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President Barack Obama asked the Congress on Thursday night to leave aside the political benefit, think about how many Americans would benefit from the huge American Jobs Act he had proposed.
“You should pass this jobs plan right away,” the president declared over and over in his 32-minute speech.
“The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working,” Mr. Obama said.
“It will create more jobs for construction workers, more jobs for teachers, more jobs for veterans, and more jobs for the long-term unemployed.”
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He also told Republicans he would take his case directly to the American people, and called on “every American who agrees to lift your voice and tell the people who are gathered here tonight that you want action now.”
“Tell Washington that doing nothing is not an option,” Obama said.
Barack Obama
Even though Mr. Obama’s proposal weren’t unexpected, the package was a lot larger than predicted, and much of the money would flow into the economic bloodstream in 2012. The measure would be similar to that of the $787 billion stimulus package approved in 2009, which was spread over more than two years. Analysts consider that the package would likely lift growth somewhat.
House Speaker John Boehner said:
“It’s my hope that we can work together to end the uncertainty facing families and small businesses, and create a better environment for long-term economic growth and private-sector job creation”
Since the Republicans control the House of Representatives, they managed to undermine many of Mr. Obama’s legislative projects.
Some Republicans have already disregard the American Jobs Act as an attempt to encourage the president’s flagging popularity in the run-up to next year’s presidential election.
About 9.1% of Americans are at the moment out of work, and the problem is expected to rule the election campaign.
Conservative Sen. Jon Kyl declared:
“President Obama, perhaps not knowing what else to do, is simply calling for more of the same, as if giving us more of the failed policies of the last two-and-a-half years will somehow yield different results. I believe President Obama’s new ‘stimulus’ will further delay economic recovery and continue to inflict harm on so many Americans.”
The Senate’s top Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in a statement:
“I hope they (Republicans) will show the American people that they are more interested in creating jobs than defeating President Obama. Experts from the ratings agencies to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have said that political gridlock is the main obstacle standing in the way of our economic growth. It is time to put jobs and the economy ahead of partisan politics.”
The president has to offer more details on how the American Jobs Act would be paid for, but he suggested that the money could be found in spending cuts and promised to release more details on 19 September.
The centerpiece of the plan is to expand a cut in the Federal Insurance Contributions tax, a levy paid by employers and workers to fund social security and healthcare for retirees.
Congress approved a cut in the tax for workers last year, from 6.2% to 4.2%. But that measure was supposed to expire in December.
Mr. Obama intends to continue that cut next year, to lower the tax even further to 3.1% for workers, and to extend a similar cut to companies, at a cost of $240bn.
He also suggested providing $85bn in federal government aid to local and state governments, to be spent among other things on helping to keep teachers and emergency services workers in jobs.
And a further $50bn should be spent on infrastructure projects, including a plan to upgrade the country’s airports, he said.
Click the link below to find out more information about Obama’s plan to rebuild America through the American Jobs Act:
Mark Duggan, the suspected black man whose death sparked London and nationwide riots after he was shot by police was buried on Thursday.
In the tributes made by his mourners in front of the 1,000 people congregation, Mark Duggan was described as a man who turned his life around with the help of his beloved partner; Mark Duggan loved playing computer games with his children, he enjoyed getting “dressed up to the nines in bling” to go out partying.
About 1,000 people were at Mark Duggan's funeral service
Mark Duggan was a “big kid himself”, as a cousin said. And she also claimed Mark was a “peacemaker” who resolved conflicts in the community and he had recently applied to become a fireman.
Mark Duggan’s funeral service was held at the New Testament Church of God in Wood Green, North London.
Outside the church, where those mourners who could not fit inside stood on the pavement, the air was thick with the smell of cannabis. Dark glasses were the order of the day for men, short skirts for women.
Mark Duggan, 29, was also known as “Starrish Mark”, an “elder”, or senior member, of The Star Gang, who strut the streets of Tottenham where such gangs trade in violence, intimidation and drugs.
Thursday, among the floral tributes spelling out “dad” and “son”, there was also a star-shaped wreath.
Mark Duggan was buried at Wood Green Cemetery
During the 90-minute funeral service Mark Duggan’s cousin, Donna Martin began an obituary by repeating his nickname “Starrish” at least three times, eliciting applause from the congregation.
Donna Martin told of his upbringing on the notorious Broadwater Farm Estate in Tottenham and how Mark Duggan left aged 13 to live in Manchester with an aunt. There was no mention of the fact that Mark Duggan was the nephew of notorious crime boss the late Desmond “Dessie” Noonan who boasted his gang had “more guns than the police” and whose feared family are “major players” in Manchester’s underworld.
His cousin also told how Mark Duggan had lost friends in Manchester in “unfortunate circumstances” and how, after he moved back to London, he treated his friend Kelvin “Smegz” Easton “like a little brother”.
Easton, 23, another gang member, was stabbed through the heart with a broken champagne bottle at a nightclub in East London last March in a row over drugs and a woman. Mark Duggan is said to have carried a gun afterwards for his own protection.
According to another source, Mark Duggan was planning to avenge the death, which is believed to be one of the reasons that officers from Operation Trident, which investigates gun crime within London’s black community, had Duggan under surveillance and were trailing him in unmarked cars.
Mark Duggan was a passenger in a minicab which was apparently stopped by police near Tottenham Hale Tube station on the night of August 4 when he was shot.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which is investigating the shooting, said police fired two shots. One shot killed Mark Duggan, the other lodged in the radio of another police officer. Mark Duggan’s gun, originally thought to have been a converted replica, had not been fired.
Two days after Mark Duggan was shot, the Tottenham riots erupted after his family spent five frustrating hours seeking a meeting and explanation from local police chiefs. The circumstances of Mark Duggan’s death have led to lingering tensions between family members and detectives.
Thursday policing at the funeral was low-key, but at least a dozen police riot vans and their officers were spotted on stand-by.
Ten black Mercedes limos brought Mark Duggan’s relatives and friends to the church. One of his three children arrived in a white-striped suit and a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Miss You Daddy” and a picture of his father in sunglasses.
Mark Duggan's partner, Semone Wilson and his children
Mark Duggan’s partner, Semone Wilson, 29, paid tribute to him as her “first real love” in a message read out by her sister Michelle Palmer-Scott.
“We faced trials and tribulations together. We had our ups and we had our downs but through it all, I loved him.”
“I don’t understand why you’re gone so soon.”
Mark Duggan’s mother Pamela Duggan, 53, said:
“In many way Semone saved Mark and that’s why he loved her dearly. She loved him unconditionally like they loved their children.”
Pastor Nims Obunge made an impassioned plea for peace in the community, which he said has seen “too much blood”:
“Let mothers not have to come and bury their children. Let fathers not have to come and weep for their children the way we weep today,’ he said, to whoops and applause. ‘We have been hurt, we have been scarred, we have been maligned, we have been stigmatised, we have been called names. Today we stand as one community but we say, <<Not any more – it shall stop>>.”
Many of the mourners stayed outside New Testament Church at Mark Duggan's funeral service
Ken Hinds, a Mark’s friend, who was a steward at the funeral and is chairman of the Stop and Search Monitoring Group for Haringey, said about the police’s version of Mark Duggan’s death so far:
“It doesn’t fit in with everything that’s known on the street.
“It’s caused significant damage. It has further fuelled the tension in the community and contributed to the uprising that we experienced.”
Mark Duggan was buried at Wood Green Cemetery before a reception at Broadwater Farm Community Centre.
9/11 Intercepted is a documentary about the events of 9/11. There were war games, simulated radar tracks, aircraft exceeding their max operating limits by more than 130-150 knots, inaccurate aircraft position reports, false aircraft target reports, aircraft converging — flying virtually in formation with — and then diverging from reported 9/11 aircraft, fighters launched in the wrong direction, aircraft seemingly still airborne after the alleged attack, poor communications, phones not working…. What happened in the skies on the morning of September 11, 2001?
Why were our defenses ineffective? Pilots For 9/11 Truth analyze NORAD response, audio recordings as well as Radar data provided by government agencies.
More than 4 million people across a large swath of Southern California and Mexico have been left without power on Thursday after an utility worker doing maintenance near Yuma, Arizona, triggered a massive blackout that jammed roads, closed schools and businesses, grounded planes.
After the utility worker triggers a chain reaction that reaches from Mexico to Orange County, many offices have closed and employees endured gridlock getting home because traffic lights were out.
According to authorities, it was noticed an increase in fender-benders in some areas as drivers tried to navigate the roads.
Many people were trapped in elevators and on rides at Sea World in San Diego and Legoland in Carlsbad.
San Diego major power outage, September 8
At hospitals, all emergency rooms have been switched to backup generators, while outgoing flights from San Diego have been canceled for several hours.
Customers jammed those stores that remained open, stocking up on ice and candles as utility company officials warned that power may not be restored until late Friday.
Authorities canceled classes for Friday at most colleges and schools in San Diego and surrounding communities.
Michael Niggli, president and COO of San Diego Gas & Electric said:
“Get ready to be in the dark. Get your emergency precautions ready.”
The blackout was triggered by a mishap on a high-voltage power line linking Arizona and San Diego, causing a cascading series of electrical grid failures stretching into Southern California.
APS, Arizona’s largest electric utility, said a worker was doing maintenance on lines at a nearby substation when the blackout occurred.
An APS spokesman said in a statement:
“The outage appears to be related to a procedure an APS employee was carrying out in the North Gila substation.
“Operating and protection protocols typically would have isolated the resulting outage to the Yuma area. The reason that did not occur in this case will be the focal point of the investigation into the event, which already is underway.”
“Despite temperatures that reached 100 F in San Diego and Imperial counties, excessive electricity demand didn’t appear to be a factor in the power loss,” said Stephanie McCorkle, a spokeswoman for the California Independent System Operator, the agency that oversees most of California’s electrical grid.
“It was not a case of a high-demand day,” McCorkle said.
“The operating reserves were fine.”
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According to officials, utility crews were scrambling to restore some power by tapping into local energy sources at gas-fired plants in Escondido and Otay Mesa.
Power had been restored to some communities in Orange and Imperial counties by Thursday night, but power wouldn’t be fully restored until Friday, officials said.
Regions of Baja California as well as Arizona were also without power.
The power outage caused disarray across the region, interrupting Amtrak trains and trolley service in San Diego and causing gasoline station closures.
Several sewage pumps failed during the blackout, sending effluent into San Diego Bay.
Residents of a nursing home in Indio in Riverside County were evacuated when their facility lost power, and county officials opened a cooling center. At San Diego International Airport, dozens of travelers were left stranded when their flights were canceled.
In downtown San Diego’s usually bustling Gaslamp district, most businesses were closed. In Oceanside, people shopped in a dark 99-cent store, and some cashiers tallied bills by calculator.
San Diego County hospitals were operating on backup power, but conditions were challenging staff at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, which had 220 patients when the power went out.
“We are in full disaster mode,” said Gary Fybel, chief executive of the hospital.
“We completed all surgeries that were underway. We did not take on new surgeries, [and] delayed nonessential treatments.”
The hospital staff conducted its regular meetings by flashlight just outside the main entrance of the hospital. Many hospital rooms were illuminated with power produced by generators.
Nicola Benedetti plays at George Enescu Festival 2011
London Symphony Orchestra (Conductor: Horia Andreescu, Soloist: Nicola Benedetti – violin) of Great Orchestras of the World series is performing Glazunov’s Concerto for violin and orchestra and Mahler’s Symphony no. 6
Nicola Benedetti, 24, a pretty Scottish violinist plays a 1723 Stradivarius that took its sobriquet from Princess Diana’s grandfather, the 6th Earl Spencer.
The 20th edition of one of the biggest Europe’s classical music event, George Enescu Festival 2011, started on September 1 in Bucharest, Romania, and some of its concerts are broadcasted live on the Internet.
The festival opening with Residentie Orkest / The Hague Philharmonic conducted by Christian Badea was available online on September 1, as well as the performances of the London Symphony Orchestra (conductor Horia Andreescu and violin soloist Nicola Benedetti) on September 8.
Other concerts of the Great Orchestras of the World series of George Enescu Festival 2011 (held at Grand Palace Hall) can be watch live on the National Romanian Television website (http://www.tvr.ro/festivalenescu/):
On September 9 at 16:30 UTC, London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Nikolai Znaider, with piano soloist Saleem Abboud Ashkar, interpreting Wagner’s Overture to “The Mastersingers of Nuremberg”, Beethoven’s Concerto no.1 for piano and orchestra, Brahms’ Symphony no. 4;
On September 11 at 16:30 UTC, the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Valerie Gergiev, with piano soloist Alexander Toradze performing Wagner’s Tannhäuser Overture, Scriabin’s Prometheus, Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben;
On September 25 at 14:30 UTC Orchestre National De France (conductor Danielle Gatti, cello soloist Han-Na Chang) performing Brahms’ Tragic ouverture, Enescu’s Concertante Symphony for cello and orchestra, Debussy’s Ibéria, Ravel’s Boléro.
From George Enescu Festival 2011 By Midnight series (held at The Romanian Atheneum):
On September 23 at 19:30 UTC Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with Choir of the Enlightenment, conducted by Trevor Pinnock, and soloists Christina Landshamer (soprano), Toby Spence (tenor), Matthew Rose (bass), interpreting Haydn’s The Chreation – Oratorio;
On September 24, at 19:30 UTC Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with Choir of the Enlightenment, conducted by Adam Fischer, and soloists Simona Saturova (soprano), Bernard Richter (tenor), Matthew Rose (bass) performing Haydn’s The Seasons – Oratorio.
George Enescu International Competition will also be available online on the next days.
George Enescu Festival 2011: Magic exists online
On September 9 at 13:00 UTC The Final of The Cellosection (with the participation of “Banatul” Philharmonic Orchestra from Timişoara, conductor Radu Popa) will be broadcasted live from “George Enescu” Hall of the National University of Music Bucharest.
On September 10 at 7:00 UTC The Final of The Piano section (With the participation of “Transilvania” State Philharmonic Orchestra Cluj, conductor : Mihail Agafiţa ) and at 13:00 UTC The Final of the Violin section (with the participation of “Moldova” State Philharmonic Orchestra Iaşi conductor : Gheorghe Costin) will be transmited live from “Mihail Jora” Hall of the Romanian Radio Society.
On September 11 at 13:00 UTC Gala Concert of the “George Enescu” International Competition (with “Moldova” State Philharmonic Orchestra Iaşi conductor : Gheorghe Costin) from “Mihail Jora” Hall of the Romanian Radio Society will be available for live watching.
Other online broadcastings of George Enescu Festival 2011 will be from the Festival’s Square on September 10 at 15:30 and 17:30 UTC and on September 11 at 15:00 and 17:00 UTC.
The application can be downloaded free in Apple App Store. George Enescu Festival app features Festival’s news, locations with Google Maps, daily programme, information from Facebook and Twitter pages of the Festival. With a WiFi, 3G or EDGE connection, you can listen to the live broadcast provided by Radio Romania Music. The organizers (Artexim) and the developers (Infoideea) of the George Enescu Festival application are analyzing the possibility of designing a version for Android operation systems.
New audio recordings from 9/11 morning that never-before have been heard are shedding new light on the confusion and desperate quest by aviation and military workers for information as the tragic events unfolded.
The recordings were originally organized for 9/11 Commission investigators, but never released to the general public.
With the occasion of 10-year commemoration of the terror atrocity, the audio tapes provides jarring first-hand accounts of airport workers and the moment they phoned the military about scrambling fighter jets to find planes that were not responding and had disappeared from radars.
Newly released audio files detail aviation officials' desperate scramble for information on the morning of 9/11 as United Airlines Flight 175 headed toward the south tower of WTC. (AP photo)
Colonel Miles Kara, now retired from U.S. Army and former 9/11 Commission investigator, organized the audio files this year in the National Archives and transcribed them with help from law students and Rutgers Law School Dean John J. Farmer Jr., who served as top counsel to the commission.
The audio files were released by The New York Times this morning.
The recordings begin at 8:13a.m., the moment FAA air traffic controllers in Boston realized American Airlines Flight 11, the jet that crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center, was not responding.
At 8:19, a cabin crew member on the doomed plane, Betty Ong, contacted the airline’s reservations agents in Cary, North Carolina.
“Um, the cockpit’s not answering. Somebody’s stabbed in business class, and we can’t breathe in business and um I think there is Mace that we can’t breathe. I don’t know, I think we’re getting hijacked.”
Immediately after 9:00 a.m. and 16 minutes after Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center, an exchange was recorded between a radio caller and a New York air traffic control manager.
“Can you, can you see a guy at about 4,000 feet, about 5 east of the airport right now, looks like he’s-“
“Yeah, I see him,” the traffic control manager said.
“Do you see that guy, look, is he descending into the building also?” the caller asked.
The traffic control manager said:
“He’s descending really quick too, yeah. Forty-five hundred right now, he just dropped 800 feet in like, like one, one sweep.”
“What kind of airplane is that, can you guys tell?”
“I don’t know, I’ll read it out in a minute,” the manager said.
But it was too late, because that plane was United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into the south tower at 9:03.
“The whole building just came apart,” the manager said.
The audio files also detail how some FAA officials were still in the dark, as aviation officials scrambled to get the U.S. military involved seconds before the south tower was hit.
“Why, what’s going on?” a man at the FAA headquarters in Herndon, Virginia, asked at 9:01 a.m.
[youtube bHyecoBKPiA]
The 9/11 Commission found out on those recordings that military officials were not kept informed of the events, with many not knowing about the last three hijacked flights until after they had crashed.
It was reported that military was not informed that officials had lost contact with American Airlines Flight 77 – which crashed into the Pentagon – until 30 minutes later.
About three minutes before Flight 77’s impact, an FAA official is heard saying:
”They said that it was east of York. And I don’t even know what state that is.”
At 10:32am, the shoot-down order was issued by Vice President Dick Cheney approximately a half hour after United Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
However, two key recordings will remain unreleased.
One is the 30-minute audio clip of the cockpit from United Flight 93.
The other is a classified conference call between high-ranking White House officials like Vice President Dick Cheney and then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
The release of the audio files comes as Reuters reported the vast majority of the 9/11 Commission’s investigative records remain sealed at the National Archives in Washington, even though the commission had directed the archives to make most of the material public in 2009.
The National Archives’ failure to release the material presents a hurdle for historians and others seeking to plumb one of the most dramatic events in modern American history.
The 575 cubic feet of records were in large part the basis for the commission’s public report, issued July 22, 2004.
The 9/11 Commission, formally known as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, was established by Congress in late 2002 to investigate the events leading up to the 9/11 attacks, the pre-attack effectiveness of intelligence agencies and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the government’s emergency response.
Matt Fulgham, assistant director of the archives’ center for legislative affairs which has oversight of the commission documents, said during an interview this week that more than a third of the material has been reviewed for possible release.
However, many of those documents have been withheld or heavily redacted, and the released material includes documents that already were in the public domain, such as press articles.
9/11 Commission items which are still not public include a 30-page summary of an April 29, 2004 interview by all 10 commissioners with President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, conducted in the White House’s Oval Office.
That moment was the only time the two were formally questioned about the events surrounding the attacks.
Several former 9/11 Commission staff members said that because there is no comprehensive effort to unseal the remaining material, portions of the records the commission had hoped would be available by now to scholars and the public instead will remain sealed indefinitely
In 2011, US commemorates 10 years since 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked three passenger planes and ploughed them into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. A fourth passenger plane allegedly heading straight for Capitol Hill or the White House crashed in a field in rural Pennsylvania, killing all onboard. 2,993 people were killed and thousands injured in the co-ordinated attacks.
9/11 (September 11, 2001) marked one of the biggest news events in modern history and almost everyone will remember where they were when the story broke.
9/11: 20 people were pulled from the rubble alive
According to Yahoo! there are nine surprising things people may not have known about 9/11:
1. 20 people were pulled from the rubble alive
According to 9/11 research on World Trade Center survivors, 20 people were pulled from the rubble alive. Among the survivors were John McLoughlin and William Jimeno, two Port Authority policemen, who were rescued after being buried in debris around a freight elevator for about 13 and 21 hours. They were the subject of the 2006 Oliver Stone film ‘World Trade Center.’
Pasquale Buzzelli, a structural engineer for the Port Authority, and Genelle Guzman, a secretary, were in offices on the 64th floor of the North Tower when the building was hit. Buzzelli was knocked unconscious for three hours, and awoke on a hill of rubble, looking at the sky. Suffering from a broken foot, cuts and a concussion, he was removed by rescue workers and evacuated on a stretcher. Guzman, who was just below the surface, was rescued more than 27 hours after the Tower fell. Her leg was crushed but she fully recovered within four months.
2. Second biggest loss of life – the British nationality people
It wasn’t just Americans who fell victim to the attacks at both the World Trade Center and The Pentagon. More than 80 nationalities suffered at least one loss from the day’s horrific events, including Japanese, Irish, British, Australian, New Zealanders, Swiss, Indian, Mexican, Brazilian, South African and Canadian. Out of 372 foreign fatalities, 67 people of British nationality died.
3. Ron DiFrancesco managed to escape from collapsing South Tower
37-year-old Canadian DiFrancesco was escaping the World Trade Center South Tower as the second plane hit between the 77th and 85th floors, immediately throwing him against the wall on impact. After making a difficult descent to the ground floor, DiFrancesco managed to exit the building – which then collapsed behind him.
Engulfed in a fireball, DiFrancesco woke in hospital days later with lacerations on his head, burns all over his body and a broken bone in his back. After his miraculous escape he was one of only four people to escape from above the South Tower 81st floor.
9/11: fires raged for 99 days
4. Fires raged for 99 days
It took 99 days for the fires at Ground Zero to be extinguished completely. At 8.46am on 11 September the fires started as the first plane hit the North Tower. The remaining fires were eventually put out on 19 December.
5. A third skyscraper fell down
A third skyscraper World Trade Center (WTC) Building 7 – a 47-story building and one of the largest in downtown Manhattan fell during the attacks. It went largely unnoticed in the media because it hadn’t been hit by a plane. It is commonly believed that ‘ancillary damage’ from the collapses of the Twin Towers led to the collapse of WTC Building 7.
The 9/11 Commission Report states: “The total collapse of the third huge skyscraper late in the afternoon September 11th was reported as if it were an insignificant footnote… most people never saw video of Building 7’s collapse… Incredibly, it is virtually impossible to find any mention of Building 7 in newspapers, magazines, or broadcast media reports after September 11th.”
6. Code messages were sent out online by 9/11 conspirators
It is claimed that one of the 9/11 conspirators – Abu Abdul Rahman – sent a coded love post on an Internet chat room to his “German girlfriend” weeks before the attack, who turned out to be fellow 9/11 conspirator Ramzi Binalshibh.
The message allegedly read: “The first semester commences in three weeks. Two high schools [Twin Towers] and two universities [Washington DC targets] … This summer will surely be hot …19 [the eventual number of hijackers] certificates for private education and four exams [the number of planes used]. Regards to the professor. Goodbye.”
CNN reports that about three weeks before 9/11, targets were assigned to four teams, with three of them bearing a code name. The US Capitol building was called ‘The Faculty of Law;’ the Pentagon became ‘The Faculty of Fine Arts;’ and the North Tower of the World Trade Center was code-named as ‘The Faculty of Town Planning.’
7. One company – Cantor Fitzgerald – lost 2/3 of its workforce
Global financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald was the worst business affected by the 9/11 attacks. Unfortunately, its New York headquarters based on the 101st and 105th floors at One World Trade Center lost 658 out its 960-strong workforce – which amounted to two third of its total NYC staff.
After the tragedy hit, CEO Howard Lutnick called a colleague and said: “We could shut the firm and attend our friends’ funerals, or we’re going to work harder than we’ve ever worked before to help their families.” And that’s exactly what they did. Ten years later, Cantor Fitzgerald has handed out more than $180 million (£109 million) to the families of the deceased staff and has fulfilled its promise to pay their health care.
9/11: World Trade Center steel was sold on
8. World Trade Center steel was sold on
What did the US authorities do with the 185,101 tons of steel left at Ground Zero? They recycled it. The American public was outraged because authorities removed the steel before it was properly tested for evidence. Mayor Bloomberg responded by saying: “If you want to take a look at the construction methods and the design, that’s in this day and age what computers do. Just looking at a piece of metal generally doesn’t tell you anything.”
According to the ‘9/11 Research’ Website, the bulk of the steel was shipped to China and India. The Chinese firm Baosteel purchased 50,000 tons at a rate of $120 (£73) per ton. The rest of the steel was used for memorial material across all 50 states.
9. Plane engine survives crash
In the wake of the attacks, engineers volunteered to investigate the structural responses of the WTC buildings. According to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a single engine from one of the planes that struck the Twin Towers miraculously survived the plane crash and the explosion and collapse of the Towers.
Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz has been fired from her position after the ailing internet company lost further ground to main rival Google.
Carol Bartz, 63, who was fired over the phone, has had a rocky tenure lasting nearly three years punctuated by stagnating growth and a bitter row with one of the Yahoo‘s Chinese partners.
Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz posted her first official blog post today.
Carol Bartz, who was hired despite a lack of internet or advertising experience, told her former employees that she was fired by Yahoo’s chairman of the board, Roy Bostock.
Recently, Yahoo has settled a payment dispute with China’s Alibaba Group, in which the internet company holds a 40% stake.
Carol Bartz, the fired CEO, has also had to watch as Yahoo loses further ground as an internet domain to all-conquering Google, while also facing strong competition from other social networks like Facebook.
Yahoo ex-CEO announced her departure to employees via a two-sentence email from her iPad which read:
“I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board.
“It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward.”
Yahoo has appointed chief financial officer Timothy Morse as CEO on an interim basis, but plans to search for a permanent replacement for Carol Bartz.
In 2000, Yahoo shares achieved its peak , being traded for $125, but on Tuesday they closed at $12.91.
Yahoo lost further ground in the race against Google during Carol Bartz’s tenure, despite actually making more money through layoffs, service closures and other cost-cutting moves.
In 2010, Yahoo’s revenue edged up by just 2% in the first nine months of the year, while Google’s climbed by 23% in the same period.
In April 2010, Carol Bartz candidly admitted that she “could have done better” in her job, by which time speculation around her position was already growing.
Facebook has also become another serious competitor for Yahoo by attracting the major marketing partners which once went to Yahoo during its boom in 2000.
Yahoo was forced to fire more than 600 staff – around 5% of its workforce – in 2010 due to lacklustre growth.
Yahoo shares jumped 74 cents (5.7%) to $13.65 in after-hours trading, around 12% higher than they were when Carol Bartz was named chief executive.
Roy Bostock has decided to let Carol Bartz go after Yahoo posted more disappointing financial results
In the last months speculation has mounted over various companies wanting to either take over Yahoo or invest and split into parts.
News Corp, AT&T and Verizon had all been linked with a move to buy the company out, with Yahoo’s cooperation.
Carol Bartz had joined Yahoo as the firm’s Chief Executive Officer after 17 years at design software company Autodesk.
Roy Bostock, chairman of the Yahoo board, had publicly backed Carol Bartz earlier this year, but has since decided to let her go after the company posted more disappointing financial results.
Roy Bostock said:
“The board sees enormous growth opportunities on which Yahoo! can capitalize, and our primary objective is to leverage the Company’s leadership and current business assets and platforms to execute against these opportunities.
“We have talented teams and tremendous resources behind them and intend to return the Company to a path of robust growth and industry-leading innovation.”
Roy Bostock also thanked Carol Bartz for her service to Yahoo during “a critical time of transition in the company’s history, and against a very challenging macro-economic backdrop”.
Timothy Morse, the newly appointed interim CEO said:
“It is an honor to be selected for this role and lead the Company with this world-class team of executives.
“I look forward to working with the Executive Leadership Council and the talented employees of Yahoo!, and to partnering with the Board to invest in the organization and continue to drive its ongoing growth plans.”
A huge crane toppled Wednesday at the Washington National Cathedral amid heavy thunderstorms, damaging two buildings and several cars.
No serious injuries were reported and officials are still investigating what caused the crane to tip over.
A huge crane toppled Wednesday at the Washington National Cathedral
D.C. fire department spokesman, Oscar Mendez, said the crane flipped backward about 11a.m. on Wednesday.
The spokesman also said the crane damaged three to five cars and cathedral buildings.
Cathedral’s spokesman, Richard Weinberg said that the crane damaged Herb Cottage, which houses the cathedral’s gift shop, and Church House, which houses members of the diocese.
Richard Weinberg added that all 20 people inside the buildings when the crane collapsed were not hurt, and the cathedral itself was not damaged.
Washington National Cathedral is set to host memorial events for 9/11 starting Friday and continuing this weekend.
All 20 people inside the buildings when the crane collapsed were not hurt and Washington National Cathedral itself was not damaged
Until now, no decision had been made as to whether the events would go on as planned, according to cathedral’s spokesman.
Weinberg said the crane was at the cathedral to work on repairs needed because of damage caused by the East Coast earthquake on August 23, when the cathedral’s limestone exterior towers and some interior areas have been damaged.
Firefighters’ representative said the incident could have been a lot worse.
“If it had gone any other direction it would have hit another building, which would have been bad,” fire Battalion Chief John Donnelly said.
Reese Witherspoon, the Oscar winning actress was hit by a car on Wednesday afternoon.
Reese Witherspoon, 35, was jogging near her home in Santa Monica, California when a car struck her.
The car was traveling at around 20 mph when it hit Reese in the 20th street and Georgina Avenue area, according to reports on RadarOnline.com.
Reese Witherspoon was hit by a car whilst jogging
Reese Witherspoon was transported to a local hospital where she was treated for minor injuries.
“Reese Witherspoon was hit by a car on Wednesday and sustained minor injuries,” a police spokesperson told RadarOnline.com.
Reese is now said to be back at home with her family and resting.
An 84-year-old woman is the car’s driver and she was cited for failure to stop for a pedestrian and was released.
Reese Witherspoon married talent agent Jim Toth on March 26 at her country home in Ojai, California.
Reese has two children, Ava 12 year-old and Deacon 8 year-old, from a previous marriage with Cruel Intentions star, Ryan Phillippe.
The 35 year-old Legally Blonde actress recently opened up about her struggle as a single parent following her divorce from Ryan Phillippe.
Reese Witherspoon said the years after the split were incredibly stressful – but reveals she now feels “relief and an incredible amount of support” from her new husband.
Reese and Ryan marriage ended in divorce in 2007.
Speaking about that period, Reese Witherspoon, who is the Oscar-winning for Walk The Line, told Marie Claire magazine:
“I was hard on myself when I got divorced.
“And until I got remarried, I don’t think I realized how stressed I was.
“I feel so much relief. I don’t think I realized how stressed I was being a single parent. It was really, really stressful. It’s not easy on anybody.
“You know, somebody close to me once said, <<Oh, no man will ever accept your children.>> And I just thought it was the most horrifying thing someone has ever said to me in my entire life.
“I was determined to find somebody who would make that not true. And I got lucky. I did. I got very lucky, and he’s wonderful. And so wonderful with the children. I’m very blessed,” Reese Witherspoon said.
An audacious thief has been arrested after allegedly breaking into Celine Dion’s house, raiding the family’s fridge and taking a bath.
The 36 year-old burglar even found time to scoff some pasta at the Celine’s Dion luxury residence near Montreal.
Fortunately, Celin Dion and her husband Rene Angelil were not put in danger as they were not at the property at the moment.
Celine Dion and her husband Rene Angelil
The criminal was caught by police on Tuesday afternoon in Canadian city Laval after the alarm system of Celine Dion’s house went off.
According to local police spokesman Franco Di Genova, the suspect was getting ready to run a nice hot bath when police arrived with a canine unit.
Franco Di Genova said:
“He opened the water taps, was pouring a nice warmish bath (and) he even managed to eat some pastry that was in the fridge.
“The suspect was coming down the big staircase and was asking: <<Hey, guys what are you doing here?>>
“So the officers replied: <<What are you doing here?>> and they proceeded to put him under arrest.”
It was reported that the criminal jumped over a fence to access the Celine Dion’s property after pinching a garage door opener he found in an unlocked vehicle.
The burglar, named Daniel Bedard, 36, who is a Laval resident, was arraigned on charges including breaking and entering, car theft and causing property damage.
Police spokesman Franco Di Genova added that there was another incident at Celine Dion‘s mansion in 2009 when another man jumped the fence, but was stopped by the security firm that was keeping an eye on the property before he could enter the home.
Celine Dion, 43, and Rene Angelil usually live in Florida but use the Laval home when they return to Quebec, where the famous singer was born and raised.
Celine Dion has a 10 year-old son and 10 month old fraternal twins with Rene Angelil, who is 26 years her senior.
Two persons were killed during a massive jailbreak by 967 prisoners in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to a provincial government minister.
Dikanga Kazadi, the information minister of Katanga province, said 8 armed men attacked prison guards in Lubumbashi on Wednesday, allowing the prisoners to escape.
According to the minister, police had recaptured 152 of the 967 escaped prisoners, and that the armed men had been trying to free a militant who was condemned to death.
There have been no executions in Democratic Republic of Congo since President Joseph Kabila came to power in 2001
Dikanga Kazadi said also that the two who died were a police officer and a young man who was visiting his detained brother.
There have been no executions in Democratic Republic of Congo since President Joseph Kabila came to power in 2001.
Women who use painkillers such as ibuprofen during pregnancy are twice as likely to suffer a miscarriage, according to a University of Montreal study.
Specialists warn that tens of thousands of expectant mothers are taking the pills unaware of the dangers.
Ibuprofen
The major study, which was run by the researchers at University of Montreal, Canada, has found that women who took ibuprofen or similar painkillers just before they conceived until the 20th week of pregnancy were 2.4 times more at risk.
Although there are visible warnings on the drugs’ insert package saying they should not be used in pregnancy, as many as one in six expectant mothers still take them.
The Canadian study involved a group of painkillers known as Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs or NSAIDS, which include OTC’s (over-the-counter) ibuprofen and naproxen.
Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is also in this category although it wasn’t included in the study, while paracetamol is deemed safe.
The Canadian researchers believe taking any number of the drugs can lead to the embryo not being properly implanted in the womb meaning a woman is far more likely to suffer miscarriage, which known as a spontaneous abortion.
Approximately one in eight pregnancies end in miscarriage and the majority happen in the first 12 weeks.
Often there is no obvious cause but older women and those who smoke, drink heavily or are obese are at far higher risk.
The study involved 47,050 women aged 15 to 45 and its results have been published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
The participants into the study were asked whether they had taken the painkillers at any time in the first 20 weeks of their pregnancy or two weeks before they became pregnant.
Despite the drug insert package warnings, about 17% of women had taken the drugs – nearly one in six.
Dr. Anick Bérard, researcher at the University of Montreal said:
“We consistently saw that the risk of having a spontaneous abortion was associated with gestational use of diclofenac, naproxen, celecoxib, ibuprofen and rofecoxib alone or in combination.
“Women who were exposed to any type and dosage of non-aspirin NSAID during early pregnancy were more likely to have a spontaneous abortion.”
But doctors pointed out the risks of a woman suffering a miscarriage due to painkillers were very small.
They also said the study did not take into account other possible causes such as smoking and obesity.
The most expensive house in the world is an 8.6 billion euro (over 12 billion dollars) residence, which has been built at the border of Switzerland and Italy.
It said that 200 kg of precious metals were used during construction of the most expensive residence on the planet.
The most expensive house in the world is located at the border of Switzerland and Italy
The building was designed by luxury designer Stuart Hughes, in collaboration with Exclusivhaus.
The 8.6 billion euro house has eight rooms and a huge living room of 725 square meters
The world’s most expensive house, which is located at the border of Switzerland and Italy, costs 8.6 billion euro because of the 200 kg of precious metals, gold and platinum, used to decorate the interiors. The impressive residence is situated on a plot of 2442 square meters, has eight rooms, a cellar of 242 square meters, a huge living room, which covers 725 square meters and four parking spaces, among others.
It said that 200 kg of precious metals were used during construction of the most expensive residence on the planet
Building of the most expensive house in the world took over five years. For security reasons, the world’s most expensive house owner was not named.
Buddy Holly: the rock and roll pioneer who died at 22
Buddy Holly, the musician who died at 22 in a plane crash, receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Wednesday, September 7, is his 75th birthday anniversary and it is declared Buddy Holly Day in Los Angeles. Maria Elena (Santiago) Holly, singer’s widow, receives the star, while Gary Busey (the artist who portrayed Buddy in The Buddy Holly Story), Phil Everly of the Everly brothers, and Peter Asher of Peter and Gordon speak at the ceremony. Buddy Holly‘s star is the 2,447th.
Charles Hardin Holley, known as Buddy Holly, was born on September 7, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas.
He was a pioneer who established the standard instruments for rock and roll band, of two guitars, bass and drums. Buddy took the genre of rock and roll from Elvis Presley and adjusted it to his own personality. He listened to Elvis in Lubbock in 1955, and started to assimilate a rockabilly style (like of Chuck Berry) with a strong rhythm acoustic and slap bass.
Holly’s works inspired performers like The Beatles (they took their name as a tribute to Buddy Holly and The Crickets), The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and Eric Clapton. He also has a great influence on popular music. It is said that Holly’s eyeglasses encouraged other singers (John Lennon) to wear their spectacles in public. Anyway, the Memorial to Buddy near the Iowa crash site where he died features his eyeglasses.
Memorial to Buddy Holly near Clear Lake Iowa
Buddy Holly was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and Rolling Stone ranked him among The Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004.
Holly formed The Crickets, consisting of Holly (lead guitar and vocals), Niki Sullivan (guitar), Joe B. Mauldin (bass), and Jerry Allison (drums), in 1956. Between 1956 and 1959 he put 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Peggy Sue, That’ll be the Day, True Love Ways, Oh Boy!, Everyday became classics and recently two new all-star tribute albums have tried to interpret them like he did.
Buddy Holly died on February 3, 1959, in a small-plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.
Waylon Jennings, who had given up his seat on the plane to Holly, was haunted by the crash. Along with Buddy Holly Ritchie Valens and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson (another rock and roll pioneers) were killed. The Day the Music Died said about that day Don McLean in his song American Pie (1971).
Holly’s pregnant wife, widow after six months, miscarried due to psychological trauma. Few months later authorities would implemented a policy against publishing victims’ names before the families had been informed.
Buddy Holly launched only three albums, but he recorded so much that Coral Records has released new albums and singles for 10 years after his death.
In Lubbock there is the Buddy and Maria Elena Holly Plaza with a Walk of Fame and a statue of Buddy Holly playing his Fender guitar. A street was named in Holly’s honor and The Buddy Holly Center contains a museum of Holly memorabilia and a Fine Arts Gallery.
43 people died in a Yakovlev Yak-42 plane crash near the city of Yaroslavl in Central Russia on Wednesday afternoon. The majority of victims were members of the local top ice hockey team Lokomotiv.
Of the 45 people on board, only two survived, Russia Today reported at the scene of the tragedy.
Lokomotiv Ice Hockey Team was killed in a plane crash in Yaroslavl
The aircraft went down and caught fire shortly after taking to the air. According to preliminary reports, the plane had insufficient lift and hit a beacon tower. An air traffic controller told Itar-Tass, that the aircraft was some 50 to 60 meters above the ground when it tilted to the left and crashed.
The crash site is about 2,500 meters from the runway. The accident happened just next to the Volga River and some fragments of the aircraft and bodies of the victims fell into the water. So far 29 bodies have been recovered from the site, according to local rescue services.
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Hockey Club Lokomotiv (KHL) confirmed that its entire 37-strong main squad was on board of the crashed plane. The hockey team was traveling to the Belarusian capital Minsk.
Some of the victims were foreign players for the club. The squad included players from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Sweden.
The two survivors are in a serious condition and have been taken to hospital.
One of the survivors is a hockey team member Aleksandr Galimov.
The other survivor is a flight engineer, according to preliminary reports.
“Galimov has burns to 80 per cent of his body, the crew member has broken bones and lacerations in addition to massive burns,” Dr. Viktor Berezing from the hospital’s burn trauma department told Interfax.
Russian aviation authorities said the Yak-42 underwent all the routine checks before being cleared for the flight and was in good condition.
The today plane crash is the first-ever fatal crash involving a sports team in modern Russia.
Soviet Union’s worst incident of this kind was the 1979 mid-air collision of two Tupolev Tu-134s in Dniprodzerzhynsk, Ukraine. Seventeen players and staff of the then-Soviet top-division Pakhtakor Football Club team died in the crash.
The Yaroslavl HC Lokomotiv team was Russian Champions in 1997, 2002 and 2003.
The top hockey squad was to play a match against Minsk HC Dinamo on Thursday.
The heads of the Lokomotiv hockey club are currently in an urgent meeting to discuss the measures to be taken following the tragic crash and death of the Yaroslavl team.
The Salavat Ulaev versus Atlant match, which is the opening battle of the league season, was cancelled by this time.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is to visit the crash site on Thursday. Medvedev offered his condolences to the relatives of the victims and to fans of the club over the tragedy.
Visitors of the International Political Forum, who are visiting Yaroslavl at the moment, held a minute’s silence to commemorate the victims of the crash. The Russian Hockey Federation voiced its condolences to the Lokomotiv club, the families of the victims and the entire ice hockey community.
Hockey fans in Moscow are gathering in Red Square near the Kremlin to honor the deceased Lokomotiv players and the other victims of the crash.
In Minsk, people are laying flowers in front of the stadium where the team was scheduled to play on Thursday. Yaroslavl fans are meeting at one of the city’s squares to mark the loss of their team.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation into the incident and sent a team of forensic experts from Moscow to Yaroslavl, according to the spokesman for the committee, Vladimir Markin.
The Interstate Aviation Committee, a regional regulating body, has launched its own probe into the cause of the crash.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered Transport Minister Igor Levitin to organize the initial part of the investigation at the scene.
Two persons died on Tuesday in the massive wildfire that has covered Bastrop Texas since Monday.
Bastrop Texas: The ruins of a house destroyed by wildfire (Reuters)
They were not public safety responders said officials without any further details. The death toll from Labor Day weekend wildfires across Texas raises to four with these two deaths in the Bastrop County Complex. On Monday a 20-year-old mother and her 18-month-old daughter, caught by flames in a mobile home, died in Gregg County (northeast Texas).
This is the most withering wildfire in Texas in over ten years. The Bastrop County Complex fire destroyed almost 600 homes and led to evacuation of 5,000 in Bastrop County alone.
More than ten other fires sweeped on Tuesday, burning six homes in Caldwell County (near Bastrop County), twelve homes in Grimes County (40 miles northwest of Houston). In Cass County a 7,000-acre fire burned in heavy timberland and in one neighborhood in Bastrop flames attacked houses built among oaks, pines and cedar trees.
The wildfire in Leander destroyed over ten homes and caused the evacuations of 500 residents and $1.4 million in damage. The fire is investigating as arson, Police were searching for three teens connected to that.
Officials of Federal Emergency Management Agency came to Bastrop Texas and began to assess the needs of the victims and damages.
Bastrop Texas: burnt vehicle
“It is certainly a remarkable fire in terms of evacuations and the number of homes that have burned,” said Ken Frederick, of National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.
Texas Task Force 1, a wide-area search team sent to New York after the September 11, 2001, attacks and to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, was deployed by Governor on Tuesday evening.
“Pretty powerful visuals of individuals who lost everything. The magnitude of these losses are pretty stunning.” Said Rick Perry, Texas Governor.
The available bulldozers and other heavy equipment were kept at the Army’s Fort Hood, around 75 miles from Bastrop, Perry complained. He also asked for federal assistance and in order to help Texas Obama administration approved seven federal grants, said Jay Carney, White House spokesman.
Over 1,000 firefighters (including crews from California and Oregon), five heavy tanker planes, and three aircrafts have struggled to contain the monstrous blaze.
On Tuesday, the winds (moved by Tropical Storm Lee) became weaker and that helped to wildfire containment. There are still flames across Bastrop Texas, and the fire is far from being extinguished.
Police is investigating the shooting rampage at an IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nevada.
The incident happened on Tuesday morning and left four people dead, including the shooter, and eight persons wounded.
Investigators are now trying to determine whether the man targeted a group of National Guard personnel in the restaurant.
Twelve people have been shot in the rampage, five were National Guard members who were sitting together, all in uniform, in the back of the restaurant. Two of the service members – a man and a woman – died, according to police.
According to the investigators it appears the shooter – Eduardo Sencion, 33, a Carson City resident who worked in nearby Tahoe and had no criminal history – could have targeted the Guard members, who were sitting in the restaurant and they were in uniform.
Eduardo Sencion, the alleged shooter at an IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nevada, killed 4 people and wounded another 8
Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong said during a news conference last evening:
“Information suggests at this point in time that the National Guard members were sitting all the way into the restaurant along the southeast side and that he entered through the front do ors and traveled all the way through the restaurant to the back area,” sheriff Furlong said.
“Obviously when five out of 11 of the victims are uniformed National Guard members, that’s taking a priority interest in our agency.”
“Investigators are still trying to determine what motive there might have been for the shooting rampage.”
“There has been some suggestion by his family members that there is some mental health issues that we are going to have to look into,” the sheriff added.
Eduardo Sencion allegedly walked into the restaurant shortly before 9 a.m. brandishing an AK47 and started shooting, then ended it by shooting himself in the head, police said.
The shooter was taken to a hospital where he died three hours later.
According to the Carson City Chief Deputy Jack Freer, the people wounded at the IHOP were taken to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno and a hospital in Carson City, but their conditions were unknown.
Eyewitnesses described a scene of horror and chaos after Eduardo Sencion pulled up at the IHOP in a blue minivan just before 9 a.m. and ran into the restaurant, already firing his assault weapon.
“All I heard was about a heavy eight seconds of automatic gunfire,” said Nick Teply, who was at the McDonald’s drive-through next door.
“I just froze trying to identify which direction it was coming from.
“I saw people running into the casino and I saw people panicked so I panicked.
“I heard another burst go off and then I was, it was, ‘get the hell out of there.’”
According to the Carson City sheriff, at least 11 agencies, both federal and state, worked the crime scene.
During a press conference at Venice Film Festival one eager audience member presented Madonna with a hydrangea.
After this touching gesture, Madonna, 53, was caught voicing her disgust at the gift because the press conference microphone was left on.
While Madonna smiled and said thank you to the fan she quickly put the flower under the table before shooting a glaring look at her friend.
Madonna, the famous singer and actress, then proceeded to turn to the person sitting to her right and remarked: “I absolutely loathe hydrangeas.”
“I absolutely loathe hydrangeas”, said Madonna during WE film press conference at Venice Film Festival
But Madonna added: “He obviously doesn’t know that.”
The ungracious gesture Madonna made has happened at the Venice Film Festival during the press conference for her new film W.E.
It is likely that Madonna, who is the W.E. film director, was unaware that cameras were already rolling as she ungraciously accepted the floral gift.
At the press conference, Madonna has also revealed that she is working on a new album which is set to be released early next year.
Madonna, who released Hard Candy three years ago told SVT that she is heading to New York to work on the music and said:
“I’ve started a little bit of work in the studio.”
Madonna’s movie, W.E. is a drama loosely based on divorcee Wallis Simpson, whose relationship with Britain’s King Edward VIII led to his abdication in 1936.
The movie’s Royal Family storyline runs parallel with a modern day equivalent following an unhappily married New Yorker named Wally Winthrop.
Madonna herself recently clarified that the film is about a woman’s journey and not about the Duchess’ life, but the Duchess would act as the woman’s spiritual guide.
Madonna said also the success of the Oscar-winning The King’s Speech gives audiences a point of reference for her new film, W.E.
“I view the success off that film as laying the ground work for my film,” Madonna said in her press conference for the project.
“There’s a little bit of history, and a little bit of knowledge. We are not starting from a blank slate.”
The famous pop singer also said she had the support of her ex-husbands Sean Penn and Guy Ritchie when working on the project.
Eddie Murphy signs on to host 84th Academy Awards ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday, September 6.
In a press release on Tuesday, Eddie Murphy said:
“I am enormously honored to join the great list of past Academy Award hosts from Hope and Carson to Crystal, Martin and Goldberg, among others.”
Eddie Murphy will host 2012 ceremony of the Annual Academy Awards
Eddie Murphy, 50, was reported to be the Brett Ratner’s top choice to host the 84th Academy Awards show.
Brett Ratner, who is the “Rush Hour” director and recently directed Eddie Murphy in the upcoming movie “Tower Heist”, is producing the ceremony.
“Eddie is a comedic genius, one of the greatest and most influential live performers ever,” Brett Ratner said in a press release.
“With his love of movies, history of crafting unforgettable characters and his iconic performances – especially on stage – I know he will bring excitement, spontaneity and tremendous heart to the show.”
This will be Eddie Murphy’s first hosting stint on the Oscars.
Eddie Murphy earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 2006 for his role in “Dreamgirls.”
Previously, there were rumors that Billy Crystal, who hosted the awards show eight times between 1990 and 2004, was to be in the running for hosting duties before Eddie Murphy was officially tapped to host.
Eddie Murphy began his career at the age of 15 as a stand-up comedian. In 1980, at the age of 19, he joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live,” becoming the show’s youngest cast member to that point, and bringing to life many of the show’s most memorable characters. His 1983 album “Eddie Murphy: Comedian” won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording. It included portions of his groundbreaking HBO special “Eddie Murphy Delirious.” In 1987, “Eddie Murphy Raw” was theatrically released and went on to gross over $50 million. Murphy made his feature film debut in 1982 with the classic “48 Hrs.” and would go on to star in such box-office hits as “Beverly Hills Cop” and the “The Nutty Professor” and “Shrek” franchises. All told, movies in which he has performed have earned in excess of $7 billion worldwide during their theatrical releases.
The 84th edition of the Annual Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.
Shootings repeatedly rocked the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn on Labor Day, even while Mayor Michael Bloomberg marched nearby. The New York City’s terrifying epidemic of shootings over the Labor Day weekend grew steadily worse.
The toll of the Labor Day Parade violence includes seven deaths among the 49 gunshot victims. The gunfire seemed to follow the revelers everywhere, from the parade route to nearby fast-food joints and even to their own homes.
The toll of the Brooklyn Labor Day Parade violence includes seven deaths among the 49 gunshot victims
Nine of the shooting victims were hit at or near the area of Brooklyn Labor Day Parade, the annual Caribbean-themed festival in Crown Heights, where a gunman had fired into the air only blocks from where Mayor Bloomberg had just begun marching.
“[The gunman] shouted something, then ‘boom!’ Everyone ducked,” said a witness, Marlene Anthony, adding that the young thug was standing at Rockaway Parkway and Clarkson Avenue – just blocks from the parade staging area.
“It was a bad mix of alcohol, ignorance and a fool with a gun who tries to ruin the fun of the parade.”
According to authorities, the gunman, Devon Stevens, 25, jumped into a livery cab, but went only a couple blocks before hopping out on East 94th Street at Winthrop Street, where he ditched the gun as cops gave chase.
“I was out here sweeping and listening to music when I saw the police grab up this young man on the hood of this car,” said an elderly resident on East 94th Street.
“There were so many police chasing him.”
Police officers have pepper-sprayed on the gunman, Devon Stevens.
Few hours after the Brooklyn Labor Day Parade ended, an elderly woman was killed in the crossfire of a melee between police and a gunman.
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Brooklyn Labor Day Parade had gotten off to a rocky start at 6 a.m., when a nearby McDonald’s, packed with 100 early risers prepping for the festivities, was the site of a senseless shooting.
Kenneth Beggs, 44, bumped into a man entering the Empire Boulevard Mc Donald’s and apologized, but Anthony Carruthers, 28, allegedly refused to let the incident go and pumped bullets into Beggs’ legs.
“The bullet shattered the door, so everyone ran out the other door,” said one McDonald’s cook.
After parade ended, one reveler was shot in front of a crowd on Eastern Parkway.
A group of 6-7 men had pummeled the victim on the ground and then an attacker pulled out a handgun and shot him in the leg. He also grabbed a pot of steaming rice from a food vendor and tossed it onto an onlooker.
Police tackled the gunman. His victim is expected to survive.
According to police the number of people who took a bullet in the past week had skyrocketed.
“For the week ending Sunday, a whopping 98 people had been shot, nearly twice the 53 shot during the same week last year,” the NYPD said.
“Those injured last week were involved in 72 incidents, compared to 40 shoot-ups in the same week in 2010,” Police Department said.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that although the number of shootings so far this year is fewer when compared to a decade ago, the spree of gunfire over the weekend is “obviously . . . cause for concern.
“We’re doing everything we can do,” added Ray Kelly, who cited the NYPD’s shifting of resources to target guns on the streets, including boosting overtime.
“Some of the shootings were clearly associated with the parade,” Commissioner Kelly said.
“Quite frankly, this is something that does happen with this parade.”
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said:
“It was a bad weekend, no question about that . . . There’s just too many guns on the streets of this city. It’s a national problem . . . because it’s so easy to buy guns in other states, and just drive them in and sell them in the back of your car.”
In all, at least 16 people were hit by bullets on Monday, 15 of them in Brooklyn.
There was an exception, a 33-year-old man, who was shot twice in the torso and once in the left arm at 11:48 a.m. in front of the St. Nicholas Houses in Harlem.
Officers also nabbed a suspect on Monday in another case, in which eight people were shot in The Bronx.
A man and a rival are suspected of engaging in a shootout that wounded the victims, including 11-year-old Shaquan Walters, at a house party early Sunday.
One of the gunmen, Phillip Muir, 21, from Wilson Avenue in The Bronx, was caught at 2:15 a.m. by the NYPD during a car stop in Mount Vernon, in Westchester, with the assistance of police there.
The other gunman, Oneil DaSilva, 17, from Mount Vernon, remains at large.
Beautytek claims to reshape bodies for both men and women
A non-invasive technique, Beautytek,claims to reshape, lift and tone over nine areas of the body.
Practitioners said Beautytek can lift breasts by up to five centimeters, flatten stomachs, lift buttocks and thighs, smooth out cellulite, reduce acne, scarring, wrinkles and stretchmarks.
The treatment seems to be pain free, without side effects. After twelve sessions one’s appearance is change and with one to two top up treatments each year, the results last a lifetime, it is said. Without annual treatment, the effects last only several months.
“Beautytek triggers the body’s natural chemicals to encourage anti-aging of the skin to take place.There is nothing artificial or chemical about the device which makes it an entirely drug-free treatment without the need for surgery.” Said Henning Buscher who helped develop Beautytek.
Beautytek combines ancient Chinese principles of acupressure (certain points of the body are stimulated to adjust energy flow) with modern technology.
This technique could balance the organiwsm by stimulating the lymphatic system blood circulation, hormonal release, and metabolism.
The practitioners said the human body has its own electro-magnetic field and they think fatigue, weight problems and skin complaints (spots, wrinkles) are caused by inefficient electrical flow.
A computer analyzes one’s electro-magnetic field and if the electrical current is slow, the computer stimulates certain acupressure – or energy – points with mild electrical pulses.This triggers movement of fluid between skin cells and “push out” fat from cells. The excess fat passes along the lymphatic drainage system towards the kidney and it is eliminated from the organism through urine. The blood circulation is increased on the stimulated areas and tone the muscles. Beautytek also triggers the endocrine system into releasing the correct amount of hormones. The combined effects boosts natural collagen production of skin cells. A session takes around 45 minutes and the need to urinate may occur during it.
Every adult can undergo a Beautytek treatment except pregnant women and people with pacemakers, said the practitioners. However, it is better to get medical exam and a consult from the GP before the treatment.
Dr Horst Frank, a dermatologist from Frankfurt, Germany, has monitorised 150 patients over a year in his clinic and the patients report their treatment was 90 per cent successful.
In the same time the dermatologists warn that there’s no proving that Beautytek works until double blind clinical trials have been completed.
“I’m not aware of any reason why people shouldn’t use the method, but unless there is reasonable data to prove that the claims work, I can’t endorse the treatment.” said Dr Neil Walker, a dermatologist at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford.
Iniatially Beautytek was designed as a device to treat pain in hospitals, then the technique was developed in Italy in 2000 for cosmetic purposes. Beautytek has been used in over 30 countries, including Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Austria, US, Canada, China, UK.
The crocodile weighs one ton and is believed responsible for eating at least one fisherman, but this monster has finally been caught by 100 men in Philippines.
Measuring 21 ft (about 6.5 m), the monster is the largest crocodile captured alive in recent years.
World's largest crocodile has been caught in Philippines
The largest crocodile was caught, after a three-week hunt, in a creek in the Philippines by villagers who had lived in fear of it for more than 20 years.
The crocodile’s nearest rival in the monster stakes is Cassius, an Australian salt-water crocodile which measures a “mere” 18ft (5.5 m) and which is still on the loose in the Northern Territory.
The Philippine crocodile lived in a river system in Agusan, a poverty-stricken region 500 miles south east of Manila, but while it was a constant threat to villagers no-one was brave enough to try to capture it.
The monster crocodile was placed under observation and when it was witnessed by several villagers killing a water buffalo they knew their suspicions were right.
Many of the villagers posed beside the captured monster crocodile before it was driven off to a confined area
“We were very nervous about tackling this beast but it was our duty to deal with it because it was a threat to many villagers and their farm animals,” said the local mayor, Edwin Elorde.
“When I finally saw it after its capture I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“It was big enough to swallow three men all at once.”
The crocodile hunting was set in place after it was seen in a creek, with villagers setting four net traps, which the crocodile destroyed with a mighty snap of its jaws.
The second time hunters used traps made of steel cables and this time the animal failed to get away.
One hundred men were required to pull the monster crocodile on to the banks of the creek where, after a great deal of difficulty, it was bound up and then lifted by crane on to the back of a truck.
Hunters weren’t going to let the victory pass without having their photo taken, so many of the villagers posed beside their scaly captive before it was driven off to a confined area.
Many of the villagers posed beside the captured monster crocodile before it was driven off to a confined area
The crocodile, which have not been named yet, is destined for fame.
Villagers have been expecting monster to be the star attraction at a new eco-tourism park that is set up in Agusan.
“It will be the biggest star of the park,” said Mayor Elorde.
“The villagers, of course, are very happy that they have been able to turn this dangerous crocodile from a threat into an asset.”
But the 37,000 people who live in the region have been told not to rest on their laurels.
Many other large crocodiles remain in the rivers and people have been told not to venture into marsh areas alone at night.
Mr. Bean is Rowan Atkinson’s most commercially successful creation. However, Mr. Bean’s era is finished and the character is unlikely to appear on the screens again in any new adventures.
Actor Rowan Atkinson, 56, said he believes he is too old to play Mr. Bean character.
Mr. Bean first appeared on television in an ITV series which ran from September 1, 1989, to November 15, 1995.
Rowan Atkinson said he is too old to play Mr. Bean
The series proved a huge ratings success, despite the derision of some critics, achieving viewing figures of more than 18million.
Mr. Bean character proved such a draw – even in the notoriously difficult U.S. market – that two films were made of his exploits, “Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie” in 1997 and” Mr. Bean’s Holiday” in 2007.
The two Mr. Bean films earned over $ 450 million worldwide.
However, Rowan Atkinson, who describes Mr. Bean as “a child in a grown man’s body” – said:
“I’ve got a feeling I probably won’t play the character [Mr. Bean] again.
“Never say never, but I just feel I’m getting too old for it. I’ve always liked Mr. Bean as a cartoon-like figure, who doesn’t really age much.
“I’ve always seen him as an ageless and timeless being and I’m clearly not ageless and timeless.
“The older I get, I feel I am less qualified to play him.”
Mr Bean
Rowan Atkinson, who starred in “Not The Nine O’Clock News” in the late 1970s and 1980s and in “Blackadder” from 1983, was interviewed in Australia to publicize the sequel to the 2003 James Bond spoof movie “Johnny English” – “Johnny English Reborn”.
Roche’s new drug Zelboraf (also known as PLX4032 and vemurafenib) was approved by the FDA on August 17th 2011 for treatment of melanoma patients whose tumors have BRAF mutations (new Zelboraf announcement order). Now that the drug has been approved, your doctor can prescribe it after determining that your tumor has this mutation.
In clinical trials with Zelboraf, patients’ tumors stopped growing for several months and patients were 63% less likely to die during the trial, as compared to those receiving chemotherapy. Be sure to find out if Zelboraf is right for you before you order.
Zelboraf is being approved with a first-of-a-kind test called the cobas 4800 BRAF V600 Mutation Test, a companion diagnostic that will help determine if a patient’s melanoma cells have the BRAF V600E mutation.
The BRAF protein is normally involved in regulating cell growth, but is mutated in about half of the patients with late-stage melanomas. Zelboraf is a BRAF inhibitor that is able to block the function of the V600E-mutated BRAF protein.
“This has been an important year for patients with late-stage melanoma. Zelboraf is the second new cancer drug approved that demonstrates an improvement in overall survival,” said Richard Pazdur, M.D., director of the Office of Oncology Drug Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “In March, we approved Yervoy (ipilimumab), another new treatment for late-stage melanoma that also showed patients live longer after receiving the drug.”
What to know before you order? Zelboraf’s side effects.
The most common side effects reported in patients receiving Zelboraf included joint pain, rash, hair loss, fatigue, nausea, and skin sensitivity when exposed to the sun. About 26 percent of patients developed a skin-related cancer called cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, which was managed with surgery. Patients treated with Zelboraf should avoid sun exposure. Patients that develop squamous cell carcinoma as a side effect of Zelboraf are treated by surgery and can continue with treatment
Use of ordered ZELBORAF and Important Side Effect Information for Zelboraf
This information does not take the place of talking to your doctor about your medical condition or your treatment with ZELBORAF.
ZELBORAF is a prescription medicine used to treat a type of skin cancer called melanoma, that has spread to other parts of the body or cannot be removed by surgery, and has a certain type of abnormal “BRAF” gene.
ZELBORAF may cause a type of skin cancer called cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cuSCC). CuSCC usually does not spread to other parts of the body. Check your skin and tell your doctor about skin changes including a new wart, a sore or bump that bleeds or does not heal, or a mole that changes size or color.
While taking ZELBORAF, you should avoid going out in the sun. When you go outside, wear clothes that protect your skin, including head, face, hands, arms, and legs. Use lip balm and a broad-spectrum sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher.
Possible serious side effects of ZELBORAF include severe allergic reactions, severe skin reactions, changes in the electrical activity of your heart called QT prolongation, which can potentially be life-threatening, abnormal liver function tests, eye problems, or new melanoma lesions.
Common side effects of ZELBORAF include joint pain, rash, hair loss, tiredness, sunburn or sun sensitivity, nausea, itching, or warts. You need to know these before ordering Zelboraf.
These are not all of the possible side effects of ZELBORAF. Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or does not go away. For more information about side effects, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Call your doctor for medical advice about any side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088. You may also report side effects to Genentech at 1-888-835-2555.
With Zelboraf’s approval, your doctor can now prescribe this drug for you if your tumor has the BRAF mutation. To test the tumor, your doctor would order a laboratory test.
Several clinical trials are testing whether a combination of Zelboraf with other drugs might work better than Zelboraf alone. One exciting clinical trial combines Zelboraf with Yervoy, a new immunotherapy drug (Order more details about Zelboraf clinical trials). The following table lists some of these clinical trials that Zelboraf went through, and by clicking on the name of a trial you can learn more about the drug used and the types of patients that the trial is looking for.
Zelboraf Summary for Ordered Clinical Trials
Name(s)
Target
Manufacturer
Status
Zelboraf, PLX4032, vemurafenib, RO5185426, RG7204
BRAF
Hoffmann-La Roche
Approved for melanoma patients with BRAF mutations
In July 2011, the FDA issued a new draft guidance to facilitate the development and review of companion diagnostics. The guidance, currently available for public comment, is intended to provide companies with guidance on the agency’s policy for reviewing a companion diagnostic and the corresponding drug therapy.
Relevant Links for More Information on Zelboraf Ordering
Melanoma is the leading cause of death from skin disease. The National Cancer Institute estimated that 68,130 new cases of melanoma were diagnosed in the United States during 2010; about 8,700 people died from the disease.
Zelboraf is marketed by South San Francisco based-Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. The cobas 4800 BRAF V600 Mutation Test is manufactured by Roche Molecular Systems in Pleasanton, Calif.
