister, who said he could muster enough party support to ensure Enrico Letta wins the confidence vote.
Fabrizio Cicchitto, a senior People of Freedom MP, said: “Making the government fall would be a mistake.”
The crisis erupted when Silvio Berlusconi, a three-time prime minister and media tycoon who became engulfed in legal action, attacked the government over a rise in VAT (sales tax).
But Enrico Letta, from the centre-left Democratic Party, accused him of using the VAT issue as an “alibi” for his own personal concerns.
A committee of the Senate is due to decide on Berlusconi’s expulsion this week after the supreme court recently upheld his conviction for tax fraud.
Enrico Letta’s cross-party alliance was formed in April after two months of political deadlock following an inconclusive election. It was approved by 453 votes to 153.
Enrico Letta vowed to turn the recession-hit economy, the third-largest in the eurozone, around within 18 months or “face the consequences”.
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The Institute for Religious Works (IOR) has been dogged by accusations of corruption.
The report shows 2012 was a successful year for the bank, with net profits more than quadrupling to 86.6 million euros.
The bank said this jump was mainly due to favorable trading results and an increase in the value of bonds it held.
A majority of this profit – 54.7 million euros – was given to the Pope to carry out the Church’s mission around the world.
Its balance sheet shows a total of 4.98 billion euros in assets and 769 million euros in equity funds.
The assets were primarily held in bonds and money market accounts.
But the report also reveals the IOR had 41.3 million euros in gold, coins and other precious metals, a stake in an Italian real estate company, and received two inheritance properties worth around two million euros in 2012.
In the report, President Ernst Von Freyberg, said the IOR needed to be a well-respected member of the global financial community.
“The annual report seeks to contribute to the transparency which the Catholic Church, our customers, our correspondent banks, our authorities and the public rightfully expect,” he said.
Ernst Von Freyberg added that the bank had been “been engaged in a process of far-reaching reform” to improve its organization, compliance and transparency.
The IOR has been accused of money laundering and lack of due diligence in allowing non-religious businessmen to hold accounts in what amounts to an international offshore tax haven.
In August Pope Francis stepped up the fight against corruption at the Vatican by strengthening supervision of financial transactions at the bank.
He issued a decree designed to combat money-laundering and prevent any financing of terrorism.
Pope Francis also recently set up a commission to investigate the bank and report back to him personally.
In July the Vatican froze the account of a senior cleric, Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, suspected of involvement in money-laundering.
Nunzio Scarano and two others were arrested by Italian police in June on suspicion of trying to move 20 million euros ($26 million) illegally.
At the time the bank said it would have “zero tolerance for any activity, whether conducted by laity or clergy, that is illegal or outside the Statutes of the Institute”.
As of the end of 2012, the IOR had around 18,900 customers, most of which were institutional investors.
This was down from 21,000 the previous year, which the bank said was due mostly to it closing inactive accounts.
It handles the payroll for some 5,000 Vatican employees and funds for the central administration of the Catholic Church.
The IOR also holds the accounts of cardinals, bishops, priests, nuns and religious orders around the world.
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The Christmas album hits stores on October 29.
Willie, Jase, Phil, Si and the rest of the Robertson family show off their singing talents on standards like I’ll Be Home for Christmas as well as originals like Ragin’ Cajun Redneck Christmas, which Willie wrote with Dallas Davidson.
Produced by Buddy Cannon (Kenny Chesney), Duck the Halls also includes vocal contributions from country favorites Alison Krauss, George Strait, Josh Turner and Luke Bryan.
King George appears with Phil and Miss Kay Robertson on Christmas Cookies, while Luke Bryan guests with Willie, Phil, Si, Jase and Jep on the cleverly titled Hairy Christmas.
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For much of the two-hour show, the Robertsons in attendance – Miss Kay, Alan, Korie, John Luke, Sadie and Willie – seemed to be having as much fun as the crowd.
Willie Robertson snapped pictures of his mom, Miss Kay; Korie beamed when her children John Luke and Sadie spoke; Alan belly-laughed until he cried as John Luke, his nephew, explained his lack of sporting prowess.
“I was the catcher on my T-ball team,” said John Luke Robertson, 17, pausing just a beat.
“Think about it.”
The faith that keeps the family together, portrayed with a family prayer over dinner as each episode closes, was more deeply on display than it is on television. Each family member, sitting onstage on high stools, seemed completely engaged as dark family secrets were told again in hopes that other families could see that God could, and would, work in their lives.
“We have not always been the happy close family you see on the show,” said Alan Robertson.
The Robertsons, who have used their fame to help charitable groups, were in Lexington for a fundraiser for Frankfort Christian Academy so it can put heat and air-conditioning in the school gym.
Miss Kay Robertson, dressed with a little sass in a red shirt under a black lace tunic, somehow managed to make folks laugh as she told how family patriarch Phil drank and partied too much for too long. On Duck Dynasty, Miss Kay often gets her way with a gentle nudge and heap of something delicious and homemade on a platter, but she showed some of the steel under her soft voice and sweet smile as she talked about the early years of her marriage.
“It just got worse and worse,” she said.
At one point, Phil ran a bar and required his non-drinking wife to be the barmaid.
But, Miss Kay said, she tried to follow her grandmother’s advice to fight for her marriage no matter what. That is until Phil told her to “take her kids” and leave because they were “ruining his good time.” But, she said: “How was I supposed to be fighting when he put us out?”
Soon enough, Phil Robertson, a wreck when left on his own, found his way to the church. Forty years later, Miss Kay’s voice catches as she remembers the day Phil came to the Lord and was baptized as she stood there with her three boys, all of them crying.
Alan Robertson, the oldest brother, has the most vivid memories of his father’s dark days but still found himself at 14 secretly drinking and causing trouble while piously going to church. The veil fell at 17 when he and his buddies trashed the neighborhood. Miss Kay asked him, the one she had always depended on to do right, if he had been drinking.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
“I was respectful as I broke her heart,” Alan Robertson recalled.
Like the Prodigal Son, Alan Robertson returned home after an ill-conceived attempt to find himself in New Orleans and went on to become a pastor.
After the family’s trials, Alan Robertson said: “We understand God’s grace.”
Family challenges help them do the right thing in the spotlight, said John Luke. Portrayed on the show as rather quiet except when gassed up to get a tooth pulled, he told, with the timing of a comedian, how he failed at every team endeavor from basketball to chess. But, John Luke said, his struggles led him more to church, and there he found his voice.
God was preparing him, he said, when he didn’t know what he was being prepared for. He also told the audience God “is preparing you for something right now.”
Willie Robertson got one of the biggest reactions from the crowd when he repeated a performance he used to do on the school bus for quarters. As “the human juke box” he spat out a beat box rap to a Foreigner tune.
The enthusiasm for that was matched when the Duck Commander CEO had a bit of a prayer-warrior moment. Willie Robertson told the crowd that by watching Duck Dynasty, they were part of a powerful movement to change entertainment.
“You are supporting positive, pro-family entertainment where there is prayer,” he said.
Willie Robertson said families around the world are seeing their pray.
Each family member, from Willie’s elegant wife, Korie, to his earnestly adorable daughter, Sadie, made the point in her own way that the credit for much of what they have can be traced to what they believe.
And that faith in action was shown in a moment near the end of the show that probably was missed by most. While the Robertsons took a final bow, with a string of members of the military onstage behind them, Willie Robertson took the trademark stars and stripes bandanna from his head and gave it without fanfare to a veteran in a wheelchair.
Angelina Jolie will shoot her follow-up to 2011’s Land of Blood and Honey in Sydney and parts of rural New South Wales.
Based on the book by Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken tells of Louis Zamperini.
The Olympian runner turned bombardier spent two years as a prisoner of war after being shot down in the Pacific.
Skins star Jack O’Connell will play Louis Zamperini in a cast that also includes Garrett Hedlund from Tron: Legacy and Domhnall Gleeson from About Time.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Angelina Jolie’s movie will start filming on October 21 at Sydney’s Fox Studios Australia and the Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast.
The Universal Pictures title is scheduled for release in the US on December 25, 2014.
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She told fans she was “in the final stages of recovery” following the procedure and “ready to start the next chapter”.
Anastacia, 45, cancelled her European tour in February after the second diagnosis.
She made a full recovery in 2003 after being treated with surgery and radiotherapy.
Anastacia, famous for her hit single, I’m Outta Love, cancelled 13 dates in April across Europe to promote her latest album It’s A Man’s World.
“In light of Breast Cancer Awareness Month I wanted to take the opportunity to support a cause particularly close to my heart,” she said.
“I was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time earlier this year and am currently in the final stages of recovery after undergoing a double mastectomy.
“It has been an intense journey but I am feeling great and ready to start the next chapter.
“Breast Cancer Awareness Month gives all who are facing this disease a chance to gain strength and support from each other.
“Early detection has saved my life twice. I will continue to battle and lend my voice in any way I can,” she added.
Angelina Jolie revealed earlier this year that she had undergone a preventative double mastectomy to reduce her risk of developing breast cancer.
Sharon Osbourne also revealed in November that she had undergone a double mastectomy.
The YouTube’s official blog revealed the Music Awards will be an “event honoring the artists and songs that you have turned into hits over the past year”.
Lady Gaga, Eminem and Arcade Fire, among others, will perform at the event in New York on November 3.
Nominations will be chosen based on videos that have been watched and shared over the past year.
Users will then be asked to choose winners by sharing the nominees across social media.
The ceremony will be streamed live online with nominees for the awards being announced on October 17.
In the days leading up to the event, nominees will share official music videos, covers, parodies, concerts, interviews and fan videos.
On the night itself artists and some of YouTube’s most popular contributors, including Lindsey Stirling and Cdza, will take part in performances and musical collaborations around the world.
Shows will take place in Seoul, Moscow, London and Rio de Janeiro as well as the live event in New York.
The YouTube Music Awards will be hosted by American actor Jason Schwartzman.
Spike Jones, who directed Where The Wild Things Are as well as videos and documentaries for The Chemical Brothers and Bjork, will be the creative director of the event.
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