Rehman Malik, Pakistan’s interior minister, says he will restore access to video-sharing website YouTube in the coming hours, months after it was blocked.
Rehman Malik tweeted: “There was a great demand to unblock YouTube… expect the notification today!”
YouTube has been blocked to users in Pakistan since September when excerpts from an anti-Islamic film were posted, sparking protests across the world.
Pakistan blocked YouTube in 2008 and 2010 because of sacrilegious content.
It reimposed a ban on the site on 17 September following days of protests around the world after a translated version of an amateur film attacking the Prophet Mohammed was posted on an Egyptian website.
The original English language version was posted on YouTube in July.
Rehman Malik, Pakistan’s interior minister, says he will restore access to video-sharing website YouTube in the coming hours, months after it was blocked
Pakistan had reportedly asked YouTube and its parent company, Google, to block access to the video.
But Pakistani media reports say Google was unable to comply because it had no formal agreement with Pakistan.
Google had earlier said in a statement that the video was “clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube”.
But the US firm added that “given the very difficult situation” it had restricted access to the video in numerous countries including India, Libya and Egypt, where the protests started.
There has been much discontent in Pakistan with the ban, which has also affected Android mobile phone services run by Google.
However, it is unclear whether Pakistanis will have unfettered access to YouTube when the site is unblocked.
Rehman Malik also tweeted: “PTA [Pakistan Telecommunication Authority] is finalizing negotiations for acquiring a powerful firewall software to totally block pornographic and blasphemous material.”
President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a ban on Americans adopting Russian orphans.
The law is a reaction to the US Magnitsky Act, which blacklists Russian officials accused of rights abuses.
The death of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009 became a symbol of the fight against corruption in Russia, and soured relations between Russia and the US.
The US state department says it “deeply regrets” the passing of the law.
On Friday, a Moscow court acquitted a prison doctor accused of negligence over Sergei Magnitsky’s death. It was the only trial to be held in the case.
The judge said Dmitry Kratov had acted appropriately when Sergei Magnitsky fell ill in jail. Dmitry Kratov was deputy head of the high-security Butyrka prison in Moscow at the time.
A Russian official report last year concluded that Sergei Magnitsky had been tortured and handcuffed in jail.
Sergei represented London-based Hermitage Capital Management (HCM). He uncovered what he described as a web of corruption involving Russian tax officials, including the alleged theft of more than $200 million.
After reporting it to the authorities, he was himself detained on suspicion of aiding tax evasion, and died in custody on 16 November 2009 at the age of 37.
President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a ban on Americans adopting Russian orphans
US-born fund manager Bill Browder, who runs Hermitage Capital, spearheaded efforts in the US to put pressure on Russia over the Magnitsky case. Bill Browder was a major investor in Russia before Sergei Magnitsky’s arrest.
Earlier this month the US Congress adopted the Magnitsky Act, prompting Russia’s retaliation. The EU has also criticized Russia over its handling of the case.
Vladimir Putin signed the Russian law after it had been approved by the Russian parliament.
He told officials he saw no reason not to sign it, and said he would sign a presidential decree to “modify the support mechanisms for orphaned children”.
“There are lots of places in the world where living standards are higher than they are here,” Vladimir Putin said.
“Are we going to send all our children there? Perhaps we should move there ourselves?”
Some 3,400 Russian children were adopted by foreign families in 2011, almost one-third of the children going to American homes.
Over the same period, the number of children adopted by Russian citizens was 7,416.
In the past two decades Americans have adopted more than 60,000 Russian children.
“The Russian government’s politically motivated decision will reduce adoption possibilities for children who are now under institutional care,” US state department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.
“We are further concerned about statements that adoptions already underway may be stopped and hope that the Russian government would allow those children who have already met and bonded with their future parents to finish the necessary legal procedures so that they can join their families,” he added.
The Moscow judge ruled on Friday that Dmitry Kratov had organized Sergei Magnitsky’s transfer to hospital and had “taken all the necessary measures to treat the illnesses” that Sergei Magnitsky was suffering from.
Sergei Magnitsky had pancreatitis, but an investigation by Russia’s presidential council on human rights concluded that he had been severely beaten and denied medical treatment.
The council’s report, compiled while Dmitry Medvedev was president, singled out senior interior ministry investigator Oleg Silchenko and prison chief Ivan Prokopenko as being at fault for neglect over the lawyer’s death.
The document said they “obstructed” his medical care by moving him to another prison just before he was due to have an operation, where there was a criminal failure to provide him with care in the last days of his life.
Sergei Magnitsky’s mother, widow and lawyers believe that Dmitry Kratov has been used as a decoy by the authorities to protect the real culprits in the lawyer’s death.
Dmitry Kratov’s assistant Larisa Litvinova had also been a suspect in the case, but the investigation into her actions was dropped in April.
Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has agreed to pay 36 million euros ($48 million) a year to his ex-wife Veronica Lario, reports say.
Silvio Berlusconi will keep the $100 million villa where the couple lived with their three children, as part of a divorce deal reportedly filed on Christmas Day.
Veronica Lario left Berlusconi in 2009 after he was seen at the 18th birthday party of an aspiring model.
Forbes magazine estimated his wealth at nearly $6 billion in March.
The Corriere della Sera newspaper reported that Veronica Lario had initially asked for $56 million a year.
Silvio Berlusconi, 76, reportedly offered her about $5 million.
Silvio Berlusconi has agreed to pay 36 million euros a year to his ex-wife Veronica Lario
The couple met in a dressing room in 1980 after Berlusconi saw Veronica Lario, 56, perform in a Milan theatre.
They were married in 1990.
Silvio Berlusconi has two other children from his first marriage and is currently engaged to 28-year-old Francesca Pascale.
He was Italy’s longest-serving post-war prime minister until he resigned in November 2011.
Silvio Berlusconi says he will to run for office again in 2013.
His third term in office saw slow growth and a national debt of $2.6 trillion and his government was slow to implement austerity measures in response.
Silvio Berlusconi also became embroiled in a series of financial and sex scandals.
Since leaving office, he has been fighting various court cases.
In October 2012, Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced to four years in jail by a Milan court after being convicted of tax evasion.
Silvio Berlusconi is currently appealing against the decision, and commentators say it is unlikely that he will serve any time in jail.
The female student who was gang-raped on a bus in India’s capital Delhi has “taken a turn for the worse” at a Singapore hospital, doctors say.
The 23-year-old arrived in Singapore on Thursday after undergoing three operations in a Delhi hospital.
“Her vital signs are deteriorating with signs of severe organ failure,” hospital official Kelvin Loh said.
The attack earlier this month triggered violent public protests in India that left one police officer dead.
Six men have been arrested and two police officers have been suspended following the 16 December attack.
Doctors had earlier described the woman as “fighting for her life”.
Kelvin Loh said in a statement that the hospital had put her on “maximum artificial ventilation support, optimal antibiotic doses as well as stimulants which maximize her body’s capability to fight infections”.
The female student who was gang-raped on a bus in Delhi has taken a turn for the worse at a Singapore hospital
“Her family members have been informed that her condition has deteriorated and they are currently by her side to encourage and comfort her,” he said.
“The High Commission of India is with her and her family at this critical time. Our medical team continues to provide all possible treatment and care,” Kelvin Loh added.
On arrival at the hospital in Singapore, doctors said that as well as a “prior cardiac arrest, she also had infection of her lungs and abdomen, as well as significant brain injury”.
The government has tried to halt rising public anger by announcing a series of measures intended to make Delhi safer for women.
These include more police night patrols, checks on bus drivers and their assistants, and the banning of buses with tinted windows or curtains.
The government has also said that it will post the photos, names and addresses of convicted rapists on official websites to shame them.
The victim and her friend had been to see a film when they boarded the bus in the Munirka area, intending to travel to Dwarka in south-west Delhi.
Police said she was raped for nearly an hour, and both she and her companion were beaten with iron bars and thrown out of the moving bus into a Delhi street.
India’s Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said in a statement on Thursday that the government had decided to send the victim overseas on the recommendation of her doctors.
“Despite the best efforts of our doctors, the victim continues to be critical and her fluctuating health remains a big cause of concern to all of us,” he said.
Superstorm Sandy hit the New Jersey shore town of Mantoloking hard – 60 homes were demolished when waves crashed over the sand dunes and swept into the small community.
The water washed away the road leading to Ed Wright’s house and pummeled ten of his neighbors’ homes in a 200-foot radius.
But Ed Wright’s house endured. It was the only house in his immediate neighborhood left standing by the ferocious storm and it sustained only minor damage.
The New Jersey Star-Ledger calls Ed Wright’s house “the Mantoloking Miracle” – but closer examination reveals that the house remains standing because Ed Wright took special care when building it and used design features meant to withstand a hurricane.
Now, FEMA and the town of Mantoloking are studying the home and could make some elements of its construction mandatory for all new houses that are built in the beach community.
“The goal is to construct things that will stay around awhile,” Ed Wright told the Star-Ledger, “and hopefully outlive you”.
Unlike his neighbors, Ed Wright elevated his home and built it on top of 34 treated pine pylons that were driven 20 feet into the sand. The first inhabited floor is eight feet above the beach.
And the walls in the ground floor, used as a garage and for storage, were made to collapse easily under the force of waves – saving the rest of the home.
Ed Wright’s house was surrounded on all sides by water after Superstorm Sandy breached the protective sand dunes in his community
Even the roof is designed with a hurricane in mind – long and sloping it faces north to ‘shoulder the prevailing win,’ the Star-Ledger reports.
When the storm came, the home did exactly what is was supposed to.
The walls on the ground floor gave way and allowed the water to wash around the pilings – leaving the living spaces of the house mostly untouched.
While his neighbors’ homes were swept off their foundations or blasted to splinters by the water from the storm, which hit the New Jersey coast on October 29.
Most of Ed Wright’s neighbors had only a small crawlspace beneath their houses, which provided no protection against the force of water.
While his neighbors lost everything, Inside Ed Wright’s house it barely looked as though a storm had ever hit.
The refrigerator was ruined by water and a few floorboards were damp. Houseplants had been toppled over and a few pictures were knocked off the wall. Otherwise – the living space was untouched.
“It was all in one piece, like we had just gone to eat, as if we had just gone out,” Ed Wright said.
A classified file released by the FBI shows how the agency tracked Marilyn Monroe’s suspected ties to communism in 1956.
The agency documented an anonymous phone call to the New York Daily News that year warning that playwright Arthur Miller was a communist and Marilyn Monroe had “drifted into the communist orbit” after her marriage to him earlier that year.
The file is just one piece of the puzzle about what the FBI knew about Marilyn Monroe when she died in August 1962.
The Associated Press waging an ongoing campaign to have more of the FBI documents released by the agency, coinciding with the 50th anniversary Marilyn Monroe’s death.
The redacted document reveals that on July 11, 1956, the agency got a tip that an anonymous male caller phoned the Daily News to report that the actress’s company, Marilyn Monroe Productions, was “filled with communists” and that money from the company was being used to finance communist activities.
The caller said Arthur Miller’s marriage to Marilyn Monroe during a Jewish ceremony less than a months earlier was a “coverup”.
Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller were both suspected of communist activities by the FBI
Arthur Miller, the man said, “was still a member of the CP [communist party] and was their cultural front man”.
The FBI has long made portions of its documents about Monroe public, but most of them are heavily redacted.
However, the FBI claims it has lost its files on the actress and cannot release them.
Finding out precisely when the records were moved – as the FBI says has happened – required the filing of yet another, still-pending Freedom of Information Act request.
The most recent version of the files is publicly available on the bureau’s website, The Vault, which periodically posts FBI records on celebrities, government officials, spies and criminals.
The AP appealed the FBI’s continued censorship of its Marilyn Monroe files, noting the agency has not given “any legal or factual analysis of the foreseeable harm that might result from the release of the full records”.
Marilyn Monroe’s star power and fears she might be recruited by the Communist Party during the tenure of longtime FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover led to reports being taken on her activities and relationships, including her marriage to playwright Arthur Miller.
Marilyn Monroe’s file begins in 1955 and mostly focuses on her travels and associations, searching for signs of leftist views and possible ties to communism. The file continues up until the months before her death, and also includes several news stories and references to Norman Mailer’s biography of the actress, which focused on questions about whether Marilyn Monroe was killed by the government.
There have been two major government investigations into Marilyn Monroe’s demise – the original inquiry immediately after her death and another effort by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office in 1982. The second inquiry, released in December 1982, reviewed all files available investigative reports, including files compiled by the FBI on her death. The records, the DA’s office noted, were “heavily censored”.
That mention intrigued the man who performed Marilyn Monroe’s autopsy, Dr. Thomas Noguchi. While the DA investigation concluded he conducted a thorough autopsy, Thomas Noguchi has conceded that no one will likely ever know all the details of Marilyn Monroe’s death. The FBI files and confidential interviews conducted with the actress’ friends that have never been made public might help, he wrote in his 1983 memoir “Coroner”.
“On the basis of my own involvement in the case, beginning with the autopsy, I would call Monroe’s suicide <<very probable>>,” Thomas Noguchi wrote.
“But I also believe that until the complete FBI files are made public and the notes and interviews of the suicide panel released, controversy will continue to swirl around her death.”
Shakira’s footballer boyfriend Gerard Piqué has confused fans over whether or not they have actually become parents with a series of tweets.
It appeared Gerard Piqué was announcing the birth of their son on his Twitter page in the early hours of Friday morning.
However, many suspect his announcement is simply a joke for Dia de los Innocentes (Day of the Holy Innocents) – Spain’s equivalent of April Fool’s Day.
Writing in Spanish in the early hours of Friday, he said: “Our son has been born! We are very happy! Thanks to all for your messages!”
However, later on Thursday, Gerard Piqué, 25, wrote: “It has a name! His name is Innocent! Happy Holy Innocents Day to all!”
Shakira, 35, herself did not confirm the news, fuelling speculation that her baby is still in utero.
Shakira’s footballer boyfriend Gerard Piqué has confused fans over whether or not they have actually become parents with a series of tweets
Only days before Christmas, Shakira was pictured looking heavily pregnant shopping for gifts in Barcelona.
Shakira is thought to have been due to give birth early next month.
This is the first child for Shakira, who emerged on the Colombian and Latin America music scene in the 1990s before making it big among the English-speaking crowd in the U.S. and Europe in the early Noughties.
Shakira announced the pregnancy in mid-September on her blog.
There are a few home truths about an outing to the movies that cinephiles would probably rather not know and that might just change the way they think about their next visit.
Perhaps the most startling is that popcorn is often doused in coconut oil and chemicals to give it that irresistible aroma that wafts from the concession stand where cinemas make up to 40% of their revenue.
Not only this but punters should not be fooled by the churning machine and the warmth of the seemingly fresh popcorn; the tasty snack lasts for two days and might well be served up from yesterday’s batch.
A list compiled by Good Morning America andReader’s Digest also reveals how cinema employees themselves stay away from the pretzels, hot dogs and nachos knowing how stale and old they are and that the nacho cheese may have been sitting out for days before it is melted and poured over chips.
The only foods they trust according to an anonymous source who provided much of the information to Reader’s Digest, is the popcorn, boxed candy and beverages.
Moreover, between showings, the remnants of those snacks that are dropped all over the floors are hurriedly swept under seats rather than into the trash.
“Your suspicions are correct,” writes a cinema worker.
“Sometimes I sweep excess food under the seats. Movies often end every few minutes. Sometimes, three or more screenings end at the same time. I don’t always have time to clean everything up.”
Cinema popcorn is often doused in coconut oil and chemicals to give it that irresistible aroma
Employees aren’t that bothered either by cheeky cinema-goers who sneak in for double bills without paying or those who use cell phones, according to the list.
“I know all the methods you use to sneak in. I just don’t always care enough to kick you out for it,” says the source who explains that most people who use their phones are the young audience members that cinemas want to keep attracting, hence the lack of enforcement.
But they aren’t that relaxed when it comes to handing out free merchandise. At the end of the day an inventory is taken so extra cups are rarely provided for large soda sharers no matter how many times you ask.
Tech geeks who assume they are getting a better experience by going to see an “Extreme Digital” screening are mistaken if they believe it is better than Imax. Theatres charge more but it is lower quality than Imax and easier for the cinema to maintain.
Where you can ensure the best movie experience, however, is by picking a seat right in the middle of the auditorium where sound checks for optimal audio are conducted. Too far out to the side and sound might be distorted.
When it comes to the best deal for your cinema outing, GMA suggests getting discounts and coupons at Sam’s, Costco or Triple A where you can save 25% on ticket purchase.
Where you can’t save money though, is back at the concession stand.
“Combination deals don’t save you money at some theaters. You’d pay the same price if you purchased the items separately,” admits the Reader’s Digest source. But you can watch out for staffers trying to up sell a large popcorn for only 75 cents more than the medium.
Cinema employees tend to stick together, explains the employee. If you complain about something, “the manager might pretend to yell at me for a minute, but he’ll pat me on the back the moment you’re out of sight”.
The US has evacuated its embassy in the Central African Republic (CAR) as rebels threaten to advance towards the capital, Bangui.
The state department said it had not broken off diplomatic ties with the government but warned US citizens not to travel to CAR during the unrest.
Earlier, CAR President Francois Bozize appealed to the US and France to help block the rebel advance.
The UN has said it is evacuating its non-essential staff from the country.
US state department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the embassy had suspended operations and that the ambassador and other staff had left the country on Thursday.
“This decision is solely due to concerns about the security of our personnel and has no relation to our continuing and long-standing diplomatic relations with the CAR,” he said in a statement.
Residents are stockpiling food amid fears that the rebels – known as the Seleka coalition – could launch an assault in the next few days.
On Sunday, the rebels captured the northern city of Bambari, the third largest in the country, having earlier seized the rich diamond mining area around Bria.
On Wednesday, protesters in Bangui attacked the embassy of former colonial power France, accusing Paris of abandoning them.
The US has evacuated its embassy in the Central African Republic as rebels threaten to advance towards capital Bangui
France has about 200 soldiers based in CAR and stepped up security at its embassy after the attack.
President Francois Bozize apologized for the incident and appealed for “our French cousins” and the US “to help us to push back the rebels”.
However, French President Francois Hollande said Paris would not intervene in its former colony.
“If we have a presence, it’s not to protect a regime, it’s to protect our nationals and our interests and in no way to intervene in the internal business of a country, in this case the Central African Republic,” he said.
“Those days are over.”
Seleka, which is made up of breakaway factions from three former armed groups, accuses Francois Bozize of failing to honour a 2007 peace deal, under which fighters who laid down their arms were meant to be paid.
The rebels have pledged to depose Francois Bozize unless he negotiates with them.
They began their campaign a month ago and have taken several towns in their push towards the capital.
The annual Marist Poll has revealed the most annoying words or phrases used in conversation in 2012.
“Whatever” headed the list, cited by 32% of adults, and next came “like”, which 21% didn’t like.
Runners-up included “Twitterverse” and “gotcha”.
The results mirrored last year’s survey when “whatever” topped the annoying words list for a third straight year.
But “seriously”, named by 7% last year, dropped off the list entirely – really.
The annual Marist Poll has revealed the most annoying words or phrases used in conversation in 2012
Marist questioned 1,246 adults in a U.S. nationwide, telephone survey.
Results showed differences by age and regions, with people younger than 45 in the Northeast especially annoyed by “like”, while “you know” offended more of the 45-and-over set.
Men and women gave similar responses overall, but whites were twice as likely as non-whites to find “you know” irritating. And people under 45 were more than twice as likely as those over 45 to be put off by “just sayin”.
Sixteen people have been reported killed by a severe snow storm moving through the north-eastern after disrupting Christmas in the Midwest.
States in New England are seeing heavy snowfall, with over a foot (30 cm) already fallen in parts of Massachusetts, weather officials said.
Flights were grounded and road collisions reported as the storm moved across the middle of the US.
As many as 34 tornadoes were reported across the South on Christmas Day.
The storm moved across northern New England on Thursday afternoon. Heavy snow was also reported in eastern parts of Canada.
Lebanon, Maine reported 12 in of snow, with up to 18 inches expected in the state and nearby Vermont and New Hampshire by the end of Thursday.
In Coudersport, Pennsylvania, where the storm has stopped, the National Weather Service reported 15 inches.
Hundreds of thousands of people are reported to have lost power, including 200,000 people in Arkansas and Alabama, where ice and 10 inches of snow coated electricity wires snapping poles and wires.
Sixteen people have been reported killed by a severe snow storm moving through the north-eastern after disrupting Christmas in the Midwest
Storm-related deaths were reported in New York, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Virginia, the Associated Press said.
Falling trees claimed the lives of two people in Texas and Louisiana. A New York man was killed after his vehicle skidded on an icy road and an Ohio teenager died after losing control of her car and crashing into an oncoming snowplough.
As the storm moves into the southern parts of the Canadian province of Quebec, the area could receive up to 17in of snow, according to Environment Canada.
In Concord, New Hampshire, resident Dale Lamprey said he had been on the streets before 05:00 EST on Thursday morning, trying to clear the snow.
“It’s been windy, it’s been snowing and I think it changed over to sleet and freezing rain at one point. It’s pretty bad,” he told AP.
Inbound flights were delayed in Philadelphia and at the three New York area airports, as thousands of travelers were trying to return home after Christmas.
In Pittsburgh, a flight that landed safely on Wednesday night got stuck in several inches of snow on the tarmac for about two hours.
Airlines cancelled more than 800 flights on Thursday across the country, according to FlightAware.com.
Flights were also cancelled in Canada, with Toronto and Montreal affected, reports said.
Earlier in the week Little Rock, Arkansas, saw its first snow on Christmas Day in 83 years, while in neighboring Oklahoma seven inches of snow were blamed for a 21-vehicle pile-up on an interstate highway outside Oklahoma City.
Thirty-four tornadoes were observed in the southern states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Tuesday. A large section of a church roof in Mobile, Alabama, was ripped off by a twister.
Retired General Norman Schwarzkopf, who led troops in the 1991 Gulf War, has died aged 78, US media report.
General Norman Schwarzkopf – known as Stormin’ Norman – was commander of coalition forces in the first Gulf War in 1990-91.
The US-led coalition drove Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait.
Former President George H. W. Bush described General Norman Schwarzkopf as “one of the great military leaders of his generation”.
General Norman Schwarzkopf spent his retirement in Tampa, Florida, where he had served in his last military assignment as commander-in-chief of US Central Command.
His military success made him one of America’s most famous modern generals although some criticized him for negotiating ceasefire terms which allowed Saddam Hussein to remain in power.
President George H.W. Bush, who was in office during the first Gulf War, said he “mourned the loss” of General Norman Schwarzkopf, “one of the great military leaders of his generation”.
George H.W. Bush, who remains in intensive care at the Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, issued a statement, saying: “A distinguished member of that Long Gray Line hailing from West Point, General Schwarzkopf, to me, epitomized the <<duty, service, country>> creed that has defended our freedom and seen this great nation through our most trying international crises.
“More than that, he was a good and decent man – and a dear friend. Barbara and I send our condolences to his wife Brenda and his wonderful family.”
Retired General Norman Schwarzkopf, who led troops in the 1991 Gulf War, has died aged 78
US Republican Senator John McCain tweeted that General Norman Schwarzkopf was “one of the great American heroes”.
“We thank him for his service,” he said.
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta also paid tribute to the general, saying his 35 years of service had “left an indelible imprint on the United States military and on the country”.
“His bravery during two tours in Vietnam earned him three silver stars, and set him on the path lead our troops into battle in Grenada, and then to take charge of the overall allied effort in the first Gulf War as Commander of United States Central Command,” he said.
“General Schwarzkopf’s skilled leadership of that campaign liberated the Kuwaiti people and produced a decisive victory for the allied coalition. In the aftermath of that war, General Schwarzkopf was justly recognized as a brilliant strategist and inspiring leader. Today, we recall that enduring legacy and remember him as one of the great military giants of the 20th Century.”
During Operation Desert Storm, General Norman Schwarzkopf famously used one of his regular news conferences to taunt his opponent.
“As far as Saddam Hussein being a great military strategist, he is neither a strategist, nor is schooled in the operational art, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general, nor is he a soldier: other than that, he’s a great military man – I want you to know that,” he said.
General Norman Schwarzkopf’s sometimes fiery temper meant that he clashed with subordinates and superiors alike including the then Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell.
Despite this and his bluff appearance, he was smarter and more diplomatic than many critics gave him credit for, our correspondent adds.
After the first Gulf War, General Norman Schwarzkopf became a national celebrity, but always rejected suggestions that he run for office himself.
General Norman Schwarzkopf: Career highlights
Born on 22 August 1934 in Trenton, New Jersey
Aged 12, he moves to Iran where his father, a high-ranking army officer, trained the police and was an adviser to the Shah
Studies in Switzerland and Germany, attends US Military Academy at West Point, New York. Gains masters degree in guided-missile engineering from the University of Southern California
Highly decorated for his services in the Vietnam and Grenada wars
Named commander-in-chief of the US Central Command in 1988
Best known for leading allied forces as part of Operation Desert Storm in the Gulf War in 1991
Often referred to as “Stormin Norman”, he used to taunt Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
The Beatles, Mick Jagger and Robbie Williams are among the names being considered to appear on the new £10 banknote.
According to The Mirror, the Bank Of England has released a list of 150 great Britons who have been suggested by members of the public to be the face on one side of the new notes when they are printed.
They join a list that includes football star David Beckham, Princess Diana, literacy great William Shakespeare and wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, who could feature on the new series F notes.
The Beatles, Mick Jagger and Robbie Williams are among the names being considered to appear on the new £10 banknote
Other suggestions include suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, TV stars John Cleese, Michael Parkinson and Terry Wogan; scientists Stephen Hawking, Sir Alexander Fleming and current favorite WW2 codebreaker Alan Turing, who died aged 41 in 1954 after being prosecuted for being gay.
Last month, Robbie Williams scored a chart double as his ninth album Take The Crown and single Candy occupied both Number One spots. The last time he had similar success was back in December 2001 when he had a Number One single with Something Stupid, his cover of Carson and Gaile’s 1967 track featuring Nicole Kidman, and a Number One album with Swing When You’re Winning.
Last week, The Rolling Stones played the final show of their 50 And Counting run of gigs at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, where they were joined onstage by Lady Gaga for a rendition of Gimme Shelter.
Actor Charles Durning, who starred in the 1980s film Tootsie, has died at the age of 89.
Charles Durning died of natural causes at his home in New York City on Christmas Eve, his long time agent Judith Moss said.
He was nominated for an Oscar for his role as a corrupt governor in the 1982 film The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, which co-starred Burt Reynolds.
A year later, Charles Durning received another nomination for Mel Brooks’s To Be Or Not To Be.
The World War Two veteran began his career on stage in the 1960s with the New York Shakespeare Festival.
Charles Durning’s first national exposure was in 1973 when he played a crooked cop who gets conned by Robert Redford in The Sting.
He went on to appear in more than one hundred movies and critics marveled at his ability to play diverse roles, dubbing him “the king of character actors”.
Charles Durning, who starred in the 1980s film Tootsie, has died at the age of 89
“I never turned down anything and never argued with any producer or director,” Charles Durning said in 2008.
Charles Durning’s roles ranged from playing the would-be suitor of Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie to Chief Brandon in Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy and Santa Claus in four different movies.
During the war, Charles Durning was the only member of his Army unit to survive the D-Day invasion at Normandy.
He was captured in the Battle of the Bulge and survived a massacre of prisoners.
In later years, Charles Durning refused to discuss his time in the military.
“Too many bad memories,” he told an interviewer in 1997.
“I don’t want you to see me crying.”
“Not only was Charlie a World War II hero but he was also a hero to his family,” his stepdaughter, Anita Gregory said in a statement.
“Charlie loved Christmas and if he could have chosen a time to pass, he would have chosen this day.”
Charles Durning is survived by his children, Michele, Douglas and Jeannine. He will be buried in a private family service at Arlington National Cemetery.
Soul singer Fontella Bass, best known for the hit single Rescue Me, has died of complications following a heart attack at the age of 72.
Fontella Bass had been in poor health for much of the past seven years.
Rescue Me reached the top of the US R&B chart in 1965 and is one of the best known soul songs. It has been covered by many artists.
The singer had a powerful voice and a background steeped in music.
Her mother was gospel singer Martha Bass, one of the Clara Ward Singers and Fontella Bass began performing at a young age, singing in her church’s choir at the age of six.
Like many of her generation, Fontella Bass graduated to soul and R&B in the 60s, signing to Chess Records.
Soul singer Fontella Bass, best known for the hit single Rescue Me, has died of complications following a heart attack at the age of 72
Fontella Bass first found success in a duet with Bobby McClure on Don’t Mess Up a Good Thing and You’ll Miss Me (When I’m Gone).
She co-wrote Rescue Me, a song her daughter Neuka Mitchell said “held a special place in her heart”.
But it took years of legal battles for her to receive full royalty rights to the song. A final settlement was reached more than 20 years after the song was first released.
Neuka Mitchell said her mother was an outgoing person.
“She had a very big personality. Any room she entered, she just lit the room up, whether she was on stage or just going out to eat.”
Fontella Bass was married to the great jazz trumpeter, Lester Bowie, who was her musical director.
She died in the city where she was born, St Louis, Missouri.
Apple is believed to be secretly developing a “smart watch” with a touchscreen.
Chinese online sites have reported the computer giant is working with chipmaker Intel with a wrist worn gadget that has a 1.5 inch screen and uses Bluetooth to communicate with other gadgets, which could include an iPhone.
The “iWatch” will go on sale next year, the report claims.
Chinese site Tech.163 claims Intel has developed a Smart Watch that Apple is interested in.
The in question has a 1.5 OLED display with indium tin oxide, or ITO coated glass, and uses Bluetooth to communicate with a user’s iPhone.
It is believed the iWatch will run a version of iOS, the same software as the iPhone and iPad, allowing apps to be easily downloaded.
iWatch is believed to go on sale next year
Releasing a watch could also help it compete with Google, who claim they will release “Google Glass”, a headset with a screen, next year.
The rumors come after an independent attempt to create a smart watch, called Pebble, became a huge success online.
Its inventors used Kickstarter to try and raise $10,000 so they could develop it – but instead raised $10 million, and hope to begin production next year.
“Pebble is the first watch built for the 21st century,” say its creators.
“It’s infinitely customizable, with beautiful downloadable watchfaces and useful internet-connected apps.
“The watch will connect via Bluetooth, and alert users to incoming messages via vibrations – and apps bring Pebble to life.
“Cyclists can use Pebble as a bike computer, accessing the GPS on your smartphone to display speed, distance and pace data.
“Runners get a similar set of data displayed on their wrist. Use the music control app to play, pause or skip tracks on your phone with the touch of a button.”
The South African government has sought to clarify remarks by President Jacob Zuma that angered dog lovers. The president was quoted as saying at a rally on Wednesday that having pet dogs was part of white – not African – culture.
But presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said Jacob Zuma was simply warning against loving animals more than humans beings.
Mac Maharaj said Jacob Zuma’s main message was the need to “decolonize the African mind” in South Africa, where white-minority rule ended in 1994.
South Africa’s Mercury newspaper reports that Jacob Zuma told thousands of supporters at a rally in KwaZulu-Natal province that people who spent money on buying a dog, taking it to the vet and for walks belonged to white culture.
There was also a new generation of young Africans who were trying to adopt the lifestyles of other race groups, Jacob Zuma said.
“Even if you apply any kind of lotion and straighten your hair you will never be white,” the president was quoted as saying.
His comments sparked an angry response on social media, with some pet-lovers accusing him of indifference to animals, while others accused him of racism.
President Jacob Zuma was quoted as saying at a rally on Wednesday that having pet dogs was part of white, not African, culture
In a statement aimed at diffusing the row, Mac Maharaj said the president’s remarks were aimed at ensuring that black people did not behave in a way that was detrimental to creating a “caring African society” in South Africa.
“More than that, the essential message from the president was the need to decolonize the African mind, post-liberation, to enable the previously oppressed African majority to appreciate and love who they are and uphold their own culture,” he said.
“They should not feel pressured to be assimilated into the minority cultures.”
Mac Maharaj said there were still some South Africans who “sit with their dogs in front in a van or truck with a worker at the back in pouring rain or extremely cold weather”.
Some people also do not “hesitate to rush their dogs to veterinary surgeons for medical care when they are sick while they ignore workers or relatives who are also sick in the same households”, Mac Maharaj said.
“This is not to say that animals should not be loved or cared for,” he added.
“The message [of Jacob Zuma] merely emphasized the need not to elevate our love for our animals above our love for other human beings.”
South Africa remains racially polarized more than 18 years after apartheid ended.
It is also one of the most unequal countries in the world, with a huge gap in income levels.
Correspondents say this not the first time Jacob Zuma has drawn controversy.
Some of his previous remarks have angered feminists, gay people and black intellectuals.
But his support within the governing African National Congress (ANC), which took power when apartheid ended, remains solid, correspondents say.
Earlier this month, he was re-elected ANC leader, beating off a challenge by his rival, Kgalema Motlanthe.
Jacob Zuma is now almost certain to lead the ANC into the 2014 national election.
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has decided to sack Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, the sole woman in his cabinet, state television reports.
Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi was also the first woman minister in the 30-year history of the Islamic republic.
While no reason has been given, the dismissal is being linked to her call for drug price rises to fight shortages caused by international sanctions.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected her comments, saying her budget needs had been met.
Analysts say international sanctions have done significant damage to the Islamic republic’s economy and led to a steep currency plunge.
Although they do not directly target medicines, they limit their importation because of restrictions on financial transactions.
Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, the sole woman in Iran’s government, has been sacked by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Prior to her dismissal, Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi said that because of the rise in the foreign exchange rate, there would be an inevitable increase in the price of medicine.
She complained of her department’s inability to get access to foreign currency she had been promised.
“In the first half of the current year, the Central Bank has not allocated any exchange for the import of drugs and medical equipment,” Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi said.
“We need $2.5 billion in foreign exchange to meet the needs of the medical sector for the year, but only $650 million has been earmarked.”
But President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a TV interview that enough money had been allocated to the health ministry.
“No-one has the right to raise the price of medicine,” he added.
Mohammad Hassan Tariqat Monfared has been appointed as interim health minister, the Reuters news agency reports.
The EU and US recently announced new sanctions over Iran’s nuclear plans.
They suspect Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, something it denies.
Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi was the first woman minister of the Islamic republic, although a woman did serve as vice-president for the environment under Mohammad Khatami.
CoolSculpting, a treatment that promises to “freeze off” your fat, has been proving a popular solution to shifting those post-holiday pounds.
Thousands in the U.S. are turning to CoolSculpting, otherwise known as cryolipolysis, which costs upwards of $750 per session and promises to remove 20 to 25% of fat in targeted areas such as the stomach or thighs.
New York City-based dermatologist Dr. Michele Green says she has noticed a surge in demand for the non-invasive procedure at this time of year.
She said: “CoolScuplting is an easy in-office procedure and freeze away that bulge in their stomach or love handles.
“It is especially popular after the holidays when we have all eaten too much.”
The CoolSculpting device features a gel patch that clamps on to the targeted area and freezes fat cells beneath the skin.
The sub-zero temperatures cause the fat cells to die. They are then flushed away by the body over the next few months.
The treatment, which takes anything from one to several hours, is apparently relatively painless, and patients often work or watch movies throughout.
According to the Daily Telegraph, it is proving particularly popular with men, who typically shy away from surgical options such as liposuction.
CoolSculpting, otherwise known as cryolipolysis, costs upwards of $750 per session and promises to remove 20 to 25 percent of fat in targeted areas such as the stomach or thighs
At Marina Plastic Surgery, which has clinics in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, men make up 45% of the CoolSculpting patients. With other procedures, just 13% of patients are male.
Those hoping to dodge the gym, however, will be disappointed to learn that CoolSculpting should not be considered an alternative.
While the fat-loss in the targeted area is permanent, it won’t prevent build-up in other areas.
“If you eat a lot you’ll gain weight in other places, so you need to keep going to the gym and watching your diet,” Dr. Grant Stevens warns.
The procedure will not replace proper diet and exercise, Dr. Michele Green added.
“The ideal candidate is someone in good shape who simply has a bulge that they cannot reduce either through diet or exercise but they are physically fit,” she said.
HOW DOES COOLSCULPTING WORK?
CoolSculpting, which has enjoyed huge popularity since it was approved by the FDA in 2010, was designed by scientists at Zeltiq in California.
The device features a gel patch that clamps on to the targeted area and freezes fat cells beneath the skin.
The sub-zero temperatures cause the fat cells to die. They are then flushed away by the body over the next few months.
The treatment, which takes anything from one to several hours, is relatively painless.
The skin and muscle tissue is unaffected by the procedure because fat freezes at a higher temperature than other cells.
Mitchell Levinson, Zeltiq’s founder, said trial patients had been monitored for three years without the fat returning.
A single treatment is usually enough for each love handle. A larger beer belly or a set of flaps of fat under the arms may need two treatments.
Zeltiq says it is for those in need of a little fat removal and is not suitable for the obese.
Toyota has agreed on a more than $1 billion compensation deal to settle a legal case involving unintended acceleration problems in its vehicles.
Toyota said the deal will resolve hundreds of lawsuits from the giant carmaker owners who said the value of their cars and trucks plummeted after a series of recalls stemming from claims the firm’s vehicles accelerated unintentionally.
Steve Berman, a lawyer representing Toyota owners, said the settlement is the largest in US history involving automobile defects.
“We kept fighting and fighting and we secured what we think was a good settlement given the risks of this litigation,” Steve Berman said.
The proposed deal was filed on Wednesday and must receive the approval of US District Judge James Selna, who was expected to review the settlement on Friday.
Toyota said it will take a one-time, $1.1 billion pre-tax charge against earnings to cover the estimated costs of the settlement. Steve Berman said the total value of the deal is between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion.
Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against Toyota since 2009, when the Japanese automaker started receiving numerous complaints that its cars accelerated on their own, causing crashes, injuries and even deaths.
The cases were consolidated in US District Court in Santa Ana and divided into two categories: economic loss and wrongful death. Claims by people who seek compensation for injury and death due to sudden acceleration are not part of the settlement – the first trial involving those suits is scheduled for February.
Toyota has agreed on a more than $1 billion compensation deal to settle a legal case involving unintended acceleration problems in its vehicles
As part of the economic loss settlement, Toyota will offer cash payments from a pool of about $250 million to eligible customers who sold vehicles or turned in leased vehicles between September 2009 and December 2010.
The company also will launch a $250 million program for 16 million current owners to provide supplemental warranty coverage for certain vehicle components, and it will retrofit about 3.2 million vehicles with a brake override system.
An override system is designed to ensure a car will stop when the brakes are applied, even if the accelerator pedal is depressed.
The settlement would also establish additional driver education programs and fund new research into advanced safety technologies.
“In keeping with our core principles, we have structured this agreement in ways that work to put our customers first and demonstrate that they can count on Toyota to stand behind our vehicles,” said Christopher Reynolds, Toyota vice president.
Current and former Toyota owners are expected to receive more information about the settlement in the coming months. Some information is also available at www.ToyotaELsettlement.com, a website created for Toyota owners affected by the settlement.
“We are extraordinarily proud of how we were able to represent the interests of Toyota owners, and believe this settlement is both comprehensive in its scope and fair in compensation,” Steve Berman said.
Toyota has recalled more than 14 million vehicles worldwide due to acceleration problems in several models and brake defects with the Prius hybrid. The automaker has blamed driver error, faulty floor mats and stuck accelerator pedals for the problems.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys have spent the past two years deposing Toyota employees, poring over thousands of documents and reviewing software code, but the company maintains those lawyers have been unable to prove that a design defect – namely Toyota’s electronic throttle control system – was responsible for vehicles surging unexpectedly.
Both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and NASA were unable to find any defects in Toyota’s source code that could cause problems. The company has been dogged by fines for not reporting problems in a timely manner.
Toyota President Akio Toyoda appeared before Congress last year and pledged to strengthen quality control. Recent sales figures show the company appears to have rebounded following its safety issues.
Frances Bean Cobain has been estranged from her mother for several years, but she broke her silence to wish her mother Courtney Love well on Christmas Day.
Courtney Love, who has made many attempts to reunite with her only daughter, made yet another entreaty on Tuesday to her 20-year-old daughter, but this time, she got a response.
“Merry Christmas Bean!! Love you more than you could ever know. Xmamma,” Courtney Love tweeted to Frances Bean Cobain.
And hours later Frances Bean Cobain responded with a succinct message that only gently poked fun at the Hole singer’s eccentric ways by referring to her mother as “kooksmcgee”.
She wrote: “@Courtney merry Christmas kooksmcgee.”
Frances Bean Cobain broke her silence to wish her mother Courtney Love well on Christmas Day
Courtney Love, rather typically, got carried away and tweeted three additional responses to her only child, all of which were ignored.
“That tweet was the best gift ever, its all I need even if it’s a dammed social network J miss that little head of yours,” Courtney Love she wrote.
“That beautiful little head, and those long legs. Oh and by the way, sorry about the second hand smoke thing re: baby pic.”
Before adding bizarrely: “But am trying these new e-cigs, the @njoyecigs so far are the best ones ive tried. Maybe they should pay us for this plug.”
When she was 17-years-old, Frances Bean Cobain got a restraining order against her mother, and went to live with other family members.
It was later revealed in legal documents that the order was granted due to domestic violence claims against Courtney Love by her daughter.
Frances Bean Cobain now lives in a $1.8 million home in the Hollywood Hills that she purchased with her trust fund set up after her father, Kurt Cobain’s, death.
The micro-blogging website clearly hasn’t banned her mother as Francis Bean Cobain recently suggested they should.
Courtney Love made a public apology to her daughter via her page earlier this year after Frances Bean Cobain asked for her to be banned.
Whitney Houston was murdered by drug dealers and a new surveillance video proves it, claims Paul Huebl, a Hollywood private investigator.
Paul Huebl says he has turned over evidence to the FBI that shows 48-year-old Whitney Houston was killed over a drug debt in February.
The medical examiner ruled that Whitney Houston drowned in her bathtub at the Beverley Hilton hotel after taking a cocktail of cocaine, marijuana and several legal drugs.
The National Enquirer is reporting that Paul Huebl believes the troubled star was targeted by several “high powered drug dealers who sent thugs to collect a huge debt she owed for drugs”.
Whitney Houston owed $1.5 million to drug dealers, according to some reports.
However, Paul Huebl said he doesn’t know for certain that Whitney Houston was killed – only that evidence he collected could point in that direction.
Paul Huebl says that Whitney Houston received a delivery of cocaine to her room the day before her death and could be heard saying: “I’m tired of this sh*t.”
He says Whitney Houston had previously been subjected to harassment dealers trying to collect on her debt.
Whitney Houston was murdered by drug dealers and a new surveillance video proves it, claims Paul Huebl, a Hollywood private investigator
Paul Huebl says he obtained surveillance video that shows two unknown men who repeatedly went to the Beverly Hilton and integrated themselves into Whitney Houston’s entourage.
The private investigator claims these are the men who slipped into Whitney Houston’s hotel room and killed her.
He also disagrees with the Los Angeles County Coroner’s ruling that the star’s death was “accidental”.
“Whitney’s body shows classic defense wounds that would have occurred while she was battling for her life,” he told the Enquirer.
However, Paul Huebl conceded that the marks on her hands and fingernails could have been obtained in some other ways and that they were only “suspected” defensive wounds.
The private investigator said he also has evidence that Whitney Houston’s hotel room was ransacked, showing further hints of a violent struggle.
Paul Huebl says he gave his evidence to the Chicago field office of the FBI in the hopes that the agency will open a criminal investigation.
“I think that if you put all these things together, they do kind of spell homicide, with a big red capital <<H>>,” he said.
Paul Heubl, a former Chicago police officer who became an actor after he retired, says he conducted the investigation after being hired by a client who did not believe the official reports on Houston’s death.
He believes Beverley Hills police did not fully investigate Houston’s death because they did not want to bring the negative attention to Beverly Hills or to the Beverly Hilton.
This is the shocking moment a 33-ton glass shark tank at the Shanghai Orient shopping centre in China suddenly burst leaving 15 people injured by flying shards of broken glass and a torrent of water.
The tank was an attraction at the entrance to the Shanghai Orient shopping centre in China’s second city when it shattered without warning on December 19.
Eight of those hurt were customers and the rest were shop assistants and security staff. They mostly suffered deep cuts and bruises from sheets of broken glass.
A police spokesman said: “There were lots of injuries caused by flying glass, some of them serious because the glass was so thick. We are investigating what caused this.”
Three lemon sharks and dozens of turtles and smaller fish, which were housed in the aquarium, were also victims of the accident that was caught on CCTV.
A 33-ton glass shark tank at the Shanghai Orient shopping centre suddenly burst leaving 15 people injured by flying shards of broken glass and a torrent of water
Shoppers fled in panic as shards of 15 cm thick acrylic glass gave way, flooding the entrance of the shopping centre.
While no official reason has been given for the accident, customers said that they believe a sudden drop in temperature may have caused the burst, as the weather apparently grew much colder in Shanghai last week.
The aquarium was reportedly very popular when it first opened before the National Day holiday two years ago, but there have been problems with the tank before, as in June a ruptured water pipe led to the death of two sharks and the removal of several turtles.
Chen Yongping, an official with the shopping centre management, said that they are not going to “build an aquarium again in the future”.
Samsung Electronics has sought a ban on the import and sales of some Ericsson products in the US which it claims infringe its patents.
In a complaint filed with the International Trade Commission (ITC), Samsung has accused Ericsson of breaching seven of its patents.
The move counters Ericsson’s complaint to the ITC, made in November, seeking a sales ban on some Samsung products.
Ericsson has also claimed that Samsung infringed some of its patents.
The Swedish firm had a licensing deal with Samsung under which the South Korean manufacturer was allowed to use various technologies patented by Ericsson in its products.
However, the two firms have failed to renew the agreement, despite negotiating for almost two years.
Ericsson has claimed that Samsung wants to reduce the fee it pays to license the said patents, while Samsung has argued that the fee demanded by Ericsson is too high.
Samsung Electronics has sought a ban on the import and sales of some Ericsson products in the US which it claims infringe its patents
“We have sought to negotiate with Ericsson in good faith. However, Ericsson has proven unwilling to continue such negotiations by making unreasonable claims, which it is now trying to enforce in court,” Samsung said in a statement.
“Under such circumstances, we have no choice but to take the steps necessary to protect our company.”
Ericsson is one of the earliest innovators in the telecommunications field and holds thousands of patents for technologies used in everyday global communication.
Some of these technologies are key to products made by other manufacturers such as Samsung.
Companies which hold patents to such essential technologies enter licensing agreements with other manufacturers allowing them the use of patents under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions.
Firms pay royalties to the patent holder to use the technology.
Ericsson earned $938 million last year in revenue from more than 100 licence agreements with companies in the industry.
However, stiff competition has lead to a much more protective stance by many companies over their patents in order to generate revenues.
Earlier this month, European Union competition regulators accused Samsung of abusing its position of holding key patents, while trying to negotiate royalty rates with rival Apple.
Meanwhile, Nokia and Apple have also taken rivals to court over patent infringement.
South Korea has decided to cut its growth forecast for this year and for 2013, underlining the effect of a slowdown in its key export markets on its growth.
The finance ministry has forecast a growth of 3% for 2013, down from its earlier projection of 4.3%.
Meanwhile, the growth forecast for 2012 was lowered to 2.1% from 3.3%.
South Korea’s exports, which account for almost half of its overall economy, have been hit by slowing demand from markets such as the US and eurozone.
“Growth next year will be better than this year, although there are significant downside risks,” said the finance ministry’s Choi Sang-mok.
“Nevertheless, the strength of the recovery won’t be strong enough for the economy to catch up to its potential growth rate.”
South Korea has decided to cut its growth forecast for this year and for 2013, underlining the effect of a slowdown in its key export markets on its growth
The sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone has hurt demand for South Korean exports from the region.
Meanwhile, the economic recovery in the US – another key market for its exports – has also remained fragile and consumer demand there has not picked up drastically.
The slowdown in demand for exports has hurt growth in Asia’s fourth largest economy.
South Korea’s economy grew at its slowest pace in three years in the July to September quarter, expanding at an annual rate of 1.6%.
Prompted by slowing demand for exports, policymakers have taken some steps to try and spur domestic consumption.
In September it announced a $5.2 billion stimulus package, which included tax breaks on personal incomes and purchases of homes and cars.
The Bank of Korea has also cut interest rates twice in the past few months to try and ease the burden of businesses and households.
On Thursday, the central bank said it would continue to take measures to spur growth to ensure the economy’s “growth potential is not eroded due to its continued low growth”.
