Police in Paris are questioning former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin over an embezzlement case involving a friend.
Dominique de Villepin has been placed under police custody for the interrogation, which was pre-arranged, a source told AFP news agency.
He is being asked about an alleged intervention in the Relais & Chateaux fraud inquiry, Le Monde reports.
The former prime minister previously denied involvement in the case.
Police in Paris are questioning former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin over an embezzlement case involving a friend
A close friend of Dominique de Villepin, Regis Bulot, is accused of embezzling 1.6 million euros ($2 million) between 2002 and 2008.
Regis Bulot, who formerly headed the Relais & Chateaux luxury small hotel association, has been in custody since November. He denies the charges against him.
The former prime minister was brought into the case when police secretly recorded a telephone conversation between the two men in early 2010.
In the bugged phone call, it is alleged that Dominique de Villepin claimed to have put pressure on the new management of Relais & Chateaux not to co-operate with the police investigation.
Dominique de Villepin was cleared a year ago of wrongdoing in an alleged smear campaign against former President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who helped the US to locate Osama Bin Laden, has said he was unaware he was involved with the 2011 killing of the al-Qaeda chief.
Speaking for the first time since his arrest, Shakil Afridi told Fox News he did not think he needed to escape after the killing but was then kidnapped by Pakistan’s ISI intelligence agency.
He said the ISI, who he says tortured him, regards the US as its worst enemy.
Dr. Shakil Afridi is understood to have been contacted by phone in jail in Peshawar.
Prison officials were taken by surprise by reports of the interview, but did not rule out that a phone could have been smuggled into his cell.
The doctor is alleged to have used a fake hepatitis B vaccination campaign to obtain DNA samples of Osama Bin Laden’s family.
He was sentenced to 33 years in jail in May for funding and supporting a militant group, but correspondents say it is generally acknowledged he is being punished for helping the CIA.
Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who helped the US to locate Osama Bin Laden, has said he was unaware he was involved with the 2011 killing of the al-Qaeda chief
The interview was published on the eve of the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the US, and came as current al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri confirmed the death of another senior figure in the network, Abu Yahya al-Libi, in a US drone strike in Pakistan’s tribal areas earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Ayman al-Zawahiri’s brother Mohamed told CNN that he was prepared to negotiate peace between the West and Islamists.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, who spent 14 years in jail in Egypt, is said to have the respect of the new Egyptian government but claims to be ideologically close to his brother.
Speaking from Peshawar Central Jail, Dr. Shakil Afridi said he had not realized that the CIA was targeting Osama Bin Laden.
“I didn’t know about a specific target apart from the work I was given to do,” he told Fox News.
“I was aware that some terrorists were residing in that compound, but I didn’t know whom. I was shocked. I didn’t believe I was associated with his killing.”
He said that the CIA advised him to flee to Afghanistan.
However, he was scared to cross the volatile border region and did not think it was necessary for him to escape because he did not consider himself to be involved in Osama Bin Laden’s death, he said.
Dr. Shakil Afridi was arrested at a checkpoint at Hayatabad on 22 May last year, 20 days after Osama Bin Laden’s death.
After this he says he was blindfolded for eight months and handcuffed for a year in a prison beneath the ISI headquarters in Islamabad.
“I had to bend down on my knees to eat with only my mouth, like a dog,” he said.
During interrogations he was tortured with cigarette burns and electric shocks, he said, as the ISI rebuked him for helping the US find Bin Laden.
“They said: <<The Americans are our worst enemies, worse than the Indians>>,” he added.
Dr. Shakil Afridi also said fellow inmates had told him that they had been advised to make things up to prevent interrogation by visiting CIA officers.
He said that he himself was “proud” to work with the CIA and would help the US again despite the torture and psychological abuse he said he had suffered.
“I have a lot of respect and love for your people,” he said.
There has been no official response to Shakil Afridi’s allegations, but the Pakistani authorities have always insisted that they treated him the way any country would someone found working for a foreign spy agency.
Osama Bin Laden’s killing created a crisis in relations between the US and Pakistan, whose government was seriously embarrassed as it emerged Bin Laden had been living in Pakistan.
Islamabad felt the covert US operation was a violation of its sovereignty.
Both US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have said Dr. Shakil Afridi’s arrest was a mistake and called for his release.
People of South Asian, African or African Caribbean descent living in UK are significantly more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than their European counterparts, British researchers have warned.
Half had developed the disease by the age of 80 in a study of 4,200 people living in London – approximately twice the figure for Europeans.
The researchers said the rates were “astonishingly high”.
The findings were published in the journal Diabetes Care.
People of South Asian, African or African Caribbean descent living in UK are significantly more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than their European counterparts
Losing control of blood sugar levels increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and amputations. Type 2 diabetes is often linked to lifestyle and diet.
Some ethnic groups are already known to have a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes. However, one of the researchers at Imperial College London, Dr. Therese Tillin, said it may be down to them simply getting the disease earlier in their lives and the figures would even out over time.
But the study showed: “The rates don’t slow down as you get older. The astonishing difference continues,” Dr. Therese Tillin said.
She warned this could be a sign of things to come with the potential for soaring levels of diabetes around the world as more people lived in cities and enjoyed a calorie-rich diet.
The scientists involved said that fat, particularly around the waist, could explain some, but not all of the difference, between the ethnicities.
Fellow researcher, Dr. Nish Chaturvedi, said genetics could not explain the difference either as there were similar levels of “risky genes” across all groups.
She said: “There is something else that puts them at higher risk and we’re not sure what that is.”
Dr. Mike Knapton, from the British Heart Foundation and a GP, said: “Awareness is really low considering the magnitude of the problem, even I’m surprised by the figures.”
He also warned that failing to deal with diabetes would have huge financial consequences for the NHS.
The director of research at Diabetes UK, Dr. Iain Frame, said it was “even more important” for people at high risk to manage their weight.
He said: “People from these communities should be screened earlier than the general population – from the age of 25 rather than 40.
“People need to know their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and get diagnosed as early as possible. We know that people from South Asian backgrounds can often be living with the condition for around 10 years before they are diagnosed, which increases the risk of complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and amputation.”
Antarctic bivalves have surprised scientists who have discovered that the molluscs switch sex.
The reproduction of Lissarca miliaris was studied in the 1970s and the species was first described in 1845.
But their hermaphrodite nature had remained unknown until they were studied by scientists from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK.
Researchers suggest the molluscs could switch between the sexes to efficiently reproduce in the extremely cold ocean.
The results are published in the journal Polar Biology.
“The previous reproductive study only looked at the large eggs and broods,” said PhD student and lead author Adam Reed.
Antarctic bivalves have surprised scientists who have discovered that the molluscs switch sex
This earlier work showed how females brood their young for up to 18 months, from “large yolky eggs” to “fully shelled young”, and found that females can support as many as 70 young inside their hinged shell.
But concentrating on reproduction at a cellular level, Adam Reed and colleagues discovered that the eggs were actually present in males.
“Curiously, we found huge numbers of very small eggs in functional males, which appear to be far higher in number than an individual could brood throughout the life of the animal,” he said.
The team suggested that the bivalves reproduce as males while they are still in the “small” stages of development, switching to female organs once they are large enough to brood a significant number of eggs.
“At present the traits we describe are unusual for Antarctic bivalves, but in 10 years perhaps this will be common too,” said Adam Reed.
“Hermaphroditism is not necessarily uncommon in Antarctic bivalves, and with many species still to study there may be many more to describe.”
Brooding meanwhile is a relatively common reproductive trait in Antarctic invertebrates and has been linked to the extreme conditions.
“Brooding is common for small bivalves and has been discussed for many years in Antarctic biology,” said Adam Reed.
“Large yolky eggs that are brooded have much lower mortality than small planktonic larvae, but fewer are produced.”
He explained that in extremely cold environments, development is slowed down so feeding larvae becomes a more exhaustive task.
“Brooding reduces the need for long periods of feeding”, according to Adam Reed, making it a more efficient strategy for many Antarctic invertebrates including bivalves and echinoids.
The researcher suggested that the bivalves may be further maximizing their efficiency when it comes to reproduction.
“We also found that after males become female, the male reproductive tissue persists for a long time,” he said.
But for now, the bivalves can maintain their mystery because scientists are restricted to studying them during the months that staff is based at the British Antarctic Survey’s remote research station.
“Perhaps they may alternate their sex so they can continue to reproduce as males while brooding their young for 18 months?” Adam Reed theorized.
“The study highlights how much we do not know about some of the common invertebrates living in the Antarctic, and how much research there is still to do.”
Jessica Simpson showed off little Maxwell’s first swimsuit yesterday as she shared a photo of the adorable four-month-old on Katie Couric’s new chatshow.
Jessica Simpson herself kept her clothes firmly on as she made her much-hyped appearance as the very first guest on Katie.
The 32-year-old singer wore a slimming black peplum Roland Mouret dress as she revealed she had lost 40 lbs since Maxwell’s birth on May 1.
Talking to Katie Couric in her first big TV interview since becoming a mother, Jessica Simpson admitted she didn’t realize how hard it would be to lose her baby weight.
“During pregnancy, I didn’t really think about it,” she said about her weight gain.
“I thought my doctors were telling me that it was just a lot of water and whenever my water broke my whole entire stomach would go down but that did not happen.
“All the weight did not come out with the baby.”
Jessica Simpson showed off little Maxwell's first swimsuit yesterday as she shared a photo of the adorable four-month-old on Katie Couric's new chatshow
Now Jessica Simpson says she is 10 lbs away from her goal weight, and she’s using her daughter to get there.
“I basically take her with me, whether it’s strapping her on me or strolling around the neighborhood,” she said.
“My new goal is 14,000 steps a day.”
Jessica Simpson is breast feeding Maxwell, and said that sugar cravings had been an obstacle in her weight loss.
“I feel like what made me eat more is my hormones and breastfeeding,” she confided in Katie Couric.
“I’ve never wanted chocolate more in my life. I’ve had to really stay focused and focus on my diet and concentrate on what I’m putting in my body.”
Jessica Simpson says she is 10 lbs away from her goal weight
But unlike most new mothers Jessica Simpson is been paid a heady amount to shed her weight.
Jessica Simpson, who tipped the scales at more than 170 lbs during her pregnancy, is following Weight Watchers after signing a deal rumored to be worth $4 million.
She said the programme was working for her.
“You have to track every bit, and you can’t get away with the bites because they add up,” she said.
“You have to be completely honest with yourself, and I think just creating that relationship of honesty with yourself is so good.”
And she said appearing on the show had been driving her weight loss.
“I’ve just had a lot of pressure on me and today was actually one of my goals,” she said.
“Getting here in a comfortable and beautiful dress.”
With the eyes of the world on her, Jessica Simpson also said her weight loss had been somewhat stressful.
“I’ve been pregnant for three years,” she joked.
“I definitely don’t Google my name.
“I try to avoid it completely. But I still subconsciously know that the talk is going on so I think that every day that is a struggle for me.”
“I understand that it sells magazines and stuff. But I wish I could get a cut,” she said.
And she added: “There is a lot of pressure to lose weight. But I want to be healthy for my daughter.”
Talking about her fiancé, Eric Johnson, Jessica Simpson admitted that the couple had yet to set a date to walk down the aisle.
But she said of the American football player: “He’s the best dad. Even my dad says that. He changes every diaper.”
Both Eric and Maxwell Johnson accompanied her to New York from their LA home for the interview.
“She had her first flight yesterday,” Jessica Simpson said of Maxwell.
“She did not sleep. She slept the last hour but she didn’t cry.”
Jessica Simpson said that having her daughter had transformed her life.
“Motherhood is a dream it really is absolutely amazing,” she said.
“My life is very different now.”
Despite her weight loss, Jessica Simpson admitted she was worried about her appearance.
“I almost peed my pants, I’m very nervous,” she told Katie Couric.
She wasn’t the only one.
Katie Couric herself told her audience: “I feel like it’s the first day of school. It’s so nice to be here. I am so thrilled today to finally be here.”
She had plenty of support – her daughters, aged 16 and 21, were in the audience.
Jessica Simpson is being paid a reported $4 million to act as the new face of Weight Watchers.
And now Jessica Simpson has starred in her first advert for the diet programme, filmed back in July as she got stuck into her weight loss regime.
Yet the footage has failed to capture her full figure, presumably the one thing that viewers want to see so that they can make a comparison between her before and after figure.
“I’m Jessica Simpson and yes I’m doing Weight Watchers,” she tells the camera, smiling.
“There is a lot of pressure to lose weight but I’m not a supermodel. I’m just Jessica trying to eat real food in the real world and I really just wanna be healthy for my daughter.
“So I knew Weight Watchers was the only way to go. It’s working.
‘I’m on my way and it feels amazing. Really I just wanna be a better version of myself.”
Jessica Simpson has starred in her first advert for the diet programme, filmed back in July as she got stuck into her weight loss regime
The advert focuses on Jessica Simpson’s upper body, with close-ups of her face.
Talking on Katie Couric’s new chat show yesterday, the singer and actress admitted that at the time she wasn’t comfortable revealing her whole frame.
Since the clip was filmed Jessica Simpson, 32, has continued on her healthy eating plan – taking her total weight loss to an impressive 40 lbs.
But she still isn’t at her goal, after her weight hit more than 170 lbs while she was pregnant.
Talking on the debut episode of Katie Couric yesterday Jessica Simpson explained why the Weight Watchers programme is working for her.
“You have to track every bit, and you can’t get away with the bites because they add up,” she said.
“You have to be completely honest with yourself, and I think just creating that relationship of honesty with yourself is so good.”
Along with tracking her food Jessica Simpson is also working out.
And now she is 10 lbs away from her goal weight, she’s using her daughter to get there.
“I basically take her with me, whether it’s strapping her on me or strolling around the neighborhood,” she said.
New evidence appears to back the idea that the US helped cover up Soviet guilt for the 1940 Katyn massacre of Polish soldiers.
In an exclusive story, the Associated Press says that newly released documents support the suspicion that the Roosevelt administration did not want to anger its wartime ally, Joseph Stalin.
The documents were made public by the US National Archives on Monday.
More than 22,000 Poles were killed by the Soviets on Stalin’s orders.
Soviet Russia only admitted to the atrocity in 1990 after blaming the Nazis for five decades.
New evidence appears to back the idea that the US helped cover up Soviet guilt for the 1940 Katyn massacre of Polish soldiers
The documents show that American prisoners of war sent coded messages to Washington in 1943 to say they had seen corpses in an advanced state of decay in the Katyn forest near Smolensk, in western Russia.
The group of American and British POWs had been taken by the Nazis against their will to witness the scene.
The information proves that the deaths had not been carried out by the Nazis, who had only recently occupied the area.
The close to 1,000 pages of new material will help determine what the US knew and when.
It has long been believed that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt did not want to question the version of events put out by Stalin, an ally whom the Americans were counting on to defeat Germany and Japan.
According to the report by the Associated Press, information about the massacre was suppressed at the highest levels in Washington.
Katyn expert Allen Paul said some of the material did not appear in the record of Congressional hearings in 1951-52 held to investigate the massacre, suggesting it had been deliberately kept hidden.
Among the new evidence is a report sent to President Roosevelt by the then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill – who did not challenge Stalin’s claim either – which also pointed to Soviet guilt.
The report is written by the British ambassador to the Polish government-in-exile in London, Owen O’Malley, AP says.
“There is now available a good deal of negative evidence, the cumulative effect of which is to throw serious doubt on Russian disclaimers of responsibility for the massacre,” Owen O’Malley wrote.
The April 1940 killings were carried out at Katyn and other sites by the NKVD secret police on Stalin’s orders.
Members of the Polish elite, including officers, politicians and artists, were shot in the back of the head and their bodies dumped in mass graves.
Two Chinese patrol ships have been sent to islands disputed with Japan, which has sealed a deal to purchase the islands, China’ state media says.
The ships had reached waters near the islands – known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China – to “assert the country’s sovereignty”, Xinhua news agency said.
Japan confirmed on Tuesday it had signed a contract to buy three of the islands from their private owner.
Tension has been rumbling between the two countries over the East China Sea.
Japan controls the uninhabited but resource-rich islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan. Some had been in the hands of a private Japanese owner but the government says it has now signed a purchase contract.
Two Chinese patrol ships have been sent to islands disputed with Japan, which has sealed a deal to purchase the islands
“This should cause no problem for Japan’s ties with other countries and regions,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura.
“We have absolutely no desire for any repercussions as far as Japan-China relations are concerned. It is important that we avoid misunderstanding and unforeseen problems.”
Osamu Fujimura told reporters that the government had set aside 2.05 billion yen ($26 million) to pay for the three islands.
Japan said on Monday that it was buying the islands to promote their stable and peaceful management – a move that followed a bid by the outspoken and right-wing Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara to buy them using public donations.
China has called Japan’s move illegal and warned it would affect ties.
State-run media has carried strongly worded statements on the issue.
“The Chinese government will not sit idly by watching its territorial sovereignty being infringed upon,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued on Monday and carried by Xinhua.
“Should the Japanese side insist on going its own way, it shall have to bear all serious consequences arising therefrom.”
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also reiterated China’s stand on Monday.
“The Diaoyu islands are an inalienable part of China’s territory, and the Chinese government and its people will absolutely make no concession on issues concerning its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.
The announcement of the dispatch of the patrol boats came in a brief Xinhua report.
China Marine Surveillance – a maritime law enforcement agency – had “drafted an action plan for safeguarding the sovereignty and would take actions pending the development of the situation”, it said.
A small group of protesters were said to have gathered at the Japanese embassy in Beijing to protest against the purchase.
The islands, which lie south of Okinawa and north of Taiwan, sit in key shipping lanes and are thought to lie close to gas deposits.
Andy Murray ended Britain’s 76-year wait for a male Grand Slam singles champion with an epic victory over Novak Djokovic in the US Open final.
Andy Murray, 25, emulated Fred Perry’s 1936 achievement, winning 7-6 (12-10) 7-5 2-6 3-6 6-2 in four hours 54 minutes in the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
He also reached the Wimbledon final and won Olympic gold this summer.
“When I realized I had won, I was a little bit shocked, I was very relieved and I was very emotional,” said Andy Murray.
Despite his other successes, this result will arguably have a greater impact on his career and the future of tennis in the United Kingdom.
Andy Murray – the new world number three – lost his first four Grand Slam finals to share an Open-era record with coach Ivan Lendl, but like the Czech he has triumphed at the fifth time of asking.
Andy Murray ended Britain's 76-year wait for a male Grand Slam singles champion with an epic victory over Novak Djokovic in the US Open final
And while it is a dream of Andy Murray’s to win Wimbledon, the British number one has long been tipped to make his breakthrough at Flushing Meadows in the final major of the year.
He was the boys’ singles champion there in 2004, hard courts are his favourite surface and he enjoys the atmosphere in New York.
Andy Murray is unlikely to ever forget the atmosphere inside the world’s biggest tennis arena as he celebrated his success, which arrived in his 28th appearance at a Grand Slam tournament.
A swirling wind made conditions troublesome for both players, but it was Andy Murray who coped better in the first two sets and eventually ended Novak Djokovic’s title defence and 27-match hard-court winning run at majors.
“They were incredibly tricky conditions,” said the right-hander from Dunblane.
“Novak is so strong, he fights until the end of every match and I don’t know how I managed to come through in the end.”
After early breaks were exchanged, Andy Murray struck again before moving 4-2 ahead following a game that included a 54-shot rally.
Novak Djokovic rallied to force a tie-break, yet his opponent showed greater belief and took a sixth set point with 87 minutes on the clock.
Andy Murray roared with delight and carried his momentum into the second set, breaking an out-of-sorts Novak Djokovic twice for a 4-0 lead.
A lapse in concentration allowed Novak Djokovic back in and when the Serbian landed a majestic lob for 5-5, Andy Murray clutched his left thigh.
There were no signs of injury, though, as Andy Murray held to 15 and then forced a flurry or errors from the world number two, opening up a two-set lead for the first time in a Grand Slam final.
The crowed urged Novak Djokovic to respond and he did – threatening in game one of the third set before making his move in game three.
Andy Murray was now starting to berate himself and voice his frustrations in the direction of his player box, never more so than when two backhand mistakes saw chances squandered in game six.
He then fell a double-break down thanks to an incredible backhand on to the baseline from Novak Djokovic, who easily closed out the set.
Novak Djokovic looked revitalised, Andy Murray weary, and the right-hander from Belgrade swiftly found himself 2-0 up in the fourth set.
Just when it seemed Andy Murray might respond, Novak Djokovic was called for a time violation and he angrily took his performance to a new level.
When Andy Murray’s backhand broke down again, Novak Djokovic leapt with joy and it seemed he could become the first man since Pancho Gonzales in 1949 to rally from two sets down to win the US Open.
But Andy Murray had other ideas and made a devastating start to the decider, breaking in game one and consolidating it with some defensive play of the very highest order.
The third seed was in dreamland when Novak Djokovic netted a forehand to hand over the double-break, only for a nervous Andy Murray to immediately surrender one of his strikes with a timid backhand.
A love service hold put Andy Murray back on track and he advanced to within one game of victory when Novak Djokovic netted a forehand.
Andy Murray served out the championship 79 years to the day – on the same court – that Perry won the first of eight major singles crowns.
“I’m disappointed to lose, but I gave it my all,” said five-time major winner Novak Djokovic, a friend of Andy Murray’s and seven days younger.
“I had a great opponent today. He deserved to win this Grand Slam more than anybody. I would like to congratulate him.”
Speculation has been mounting about the whereabouts of China’s Vice-President Xi Jinping, who has not been seen for over a week.
Xi Jinping cancelled a meeting with the visiting Danish prime minister on Monday – his fourth missed appointment.
He also failed to attend an important Communist Party meeting on Friday.
Xi Jinping is expected to be appointed China’s president at a party congress next month that will see major changes in the top echelons of leadership.
However, no date has been set for the meeting, fuelling reports that power struggles in the leadership have yet to be resolved.
Speculation has been mounting about the whereabouts of China's Vice-President Xi Jinping, who has not been seen for over a week
Journalists had been given several days’ notice of Xi Jinping’s scheduled meeting with Denmark’s Helle Thorning-Schmidt on Monday, but the planned talks were taken off the programme.
Last Wednesday, he abruptly called off a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. On a visit to Washington earlier this year Xi Jinping was given a reception benefiting a head of state.
He has also missed appointments with Singapore’s prime minister and a Russian official.
A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry evaded questions about Xi Jinping’s absence at a briefing on Monday, according to reports, saying he had “no information” to provide.
“We have told everybody everything,” Hong Lei said, when pressed.
In response, there has been an inevitable wave of rumors, with explanations on news sites and Twitter ranging from Xi Jinping’s possible involvement in a car accident to a power struggle.
Earlier on when Xi Jinping missed his meeting with Hillary Clinton, rumors circulated online that he had injured his back while playing sports – suggestions ranged from football to swimming and golf.
Yet another rumor said he may have suffered a mild heart attack.
Attempts to search Xi Jinping’s name on Chinese micro-blogging sites are now blocked.
Xi Jinping is predicted to take the helm from current Chinese President Hu Jintao at the party congress, expected to take place in the second half of October.
But the dates of the meeting have yet to be announced, prompting speculation that some of the seats on the nine-strong politburo Standing Committee remain unallocated.
There have also been suggestions that the number of seats may be reduced from the current nine to seven.
Beijing has been shaken in recent months by its biggest political scandal in years with the dismissal of a rising star, Bo Xilai, after his wife, Gu Kailai, was investigated for and later convicted of the murder of a British businessman.
Xi Jinping may merely be suffering from a bad back, as some of the more mundane rumors suggest.
But the secretive nature of the leadership and the febrile atmosphere in Beijing mean there is growing uncertainty about the long-awaited change in leadership to a new generation.
Ahead of the eleventh commemoration of the 9/11 attacks, the New York Skyline has been lit up with twin lights, filling the hole left by the World Trade Center.
The bright beams shooting up into the sky are turned on every September 11, and today’s 11th anniversary is no different.
Memorial services are set to take place at Ground Zero and hundreds of other venues around the globe.
One tribute to the victims comes at Highland Memorial Park in Ocala, Florida, where 2,741 American flags – one for each of the attacks’ victims – have been planted in a moving act of remembrance.
The New York skyline has been lit up with twin lights, filling the hole left by the World Trade Center
On Monday, Leon Panetta attended a ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The Secretary of Defense called the site “the final resting place of American patriots”, and said he was there “to extend our nation’s deepest gratitude to the heroes of Flight 93”.
For the first time, the memorial ceremony at the 9/11 National Memorial in Manhattan will not feature any politicians this year, in an attempt to focus it on the private grief of survivors and victims’ relatives.
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are expected to limit their campaigning, and to cancel negative advertising for the day.
The President has been briefed by top national security aides on what steps the government was taking to reduce the possibility of reprisal attacks on the 9/11 anniversary.
The White House said on Monday that Barack Obama and his advisers discussed specific measures the administration was taking to prevent related attacks.
They also discussed steps that were being taken to protect Americans abroad and U.S. forces serving in combat zones.
Barack Obama has instructed government agencies to do everything possible to protect the American people both at home and abroad.
The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 killed nearly 3,000 people and led to long-running U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Key Syrian defector General Manaf Tlas has hinted that French secret agents helped him flee Syria in early July.
Manaf Tlas said French “services” had helped him escape but refused to be drawn on how, only thanking the French government.
He warned that if the Damascus regime was subjected to more pressure, it could resort to using chemical weapons.
General Manaf Tlas was speaking from his refuge in Paris to interviewers from BBC Arabic and French news channel BFMTV.
His defection was seen as a major blow to the Damascus government.
Not only did he command the elite 10th Brigade of the Republican Guard, but his father Mustafa Tlas served as defence minister for 30 years and was a confidant of Hafez al-Assad, the president’s father and predecessor.
Key Syrian defector General Manaf Tlas has hinted that French secret agents helped him flee Syria in early July
General Manaf Tlas has been touted as a potential figurehead for the opposition but many reject him as too deeply compromised.
He would not specify exactly which French organization had assisted his escape, saying he feared he could endanger those who had helped him.
As well as French groups, Manaf Tlas said the Free Syrian Army had helped him escape “from a distance”.
He warned the regime – under pressure – could resort to using chemical weapons “in limited areas”, adding: “If they used tanks and warplanes against civilians what would keep them from using anything else?”
Syria is at a “dangerous crossroads”, General Manaf Tlas warned, and he urged the international community to “focus all its efforts to draft a real road map to get Syria out of this crisis”.
But he said he was “of course against foreign intervention of any shape or form in Syria”, saying the Syrian people had to “achieve their own victory” and the international community could only help by “putting a new strategy for the revolution”.
The question of foreign intervention has divided the UN over Syria, with Russia and China refusing to back UN sanctions against their ally.
The new UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, began his first mission on Monday with a visit to Cairo, and is due to visit Damascus in the coming days. But he has acknowledged the difficulty of the mission which defeated his predecessor, Kofi Annan.
Gen. Manaf Tlas suggested that his “defection” from the government had begun long before he physically fled his country when he withdrew to his office, alienated by the authorities’ violent response to protests.
“On the third month of the revolution, I defected from the regime,” he said.
“I met demonstrators and rebels, listened to their demands and felt that the regime is not willing to change.
“I felt that the regime was lying to the rebels and was searching for shortcuts. I withdrew to my office, did not listen to anyone and decided to defect and help the rebels.”
Manaf Tlas said many of the rebels he had met had been “imprisoned, murdered or tortured as a result of making real humanitarian demands”.
He urged his former friend, President Bashar al-Assad, to give up power not just for Syria’s sake, but for that of his family.
On Monday, it emerged that Russia was proposing organizing a conference bringing together “all the players” of the deadly Syria conflict, including opposition groups, ordinary citizens and the ruling regime.
In an interview scheduled to be published by leading French daily Le Figaro on Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov reportedly said the conference would be organized along the lines of the Taif conference that ended Lebanon’s civil war in 1990.
According to the UN, more than 18,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in March 2011. Activists put the death toll at 23,000.
Said al-Shihri, described as the second-in-command of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has been killed in an operation in southern Yemen, government officials say.
Said al-Shihri was reportedly killed with six others in the Hadramawt area.
Some reports say Yemeni troops were involved, others that it was an air strike, possibly a US drone attack.
Said al-Shihri, a Saudi national, was released by the US from detention in Guantanamo Bay in 2007.
Yemen has previously announced it had killed Said al-Shihri and his death this time has not been confirmed.
The Yemeni army has been fighting Islamist militants in the south of the country for months.
Said al-Shihri, described as the second-in-command of AQAP, has been killed in an operation in southern Yemen
The Yemeni ministry of defence website said Said al-Shihri was killed along with six other militants in an operation, but gave few details.
Official sources in Yemen said the death occurred in an air raid in the Wadi Ain area of Hadramawt.
Military sources, however, said they had no information on the death and refused to confirm it. But the sources did confirm the area was subject to air raids.
Separate Yemeni sources said another Saudi and an Iraqi national were among the other people killed in the operation, which took place last Wednesday.
Yemeni defence ministry officials told Associated Press that the militants killed were travelling in a car and that it was hit by a missile believed to have been fired by a US drone, although this has not been confirmed.
Other reports say the operation was carried out by the Yemeni military.
US cables released by the Wikileaks website last December suggested that Yemen had allowed secret US air strikes against suspected Al-Qaeda militants.
Then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh claimed the raids were conducted by Yemen’s military when they were in fact carried out by the US, according to the cables.
AP quoted a senior official at President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi’s office as saying that DNA tests had not yet confirmed Said al-Shihri’s identity.
Said al-Shihri was said to have escaped a US drone attack on 20 September last year on the village of al-Mahfad in Abyan province.
He was released from Guantanamo Bay in 2007 and had been sent to Saudi Arabia for rehabilitation.
The US has labelled AQAP the most dangerous branch of al-Qaeda.
AQAP was formed in January 2009 by a merger between two regional offshoots of the international Islamist militant network in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
It is now led by Nasser Abdul Karim al-Wuhayshi, a former personal assistant to Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan.
Al-Wuhayshi took over after two earlier leaders, Khaled Ali Hajj and Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, were killed by Saudi security forces.
The group has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks and has been blamed by US President Barack Obama for attempting to blow up a US passenger jet as it flew into Detroit in December 2009.
In October 2010, the group was accused of sending bombs hidden in two packages addressed to synagogues in the US city of Chicago which were found on planes in Dubai and the UK.
Southern Yemen has been the scene of major clashes between militants and government forces.
The militants took advantage of the uprising that ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh in February to take control of large parts of the area.
Bettina Wulff, wife of former German President Christian Wulff, has included Google in legal action to stop rumors about her private life.
When the name Bettina Wulff is typed into Google’s search engine, suggested search terms include the words “prostitute” and “red light district”.
Google says the auto-generated text reflects what others are already searching for online.
Bettina Wulff denies she has ever worked as a prostitute.
Bettina Wulff, wife of former German President Christian Wulff, has included Google in legal action to stop rumors about her private life
German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported Bettina Wulff had given a sworn declaration denying all allegations relating to prostitution or escort work before her marriage.
The rumors have spread both online and in various media outlets.
It has been reported they were started in order to disrupt her husband Christian Wulff’s political career.
German newspaper Die Spiegel reports she has spent over two years fighting allegations she was once employed as an escort.
“Her lawyers have already issued 34 successful cease-and-desist orders, including one against a prominent German television personality this weekend,” the paper notes.
The same paper says a defamation suit was launched against Google last week.
Google Northern Europe spokeswoman Kay Oberbeck said the site’s search terms were “algorithmically generated” and “include the popularity of the entered search terms”.
“All terms that appear have been previously entered by Google users,” she added in a statement.
The same text generates in rival search engine Bing.com.
In March 2012 Google was ordered to disable the autocomplete function relating to search results for an unnamed man in Japan, who said his name was being associated with crimes he had not committed.
For almost ten years Denise Scott believed her husband Randy had been killed on impact when United Airlines Flight 175 smashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
But last year, just weeks before the 10-year anniversary of the horrific 9/11 attack, she received a call that changed her life – and the story of her husband’s death.
A note in his handwriting and with a smudge of his blood had been found, reading: “84th floor. West Office. 12 people trapped.”
The note had drifted to the ground outside the building just moments before it collapsed – and left Randy Scott’s wife and three children horrified that he had been alive to experience fear.
“I spent 10 years hoping that Randy wasn’t trapped in that building,” Denise Scott, 57, told the Stamford Advocate from her Stamford, Connecticut home.
“You don’t want them to suffer. They’re trapped in a burning building. It’s just an unspeakable horror. And then you get this 10 years later. It just changes everything.”
Randy Scott, 48, worked at Euro Brokers Inc. in the World Trade Center when he phoned the school where his wife taught to let her know that one of the Twin Towers had been hit by a plane.
A note in Randy Scott handwriting and with a smudge of his blood had been found at World Trade Center
Believing the first crash was minor, he asked to pass on the message that he was fine – and she only discovered the full horror when her daughter Rebecca called from college later that morning.
In the days after the attacks, Denise Scott and her three daughters checked bars, restaurants and hospitals for their husband and father, the Advocate reported.
Nearly 10 years later, in August 2011, Denise Scott received a call from Dr. Barbara Butcher, chief of staff and director of Forensic Investigations at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York.
Aware that the office called families if they came across fragments of victims, Denise Scott asked what it was they had found.
“She said, <<No, it’s not a fragment. It’s something written>>,” Denise Scott said.
“And that’s when I just fell apart.”
The note had been found on the street amid the chaos on 9/11 and handed to a guard at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. As he reached for his radio to alert help, the tower crumbled.
The Federal Reserve kept the note and eventually turned it over to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, which worked with the medical examiner’s office.
It was linked to Randy Scott after a medical examiner carried out DNA tests on a dark spot on the note, and discovered it was Scott’s blood.
After taking the phone call from the Medical Examiner’s office, Denise Scott travelled to New York with Randy’s best friend to see the note.
“The minute I saw it I didn’t need to see the DNA test,” she said.
“I saw the handwriting. It’s Randy’s handwriting.”
She added: “I’m speechless that they actually were able to identify it. This note was written on September 11. It came out of a window. Somebody had it. People had their hands all over it.”
Butcher from the Medical Examiner’s office asked if the museum could exhibit the letter and Denise agreed – but asked for them to keep it quiet until she told her daughters.
But the months passed and the girl returned to college, and Denise Scott struggled to find the right moment, she told the Advocate. When her father died in January, she realized it was time.
Her daughters, Rebecca, Alexandra, and Jessica, were stunned to hear of the note.
“I was bawling, because I recognized his handwriting,” Rebecca Scott, 29, recalled.
“I thought he was killed instantly.”
Alexandra, 22, added: “Everyone hoped that it was right on impact. That he didn’t suffer.”
They had hoped the same for his colleagues, too, she said, who also had children and families. The Scotts began reaching out to other relatives of those killed alongside Randy, to tell them the truth.
Denise Scott said that although it changed their knowledge of that day for the worse, she is so thankful she found out the truth – while other families have chosen not to be notified when fragments are found.
Jan Ramirez, chief curator of the museum, told the Advocate: “It’s so amazing to think that Randy Scott wrote it and it eventually ended up with his wife and three daughters, which is an amazing arc of a day.
“We are incredibly proud to be able to show it and I think it will be one of the most powerful artifacts in the museum.”
After the 2001 attacks on New York City, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had to contend with thousands of bodies, many completely shattered and unrecognizable, buried among the wreckage of the crumbled buildings.
A huge 1.8 million tons was eventually moved to a landfill for workers to start sifting through, in the hopes of making positive IDs on the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks.
Nearly 11 years on, a small group of scientists are still desperately working to give grieving families the justice they crave.
More than 9,000 pieces of bone, some the size of just a Tic Tac, are kept at Memorial Park, a building on 30th Street in Manhattan, New York Magazine reported last year.
Nearly 11 years on, a small group of scientists are still desperately working to give grieving families the justice they crave
Five dedicated staff inexhaustibly sift through crushed remains of bone taken from the scene day after day, cross-referencing any clues they get with DNA samples from the victims’ families.
Last year, just two IDs were made, leaving 1,121 victims still unidentified. So far, the office has identified less than 60% of the 2,753 people who died on 9/11.
Just 17 of the remains were identified by sight alone, 305 were determined by fingerprints, 25 by photographs, 78 by personal effects, 534 by dental or body X-rays and six by tattoos.
The work also involves profiling the DNA of the victims to match against the bones. Samples were collected by taking DNA from toothbrushes or by swabbing living relatives.
Even though it is painstaking, families have praised the work as vital.
Jim Riches, a former deputy chief of the FDNY who lost his son on 9/11, told the magazine: “We recovered my son March 25, 2002 but it wasn’t all of him. I would want to bring all his parts back to Queens and put them all in one place.”
For the first time since the 9/11 attack, the federal government is on the verge of recognizing that people who lived near Ground Zero and first responders got cancer from toxic dust from the scene.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is expected to announce the findings on the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attack tomorrow.
The institute is responsible for deciding whether cancer should be among the illnesses covered by the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act.
Around 50 cancers are expected to be included.
The ruling will mean thousands of people who are sure they got sick in the aftermath of the outrage will be eligible for compensation.
US federal government is on the verge of recognizing that people who lived near Ground Zero and first responders got cancer from toxic dust from the scene
Michael Barasch, a lawyer who represent thousands of first responders and residents, told the New York Post: “There’s new scientific evidence that dust is what is now linked to not only the respiratory illnesses, but all these cancers.”
John Walcott, an NYPD detective who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2003 after working months at Ground Zero and the Fresh Kills landfill said: “It’s a bittersweet thing. It took 11 years to do what should have been done a long time ago.”
The Zadroga Act – named after NYPD Detective James Zadroga, who died age 34 after working on the World Trade Center pile – was passed into law two years ago.
Under the Act $2.8 billion was set aside to compensate people made ill by exposure to toxins at the site. Another $1.5 billion has been allocated over five years to fund the World Trade Center Health Program, which treats and monitors about 40,000 first responders.
It originally did not cover cancer because there was not enough evidence linking it to the toxins emitted at Ground Zero.
“To me, it’s common sense. If you breathe in toxic fumes, you’re going to get cancer,” said U.S. Rep Carolyn Maloney, a Manhattan Democrat who helped author the bill.
But even Carolyn Maloney conceded that it is difficult to find hard data proving the connection between cancer and the dust at ground zero. That’s why in crafting the Zadroga Act, lawmakers were careful to include mechanisms that would allow for illnesses to be added based on new scientific research.
This was despite thousands of responders claiming top be sick because of their part in the rescue efforts.
About 400 first responders or people who lived near the site have died from cancer since 9/11, according to the most recent estimates.
With the inclusion of cancer in the program, there will be more victims seeking compensation yet no increase in the $2.77 billion fund – meaning individual rewards will be lower.
Thomas Gilmartin, a smoker who suffers from lung disease and sleep apnea, told the Post: “They’re going to add cancers, but are they going to add more money to the fund?
“It’s crazy. Every time, we gotta fight. It’s two years since Obama signed that bill and nobody’s got ten cents.”
The Victim Compensation Fund’s special master, Sheila Birnbaum, has been responsible for evenhandedly distributing $2.7 billion to Ground Zero responders and others who became ill after being exposed to dust and ash from the smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center.
She will be permitted to spend only $875 million of the fund’s total in the first five years after the initial payments begin.
After those five years pass, people with valid claims will begin to receive their remaining portion of the additional $1.9 billion.
In the two years since the law was passed, about 40,000 responders and survivors receive monitoring and 20,000 get treatment for illnesses as part of the World Trade Center Health Program.
With time still left to submit claims, some people are holding out in the event that they become sick in the near future. Others are waiting until the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health officially adds 14 broad categories of cancer to the list of conditions covered by the fund.
Recently diagnosed with leukemia and lymphoma, 55-year-old Brian Casse hopes he can secure money from the fund to support his wife and children in case he takes a turn for the worst.
Brian Casse, a retired firefighter who helped clear away the mountain of rubble at ground zero, believes there’s little doubt his work at the site is responsible for his illness.
“You’ve got people in this city who went down there and did what we had to do. And a lot of us got sick because of it,” Brian Casse said.
“To make us now fight for this money, it’s not right. In the grand scheme of things, this money’s a drop in the bucket.”
Jeff Stroehlin was one of 40,000 construction workers, firefighters and police officers who worked tirelessly on what became known as the Pile, the mountain of debris that had been the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
In March 2011, Jeff Stroehlein was diagnosed with a rare lymphoma, a cloud-like mass on the front of his brain.
The tumor was unusual in being a primary, the disease commonly spreading to the brain from another part of the body.
He underwent months of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant last August.
His last four MRIs have showed no sign of the cancer, he told Long Island Newsday, but he fears it is only a matter of time until it comes back.
“This isn’t just for me,” he said of the coverage.
“This is for everybody else. First of all, I’m lucky enough to be talking to you. But what about the guy who could lose his house trying to pay his medical bills?”
The North American box office has had one of its worst weekends in more than a decade, industry estimates suggest.
Total takings in the US and Canada between Friday and Sunday are thought to be as low as $65 million.
Number one film The Possession pulled in just $9.5 million, a figure described as “pretty scary” by Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com.
“In the summer, single movies had opening weekends bigger than this entire weekend gross,” he said.
The weekend after the Labor Day holiday is traditionally the slowest of the year.
Number one film The Possession pulled in just $9.5 million in the US box office this weekend
Yet not since the weekend of 21-23 September 2001, when revenues were $59.7 million, have figures been so low.
Revenues for the same weekend last year totalled $82 million, with new release Contagion taking the top spot with a $22.4 million haul.
“It just comes down to the movies and the marketplace,” said Paul Dergarabedian.
“This crop of movies just didn’t have that solid draw.”
Bootlegging drama Lawless, this week’s second placed film, earned $6 million, bringing its total takings in the US and Canada to $23.5 million.
Debuting in third place was The Words, a romantic thriller featuring Bradley Cooper as an aspiring writer that made $5 million between Friday and Sunday.
After four weeks in theatres, The Expendables 2 earned $4.7 million to take fourth place. Another action sequel, The Bourne Legacy, rounded off the top five with weekend takings of $4 million.
Another new release, Bruce Willis thriller The Cold Light of Day, opened in 13th place with a disappointing $1.8 million.
This weekend’s sluggish results follow a mixed summer that included blockbusters such as The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises.
Yet it also saw weak performers like Adam Sandler comedy That’s My Boy and Johnny Depp vehicle Dark Shadows.
Overall, summer ticket sales in the US and Canada fell by 4% compared to last summer.
This week’s episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians was keen on babies… with Scott Disick considering a vasectomy, Khloe seeking answers about fertility and Kim planning to freeze her eggs.
While Khloe Kardashian wants to find out how to increase her fertility, Scott Disick does the exact opposite when he pays a visit to his own doctor to explore his options when it comes to a vasectomy.
Meanwhile, Kris Jenner tackles Kendall and Kylie’s bad habit of borrowing things from their mother’s closet.
Khloe Kardashian musters up the strength to see a fertility specialist, and it turns out she may have problems ovulating.
Meanwhile Scott Disick was baffled to find out that Kourtney Kardashian wants four more children and that she never wanted to go on birth control again.
Kim Kardashian talked about getting her eggs frozen in the last week’s episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians
So Scott Disick decided to tell Kourtney Kardashian that he was going to the doctor for a physical, and headed off to find out about the procedure.
Shaken by the visceral detail, Scott Disick decided to confide in Rob Kardashian, who immediately told his sister off course.
Over to Kris Jenner, and it was time to reveal – rather disturbingly – her post op breasts to her children, in their backyard.
Kim Kardashian persuaded her sister Khloe to go see a fertility specialist but the focus soon shifted to Kim.
As she’s 31, Kim Kardashian feels that her situation is worse than that of Khloe, 28, despite her younger sister having tried for a baby for a year.
The reality star talks about getting her eggs frozen.
Her results come back fine and she’s given the go ahead but Khloe found out she isn’t producing eggs the way she should.
The episode ended with a heart broken Khloe Kardashian in tears after the bombshell development… and she still has to tell Lamar Odom.
New reports claim that Gossip Girl actress Blake Lively is now a married lady after saying “I do” to partner Ryan Reynolds.
Blake Lively, 25, and Ryan Reynolds, 35, have only been dating for a year, a rather long stretch by Tinseltown’s consideration.
The actress is believed to have walked down the aisle at a private ceremony this evening at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, just outside of Charleston, reports People.
The publication states that the reception took place in a white tent, with good friend and chart-topper Florence Welch performing three songs before a DJ took over to spin decks at the party.
It was also confirmed that a cake had been driven down from Virginia for the event.
New reports claim that Blake Lively is now a married lady after saying I do to partner Ryan Reynolds
Despite high-profile romances with Gossip Girl co-star Penn Badgley – whom she dated for three years – and a brief flirtation with Leonardo DiCaprio, it is the first time Blake Lively has been married.
Meanwhile, Ryan Reynolds has already tried his hand at domestic bliss with Scarlett Johansson.
TheProposal heartthrob tied the knot to Scarlett Johansson in September 2008, before separating just two years later when he filed for divorce in December 2010.
In July, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds sparked speculation that they had already married after a blundering law enforcer made an error while filling paperwork on a police report.
According to TMZ, the document was made after an officer attended their posh $2 million New York home on July 8, following a complaint by Ryan Reynolds that he was being followed by a photographer.
The report stated: “Upon arrival, I spoke to Ryan Reynolds and his wife,” with the name of the individual in question blanked out.
In addition, it read: “They explained that this (blank) colored vehicle was observed outside their residence, and proceeded to follow their vehicle in an erratic manner.
“They believed that this individual was a photographer attempting to obtain pictures of them.
“Mr. Reynolds and his wife were advised to contact police should any persons enter their property.”
The couple is believed to have grown close while shooting box office bomb Green Lantern together in the spring of 2010, in which Blake Lively starred as his love interest.
Before the big day, Blake Lively hinted on her Twitter page that her romance was “the dream of a lifetime”.
She wrote: “You are living in a dream of your own creation.
“Let it be the dream of a lifetime, for that is exactly what it is.”
Blake Lively later added: “Just because you’re not the prettiest girl around doesn’t mean you’re not worth it, doesn’t mean you’re not beautiful. #BECAUSEYOUARE.”
While she was initially the lesser known star, largely due to being 10 years Ryan Reynolds’ junior and only just carving out a career for herself, her notoriety has soared over the last year.
After starring in The Town in 2010, alongside Ben Affleck, it seems film bosses started taking notice of the pretty blonde and realized she wasn’t just a one-trick pony destined for teenage TV dramas.
Blake Lively was soon snapped up by the infamous Oliver Stone, for gritty thriller Savages, promoting it relentlessly this summer with appearances on all the major television sofas.
Ryan Reynolds’ popularity has wavered over the years, with his performance high back in 2009’s The Proposal opposite Sandra Bullock, which became the highest grossing romantic comedy of that year.
He has since guest-starred in Ted with Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg, as well as loaning his vocals to animated film Turbo, and taking centre stage in 2013 release R.I.P.D.
The National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center is an awesome spectacle that moved and inspired some 4.5 million visitors in its first year.
But all that magnificence comes with a jaw-dropping price tag. The foundation that runs the memorial estimates that once the $700 million project is complete, the memorial and museum will together cost $60 million a year to operate.
The anticipated cost has bothered some critics and raised concerns even among the memorial’s allies that the budget may be unsustainable without a hefty government subsidy.
By comparison, the National Park Service budgeted $8.4 million this year to operate and maintain Gettysburg National Military Park and $3.6 million for the monument that includes the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Running Arlington National Cemetery, which has more than 14,000 graves and receives 4million visitors a year, costs $45 million annually.
The foundation that runs 9-11 memorial estimates that once the $700 million project is complete, the memorial and museum will together cost $60 million a year to operate
Officials at the 9/11 memorial say they face unique challenges that make comparisons to other national memorials difficult.
The foundation plans to spend at least a fifth of its operating budget, or around $12 million per year, on private security because of terrorism fears. Visitors to the memorial plaza pass through airport-like security, and armed guards patrol the grounds.
“The fact of the matter is that this was a place that was attacked twice,” said Joseph Daniels, the foundation’s president and chief executive.
Just operating the two massive fountains that mark the spots where the twin towers once stood will cost another $4.5 million to $5 million annually, according to a spokesman.
Foundation officials have refused to answer to requests for information about other costs at the site, including the anticipated expense of running the museum, which is still unfinished.
The museum was supposed to open this month, but construction all but ceased a year ago because of a funding squabble between the foundation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the land the memorial sits on.
Joseph Daniels said it will take at least a year for the museum to open once construction resumes, meaning the site may not be fully complete until at least 2014.
The failure to open the museum on time has thrown off the foundation’s financial planning. Officials had expected to use the museum, being built mostly with money from various government agencies, plus private donations, as its main source of revenue.
While visitors will be allowed into the above-ground portions of the memorial for free, the foundation plans to charge people to descend into the museum’s exhibition space, where they will see portraits of the nearly 3,000 victims, hear oral histories of the tragedy and view artifacts such as the staircase World Trade Center workers used to flee on 9/11.
The admission price hasn’t been set. Foundation officials say they may also charge a ‘suggested donation’ where visitors would be allowed to enter for free but would be strongly encouraged to pay.
But if the museum gets the 2 million visitors a year the foundation expects, a $12 fee, like the one charged at the memorial to the victims of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, would cover 40% of the operating costs. More money will be generated through fundraising and the sale of memorabilia.
In addition, the foundation and several elected officials have proposed that the American public pick up one-third of the operating costs.
So far, Congress has balked. A bill proposed by Hawaii’s Senator Daniel Inouye that would have had the National Park Service contribute $20 million per year ran into opposition from Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, who pointed out that the federal government had already spent $300 million on the project.
A National Park Service official testified at a hearing that $20 million is more than the agency can afford, and larger than the entire annual appropriation for nearly 99% of the parks in its system.
In theory, manicure doesn’t damage your nails in the same way a “false” gel or acrylic one can, but recent research from the U.S. suggests this type of treatment, known as a two-week manicure, may leave nails thin, brittle and peeling.
Dermatologists at the University of Miami School of Medicine were prompted to investigate after women complained their nails had been damaged after Shellac or OPI Axxium treatments.
Dermatologist Andrea Chen put the treatments to the test using various instruments to accurately measure the thickness of her own nails before and after a manicure.
Dermatologists at the University of Miami School of Medicine were prompted to investigate after women complained their nails had been damaged after Shellac or OPI Axxium treatments
The results showed a definite decrease in the thickness after the treatment, though whether it was caused by the manicure or the removal process (the manicure must be soaked off in an acetone solution) remains unclear. Beauty editor Emma Hill is convinced that removing the varnish is the problem.
“Acetone dries out your nails,” she says.
“My nails took four months to recover after I had two manicures back to back.”
Samantha Sweet, a spokeswoman for Shellac, argues that if a trained technician applies and removes the nail polish, then this shouldn’t be a problem.
“Applying Shellac shouldn’t damage the nail surface,” she says.
“The polish has a honeycomb construction, making it porous. The oils penetrate and nourish nails.”
She also says proper removal means acetone soaked cotton wool is placed on the polish and left there just long enough to soften it.
“You shouldn’t be saturating the nail with acetone, and you certainly shouldn’t soak the entire hand in a bowl of acetone,” she says.
So, if you do want a two-week manicure, pick your salon carefully.
“Definitely use a nail oil afterwards and keep them short,” says Emma Hill.
“Use hand cream and massage almond oil into the nail and cuticle daily. This should minimize damage, but there are no guarantees.”
Kristen Stewart claimed that she and Robert Pattinson are “going to be fine”, and she reinforced her statement yesterday when she jetted out of Toronto.
Kristen Stewart, 22, was wearing a baseball cap belonging to her estranged boyfriend.
She sported the Baltimore Orioles hat backwards as she prepared to head home following Toronto Film Festival.
Kristen Stewart teamed the cap with a white tank top, skinny jeans and Converse trainers.
She attempted to keep a low profile in sunglasses as she headed to catch her flight and listened to music while walking through the airport.
Kristen Stewart was wearing a baseball cap belonging to her estranged boyfriend Robert Pattinson as she jetted out of Toronto
The actress made her return to the spotlight following her cheating scandal with Snow White and the Hunstman director Rupert Sanders at the event, where she was promoting her movie On The Road.
And it seems Kristen Stewart is keen to keep Robert Pattinson close as she also wore an item of his when travelling to Canada ahead of the Festival.
Kristen Stewart had dressed in an Irie T-shirt belonging to her Twilight co-star when she flew to Toronto from Los Angeles on Wednesday.
On Saturday, Kristen Stewart alluded to her beau for the first time at a press conference, following photos published of her canoodling with Rupert Sanders six weeks ago.
“We’re going to be fine,” she said when asked about the potentially awkward public appearances the twosome will have to make in November while promoting The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2.
“We’re totally fine,” she added, as an afterthought.
It’s not clear about the status of their relationship, although they are said to have moved out of the house they shared together in Los Angeles and have both been laying low.
Kristen Stewart has since reportedly purchased a luxurious Malibu beach home for a cool $4.8 million.
The US military has decided to hand control of controversial Bagram prison housing more than 3,000 Taliban fighters and terrorism suspects to the Afghan authorities.
In a small ceremony, Afghan officials said inmates had been transferred to their authority.
The move is part of a deal to transfer all Afghan prisons back to local control ahead of the withdrawal of NATO forces at the end of 2014.
Bagram prison has been at the centre of a number of prisoner abuse allegations.
Although Afghan President Hamid Karzai has hailed the planned handover, disagreements with the US remain.
Washington is insisting that it will maintain control over some detainees in the prison.
Bagram prison in Afghanistan has been at the centre of a number of prisoner abuse allegations
The handover took place in a brief ceremony which correspondents say was poorly attended by US and NATO officers.
“I’m happy that today we are witnessing a glorious ceremony that marks the handing over of responsibilities of Afghan prisoners to Afghans themselves,” said acting Defence Minister Enayatullah Nazari, quoted by AFP news agency.
Now officially known as the Parwan Detention Centre, Bagram prison lies about 40 km (25 miles) north of the capital, Kabul.
It was once located in one of the largest military bases for NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, but the new Parwan facility was constructed a few miles away in 2010.
More than 3,000 inmates are held there, including about 50 foreigners not covered by the handover agreement signed in March.
The US military still wants to run a section of the jail and is not handing over some detainees, saying it has the right to hold insurgents caught on the battlefield.
Privately, the US is concerned that some high-value inmates could be released if they are handed over, our correspondent says.
That has angered President Hamid Karzai, who says that full Afghan control is an issue of sovereignty.
Bagram has been described as “Afghanistan’s Guantanamo” for its troubled past of prisoner abuse and indefinite detention.
In April 2010, a media investigation uncovered allegations of prisoner abuse at a hidden facility at Bagram.
The US military denied it was operating a secret jail.
In January 2012, Afghan investigators accused the US Army of abusing detainees at Bagram.
The investigators said prisoners had reported being tortured, held without evidence and subjected to humiliating body searches.
The following month, US soldiers burned Korans at Bagram, leading to days of protests and targeted killings across Afghanistan.
A US investigation said there was no malicious intent to disrespect Islam.
