Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan are lending their time and talents to the Muscular Dystrophy Association at the 2012 Labor Day Telethon.
The country music superstars will all participate in the annual MDA Labor Day Telethon, called MDA Show of Strength, on September 2.
Other artists participating in the three-hour telecast include Gavin DeGraw, Alanis Morissette, Paula Abdul, Hot Chelle Rae, Carole King, OneRepublic and Jesse McCartney, among others. The show will include performances from Nashville, Hollywood and New York, as well as celebrity appearances by Khloe Kardashian Odom, Nancy O’Dell and Alison Sweeney, among others. In addition, six families who have a personal connection to muscular dystrophy will share stories of strength, revealing how they have coped with such a debilitating disease.
Luke Bryan is lending his time and talent to the Muscular Dystrophy Association at the 2012 Labor Day Telethon, now MDA Show of Strength
“We couldn’t be more excited about the show and the incredible talent we have lined up this year,” says MDA Interim President Valerie Cwik, M.D.
“MDA is in business to save and enhance lives. Our show will both entertain and urge the American public to answer the call to support critically important research and services for more than a million Americans affected by neuromuscular diseases.”
MDA Show of Strength will air September 2 at 7:00 PM ET on MDA’s Love Network of more than 150 stations across the country, as well as on the MDA website.
The White House has decided to release details of one of its most closely guarded secrets – the recipe for President Barack Obama’s home-brewed honey ale.
The beer is believed to be the first-ever made at the White House.
The recipe was kept under wraps until 13,000 people signed an online petition demanding to know it, and someone even filed a freedom of information request.
Barack Obama has been taking the beer with him on the campaign trail, and is said to be known to offer it to voters.
For weeks, the White House had refused to comment on the recipe, but the secret was finally aired in a blog post entitled “Ale to the Chief”.
The White House has decided to release details of one of its most closely guarded secrets, the recipe for Barack Obama's home-brewed honey ale
The long-awaited special ingredients include: light malt extract, amber crystal malt, honey, gypsum, yeast and corn sugar.
“With public excitement about White House beer fermenting such a buzz, we decided we better hop right to it,” says the White House’s assistant chef Sam Kass, who brews the ale.
Although Sam Kass is the brewer, the White House stressed that it was Barack Obama who bought the equipment and pays for the ingredients out of his own pocket.
There is also a video on how the beer is brewed.
“God, that is one incredible beer, if I do say so myself. America I wish everyone could taste this but we don’t quite brew enough,” Sam Kass comments at one point.
Cynics may say there is more than a bit of politics in the mix.
One of the oldest political clichés states that people vote for the person they would most like to have a beer with – and Barack Obama’s rival in the November election, Mitt Romney, a Mormon, does not drink.
Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, co-founder of the popular file-sharing Pirate Bay website, has been arrested in Cambodia, the local police have announced.
Gottfrid Svartholm Warg was held in Phnom Penh after an international warrant was issued against him in April by his native Sweden.
Sweden acted after he had failed to show up for the start of his one-year jail term for copyright violations.
Gottfrid Svartholm Warg and three other founders had said the website was within the law.
Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, co-founder of the popular file-sharing Pirate Bay website, has been arrested in Cambodia
“His arrest was made at the request of the Swedish government for a crime related to information technology,” Cambodia’s police spokesman Kirth Chantharith told the AFP news agency.
“We don’t have an extradition treaty with Sweden but we’ll look into our laws and see how we can handle this case,” the spokesman added.
In Sweden, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg’s former defence lawyer Ola Salomonsson confirmed the arrest, the Aftonbladet newspaper reports.
Gottfrid Svartholm Warg and the site’s co-founders – Fredrik Neij and Peter Sunde, as well financier Carl Lundstroem – were convicted by a Swedish court of encouraging copyright violations in 2009.
Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundstroem all had their one-year jail terms reduced to between four and 10 months following an appeal in 2010.
They were also ordered to pay nearly $7 million in damages for copyright infringement to music and movie companies.
However, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg did not attend the appeal hearing, with his lawyer saying that he was too ill. The Swedish court then decided to uphold his sentence.
The operations of the Pirate Bay were largely shut down in Sweden six years ago, but the website has continued to function.
The site was founded in 2003, and claims to have more than 30 million users worldwide.
No copyright content is hosted on the site’s web servers. Instead, it hosts “torrent” links to TV, film and music files held on its users’ computers.
A new report claims that the way Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes relationship started was bizarre – and the Church of Scientology was apparently to blame.
The secretive religious group organized an “audition” process to find Tom Cruise a wife, according to Vanity Fair, grilling dozens of young women to make sure they posed no threat to the church or its most famous member.
And Katie Holmes was apparently not the first choice – the church wanted Tom Cruise to marry a young actress who was already a Scientologist, but she was seen as disrespectful to religious leaders.
The shocking allegations about the origins of the stars’ six-year marriage are made by writer Maureen Orth in the October issue of Vanity Fair.
Maureen Orth claims that the project to identify a new partner for Tom Cruise, following the break-up of his relationships with Nicole Kidman and Penelope Cruz, started in 2004 and was headed by Shelly Miscavige, wife of the church’s top official David Miscavige.
Scientology Church organized an “audition” process to find Tom Cruise a wife, claims Vanity Fair
A number of Scientologist actresses were interviewed by church leaders, according to former official Marc Headley, and told they were being considered for a role in a new training video.
However, they were faced with unexpected questions such as: “What do you think of Tom Cruise?”
Katie Holmes, who did not become a Scientologist until she started going out with Tom Cruise, was not part of this process.
Instead, Shelly Miscavige apparently chose Nazanin Boniadi, then 24, an Iranian-born actress who grew up in Britain, to be the megastar’s new partner.
Nazanin Boniadi was told she had been selected for “a very important mission”, and ordered to break up with her boyfriend.
When Nazanin Boniadi was flown to New York and taken for dinner by Tom Cruise at trendy restaurant Nobu, she began to suspect she was part of an elaborate set-up.
The pair went ice-skating at Rockefeller Center, where the rink had been closed for them, then spent the night together.
The actress, who has appeared in General Hospital, How I Met Your Mother and blockbuster Iron Man, was made to sign multiple confidentiality agreements over her relationship with Tom Cruise.
While the process which selected Nazanin Boniadi may have been arbitrary – one of the stipulations was that Tom Cruise could not go out with a woman who had ever been in a threesome – the star soon fell hard for the young woman.
However, Nazanin Boniadi was not affectionate enough towards her new boyfriend, Vanity Fair reports.
Tom Cruise was keen on extravagant romantic displays, and complained that the actress would not reciprocate his grand gestures.
Moreover, she was repeatedly in trouble for not respecting senior Scientologists – including Tom Cruise himself.
The first time they met, she congratulated him on winning a medal from the church, which apparently implied that she was superior to him.
And when she met Shelly Miscavige, she asked him to repeat himself because he was talking too fast.
When the couple had been dating for three months, Tom Cruise allegedly tired of his lover, and officials asked her to move out of his house in to the Scientology Celebrity Centre.
Her relationship with the star remained a secret, and Vanity Fair claims that she was once forced to do manual labor for telling a friend about the affair.
Scientology officials have dismissed several of the magazine’s sources as vindictive and unreliable, and deny the story about the wife search.
Just a few months after the break-up, Tom Cruise started seeing Katie Holmes, who converted to Scientology ahead of their marriage in November 2006.
Katie Holmes filed for divorce in June, and the split was finalized two weeks later.
Facebook announces it is cracking down on services that allow users to purchase Likes in bulk to boost the appearance of their page’s popularity.
Celebrities, organizations and brands all vie for fans to show their support by clicking the Like button on the social networking website.
But Facebook admitted on Friday that the Likes of a particular page might not necessarily reflect actual Facebook fans since marketers have increasingly circumvented the website’s policies and have been offering Likes for purchase, to bulk up numbers.
New Facebook security measures will work to make it more difficult for third parties to deceptively garners Likes.
Facebook announces it is cracking down on services that allow users to purchase Likes in bulk to boost the appearance of their page's popularity
“A Like that doesn’t come from someone truly interested in connecting with a Page benefits no one,” the company explained in a posting by their security team entitled “Improvements To Our Site Integrity Systems”.
“When a Page and fan connect on Facebook, we want to ensure that connection involves a real person.”
“We have recently increased our automated efforts to remove Likes on Pages that may have been gained by means that violate our Facebook Terms,” the announcement added.
The changes will likely mean a subtraction of about one per cent of the Likes on any given page.
Facebook maintained that it never sanctioned any of the rampant services available to purchase Likes and warned Page owners to be wary of marketing services that offer to build a brand’s presence on the website.
Facebook’s announcement seemed to be well received by users – the posting garnered over 700 Likes in the first few hours.
The admission that all Likes on a page may not be legitimate comes as Mark Zuckerberg’s empire struggles to prove it can monetize its popular web presence.
Advertising on the social networking website, one of the top destinations on the internet, is closely connected to a brand’s engagement with users and can often be quantified by the number of Likes a page earns.
In a crushing blow to the company before its highly anticipated IPO on May 18, General Motors pulled its $10 million advertising campaign on Facebook.
The auto-maker said they were reassessing how their marketing dollars were being spent and decided to make necessary adjustments.
But The Wall Street Journal cited sources who said GM execs were unimpressed with the effectiveness of Facebook as an advertising platform and just decided the partnership didn’t make sense.
Despite initial excitement about Facebook going public, the company stock has continued to plummet.
Shares of Facebook fell below $19 for the first time on Friday to $18.14, putting the shares about 52% below their IPO price of $38.
Analysts say Facebook’s innovation in terms of advertising will be key to generating revenue and boosting investor confidence in the viability of the company.
Millions of dollars worth of highly prized maple syrup has been stolen from a Canadian storage facility, Quebec police have said.
The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers noticed that barrels supposed to contain the sugary liquid were empty after an inventory check.
The theft took place at their warehouse in St-Louis-de-Blandford, 160 km (100 miles) north-east of Montreal.
Police say it is unclear exactly how much of the expensive syrup was stolen.
Millions of dollars worth of highly prized maple syrup has been stolen from a Canadian storage facility
Some 3.4 million litres of bulk maple syrup was stored in the warehouse, with a value of up to CAN$30 million.
If the entire warehouse’s contents were stolen, it would represent more than a tenth of Quebec’s 2012 harvest, according to CBC news.
“The St-Louis-de-Blandford warehouse had been secured by a fence and locks, and visited regularly,” federation president Serge Beaulieu said in a statement.
The federation also keeps nearly 13 million litres in syrup in three warehouses to stabilize global supply and prices.
“I can assure you there will be no shortage in maple syrup,” Anne-Marie Granger Godbout from the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers told the Reuters news agency.
The syrup was due to be transferred to a new storage facility in the coming weeks.
Maple sap is tapped directly from the sugar maple tree and boiled to concentrate it into maple syrup. Quebec produces three quarters of the world’s maple syrup.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said that Tony Blair and George W. Bush should be taken to the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the Iraq war.
Writing in the UK’s Observer newspaper, Desmond Tutu accused the former leaders of lying about weapons of mass destruction.
The Iraq military campaign had made the world more unstable “than any other conflict in history”, he said.
Tony Blair responded by saying “this is the same argument we have had many times with nothing new to say”.
Earlier this week, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a veteran peace campaigner who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 in recognition of his campaign against apartheid, pulled out of a leadership summit in Johannesburg because he refused to share a platform with Tony Blair.
The former Archbishop of Cape Town said the US- and UK-led action launched against Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003 had brought about conditions for the civil war in Syria and a possible Middle East conflict involving Iran.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said that Tony Blair and George W. Bush should be taken to the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the Iraq war
“The then leaders of the United States [George Bush] and Great Britain [Tony Blair] fabricated the grounds to behave like playground bullies and drive us further apart. They have driven us to the edge of a precipice where we now stand – with the specter of Syria and Iran before us,” he said.
He added: “The question is not whether Saddam Hussein was good or bad or how many of his people he massacred. The point is that Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair should not have allowed themselves to stoop to his immoral level.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu said the death toll as a result of military action in Iraq since 2003 was grounds for Tony Blair and George Bush to be tried in The Hague.
But he said different standards appeared to be applied to Western leaders.
He said: “On these grounds, alone, in a consistent world, those responsible should be treading the same path as some of their African and Asian peers who have been made to answer for their actions in The Hague.”
In response to Sunday’s article, Tony Blair issued a strongly worded defence of his decisions.
Tony Blair said: “To repeat the old canard that we lied about the intelligence [on weapons of mass destruction] is completely wrong as every single independent analysis of the evidence has shown.
“And to say that the fact that Saddam massacred hundreds of thousands of his citizens is irrelevant to the morality of removing him is bizarre.
“We have just had the memorials both of the Halabja massacre, where thousands of people were murdered in one day by Saddam’s use of chemical weapons, and that of the Iran-Iraq war where casualties numbered up to a million, including many killed by chemical weapons.
“In addition, his slaughter of his political opponents, the treatment of the Marsh Arabs and the systematic torture of his people make the case for removing him morally strong. But the basis of action was as stated at the time.”
He added: “In short this is the same argument we have had many times with nothing new to say. But surely in a healthy democracy people can agree to disagree.
“I would also point out that despite the problems, Iraq today has an economy three times or more in size, with child mortality rate cut by a third of what it was. And with investment hugely increased in places like Basra.”
Songwriter Hal David, who wrote dozens of hits with collaborator Burt Bacharach, has died at the age of 91.
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers said he had died in Los Angeles from complications from a stroke.
Hal David had a lengthy career writing lyrics to go along with Burt Bacharach’s tunes.
The pair wrote a string of hits for Dionne Warwick, including Walk On By, and co-wrote songs for films including Alfie and Casino Royale.
His wife, Eunice David, told the Associated Press news agency that he had suffered a major stroke in March and was stricken again on Tuesday.
“Even at the end, Hal always had a song in his head,” she said.
“He was always writing notes, or asking me to take a note down, so he wouldn’t forget a lyric.”
Songwriter Hal David, who wrote dozens of hits with collaborator Burt Bacharach, has died at the age of 91
Hal David won two Oscars for his work on the soundtrack for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – one for best music, and the other for the song Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head.
Both awards were shared with Burt Bacharach.
The pair were nominated for three other Oscars and won many other awards for their soundtracks.
Hal David’s work was performed by a huge array of artists over the decades, including Perry Como, Louis Armstrong, the Carpenters and Sandie Shaw.
In 2011, Hal David and Burt Bacharach were awarded the Gershwin Prize for popular song by the US Library of Congress, the first time a songwriting team has been given the honor.
Hits of Hal David and Burt Bacharach
• Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head, BJ Thomas
• Close To You – The Carpenters
• Alfie – Cilla Black
• What’s New Pussycat? – Tom Jones
• Walk On By, I Say a Little Prayer, Do You Know The Way To San Jose – Dionne Warwick
• Twenty-Four Hours From Tulsa, Gene Pitney
• (There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me, Sandie Shaw
Thousands of Ethiopians are attending the state funeral in Addis Ababa of country’s long-serving Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who died last month.
Meles Zenawi’s flag-draped coffin was carried in a procession from his palace to the city’s Meskel Square, where a solemn religious ceremony began.
Dozens of foreign leaders and dignitaries, including at least 20 African presidents, were present.
Meles Zenawi died at the age of 57 in Brussels, following a long illness.
He came to power in 1991 and was credited for bringing development and growth to Ethiopia.
But critics say this was achieved at the cost of respect for human rights.
Thousands of Ethiopians are attending the state funeral in Addis Ababa of country's long-serving Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who died last month
The state funeral – Ethiopia’s first in more than 80 years – began in Meskel Square after a journey of about an hour-and-a-half from Meles Zenawi’s official residence, the Grand National Palace.
The coffin was accompanied by hundreds of mourners, including Meles Zenawi’s widow Azeb Mesfin, who was seen being comforted by officials.
The coffin will later be taken for burial at the city’s Holy Trinity Cathedral.
The prime minister was a former Marxist rebel and not publicly religious, but was brought up as an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian.
In contrast to the secrecy traditionally surrounding the deaths of Ethiopian leaders, the ceremony is being broadcast live, and huge screens have been erected in cities and villages around the country.
The last Ethiopian leader to be honored with a state funeral was the Empress Zauditu in 1930.
African presidents such as South Africa’s Jacob Zuma and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame are attending the funeral, as well as several prominent international figures including Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.
Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete laid a wreath next to Meles Zenawi’s coffin on Saturday.
He paid tribute to Meles Zenawi’s “charm, his intellect, his passion for Africa’s development”, adding that he was “a kind of leader that you can trust”.
Paul Kagame honored Meles Zenawi as “a gallant fighter for freedom not only for Ethiopia and Ethiopian people, but also Africa”.
Also attending is Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court on several counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the Darfur conflict.
Meles zenawi became a dominant figure in the region after toppling toppling dictator Mengistu Hailemariam 21 years ago.
He ordered Ethiopian troops to intervene against al-Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia, mediated in the conflict in Sudan and South Sudan, and took a leading position in the African Union, which is headquartered in Addis Ababa.
Meles Zenawi will be succeeded by his deputy, Hailemariam Desalegn, 47, a relatively little-known politician from the south of Ethiopia.
Hailemariam Desalegn will formally take over as prime minister after Meles Zenawi’s funeral, and will serve until elections in 2015.
Some observers have voiced fears about the political transition.
The Brussels-based think tank, the Crisis Group, has warned that Hailemariam Desalegn will lead a weaker government that will face mounting grievances along ethnic and religious lines.
Meles Zenawi died suddenly from an infection on 20 August while being treated in hospital in Brussels.
He had not been seen in public for weeks before his death was announced, and there had been increasingly intense speculation about his health.
Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini has described the Roman Catholic Church as being “200 years behind” the times.
Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini died on Friday, aged 85.
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera has published his last interview, recorded in August, in which he said: “The Church is tired… our prayer rooms are empty.”
Carlo Maria Martini, once tipped as a future pope, urged the Church to recognize its errors and to embark on a radical path of change, beginning with the Pope.
Thousands of people have been filing past his coffin at Milan’s cathedral, where he was archbishop for more than 20 years.
The cardinal, who had retired from the post in 2002, suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, is to be buried on Monday.
Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini has described the Roman Catholic Church as being "200 years behind" the times
Carlo Maria Martini, a popular figure with liberal stances on many issues, commanded great respect from both Pope John Paul II and his successor Pope Benedict XVI.
The cardinal – a member of the Jesuit religious order – was often critical in his writings and comments on Church teaching.
He was a courageous and outspoken figure during the years he headed Europe’s largest Catholic diocese.
In his last interview, given to a fellow Jesuit priest less than a month ago and published the day after his death, the cardinal made sweeping criticisms of the Catholic Church.
Catholics lacked confidence in the Church, he said.
“Our culture has grown old, our churches are big and empty and the church bureaucracy rises up, our religious rites and the vestments we wear are pompous.”
Unless the Church adopted a more generous attitude towards divorced persons, it will lose the allegiance of future generations, the cardinal added. The question, he said, is not whether divorced couples can receive holy communion, but how the Church can help complex family situations.
And the advice he leaves behind to conquer the tiredness of the Church was a “radical transformation, beginning with the Pope and his bishops”.
“The child sex scandals oblige us to undertake a journey of transformation,” Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini says, referring to the child sex abuse that has rocked the Catholic Church in the past few years.
He was not afraid to speak his mind on matters that the Vatican sometimes considered taboo, including the use of condoms to fight AIDS and the role of women in the Church.
In 2008, for example, he criticized the Church’s prohibition of birth control, saying the stance had likely driven many faithful away, and publicly stated in 2006 that condoms could “in some situations, be a lesser evil”.
Seal has sensationally revealed that Heidi Klum was having an affair with her bodyguard before the couple broke up.
Seal, 49, made the claims last night to TMZ, after pictures emerged this week of his estranged wife cavorting on the beach with her bodyguard.
The singer told TMZ that Heidi Klum, 39, was having an affair with the security guard before they separated earlier this year.
When initially asked what he thought about his former wife moving on with the heavy tattooed man, Seal said: “Whilst I didn’t expect anything better from him, I would of thought that Heidi would have shown a little more class and at least waited until we separated first before deciding to fornicate with the help.
“But I guess you all now have the answer you have been looking for the last seven months.”
He added that his top priority was his children’s well-being.
Seal has three biological children with Heidi Klum, including Johan, 5, Henry, 6, and Lou, 2. As well as Leni, 8, whom he formally adopted.
“That’s what happens when two people separate, they move on and generally meet other people in their lives,” he said.
“I certainly don’t expect Heidi to all of a sudden become a nun, but as always my main priority is the emotional well-being of my children, and to be quite honest if there is going to be someone else there in their lives there, I would much rather it was a familiar face.”
Seal’s sensational revelations come after pictures emerged this week of Heidi Klum cavorting around with a man believed to be her bodyguard during a sun-soaked holiday in Sardinia, Italy.
She was seen going topless and reclining on a sunlounger with the man in question at a swimming pool, looking loved up.
The pair then showed they have developed a close relationship as Heidi Klum massaged suncream into her tattooed companion’s shoulders while they took a dip and later floated around on a lilo.
It would appear that things are getting serious between the two – which is hardly a surprise seeing as they already knew each other so well.
As well as enjoying some romantic alone time by the pool the duo hit the beach with three of Heidi Klum’s children and her bodyguard has even met the in-laws in the form of her parents Gunther and Erna.
Youngsters Johan, Leni, and Henry, were all on hand for the trip with their famous mother, and were seen playing on the beach together during a day out – while Lou was spotted in Erna’s arms later.
The bodyguard, who has worked for Heidi Klum since she was still married to Seal, seemed to be getting on well with the children as they larked around together on the sand before he gave Heidi a tender hug.
However even during the family day out it seems the two couldn’t get enough of each other.
They took some time out to go and perch on a rock for a private chat and were very hands on with one another.
While Seal is not happy about the couple’s union, it appears that he has also moved on his love life with a new partner.
Last month Seal was seen cosying up to a pretty bikini clad brunette on a yacht – also in Sardinia.
Seal and Heidi Klum announced their split in January after seven years of marriage and filed for divorce three months later.
While their split was initially amicable, it seems things may have turned sour for the pair in the divorce.
A source told Star magazine that the supermodel is fuming at her former flame after he reportedly used intimate shots of the children in an ad campaign without her permission.
An insider told the publication via Radar Online: “Heidi felt that the children had gone through enough since their parents split, and she didn’t want their private moments out there for the world to see.
“But Seal maintained he had every right to use his personal photos – and, moreover, that it was a done deal and out of his hands.”
Heidi Klum allegedly hired a lawyer to demand that the company, Leica digital, take down the video – and it was retraced days later.
The New York boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn nabbed three spots on the list of the 10 most expensive cities to live in the U.S. – while towns in Texas scored among the cheapest.
Not surprisingly the island of Manhattan nabbed the top spot with the most expensive housing, according to a new report released by the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) which indexed the cost of living in 300 cities across America.
While California cities were found to be equally pricey, locales down South fared among the least expensive.
“The top 10 most expensive cities are pretty stable, they remain almost static,” Dean Frutiger, project manager for the Cost of Living Index project at C2ER, told ABC News.
“There’s more change with the bottom,” he added.
The research by C2ER compiled the prices of 60 consumer goods and services in six key categories that include grocery items, housing, utilities, transportation, health care and miscellaneous expenses.
Housing was found to be the significant expense, accounting for an estimated 29% of a resident’s income.
The Big Apple is known to be notoriously expensive, with eye-popping rents charged for just the tiniest square footage.
The cost of living for a resident of Manhattan was found to be 133.5% higher than the national average.
Just across the East River in Brooklyn, living expenses are equally staggering.
The New York City borough that has been a haven for families and artists wanting to escape the bustle of Manhattan is now on par in terms of prices, with a cost of living index at 183.4.
Thus the hipster hideout is no longer offering relief for wallet-wearied New Yorkers, coming in at number two on the list.
The New York boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn nabbed three spots on the list of the 10 most expensive cities to live in the US
The island getaway of Honolulu came third on the priciest places to settle down.
The tropical paradise had a cost of living index of 170.8.
The tech city of San Francisco came fourth, with an index of 163.2, and the neighboring California town of San Jose was fifth, with 156.5.
The New York City borough of Queens, whose Long Island City neighborhood has increasingly been welcoming Manhattan transplants, came sixth with an index of 151.4.
The wealthy Connecticut suburb of Stamford was seventh, with a cost of living 46.7% higher than the national average, and Washington DC was close behind in eighth with an index of 145.5.
Framingham-Natick, Massachusetts came in ninth, with an index of 143.0, and Orange County, California finished off the list in the number 10 spot, with living expenses at 42.5% above the average American.
With metro areas and holiday hot spots among the most enviable locales, towns in the U.S. South were found to be among the least expensive areas.
Harlingen, Texas, a border town on the southern tip of the Lone Star state, came in at the cheapest, with a cost of living index at 81.6 or 18.4% below the national average.
Two other Texas towns, Wichita Falls, in North Texas, and McAllen, near Harlingen, came in second and third.
Cities in neighboring Oklahoma were found to be equally inexpensive in addition to Memphis, Tennessee, Fayetteville, Arkansas and Springfield, Illinois.
British researchers at the University of Bristol believe the shape of beer glasses affects the speed people drink.
Their study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, suggests people drink more quickly out of curved glasses than straight ones.
They argue that the curvy glassware makes pacing yourself a much greater challenge.
A group of 159 men and women were filmed drinking either soft drinks or beer as part of the study. The glasses all contained around half a pint of liquid, but some of the glasses were straight while others were very curved.
There was no difference in the drinking time for soft drinks. People drinking from both straight and curved glasses finished after around seven minutes.
British researchers at the University of Bristol believe the shape of beer glasses affects the speed people drink
However, for the beer drinkers there was a large difference between the two groups. While it took around seven minutes for people drinking from a curved glass to polish off their half pint, it took 11 minutes for those drinking from a straight glass.
The report said: “Drinking time is slowed by almost 60% when an alcoholic beverage is presented in a straight glass compared with a curved glass.”
The researchers thought that curvy glasses made it harder to pace drinking because judging how much was in the glass became more difficult owing to its curved shape.
The group of drinkers was shown a variety of pictures of partially-filled beer glasses and asked to say whether they were more or less than half full.
The team said people were more likely to get the answer wrong when assessing the amount of liquid in curved glasses.
The lead researcher Dr. Angela Attwood said: “They are unable to judge how quickly they are drinking so cannot pace themselves.”
She suggested that people were not concerned about pacing themselves with soft drinks, which could explain why glass shape had no effect on them.
However, the study looked only at the time taken to finish one drink in a laboratory setting. So it is not certain what happens on an evening out if multiple drinks are consumed.
She said altering the glasses used in pubs could “nudge” people to drink more healthily by “giving control back”.
The shape of a glass has already been shown to affect how much alcohol people pour. A study in 2005 showed people were more likely to pour extra alcohol into short, wide glasses than tall, narrow ones.
Since 1884, the first Monday in September has been a holiday in the US, as a tribute to workers.
Canada has the same, while many other countries have International Workers Day – May Day – instead, commemorating struggles for workers’ rights.
This year’s Labor Day falls on Monday, September 3rd.
To most people in North America, however, Labor Day is above all the last-blast of summer fun, and -for many kids – the last day of freedom before Back to School.
For a weekend getaway, head to a city that has big celebrations, or to one of the many family resorts that offer special packages – scroll down for sample packages.
• New York: Labor Day Parade
The first Labor Day Parade was held in New York City, on September 5 1882, and there’s still one in NYC today, with trade union members, high school bands, politicians, police and fire departments, and more. Location is usually in Manhattan, on 5th Ave. In 2012, NY Labor Day Parade will be held on Saturday, September 8th.
• West Indian American Day Carnival Parade (Brooklyn Carnival)
This extravaganza has Caribbean costumes, music, and food, spectators in the millions; it’s a multi-day event with a parade on Labor Day.
• Labor Day Weekend Events in Boston
It’s moving day for students (aka as the “Student Invasion”), so allow plenty of time to get to events such as a Schooner Festival or a free concert on Spectacle Island.
The first Labor Day Parade was held in New York City, on September 5 1882, and there's still one in NYC today, with trade union members, high school bands, politicians, police and fire departments, and more
• Washington DC
An annual concert by the National Symphony Orchestra is performed on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building, and is free.
• Other Labor Day Events in DC
Kensington Labor Day Parade has a day of family entertainment, as does Greenbelt Labor Day Festival; Renaissance Festival, free Blues Festival, Kids Day at Nationals Park, and lots more.
• Detroit Labor Day Parade
Detroit, aka “Motor City” – where the automobile unions were born – has a major Labor Day Parade that’s one of the biggest in Michigan. The free three-day Detroit Jazz Fest is scheduled for Labor Day Weekend, too.
• Chicago
The annual Chicago Jazz Festival is a big event. Also on the agenda for Labor Day Weekend: daytime events in Millennium Park including an interactive play that will please young kids; African Festival of the Arts in Washington Park, including an African village, entertainment, and family fun; and more. See Explore Chicago. Many events are free.
• St.Louis
Ten top ways to celebrate summer’s last weekend: a Japanese Festival at the Botanical Gardens, a Downtown Labor Day Parade, a Greek Festival, the Big Muddy Blues Festival, and more.
• Irvington, VA: Irvington Stomp
An event with a small-town feel, this “grape stomp” harvest festival celebrates wine-making in Irvington, VA, 1-½ hours east of Richmond; those close to Chesapeake Bay can arrive by boat. Grape Stomping Competitions, music, hayrides, corn maze, and more.
• Events in the Southeastern US
Many weekend events and festivals in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, NC, SC, and Virginia. Also: ten fun resort hotels for Labor Day Weekend.
• Orlando: Tom Joyner Family Reunion at Disney World
This big bash at Walt Disney World adds special entertainment to the usual theme park fun. To find out more, try this Orlando Local Guide, or Blackamericaweb.com, or search for “Joyner” at the Disney World website.
• Texas
About’s Guide for Texas highlights Westfest, Batfest, and other events.
• Events in Greater LA
Street Fairs, Long Beach Greek Festival, “Fiesta Hermosa” arts and crafts festival with kiddie carnival, and more.
• Copper Country Festival, CO
Copper Mountain (a popular ski resort during winter months) has a big bash on Labor Day Weekend, with big-name bands, street party, and “Copper Corral” for kids with free pony rides, face painting, etc.
• Myrtle Beach, SC
This major tourist destination – with a 60-mile stretch of beaches, and several amusement parks — has an annual family-friendly Beach, Boogie & BBQ Festival at Grand Park at The Market Common. To sample all the barbecue from competing teams, guests only need to purchase a reasonably-priced wristband; kids under 10 can sample free. See Festival details.
Labor Day Weekend Packages at Family Resorts
Many family resorts in the U.S. have end-of-summer bashes, often with a BBQ. For instance, in southern Maine the Pointe Sebago family resort on Lake Sebago has 775 acres and a package that includes buffet meals (with lobster on the menu), a boat cruise, paddle boats, canoes, kayaks, activities for all ages, and entertainment.
The AAA four-diamond Resort at Squaw Creek, Lake Tahoe in California typically includes lots of activities during its Labor Day Weekend package, such as bocce ball, croquet, tie-dying a t-shirt, s’mores at outdoor fire pits, live music, poolside BBQ, and a dive-in movie, plus the usual biking, guided hikes, golf, and fly-fishing.
In Texas, the Texas: Barton Creek Resort & Spahas 4000 acres in the Hill Country near Austin, a kids club for ages 6 months and up, and an annual Labor Day Weekend package.
In New York state, the Villa Roma Resort Hotel in the Catskills – two hours from NYC – has seasonal packages all year long, including Labor Day Weekend, and programs for all ages, from tots to teens; packages typically include meals, theme night dinner, kids programs, and nightly entertainment. Be sure to check recent visitors’ comments for any resort.
Check your favorite family resorts and no doubt many will have a special weekend package to end the summer with a blast.
Seven outfits worn by Margaret Thatcher during the 1970s in the early part of her career are being auctioned at Christie’s on Monday.
They form part of its London Sale, which is being held to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and London 2012.
Sold by a private collector, the suits which come in an array of colors, are thought to be the first of Lady Thatcher’s clothes to be sold at a public auction.
All of the Iron Lady’s outfits have been given a guide price of between £1,000 ($1,600) and £1,500 ($2,500).
Pat Frost, Head of the Textiles Department at Christie’s told the BBC: “These outfits were worn at the beginning of her career, when she got the <<milk snatcher>> tag, and were part of important moments like her introduction as leader at the Conservative Party conference.”
She said she was not aware of any previous auctions of Lady Thatcher’s outfits.
Last year Lady Thatcher’s black Asprey rectangular leather handbag sold for £25,000 ($39,000) at auction.
She was said to deploy it to enforce cabinet solidarity.
The term “handbagging” was used as a reference to the way she disciplined unrurly Tory backbenchers and ministers during her years in Downing Street.
Seven outfits worn by Margaret Thatcher during the 1970s in the early part of her career are being auctioned at Christie's on Monday
Canary yellow dress
This was worn to the Conservative Party conference in 1975 and Lady Thatcher can be seen wearing it in contemporary news footage, standing alongside Edward Heath on the conference platform.
Navy dress
Margaret Thatcher can be seen in the navy suit during a Valerie Singleton programme.
Peach wool suit
This outfit she wore while being grilled about moisturiser by Sue MacGregor in 1971.
Light green suit
This was worn when she was confirmed as the new leader of the Conservative Party .
Navy suit
Margaret Thatcher is seen wearing the navy suit in an episode of Val Meets the VIPs, which was presented by Valerie Singleton.
Green suit
Margaret Thatcher wore the green suit in a 1972 edition of Panorama called Women in Politics.
Lady Gaga’s debut fragrance Fame, which contains notes of blood and semen, has become the number one best-selling women’s fragrance at Superdrug, in UK, just a week after hitting the shelves.
Advanced fragrance technology means that the dramatic looking black liquid turns clear as soon as it is sprayed in to the air, and the bottle is pure Lady Gaga: black and gold featuring gilded monster claws.
This unique perfume concept has translated in to ringing tills for team Lady Gaga, the £23.99 ($37.5) perfume has already sold more than both Beyonce and Madonna’s fragrances did in their first week of launch.
Lady Gaga’s debut fragrance Fame has become the number one best-selling women’s fragrance at Superdrug just a week after hitting the shelves
Sara Wolverson, Superdrug beauty director said: “Lady Gaga is a true original and she has brought something completely new to the fragrance market.
“While initial reports promised slightly scary fragrance notes the actual perfume is sophisticated, floral, addictive, moreish and sexy which paired with the black liquid and dramatic styling is truly original.
“We knew Lady Gaga would be popular but have been astounded by the rush to be the first to buy the fragrance.”
In her perfume campaign, Lady Gaga is seen reclining with an arm behind her head, while holding the perfume in her other hand.
Scantily clad men – who have been shrunk to miniature size – are strategically placed over her body to save her blushes.
Renato Semerari, president of Coty Beauty, said: “She is an artist that is never satisfied with the status quo – she always has this way of challenging everybody and trying to do something more, something different.”
Labor Day is one of the oldest holidays in the United States, and is a part of the “big six” federal holidays.
1. Take It To the Beach – While You Still Can!
While fall doesn’t officially begin for another month, for many families, Labor Day is the last true summer weekend, with school just about or already beginning to start. Take advantage of this last gasp of warm-weather freedom by hoofing it to the nearest beach with a cooler and the kids in tow (though, of course, one or both are optional).
Labor Day is the last true summer weekend, with school just about or already beginning to start
2. Throwback Family Weekend
Similarly, a long summer weekend provides the perfect opportunity for quality, outdoorsy bonding time. For those who prefer a single afternoon with relatives, a Labor Day picnic offers both togetherness and a manageable timeframe. The more ambitious can always embark on a 3-day camping trip, either at one site or road-tripping National Lampoon-style to different grounds. (If you’re from the South, has some great tips on where to rent a Labor Day Weekend cabin.)
3. Movie Weekend
For others who equate a holiday with relaxation, and “relaxing” with “not moving,” a movie weekend may be your best bet. There’s plenty showing in theaters: if you’re in a more alternative mood, indulge in a day of culture with some French fare (Marion Cotillard and Jean Dujardin – the guy from The Artist – are currently starring in Little White Lies), festival hits (Beasts of the Southern Wild will get to you – or should), indie rom-coms (Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg offer the anti-date flick, Celeste and Jesse Forever), and art-house selections (see Rob Pattinson do cerebral in Cosmopolis). Or – or in addition to – there’s always Netflix.
4. Channel Your Inner Chef
We recommend this cooking website, or standby Food Network’s site, for how to celebrate in culinary style. Both offer Labor Day-themed recipes, although our favorite dining idea is to host a Labor Day Lobster Bash – featuring, naturally, the most labor-intensive dish as the main course.
5. Absolutely Nothing
The cheapest option across the board and breadth of the country is to celebrate the hours you put in every week by sleeping a good chunk of them away. Turn off your alarm, make no plans, and don’t get dressed unless someone else has invited you to a picnic, barbecue, film, or his or her front porch for a drink. Happy Labor Day!
Amber Rose is pregnant with her first child, it has been reported.
Amber Rose and her rapper fiancé Wiz Khalifa did not plan the alleged pregnancy but are reportedly delighted to have a little one on the way.
It has also emerged that the engaged couple may tie the knot sooner than they originally intended to.
A source told Radar Online: “Amber and Wiz unexpectedly got pregnant, but they’re really happy to be starting a family together.”
And a baby on the way means the 28-year-old will be making some serious alterations to her lifestyle, including quitting smoking and accepting that her figure is going to change.
Amber Rose and her rapper fiancé Wiz Khalifa did not plan the alleged pregnancy
The insider claimed: “Amber’s already had to make some big lifestyle changes, like not smoking cigarettes anymore.
“As a model she’s used to having a thin waist, so this is going to be an adjustment for her.”
The happy couple was planning on marrying in the winter but MediaTakeout reports that they are now hoping to bump the big day up to October.
The website claims that Amber Rose is expected to give birth to the baby in January and doesn’t want to have the wedding too close to her due date.
It will be the first child for both of the stars.
Wiz Khalifa, whose real name Cameron Jibril Thomaz, announced the pair was set to wed in March when he posted on Twitter: “She Said Yes!!!”
Amber Rose then posted a snap of her stunning oval-shaped diamond ring to her own page and said she was the “happiest woman in the world”.
A number of popular Cape Cod beaches have been closed after multiple reports of sharks, including deadly great whites, swimming not far from the coast.
The closure is just the latest twist in an unusually shark-infested Cape Cod summer.
A string of beaches off the shore of Chatham, Massachusetts were shut down indefinitely on Wednesday, making it likely they will be closed throughout the Labor Day weekend.
Fishermen and tourists have reported an unexpectedly high number of sharks in the Atlantic off the Cape Cod coast, some less than 20 feet offshore.
Last week, a vacationing family filmed footage of a great white shark feeding on a seal just a few feet away from their boat.
And in July, a man was bitten in the leg by a shark while surfing off Ballston Beach.
A number of popular Cape Cod beaches have been closed after multiple reports of sharks
This weekend’s beach closure was partly prompted by shark spotter Greg Skomal, who said he had seen three sharks up to 18 feet long swimming near the coast, according to the Cape Cod Times.
At Nauset Beach, lifeguards were on hand to prevent people from going into the water other than to get their feet wet.
One woman was asked to return to shore when she was wading knee-deep in the Atlantic, according to the Cape Cod Times.
A sign at the beach blamed ‘the presence of marine life in the water’ for the ban.
The recent influx of sharks in the waters off Massachusetts is believed to be down to the increasing prevalence of seals in the area.
“The elbow of the cape has these large, dense concentrations of grey seals now, and these white sharks go to the area to feed,” said Greg Skomal.
“Because the seals are so abundant, now the white sharks are paying more attention.”
The shark encounters will doubtless draw comparisons to Jaws, the 1975 blockbuster which was filmed on nearby Martha’s Vineyard.
Matthew McConaughey was spotted a couple of days ago looking unrecognizable and showing off a gaunt frame on the set of his new movie.
Matthew McConaughey, 42, appeared thinner than ever as he returned to his Manhattan hotel on Thursday.
A white v-neck T-shirt, which would normally be fitted across his usual muscular torso, literally hung off the Hollywood hunk, while his blue jeans were even more baggier around his legs.
His extreme weight loss – for a new role playing a HIV victim – has also caused him to look pale and gaunt, and much older than his 42 years.
The actor is on a quest to lose a whopping 30 lbs for the new movie role and by the looks of it he is already there.
Matthew McConaughey appeared thinner than ever as he returned to his Manhattan hotel on Thursday
Matthew McConaughey is currently in New York filming The Wolf of Wall Street, based on a memoir by Jordan Belfort who spent 22 months in jail for offenses related to stock market manipulation and running a boiler room.
Work on the movie began in Manhattan earlier this month.
The film, directed by Martin Scorsese, also features Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, and French Academy Award winner Jean Dujardin and is set to open in theaters in 2013.
But his weight loss is actually for his next role in The Dallas Buyer’s Club.
Matthew McConaughey told Larry King in a recent interview: “I’m playing a guy who was sick and would have loved to have been healthier but wasn’t.
“For me, it’s more of a mental thing than a physical thing. I’ll get down to the weight I need to get to. I’m on my way, and it’s what I need to do for the job.”
The father-of-two, whose wife Camilla Alves is expecting their third child this fall, has been taking a philosophical approach to his punishing diet.
“It’s a bit of a spiritual cleanse, mental cleanse,” he said.
“[I’m] drinking a lot of tea.”
“It takes a while for your body to understand that it has to feed off of itself and that you’re not going to give it something else from the outside,” he adds.
The gritty role is based on the real life story of a Dallas man named Ron Woodruff, who contracted HIV through drug use in the ‘80s.
A private funeral service has been held for astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon.
Neil Armstrong died last Saturday aged 82.
The funeral in Cincinnati, Ohio, was by invitation only, reflecting Neil Armstrong’s own intensely private nature.
Hundreds of millions watched Neil Armstrong land on the Moon on 20 July 1969 and describe it as: “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
The line became one of the most famous quotes of the 20th Century.
On Friday, Neil Armstrong’s family and friends as well as fellow astronauts gathered at a private golf club for the funeral.
A private funeral service has been held for astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon
“Neil Armstrong’s first step on the Moon paved the way for others to be the <<first>> to step foot on another planet,” said Charles Bolden, head of the US space agency Nasa.
Flags flew half-mast across America on Friday, following President Barack Obama’s order to mark the funeral.
The president earlier described Neil Armstrong as “a hero not just of his time, but of all time”.
A public memorial for the astronaut is planned on 12 September in Washington.
Neil Armstrong’s family said last Saturday that he had died from complications after heart surgery.
The family statement praised him as a “reluctant American hero” and urged his fans to honor his example of “service, accomplishment and modesty”.
Last November, Neil Armstrong received the Congressional Gold Medal – the highest US civilian award.
Many of his colleagues and friends have paid tribute to him as a modest man who never sought the limelight.
Michael Collins, a pilot on the Apollo 11 Moon mission, said: “He was the best, and I will miss him terribly.”
In a rare interview with Australian TV this year, he reflected on a moment during his three hours on the Moon when he stopped to commemorate US astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts who had died in action.
Neil Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin collected samples, conducted experiments and took photographs during their moonwalk.
Apollo 11 was Neil Armstrong’s last space mission. In 1971, he left NASA to teach aerospace engineering.
Born in 1930 and raised in Ohio, Neil Armstrong took his first flight aged six with his father and formed a lifelong passion for flying.
Neil Armstrong flew Navy fighter jets during the Korean War in the 1950s, and joined the US space programme in 1962.
Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has visited an emergency centre in hurricane-damaged Louisiana, a day after accepting the Republican nomination for US president.
Mitt Romney attended a Friday rally with running mate Paul Ryan in Florida before cancelling a campaign stop in Virginia and diverting to the South.
Hurricane Isaac caused heavy flooding in areas around New Orleans and damage across the Gulf Coast.
Mitt Romney will challenge President Barack Obama in November’s election.
The Democratic president is due to tour storm-affected areas of Louisiana Monday, a US national holiday.
Mitt Romney has visited an emergency centre in hurricane-damaged Louisiana
At least six deaths in Louisiana and Mississippi have been attributed to Isaac, which brought up to 16 in (41 cm) of rain in some areas.
Mitt Romney travelled on his new campaign plane to Louisiana, at the invitation of the state’s Republican Governor Bobby Jindal.
The two spent almost an hour meeting local officials and first responders on Friday.
“I’m here to learn and obviously to draw some attention to what’s going on here,” Mitt Romney told the governor, “so that people around the country know that people down here need help.”
The presidential candidate shook hands with National Guardsman and met residents who had lost their homes in the storm.
“He just told me to, um, there’s assistance out there,” resident Jodie Chiarello said.
“He’s good. He’ll do the best for us, you know. He speaks to our best interests at heart.”
Former Republican President George W Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina, in which 1,800 people died seven years ago, was widely perceived as a failure.
This year, Hurricane Isaac wrought less destruction and New Orleans benefited from a revamped set of flood defences erected after Katrina.
Correspondents say both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were eager to display crisis leadership in the wake of Isaac.
“The decision to travel on Monday was made before Governor Romney announced his decision to travel to Louisiana on Friday,” an Obama aide told reporters from the presidential plane Air Force One.
Meanwhile, the Romney campaign insisted it had not hurried to appear first amid the storm wreckage.
Barack Obama made federal emergency aid available earlier in the week. But he pledged further assistance for individuals in a Friday call with parish presidents and local leaders in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Senate Majority Leader Democrat Harry Reid said Mitt Romney’s visit was the “height of hypocrisy”, adding that Republicans planned to gut disaster aid.
Plaquemines Parish, just outside New Orleans, was among the areas hardest hit by flooding after an 8-ft (2.5-m) levee was overtopped, leaving many homes under about 12ft of water.
The Plaquemines levee was not part of a multi-billion dollar upgrade to the federal levees protecting the city.
Among those killed in the US by the storm were a man and a woman in the town of Braithwaite who apparently drowned in their kitchen as flood waters surged in.
In Mississippi, officials have been pumping water from a reservoir on the Louisiana border to ease the pressure behind a storm-battered dam.
About 600,000 people across Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas are without power as of Friday, Reuters reports.
Mitt Romney capped off the Republican convention on Thursday evening with a speech accusing President Barack Obama of failure.
The Obama campaign said the Republican had “gauzy platitudes, but no tangible ideas to move the country forward”.
A scoring system error led to the wrong medals being awarded in the women’s combined F35/36-class discus event at London 2012 Paralympics.
Ukraine’s Mariia Pomazan originally won gold and Wu Qing of China silver, but the pair has swapped places in the new revised medal table.
Bronze medallist Bao Jiongyu of China has been demoted to fifth place, with Australia’s Katherine Proudfoot up to third from fifth.
The new medal ceremony is on Saturday.
In total, seven of the top 10 and all of the top five positions were changed.
Ukraine's Mariia Pomazan originally won gold and Wu Qing of China silver, but the pair has swapped places in the new revised medal table
Paralympic organisers said in a statement: “All combined class field events use a points scoring system where final positions are determined by points rather than distance.
“In today’s women’s combined class discus event [F35/36], incorrect medals were awarded following the use of inaccurate results data. We sincerely apologise to the athletes affected.
“The inaccurate data also affected the men’s shot put F42/44, although the final medal placing was not impacted.
“A new medal ceremony will be held during tomorrow [Saturday] morning’s athletics session.”
Armenia announces it is severing diplomatic ties with Hungary after the release of Azeri army officer Ramil Safarov convicted of murdering Armenian soldier Gurgen Markarian.
The Azeri serviceman, Ramil Safarov, was given a life sentence for hacking Armenian Gurgen Markarian to death with an axe in 2004 in Budapest.
On Friday, Ramil Safarov was flown to Baku and pardoned, despite Baku’s assurances that his sentence would be enforced.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a bitter war over an enclave in the early 1990s.
Armenia said on Friday that Hungary had made a “grave mistake” in sending Ramil Safarov back to Azerbaijan.
Azeri serviceman Ramil Safarov was given a life sentence for hacking Armenian Gurgen Markarian to death with an axe in 2004 in Budapest
“With their joint actions, Azerbaijan and Hungary opened the door to the recurrence of such crimes,” President Serzh Sarkisian said in comments release by his press office.
“I cannot put up with this. The republic of Armenia cannot put up with this,” the president added.
The Hungarian authorities said they had returned Ramil Safarov to his homeland only after receiving assurances from the Baku government that his sentence would be enforced.
Ramil Safarov killed Gurgen Markarian at a military academy in Budapest, where both servicemen attended English-language courses organized by NATO.
During his trial in Hungary, Ramil Safarov said that the Azeri-Armenian war over Nagorno-Karabakh and insults from the Armenian officer were at the root of his actions.
Hungary and Azerbaijan have so far made no public comment on the case.
Azerbaijan and Armenia, both former Soviet republics, fought a war over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in the early 1990s, which left some 30,000 people dead, and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Armenia-backed authorities are currently controlling Nagorno-Karabakh, which lies within Azerbaijan.
Despite a 1994 ceasefire, skirmishes continue on the borders of the disputed territory.
