Brazil’s Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota has quit in the wake of a diplomatic scandal with Bolivia.
Antonio Patriota resigned after a Bolivian opposition politician holed up in the Brazilian embassy in La Paz for more than a year fled the country in a diplomatic car.
A Brazilian official has admitted using his diplomatic immunity to drive the senator across the border without permission from either country.
Senator Roger Pinto was given asylum at the Brazilian embassy last year.
Antonio Patriota resigned after a Bolivian opposition politician holed up in the Brazilian embassy in La Paz for more than a year fled the country in a diplomatic car
He had been accused of at least 14 crimes in Bolivia, including corruption. He denied the charges and asked for asylum saying he was being persecuted.
Antonio Patriota’s resignation was announced in a brief statement from the office of President Dilma Rousseff on Monday.
The same statement named Luiz Alberto Figueiredo, Brazil’s head of mission at the UN, as the new foreign minister. Anonio Patriota is to become Brazil’s new UN ambassador, officials said.
Brazilian diplomat Eduardo Saboia said he used his diplomatic immunity to get Roger Pinto out of Bolivia, leaving with him in an official vehicle on Friday, she says.
Eduardo Saboia said Roger Pinto had been suffering from depression and he had taken a personal decision to help him.
The senator had been living in a small room in the Brazilian embassy for the past 450 days.
After the escape was revealed, Bolivia accused Brazil of violating international agreements and demanded an explanation.
According to Brazilian media, President Dilma Rousseff’s government did not know of the operation and considered it a “disaster”.
Roger Pinto, who arrived in Brasilia on Sunday, says the charges against him are politically motivated and have been fabricated by the Bolivian government.
Madonna was the world’s top-earning celebrity over the past year, trumping the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg.
Madonna, 55, made an estimated $125 million thanks to her MDNA tour, clothing and fragrance lines, according to Forbes Top-Earning Celebrities List 2013.
The magazine said it was the most money Madonna had made in a single year since it began tracking earnings in 1999.
Director Steven Spielberg was at number two with $100 million.
Madonna was the world’s top-earning celebrity over the past year, trumping the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg
Most of his earnings came from his back catalogue of film hits such as ET and Jurassic Park – which has just been released in 3D to mark its 20th anniversary – as well as last year’s Oscar winning Lincoln.
Steven Spielberg also takes a cut of all ticket sales at Universal Studios theme parks.
Third place was a three-way tie between 50 Shades of Grey author EL James, Simon Cowell and shock jock Howard Stern, with earnings of $95 million.
Thriller writer James Patterson follows with $91 million, while TV and radio host Glenn Beck earned $90 million.
Others in the top 10 included Transformers director Michael Bay ($82 million) producer Jerry Bruckheimer ($80 million) and pop star Lady Gaga ($80 million).
Forbes compiles its annual list of celebrity earnings using input from agents, managers, producers and others to calculate its estimates for each celebrity’s entertainment-related earnings.
The figures do not reflect tax deductions, agent fees or “the other expenses of being a celebrity”.
The controversial Indian Food Security Bill that aims to provide subsidized food to two-thirds of the population has been passed by the lower house.
Under the plan, which still needs to be approved by the upper house, 800 million poor people would receive 11 lbs of cheap grain every month.
Its backers argue it is a big step towards eradicating the widespread hunger and malnutrition plaguing India.
But critics say it is a profligate plan which will hurt India’s economy.
The ambitious legislation will cost 1.3 trillion rupees ($23.9 billion) a year.
The government launched the programme last week by executive decree, but requires parliamentary approval to make it permanent.
In a rare speech to parliament on Monday, Congress party President Sonia Gandhi urged lawmakers to clear her party’s flagship welfare scheme, which she said was part of an “empowerment revolution” worthy of unanimous support.
India’s Food Security Bill aims to provide subsidized food to two-thirds of the population
“Some people ask – do we have the resources for such a legislation? I would like to say, the question is not about resources; we will have to manage resources for this,” Sonia Gandhi said.
“The question is not if we can do this. We have to do this,” she told lawmakers in the lower house.
India accounts for a third of the world’s poor and supporters say such assistance will help reduce poverty and hunger.
But critics have dismissed the bill as a political gimmick ahead of next year’s general election.
“It’s not food security, but a vote securing bill,” opposition BJP MP Murli Manohar Joshi said in parliament before Sonia Gandhi spoke.
The bill proposes to provide a kilo of rice at three rupees, wheat at two rupees and millet at one rupee.
The measure will apply to 75% of Indians living in rural areas and 50% of the urban population.
The bill was an election promise made by the governing Congress party and its implementation is expected to help the party in general elections due next year.
But it has had a rocky journey through the legislative process. Last month, the cabinet passed the measure as an ordinance using special constitutional powers to enable President Pranab Mukherjee temporarily to sign it into law.
But parliamentary approval is needed before 6 September – when the current session of parliament ends – for it to remain lawful.
Opposition parties criticized the government for passing the measure as an ordinance, after initially failing to win parliamentary support.
Despite impressive economic growth in recent years, India still struggles to feed its population and has more malnourished children than any other country in the world.
US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has warned that the government will reach its debt limit by mid-October unless Congress acts quickly.
The debt ceiling was last raised in January. The government can no longer borrow if it is reached.
Jack Lew said that in such a case it will be unable to meet obligations such as pensions, military salaries and Medicare payments.
The country’s borrowing limit is currently capped at $16.7 trillion.
“Extraordinary measures are projected to be exhausted in the middle of October,” Jack Lew said in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and other lawmakers.
“At that point, the US will have reached the limit of its borrowing authority, and Treasury would be left to fund the government with only the cash we have on hand on any given day,” he said.
The cash balance at that time is forecast to be about $50 billion, which Jack Lew said, would be “insufficient to cover net expenditures for an extended period”.
The US government will reach its debt limit by mid-October unless Congress acts quickly
He said: “Operating the government with no borrowing authority, and with only the cash on had on a given day, would place the United States in an unacceptable position.”
There have been tense debates between the White House and congressional Republicans over the government’s debt ceiling, spending cuts, and other fiscal matters.
In August 2011, the Republicans and the Democrats took a hard line while debating raising the borrowing limits.
They only reached a compromise on the day the government’s ability to borrow money was due to run out.
The delay in reaching a deal at that time led ratings agency Standard & Poor’s to downgrade the US for the first time ever, which sparked volatility in the financial markets.
The compromise also included a series of automatic budget cuts known as the “sequester” which came into affect earlier this year.
However, in his letter Jack Lew argued that raising the debt limit does not increase government but “simply allows Treasury to pay for expenditures [the] Congress has previously approved”.
He warned that a delay in raising the limit “would cause irreparable harm to the American economy”.
Jack Lew explained that if investors become unwilling to loan to the US, the country could face an immediate cash shortfall.
”Such a scenario could undermine financial markets and result in significant disruptions to the economy,” he said.
Notting Hill Carnival, Europe’s largest street party, erupted into a full blaze of color for a second day with hundreds of thousands lining the streets of London to watch the show yesterday.
Performers wearing a vivid array of stunning costumes paraded through the streets under glorious Bank Holiday sunshine.
Hundreds of thousands of people descended on the west London streets as they are turned into a Caribbean party of dance, music, floats and food.
The total number of visitors to the two day festival is estimated to reach one million by the end of the day.
Yesterday, known as family day, saw both young and old dancing to giant sound-systems set up on street corners, while procession performers wore multi-colored costumes, played steel drums and danced behind trucks which pumped out anything from reggae to dancehall, and calypso to dub.
Notting Hill Carnival was first organized by West London’s prominent Afro-Caribbean community and will celebrate its 50th anniversary on August Bank Holiday 2016
Scotland Yard said police made 93 arrests – mainly for drugs offences – while London Ambulance Service and St John Ambulance treated more than 300 people for cuts and bruises to their feet and alcohol-related injuries. A spokesman said 45 were taken to hospital.
Other arrests were made for assaults on police, public order offences and possession of offensive weapons, Scotland Yard said.
Not to be left out of the fun, London’s police also got in on the celebration – by performing an impromptu dance off.
Dressed in full uniform, stab vests, florescent jackets and battons, the officers broke out their finest moves to impress the crowd.
The comic moment was caught on video by one of the hundreds of revellers who had cleared a circle too see if the policemen could outshine the carnival performers.
The carnival has been held in London’s Notting Hill since the 1960s and has since spread to other locations, such as Kingston and Leeds.
It was first organized by West London’s prominent Afro-Caribbean community and will celebrate its 50th anniversary on August Bank Holiday 2016.
Notting Hill Carnival is the largest street festival in Europe and over one million people has been expected to take part in the festivities this year.
Monica Bellucci has announced that her marriage to star actor Vincent Cassel was over.
The actress’ announcement follows weeks of speculation about the couple’s increasingly tempestuous relationship.
In April, Monica Bellucci, who shot to fame in films like The Matrix Reloaded and The Passion of the Christ, told Grazia magazine: “Marriage, we never know how long it will last…Today, it works, but in a year, I don’t know.”
On the same month, Vincent Cassel told Closer magazine: “My wife and me are very different animals. This is probably the key to our relationship after 18 years together…We don’t seek other people’s approval.”
Monica Bellucci, 48, met Vincent Cassel, 46, in 1996 on the set of Gilles Mimouni’s film L’Appartement.
Monica Bellucci has announced that her marriage to star actor Vincent Cassel was over
They were together for three years before marrying in a quiet ceremony in Monaco, on the French Riviera.
Vincent Cassell is hugely popular in his home country of France, where he first leapt into the public imagination in La Haine (Hate), a film about delinquents on a troubled Paris housing estate.
Both actors said they had split by “mutual agreement” following 14 year of marriage which produced two daughters, 7-year-old Deva, and 3-year-old Leonie.
Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci, who was born in Italy, had been leading independent lives for a number years, keeping their own respective apartments in Paris and Rome.
Vincent Cassel also spent a great deal of time alone in Brazil.
The split marks the second marriage failure for Monica Bellucci, who was with Italian photographer Claudio Basso for four years, before divorcing him in 1994.
Monica Bellucci is currently away working in Serbia, while Vincent Cassel is thought to be in France.
Vincent Cassel’s spokesman told AFP: “Vincent Cassel confirms that he has agreed to separate from his wife Monica Bellucci.”
Liberia’s Education Minister Etmonia David-Tarpeh says she finds it hard to believe that not a single candidate passed this year’s university admission exam.
Nearly 25,000 school-leavers failed the test for admission to the University of Liberia, one of two state-run universities.
The students lacked enthusiasm and did not have a basic grasp of English, said an university official.
Liberia is recovering from a brutal civil war that ended a decade ago.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel peace laureate, recently acknowledged that the education system was still in a “in a mess”, and much needed to be done improve it.
Nearly 25000 school-leavers failed the test for admission to the University of Liberia
Many schools lack basic education material and teachers are poorly qualified.
However, this is the first time that every single student who wrote the exam for a fee of $25 has failed.
It means that the overcrowded university will not have any new first-year students when it reopens next month for the academic year.
Students told him the result was unbelievable and their dreams had been shattered, our reporter says.
Education Minister Etmonia David-Tarpeh said during an interview with BBC Focus on Africa that she intended to meet university officials to discuss the failure rate.
“I know there are a lot of weaknesses in the schools but for a whole group of people to take exams and every single one of them to fail, I have my doubts about that,” Etmonia David-Tarpeh said.
“It’s like mass murder.”
Etmonia David-Tarpeh said she knew some of the students and the schools they attended.
“These are not just schools that will give people grades. I’d really like to see the results of the students,” she added.
University spokesman Momodu Getaweh told BBC Focus on Africa that the university stood by its decision, and it would not be swayed by “emotion”.
“In English, the mechanics of the language, they didn’t know anything about it. So the government has to do something,” he said.
“The war has ended 10 years ago now. We have to put that behind us and become realistic.”
A representative for Sean Connery has strongly denied reports that the actor is suffering from Alzheimer’s after German newspaper Bild, carrying quotes from best friend Michael Caine, said that the star was “no longer in control of his senses”.
In an interview with Bild am Sonntag, Michael Caine said: “One must have serious concerns for him.”
Bild said the loss of his memory is “noticeable” and that only a few close friends and confidantes, like Michael Caine, had access to him.
“Connery forgets his life,” was the headline in the paper, Europe’s biggest selling Sunday newspaper.
The newspaper said his wife Micheline Roquebrune, 77, was always frightened to pick up the phone when he was out on the streets of Manhattan in case of bad news, suggesting Sean Connery can sometimes not find his way home.
Sean Connery’s representative has strongly denied reports that the actor is suffering from Alzheimer’s
Sean Connery, 83, told a British newspaper two years ago that he had no interest in acting any longer.
The last time Sean Connery appeared before the cameras was in 2003 for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Sean Connery and Michael Caine became friends during the shooting of the 1975 epic The Man Who Would Be King.
A spokeswoman for Sean Connery denied the claims, saying that Michael Caine had been misquoted.
“The same article also have Sean living in Spain where you all know he does not live,” the spokeswoman said.
“This [article] is truly silly and nonsense. I do not wish to give credence to this ridiculous story.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry has condemned the fact that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its own people.
John Kerry said footage of the alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus was “real and compelling” and “undeniable”.
He said President Barack Obama was considering a response.
It comes hours after UN chemical weapons inspectors were fired on near the Syrian capital.
The team was dispatched to one of the five sites around Damascus where hundreds of people were reported to have been killed on August 21.
The Syrian government has denied launching any chemical attacks.
Secretary of State John Kerry has condemned the fact that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its own people
Russia, a key Syrian ally, has strongly warned against Western military action in Syria.
“What we saw in Syria last week should shock the conscience of the world. It defies any code of morality,” John Kerry said in a briefing for journalists on Monday.
The US administration had additional information about the attack that it would make public in the days ahead, he added.
John Kerry said the delay in allowing UN inspectors to the sites of the alleged chemical weapons attack were signs the Syrian government had something to hide.
“Attacking the area, shelling and systematically destroying evidence is not the behavior of a government that has nothing to hide. The regime’s belated decision to allow access is too late… to be credible,” John Kerry said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier told reporters the West had not been able to come up with any proof of chemical weapons use.
Sergei Lavrov was responding to suggestions from some Western countries that military action against the Syria government could be taken without a UN mandate.
New reports claim that Khloe Kardashian has “separated” from husband Lamar Odom.
According to TMZ, Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom are living apart and have effectively “split” after the reality star threw him out of the house.
Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom are living apart and have effectively “split” after the reality star threw him out of the house
In the wake of the reports, Khloe Kardashian, 29, has vented on Twitter, saying: “Really hard to sit here and listen to people talk s*** about my family! F*** you and shame on you! I’m too protective for this s***!”
While it’s believed that neither of them has actually contacted a divorce lawyer, they are now allegedly “separated”, according to the website.
TMZ claims that people close to Lamar Odom, 33, have been unable to find or contact him for the last 72 hours, although a representative for the star has denied this.
Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom have been subject to persistent rumors that their marriage is in trouble after Lamar allegedly cheated on Khloe with two different women.
But several sources have told TMZ the real reason behind their marriage crisis is that Khloe Kardashian reportedly believes that Lamar Odom has a drug problem.
The UN is to complain to the Syrian government and rebels after a convoy of chemical weapons inspectors came under sniper fire.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said he would ask the inspection team in Damascus to register “a strong complaint” so it never happened again.
The UN is to complain to the Syrian government and rebels after a convoy of chemical weapons inspectors came under sniper fire
The team is looking at five sites near Damascus where hundreds are reported to have been killed last week.
Russia has warned strongly against Western military action against Syria.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said any intervention in Syria without a UN mandate would be a “grave violation of international law”.
The West, he told a news conference in Moscow, had not been able to come up with any proof of chemical weapons use while “saying at the same time that the red line has been crossed and there can be no delay”.
He was responding to suggestions from some Western countries that military action against Syria could be taken without a UN mandate over the suspected use of chemical weapons by government forces.
The Butler has topped the North American box office for a second week, taking $17 million.
Officially titled Lee Daniel’s The Butler, because of a legal tussle, it tells the story of a long-serving servant in the home of the president.
Jennifer Aniston’s We’re The Millers remained second with $13.5 million, taking its total to $90 million.
The World’s End from British director Edgar Wright opened in fourth place.
The film, the final in the trilogy from Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, took $8.9 million, following an extensive promotional tour from the director and cast.
Its predecessor, Hot Fuzz, took $5.8 million when it open in 2007.
The producers of Mortal Instruments: City of Bones – which debuted in third spot with $9.3 million – are hoping to have hit upon the next big teen franchise in the mould of Twilight or The Hunger Games.
The Butler has topped the North American box office for a second week, taking $17 million
Based on young adult fantasy book series, Sony Screen Gems has already committed to a sequel.
The top five is completed by Disney’s Planes, a spin-off of Cars, which took $8.6 million.
The global box office chart, which excludes the US and Canada, was dominated by Jurassic Park, which has been re-released in 3D. Its strong showing, with $30 million, bodes well for the franchise restarting next year with Jurassic Park 4.
Second in the global chart was Matt Damon’s Elysium, followed by Monster’s University and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.
Venice authorities have set out proposals to make navigation safer on the city’s main waterway after a German tourist died in a crash last week.
They aim to regulate traffic flow on the heavily congested Grand Canal, and include plans to carry out checks for drug use by gondoliers, the mayor says.
A 50-year-old German man died after his gondola collided with a “vaporetto”, or public water bus, on August 17.
Police say traces of cocaine were found in the bloodstream of the gondolier.
“We have to think of the Grand Canal as a street, a main street like that of all cities, with particular heavy traffic…we need some discipline,” said Venice Mayor Giorgio Orsoni on Monday.
Venice authorities have set out proposals to make navigation safer on the city’s main waterway after a German tourist died in a crash
To avoid future accidents, he said, “these measures will require some sacrifices for citizens”.
Gondolas may only be allowed to operate at certain times of the day after morning rush hour, he added.
He said the city council was assessing the possibility of widening narrow passageways – such as where the recent crash took place – by removing structures such as small docks.
They also hope to introduce a system of checking for drug and alcohol abuse by those in charge of boats and are looking into proposals to ban captains from using hand-held devices whilst navigating the canals.
Jaochim Vogel and his family were thrown into the water after their gondola collided with a water bus, which carries members of the public around the city’s canals.
His three-year-old daughter was treated in hospital for head injuries. Joachim Vogel, however, died after getting crushed between the two vehicles.
An association of gondoliers, which oversees training and issues limited licenses, is also engaged in discussions on safety and accident prevention.
The Farmers’ Almanac that hits newsstands Monday predicts a winter storm will hit the Northeast around the time the Super Bowl is played at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands in New Jersey.
The 197-year-old publication also predicts a colder-than-normal winter for two-thirds of the country and heavy snowfall in the Midwest, Great Lakes and New England.
“We’re using a very strong four-letter word to describe this winter, which is C-O-L-D. It’s going to be very cold,” said Sondra Duncan, managing editor.
Based on planetary positions, sunspots and lunar cycles, the almanac’s secret formula is largely unchanged since founder David Young published the first almanac in 1818.
Modern scientists don’t put much stock in sunspots or tidal action, but the almanac says its forecasts used by readers to plan weddings and plant gardens are correct about 80% of the time.
The Farmers’ Almanac predicts a winter storm will hit the Northeast around the time of Super Bowl
Last year, the forecast called for cold weather for the eastern and central U.S. with milder temperatures west of the Great Lakes. It started just the opposite but ended up that way.
Caleb Weatherbee, the publication’s elusive prognosticator, said he was off by only a couple of days on two of the season’s biggest storms: a February blizzard that paralyzed the Northeast with 3 feet of snow in some places and a sloppy storm the day before spring’s arrival that buried parts of New England.
Readers who put stock in the almanac’s forecasts may do well to stock up on long johns, especially if they’re lucky enough to get tickets to the Super Bowl on Feb. 2. The first Super Bowl held outdoors in a cold-weather environment could be both super cold and super messy, with a big storm due February 1 to 3, the almanac says.
Sondra Duncan said: “It really looks like the Super Bowl may be the Storm Bowl.”
The Maine-based Farmers’ Almanac, not to be confused with the New Hampshire-based Old Farmer’s Almanac, which will be published next month, features a mix of corny jokes, gardening tips, nostalgia and home remedies, like feeding carrots to dogs to help with bad breath and using mashed bananas to soothe dry, cracked skin in the winter.
Also in this year’s edition, editor Peter Geiger is leading a campaign to get people to ditch the penny, like Canada is doing.
Past campaigns have focused on moving Thanksgiving to harvest time in October, reconsidering “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the national anthem and changing the color of money. This time, Peter Geiger thinks he has a winner.
He wants people to donate pennies to charity and then lobby Congress to stop making them.
“They don’t get used very much. They get tossed. The only real use of a penny is if you save tens of thousands of them, then you can use them to help someone,” Peter Geiger said.
According to a new study, Republicans were about 50 percent more likely to tune in to Duck Dynasty Season 4 premiere than Democrats.
The sudy also found that and “Republicans who always vote in statewide elections were almost twice as likely to tune in as were Democrats”.
Republicans were about 50 percent more likely to tune in to Duck Dynasty Season 4 premiere than Democrats
The Washington Post reports the season premiere of the show “got ratings higher than a 30 percent share in 25 media markets,” which is “comparable to most Super Bowls.” And of the top 15 media markets “tuned in to the premiere, only three – Lima, Ohio, Charleston, West Vitgonia and Evansville, Indiana – are outside the South”.
Duck Dynasty is shattering cable television records – the season premiere two weeks ago was cable’s most-watched nonfiction telecast in history.
The study also found that “West Coasters and urbanites were least likely to watch. The show did worst in the San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles media market, where only 2.5 to 3 percent of households tuned in. New York, Boston, Las Vegas and Chicago were all near the bottom in media market performance”.
Chinese prosecutors said no leniency should be shown as the trial of former top politician Bo Xilai ended.
Bo Xilai’s crimes were serious and he had not shown remorse, the prosecution said, so leniency was not called for.
The disgraced politician, meanwhile, continued to deny charges against him and said his police chief tried to defect because he was in love with his wife, Gu Kailai.
The five-day trial adjourned after closing statements, with the verdict expected “at a date to be decided”.
The former Communist Party chief in the mega-city of Chongqing denies bribery, corruption and abuse of power.
On Sunday, the former high-flier launched a scathing attack on Wang Lijun, his former police chief whose flight to the US consulate in February 2012 led to a fresh investigation into the death of British businessman Neil Heywood.
Bo Xilai’s wife, Gu Kailai, has since been convicted of the murder of Neil Heywood, and the abuse of power charge against the former politician relates to his role in attempting to conceal her crime, the court has heard.
Foreign media are not allowed into the trial, but the court in the eastern city of Jinan has been posting regular updates on China’s micro-blogging site Weibo (in Mandarin).
This is China’s most politically charged trial in decades. Bo Xilai had been seen as a candidate for the highest levels of office until his fall from grace. He is widely expected to be found guilty.
When court resumed at 08:30 on Monday, the prosecution made its closing statement.
Chinese prosecutors said no leniency should be shown as the trial of former top politician Bo Xilai ended
“The defendant’s crimes are extremely grave, and he also refuses to admit guilt,” an official transcript read.
“As such, the circumstances do not call for a lenient punishment but a severe one, in accordance with the law.”
The prosecutors’ statement was posted on the court’s microblog and then taken down, before being reposted without a sentence that referred to Bo Xilai acting on the orders of “superiors” in obtaining a fake medical certificate for Wang Lijun.
Bo Xilai then gave a statement to the court in which, according to the official transcript, he blamed Wang’s flight to the US consulate on the fact that he had been in love with Gu Kailai and feared Bo’s reaction.
He also defended his right to deny charges in court, saying he wrote previous confessions under pressure because he hoped by doing so he could stay in the Communist Party and keep his political career alive.
On Sunday the 64-year-old characterized Wang Lijun’s testimony as “full of lies and fraud”.
Wang, who has been convicted of crimes related to the Neil Heywood murder cover-up, told the court on Saturday that Bo Xilai hit him when he told him his wife was a suspect in the killing.
“He suddenly struck me with his fist and hit my left ear. It was not merely a slap… I found the corner of my mouth was bleeding,” court reporting of Wang Lijun’s testimony said.
Bo Xilai has also denied receiving bribes from two Dalian-based businessmen and embezzling funds at his trial.
“On the matter of abuse of office, I made mistakes, this reflected badly on the image of the party and the state. I feel sorry for that,” Bo Xilai told the court on Saturday.
“However I do think the charges against me exaggerated my role in these incidents,” he added.
Two years ago Bo Xilai was seen as a candidate for promotion to the Politburo Standing Committee, China’s top decision-making body.
But in February 2012, as the country prepared for its once-in-a-decade leadership handover, questions emerged over the death of Neil Heywood. Gu Kailai is said to have killed him over a business deal gone wrong.
Bo Xilai’s downfall was seen as the biggest political shake-up to hit China’s ruling elite in decades.
Duck Dynasty’s Jase and Missy Robertson said in a recent interview that they chose to remain abstinent until marriage as per God’s desire, and also spoke about their family values and faith in God.
“We were both virgins when we got married until our wedding night,” Jase Robertson said in an interview, whose video recording has been posted on the website of the non-profit group Abstinence Clearinghouse.
“We decided to do it God’s way and basically had a godly agreement that we would help each other get to heaven,” he said.
The Duck Dynasty series revolves around the Robertson family-owned duck call business in Louisiana, Duck Commander, and their strong Christian faith. The company produces duck hunting products, including a duck call.
A staggering 11.8 million viewers tuned in to watch the premiere of the fourth season of the series earlier this month to make it the most watched reality show ever on cable television.
“What attracted us to each other was what we saw in each other in our faith,” Missy, Jase Robertson’s wife, said.
“We’ve been very happy for 22 years before the money started coming in,” she added.
Jase and Missy Robertson said they chose to remain abstinent until marriage as per God’s desire
Missy Robertson said they can now see the same commitment in their children.
“And what an influence we can have on our children with that testimony. Our oldest son has been dating a great girl for over a year and a half and they also have the same commitment,” she said.
“So it’s just such a wonderful joyous time as a parent to see that and the commitment they have as children wanting to do that also.”
Jase Robertson added the world will benefit if they followed God’s desire.
“A lot of people just think that that’s unreasonable or preposterous,” he said.
“But you know, if everybody chose to do it God’s way, the world would be a lot better off.”
Jase Robertson also shared why he believes fame and fortune are frivolous to him.
“…We were raised really poor, my brothers, we had one bed, one room. But nobody told us we were poor and I was just as happy,” he said.
“The reason is because we loved who we were with, with our family. That’s really the reason why we love to hunt. It’s not so much about what we get to eat or how many ducks we shoot, it’s about who we’re with.”
Jase Robertson stated that following God brings happiness in a family.
“It’s a great testimony because we’re like, ‘Look, we don’t do this because we’re representing some organization. We do it because we trust in God and we believe that His way is the better way, in all things in life,” he said.
“I’m going to use whatever God blesses me with as a platform to tell the world that God is for you. He proved it through sending Jesus down here to die for us and be resurrected. And for us that gives us second chances and it gives us hope, and so we spread that message everywhere.”
All the cast members of the series often display their Christian faith in the episodes and are seen at the end of each program engaging in prayer.
The men of the Robertson family, brothers Phil and Si, and Phil’s sons Jase, Willie, and Jep, have become popular for their signature beards. Phil Robertson started the business in a family shed and spent 25 years making duck calls from Louisiana cedar trees.
“Thanks to its authentic and engaging characters, Duck Dynasty has become more than just a reality show, it is a cultural phenomenon,” David McKillop, executive vice president, of A&E told Inside TV last week.
According to researchers in the US, a new way of screening for ovarian cancer is showing “potential”.
Tumors in the ovaries are hard to detect in the earliest stages meaning it can be too late to treat them effectively by the time they are found.
A trial of 4,051 women, reported in the journal Cancer, showed the method could identify those needing treatment.
But a huge study taking place in the UK will give a final verdict on the test when it is completed in 2015.
There is a survival rate of up to 90% when ovarian cancer is caught early, compared with less than 30% if it is discovered in the later stages.
Unlike other cancers, the symptoms, such as pelvic and abdominal pain or persistent bloating, are often put down to other common ailments and the tumor can be missed.
There is no mass screening programme to detect the cancer either.
A new way of screening for ovarian cancer is showing potential
Scientists already know that levels of a protein in the blood, called CA125, are often higher with ovarian cancer.
However, it is too unreliable on its own. It misses some patients and tells others they have the cancer when they are actually healthy.
Researchers are now testing the idea of using the blood test to sort patients in risk groups based on levels of CA125. Instead of going straight for surgery, low-risk patients are tested again in a year, medium-risk ones after three months and high-risk patients have an ultrasound scan to hunt for tumors.
The US study, at the University of Texas, followed post-menopausal women for 11 years on average.
Ten women had surgery based on their ultrasound scan and all the cancers detected were at an early stage.
Researcher Dr. Karen Lu said: “Clinical practice definitely should not change from our study, but it gives us an insight – we didn’t get a lot of false positives.”
She said the UK study of 50,000 people would give definitive results: “There are two big questions – do we see cancers at an earlier stage and do we decrease the number of deaths.”
Sarah Palin revealed she loves the Duck Dynasty fever sweeping America, suggesting that Republicans turn to the famous family to find their way through the political wilderness.
“[I]t’s time our politicians wake up and hear some Duck calls from far outside the beltway,” the former Alaska governor explained on Facebook, praising the show’s record ratings on cable.
Sarah Palin and her husband Todd with Willie Robertson at the 2013 NRA convention
“The self-made, hugely successful businessmen (and women) of Duck Dynasty made history this week with the ‘most watched non-fiction series’ in TV history.”
Sarah Palin also praised a video showing Phil Robertson delivering a speech against abortion rights that has gone viral on the internet.
“To our GOP leaders in Washington, especially – this is what Americans desire and deserve; we’re not rooting for your social truces. As Phil so rightly asks, <<What in the world has happened to us?>>” she added.
Sarah Palin posted a photo of herself and her husband Todd with Willie Robertson at the 2013 NRA convention.
“Kudos to these Duck dudes for speaking their minds, and for their boldness in living the American dream of LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – reminding us all that it’s only with freedom that anything is possible,” Sarah Palin concluded.
Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras has said the country may need a third bailout but would not accept new austerity measures.
Yannis Stournaras said: “If there is need for further support to Greece, it will be in the order of about 10 billion euros [$13.4 billion], or much smaller than the previous programmes.”
Greece has already received two bailouts totalling about 240 billion euros.
Meanwhile, Cerman Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned about writing down any more Greek debt.
She said a so-called haircut of Greek debt would be bad for the stability of the eurozone, which has seen a return in investor confidence after years of worrying about the future of the single currency following bailouts of several nations – most recently, Cyprus.
“I am expressly warning against a haircut,” Angela Merkel said.
Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras has said the country may need a third bailout but would not accept new austerity measures
“It could trigger a domino effect of uncertainty with the result that the readiness of private investors to invest in the eurozone again falls to nothing.”
Angela Merkel’s comments come after Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said – for the first time – earlier this month that Greece will need another bailout to plug a forthcoming funding gap.
The issue of bailouts is a sensitive one in Germany, where Angela Merkel faces elections for a third term on September 22.
Many Germans feel they have already contributed enough to European bailouts.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month estimated Greece would need around 11 billion euros in 2014-15.
On Sunday, Yannis Stournaras told Greek newspaper Proto Thema that any further bailout would be smaller than the previous two.
But he also warned that Greece would not accept any more forced spending cuts from its partners.
“We are not talking about a new bailout but an economic support package without new [austerity] terms… until 2016, the targets – our obligations – have been set and other measures or targets cannot be required.”
The Greek economy has shrunk further than any other in Europe, with bailout money only released on condition that the government imposes cuts and implements restructuring.
It comes after most of the 18-member eurozone countries came out of recession earlier this year.
Greece’s troika of lenders – the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF – will review the aid programme in the autumn.
Elmore Leonard’s son Peter has said he hopes to complete his father’s last novel.
Elmore Leonard, whose books included Get Shorty and Out of Sight, died aged 87 on Tuesday after suffering a stroke.
The author did not finish his 46th novel Blue Dreams.
Peter Leonard, also an author, told BBC Radio 4 he had talked to other family members about completing it.
Elmore Leonard’s funeral was held in the author’s home town of Birmingham, Michigan, on Saturday.
Blue Dreams was to have featured the Stetson-wearing US marshal Raylan Givens, who has appeared in a string of Elmore Leonard’s stories.
Elmore Leonard died aged 87 after suffering a stroke
In an interview with Radio 4’s Broadcasting House that was aired on Sunday, presenter Paddy O’Connell asked Peter Leonard whether he would finish the book.
“I would, I think so,” he replied.
“It’s been discussed among family members and I’ve talked to Greg Sutter, Elmore’s longtime researcher.”
Peter Leonard added that he did not know how many pages his father had written.
At the funeral, another son, Bill Leonard, told mourners: “Everyone knows that Elmore was a great writer. But only a few of us know that he was a great father – funny, patient and incredibly generous.”
As well as the order of service, attendees were given a small card listing Elmore Leonard’s famous 10 Rules of Writing, which include “never open a book with weather” and “try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip”.
Following the service, Leonard, who served as a Navy seaman during World War II, was given military honors, which included the playing of taps and a flag-folding ceremony, according to the Associated Press news agency.
The Syrian government has allowed UN inspectors to investigate allegations of a suspected chemical weapon attack near Damascus.
The team is to begin work on Monday. Activists say Syrian forces killed more than 300 people in several suburbs east and west of the capital on Wednesday.
State media reported that chemical agents were found in tunnels used by rebel fighters, and also that soldiers suffered “suffocation” in fighting around the suburb of Jobar.
State TV is meanwhile reporting that the governor of the central district of Hama, Anas Abdul-Razzaq Naem, has been killed in a car bomb attack.
The Syrian foreign ministry statement broadcast on state television said an agreement to allow UN chemical weapons experts to “investigate allegations of chemical weapons use in Damascus province” had been concluded on Sunday with the UN’s disarmament chief, Angela Kane.
The agreement was “effective immediately”, the statement added.
The Syrian government has allowed UN inspectors to investigate allegations of a suspected chemical weapon attack near Damascus
A spokesperson for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon subsequently announced that the inspectors were “preparing to conduct on-site fact-finding activities”, starting on Monday. A ceasefire will be observed at the affected locations, the statement said.
Russia, a key ally of Syria, welcomed the decision to allow the inspectors in but warned the West against pre-empting the results.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Saturday that three hospitals it supports in the Damascus area had treated about 3,600 patients with “neurotoxic symptoms” early on Wednesday morning, of whom 355 died.
While MSF said it could not “scientifically confirm” the use of chemical weapons, staff at the hospitals described a large number of patients arriving in the space of less than three hours with symptoms including convulsions, pinpoint pupils and breathing problems.
UK’s PM David Cameron has discussed the situation in a telephone call with President Francois Hollande of France.
David Cameron agreed a similar response in a telephone conversation with US President Barack Obama on Saturday evening.
Later, Syria’s Information Minister, Omran Zoabi, warned that US military action in Syria would not be a “walk in the park”.
“If the US leads a military intervention, this will have dangerous consequences. It will bring chaos and the region will burn,” he said.
A year ago, President Barack Obama said that any attempt by Syria to use its chemical weapons would be a “red line” for the US, and change his administration’s “calculus” in the region.
Argentina has been ordered again to pay back more than $1.3 billion to a group of American investors – 11 years after its record debt default.
A New York appeals court unanimously rejected every Argentine argument against the payout.
The decision is the latest twist in the long-running legal saga.
Argentina refuses to pay anything to investors who declined to participate in a previous debt reduction deal involving most of the nation’s lenders.
“What the consequences predicted by Argentina have in common is that they are speculative, hyperbolic and almost entirely of the Republic’s own making,” the judges said in their decision.
Argentina refuses to pay anything to investors who declined to participate in a previous debt reduction deal involving most of the nation’s lenders
But the appeals court held off forcing Argentina to pay pending an appeal to the US Supreme Court – which is considered unlikely to hear the case, but puts off any decision to 2014, well after Argentina’s congressional elections in October.
The appeal came after a Manhattan court ruled last February that Argentina had violated its contractual obligation to treat all creditors equally. That meant the country would have to pay the bondholders, led by NML Capital and Aurelius Capital Management.
Argentina defaulted on some $100 billion of debts in 2002, and has since restructured its debt twice, cancelling around 75% of the nominal value of the bonds.
Almost 92% of the country’s bondholders agreed to write off most of the amount owed to them.
NML Capital and Aurelius are demanding 100% repayment of the $1.3 billion, plus interest.
The investors were so determined to get their money that they went to court to have an Argentinean ship, the Libertad, impounded in Ghana last year. After several weeks, the ship returned home.
Hosni Mubarak has appeared in court, three days after being released from prison and placed under house arrest.
The former Egyptian president is facing a retrial on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising.
Hosni Mubarak sat in the defendants’ cage along with his two sons, former interior minister, and six security chiefs.
Earlier, the separate trial of the Muslim Brotherhood’s general guide and his two deputies was adjourned.
The court convened briefly and made its decision because Mohammed Badie, Khairat al-Shater and Rashad Bayoumi were absent for security reasons.
Their presence was requested for the trial’s resumption on October 29.
The Brotherhood leaders face charges of inciting the murder of protesters who stormed the Islamist movement’s headquarters in Cairo on 30 June as millions took to the streets demanding the resignation of Hosni Mubarak’s democratically elected successor, Mohamed Morsi.
Mohamed Morsi was deposed by the military three days later.
Hosni Mubarak has appeared in court, three days after being released from prison and placed under house arrest
He is being detained while prosecutors investigate allegations related to his escape from prison during the uprising that forced Hosni Mubarak from power, including that he conspired with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
On Sunday, Hosni Mubarak, 85, appeared in the dock inside the high-security courtroom at the police academy on the eastern outskirts of Cairo sitting in a wheelchair, wearing a white tracksuit and dark sunglasses.
He was reportedly flown by helicopter to the court from a military hospital where he has been held under house arrest since his release from prison on Thursday. The hearing has been adjourned until September 14.
Hosni Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison in June 2012 after being found guilty of complicity in the killing of hundreds of protesters. His former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, also received a life sentence, but the security chiefs were acquitted.
The former president and his sons, Alaa and Gamal, were cleared of separate charges of corruption relating to a gas export deal at the same trial because of the statute of limitations.
In January 2013, the Court of Cassation accepted appeals against their convictions by Hosni Mubarak and Habib al-Adly and ordered a retrial of all the defendants. Their supporters had noted that the original trial judge had said there was no evidence linking Hosni Mubarak to the shooting of protesters.
Their retrial began in May but it has been repeatedly adjourned for various reasons, prompting claims from pro-democracy activists and representatives of the victims that the judges and defense team were dragging out proceedings to avoid a verdict.
On Thursday, Hosni Mubarak was moved from a prison cell to house arrest at the hospital in Maadi, ending more than two years of incarceration.
It came a day after a court ruled that he could no longer be detained in relation to a separate corruption case that alleges he accepted gifts from the state-run publisher, al-Ahram. He has already served the maximum time allowed in custody in connection to the complicity case.
Under President Mohamed Morsi, state prosecutors brought new charges when courts ordered Hosni Mubarak’s release to ensure he was kept in detention. Alaa and Gamal Mubarak are being held on multiple corruption charges.
