They are larger than a television tower and can carry twice the weight of the Eiffel Tower. The top 10 largest and strongest cranes in the world are simply incredible. We introduce you to the ranking published by the online marketplace Machineseeker.com and go beyond your imagination.
Image source machineseeker.com
The crawler-type crane Liebherr LR 13000 exceeds the world’s highest church tower – the Ulm Cathedral (162m) – by as much as 86 metres. This makes it the world’s largest mobile crane. Inconceivable: By combining the 120 m long main mast with the 126m long luffing jib, the monstrous lattice mast system achieves an impressive 246 m.
Image source machineseeker.com
“The crane can be assembled on site from several individual parts in no time at all and is immediately ready for use”, explains Thorsten Muschler of Machineseeker.com, the world’s leading online marketplace for used stationary machinery. Unbelievable: The monster can carry up to 3,000 tons of ballast at a tare weight of just over 600 tons – more than ten large trucks. This makes it the largest crawler crane in the world.
The most powerful crane in the world is the Thialf – with a length of 200 metres and a width of 90 metres, the floating crane is as large as two football pitches in a row. In addition, the giant has room in its cabins for up to 736 people, as much as two passenger aircrafts.
Image source machineseeker.com
Incomprehensible: Due to its enormous carrying capacity, the monster can carry up to 14,200 tons of ballast. That’s the weight of an average submarine. The Dutch manufacturer HMC Heerema carries the world record for the highest load-bearing capacity.
The used machine marketplace Machineseeker.com has put together a photo gallery of these monstrous machines for you. Have fun clicking through.
Machineseeker is the world’s leading online marketplace for used stationary machines. More than 5,000 dealers currently offer more than 140,000 machines on the platform. As a global marketplace, the company is available with its domains Machineseeker and Maschinensucher in more than 60 countries. Used machines worth more than 700 million euros are inquired every month.
The US economy expanded at an annual pace of 3% in Q3 of 2017, which was stronger than expected.
The growth extended the robust activity reported in Q2, when GDP grew at an annual pace of 3.1%.
Analysts had been expecting a sharp slowdown after back-to-back hurricanes battered several states in the quarter.
However, consumer spending held steady, despite a drop in homebuilding investment.
According to the Commerce Department, together the two quarters mark the strongest six months of economic activity for the US since 2014.
Consumer spending, which increased at a hearty 3.3% rate in the second quarter, slowed to 2.4% growth – a deceleration probably caused by the hurricanes.
Construction spending also fell, but exports and business investments in equipment and intellectual property accelerated from Q2.
Economists warned that estimates of business inventories, a major factor in the GDP rise, can vary significantly quarter-to-quarter.
Excluding that category, GDP – a broad measure of goods and services made in the US – increased at an annual pace of 2.3%.
The Commerce Department cautioned that its figures did not capture all the losses caused by the storms, which caused widespread closures of factories, offices and airports in states such as Florida and Texas.
Its GDP estimates, for example, do not measure activity in US territories, such as Puerto Rico, which suffered some of the most severe damage.
The Commerce Department estimated that storm-related damage to fixed assets, such as homes and government buildings, totaled more than $131 billion.
It also said it expected the government and insurers to pay more than $100 billion in insurance claims, with foreign companies accounting for more than $17.4 billion.
Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross claimed Friday’s GDP report a sign of progress, calling it a “remarkable achievement in light of the recent hurricanes”.
President Donald Trump has made hitting annual GDP growth of 3% a goal, and pledged tax cuts and other policies intended to reach that pace or higher.
On a year-on-year basis, GDP was up 2.3%, the Commerce Department said in its report, which is an advance estimate that will be revised as more data is collected.
That pace is roughly in line with US expansion since the 2007-2009 recession.
Economists said the underlying economic strength shown in the report makes it more likely that central bankers at the Fed will raise interest rates again by the end of the year, as expected.
The price index for consumer spending, a closely-watched measure of inflation, increased at 1.3% in Q3, excluding food and energy. That remains below the Fed’s 2% target.
Spain’s government has stripped Catalonia of its autonomy and taken charge of its government.
The decision came into effect on October 28 after the Catalan parliament voted to declare independence on October 27.
An official state bulletin dismissed Catalan leaders and handed the region’s control to Spain’s Deputy PM Soraya Saenz de Santamaria.
Earlier, Spain’s interior ministry took charge of Catalonia’s police after firing senior Catalan police officials.
On October 27, PM Mariano Rajoy announced the dissolution of the regional parliament and the removal of Catalonia’s President Carles Puigdemont and called snap local elections.
Demonstrations for and against independence went on into the night.
More are expected today, with a rally “for the unity of Spain and the constitution” to be held in Madrid.
The crisis began on October 1, when Catalan leaders held an independence referendum, defying a ruling by the Constitutional Court which had declared it illegal.
According to the Catalan government, of the 43% of potential voters who took part, 90% were in favor of independence. Others boycotted the vote after the court ruling.
On October 27, the Catalan regional parliament voted to declare independence from Spain.
Soon after, the Spanish Senate granted Mariano Rajoy’s government the power to impose direct rule on Catalonia.
It did so on October 28 by publishing an official bulletin that dismissed Carles Puigdemont and all government members.
The announcement came hours after Spain’s government removed Josep Lluís Trapero Álvarez as chief of Catalonia’s autonomous Mossos police force.
Josep Lluís Trapero Álvarez was already under investigation for sedition, accused of failing to help Spain’s Guardia Civil police tackle thousands of pro-independence protesters in Barcelona during the run-up to the referendum.
Pere Soler i Campins, the Mossos director general, has also been dismissed.
Regional elections are scheduled for December 21.
Carles Puigdemont has urged supporters to “maintain the momentum” in a peaceful manner, but Spanish prosecutors say they will file charges of “rebellion” against him next week.
Separatists say the independence move means they no longer fall under Spanish jurisdiction.
However, Spain’s Constitutional Court is likely to declare it illegal, while the EU, the US, the UK, Germany and France all expressed support for Spanish unity.
According to new reports, the first charges have been filed in the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller into alleged Russia interference in the 2016 election.
However, it was not clear what the charges were and who they targeted, CNN and Reuters reported quoting unnamed sources.
According to CNN, anyone charged could be taken into custody as soon as Monday.
US intelligence agencies said earlier this year the Russian government sought to help Donald Trump win the election.
According to the document, Russia led a campaign to “denigrate” Hillary Clinton by hacking into email accounts and paying social media “trolls” to make nasty comments.
Robert Mueller’s investigation is looking into any links between Russia and the Trump campaign. Both deny there was any collusion.
The charges, approved by a federal grand jury in Washington, are sealed under orders from a federal judge, the reports added.
A spokesman for Robert Mueller has declined to comment on the reports. His team is known to have conducted extensive interviews with several current and former White House officials.
The former FBI director was appointed by the DoJ as special counsel in May shortly after President Trump fired FBI director James Comey.
On October 27, President Trump tweeted that it was now “commonly agreed” that there was no collusion between him and Russia, but said that there were links between Moscow and Hillary Clinton.
Republican lawmakers have said that a uranium deal with a Russian company in 2010, when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, was sealed in exchange for donations to Bill Clinton’s charity.
An investigation has been opened into the case. Democrats say it is an attempt to divert attention from the alleged ties between Russia and Donald Trump.
Catalonia’s regional parliament has voted to declare independence from Spain, while the Spanish parliament has approved direct rule over the region.
Catalan lawmakers easily approved the move amid an opposition boycott.
PM Mariano Rajoy had told senators direct rule was needed to return “law, democracy and stability” to Catalonia.
The crisis began on October 1, when Catalonia held a controversial referendum on independence.
The Catalan government said that of the 43% of potential voters who took part, 90% were in favor of independence. However, Spain’s Constitutional Court had ruled the vote illegal.
About 2,800 classified files on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 has been released following President Donald Trump’s approval.
The president said the public deserved to be “fully informed” about the event, which has been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories.
However, some documents have been withheld at the request of government agencies.
One memo revealed that the FBI had warned police of a death threat against the assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.
FBI director J. Edgar Hoover wrote: “We at once notified the chief of police and he assured us Oswald would be given sufficient protection.”
Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine and self-proclaimed Marxist, was shot dead in the basement of the Dallas Police department two days after JFK was killed.
As the documents are pored over and analyzed, other findings include a CIA memo that suggests Lee Harvey Oswald spoke with a KGB officer at the Russian embassy in Mexico City. The memo says the KGB officer Lee Harvey Oswald spoke with worked for a department “responsible for sabotage and assassination”.
Another memo showed that Soviet officials feared an “irresponsible general” would launch a missile at the USSR in the wake of JFK’s death.
One memo tells how a British regional newspaper, the Cambridge News, received an anonymous call about “some big news” in the US, hours before the assassination.
A copy of the memo was released by the National Archives in July, but had gone unreported.
JFK was shot dead on November 22, 1963 as he travelled through Dallas in an open-topped limousine.
The Warren Commission’s report into the shooting, published in September 1964, said that Lee Harvey Oswald had fired the fatal shots from the Texas School Book Depository building.
There was “no evidence that either Lee Harvey Oswald or Jack Ruby was part of any conspiracy, domestic or foreign”, the commission said.
A 1992 law passed by Congress required all records related to the assassination – around five million pages – to be publicly disclosed in full within 25 years.
The deadline was October 26.
More than 90% of the files were already in the public domain.
Allegations of a government cover-up are unlikely to be assuaged by reports that the CIA, FBI, Department of State and other agencies lobbied at the last minute to keep certain documents under wraps.
In a memo directing heads of executive departments to release the files, President Trump said the American public deserves to be “fully informed about all aspects of this pivotal event”.
“Therefore, I am ordering today that the veil finally be lifted,” he wrote.
Some redacted documents are undergoing a further six-month review, but it is possible those records could stay secret after the deadline on April 26, 2018.
According to White House officials, President Trump was reluctant to agree to agency requests to hold the remaining documents.
“I have no choice – today – but to accept those redactions rather than allow potentially irreversible harm to our Nation’s security,” the president added in his memo.
In a rare move, North Korea has announced it will release a South Korean fishing boat it seized six days ago for “illegally” sailing into its waters, state media report.
The fishing vessel and its crew will be released “at the military boundary in the East Sea”, North Korean state news agency KCNA reported.
The decision was made after the crew apologized for the “offence”, it added.
North Korea’s decision comes at a time of heightened tension in the region with both sides running a series of military exercises.
It said the release of the fishing vessel on October 27 follows an admission of wrongdoing from those on board, who it said had “repeatedly asked for leniency”.
An investigation had “proved” that the fishermen had entered North Korean waters on October 21.
A South Korean government spokesman said it was a “relief” that the crew would be returned.
It is not uncommon for fishing boats from both sides to drift into waters not under their country’s control.
In August 2010, a South Korean fishing boat went missing in the Sea of Japan and was temporarily detained by North Korea.
North Korea said it was seized because it was poaching in its exclusive economic zone.
The latest incident comes amid ongoing military exercises in the region as North Korea seeks to realize its nuclear ambitions and the South deploys a US-backed missile defense system.
President Donald Trump has declared the nationwide opioid crisis a public health emergency.
Calling the epidemic “a national shame”, President Trump announced a plan to target the abuse of opioids, which kill more than 140 Americans each day.
Donald Trump has previously promised to declare a national emergency, which would have triggered federal funding to help states combat the drug scourge.
The move instead redirects grant money to be used in dealing with the crisis.
On October 26, President Trump said at the White House: “More people are dying from drug overdoses today than from gun homicides and motor vehicles combined.
“These overdoses are driven by a massive increase in addiction to prescription painkillers, heroin and other opioids.”
The president added: “The United States is by far the largest consumer of these drugs using more opioid pills per person than any other country by far in the world.”
According to senior White House officials, Donald Trump is signing a presidential memorandum directing his acting health secretary to declare a nationwide public health emergency and ordering all federal agencies to take measures to reduce the number of opioid deaths.
The order will also ease some regulations to allow states more latitude in how they use federal funds to tackle the problem.
However, the White House plans to fund the effort through the Public Health Emergency Fund, which reportedly only contains $57,000.
The Trump administration will then work with Congress to approve additional funding in a year-end spending package, senior officials said.
Proponents suggest President Trump’s announcement is a critical step in raising awareness about the nationwide epidemic, while some critics argue the move does not go far enough.
Ex-President George H.W. Bush has issued a second apology to “anyone he has offended” after a second allegation of assault emerged.
Jordana Grolnick told website Deadspin George Bush Sr. groped her in 2016 after announcing his favorite magician was “David Cop-a-Feel”.
Another actress, Heather Lind, had already come forward to say George Bush Sr. had “touched me from behind”.
The former president’s spokesman said it was supposed to put people “at ease”.
In a statement supplied to media outlets, the spokesman said: “At age 93, President Bush has been confined to a wheelchair for roughly five years, so his arm falls on the lower waist of people with whom he takes pictures.
“To try to put people at ease, the president routinely tells the same joke — and on occasion, he has patted women’s rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner.
“Some have seen it as innocent; others clearly view it as inappropriate. To anyone he has offended, President Bush apologizes most sincerely.”
Like Heather Lind, Jordana Grolnick shared a photo of the moment the alleged assault took place on social media platform Instagram.
The picture, taken during the interval of a play Jordana Grolnick was performing in, appears to show George Bush’s hand on her bottom.
The actress told Deadspin: “He reached his right hand around to my behind, and as we smiled for the photo he asked the group, <<Do you want to know who my favorite magician is?>>
“As I felt his hand dig into my flesh, he said, <<David Cop-a-Feel!>>”
Heather Lind made a similar allegation against George H.W. Bush, who served one term as president starting in 1989, saying he had “touched me from behind from his wheelchair” and told a “dirty joke” while posing for a photo in an Instagram post which has since been deleted.
The incident allegedly took place during an event in 2014 for the TV show Turn: Washington’s Spies, in which Heather Lind is one of the main cast members.
Heather Lind finished her post with the hashtag #metoo, which has seen widespread use by victims of assault to share their experiences in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein Hollywood scandal.
In his initial apology, George Bush’s spokesman said the wheelchair-bound former president “most sincerely apologizes if his attempt at humor offended Ms Lind”.
George H.W. Bush, the father of former President George W. Bush, who served two terms in the office between 2001 and 2009, suffers from a form of Parkinson’s disease.
Natassia Malthe has accused Harvey Weinstein of raping her in a London hotel room after the 2008 BAFTA awards ceremony.
The Norwegian actress and model told a press conference in New York she met Harvey Weinstein at an after party and felt pressured into telling him she was staying at the Sanderson Hotel.
Natassia Malthe alleges Harvey Weinstein banged on her door, she let him in and he raped her.
The movie mogul has previously issued a statement saying he denies all allegations of non-consensual contacts.
Natassia Malthe, who has appeared in movies including This Means War alongside Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy and Chris Pine, said she was asleep when she was awoken by Harvey Weinstein’s “repeated pounding” on the door.
The actress said she heard someone yelling: “Open the door Natassia Malthe, it’s Harvey Weinstein.”
She said she received a script the next day and then returned to Los Angeles. Natassia Malthe said she was given the impression she had landed a role in the movie Nine, a film produced by Harvey Weinstein that would star Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman and Dame Judi Dench.
Natassia Malthe said Harvey Weinstein later asked her to meet him at the Beverly Hills Peninsula Hotel, telling her an assistant would be present.
However, the actress said when she got there, he instead asked her to join him and another woman.
She says she refused and when she later called him to turn down a role in one of his movies, he became angry and verbally abusive.
Natassia Malthe’s lawyer, Gloria Allred, said the Norwegian actress is “considering” whether to make a report to police over the allegation.
The news comes the day after a former production assistant, Mimi Haleyi, also accused Harvey Weinstein of raping her in 2006.
Another actress and model, Dominique Huett, also said she was raped by Harvey Weinstein. She has now has become the first woman to sue The Weinstein Company, alleging a single count of negligence.
Dozens of women have made accusations against Harvey Weinstein this month, including rape and assault.
On October 26, the polls opened at 06:00 with tens of thousands of police and other security staff deployed to protect voters and polling stations.
International observers have scaled down their missions for security reasons.
According to unconfirmed reports, police have fired live rounds into the air to disperse opposition supporters in the western city of Kisumu and the Kibera area of Nairobi. Tear gas has also been used.
After casting his vote in the town of Gatundu, Uhuru Kenyatta urged people to cast their ballots so the country could move on.
He said: “We’re tired as a country of electioneering. It’s time we moved forward.”
Uhuru Kenyatta also said most of Kenya was “calm and peaceful”.
Thailand has begun the ceremony for the royal cremation for late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died one year ago.
Hundreds of thousands of Thais have lined the streets of Bangkok to pay their last respects to the late king.
A symbolic funeral urn was taken by chariot to the cremation site, in a procession marked by drums, flute music and an artillery salute, as the main part of a five-day funeral ceremony.
Many buildings are draped in yellow marigolds, while crowds of mourners are dressed in black as a mark of respect.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej died in October 2016 at the age of 88.
The funeral officially started on October 25 with a merit-making ceremony, a Buddhist rite, in the Grand Palace.
On October 26, a series of Buddhist rites began in the royal palace ahead of the procession.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej will be cremated later in a royal pyre to be lit by his son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
The chariot carrying the urn in the second part of the funeral procession has been used since the late 18th Century. Weighing just under 14 tonnes, it was pulled by more than 200 soldiers.
The urn was then carried for several rounds around the cremation site, for the last leg of the procession.
The elaborate ceremony is estimated to have drawn as many as 250,000 people from across Thailand.
Many of the mourners arrived in Bangkok days ago, and waited in the streets overnight for the procession, clutching portraits of King Bhumibol.
Bloodhound SSC, the British car designed to go 1,000mph, will make its first public runs in the UK.
The car is conducting initial “slow-speed” trials and should get up to about 200mph on the runway at Newquay Airport.
Driven by RAF Wing Commander Andy Green, the car aims to break the world land speed record in 2019.
This will take place on a special track that has been prepared on a dried-out lakebed in Northern Cape, South Africa.
It is exactly 20 years since the RAF man drove the jet-powered Thrust SSC vehicle through the sound barrier in the American Nevada desert to register a speed of 763mph.
Bloodhound benefits from two decades of technological improvement and will have the assistance not only of a state-of-the-art Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine but the thrust of a rocket motor.
It seeks in the first instance to push the existing record above 800mph, but then ultimately to reach a speed that no-one is ever again likely to want to try to match.
The sleek, arrow-shaped car has taken some 9 years to develop and still awaits its Norwegian rocket motor.
The shortness of Newquay’s runway (1.7 miles) severely limits the speed Bloodhound can attain before it needs to brake and safely stop. However, the thousands of ticketed spectators should still get a good sense of the car’s potential.
Along with the absence of the rocket motor, the other big difference from the race set-up of Bloodhound is the wheels. These will be thin, rubber-shod discs; the tires are actually refurbished Dunlops from 1960s-era English Electric Lightning jet fighters.
Republicans have announced parallel Congress investigations into a uranium deal under President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s emails.
One committee will investigate how the Obama administration approved a 2010 acquisition that gave Russia control of 20% of the US uranium supply.
Two other panels will scrutinize the FBI decision not to charge former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her private email server.
Democrats pilloried the investigations as “a massive diversion”.
Both issues to be placed under the spotlight by the committees are longstanding political grievances of President Donald Trump.
Donald Trump’s campaign aides are currently the subject of congressional investigations into whether they colluded with alleged Russia attempts to sway last year’s presidential election.
On October 24, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte and House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy announced investigations into the previous administration.
They said there were “outstanding questions” about the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails.
Bob Goodlatte and Trey Gowdy said they wished to know why former FBI director James Comey chose to divulge the inquiry into Hillary Clinton, but not the one about Trump aides and Russia.
Meanwhile, Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, announced his panel’s investigation into the sale of a Canadian mining company that had mines in the American West.
Uranium One – which owned a fifth of US uranium supplies – was acquired seven years ago by Russian state-owned company Rosatom.
President Donad Trump tweeted on October 19: “Uranium deal to Russia, with Clinton help and Obama Administration knowledge, is the biggest story that Fake Media doesn’t want to follow!”
The State Department, under Hillary Clinton, helped approve the deal.
Last week, The Hill reported that at the time of the sale the FBI was investigating alleged attempts by Russia to gain influence in the US nuclear industry through bribery and extortion.
The New York Times and The Hill have reported that Russian nuclear officials and Uranium One’s chairman donated millions of dollars to the Clinton charitable foundation.
Devin Nunes told reporters at Capitol Hill on October 24: “One of the things we are concerned about is whether or not there was an FBI investigation, was there a DOJ investigation and if so, why was Congress not informed of this matter.”
However, Democratic congressmen accused Republicans of creating a distraction.
Elijah Cummings and John Conyers in a statement on October 24: “This new investigation is a massive diversion to distract from the lack of Republican oversight of the Trump administration and the national security threat that Russia poses.”
In an interview with C-SPAN on October 23, Hillary Clinton said that the Uranium One allegations are “baloney”.
Henrique Capriles, one of Venezuela’s opposition leading members, has announced he was leaving the coalition.
The former presidential candidate said the move was in protest at the decision by four newly elected opposition governors to pledge allegiance to the constituent assembly.
The Roundtable for Democracy (MUD) regards the constituent assembly as illegitimate.
The MUD governors were elected in regional polls this month in which the government won 18 out of 23 states.
The outcome of the October 15 elections, which the MUD said were fraudulent – and President Nicolas Maduro’s insistence that all new governors bow to the constituent assembly – has caused a rift among members of the opposition coalition.
On October 24, Henrique Capriles said that he “would not be part” of the opposition MUD “because it is not unity as a concept or a vision”.
“It is just some people that grab the bones that are thrown to them,” he said.
Five MUD governors who won seats opted to boycott a previous event in which 18 newly elected socialist governors were sworn in to the constituent assembly.
However, four of them – the governors for Táchira, Mérida, Nuevo Esparta and Anzoátegui – later changed their stance and pledged allegiance, defying their coalition’s official position.
President Maduro, who has described the election result as a victory, said governors who refused to be sworn in by the constituent assembly would not be allowed to take up office.
The MUD have published what they say is evidence of fraud in the state of Bolívar, where the government candidate was declared the winner after a two-day delay.
Harvey Weinstein’s former assistant Zelda Perkins says she was paid £125,000 ($165,200) to keep quiet after accusing the movie mogul of harassment.
She told the Financial Times she signed a non-disclosure agreement in 1998 after making the accusations.
Zelda Perkins said Harvey Weinstein asked her to give him massages and tried to pull her into bed, but she “was made to feel ashamed for disclosing his behavior”.
Harvey Weinstein, 65, has denied any allegations of non-consensual contacts.
Zelda Perkins said she reported her allegations after a female colleague told her she had also been harassed by the film producer.
The two women subsequently sought damages and were awarded a sum of £250,000 ($330,500), split equally, but also signed a non-disclosure agreement, prohibiting them from discussing the allegations.
By breaking the agreement, Zelda Perkins could be liable to repay the settlement, and potentially pay damages and other legal fees stipulated in the contract.
However, Zelda Perkins told the Financial Times: “I want to publicly break my non-disclosure agreement.
“Unless somebody does this there won’t be a debate about how egregious these agreements are and the amount of duress that victims are put under.”
Zelda Perkins claims that Harvey Weinstein would ask her to massage him while he was in his underwear, when they were alone in hotel rooms.
Her testimony is similar to that of a number of Hollywood actresses – Lupita Nyong’o and Gwyneth Paltrow both claimed Harvey Weinstein suggested a massage in his bedroom and hotel room respectively.
Zelda Perkins added that she often had to wake him up in the morning and “he would try to pull me into bed”.
Harvey Weinstein has apologized for the way he has “behaved with colleagues in the past” and acknowledged that his actions have “caused a lot of pain”.
However, the film producer has said many of the accusations against him are “patently false”, and in a statement to the FT, said he had “confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances”.
Zelda Perkins is one of scores of accusers who have come forward after a New York Times investigation into Harvey Weinstein’s conduct.
Rose McGowan claimed that she reached a $100,000 settlement with Harvey Weinstein in 1997 after an alleged incident in a hotel room at the Sundance Film Festival.
The New York Times said a legal document confirming the settlement stipulated it was “not to be construed as an admission”, but intended to “avoid litigation and buy peace”.
Allegations against Harvey Weinstein are subject to criminal investigations in London, Los Angeles and New York.
Weinstein Company is also under civil rights investigation in New York.
America has seen its fair share of natural and man-made disasters in 2017. From a historic hurricane season, to terrible mass shootings, the headlines have been dominated by disasters on a scale we don’t see very often. Most recently, wildfires in Northern California have eviscerated entire communities in the span of a few hours.
It is worth asking ourselves if we know what to do during a catastrophe. There are some common sense and practical steps you can take to ensure your safety even in the worst of disasters.
Know What You Are Up Against
The first part of developing your safety plan, is to be informed about the kind of disasters you are threatened by. For example, if you live in California, you are more likely to experience an earthquake, flash flood, or wildfire. The chances of a tornado or hurricane are much smaller, almost non-existent. On the other hand, people in the Midwest do have to take precautions against tornados and other major storms. However, they are less likely to experience a wildfire or earthquake. This goes for any region. Finding out what specific threats affect the area you live will let you then move forward and develop a sensible plan to combat them.
Image source Wikimedia
Plan Accordingly
Once you know what you are up against you can start to lay out your disaster plan. Whether you are single or have a family, putting a plan together can increase your chance of surviving an emergency event. Simple things like knowing where your exits and safe places are, what essentials you plan on bringing with you, and knowing who or what you need to worry about, are all part of a disaster plan.
The idea is when a disaster happens, you aren’t caught with your shorts down. Run through your plan mentally or in real life as practice for when you will need it. Make sure you have an “Out-of-Town” contact to confirm your well-being with. If you have a family, designate a spot where you will all meet in the event of an emergency. That way, should you be separated at the time of the emergency, everyone will still know where to go. If you know a disaster is coming (like a hurricane) you can stock up on gas, food, and water, as well as check your homes safety readiness.
Again different regions have specific risks you will need to plan for. Having insurance related to those specific risks can help mitigate the costs that come with natural disasters. Earthquake, fire, flood, and tornado insurance are all available depending on where you live. It would also be wise to keep a lawyer on hand in case there is legal issues stemming from a disaster. You can’t guarantee you will be home when a disaster strikes. Businesses, public areas, and your place of employment can all be culpable for not taking proper precautions against emergency events. A lawyer can help you file a wrongful death claim, a personal injury claim, a bad faith insurance claim, and more.
Build and Maintain a Disaster Kit
Not every disaster will afford you the time to shop and look around for the essentials you will bring with you. In fact, most disasters like earthquakes, floods and fires can leave a person with little, to no time to evacuate. Having a disaster kit filled with essential items, that is both easy to locate and carry, can provide you with the bare necessities to help you get by. A basic kit could include a few days’ supply of water and non-perishable food, a flashlight with batteries, a first aid kit, sanitation and hygiene items, matches, extra clothes, cash, photocopies of your ID, and any special medications or items specific to you or your family. Keep your Disaster Kit in an easy to reach and convenient location. You don’t want to be stuck looking for it when the evacuation orders come through.
Many people also use their cars as a mode of transportation and safety in a disaster. Having maps, extra gas, spare batteries, spare tires, a tire repair kit, and booster cables will keep your car prepared for a disaster.
Again, depending on the region you live in you might have to tweak your Disaster Kit to fit your needs. For example, people living in an area vulnerable to cold weather might want to include extra blankets, a heavy jacket, or anti-freeze to their disaster kits.
Of course none of this means anything, or will be of any use if you don’t maintain your Disaster Kit. It is hard to predict exactly when a disaster or emergency will happen. Sometimes there will be years in between them. Consistently checking and testing the readiness of your Disaster Kit will ensure that no matter when the next emergency event occurs, you will be prepared.
Act Fast
When the time comes, if you have prepared accordingly, you should have a clear plan in place to help you get by. Move quickly to secure what you need and should the order to evacuate come through, listen to it. As long as you have prepared and planned ahead of time you should be able to respond to any disaster with a clear head.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, the two women charged with killing Kim Jong-nam, are revisiting the crime scene in Malaysia.
They were at Kuala Lumpur airport on October 24.
Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong are accused of rubbing the highly toxic VX nerve agent on the face of the half-brother of North Korea’s leader as he waited for a flight.
The two women have pleaded not guilty to murder, saying it was a TV prank and they were tricked by North Korean agents.
North Korea has denied any involvement in the February 13 killing, but four men – believed to be four North Koreans who fled Malaysia on the day of murder – have also been charged in the case.
Kuala Lumpur International Airport was packed with journalists on October 24 as the women arrived, escorted by dozens of security officers.
Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong wore bullet proof vests, and were seen in wheelchairs at one point.
According to local media, they were accompanied by their lawyers and the judge presiding over the trial.
Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong are expected to visit the check in hall where Kim Jong-nam appeared to have been attacked, and the medical center where he sought assistance.
If found guilty, Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong face the death penalty. Their defense lawyers are likely to argue that the real culprits are the North Korean agents, who left Malaysia.
Kim Jong-nam, who was in his mid-40s, was the estranged older half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
At the time of his death, Kim Jong-nam was believed to have been living in self-imposed exile in Macau and was thought to have had some links to China.
New York prosecutors are investigating the Weinstein Company following allegations of assault made against its co-founder, Harvey Weinstein.
The civil rights inquiry seeks to identify employees who have been subject to harassment.
According to prosecutors, company documents will be seized as part of the investigation. These include documents relating to complaints about harassment and how such complaints were handled.
The Weinstein Company, which is based in New York, has come under intense pressure over the scandal and fired Harvey Weinstein from its board earlier this month.
More than two dozen women, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rose McGowan, have made a number of accusations against the film producer.
Harvey Weinstein, whose films have received more than 300 Oscar nominations, has “unequivocally denied” any allegations of non-consensual sex.
Meanwhile, LAPD announced its first investigation involving Harvey Weinstein in California.
Elsewhere, in London, police say Harvey Weinstein is accused of assaulting three women in separate incidents in the late 1980s, 1992, 2010, 2011 and 2015.
Officers are looking into claims they were attacked in Westminster, Camden and west London.
No arrests have been made over any of the allegations, police say.
Meanwhile, Matt Damon said he became aware of Harvey Weinstein’s alleged harassment of Gwyneth Paltrow in 1999.
In an interview with ABC News, the actor said: “I knew the story about Gwyneth [Paltrow] from Ben [Affleck], because he was with her after Brad [Pitt], so I knew that story.”
In the same interview George Clooney, whose big-screen break was a Weinstein film, said it is “beyond infuriating” that “predator” Harvey Weinstein was “out silencing women”.
On October 23, at a film premiere in Los Angeles, George Clooney spoke about the need to believe women who speak out about assault.
“Maybe this is the watershed moment, where we believe women, where they feel safe that they can talk about what they’re experiencing,” he said.
George Clooney and Matt Damon join the list of Hollywood stars who have spoken out to condemn Harvey Weinstein.
In an 8-hour workday, the average office worker is only productive for about 3 hours, according to a recent study. Yet companies pay for every second they spend at their desks. It is thus important for businesses to bring out the full potential of their employees.
Here are five productivity tips that can help businesses do just that.
Measure Performance Regularly
Businesses should measure the performance of their employees every now and then. Doing so allows them to know exactly how the employees are performing and whether they need to improve.
Measuring performance does not necessarily mean going through the quarterly performance reviews of each employee. Simple things like punctuality, timely completion of projects, personal habits, attitude, personal presentation, client feedback, and random checks can tell a lot about the performance of an employee.
Set Goals and Objectives
When setting the performance standards for employees and measuring them, managers should know the current state of their business and set rules and expectations in advance.
For instance, if an employee spends three hours on office applications and emails and two hours on personal sites, his actions may be considered not productive. If he spends one hour on personal sites and the rest on office work, he may be considered fairly productive. Above all, businesses should have regular check-ins to see if everyone is on track regarding the goals set.
Be Personal
Businesses should know their employees better. This is very important because employees often struggle with personal problems such as drug abuse, domestic violence, or financial crises. Such problems can take a toll on their productivity at work, making the business to suffer in the process. Earlier intervention can save the employee and increase the overall productivity of the business.
For instance, if an employee is severely underperforming, business managers can hold drug tests like marijuana testing to check if their performance has been affected by particular substances. After that, the proper course of action can be determined from there.
Do Not Impose So Many Internet Restrictions
Businesses need to relax on internet restrictions, especially for social media platforms. There are a lot potential that might remain unexploited if the employees are unable to access these sites and interact with prospective customers. Businesses should allow employees to market freely on social media and keep up-to-date with the latest moves from the competitors.
Provide Constructive Feedback
Business managers should provide feedback in a constructive way on a regular basis. The feedback should be encouraging, not disheartening. An encouraging feedback does not mean there must be a positive message. The message can be negative, but the communication should be done in a carefully calculated and thoughtful manner. It shouldn’t make the employee to feel bad about himself, but rather it should give him the motivation and desire to do better next time.
Employee productivity forms the foundation on which a company achieves success and prosperity. Companies should ensure they provide constructive feedback, allow social media access, and measure performance regularly in order to keep their employees productive at work.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s dog Nemo has been filmed while urinating on a fireplace at the Elysée palace.
The video shows the black Labrador-Griffon cross relieving himself in the background as President Macron talks with three junior members of his government.
“I wondered what that noise was,” says the junior minister for ecology, Brune Poirson, who had previously been talking, as they all laugh.
Emmanuel Macron then says that Nemo has done something “quite exceptional”.
The incident was captured by French TV station TF1, which was recording the discussion.
Junior minister for planning Julien Denormandie asks if this is something that “happens often”.
Emmanuel Macron responds: “You’ve triggered completely unusual behavior in my dog.”
Nemo appeared in Emmanuel Macron’s entourage in August, continuing a tradition of French presidents having a “first dog”.
Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte reportedly bought him from an animal rescue centre for €250.
It is not the first time a French first dog has caused trouble for its master. According to French investigative website Mediapart, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s dogs damaged valuable furniture in the Elysée palace that cost thousands of euros to restore.
According to the Guardian, Jacques Chirac’s miniature white Maltese, Sumo, became unhappy at having to leave the Elysée with its spacious garden and began attacking the former president.
Japan voters head to the polls after PM Shinzo Abe called a snap election in the face of the rising threat from North Korea.
Shinzo Abe called the election amid rebounding approval ratings after a record low over the summer and with the opposition largely in disarray.
The prime minister is predicted to win a majority, after the opposition fell apart.
A challenge from Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike appears to be fizzling out.
Shinzo Abe is hoping his party will win a two-thirds majority, allowing him to make constitutional changes. In particular, he wants to change Japan’s self-defense force into a national army for the first time since World War II.
What impact, if any, Typhoon Lan will have on turnout remains to be seen. The category 4 storm brought strong winds and heavy rain to the south of the country, causing flights to be canceled and rail services to be disrupted.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, Typhoon Lan is expected to blow into the Tokyo area early on October 23.
PM Shinzo Abe announced the election on September 25, saying he needed a fresh mandate in order to deal with the “national crises” facing Japan.
The crises include North Korea, which has threatened to “sink” Japan into the sea. North Korea has also fired two missiles over Hokkaido, an island to the north.
Other areas up for debate in the election are the post-Fukushima nuclear policy and the issue of tax.
Czech Republic’s second-richest man, Andrej Babis, and his party have won the country’s general election.
The 63-year-old populist billionaire campaigned on an anti-establishment and Eurosceptic platform.
With all votes counted, Andrej Babis’ centrist movement ANO (Yes) collected a share of almost 30% – nearly three times that of its closest rival.
The center-right Civic Democrats and the Pirates Party came second and third with more than 10% each.
According to the AFP, the Pirates will make their debut in parliament with 22 seats.
Turnout was almost 61%.
Andrej Babis is now set to become prime minister after coalition negotiations. However, he told Reuters that while he had “invited everyone for talks”, he was not prepared to “cooperate” with either the far-right, anti-EU Freedom and Direct Democracy party or the Communist Party.
He made his estimated $4 billion fortune in chemicals, food and media – but he has also faced numerous scandals including a fraud indictment and accusations he was a communist-era police agent.
Andrej Babis says he would not bring the Czech Republic in to the eurozone but he wants the country to stay in the EU, telling Reuters he would propose changes to the European Council on issues like food quality and a “solution to migration”.
The ANO’s current coalition partner, the ruling center-left Social Democrats (CSSD), saw its share of the vote tumble to become the sixth-largest party, and has talked down the possibility of another coalition.
The Civic Democrats have also ruled themselves out of governing alongside Andrej Babis.
The Czech Republic’s outgoing leader, Social Democrat Bohuslav Sobotka, headed a coalition formed with Andrej Babis’s party after a 2013 snap election.
However, in May, Bohuslav Sobotka submitted his government’s resignation because of a disagreement with Andrej Babis, who was serving as finance minister at the time.
He was unhappy about alleged unexplained business dealings involving Andrej Babis.
On seeing the rise of the SPD Bohuslav Sobotka was shocked, saying: “How is it possible that in the Czech Republic, in a situation when the country is doing very well, when we are a stable, safe country, we have achieved many things in the social sphere in the past four years, people are increasingly in favor of extreme views?”
The Social Democrats’ tally of 7.3% was their worst result since the Czech Republic split from Slovakia in 1993.
After the vote, Andrej Babis thanked his voters and said he had not expected the result after “lies” in a “massive, massive disinformation campaign against us”.
Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter have gathered for a concert in aid of victims of the hurricanes which ravaged the US this year.
The five living former presidents appeared in Texas on October 21.
The three Democrats and two Republicans came together behind The One America Appeal, set up to help those caught up in the devastating trails of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.
The One America Appeal has raised $31 million so far.
The former presidents launched the appeal in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, which caused billions in damage after it made landfall in Texas in August.
However, it has since been expanded to include the communities in Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands which were hit by the storms which followed.
Barack Obama explained to concertgoers in a pre-recorded message: “As former presidents, we wanted to help our fellow Americans begin to recover.”
George W. Bush added: “People are hurting down here but as one Texan put it, we’ve got more love in Texas than water.”
All five presidents appeared on stage for the anthem, before taking their seats to watch acts including Lee Greenwood, who opened with Proud to be an American, and Lady Gaga.
They were not joined by sitting President Donald Trump, who sent a message ahead of the show praising their “wonderful” work and expressing his “deep gratitude”.
Both Barack Obama and George W. Bush have made speeches in the last week which have been seen as veiled criticism of Donald Trump’s tenure in the White House.
