Edward Snowden has made the shortlist of three for the Sakharov prize, Europe’s top human rights award.
The American fugitive was nominated by Green politicians in the European Parliament for leaking details of US surveillance.
Nominees also include Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot in the head for demanding education for girls.
Former recipients of the prize, awarded by the European Parliament, include Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi.
Edward Snowden has made the shortlist of three for the Sakharov prize
Edward Snowden’s nomination recognized that his disclosure of US surveillance activities was an “enormous service” to human rights and European citizens, the parliament’s Green group said.
The former NSA employee, who has sought asylum in Russia, said in a statement read out in parliament that he was grateful to Europe’s politicians for “taking up the challenge of mass surveillance”.
“The surveillance of whole populations, rather than individuals, threatens to be the greatest human rights challenge of our time,” Edward Snowden said.
The Sakharov prize for freedom of thought is awarded annually in memory if Andrei Sakharov, a Soviet scientist and dissident.
The winner of this year’s prize will be announced on October 10.
The third nominee for the award is a group of Belarusian political dissidents jailed in 2010 for protesting against the disputed re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko.
The group includes activists Ales Bialiatski, Eduard Lobau and former presidential candidate Mykola Statkevich.
Ales Bialiatski was also named as the first person to receive the Council of Europe’s Vaclav Havel human rights prize, worth €61,000 ($81,000).
As the US Congress has failed to agree a budget by October 1st and a federal government shutdown has begun, more than 700,000 federal workers will be sent home and national parks, museums, federal buildings and services closed down.
How will key departments be affected by the government shutdown?
Department of Defense
The nation’s 1.4 million active-duty uniformed military personnel will stay on duty.
About half of the defense department’s 800,000 civilian employees will have to stop work, but there is a blanket exception for activities that “provide for the national security”.
But where employees are needed to work, they may have to do so without pay:
“Military and other civilians directed to work would be paid retroactively once the lapse of appropriation ends,” according to Defense Department Comptroller Robert Hale.
Department of Energy
Most Department of Energy facilities will close, with only 1,113 out of 13,814 required to work.
Exemptions include staff overseeing the safety of the nation’s nuclear arsenal and operating dams and power lines across the country.
The National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons and naval reactor programmes, will have 343 employees on duty to “perform functions related to the safety of human life and the protection of property”.
More than 400 employees will stay on to work at the Southwestern Power Administration and the Western Area Power Administration, which are in charge of overseeing hydroelectric power and power lines in the south and western US.
Some staff in other areas will remain at work to oversee “the protection of human life and property”.
A federal government shutdown has begun as the US Congress has failed to agree a budget by October 1st
Department of Transportation
Transport roles ranging from air traffic control to airport and hazardous materials inspections will continue and 36,987 out of 55,468 personnel will remain at work.
Staff involved in overseeing commercial space launches would also continue operations – as at least one of a succession of launches will occur between the end of September and the first week in October in support of the International Space Station, according to the department.
Suspended activities will include facility security inspections, routine personnel security background investigations and the employee drug testing program.
Smithsonian Institution
The National Zoo and 19 museums and galleries, including the Natural History Museum, the Portrait Gallery and the Air and Space Museum, would close.
Of the 4,202 employees, 688 will be retained to “protect life and property” – security guards, maintenance staff and people to care for and feed the animals at the National Zoo.
The Smithsonian Institution says: “During a shutdown, the Institution cannot legally accept voluntary services from federal employees to continue their regular duties.”
National Parks
National parks – from Yosemite to Alcatraz and the Statue of Liberty – will be shut down with 3,266 essential staff out of 24,645 remaining on duty. These will include some fire management, law enforcement and emergency responders.
Day-use visitors will be instructed to leave the park immediately and visitors using overnight facilities will be asked to make alternative arrangements and leave.
Where possible, park roads will be closed and access denied.
Department of Homeland Security
About 86% of the Department of Homeland Security’s 240,000 employees are expected to be exempt from the shutdown, including uniformed agents and officers at the country’s borders and ports of entry.
Most members of the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration, Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies are exempt.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services employees will continue to process green card applications.
Department of Justice
Of 114,486 Department of Justice employees, an estimated 96,744 will be exempt from the shutdown.
All Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and support personnel in the field will be exempt as their operations are focused on national security and investigations involving protection of life and property.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents working on active counternarcotics investigations, agents in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and US attorneys will be exempt.
Staff at federal prisons will also be expected to work
US Postal Service
The self-funded US Postal Service will remain open and deliver as usual. The agency receives no tax dollars for day-to-day operations and relies on income from stamps and other postal fees to keep running.
The US government begins a partial shutdown after the Republican-led House of Representatives refused to approve a budget for next year.
A midnight deadline passed without agreement despite a last-gasp appeal by President Barack Obama.
More than 700,000 US government workers face unpaid leave with no guarantee of back pay once the deadlock is over.
Republicans have insisted on delaying President Barack Obama’s health care reforms as a condition for passing the budget.
It is the US government’s first partial shutdown in 17 years.
With less than one hour to go before midnight, the Republican-led House called for a conference – a bipartisan committee with the Senate to try to thrash out a deal – but Democrats said it was too late to avoid a shutdown.
The White House’s budget office began notifying federal agencies to begin an “orderly shutdown” as midnight approached.
One of the first casualties of the shutdown was the Twitter account for the US Capitol.
“Due to a lapse in government funding, this account will not be active until further notice,” it posted.
The US government begins a partial shutdown after the Republican-led House of Representatives refused to approve a budget for next year
Earlier it had warned that the Capitol’s visitors’ centre would be closed if the shutdown went ahead, and all tours would be suspended.
Shortly after midnight, President Barack Obama tweeted: “They actually did it. A group of Republicans in the House just forced a government shutdown over Obamacare instead of passing a real budget.”
House Speaker John Boehner told reporters he hoped the Senate would accept an offer of conference with the House “so we can resolve this for the American people”.
“The House has voted to keep the government open but we also want basic fairness for all Americans under Obamacare,” he said.
The Senate is to meet again at 09:30 on Tuesday, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.
On Monday afternoon, the Democratic-led Senate voted 54-46 against a bill from House Republicans that would have funded the government only if President Barack Obama’s healthcare law – dubbed Obamacare – was delayed for a year.
The US stock market dropped amid fears of political deadlock, although analysts say serious damage to the economy is unlikely unless the shutdown lasts for more than a few days.
Early on Monday evening, Barack Obama went on national television to criticize Republicans for trying to refight the last election.
A shutdown would have “a very real economic impact on real people, right away,” he said, adding it would “throw a wrench” into the US recovery.
“The idea of putting the American people’s hard-earned progress at risk is the height of irresponsibility, and it doesn’t have to happen.”
After the Senate vote, the chamber’s Democratic majority leader blamed Republicans for the imminent halt to all non-essential government operations.
“It will be a Republican government shutdown, pure and simple,” said Harry Reid, referring to the Republicans as “bullies”.
The House then passed another bill on Monday evening to fund the government – but with a one-year delay to one of the health law’s primary elements not due to begin on October 1, the individual mandate.
The Senate again rejected the Obamacare provisions with less than three hours before the deadline.
Major portions of the healthcare law, which passed in 2010 and has been validated by the US Supreme Court, are due to take effect on Tuesday regardless of whether there is a shutdown.
Under the shutdown, national parks and Washington’s Smithsonian museums will close, pension and veterans’ benefit cheques will be delayed, and visa and passport applications will go unprocessed.
Programmes deemed essential, such as air traffic control and food inspections, will continue.
General James Amos, head of the US Marine Corps has ordered two generals to retire because they failed to defend Camp Bastion in Afghanistan from a Taliban attack.
He said Maj. Gen. Charles Gurganus and Maj. Gen. Gregg A. Sturdevant “did not take adequate force protection measures” to stop the 2012 assault.
Two Marines died and eight other personnel were wounded.
The Taliban also destroyed six Marine Harrier fighter jets and badly damaged several others.
Fourteen of the 15 attackers were killed and one was captured. US Marines and UK Royal Air Force gunners were involved in the counter-attack.
Maj. Gen. Charles Gurganus and Maj. Gen. Gregg A. Sturdevant did not take adequate force protection measures to stop a Taliban assault in 2012
In June, Gen Amos asked US Central Command to carry out an investigation and said he decided to take action against the two generals after reviewing the results of that inquiry.
Endorsing the inquiry’s findings, Gen. James Amos wrote: “While I am mindful of the degree of difficulty the Marines in Afghanistan faced in accomplishing a demanding combat mission with a rapidly declining force, my duty requires me to remain true to the timeless axioms relating to command responsibility and accountability.”
He added that Gen. Charles Gurganus bore “final accountability” for the lives and equipment under his command, and had made “an error in judgment” in underestimating the risk posed by the Taliban in the Bastion area of Helmand province.
Gen. James Amos said that Gen. Gregg A. Sturdevant – who was in charge of Marine aviation in the region – “did not adequately assess the force protection situation”.
He asked both men to retire on Monday, speaking personally to Gen. Charles Gurganus at the Pentagon and by video conference to Gen. Gregg A. Sturdevant, a Marine Corps official told Reuters news agency.
Both men agreed to the request, the official added.
Gen. James Amos also recommended to the Navy secretary that Gen. Charles Gurganus’ nomination for promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General be rescinded and that Gen. Gregg A. Sturdevant receive a letter of censure.
Correspondents say it is a rare public reprimand of senior US military officers.
Following the announcement, Gen. Charles Gurganus issued a brief statement saying he felt privileged to have served in the Marine Corps for 37 years.
“I will treasure that forever. I have complete trust and confidence in the leadership of our Corps and fully respect the decision of our commandant,” he said.
Bastion is one of the biggest camps in Afghanistan with a perimeter of 22 miles.
South Korea is staging its largest military parade in a decade, as President Park Geun-hye warns of a “very grave” threat from North Korea.
Cruise missiles and torpedoes were amongst the weapons displayed in the Armed Forces Day parade, reports said.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and General Martin Dempsey also attended the event marking the 65th anniversary of South Korea’s armed forces.
They are currently in South Korea for security talks.
“The situation on the Korean peninsula… is very grave,” President Park Geun-hye said in a speech at the event.
South Korea is staging its largest military parade in a decade
“We have to build strong deterrence against North Korea until the North abandons its nuclear programme and makes the right choice for the people of North Korea and peace on the Korean Peninsula,” she added.
South Korea has displayed advanced weaponry during the parade, including the Hyunmoo 3 cruise missile, which Seoul says is capable of precision strikes on North Korean targets.
Around 11,000 soldiers and 120 aircraft were mobilized for the event.
Chuck Hagel, who is visiting South Korea for the first time since becoming defense secretary, has reiterated the US’s commitment to its military partnership with the South.
He and President Park Geun-hye are expected to discuss the eventual transfer of operational military control to Seoul.
Tensions between the two Koreas rose earlier this year, after North Korea’s third nuclear test in February.
Angered by expanded UN sanctions and annual US-South Korea military drills, Pyongyang threatened attacks on Japanese, South Korean and US military targets in the region.
Earlier this month, satellite imagery also suggested that North Korea had restarted a reactor at its Yongbyon nuclear facility, and tested a long-range rocket engine, a US think tank said.
A new DNA test on a knife allegedly used in the killing Meredith Kercher has been ordered by the Italian judge hearing the retrial of suspects Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito spent four years in jail for the 2007 murder, but their convictions were overturned on appeal.
That ruling was itself overturned in March by Italy’s highest court.
A separate trial convicted Rudy Guede from Ivory Coast of Meredith Kercher’s murder. He is serving 16 years in jail.
Neither the American Amanda Knox, nor her Italian former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, were in court for the start of the hearing in Florence.
Amanda Knox, now 26, was the housemate of Meredith Kercher – a 21-year-old Briton who was found dead in their student lodgings in Perugia.
Amanda Knox was the housemate of Meredith Kercher
Meredith Kercher’s sister Stephanie wrote to the court to express the family’s feelings, nearly six years on from the brutal killing.
Meredith Kercher, from Coulsdon in south London, was an undergraduate at the University of Leeds and was studying on an exchange programme at the University of Perugia at the time of her death.
At the first session on Monday, lawyers for the two accused requested an array of new testimony and evidence be considered by the court.
The presiding judge, Alessandro Nencini, rejected most of the defense’s requests, but agreed to test for DNA on a kitchen knife which the prosecution says was used in the murder.
The first appeals trial, which cleared the two suspects, rejected considering any DNA evidence from the knife, saying the trace was too small to analyze.
The judge also agreed to the prosecution’s request to hear again from a jailed gangster, who has accused his brother of murdering Meredith Kercher. He will testify on Friday.
The final hearing of this new trial is expected in November, paving the way for a verdict as early as December.
Both Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito maintain their innocence.
Amanda Knox has exercised her right to stay away from the court, and remains at home in Seattle.
Earlier this month, she said she expected to win another acquittal, but that “common sense” told her not to return to Italy.
However, if Amanda Knox’s previous conviction were to be confirmed, Italy would be expected to request her extradition.
Raffaele Sollecito, 29, is currently in the Dominican Republic, but it has been reported that he intends to return to Italy to attend parts of the retrial.
Venezuela is expelling three US diplomats, whom it accuses of plotting to sabotage the economy.
President Nicolas Maduro said the diplomats have 48 hours to leave the country, adding: “Yankees, go home!”
Nicolas Maduro says he has evidence that the diplomats took part in a power-grid sabotage in September and had bribed Venezuelan companies to cut down production.
The US and Venezuela have been without ambassadors in each other’s capitals since 2010.
The diplomats expelled have been named as Kelly Keiderling – the charge d’affaires and the most senior US diplomat in Caracas – David Moo and Elizabeth Hoffman.
“We completely reject the Venezuelan government’s allegations of US government involvement in any type of conspiracy to destabilize the Venezuela government,” the embassy said in a statement.
It said it had not yet been officially notified of the Venezuelan government decision to expel the three diplomats.
Nicolas Maduro says he has evidence that the US diplomats took part in a power-grid sabotage in September and had bribed Venezuelan companies to cut down production
Nicolas Maduro made the announcement during an official ceremony at the city of Santa Ana.
“Out of Venezuela! Yankees go home! Enough of abuse against the dignity of a peace-loving nation,” he said.
Venezuela is facing a shortage of several goods, including toilet paper, sugar and flour.
The opposition blames Nicolas Maduro’s left-wing policies and rhetoric for the crisis.
Relations between the two countries have been bad for over a decade.
For years, the late President Hugo Chavez denounced “American imperialism” in Latin America.
In December 2010, Hugo Chavez denied a visa to the man appointed to be US ambassador to Caracas, Larry Palmer, over remarks he had made about involvement between the Venezuelan government and Colombian FARC rebels.
“Anyone who comes here as an ambassador has to show respect. This is a country that must be respected,” Hugo Chavez said at the time.
The US retaliated and expelled the Venezuelan ambassador to Washington.
Nicolas Maduro took office as interim president when Hugo Chavez was terminally ill with cancer. He was elected president in April, by a narrow margin, defeating opposition leader Henrique Capriles.
Nicolas Maduro’s new Foreign Minister, Elias Jaua, met the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, during a regional summit in Guatemala in June.
They both said they were determined to improve relations, but the good will did not last long.
Last week, Nicolas Maduro cancelled his scheduled speech at the UN Assembly General, saying that his life would be in danger in New York.
Nicolas Maduro accused two former US officials of being behind the “provocations”.
“The US government knows exactly that these people were behind a dangerous activity being plotted in New York,” he said.
Shares in New York are trading lower as the prospect of a shutdown of some US government activities looks increasingly likely.
The Dow Jones and S&P 500 both fell 1% shortly after the open, but then recovered some lost ground.
The deadlock also unsettled European stock markets, already nervous about the political crisis in Italy.
The US needs to agree a new spending bill before the financial year ends at midnight on Monday.
But political divisions have resulted in a stalemate and there are worries over the economic impact of a shutdown of the US government.
If the government does shut down on October 1, as many as a third of its 2.1 million employees are expected to stop work – with no guarantee of back pay once the deadlock is resolved.
National parks and Washington’s Smithsonian museums would close, pension and veterans’ benefit cheques would be delayed, and visa and passport applications would be stymied.
Programmes deemed essential, such as air traffic control and food inspections, would continue.
Shares in New York are trading lower as the prospect of a shutdown of some US government activities looks increasingly likely
Investors will be keen to know if Friday’s job report will be released.
The monthly non-farm payrolls report is one of the most closely watched pieces of US economic data.
Employees at the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), who prepare the report, would be among those who would stood down in the event of a shutdown.
“All survey and other program operations will cease and the public website will not be updated,” said Erica Groshen, commissioner of the BLS, said in a memo published on the department’s website.
Republicans are targeting President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, popularly known as Obamacare.
Early on Sunday, the Republican-run House of Representatives passed an amended version of the Senate spending bill that removed funding for the healthcare law.
US Senate Majority leader Harry Reid has vowed that his Democrat-led chamber will reject the Republican bill.
“Tomorrow, the Senate will do exactly what we said we would do and reject these measures,” said Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
“At that point, Republicans will be faced with the same choice they have always faced: put the Senate’s clean funding bill on the floor and let it pass with bipartisan votes, or force a Republican government shutdown.”
Speaking for the president, White House spokesman Jay Carney said: “Any member of the Republican Party who votes for this bill is voting for a shutdown.”
The president, he said, would also veto the Republican bill.
The US government shutdown is looming as Democrat and Republican lawmakers remain unable to strike a deal on a new plan to continue funding its operation.
If they fail to reach an agreement by midnight, the US government will be forced to close all non-essential federal services.
More than 800,000 staff could be sent home on unpaid leave, with no guarantee of back pay once the deadlock is over.
The shutdown would be the first in the US for 17 years.
One of the key points of contention in the political stalemate has been President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, popularly known as Obamacare.
Republicans in the House of Representatives – and their allies in the Senate – have demanded the law be repealed or stripped of funding as a condition for continuing to fund the government.
Major portions of the law, which passed in 2010 and has been validated by the US Supreme Court, are due to take effect on Tuesday.
The US government shutdown is looming as Democrat and Republican lawmakers remain unable to strike a deal on a new plan to continue funding its operation
As the Democrats and Republicans vie for political advantage with the shutdown approaching, on Monday Republican House Speaker John Boehner criticized the Democratic-led Senate for remaining in recess on Sunday after the House passed its version of a budget bill.
“The House has done its work,” he said.
“We passed a bill… The Senate decided not to work yesterday. My goodness, if there is such an emergency, where were they?”
Early on Sunday, the Republican-run House of Representatives passed an amended version of the Senate spending bill that removed funding from the healthcare law and repealed a $29 billion medical device tax.
US Senate Majority leader Harry Reid vowed that his Democrat-led chamber would reject the Republican bill.
“[On Monday], the Senate will do exactly what we said we would do and reject these measures,” said Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Harry Reid.
“At that point, Republicans will be faced with the same choice they have always faced: put the Senate’s clean funding bill on the floor and let it pass with bipartisan votes, or force a Republican government shutdown.”
A Hillary Clinton documentary project has been cancelled after its director Charles Ferguson said political interference had made the film impossible.
In a Huffington Post blog, Charles Ferguson said pressure from Hillary Clinton supporters in the Democratic Party led to many sources shying away.
In August, the opposition Republican Party voted to boycott debates on CNN if the programme went ahead.
It also said it would boycott NBC, which plans a mini-series on Hillary Clinton.
The latter series, still in the early stages of production, is set to star actress Diane Lane as the former First Lady.
Hillary Clinton documentary project has been cancelled after its director Charles Ferguson said political interference had made the film impossible
Hillary Clinton, wife of President Bill Clinton, has been closely watched as a possible contender for the Democratic Party’s 2016 nomination since leaving her position as secretary of state under President Barack Obama in January.
In his blog, Charles Ferguson wrote: “When I approached people for interviews, I discovered that nobody, and I mean nobody, was interested in helping me make this film.
“Not Democrats, not Republicans – and certainly nobody who works with the Clintons, wants access to the Clintons, or dreams of a position in a Hillary Clinton administration.
“After painful reflection, I decided that I couldn’t make a film of which I would be proud. And so I’m cancelling. (Not because of any pressure from CNN – quite the contrary).
“It’s a victory for the Clintons, and for the money machines that both political parties have now become. But I don’t think that it’s a victory for the media, or for the American people.”
The Republican National Committee (RNC) had claimed both the CNN and NBC productions amounted “to little more than extended commercials promoting former Secretary Clinton” and “political ads masked as unbiased entertainment”.
CNN has not commented on the cancellation of the project.
A stroboscopic art installation in Pittsburgh has been temporarily closed after three visitors reported seizure-like symptoms.
Zee by Kurt Hentschlager – opened on Friday at the 943 Gallery, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.
An 18-year-old woman was treated at the scene on Sunday.
District emergency medical services chief Paul Sabol said she was the third person to have reported feeling ill.
The exhibition is restricted to over-18s “due to intense strobe effects”, according to the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s website.
Zee by Kurt Hentschlager in Pittsburgh has been temporarily closed after three visitors reported seizure-like symptoms
The waiver that visitors had to sign before entering the room described the installation as having “intense stroboscopic light in combination with thick artificial fog, resulting in a loss of spatial orientation”.
People were warned not to go inside if they had photosensitive epilepsy, breathing or heart problems, or other issues, including claustrophobia.
Paul Sabol said that changes could be made before the exhibit reopens. Austrian artist Kurt Hentschlager could not be reached for comment at the time of writing.
According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Zee has previously been displayed in other Pittsburgh galleries. Pittsburgh Cultural Trust spokeswoman Shaunda Miles told the newspaper that some patrons had seizures at those installations as well.
The art work is scheduled to remain in the city’s downtown district until October 27 but it is not yet known if and when it will reopen.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust described the work as “exhilarating as well as meditative, the pulsing, stroboscopic audiovisual journey that is Zee pushes the boundaries of human perception”.
Chicago-based artist Kurt Hentschlager began to exhibit his work in 1983, and works predominantly with time-based media, light and sound.
In 2012, Kurt Hentschlager was commissioned as part of the cultural festival running alongside the 2012 London Olympics to create CORE, a symphonic installation showcased at the Ironbridge Gorge Enginuity Museum in Shropshire.
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs sequel has debuted at number one in the US, taking $35 million in its first weekend.
In doing so, it surpassed the original movie, which took $30.3 million during its opening weekend in 2009.
Last week’s top film, Prisoners, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman slipped to second place.
Formula One movie Rush, which depicts the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, took third spot.
Based on a children’s book, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs was a breakout hit for Sony Animation in 2009.
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 is an original story, in which inventor Flint Lockwood must save the day after one of his inventions malfunctions, creating food-animal creatures that overtake the region of Swallow Falls.
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs sequel has debuted at number one in the US, taking $35 million in its first weekend
It has been well-received by US critics: The New York Daily News called it “loud, weird and chaotic”, while Variety praised its “zany tone and manic pace”.
However, its multi-million dollar box office haul was atypical in a week where new releases performed below expectations.
Comedy movie Baggage Claim, starring Paula Patton as a woman on a mission to find a partner, opened in fourth spot with $9.3 million.
And drama Don Jon, starring Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, opened at number five with $9 million.
North American Box Office Top 5:
1. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 – $35 million
Pope Francis has announced that Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII will be declared saints on April 27, 2014.
The pontiff said in July that he would canonize his two predecessors, after approving a second miracle attributed to John Paul.
Polish John Paul, the first non-Italian pope for more than 400 years, led the Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005.
Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII will be declared saints on April 27, 2014
Pope John XXIII was pontiff from 1958 to 1963, calling the Second Vatican Council that transformed the Church.
The decision to canonize the two popes at the same time appears designed to unify Catholics, correspondents say.
Pope John Paul II is a favorite of conservative Catholics, while Pope John XXIII is widely admired by the Church’s progressive wing.
John Paul stood out for his media-friendly, globetrotting style. He was a fierce critic of both communism and what he saw as the excesses of capitalism.
Pope John is remembered for introducing the vernacular to replace Latin in church masses and for creating warmer ties between the Catholic Church and the Jewish faith.
Pope John XXIII has a big following in Italy, where he is known as Il Papa Buono, the good pope.
Toshiba has said it will halve the number of staff in its TV division to 3,000 as it looks to revamp the unit’s operations.
The changes will also see the firm close two of its three overseas TV manufacturing facilities.
The Japanese company said it would focus on emerging markets including Asia and Africa, and end sales in “unprofitable regions”.
Toshiba, like other Japanese TV makers, has been hit by slowing demand, falling prices and increased competition.
The company’s digital products division, which includes TV manufacturing, saw its losses widen to 16.3 billion yen ($166 million), in the financial year to March 31, compared with a loss of 3.3bn yen a year earlier.
Toshiba has said it will halve the number of staff in its TV division to 3,000 as it looks to revamp the unit’s operations
Toshiba, which makes the Regza brand TV sets, said in a statement that the changes were aimed “toward improving profitability and strengthening foundations of the business”.
The company said it would separate the TV business from its Digital Products & Services Company and merge it with Toshiba Home Appliances Corporation.
Toshiba said that it would move resources towards making large screen ultra high-definition (HD) 4K LCD TVs “where growing demand is expected”.
Leading global manufacturers have been looking at this segment, which offers four times the amount of detail as 1080p high-definition TV, as an area of potential growth.
Panasonic and South Korea’s LG are among the manufacturers that have launched ultra HD TVs.
Toshiba’s move to focus on the technology also comes as Japan is looking to become the first country to broadcast 4K programming over satellite from 2014, in time for the football World Cup.
Earlier this year, a Japanese telecoms company said that it was carrying out tests to try to prove that 4K-resolution video could be streamed over the internet to television set-top boxes.
Italy’s deepening political crisis has impacted the financial markets.
The Italian market fell more than 2% and the euro fell to the lowest level since June against the Swiss Franc.
Italy’s 10-year bond yield – an indication of how much the government has to pay to borrow money – rose as high as 4.66%, the highest level in more than 3 months.
PM Enrico Letta plans to hold a confidence vote on Wednesday, to seek the backing of Italy’s parliament.
PM Enrico Letta plans to hold a confidence vote on Wednesday after five ministers from Silvio Berlusconi’s party stepped down
Enrico Letta was forced to make that move after five ministers from Silvio Berlusconi’s party stepped down at the weekend.
But those ministers have now given mixed signals as to whether they are actually leaving the government.
The crisis follows weeks of worsening ties between Silvio Berlusconi’s party and Enrico Letta’s grouping.
Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PDL) objects to a planned increase in sales tax, which is part of wider government policy to reduce big public debts.
The Italian economy is in a dire state.
It is forecast to shrink by 1.4% this year according to the national statistics agency.
A Jacques-Louis David painting of Napoleon Bonaparte has been identified in New York by a University of Reading researcher.
Previously believed to be a copy, the painting was acquired in 2005 for an estimated $23,000 by a private collector, who had the painting cleaned.
The new owner was urged to contact French art expert Dr. Simon Lee to help authenticate the portrait.
The most recent David portrait to be sold fetched $19.2 million in 2006.
The painting, which had been believed lost, shows Napoleon in 1813 when the British and Prussians were threatening to invade France.
It was first recorded in the collection of the Borthwick-Norton family at Borthwick Castle in southern Scotland.
A Jacques-Louis David painting of Napoleon Bonaparte has been identified in New York by a University of Reading researcher
It then passed by descent to Eva Sardinia Borthwick-Norton, who gave it to the Royal Scottish Academy.
Dr. Simon Lee, a senior history of art lecturer at the University of Reading, said: “How it came to be in Scotland is not known but France and Scotland had an ancient alliance against the common enemy – England. So its presence in Scotland might be more evidence of an admiration for the Emperor.
“By having his portrait painted in National Guard uniform, Napoleon was promoting himself as protector and defender of the nation at the time when France was under great threat.”
According to Dr. Simon Lee, the painting was aimed at fostering patriotism but never reached a wider audience because the allied invasion meant it remained uncirculated.
Dr. Simon Lee’s research led to a contemporary print identifying David as the painter and other versions of the portrait, which contained differences in the uniform.
Painterly mannerisms also matched details in David’s Countess Daru portrait of 1810.
He said the cleaned portrait revealed fascinating clues about a potential tension between David and his assistant, Georges Rouget.
“Although the painting is signed with David’s genuine signature, the cleaning revealed the word Rouget and the date 1813 appeared in the underpaint,” he said.
“It was often David’s studio practice to have Rouget transfer an image to the canvas, sketch in the main lines of the composition and then block in the colors. David would then provide the fine modelling of the head and likeness and the final touches.
“I believe it’s Rouget asserting his part in the process. He knew his name would be covered up and so it was perhaps a minor act of frustration or rebellion.
“Some collectors or museums might be put off by having two names on the canvas, but in many ways that is proof that it is an authentic product of David’s working process.”
Kenyan security officials are to be questioned by MPs about alleged intelligence failings over the Nairobi’s Westgate shopping centre attack.
The head of the parliament’s defense committee says “people need to know the exact lapses in the security system”.
There are reports the National Intelligence Service (NIS) issued warnings a year ago.
Some 67 people were killed and many injured after al-Shabab militants stormed the Westgate centre in the capital Nairobi on September 21.
Five militants were killed by the security forces during the four-day siege and 10 people have since been arrested, the authorities say.
Al-Shabab, a Somali Islamist group, said the attack was in retaliation for Kenya’s military involvement in Somalia.
Kenyan security officials are to be questioned by MPs about alleged intelligence failings over the Nairobi’s Westgate shopping centre attack
According to a BBC report, the militants hired a shop in Nairobi mall in the weeks leading up to the siege.
Security officials – including the head of the (NIS), Michael Gichangi – are set to appear before the parliamentary defense committee later on Monday.
Kenyan newspapers have reported that the NIS warned a year ago of the presence of suspected al-Shabab militants in the capital and that they were planning suicide attacks, including on the Westgate shopping centre.
Briefings were given to the ministers “informing them of increasing threat of terrorism and of plans to launch simultaneous attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa around September 13 and 20, 2013”, Kenya’s Daily Nation had quoted counter-terrorism reports as saying.
A dossier from the NIS – amounting to more than 8,000 pages according to Kenya’s Standard newspaper – also suggests the Israelis issued warnings that buildings owned by its citizens could be attacked between 4 and 28 September.
Westgate is partly Israeli-owned.
The Daily Nation has reported that Kenyan intelligence had established that al-Shabab leaders had begun singling out Westgate and the Holy Family Basilica for attack early this year.
Government figures said to have received the intelligence briefings include Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku, Treasury Minister Julius Rotich, Foreign Affairs Minister Amina Mohammed, Defence Minister Raychelle Omamo and Kenya Defence Forces chief Julius Karangi.
The retrial of Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito over the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher is due to open in Italy, but the American will not be in court.
Amanda Knox, 26, and Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty in 2009, but acquitted on appeal in 2011.
In March, Italy’s highest court overturned both acquittals, ordering a fresh appeals process.
Amanda Knox spent four years in prison before her acquittal. She has always insisted that she is innocent.
The retrial is due to open in the central Italian city of Florence, and the first session is expected to discuss procedural issues such as dates for further hearings.
The retrial was ordered after the prosecution had taken the case to Italy’s Supreme Court.
Amanda Knox was found guilty in 2009, but acquitted on appeal in 2011
The court strongly criticized the way the appeals court had dismissed important DNA evidence, ordering the whole process to begin all over again.
Amanda Knox is not required to be present for the retrial.
Earlier this month, she said she expected to win another acquittal, but that “common sense” told her not to return to Italy.
“I was already imprisoned as an innocent person in Italy,” she told America’s NBC television.
“I just can’t relive that.”
“I thought about what it would be like to live my entire life in prison and to lose everything, to lose what I’ve been able to come back to and rebuild.
“I think about it all the time. It’s so scary. Everything is at stake.”
However, if her previous conviction is confirmed, Italy would be expected to request her extradition.
Meredith Kercher, from Coulsdon, south London, was found dead in a flat she shared in Perugia with Amanda Knox, a fellow exchange student.
Both Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito maintain their innocence.
Raffaele Sollecito is expected to attend some of the hearings, reports in local media say.
Amanda Knox insists that on the night of Meredith Kercher’s death she was at Raffaele Sollecito’s flat, smoking marijuana and watching a film.
Another man – Rudy Guede from Ivory Coast – was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to 16 years for the killing.
One of Willie Robertson’s favorite recipes is Beans and Rice.
Excerpts from the book The Duck Commander Family by Willie and Korie Robertson.
The Duck Commander CEO and Duck Dynasty star said: “A short time after Phil’s family moved to Dixie, [his father] Pa fell eighteen feet from the floor of a drilling rig and landed on his head. He broke two vertebrae in his back and ruptured his stomach. The accident nearly killed him. Doctors fused the vertebrae in his back with bone from his hip and repaired his stomach. But Pa was forced to wear a heavy Plaster-of-Paris cast from neck to hip for nearly two years and obviously couldn’t work. Making matters worse, Granny was confined to a mental hospital at the time, so Pa was left to care for five of his children while he was immobilized.
“Phil’s older brothers, Jimmy Frank and Harold, were enrolled in classes at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Both of them volunteered to come home and work to help the family make ends meet. But Pa insisted they stay in school and finish their education. The family somehow survived on Pa’s disability checks of thirty-five dollars a week. Phil’s older sister, Judy, did most of the cooking and cared for her younger siblings, Silas and Jan. Tommy and Phil gathered pecans and sold them to local markets. The family subsided on rice and beans, cornbread, and whatever fish and game the boys could catch. Rice and beans was a staple dish at the Robertson dinner table. A hundred-pound bag of rice and several cans of beans would last for weeks. There are dozens of ways to prepare rice and beans, and the recipes could be altered by adding a simple gravy or squirrels, quail, or fish so it was a perfect meal for the struggling Robertson family.
“You can be creative with this. Don’t worry about doing it exactly the way it is written, try stuff, if you don’t have an ingredient make it anyway. I make beans every time we make or buy a ham — the ham bone is the key. You will find hunks of that ham when it cooks off the bone that you never knew existed and they are delicious. NEVER throw ham bone away!”
One of Willie Robertson’s favorite recipes is Beans and Rice
Ingredients:
1 pound dry kidney Pinto beans
1/3 cup olive oil
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
6 cups water
a couple of slices of bacon, cut up
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (less if you are feeding kids)
2 bay leaves (if you don’t have it in your cabinet don’t worry about it)
a pinch of brown sugar
1 teaspoon Phil Robertson’s Cajun Style Seasoning
1 tablespoon parsley flakes (again, don’t sweat it if you don’t have it)
1 pound Andouille sausage, sliced (Add more if you like sausage, or a different kind if this is too spicy.)
Ham bone with as much ham left on it as you want (I buy one that is honey glazed, take the ham off for sandwiches, then use what’s left for beans)
4 cups water
2 cups long grain white rice
Louisiana Hot Sauce
Directions:
Rinse beans and transfer to a large pot with ham bone six cups of water. Make sure the water is covers all the beans.
In a skillet, heat olive oil and cut up bacon over medium heat. Sauté onion, garlic, bell pepper, and celery for three to four minutes.
Stir cooked vegetables into beans.
Season with bay leaves, cayenne pepper, parsley, and Cajun Style Seasoning.
Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and cook 4 to 6 hours, or until beans are soft and done. Simmer for 2 1/2 hours.
Cut sausage into slices and brown in skillet on medium heat with a teaspoon of olive oil.
Stir sausage into beans towards the end of cooking time and continue to simmer for thirty minutes.
Add a pinch of brown sugar to taste.
In a saucepan, bring water and rice to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for twenty minutes. Serve beans over steamed white rice and add plenty of Louisiana Hot Sauce.
The Patriarchate of Antioch writes on September 24, 2013, the feast of St. Thekla:
Military acts are increasing in our beloved country Syria and Man pays a high price for this tragedy. So we see destruction prevailing in all the country and we see Man pained, displaced, hungry, thirsty and missing life in all places and at all times. One aspect of this tragedy touches the village Maloula and her Monastery of St. Thekla, a place of pilgrimage which witnesses to the continuous Christian presence of love from the first centuries of Christendom, in the one part, and testifies also to the deep relationship which links citizens to whatever religion they might belong.
First Century Monastery of St Thekla in Maloula
The Monastery of St. Thekla in Maloula, a cultural monument, which belongs to all Syrian citizens, and at the same time, an international heritage belonging to all humanity, lives difficult and painful days at this time. The monastery is located in a region where there is exchange of fire and this renders it very difficult and dangerous for it to be provided and supplied. Recently, this exchange of fire damaged totally the electrical generator rendering it impossible to supply the monastery with water and threatening, therefore, the survival of this place.
We know that the presence of the monastery is a clear reminder of Love, peace and brotherhood between all citizens. We insist that we remain there to witness to our love in the country and to its sons and to express to all our total refusal of violence and its damaging effects toward people and the physical environment.
Photo of the cave shrine of the relics of St. Thekla at the monastery in Maloula, courtesy of Bishop Basil.
Mindful of this, we appeal officially and urgently to the Syrian Red Crescent, the International Red Cross and all the governmental and non-governmental organizations with capacity in human affairs to provide those living in the monastery, namely, the nuns and the orphans, whose number is 40 persons, with essential supplies by sending one or more relief cargoes. In this way, the inhabitants will remain in their monastery and village to witness to our close relations with each other deep rooted in this land which we love.
We appeal to the consciences of all in the saving of blood, the refusal of violence, the laying waste of all the monuments of the splendor of Syria and the avoidance of their damage and destruction. We repeat our invitation to all the sons of the same country to adopt dialogue as the only way to deal with the debated issues so that the respect, freedom and dignity of men shall be observed always.
In these difficult days, the hearts of the faithful in the church of Antioch pray to St. Thekla, whom we commemorate today, and they ask her to protect Maloula and the sons of Maloula and to overshadow her monastery, her nuns and her orphans with her protection. May God protect Maloula, Syria and all the world and overshadow the creation with His Divine Peace.
Prince George christening ceremony will be held on October 23 at the Chapel Royal.
Prince William and Kate Middleton’s son, born in July and third in line to the British throne will be christened by The Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Reverend Justin Welby, in a private service, with further details announced at a later date, the Kensington Palace said.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge broke with tradition in choosing the Chapel Royal over Buckingham Palace, where Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Prince William all were christened. The last member of the Royal family to be christened at St. James was Princess Beatrice in 1988.
Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton are even-money favorites for becoming Pince George’s godparents
Odds-makers in Britain are already hot to handicap favorites to become godparents to Prince George.
According to Ladbrokes, Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton are even-money favorites for the honors. They are followed by James Meade, Prince William’s closest chum, at 2-1, and Hannah Gillingham, Kate Middleton’s Marlborough college pal, at 3-1.
Others possibly in the running include pal Thomas van Straubenzee at 4-1 odds and sibling James Middleton at 5-1.
Longshots are David Beckham at 50-1, with his wife Victoria Beckham as godmother lagging far back at 500-1.
SpaceX has successfully launched an updated version of its Falcon 9 rocket from California.
Falcon 9v1.1, carrying the Canadian Cassiope research satellite, lifted clear of the Vandenberg Air Force Base at 09:00 local time.
Preliminary data indicated the desired orbit was achieved nine minutes later.
SpaceX says the updated rocket incorporates a number of modifications to boost performance and simplify operations.
Assuming no anomalies are later identified, this first outing should open the way for the new model to begin carrying satellites for the commercial sector.
In addition to the business it already has with NASA to resupply the space station, the California company now has a long backlog of private sector customers waiting for a Falcon to launch their spacecraft.
SpaceX has successfully launched an updated version of its Falcon 9 rocket from California
These include the big telecommunications platforms that relay the world’s TV and phone traffic.
It is a market that has become dominated in recent years by the European Ariane 5 vehicle. SpaceX aims to take a large slice of its work, and is offering very competitive prices.
The 9v1.1 features more powerful Merlin engines and stretched tanks for additional propellant.
Sunday’s launch was also the first time the rocket had flown with a payload fairing.
This 43ft-tall clamshell covering is necessary to protect satellites from the aerodynamic forces encountered during an ascent.
Sunday’s outing was the first SpaceX mission to use Vandenberg. Until now, all Falcon launches have gone out of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The West Coast facility allows the Falcon to undertake a greater range of missions. In particular, it enables the rocket to fly south out over the ocean, away from land, to reach the polar orbits favored by Earth observation satellites.
There is sure to be a lot of interest, also, in the outcome of an experiment that SpaceX ran on Sunday with the Falcon’s first stage.
Normally, the initial segment of a rocket falls back to Earth after burning out and is destroyed. But the company is endeavoring to develop a system that would allow it to recover and recycle these stages, further reducing the cost of launching a Falcon vehicle.
During Sunday’s mission, some of the first stage engines were commanded to reignite, to see if they could bring the rocket segment down under control. Ultimately, the idea is for Falcon first stages to have legs to permit them to make soft landings.
Navy Vice Admiral Timothy Giardina, the second-in-command of the US military’s nuclear combat forces, has been suspended during an investigation into illegal gambling.
Timothy Giardina was removed from duty on September 3, an official said on Saturday.
He was serving as the deputy in charge of the US Strategic Command, which oversees nuclear assets.
Timothy Giardina has not been arrested or charged as part of the inquiry, into possible use of counterfeit casino chips.
The admiral, a career submarine officer, was referred to the US Naval Criminal Investigative Service after he became suspected in a case involving a casino in western Iowa.
Navy Vice Admiral Timothy Giardina has been suspended during an investigation into illegal gambling
Special agent David Dales of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation told AP “a significant monetary amount” was involved.
“We were able to detect this one pretty quickly and jump on it,” he added.
It is not known whether Timothy Giardina’s alleged actions at the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs had the potential to compromise national security or operations at Strategic Command.
Navy Captain Pamela Kunze told Associated Press that he remains assigned to the command but is prohibited from performing nuclear-related duties or other activities requiring security clearance.
Air Force General Robert Kehlerr, who heads Strategic Command, has recommended that he be reassigned, Capt. Pamela Kunze said.
Strategic Command, which oversees everything from America’s land-based nuclear missiles to space operations governing military satellites, is located at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska.
Timothy Giardina’s suspension follows several other incidents affecting the US military’s nuclear establishment.
In May it was reported that 17 officers in charge of maintaining nuclear missiles were sidelined over safety violations at Minot Air Force base in North Dakota.
In August a nuclear missile unit at Malstrom Air Force base in Montana failed a safety and security inspection, after which a senior security officer was relieved of duty.
Bridget Jones fans have expressed their horror at the news that author Helen Fielding has killed off Mark Darcy in new book Mad About The Boy.
In extracts from her new book, published in the Sunday Times magazine, Bridget Jones reveals that Mark Darcy – her husband and father to her two children, died five years earlier.
Mark Darcy was played by Colin Firth in the Bridget Jones movies.
Bridget Jones fans have expressed their horror at the news that author Helen Fielding has killed off Mark Darcy in new book Mad About The Boy
Helen Fielding is due to speak at next month’s Cheltenham Literature Festival.
In the published extracts, Bridget Jones is revealed to have two children Mabel and Billy and a 30-year-old toyboy called Roxster.
Helen Fielding’s first book Bridget Jones’s Diary was published in 1996 and a sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason was released three years later.
Written in the form of a personal diary, the novels chronicle the life of a 30-something single working woman living in London.
In 2001, a film adaptation starring American actress Renee Zellweger, with Hugh Grant as womanizing Daniel Cleaver and Colin Firth as Darcy, was released.
Renee Zellweger was Oscar-nominated for the role and, in 2004, the sequel was released, although it was not as critically well received.
Mad About The Boy is due for release on October 10.
The Wadhwa group is building The Aquaria Grande in Mumbai, India, planning to feature a swimming pool on the balcony of select apartments in the complex.
So, forget Zwembalkons, as the building has yet to go under construction and may just be an idea on paper. The Aquaria Grande is a realplace being built right now.
The Wadhwa group is building The Aquaria Grande in Mumbai, planning to feature a swimming pool on the balcony of select apartments in the complex
With huge picture frame windows, massive vaulted ceilings, personal green spaces, large patios, motion sensor lighting, and ozone swimming pools, every tiny detail has been scrutinized.
