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
Duck Dynasty Fried Alligator Balls
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.
The Simpsons’ executive producer Al Jean revealed during a recent conference call that the writers are “working on a script where a character will pass away”.
“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.”
The Simpsons executive producer revealed a major character will be killed off
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”.
Members of Silvio Berlusconi’s party have defied him by calling on MPs to back the Italian coalition government in a confidence vote.
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.
Members of Silvio Berlusconi’s party have defied him by calling on MPs to back the Italian coalition government in a confidence vote
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”.
The Vatican’s bank has unveiled its first annual report in its 125-year history as part of an attempt to become more financially transparent.
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.
The Vatican’s bank has unveiled its first annual report in its 125-year history
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.
Duck Dynasty stars are showing off their country roots with a new holiday album Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas.
The Christmas album hits stores on October 29.
Duck Dynasty stars are showing off their country roots with a new holiday album Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas
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.
The Duck Dynasty stars offered a stage show Sunday that brought their audience of several thousand to their feet at Lexington’s Rupp Arena.
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.
The Duck Dynasty stars offered a stage show Sunday that brought their audience of several thousand to their feet at Lexington’s Rupp Arena
“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 direct her second film, Unbroken, a World War II drama, in Australia.
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.
Angelina Jolie will direct her second film, Unbroken, in Australia
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.
Anastacia has revealed she has undergone a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time.
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 has revealed she has undergone a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time
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.
YouTube is organizing its own music awards show
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.
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.”
