John Paul II could be declared a saint this year after a Vatican committee approved a second miracle attributed to the former pope’s intercession.
The Congregation for the Causes of Saints ruled an “inexplicable recovery” on 1 May 2011 was due to the late Pope’s intercession, Ansa reported.
Earlier that same day he had been beatified after a first miracle was attributed to his intervention.
Pope Francis must now give his approval before a canonization date is set.
Canonization is the final step in the official process that declares a deceased person to be a saint.
At a plenary meeting of the Congregation on Tuesday, cardinals and bishops mooted a canonization ceremony taking place in December, sources told Ansa.
One possible date would be 8 December, on which Catholics celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception, which this year falls on a Sunday.
John Paul II could be canonized at the same time as John XXIII, Vatican sources suggested. Venerated by Catholics as “the good pope”, John XXIII was elected in 1958 and convened the Second Vatican Council in 1962, but died the following year before it was finished.
John Paul II could be declared a saint this year after a Vatican committee approved a second miracle attributed to him
Canonization requires the attribution of one further miracle to the intercession of the candidate after they have been beatified.
The Vatican has not revealed details about the second miracle in John Paul II’s case.
It was reportedly deemed an “inexplicable recovery” by a panel of doctors before being approved last month by a board of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints’ theologians.
John Paul II died in 2005 aged 84 and was beatified by his successor Benedict XVI in May 2011.
Among a crowd hundreds of thousands strong on St Peter’s Square was French nun Marie Simon-Pierre, who says she was cured of Parkinson’s Disease after praying for the intervention of the late pope little more than a month after he died.
Some questioned the Church’s speed in beatifying John Paul II just six years after his death.
Although widely regarded as one of the great popes of modern times, his 26-year pontificate was tarnished by his handling of the clerical sex abuse scandal that has rocked the global Church.
Critics say other of the Church’s deep-seated problems – such as its dysfunctional management and financial scandals at the Vatican bank – stem from shortcomings of his pontificate.
John Paul II reformed the sainthood process in 1983, making it faster, simpler, and cheaper. The office of “Devil’s advocate” – an official whose job was to try to knock down the case for sainthood – was eliminated, and the required number of miracles was dropped.
The idea was to lift up contemporary role models of holiness in order to convince a jaded secular world that sanctity is alive in the here and now, says veteran Vatican analyst John Allen.
The result was that John Paul II beatified and canonized more people than all previous popes combined.
President Barack Obama ended his Africa tour by visiting Tanzania, after trips to Senegal and South Africa.
Earlier Barack Obama laid a wreath for the victims of the 1998 US embassy bombing in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam.
Eleven people were killed in the al-Qaeda attack, which coincided with a bombing in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, which left hundreds dead.
President Barack Obama was joined for the ceremony by predecessor George W. Bush.
George W. Bush was in Dar es Salaam for a conference on African women sponsored by the George W. Bush Institute.
While the former president and Barack Obama attended the ceremony at the US embassy memorial, their wives took part in the African First Ladies Summit.
Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete walked Barack Obama and his wife down a red carpet to the Air Force One at the international airport in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday.
A guard of honor saluted and marching bands played as the couple boarded the plane.
Barack Obama laid a wreath for the victims of the 1998 US embassy bombing in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam
President Barack Obama had arrived in Tanzania on Monday.
During his stay, he also visited a US-owned power plant, following his announcement over the weekend of a multi-billion-dollar electricity initiative.
The $7 billion five-year initiative is intended to double access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, in partnership with African countries and the private sector.
“We’re starting with countries that are making progress already with reforms in the energy sector – Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Mozambique and Liberia,” Barack Obama told a business leaders forum in Dar es Salaam.
“And with a focus on cleaner energy, we will initially add 10,000 megawatts of new electricity generation, which expands electricity to 20 million homes and businesses.”
At the same forum on Monday evening, Barack Obama launched a programme helping Africa’s eastern nations of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda trade both with each other and with the US.
“We’ll work with the countries involved to modernize customs, move to single more efficient border crossings, reduce bottlenecks, reduce the roadblocks that stymie the flow of goods to market,” he said.
Barack Obama’s second tour to sub-Saharan Africa since becoming president began in Senegal where he called on African governments to give gay people equal rights.
President Barack Obama excluded from his week-long itinerary Kenya, where his father was born, and Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer which has been hit by an Islamist insurgency.
Prince Harry attended Glastonbury Festival with his girlfriend Cressida Bonas, somehow managing to go unnoticed.
Now it seems the secret to Prince Harry’s ability to mingle with the crowd at Glastonbury was in his outfit.
In the first image that has emerged of Prince Harry, 28, he is seen wearing the oldest and best form of disguise – a hat and sunglasses – as he explores the site with a large group of friends.
Prince Harry, who is known for his love of a good party, was photographed from behind while chatting to a friend.
His side profile is instantly recognizable, as is the dash of red hair which can be seen poking out the front of his hat.
It seems Prince Harry’s pals may have been in on his little disguise as a number of them are also wearing trilby hats in the picture.
He wore a grey one, pulled over his head while shades were firmly on his face. He is also seen wearing jeans and a pair of trainers.
Prince Harry attended Glastonbury Festival with his girlfriend Cressida Bonas, somehow managing to go unnoticed
Prince Harry’s girlfriend, Cressida Bonas, can be seen strolling just behind him wearing a pair of dungarees with a bright blue hat and her arm draped around another pal.
The Prince’s ability to go unnoticed ensured he had what sound like an epic weekend at the festival.
As well as being seen hanging out with Kate Moss’s posse, Prince Harry was seen with girlfriend Cressida Bonas on the dancefloor at wild hardcore dance club The Rabbit Hole.
The club which was in The Park area of the festival was the main hangout for hard-partying stars like Kate Moss, Cara Delevingne, and Sam Branson – who were able to remain anonymous among the crowd.
They had their own VIP area which overlooked the VIP teepee accommodation provided to celebrities such as Cara Delevingne, Florence Welch and Kate Moss.
Prince Harry joined the model after watching The Rolling Stones headline set, and following a recommendation from festival organizer Michael Eavis to stay and sample the event’s varied and wild nightlife.
A source told The Sun: “Harry was well up for it. He was dancing in a grey trilby and a white T-shirt, with two security guards close by. They just let him get on with it.”
Michael Eavis, 77, said: “Prince Harry was great actually. I recommended that he should go on into the night, because the nightlife is what Glastonbury is all about.
“At three o’clock in the afternoon, you don’t get it.”
Michael Eavis said he did not join Prince Harry for a pint of cider as he abstains from drinking from two months before the festival until after everyone has left the site.
Jessica Simpson would like her baby son to excel like his father, former NFL player Eric Johnson, his middle name is Knute – apparently in homage to Knute Rockne, regarded as one of the greatest coaches in American football history.
However, others have not been so quick to appreciate the name chosen by the celebrity couple.
Just hours after his birth, Ace Knute Johnson has been targeted by “cowardly” online bullies.
Becoming the latest celebrity new-born to be attacked by internet trolls over his name, Ace has been branded “stupid and ugly” in dozens of Twitter messages.
Jessica Simpson, 32, has been accused of preparing him for a lifetime of bullying.
The singer, who is engaged to former NFL player Eric Johnson, gave birth to her son on Sunday afternoon.
The couple revealed their baby’s name to a US magazine and within hours they were being plagued by hateful messages.
Jessica Simpson’s newborn son Ace Knute Johnson was mocked by online bullies for his unusual name
One Tweeter speculated that Ace would be nicknamed “Ass Nut Johnson” at school while others questioned whether the name was a mistake.
“Knute? Did she mean Newt? Because Knute is a made up word, or Eskimo for <<Jessica Simpson is an idiot>>!” one wrote.
Referring to the trend celebrity parents to give their offspring unusual names, another posted: “Another week, another ridiculous baby name. Yes, Jessica Simpson, I mean you.”
Last night campaigners reacted to the tweets by branding those responsible “cowardly” and “small and nasty”. And they called for an end to trolling.
Susie Boone, of parenting site Made for Mums, said: “Celebrity or not these people are brand new parents and any new mum and dad will be feeling extremely vulnerable just after giving birth.
“It’s a very emotional experience, sometimes it can be a very worrying experience and it can be quite long and exhausting.
“There’s a pressure now for celebrities to announce the birth of their child and then everyone wants to know what the name is.
“They’re trying to get that information out and it’s very sad that people are coming in straight away and attacking them.”
Siobhan Freegard, founder of Net Mums, added that she was “fed up with this cowardly practice” and described the people responsible as “mean spirited, small and nasty”.
She went on to say that Ace, which means first, is an “unusual but not unheard of” name.
The middle name, Knute, is in honor of Eric Johnson’s Swedish grandfather.
This is not the first time Jessica Simpson has been targeted by Twitter trolls.
When she announced the name of her daughter, Maxwell, 14 months, she was accused of being a “terrible mother” for naming the girl “after an elderly man”.
Other stars to have been subjected to online bullying following the birth of their children include television presenter Fearne Cotton, reality star Kim Kardashian and Coleen Rooney, wife of England footballer Wayne Rooney.
Jessica Simpson, who gave birth via a scheduled C-section, was open with her fans throughout her pregnancy.
In March she revealed she was expecting a boy and admitted finding pregnancy much harder the second time round.
Jessica Simpson said: “This pregnancy is the complete opposite. With Maxwell, I felt amazing. I could do everything, eat everything, do whatever I wanted. I had a lot of energy. This time around I’m exhausted.”
Fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden has sent asylum requests to 21 countries, according to a statement published by WikiLeaks.
They include China, France, Ireland and Venezuela. Russia and Norway confirmed they had received applications.
But Russia said Edward Snowden later withdrew the application as the Kremlin had set conditions.
Edward Snowden accuses President Barack Obama of putting pressure on the countries to which he has applied.
The 30-year-old former intelligence systems analyst, who is holed up at Moscow airport, is wanted by the US on charges of leaking secrets.
US Secretary of State John Kerry was expected to discuss Edward Snowden’s case in talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Brunei.
The WikiLeaks press release said that most of the asylum requests – including to Russia itself – were handed to the Russian consulate at Sheremetyevo airport late on Sunday for delivery to the relevant embassies in Moscow.
The requests were submitted by Sarah Harrison, a British member of the WikiLeaks legal team acting as Edward Snowden’s representative, the statement added.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said Edward Snowden withdrew the application to Russia because Moscow had said he should give up “anti-American activity”.
“After learning of Russian’s position yesterday, voiced by President Putin … he abandoned his intention [of staying] and his request to be able to stay in Russia,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had said that while Moscow “never hands over anybody anywhere”, Edward Snowden could only stay on condition that he stopped damaging Russia’s “American partners” with his leaks.
Edward Snowden has reportedly been in the transit area of Sheremetyevo since arriving there from Hong Kong on June 23.
Dmitry Peskov confirmed he was still there and had not crossed into Russian territory, adding that the former analyst had never been a Russian agent and had never worked with its intelligence services.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslav Sikorski said on Twitter his country had received an application but that he would not be recommending granting the request.
Fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden has sent asylum requests to 21 countries
Norway’s foreign ministry later said its embassy in Moscow had received an application by fax which was “probably from him”.
But Norway, Poland, Germany, Austria, Finland and Switzerland said asylum requests could only be made on their soil.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is on a visit to Moscow, said Caracas had not yet received an asylum application from Edward Snowden but that he had “done something very important for humanity” and “deserved the world’s protection”.
“The world’s conscience should react, the world youth should react, the decent people who want a peaceful world should react, everyone should react and find solidarity with this young man who has denounced and altered the world that they [the US] pretend to control.”
Edward Snowden had previously submitted an application to Ecuador, whose embassy in London is sheltering WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and to Iceland.
Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa told the Agence France-Presse news agency on Monday that his country would process Edward Snowden’s asylum request if he managed to enter an Ecuadorean embassy.
However, if he can complete his asylum request on Russian territory, then “the situation can be processed and resolved there,” President Correa added.
Details have also emerged of a letter from Edward Snowden to President Rafael Correa, thanking Ecuador for guaranteeing “my rights would be protected upon departing Hong Kong – I could never have risked travel without that”.
Speaking in Tanzania on Monday, President Barack Obama said Moscow and Washington had held “high level discussions” about Edward Snowden, who he said had travelled to Moscow without valid documents.
Edward Snowden describes himself as “a stateless person”, accusing the US government of stopping him from exercising the “basic right…to seek asylum”.
“The president ordered his vice president to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions,” he is quoted by WikiLeaks as saying.
“This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.”
The leaking of thousands of classified intelligence documents has led to revelations that the US is systematically seizing vast amounts of phone and web data.
Asylum requests to 21 countries:
Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Russia (withdrawn), Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela
Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi has rejected the army’s 48-hour ultimatum to resolve the country’s deadly crisis, saying it will only sow confusion.
Mohamed Morsi insists he will continue with his own plans for national reconciliation, a presidential statement said early on Tuesday.
The army has warned it will intervene if the government and its opponents fail to heed “the will of the people”.
However, it denies that the ultimatum amounts to a coup.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s state news agency Mena reported early on Tuesday that Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr had submitted his resignation.
If accepted, he would join at least five other ministers who have already reportedly resigned over the political crisis.
On Sunday, millions rallied nationwide, urging the president to step down.
Large protests continued on Monday with activists storming and ransacking Cairo’s Muslim Brotherhood headquarters – the group from which the president hails.
President Mohamed Morsi’s opponents accuse him of putting the Brotherhood’s interests ahead of the country’s as a whole.
He became Egypt’s first Islamist president on 30 June 2012, after winning an election considered free and fair following the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi has rejected the army’s 48-hour ultimatum to resolve the country’s deadly crisis
US President Barack Obama – currently on a tour of Africa – called Mohamed Morsi to encourage him to respond to the protesters’ concerns.
Barack Obama “underscored that the current crisis can only be resolved through a political process,” the White House said in a statement”.
In an announcement read out on Egyptian TV, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, defense minister and head of the armed forces, described the protests as an “unprecedented” expression of the popular will.
If the people’s demands were not met, he said, the military would have to take responsibility for a plan for the future.
But while he said the army would not get involved in politics or government, his words were seen by many as a coup in the making.
Noisy celebrations erupted in Cairo as protesters interpreted the army’s ultimatum as spelling the end of Mohamed Morsi’s rule.
Tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters of Tamarod (Rebel) – the opposition movement behind the protests – partied in Cairo’s Tahrir Square late into the night.
Meanwhile senior Brotherhood figure Muhammad al-Biltaji urged Mohamed Morsi supporters to “call their families in all Egyptian governorates and villages to be prepared to take to the streets and fill squares” to support their president.
“Any coup of any sort will only pass over our dead bodies,” he said to a roar from thousands gathered outside the Rab’ah al-Adawiyah mosque in Cairo’s Nasr district.
There were reports of gun clashes between rival factions in the city of Suez, east of the capital, on Monday night.
The army later issued a second statement on its Facebook page emphasizing that it “does not aspire to rule and will not overstep its prescribed role”.
According to Tuesday’s presidential statement, Mohamed Morsi was not consulted ahead of the ultimatum announcement. It said that such action would “cause confusion in the complex national environment”.
Given the inability of politicians from all sides to agree until now, the 48-hour ultimatum makes it unlikely Mohamed Morsi can survive in power.
The opposition movement had given Mohamed Morsi until Tuesday afternoon to step down and call fresh presidential elections, or else face a campaign of civil disobedience.
On Saturday, the group said it had collected more than 22 million signatures – more than a quarter of Egypt’s population – in support.
And on Monday the ministers of tourism, environment, communication, water utilities and legal affairs reportedly resigned in an act of “solidarity with the people’s demand to overthrow the regime”.
But Mohamed Morsi was defiant in an interview published on Sunday, rejecting calls for early presidential elections.
Jessica Simpson has given birth to her second child, baby boy Ace Knute Johnson.
Ace Knute Johnson was born on Sunday, June 30, in Los Angeles, after Jessica, 32, had a scheduled C-section.
A rep told UsWeekly: “Ace Knute [pronounced Ka-nute] Johnson has arrived! Mom and baby are doing great.”
Jessica Simpson and her 33-year-old fiancé Eric Johnson are already parents to daughter Maxwell who is almost 14-months-old.
The couple’s rep said: “Jessica, Eric and Maxwell are thrilled to welcome the new addition to their family.”
Ace’s middle name honors dad Eric Johnson’s Swedish paternal grandfather, Knute Johnson, and is pronounced “Ka-nute”.
Jessica Simpson has given birth to her second child, baby boy Ace Knute Johnson
Jessica Simpson accidentally revealed she and her fiancé, a former NFL player and Yale grad, were having a son during a TV interview with Jimmy Kimmel in March.
In typical Jessica Simpson fashion the news slipped out accidentally.
“The crazy thing is I never knew a wiener could make me nauseous,” she told the chat show host.
Jessica Simpson then laughed off the on-air mistake, saying: “Well I guess I just told the world that I’m having a boy!”
“I can’t believe I just did that, that was not planned,” she said good-naturedly.
Later Jessica Simpson said: “I just did it so crude, I feel awful!”
But she didn’t seem too worried by the gaff, as she later tweeted: “Accidental announcement tonight on @jimmykimmel.”
A source close to Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson, who got engaged in 2010, previously revealed that they were keen to tie the knot shortly after the birth of their son.
But the blonde beauty fears she may fall pregnant again and be forced to cancel her wedding plans a third time, having previously nixed their nuptials because of the unexpected baby news.
In March, Jessica Simpson said humorously of her situation: “I keep planning on getting married but I keep getting knocked up.”
A source said: “[Jessica] was telling friends she wanted to get married a few months after the baby is born.”
Chris Kelly of the 1990s teen rap duo Kriss Kross died on May 1 at age 34 due to a drug overdose, the toxicology report has confirmed.
It was suspected that Chris Kelly died in Atlanta of an overdose caused by using a combination of cocaine and heroin.
An investigator from the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office said a toxicology screening found that Chris Kelly died from a fatal mixture of drugs.
However, the investigator didn’t specify which drugs were present in his system, according to a report on Monday by TMZ.
Chris Kelly, known as Mac Daddy, performed alongside Chris Smith, known as Daddy Mac, and the duo was best known for their hit song Jump.
The popular song on their 1992 debut album Krossed Out helped propel the teenagers to stardom.
Kris Kross was noted for their hip-hop style and, in particular, wore their clothes back to front.
The teen rap duo were discovered at age 13 at an Atlanta mall in 1990 by then 18-year-old rising music producer Jermaine Dupri.
In 1992, Kris Kross landed a spot on Michael Jackson’s Dangerous world tour, as well as a cameo appearance in his popular Jam music video.
Their own music video for Jump shot to number one on MTV and sold over 100,000 copies as a VHS video single.
Chris Kelly was seen in a home video shot in his home partying the morning that he died.
The shaky footage shows people who appear drugged out and seem to have been in Chris Kelly’s home all night.
Kriss Kross had reunited once more to star at a 20th anniversary all-star concert honoring So So Def Recordings in Atlanta in February.
Pierce Brosnan’s daughter, Charlotte Brosnan, died of ovarian cancer aged just 42.
The mother-of-two died after a three year battle with ovarian cancer – the same disease which killed her mother Cassandra Harris 22 years ago – at her London home on Friday.
Pierce Brosnan, who has been filming a spy thriller, November Man, in Eastern Europe, last night said: “On June 28 my darling daughter Charlotte Emily passed on to eternal life, having succumbed to ovarian cancer. She was surrounded by her husband Alex, children Isabella and Lucas and brothers Christopher and Sean.
“Charlotte fought her cancer with grace and humanity, courage and dignity. Our hearts are heavy with the loss of our beautiful dear girl.
“We pray for her and that the cure for this wretched disease will be close at hand soon. We thank everyone for their heartfelt condolences.”
Charlotte, who was adopted by the Irish actor in 1986 when her biological father Dermot Harris died, leaves behind her long-term partner, artist Alex Smith and children Isabella, 15, and Lucas, 8.
She is survived by her brothers Christopher, Sean, Dylan and Paris.
Charlotte was nine years old when her mother Cassandra married Pierce Brosnan at Chelsea Registry Office in 1980.
Pierce Brosnan’s daughter, Charlotte Brosnan, died of ovarian cancer aged just 42
Charlotte and her brother Christopher, from Cassandra’s previous marriage to Dermot Harris, were joined by a half-sibling Sean in 1983.
However, Cassandra became ill four years later while filming in India and after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, fought a four year battle with the disease.
She was just 43 when she died in Los Angeles in December 1991.
Pierce Brosnan and Cassandra’s youngest son Sean was only eight years old when she died.
Three years following Cassandra’s death, Pierce Brosnan met journalist Keely Shaye Smith, who he went on to marry in 2001.
Pierce Brosnan, now 60, and Keely Shaye Smith got married in 2001 and they have had two children together, Paris, 12, and Dylan, 16.
In an interview, Pierce Brosnan said: “I know what it’s like to be a widower and what it’s like to find love again.
“So I know there’s hope and that you have to learn to get on with it. Ups and downs are what life is all about. But the memory of Cassie and her fight against cancer is never forgotten.
“Keely has always been kind and compassionate and encouraged me to mourn Cassie. I think of Cassie all the time – my son Sean is also her son, of course, and he’s 29 now.”
Charlotte Brosnan battled drug dependency and depression in her early thirties and volunteered for treatment at the Priory Clinic in 2003.
Edward Snowden accuses President Barack Obama of deception and taking away his basic rights as an American in a letter released by WikiLeaks.
The letter says Barack Obama – despite his public denials that he’d been “wheeling and dealing” with international parties over Edward Snowden – has dispatched Vice President Joe Biden to pressurize governments where the 30-year-old has sought asylum.
WikiLeaks today revealed they have applied to 21 countries in total on Edward Snowden’s behalf. The list includes Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Finland, France, Spain, Germany and Ireland.
It comes as Ecuador’s president Rafael Correa appeared to wash his hands of Edward Snowden saying his country is not considering his asylum request and that the former CIA analyst is Russia’s problem now.
Admitting Ecuador made a “mistake” in helping Edward Snowden flee Hong Kong in the first place, Rafael Correa appeared to backtrack on previous suggestions he was welcome, adding: “Are we responsible for getting him to Ecuador? It’s not logical. The country that has to give him a safe conduct document is Russia.”
Asked if he would like to meet Edward Snowden, Rafael Correa added: “Not particularly. He’s a very complicated person. Strictly speaking, Mr. Snowden spied for some time.”
His comments are in direct contrast to the open letter of thanks Edward Snowden issued hours earlier, before Rafael Correa’s views had been published.
“I remain free and able to publish information that serves the public interest,” Edward Snowden said in an undated Spanish-language letter sent to President Rafael Correa.
“No matter how many more days my life contains, I remain dedicated to the fight for justice in this unequal world. If any of those days ahead realize a contribution to the common good, the world will have the principles of Ecuador to thank.”
Hours after Rafael Correa’s comments, Finland became the first of today’s new list of potential safe havens to reject his plea for asylum saying such a request has to be made from inside the country.
WikiLeaks legal adviser Sarah Harrison is said to have led the petitions for asylum also made to India, Italy, Norway, Venezuela and Switzerland.
Edward Snowden accuses President Barack Obama of deception and taking away his basic rights as an American in a letter released by WikiLeaks
She also claims to have handled his current application in Russia and his previous request for assistance to China while he was hiding out in Hong Kong.
The long list suggests options are thin on the ground for the former NSA contractor and it appears – from his letter – that he is frustrated by the global community’s refusal to shelter him.
In it Edward Snowden complains that the US is illegally pursuing him for an act that was in the public interest.
“While the public has cried out support of my shining a light on this secret system of injustice, the Government of the United States of America responded with an extrajudicial man-hunt costing me my family, my freedom to travel, and my right to live peacefully without fear of illegal aggression,” it states.
Many critics seized on the letter’s syntax last night to claim it was a fake, written by someone in Britain.
Specifically, those doubting the letter’s authenticity pointed to this phrase:“For decades the United States of America have been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum.”
An American English speaker would use the singular form, has, in relation to the United States.
After the internet erupted in a flurry of doubt, the word “have” was changed to “has” on the official statement on the WikiLeaks site.
Full text of letter released by WikiLeaks it claims is from Edward Snowden
“One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful.
On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic “wheeling and dealing” over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.
This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.
For decades the United States of America have been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum. Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country. The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.
In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.
I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts taken by so many.
The Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular is an annual television broadcast of the Independence Day fireworks show in New York City.
The event has been broadcast annually either on WPIX-TV, syndication or NBC since 1977, with the exception of 1986 when the pyrotechnics were held as part of the weekend-long rededication of the Statue of Liberty. Those fireworks were broadcast on ABC as part of the coverage.
The roots of the annual Macy’s fireworks show can be traced back to the Bicentennial of the United States of America, the 200th anniversary of the adaptation of the Declaration of Independence in 1976 as New York City staged a fireworks show produced by Walt Disney Productions as part of that city’s celebrations on July 4th of that year.
Since 1977, the Macy’s Department Store, whose home base and main store are based in Manhattan have hosted an annual pyrotechnic celebration of America’s birthday with a half-hour, 40,000 shell show from barges on either the East River or the Hudson River. The show is set to a musical soundtrack synchronized to the pyrotechnics. From 1977 until 1999 (except for 1986), Tribune Broadcasting-owned WPIX-TV broadcast the program, with the program syndicated from about 1992 until 1999. As a part of a new contract between NBC and Macy’s for the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade starting in 2000, NBC acquired national telecast rights, broadcasting them live in the Eastern and Central time zones.
A Brief History of Fireworks
Provided by Fireworks in America “The day will be most memorable in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, bonfires and illuminations [fireworks] from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”
So wrote John Adams on July 3, 1776 to his wife after the Continental Congress had decided to proclaim the American colonies independent of England. Fireworks were associated with Independence Day celebrations even before the signing of the Declaration.
The discovery of gunpowder and the invention of the first fireworks (bamboo cases or rolled paper tubes filled with explosives) are traditionally credited to the Chinese, although India is also a likely source.
The Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular is an annual television broadcast of the Independence Day fireworks show in New York City
The sound of these first firecrackers, which appeared about 1,000 years ago, was so loud that the Chinese were soon convinced that the noise would scare away evil spirits. Then almost any event – be it birth, death, wedding, coronation or New Year celebration – became a fit occasion for the noisemakers.
Fireworks made their way to Europe sometime in the 13th century, probably carried back from the East by Crusaders. Their popularity grew, and by the 15th century they were widely used for religious festivals and public entertainment. The Italians were the first Europeans to manufacture fireworks and were the second undisputed European masters of fireworks-making through the end of the 17th century. Their wares were used all over Europe to mark great occasions.
The first recorded display in England celebrated the wedding of Henry VII in 1487. William Shakespeare mentions them several times in his plays, and Elizabeth I enjoyed them so much she appointed a “Fire Master of England”.
James II was so delighted with his coronation display that he knighted his fire-master and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V also valued fireworks – his army contained “fire workers” whose sole function was to stage victory displays.
Fireworks displays became more and more extravagant as the years passed, although events were not always the spectacles they were designed to be. To celebrate the end of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1742, George II ordered an elaborate display and brought in the Italian experts. The preparations took six months, and the result was a huge machine with almost 11,000 rockets and pinwheels surrounding the structure. Handel’s Music for the RoyalFireworks, which included the firing of one hundred brass cannons, was commissioned especially for the occasion. Just as the event was getting underway, an argument broke out between the English and Italian fireworkers, and the North Pavilion of the machine exploded as a result. The show went on, but proved to be a great disappointment. Some called it “a grand whim for posterity to laugh at.”
The earliest settlers brought their love of fireworks to this country. Firings of black powder were used to celebrate holidays and to impress the natives. This fascination with the noise and color of fireworks did not weaken with the passage of time. Pranksters in the colony of Rhode Island caused enough problems that in 1731 a ban was established on the mischievous use of fireworks.
By the time of the American Revolution, fireworks had long played a part in celebrating important events. It was natural, then, that not only John Adams but also many of his countrymen should think of fireworks when independence was declared. The very first celebration of Independence Day was in 1777, six years before Americans knew whether the new nation would even survive the war, and fireworks were a part of the revels. In 1789, George Washington’s inauguration was accompanied by a beautiful display.
Throughout the following years, as the benefits of this new and booming nation came within the grasp of large numbers of citizens, Americans’ growing self-confidence infused them with the spirit of celebration. With this turn, fireworks became more popular than ever. Starting even in the late 18th century, politicians used displays to attract crowds to their speeches.
In 1892, a 400-year celebration of Columbus landing on our shores lit up the Brooklyn Bridge. Over one million people witnessed the event which was considered the greatest show ever seen in the Western Hemisphere.
Among the very recent magnificent displays, of course, have been the 1976 Bicentennial in the Nation’s Capital, the 1983 Brooklyn Bridge Centennial, the Macy’s extravaganzas, the inaugurations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Bill Clinton, annual Independence Day celebrations and many more.
But all stand in shadow of the 1986 celebration of the Fourth of July and the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. The skies lit up over New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty on July 4, 1986, with a dazzling fireworks display destined to surpass any others held in this country, or the world.
The “Statue of Liberty Centennial Fireworks Spectacular” was an international display, with fireworks from many different countries including Japan, China, Germany, Italy, England, France, Spain, Canada, Australia, Taiwan and Brazil. Many were developed especially for this international program, never before seen anywhere in the world. Approximately 22,000 aerial fireworks were launched from over 30 barges and other vantage points, and an additional 18,000 “set pieces” – ground pictures, fountains, colorful low displays – were seen, stretching from the East River, around the tip of Manhattan, up into the Hudson River, and around the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
The production required an estimated 220 miles of wires, 777,000 pounds of mortar tubes (through which sky rockets and aerial bombs were launched) 30,000 pounds of in sundry equipment and staff of at least 100 pyrotechnics on the sites to produce the displays. The men responsible for producing this colossal event are among the most famous in the fireworks industry: George Zambelli, president, Zambelli Internationale, Inc., Newcastle, Pennsylvania; Felix Grucci, Jr., president, Fireworks by Grucci, Inc., Bellport, New York; and Robert A. Souza, president of Pyro Spectaculars of Rialto (Los Angeles), California. Known as fierce competitors in the industry, they never before worked as a “triad”, yet for this event worked closely for nearly a year, designing and planning the largest and most magnificent display in the world in honor of Independence Day and Miss Liberty’s 100th anniversary.
Fireworks have been with Americans since the nation’s very beginnings, and now more fireworks and ignited for the Fourth of July than for any other national celebration in the world.
The Macy’s Fireworks Spectacular will light up the New York City’s sky for the Independence Day celebration once again this year.
Broadcast live on 1010 WINS, the official radio station of Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular, the show promises more than 20 minutes and roughly 70,000 pounds of explosions.
Taking place over the Hudson River, the fireworks show begins at 9:20 p.m. and brings out about 2 million spectators every year.
Make this year one to remember at one of the best places to watch fireworks in New York.
Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise
Pier 83, W. 42nd St.
New York, NY 10036
circleline42.com/
Price: $95
Hours: 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Board any number of the city’s beautiful cruise boats for a full night of drinks, dancing and perfect fireworks viewing. The Circle Line offers the cheapest option to cruise the Hudson during the city’s biggest fireworks show. A live DJ will bring the party onto the dance floor, and food and drinks will be available for purchase on board. Pick up tickets online before they sell out; this is one of the most popular ways to see the display.
If you want to really party in style, board a 19th-century schooner — aptly named America 2.0 — and make a classy night of it with close friends and family. This is one of the more expensive cruises offered for Independence Day but if you’re looking to impress a date, it’s the activity for you. Hors d’oeuvres will be served alongside an open bar with champagne and other drinks. Be right on the water when fireworks are launched from six barges along the Hudson.
Taking place over the Hudson River, the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular show begins brings out about 2 million spectators every year
One of the most iconic images in the entire country, the Empire State Building can’t be beat for a patriotic fireworks viewing. You’ll need to plan ahead for this event because tickets are limited to only about 300 for the night. If you haven’t yet made it to the 86th floor of this historic building, now is your chance to see the Manhattan skyline lit up in celebration. Tickets will include admission to the observatory as well as light refreshments.
The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum
Pier 86, West 46th Street and 12th Avenue www.intrepidmuseum.org
Hours: 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Every year, this museum opens its doors to ticketholders for a perfect viewing party of the Macy’s fireworks display. This World War II aircraft carrier turned museum promises a pretty patriotic Independence day as well. A ticket to the event will include entrance to the museum, a live DJ and a simulcast of the fireworks musical score. Special VIP vieweing of the spectacular event from the museum’s flight deck is the main attraction of the night.
Price: $150 rooftop general admission/$250 rooftop cabana
Hours: 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Rooftop bars are aplenty in New York, offering beautiful, sweeping views of the skyline. Perhaps the best known is Hudson Terrace. Grab a ticket now to the city’s premiere event, where you’ll enjoy a barbecue, open bar, live DJ and spectacular fireworks display. Find yourself a perfect spot on the dance floor, where you’ll be partying all night to the tune of “The Star Spangled Banner.”
Another rooftop bar in NYC that offers great views of the Manhattan skyline is the Press Lounge, located at the top of the Ink48 Hotel downtown. Known as one of the hottest bars in the city, this lounge features comfortable seating, a glass-walled interior space and modern architectural touches such as a low pool lit by footlights at night. The July 4th celebration includes an open bar with signature cocktails and a buffet featuring organic foods from the hotel’s own restaurant, Print.
West Side Highway
Price: free
Hours: 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The fireworks show will be most visible from the West Side, from 22nd to 55th Street. The roadway can offer ideal viewing, as long as you’re willing to stand. Get there early to claim your spot. The northbound lanes of West Side Highway will be closed to traffic to allow visitors to watch the show from there. The highway opens to pedestrians at 4 p.m. 12th Avenue will also be open at the same time for more standing spots.
Although the Duck Dynasty family, a close-knit clan who own and operate a thriving duck call and decoy business called Duck Commander, may be in the limelight, there are still a few things you might not know about the Robertsons.
Here’s a list of the top 10 fun facts you didn’t know about the Robertsons – Phil, Miss Kay, Uncle Si, Jase, Willie, Jep and their wives:
1. Jase, Willie and Jep Robertson actually have a fourth brother, Alan (Al). Alan Robertson is the oldest of the bunch, and may make a special appearance in the upcoming Season 4 of Duck Dynasty.
2. Miss Kay Robertson’s favorite meal to make is fried frogs, and apparently there are two ways to cook them. Jase Robertson recommends soaking them in lemon juice first, and Miss Kay says you can fry them or sauté them in butter to make them extra delicious.
3. Phil Robertson recently ran into his old football friend, Terry Bradshaw, at the airport. When the two men attended Louisiana Tech University, Phil Robertson played first string quarterback ahead of Terry Bradshaw.
The self-proclaimed rednecks of Duck Dynasty are everywhere, from the country music awards, to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
4. Contrary to popular belief, the tea Uncle Si always drinks is unsweetened.
5. The Duck Dynasty clan appeared in Darius Rucker’s Wagon Wheel music video, a remake of the popular Old Crow Medicine Show song.
6. Jase, Willie and Jep’ Robertsons wives actually do love their husband’s beards, and prefer them to the “preppy look” the men used to have.
7. In addition to his huge truck seen on the show, Willie Robertson drives a camouflage BMW.
8. Miss Kay isn’t the only “Miss” of the family. Everyone calls the women of the show by their first names, and adds “Miss” at the beginning. It’s the proper Southern thing to do.
9. The Duck Commander warehouse actually has a store in it. People travel from all over to see the Robertsons, and sometimes hundreds of people are lined up outside at a time. The family claims to know which state is having Spring Break based on all the license plates in the parking lot.
10. Uncle Si Robertson’s favorite way to eat dove is with cream cheese, jalapenos and wrapped in bacon, which is probably another Miss Kay specialty.
Fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden has applied to Russia for political asylum, Russian officials say.
Foreign ministry consul Kim Shevchenko said the request was made on Sunday night. The Kremlin has made no comment.
Edward Snowden, 30, is believed to be holed up in a Moscow airport hotel.
Earlier, President Vladimir Putin said Edward Snowden was welcome to stay as long as he stopped “inflicting damage on our American partners”.
The US has not yet made any comment on the latest developments.
President Barack Obama, speaking earlier in Tanzania, said Washington and Moscow had held “high level” discussions about Edward Snowden.
Fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden has applied to Russia for political asylum
“We are hopeful the Russian government makes decisions based on the normal procedures regarding international travel and the normal interactions law enforcement have,” he told reporters, pointing out that Edward Snowden does not have a valid passport or legal papers.
According to Russia’s Interfax news agency, Edward Snowden’s application for asylum was handed to a consular official at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport late on Sunday evening.
The application was delivered by Sarah Harrison, a member of the WikiLeaks legal team acting as Edward Snowden’s representative, Kim Shevchenko was quoted by the news agency saying.
Russia’s Federal Migration Service has denied the report, which appeared in the New York Times earlier.
Edward Snowden has reportedly been in the transit area of Sheremetyevo Airport since arriving there from Hong Kong on June 23.
He flew there soon after revealing himself to be the source behind the leaking of thousands of classified documents showing the extent of US email and telephone surveillance.
It was thought he had been seeking asylum in Ecuador, whose embassy in London is sheltering WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who is also wanted by the US.
Edward Snowden faces charges of espionage in the US.
President Vladimir Putin has told fugitive Edward Snowden to stop leaking US secrets if he wants to remain in Russia.
Vladimir Putin said Moscow had never extradited anyone before and “has no intention to do so”, adding Edward Snowden was free to go if granted asylum elsewhere.
Edward Snowden, 30, is believed to be holed up in a Moscow airport hotel.
The US wants to prosecute him over the leaking of thousands of classified intelligence documents.
The leaks have led to revelations that the US is systematically seizing vast amounts of phone and web data.
This weekend, Germany’s Der Spiegel newspaper and Britain’s The Guardian newspaper publicized allegations that the US has been spying on its EU allies.
The revelations have angered many EU countries which are demanding a response from Washington.
France’s President Francois Hollande has warned that negotiations over a major EU-US trade deal planned for next week could be threatened unless Washington can guarantee the spying stops “immediately”.
“Russia never hands over anybody anywhere and has no intention to do so,” Vladimir Putin told a news conference in Moscow.
Vladimir Putin has told fugitive Edward Snowden to stop leaking US secrets if he wants to remain in Russia
“If he [Edward Snowden] wants to remain here there is one condition – he should stop his work aimed at inflicting damage on our American partners no matter how strange this may sound coming from me.”
It appears President Vladimir Putin is keen to avoid damaging relations with Washington over the Snowden case.
The Russian president also stressed Edward Snowden “is not our agent and does not co-operate with us”, and Russian secret services “never worked with him and are not working with him now”.
Earlier, senior Russian official Nikolai Patrushev said both President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Barack Obama, had told the chiefs of their security services to seek a resolution to the stand-off over Edward Snowden.
Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, told Russian media that the FSB and the FBI had been told to “keep in contact and find solutions”, but warned there was no simple solution to the situation. The FBI refused to comment.
Vladimir Putin was speaking at the same time President Barack Obama confirmed to reporters that Washington had held “high level” discussions with Russia about Edward Snowden.
“We don’t have an extradition treaty with Russia,” he told reporters while on a visit to Tanzania.
“On the other hand, Mr. Snowden, we understand, has travelled there without a valid passport and legal papers. And we are hopeful the Russian government makes decisions based on the normal procedures regarding international travel and the normal interactions law enforcement have.”
Kim Kardashian is reportedly planning to sell the first picture of her and Kanye West’s baby to a magazine after considering a $2 million dollar offer – which she plans to donate to charity.
The news is unlikely to go down well with Kris Jenner who had reportedly been hoping to unveil the baby on her chat show in order to boost her ratings.
According to TMZ, Kim Kardashian, 32, has turned down the idea of appearing on Kris Jenner’s show with her baby daughter North West in favor of a shoot.
Kris Jenner’s long awaited show will debut on July 15th, so it’s not too surprising that the momager wanted a big splash to open with, particularly after promising lots of content from her family, but that’s off the cards now.
The website claims Kim Kardashian has yet to decide on an offer but she’s been offered a whopping $2 million from one magazine.
And in a move which once again is showing a new side to Kim Kardashian, she is reportedly planning on donating all the proceeds to charity.
Kim Kardashian is planning to sell the first picture of baby North West to a magazine after considering a $2 million dollar offer
It seems Kanye West may be behind the decision as he is believed to be keen to maintain some level of privacy for their daughter.
It’s thought little North West also won’t feature on the next season of Keep Up With The Kardashians, which is no doubt set to cause cracks within the family.
The first picture of Kim Kardashian since she gave birth emerged last week on Khloe Kardashian’s Facebook page.
In the image Kim Kardashian looks exhausted while enjoying a nap with Khloe and Lamar Odom’s boxer pup, Bernard.
Meanwhile Kim Kardashian’s trainer Tracy Anderson has hinted that the reality star has lost some of her famous vanity now she is a new mother.
“From our talks during her pregnancy, I thought she was going to be really concerned [about her weight] once the baby was out, but she’s not,” said trainer Tracy Anderson.
Speaking to UsWeekly, she said: “It’s a tough time, and a lot of women feel like it’s a huge mountain to climb to get back.
“But Kim, surprisingly, has had the total opposite reaction [than] other moms.”
“She’s like, <<We’re going to be so good. It’s fun, I feel great!>>. She just loves the whole process.”
Tracy Anderson also revealed that Kim Kardashian is in “baby heaven” before adding: “She’s excited to get started, but she’s really calm about it all.”
According to a technology website, everything we think we know about making our smartphone batteries last longer could be wrong.
Technology website Gizmodo has debunked some of the myths around battery life, including never charging it to 100%, not letting the battery charge drop below 50%, avoiding wireless charging and staying away from hot countries.
Journalist Eric Limer also claims that an average battery lasts between 300 and 500 times it takes to run down the battery.
“Battery life” means the time your phone will run before it must be recharged, while “battery lifespan” means the total amount of time your battery will last before it must be replaced.
A common myth is that the first time a phone or tablet is plugged into charge, the owner must charge it for at least 72 hours to improve its battery life.
This was thought to be necessary to teach rechargeable batteries their full potential, by fully charging them and then letting them run down completely each time – a system called the “memory effect”.
The theory was that if batteries aren’t taught this then they will “forget part of their capacity”, yet Eric Limer claims this is wrong.
He said: “Battery memory is a real thing, but it applies to nickel-based batteries.
“Your trusty sidekick doubtlessly has a lithium-ion battery and it needs to be treated a little differently.
“Specifically, it should be topped off whenever you get the chance.”
Topping off means charging the battery before it reaches empty and is also called topping up.
Eric Limer adds that users should try and keep batteries charged more than 50% where possible: “For the most part, going from all the way full to all the way empty won’t help; in fact, it’ll do a little damage if you do it too often.
“That said, it’s smart to do one full discharge about once a month for <<calibration>>, but don’t do it all the time.
“Running the whole gamunt on a regular basis won’t make your battery explode or anything, but it will shorten its lifespan.”
Apple claims phones and tablets should be recalibrated every few months to keep the onscreen battery time and percent display as accurate as possible, and keep the battery operating at “maximum efficiency”.
Eric Limer adds that phones also don’t like being all the way full either and advises that a device is taken off charge before it reaches 100%.
He also claims leaving it plugged in when it’s fully charged causes degradation, so the optimum charge levels are between 40% and 80%.
Apple adds that most lithium-ion polymer batteries use what’s called a fast charge to charge your device to this 80% battery capacity before switching to trickle charging.
Everything we think we know about making our smartphone batteries last longer could be wrong
“That’s about two hours of charge time to power to 80 per cent capacity, then another two hours to fully charge it, if you are not using the device while charging.”
This gives iPhone and iPads user an idea of how long it will take to get to the optimum 80%.
It claims that: “This level minimizes age-related capacity loss while keeping the battery in operating condition and allowing self-discharge.”
According to Battery University phones must also be kept cool to protect the batteries. It claims the recommended storage temperature for most batteries is 15C (59F); the extreme allowable temperature is (–40C) to 50C.
Erci Limer adds that at an average temperature of 32F, a lithium-ion battery will lose 6% of its maximum capacity per year.
“At 77 degrees that number jumps to 20 percent, and at 104 degrees it’s a whopping 35.”
According to semiconductor company Qualcomm, mobile phones can be put in a freezer to cool them down.
It has also created a free Android app called Snapdragon BatteryGuru that uses software and hardware to improve battery life.
The app works by learning users’ behavior and intelligently adjusting smartphone settings to minimize background activities without disabling smartphone features.
Eric Limer also warns against using wireless charging to boost battery life adding: “The inductive, wireless chargers out there today have this nasty habit of generating a fair bit of waste heat.
“And that heat will also toast your battery in the process.
“Standard plug-in charging is going to keep your battery in better shape, especially if you’re some place warm to begin with.”
Top tips for boosting your smartphone battery
Your phone works best from 0° to 35°C. Keeping your phone as near room temperature as possible (22° C or 72° F) is ideal.
Viewing Usage Statistics
Awareness of how you use your phone and knowing how long your battery typically lasts can help you improve its battery life. Typically you’ll see two items:
A. Usage: Amount of time the phone has been awake and in use since the last full charge. The phone is awake when you’re on a call, using email, listening to music, browsing the web, or sending and receiving text messages, or during certain background tasks such as auto-checking email.
B. Standby: Amount of time the phone has been powered on since its last full charge, including the time the phone has been asleep.
Update to the Latest Software: Always make sure your phone has the latest software.
Optimize Your Settings: Depending on how they are configured, a few features may decrease your phone battery life. For example, the frequency with which you retrieve email and the number of email accounts you auto-check can both affect battery life.
Adjust brightness: Dimming the screen’s brightness extends battery life.
In addition, turning on Auto-Brightness allows the screen to adjust its brightness based on current lighting conditions.
Turn off push notifications: Instead of automatically syncing accounts, manually sync them instead to save battery life.
Minimize use of location services: Applications that actively use location and GPS services such as Maps reduce battery life.
Use Airplane Mode or Flight Mode in low- or no-coverage areas: Because your phone always tries to maintain a connection with the network, it may use more power in low- or no-coverage areas.
Lock Your phone: Lock your phone when you’re not using it. You will be able to receive calls and text messages while it is locked, but nothing happens if you touch the screen.
Use your phone regularly:
For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally.
Be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down).
British Airways intents to replace classic paper tags and is testing reusable luggage tags made from electronic paper.
Flight information can be transmitted to the tag via the ticket holder’s smartphone, using data from the airline app stored after digital check-in.
Currently operators print off individual paper tags for every bag checked in before each flight.
The electronic tags are to be tested by staff before being made available to some passengers later in the year.
If these tests are successful, the tags will launch in 2014.
BA is testing reusable luggage tags made from electronic paper
Despite various changes to try to speed up airport check-in procedures, the process of dropping off luggage had remained time consuming, said a BA representative.
“The old security questions such as, <<Did you pack your bag yourself?>> are no longer a legal requirement, but the idea of queuing to check in your bag has never gone away,” he said.
“The e-tag still involves going to a desk, but you literally just drop your bag off and someone has a scanner.”
Customers at some airports can now print out their own luggage tags at kiosks, but that still requires more time – and paper – than scanning information direct from a phone, although it is considerably cheaper for the airline.
“[The e-tag] is more expensive, but ultimately it is re-usable – you would acquire and use it multiple times,” said Lewis Freeman, an industrial designer from Designworks, which worked on the electronic tag casing.
“The life of the product is up to five years. I imagine the technology would move on faster than the tag would need replacing.”
Wade Robson, a former child dancer who is accusing Michael Jackson of years of abuse, says he will ask the FBI to release the files on The King of Pop.
Wade Robson’s lawyers hope the material, which claims Michael Jackson paid $35 million to hush up “abuse victims”, will help win their case.
Choreographer Wade Robson, now 30, is suing Michael Jackson’s estate claiming the star molested him time and time again when he was a child.
This is despite the fact he denied being abused by Michael Jackson at the 2005 trial when the star was cleared of abusing another child.
Yesterday the Sunday People revealed the files show Michael Jackson paid huge sums of hush money over 15 years.
US crime-busters seized the material – including tapes, phone transcripts and names of 17 alleged victims – from investigator Anthony Pellican, who worked for Michael Jackson.
His documents were not passed to prosecutors in Michael Jackson’s 2005 trial.
Last night a friend of Wade Robson said: “He was shocked by the news of this report emerging yesterday.
“Wade has already asked his lawyers to contact the FBI to see if they could access the information.
“He feels his case could be bolstered if he could get another child or even more to come out and support what he went through at the hands of Jackson.
“It has been over 20 years, but right now his prime concern is to build a case to show the world he is in the right.”
The source continued: “Wade has been rocked by the reaction to his claims.
Former child dancer Wade Robson is accusing Michael Jackson of years of abuse
“He knows if he stands shoulder to shoulder with another accuser he might be viewed sympathetically.”
The FBI files challenge Michael Jackson’s insistence he never laid a finger on any of the kids invited to his Neverland Ranch in California for unsupervised sleep-overs.
They describe how Michael Jackson was caught groping a child star, molesting others.
A source said: “Spending a year’s royalties to keep him on his throne was worth it. The world never heard what took place.”
Michael Jackson died in 2009 after a medical drug overdose.
The files were revealed as his family attended the Las Vegas premiere of Michael ONE, a lavish stage show.
Audio tapes from Michael Jackson’s secret FBI file offer a sickening insight into his depravity.
They reveal how children would be invited to his estate and how Michael Jackson, who used the codename Blue Fox, would take them way and abuse them with their parents often just feet away.
The tapes are of interviews former employees Philip and Stella LeMarque gave to investigator Anthony Pellican.
Transcripts said:
Stella: Boy A came to see Michael. The parents were in the room smoking p** with a five-month-old baby. At the time he was crazy about Boy A and his little brother.
Philip: Michael likes them young. Boy A was getting too old. The first time Michael saw Boy A in the movie, …. …., he told Boy A he wanted to meet him.
Investigator: Wait a minute. She (an ex-member of Michael Jackson’s staff) makes deals with the parents?
Philip: She makes the deals with the parents to bring everybody… the parents with the kids to the ranch. If there are five, Michael takes the one he wants.
Investigator: You’re saying (the Michael Jackson staffer) brings a selection of kids for Michael to choose from? Like a p**p?
Philip: Yes.
In another excerpt Philip LeMarque tells how he found Michael Jackson with his hands in the pants of another child after being woken up at 2 a.m. to make the star French fries.
And Stella LeMarque says she saw Michael Jackson kissing a boy in his cinema “like lovers” with his mother sitting just two or three rows in front.
X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger and Formula 1 racing driver Lewis Hamilton have split after five years together.
Nicole Scherzinger, 34, and Lewis Hamilton, 28, who went public with their romance back in 2007, are believed to have ended their relationship as their busy work schedules meant they just didn’t get to see each other.
A source said: “Nicole is just so heartbroken and completely devastated.”
The sad news comes just a matter of weeks after Lewis Hamilton hinted that he was planning to propose to Nicole Scherzinger.
Lewis Hamilton said: “We’ve been together for five years, which is quite a milestone really. But hopefully in the near future. Maybe before we get to six years.”
Nicole Scherzinger has regularly been seen supporting Hamilton Lewis at his various Grand Prix commitments, but admitted previously she is only there for her beau, rather than knowing anything about the sport as a whole.
She said: “I only go to a Grand Prix to support Lewis. I am in awe of Formula One because there is so much money, technology and talent, but as for the racing, it really is like trying to understand rocket science when I’m there, trackside.
Nicole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton are believed to have ended their relationship as their busy work schedules meant they just didn’t get to see each other
“For me there’s only ever one winner and a lot of people would agree with me on that – Lewis is the best.”
But since recommitting to the X Factor this year, Nicole Scherzinger has been kept busy with auditions in locations including Glasgow, Dublin and London, while Lewis Hamilton has been concentrating on his racing career.
The last time the couple were pictured together was at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on June 10th.
Since then, Nicole Scherzinger has gone solo at various events including Wimbledon last week and the Summer Music Festival in Rome, Italy, where she put on a stunning performance last week.
Nicole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton met at the European Music Awards in Munich in November 2007, before going public at the Monaco Grand Prix six months later.
In July 2011 there was unconfirmed speculation the couple had become engaged.
Nicole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton briefly split in January 2010 when they had been together for 20 months, before later reconciling.
The couple then split again in late 2011, before giving their relationship another go in early 2012.
Nicole Scherzinger is expected to make an appearance at the X Factor auditions in Cardiff later this week.
Egyptian anti-government protesters have stormed the national headquarters of President Mohammed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood in the capital, Cairo.
People are reported to have ransacked the building in the eastern Moqattam district and also set it on fire.
Eight people have been killed outside since Sunday, security sources say.
Earlier, the opposition movement behind the protests that saw millions take to the streets across Egypt on Sunday gave Mohamed Morsi until Tuesday to resign.
Tamarod (Rebel) said Mohamed Morsi would face a campaign of civil disobedience if he did not leave power and allow elections to be held.
Protesters across Egypt have accused the president of failing to tackle economic and security problems since being elected a year ago. His supporters have insisted he needs more time.
Millions of people attended demonstrations across the country on Sunday to demand Mohamed Morsi step down.
The crowds seen in Cairo’s Tahrir Square were the biggest since the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
Overnight, protesters threw petrol bombs and rocks at armed guards inside, who retaliated by firing at them.
Anti-government protesters have stormed the national HQ of President Mohammed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo
On Monday morning, the protesters stormed the six-storey building and began throwing objects of broken windows. One protester was seen removing the Muslim Brotherhood sign, while an Egyptian flag was flown from a balcony.
A Muslim Brotherhood spokesman blamed the violence on “thugs” and said it would be demanding the police explain why officers had failed to protect the group’s headquarters, according to the Reuters news agency.
Two people inside had been injured by fires before a Brotherhood security detail could evacuate them on Monday morning, he added.
Earlier, Tamarod issued a statement saying the protesters would give Mohamed Morsi until 17:00 on Tuesday to leave power and allow state institutions to prepare for early presidential elections.
Otherwise, people would begin a campaign of “complete civil disobedience”, the group warned.
It urged “state institutions including the army, the police and the judiciary, to clearly side with the popular will as represented by the crowds”.
The group also rejected offers of dialogue from the president.
“There is no way to accept any half measures,” it said.
“There is no alternative other than the peaceful end of power of the Muslim Brotherhood and its representative, Mohamed Morsi.”
On Saturday, Tamarod said it had collected more than 22 million signatures – more than a quarter of Egypt’s population – in support.
But Mohamed Morsi was defiant in an interview published on Sunday, rejecting the opposition calls for early presidential elections.
“If we changed someone in office who [was elected] according to constitutional legitimacy – well, there will be people opposing the new president too, and a week or a month later they will ask him to step down,” he told the Guardian newspaper.
He said he would not tolerate any deviation from constitutional order.
“There is no room for any talk against this constitutional legitimacy. There can be demonstrations and people expressing their opinions,” Mohamed Morsi added.
“But what’s critical in all this is the adoption and application of the constitution. This is the critical point.”
Starting with 1st of July 2013 Croatia has become the 28th member of the European Union, with crowds joining celebrations in the capital Zagreb.
Fireworks lit the sky as membership became effective at midnight on Sunday, with President Ivo Josipovic describing the event as historic.
It comes almost two decades after Croatia’s brutal war of independence.
But correspondents say enthusiasm for the EU in the country has been dampened by the eurozone crisis, and Croatia’s own economic problems.
Celebrations took place in the central square of Zagreb, with fireworks and music including Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, the European anthem.
“Welcome to the European Union!” European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in Croatian to the cheering crowd.
President Ivo Josipovic said it was “a great and joyful day for our homeland”.
“This the day when we open a new chapter in the thick book of our history,” he added.
Starting with 1st of July 2013 Croatia has become the 28th member of the European Union
Earlier he told a meeting of EU and regional leaders: “The accession of Croatia to the European Union is confirmation that each one of us belongs to the European democratic and cultural set of values.”
Croatian officials then unveiled EU signs and removed customs posts at the borders with Slovenia, the first former Yugoslav republic to have joined the bloc, and with Hungary.
Croatia is the first new EU member since Romania and Bulgaria joined in 2007. It is 10 years since it applied.
Croatia’s split from Yugoslavia triggered a 1991-1995 war to secure its independence.
But with one in five unemployed and Croatia’s national debt officially classed as junk, some Croatians feel joining an economic bloc with its own serious troubles will do little to improve their prospects.
“Just look what’s happening in Greece and Spain! Is this where we’re headed?” asked pensioner Pavao Brkanovic in a market in the capital.
“You need illusions to be joyful, but the illusions have long gone,” he told Reuters news agency.
Concerns about Croatian corruption and organized crime remain among some EU leaders, and Croatia will not yet join the single currency nor the visa-free Schengen zone.
But advocates of EU membership say despite this, their case remains a persuasive one.
Two-thirds of Croatians voted in favor of accession last year.
“It’s important for us primarily for the long term guarantees of political stability and then everything else – the single market too,” said Croatia’s First Deputy Prime Minister, Vesna Pusic.
The EU itself has given Croatia a clean bill of health – and praised reforms which improve the rule of law and tackle corruption.
It hopes the other countries of the former Yugoslavia will be encouraged to join – and secure long-term peace for an historically turbulent region.
Pope Francis said during his Sunday Angelus address to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square that Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to resign was “a great example” of what it means to follow one’s conscience through prayer.
Following one’s conscience doesn’t mean chasing after one’s own self-interests; it calls for listening to God, understanding his will and carrying out his plan with determination, Pope Francis said.
Pope Benedict provided a “recent marvelous example” of following one’s conscience, Pope Francis said, evidently referring to the retired pontiff’s decision to leave office.
“Pope Benedict XVI gave us this great example when the Lord led him to understand, in prayer, what was the step he should take,” Pope Francis said.
“He followed, with a great sense of discernment and courage, his conscience, that is, the will of God, who spoke to his heart.”
References to the retired pope drew applause from the crowd, which Pope Francis urged on with encouraging gestures.
Pope Francis says Pope Benedict’s decision to resign was a great example
Jesus provides many examples of how important it is to follow one’s conscience by “listening to his father’s voice in his heart and following it,” he said.
Jesus, who is God-made-man, had free will and wasn’t “remote-controlled” by God.
However, Jesus never made his decisions by himself; he was always “in full union” with God and obeyed him after listening carefully and closely to his will, Pope Francis said.
Because he acted after careful consideration “together with his father” and in line with the truth, Jesus was able to be decisive and sure, and “found the strength and light for his journey.”
“We, too, have to learn to listen to our conscience more,” Pope Francis said.
“But be careful: This doesn’t mean following oneself, doing what interests me, what’s worthwhile for me, what I like,” he said.
The conscience is “listening to the truth, to the good, listening to God” and this is fostered by having a close relationship with God, “who speaks to my heart and helps me to discern, understand the path I have to take.”
God also helps people “go forward and be faithful” once they have made their decision, Pope Francis said.
Actor and karate expert Jim Kelly, who starred with Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon, has died at the age of 67.
Jim Kelly became famed for his cool one-liners and fight scenes as the charismatic Williams in the 1973 martial arts classic.
His other films included Black Belt Jones, Three the Hard Way, Golden Needles and the Black Samurai.
Marilyn Dishman, Jim Kelly’s ex-wife, said he died on Saturday of cancer at his home in California.
Enter the Dragon is considered to be one of the most popular kung fu films of all time, it was bruce Lee’s first film in the English language and was released days after his death at the age of 32.
In the 1980s, Jim Kelly re-trained as a professional tennis coach.
Jim Kelly, who starred with Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon, has died at the age of 67
In an interview with the LA Times in 2010, Jim Kelly said: “I broke down the color barrier – I was the first black martial artist to become a movie star. It’s amazing to see how many people still remember that, because I haven’t really done much, in terms of movies, in a long time.”
He added: “I never left the movie business. It’s just that after a certain point, I didn’t get the type of projects that I wanted to do. I still get at least three scripts per year, but most of them don’t put forth a positive image.
“There’s nothing I really want to do, so I don’t do it. If it happens, it happens, but if not, I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished.”
Jim Kelly was born in Kentucky and began studying martial arts there in 1964 before moving to California.
By the end of the decade, Jim Kelly was teaching at his own karate school before sought out by Enter the Dragon producer Fred Weintraub, who had heard about his karate skills.
Sarah Guyard-Guillot, a performer in the famous Cirque du Soleil, has died after falling off a stage during a show in Las Vegas.
Paris-born Sarah Guyard-Guillot was performing in the Ka show at the MGM Grand.
The 31-year-old acrobat and mother of two was pronounced dead late on Saturday night in hospital after falling 50ft (15m) from the stage.
Sarah Guyard-Guillot’s death is believed to be the first fatality during a live performance in the show’s 30-year history.
Witnesses Dan Mosqueda told the Las Vegas Sun that Sarah Guyard-Guillot was being hoisted up the side of the stage when it appeared that she slipped free of her safety wire and plummeted to an open pit below.
“Initially, a lot of people in the audience thought it was part of the [show],” he said.
Cirque du Soleil performer Sarah Guyard-Guillot has died after falling off a stage during Ka show in Las Vegas
“But you could hear screaming, then groaning, and we could hear a female artist crying from the stage.”
The show was stopped and audience members told that refunds or vouchers to future shows would be offered. All performances of Ka have been cancelled until further notice.
Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte issued a statement Sunday praising the performer, who has been with the original cast since 2006 and has worked as an acrobat for 20 years.
“I am heartbroken. I wish to extend my sincerest sympathies to the family. We are reminded with great humility and respect how extraordinary our artists are each and every night,” he said.
The Ka show combines dance, acrobatics and performance art with pyrotechnics and complex aerial displays and is a resident show in Las Vegas. Millions of people around the world go to see touring and resident Cirque du Soleil shows every year.
