The cause of death of George Michael is still unclear as a post-mortem examination was “inconclusive”, British police have said.
George Michael died at the age of 53 on Christmas Day at his home in London.
More tests will now be carried out to determine what led to the superstar’s death, Thames Valley Police said in a statement. The results of these tests are unlikely to be known for several weeks.
George Michael’s death is still being treated as unexplained but not suspicious.
The post-mortem examination took place on December 29.
Image source Wikimedia
The ambulance was called to George Michael’s property at 13:42 GMT on Christmas Day and the singer was confirmed dead at the scene. Thames Valley Police also attended.
George Michael’s partner Fadi Fawaz said he had found the singer lying “peacefully in bed”.
Fadi Fawaz told The Daily Telegraph: “I went round there to wake him up and he was just gone. We don’t know what happened yet.”
George Michael’s manager, Michael Lippman, said the singer had died of heart failure.
Fans have been lighting candles and leaving handwritten cards outside his home in Highgate, north London.
George Michael, who was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in north London, sold more than 100 million albums throughout a career spanning almost four decades.
President Vladimir Putin has ruled out the eviction of US envoys after the United States expelled 35 Russian diplomats amid a row over hacking.
Vladimir Putin said Russia would not “stoop” to the level of “irresponsible diplomacy” but would work to restore ties with the US under President-elect Donald Trump.
Russia’s foreign ministry had formally asked President Putin to expel 35 US envoys.
The country denies involvement in hacking related to the US election, calling US sanctions “ungrounded”.
Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev accused the outgoing US administration of President Obama of ending in “anti-Russian death throes”.
President Obama, who will be replaced by Donald Trump on January 20, had vowed action against Russia amid US accusations that it directed cyber-attacks on the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Image NBC News
Emails stolen from her campaign manager and from the servers of the DNC – some containing embarrassing information for Democrats – were released during the election campaign.
In a statement on the Kremlin website, President Vladimir Putin said: “We won’t be expelling anyone.
“We won’t be banning their families and children from the places where they usually spend the New Year holidays. Furthermore, I invite all children of American diplomats accredited in Russia to the New Year and Christmas Tree in the Kremlin.”
Vladimir Putin wished Barack Obama and his family a happy New Year, as well as Donald Trump and “the whole American people”.
In a message on the presidential website, Vladimir Putin said that, with the accession of Donald Trump, “the two states, acting in a constructive and pragmatic manner, can take real steps for restoration of mechanisms for bilateral co-operation”.
Donald Trump has dismissed the hacking claims as “ridiculous” and said Americans should “get on with our lives” when asked previously about the possibility of sanctions.
However, the president-elect said on December 29 he would meet US intelligence chiefs next week to be “updated on the facts of this situation”.
Russia’s foreign ministry had reportedly suggested expelling 31 US diplomats from Moscow and four from St Petersburg.
It also suggested banning US diplomats from their dachas (holiday homes) in Serebryany Bor near Moscow and a warehouse on Moscow’s Dorozhnaya Street.
According to Russian media, the Russians facing expulsion from the embassy in Washington are struggling to buy plane tickets because flights are full ahead of the New Year holiday.
They will be forced to travel to New York, where their chances of finding plane seats are better, an “informed source” told Interfax news agency.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has denied a report by CNN that Moscow is shutting down a school attended by diplomats’ children.
Maria Zakharova said it was a “lie” that the Anglo-American School faced closure as retaliation.
Brazilian police have found a body inside a burnt-out car that had been rented by the Greek ambassador to Brazil, Kyriakos Amiridis.
The car was discovered near Rio de Janeiro.
Kyriakos Amiridis, 59, went missing three days ago after travelling to Rio de Janeiro from Brasilia for the traditional New Year celebrations on Copacabana beach.
The Greek ambassador was last seen on December 26 in the city of Nova Iguacu on the outskirts of Rio, where the car was found.
Forensic experts are carrying out tests to establish the body’s identity.
Image source India.com
Kyriakos Amiridis’s car was discovered under a flyover on one of the main access roads to Rio.
The ambassador had phoned his wife from a flat in Nova Iguacu on December 26 saying he was about to go out. He has not been heard from since.
Police say it is unlikely that Kyriakos Amiridis was kidnapped, as no ransom has been sought.
Rio de Janeiro has a high crime rate and violent incidents are not unusual, especially in the busy season between Christmas and New Year, when hundreds of thousands of tourists travel to the city.
If you are preparing to give a sermon in church, it is likely that you are quite nervous. Plunging into the proverbial biblical waters is a huge responsibility and one not to be taken lightly. You will have probably watched ministers give sermons in an Orange County church and thought they made it look really is. But it isn’t a walk in the park, although you can practice to become really good at it. Let’s take a look at three key things to help you prepare.
Position and Preframe
You need to know what your congregation looks for in a sermon. You want to make sure that you are talking about something that they will find interesting and that makes them enthusiastic and ready to hear more. There are always people who are in church because someone else told them to go, which means they won’t be happy about being there, but your role is to make sure that you know how to grip the attention of those who do want to be there and, with a bit of luck, make their enthusiasm contagious to those who would have rather spent their Sunday morning in bed or watching a football match.
Be Disciplined
They say that proper preparation prevents poor performance, also known as the 5 P’s, and they are very much true. You may be a natural speaker, but you still have to prepare yourself. Some of history’s greatest speakers, like Dr. King, Malcolm X, Barack Obama, and so on, are all excellent speakers. But they are also prepared. They know what they want to talk about, they have written notes, they have thought about the overall message they want to convey. Key is also to keep things as short as possible, which you can’t do if you don’t know where your sermon is going.
Show You Are Confident
Just like dogs can smell fear, and cats instinctively go to the person with the allergies, your congregation will be able to tell if you’re nervous. You may think that you will come across as endearing, which may be true to a degree, but it is not the feeling you want to go for. You don’t want to be a cute, helpless person who they are there to encourage. You are supposed to be a leader and mentor, someone who inspires others to do great things. Even if you don’t feel confident, you have to pretend that you are and make it the acting performance of a lifetime as well.
Really good church sermons always look super easy, yet they are hugely inspirational. However, the only reason why they look so easy is because the person who is delivering the sermon knows their stuff. They know what they are talking about, which verses they want to focus on, what the personality of their congregation is, and more. They make people hang on their every word, because they say things in a way that people want to listen to.
The world of music business is nothing like any other kind. Once you start to understand that, for instance by completing a music business degree, a world of possibilities will open up to you, particularly in terms of how you can market your own music. You need to know about the marketing that is involved with this line of work if you are to be successful. It doesn’t matter whether you want to be a performing artist, a talent manager, own a record shop, or anything else either, you must learn to understand the business element.
Photo Source: hellostage.com
If You Build it, They Will Not Come
If you think that if you do something good, people will automatically come, you are in for a shock. Even if you had an amazing gig in a pub, it doesn’t mean those people who loved you will come again. You need to remind them about you all the time. This means you also have to work at getting to know your fans, or your customers for that matter.
Sharing Is Caring
One thing everybody loves is getting things for free. And that is something that people will remember you for as well. Plus, you can use it to your advantage. Let’s say you want to open a record label. You could give everybody a single of a new up and coming artist, in return for their email address. As soon as you have their email address, you can keep reminding them of your existence, which means you have an in already. However, even a free gift only lasts for so long. So make sure you give something else away again after a while, perhaps in return for something like a Facebook share.
You may think that these types of things have very little to do with music, but that would mean you are not looking at the bigger picture. Music is about a lot more than standing on a stage and producing sounds. Because of the development of the internet and other new digital technology, people with a great understanding of this are in such high demand. Stars come and go, and anyone who is loved today could be hated tomorrow. But it is the people behind the scenes, the ones who understand the business element, who will always be in high demand.
When you study music business, you will put yourself miles ahead of those who hope to enter this industry through chance or luck. On top of that, you will actually build on transferable skills. While certain elements of the business of music are completely unique, other elements are applicable to any type of business. Should there be a slump in the industry, therefore, you could simply transfer on to the next one.
As stated earlier, completing a music business degree truly opens up a world of possibilities. These possibilities go above and beyond working with musicians and effectively give you the opportunity to influence the world as a whole.
Obesity is a growing problem in the developing world, and different solutions are being explored to combat this. One of these solutions is found in the different forms of weight loss surgery. Thanks to gastric sleeve surgery, for instance, patients can now lose as much as 75% to 80% of their excess body weight. That is a significant amount of weight loss, particularly when you consider that around 75% of total weight loss is achieved in the first year following the procedure itself. And it gets better, so long as a patient doesn’t experience any complications, and strictly follows the guidelines of their physician and nutritionist, they may lose up to 90% of their excess weight just five years after having had the surgery.
The Benefits of Rapid Weight Loss
We are often told that rapid weight loss is not good for us. While this is true in regular, healthy individuals, it isn’t for the obese. By quickly lowering their weight so that they fall in a normal range of BMI, they made sure that they reduce their chances of development many other diseases, some of which are fatal. Common diseases associated with obesity include:
Sleep apnea.
Joint pain.
Shortness of breath.
Acid reflux.
All of these can be fully resolved by losing weight. Additionally, sustained weight loss prevents people from developing dangerous diseases such as heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and more. One study looked at 500 individual patients, and it was found that, in 96% of cases, other health conditions were resolved or improved.
Although the gastric sleeve is a procedure that has the potential to save lives, it is not one without risk. Around one in every 300 people who have the procedure will die as a result of surgery. Often, this is due to various complications. This is why the surgery will only be offered to those with a low complications rate, or to those who are so severely obese that they have started to develop dangerous comorbidity disorders like heart problems or type 2 diabetes.
Once you have had surgery, you have to take it easy for a while. You must make sure that the incision site is properly protected. This means, for instance, no heavy lifting for a while, as this could rupture the wound. At the same time, you must remember that you have had surgery, which means there are wounds, and wounds can become infected. Making sure you protect yourself from that is hugely important. Proper hygiene is vital, and some people have even asked people not to enter their homes until they have washed their hands with an alcohol rub. This may seem a bit excessive, but if there is any reason why you may be at increased risk of infection, it may be necessary while your wounds heal.
When reading through potential complications, it often sounds as if the entire procedure is a bad idea (have you ever read the side effects on any medication?). However, if a surgeon agrees that you are a good candidate, it means that the benefits of the surgery by far outweigh the potential risks.
Electronic cigarettes and shishs, or hookahs, are hot topics right now. Apparently, they allow people to smoke… without actually smoking? They are so popular, in fact, that some of the world’s major cigarette manufacturers have started to develop them as well! It is unlikely that you haven’t heard of electronic cigarettes yet, but the big question is exactly what you have heard. Some, for instance, say that that these devices are the best thing since sliced bread, enabling people to smoke without the nasty chemicals, while at the same time reducing and eventually removing their addiction to nicotine. Others, however, say that they are a way to trick people into thinking there is no danger in smoking, even encouraging young people to reach for them. So who is right? Is there any smoke without fire?
Photo Getty Images
What Is an Electronic Cigarette?
First of all, electronic cigarettes are nothing new. They were originally developed to enable smokers to use a healthier (healthier not healthy!) option and to help them reduce and eventually quit smoking altogether. Basically, they taste like tobacco (or any other flavor you like), contain different levels of nicotine (some even containing no nicotine at all), and they give you a realistic smoking experience.
The Benefits of Electronic Cigarettes
Electronic cigarettes have a number of clear benefits:
They can, with willpower, help someone stop smoking.
They are available with zero nicotine, so if ex-smokers feel themselves heading towards relapse, they could use those to avoid it, without becoming addicted again.
They come in lots of different flavors, which means you don’t have to taste tobacco anymore.
They do not contain any of the thousands of harmful chemicals found in cigarettes, which means they are much safer as well.
They emit only water vapor and odor from the flavor, which means there is no danger of second hand smoking either.
So What Is the Issue?
Looking at the five benefits above, and there are actually many more, you would think that these cigarettes truly are the best thing since sliced bread, and the whole debate is over. However, if that were the case, then how come you cannot “vape” (as it is known) in restaurants, bars, public places, airport terminals, at work, and so on? There are two main reasons for this:
E-cigarettes are still relatively new. This means that the long term effects on health, humans, and objects, is simply unknown. While there is little reason to believe that it could be harmful, scientists will not take the chance.
E-cigarettes have exploded, as have their batteries, sometimes in people’s faces, and other times causing fire.
This last issue is a big one. Luckily, however, it is also one that can be avoided in full. All you need to do is make sure that you only purchase your e-cig, liquids, cartridges, and batteries from the best online headshop, and not from some backstreet street vendor or an unknown online source.
Indians have until the end of December 30 to deposit discontinued 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in bank and post office accounts, or risk their money becoming worthless.
Last month, the Indian government scrapped the 500 and 1000 rupee notes to crack down on undeclared money and fake cash.
The move divided opinion, especially over how the ban was implemented.
Deadlines for spending the notes or swapping them for new currency have already passed.
Some people, including those of Indian origin living abroad, will be able to exchange the notes in branches of the country’s central bank until March 31, 2017 – but the process will be more complicated than going to a regular bank.
Image source Reuters
Parliament is preparing laws that will make it a criminal offence to hold the old notes from April 1, 2017 onwards.
PM Narendra Modi announced that the notes were no longer legal tender on November 8, sparking panic.
Together the 500 and 1,000 rupee notes represented 86% of the currency in circulation and there have been chaotic scenes in India ever since, with people having to spend hours queuing outside banks and cash machines which have been running out of money.
ATM queues and cash withdrawal limits mean getting currency can still be tricky, and there have been several changes of the rules around how much money people can access or deposit.
India’s government hopes the measures will encourage more people to have bank accounts and move towards a society less reliant on cash.
However, there are concerns that many poorer people and those in rural areas have yet to get bank accounts.
Local companies which allow people to make digital payments both online and in stores have reported a surge in transactions as people look for cashless alternatives.
The government says the move has been a success with the banks flush with cash and significant increases in tax collection.
However, critics argue the move has failed to root out corruption and unearth illegal cash, since most of the money in circulation has been put back into the financial system. Instead, they say, the economy, which was growing at a rapid pace, has slowed down significantly.
Serena Williams has announced that she is engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
The tennis champ made the announcement, of course, on Reddit, in the form of a poem.
Serena Williams, 35, said Alexis Ohanian took her to Rome, where they first met, to propose to her – and she said “Yes”.
It caps off a year in which Serena Williams won her seventh Wimbledon singles title and 22nd Grand Slam singles title, but dropped to world number two ranking.
Photo AP
Reddit is a social media platform where users group around topics, news articles and discussion points, rather than around people they know in offline life.
Alexis Ohanian, 33, founded Reddit in 2005 alongside a college friend, Steve Huffman.
Serena Williams posted to r/isaidyes, a forum where users share their stories of wedding proposals, saying he had taken her to the table in Rome where they first met, where he got down on one knee and “said four words”.
One Reddit user responded by joking that the score was love-love.
Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams had kept their relationship quiet on social media and in the world of celebrity gossip, but rumors began to circulate last year that they might be romantically linked.
Thirty five Russian diplomats have been expelled from the United States as punishment for alleged interference into this year’s presidential election.
The US will also close two Russian compounds used for intelligence-gathering, in Maryland and New York, as part of a raft of retaliatory measures.
President Barack Obama had vowed action against Russia amid accusations it directed hacks against the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Russia has denied any involvement.
The 35 Russian diplomats from the Washington DC embassy and the consulate in San Francisco have been declared “persona non grata” by state department, giving them and their families 72 hours to leave the US.
The Russian government is expected to respond in turn by expelling US diplomats.
The state department move follows calls from senior senators to sanction Russian officials who are believed to have played a role in the hacking, which some lawmakers referred to as America’s “political Pearl Harbor”.
President-elect Donald Trump has dismissed the claims as “ridiculous” and said Americans should “get on with our lives” when asked about the possibility of sanctions before the announcement on December 28.
Sanctions have also been announced against nine entities and individuals including the GRU and FSB Russian intelligence agencies.
The US Department of Treasury said that the move targeted those responsible for “undermining election processes or institutions”.
Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the international affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, told the RIA news agency the expulsion represented “the death throes of political corpses”.
In a statement President Barack Obama said “all Americans should be alarmed by Russia’s actions”.
The outgoing president called the moves a “necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm US interests”, adding it would not be “the sum total of our response to Russia’s aggressive activities”.
Barack Obama also announced the US would declassify technical information related to Russian cyber activity to “help network defenders in the United States and abroad identify, detect, and disrupt Russia’s global campaign of malicious cyber activities”.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, the top Republican in Congress, said in a statement that despite the measures being overdue “it is an appropriate way to end eight years of failed policy with Russia”.
Paul Ryan added that “it serves as a prime example of this administration’s ineffective foreign policy that has left America weaker in the eyes of the world”.
Maryland Democrat Senator Ben Cardin applauded sanctions against Russia but called them insufficient.
Ben Cardin called for Congress to take action separately from the White House, and plans to introduce legislation to establish a committee “to further examine the attack and Russian’s efforts to interfere in our election”.
In a joint statement by the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of the Director of National Security, and the FBI, officials appeal to companies to “look back within their network traffic” and report any signs of “malicious cyber activity” to law enforcement.
The Russian hacking, which the intelligence agencies describe as a “decade-long campaign” included methods such as “spearphishing, campaigns targeting government organizations, critical infrastructure, think tanks, universities, political organizations, and corporations; theft of information from these organizations; and the recent public release of some of this stolen information”.
Emails stolen from John Podesta and from the servers of the DNC were released during the 2016 presidential election by WikiLeaks.
Several US agencies, including the FBI and CIA have concluded that the hacked information was released to cause damage to Hillary Clinton and the Democrats in order to favor Donald Trump.
Former head of Helsinki’s anti-drugs police Jari Aarnio has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for smuggling drugs into Finland.
Jari Aarnio, 59, was found to have helped a gang to import nearly 1,764lb of hashish from the Netherlands and sell it in Finland between 2011 and 2012.
He was found guilty of five drug crimes and 17 other offences.
These included trying to frame an innocent man for being in charge of the drug ring.
Image source MTV.fi
An accomplice of Jari Aarnio, described as a top local criminal, was also sentenced to 10 years in prison.
He spent 30 years in the anti-drugs force and was arrested in 2013.
Jari Aarnio denied all the charges against him, claiming his actions were all legal and undertaken in a policing capacity.
According to his legal team, Jari Aarnio plans to appeal the district court’s sentence in the Helsinki Court of Appeal.
In a separate case in September, Jari Aarnio was sentenced to three years in jail for fraud.
Crime rates are relatively low in Finland compared with most other European countries.
Finland ranks as the second least-corrupt country, after Denmark, in the global index compiled by Transparency International.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned as biased a speech by outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry on Israeli-Palestinian issues.
John Kerry said the prospect of a peace deal based on a two-state solution was in grave jeopardy as Israeli settlement building on occupied land was a major problem.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he was disappointed with the speech, which he said was “unbalanced” and “obsessively focused” on settlements.
John Kerry had “paid lip service to the unremitting Palestinian campaign of terrorism” against Israel, he said.
He added that the conflict centered on the Palestinians’ refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist, but John Kerry “does not see the simple truth”.
Earlier, President-elect Donald Trump tweeted in support of Israel, saying he would not allow it to be treated with “disdain and disrespect”.
Image source Wikimedia
He urged Israel to “stay strong” until he assumed office next month.
France, which will host an international conference to lay down the framework for a future peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians in Paris in January, indicated support for John Kerry’s position.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said John Kerry’s speech was “clear, committed and courageous”.
Following the speech, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas suggested he was ready to resume peace negotiations if Israel stopped activity within its settlements.
The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said President Mahmoud Abbas was “fully confident” that a “just, comprehensive, and lasting solution” could be reached.
He said: “If the Israeli Government agrees to cease settlement activity, including in East Jerusalem, and to implement the agreements signed by the two sides, the Palestinian leadership will be willing to resume negotiations.”
Last week, the United States chose not to veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to Israeli settlement construction, leading to an angry response from Israel.
The issue of Jewish settlements is one of the most contentious between Israel and the Palestinians, who see them as an obstacle to peace and the creation of a viable Palestinian state.
More than 500,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements built since Israel’s 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Jewish settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
In his speech, John Kerry said that despite Israeli claims to the contrary, UN condemnation of illegal Jewish settlements on occupied land was in line with American values.
John Kerry said: “The two-state solution is the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. It is the only way to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state. That future is now in jeopardy.
“The Israeli prime minister publicly supports a two-state solution, but his current coalition is the most right-wing in Israeli history with an agenda driven by the most extreme elements.
“The result is that policies of this government, which the prime minister himself just described as more committed to settlements than any Israel’s history, are leading in the opposite direction. They are leading towards one state.”
Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds has died a day after the death of her daughter, Carrie Fisher.
Debbie Reynolds was best known for starring opposite Gene Kelly in the 1952 musical Singin’ in the Rain.
The 84-year-old actress had been rushed to hospital with a suspected stroke.
Debbie Reynolds’ son, Todd Fisher, said the stress of Carrie’s death had been too much for her and in her last words, she had said she wanted to be with her daughter.
She had been at her son’s house in Beverly Hills – apparently discussing the arrangements for Carrie Fisher’s funeral – when she was taken ill.
Debbie Reynolds was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre suffering from breathing difficulties and her death was confirmed a few hours later. It is thought she suffered a stroke.
Image source Wikimedia
Carrie Fisher, renowned for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars series, had died at the age of 60 the day before, after spending three days in a LA hospital.
The actress never regained consciousness after suffering a massive heart attack on board a flight from London to Los Angeles on Christmas Eve.
Speaking to the Associated Press about his mother, Todd Fisher said: “She’s now with Carrie and we’re all heartbroken.”
TMZ reported that Debbie Reynolds cracked while discussing plans for Carrie’s funeral with her son, telling him: “I miss her so much; I want to be with Carrie.”
Debbie Reynolds was leading lady in a succession of major Hollywood musicals and comedies in the 1950s and 60s.
She rose to stardom with Singin’ in the Rain, at the age of only 19.
Debbie Reynolds received a best actress Academy Award nomination for the 1964 musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
In 2015, Debbie Reynolds she was given a lifetime achievement award by the Screen Actors Guild. The award was presented to her by Carrie Fisher.
She married singer Eddie Fisher in 1955 and had two children, Carrie and Todd. The couple divorced in 1959 after news emerged of his affair with movie star Elizabeth Taylor.
Debbie Reynolds married twice more.
She had a sometimes strained relationship with Carrie Fisher, who wrote about it in her semi-autobiographical novel Postcards from the Edge.
Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher stopped speaking to each other for many years but became closer later in life.
Christmas is about rejoicing the festivities of the holiday season with your loved ones. The special ornamentations on this day go way back to the old times as the spirit of this day lies in the dangling bright lights, sparkling snowflake cut outs, decorative winter icons, evergreen trees of pine (or any other of the similar appearance) embellished with baubles, garlands, fairy lights, candy canes and what not!
But can you ever imagine a Christmas without the cooling sensation of mistletoe or the warm hue of sharp red poinsettia? Or the flamboyant presence of the Christmas Rose and the Christmas Cactus? The blooming abundance of flowers at this day is more than mere a decoration piece. Here are five incredible floral ideas to sprout your winter holidays into something spectacular: A bouquet to mend dissonance
If you’ve gotten into a mismatch with someone close and failed to convey good thoughts, what is more convincing than to be apologetic with a bouquet of flowers that convey a sense of warmth when all the other things fail to communicate. Use this season as an excuse to clear all the hard feelings, and that too has gone easy! Online florists take orders from you while you select the perfectly matched bouquet according to your taste. For instance, you can try Flowers for Everyone delivery in Perth to deliver bouquets from a variety of roses to wildflowers and edible flowers. The colours and the patterns of each have a meaning of their own giving you right in the feels!
You may think you’ve up used everything to fill up the space at your place, yet some corners look dull and empty. Go ahead and grab some mistletoe and holly berry sprigs, cover the window panes and doors with wreaths of fresh roses and gold dusted acorns. A few more foliage will do just well, because there is no such thing as too much flowers.
An easy way from stomach to heart
Flowers have a magical quality to appeal by sight and surprisingly through taste as well. Using edible flowers like Marigold, Angelica and Arugula is not only the in-thing nowadays, people also prefer the delicacy of their petals neatly arranged on their platter, mostly desserts. This not only gives a vibrant colour to the dish, but also looks appetizing. Moreover, it’s not necessary to use real edible flowers; butter icings, royal icings and fondants can be piped and sculptured to give an impression of flowers. Decadent Christmas cupcakes and cookies are used to celebrate this day in its best form.
Table centrepieces
The centrepiece on any Christmas dinner table is a conventional idea, but the way it speaks for itself complementing all the other items set on the table is what leaves the visitors in awe. There are endless ways to enhance floral centrepieces. You can be as creative as building a mini Christmas tree entangling twigs to form a pyramid, then inserting the flowers that commend your table cloth and giving it an extra spotlight with the tall candle sticks or mount a colourful potpourri in the centre and surround it with fresh flowers and mini candles to give it an extra booze of spring-winter amalgamation.
Alongside holiday cards and invitations
This is undoubtedly the best way to make someone’s day. Imagine your loved one waking up to your warm greetings alongside a fragrant mini bouquet. The involuntary smile is guaranteed. In similar ways, season’s greetings and invitations can be forwarded to acquaintances. Small gestures like these have a lot of influence.
Flora in nature’s prestigious abundance, gives hope, spreads joy and conveys sentiments. Therefore, it should be showcased in such a way that is fulfilling to its cause. Wait and watch them come alive these holidays.
German state prosecutors have arrested a 40-year-old Tunisian man in connection with last week’s attack on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz Christmas market.
According to prosecutors, the man’s number was found on the phone of Anis Amri, who killed 12 people by hijacking a truck and ramming it through the stalls.
German police raided the home and workplace of the man in the Tempelhof area of Berlin, German media report.
Officials have until December 29 to decide whether to formally arrest him.
Anis Amri was shot dead by police in Milan on December 23, four days on from the attack, after the 24-year-old Tunisian opened fire and injured an officer during a routine check.
Meanwhile, police in the Netherlands say it was highly likely Anis Amri was spotted on CCTV in Nijmegen station.
They are investigating whether he traveled there immediately after the market attack, following the discovery of an unused Dutch Sim card in his backpack.
Police believe Anis Amri was probably handed the Sim card in Nijmegen station.
From Nijmegen, it is thought Anis Amri took a six-hour bus trip to Lyon Party-Dieu station in France – from where he apparently got a train to Milan via Chambery and Turin.
The Sim card found in his backpack was issued between December 20 and 22 in one of three possible Dutch cities – Breda, Zwolle and Nijmegen, Italian media reported.
It was widely reported after the attack that German police had searched a refugee center in Emmerich, just across the border at Nijmegen.
That Anis Amri was able to travel from Berlin while subject to a European arrest warrant has raised security questions.
Israel has postponed a vote to authorize construction of almost 500 new homes in Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem.
The Israeli committee’s decision apparently follows a request from PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
The move also comes ahead of a speech on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by Secretary of State John Kerry.
On December 23, the US chose not to veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to settlement construction.
The decision to abstain infuriated Benjamin Netanyahu, whose spokesman said on December 27 he had “ironclad information” from Arab sources that the White House had helped draft the language of the resolution and “pushed hard” for its passage.
Image source Wikimedia
However, a US state department spokesman said the accusation was “just not true”, but he hoped the resolution would “serve as a wake-up call” for Israel.
More than 500,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements built since Israel’s 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
The UN resolution passed on December 23 stated that the establishment of settlements “has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace”.
Benjamin Netanyahu responded over the weekend by summoning the ambassadors of the US and the 14 countries on the Security Council who voted in favor of the resolution, recalling Israel’s ambassadors to New Zealand and Senegal, cutting aid to Senegal, and canceling a visit by Ukraine’s prime minister.
The Jerusalem Planning and Housing Committee had indicated it would press ahead with a planned vote on authorizing 492 new homes in the settlements of Ramat Shlomo and Ramot.
However, on December 28, planning committee member Hanan Rubin said the vote had been postponed.
Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to lay out his vision for ending the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and address what a senior state department official described as “misleading critiques” of the Obama administration by the Israeli government.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said the resolution “paves the way” for the upcoming conference on Middle East peace in France on January 15.
The black box from the Russian Tu-154 plane that crashed into the Black Sea on Christmas Day has revealed that faulty flaps were to blame, Russian media say.
A source close to the investigation told the private Interfax news agency that the flaps, panels on the wings that help lift an aircraft, did not open in sync.
The pro-Kremlin Life news website says this led the pilots to lose control as the plane was at a “critical angle”.
The website also quoted the crew’s last words, including: “The flaps, hell… !”
The ageing Tupolev Tu-154 plane came down off the Russian coast with the loss of all 92 passengers and crew.
On board were 64 members of the famed Alexandrov military music ensemble, as well as one of Russia’s best-known humanitarian figures, Yelizaveta Glinka.
The military jet was heading to Russia’s air force base in Syria where the choir was due to perform at a New Year’s concert.
Image source WIkimedia
The latest findings allegedly come from a cockpit conversation stored on the flight’s main data recorder, which was found underwater about a mile from the shore.
An earlier audio recording, played on Russian media, said to be of the final conversation between air traffic controllers and the plane’s crew, revealed no sign of difficulties.
However, Life, a new site which is close to the Russian security agencies, issued a transcript of the cockpit recording taken from the “black box”, indicating the two pilots were taken by surprise.
The plane crashed soon after take-off from an airport near the city of Sochi, where it had landed for refueling.
The aircraft disappeared from radar two minutes after taking off from Adler airport at 05:23AM local time on Christmas Day.
According to the authorities, so far 15 bodies and 223 body fragments have been recovered from Black Sea.
The Tupolev plane involved in the crash was an old model no longer flown by airlines in Russia but still used by the military. It was 33 years old.
Russian investigators have so far ruled out terrorism as a possibility, instead concentrating on human error, a technical fault or a combination of factors as being responsible.
Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe has visited Pearl Harbor naval base, where he offered “sincere and everlasting condolences” to the victims of the 1941 Japanese attack on the base.
Shinzo Abe said: “We must never repeat the horrors of war again, this is the solemn vow the people of Japan have taken.”
He was accompanied by President Barack Obama, making the visit the first by the leaders of both countries.
Japan devastated much of Pearl Harbor base, killing more than 2,400 Americans.
Shinzo Abe paid tribute to the men who lost their lives in 1941 at the naval base, many of whom remain entombed in the wreckage of the USS Arizona, sunk by the Japanese that day, and vowed reconciliation and peace.
He said: “To the souls of the US servicemen who lie aboard the USS Arizona, to the American people, and all people around the world, I pledge that unwavering vow.”
Image source Reuters
Shinzo Abe went on to praise the US for its efforts to mend relations with Japan following the war between the two countries, which ended shortly after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945.
The prime minister called the renewed alliance between the countries an “alliance of hope”.
President Obama also paid tribute to the dead, saying that he had laid a wreath on “waters that still weep”.
He said: “That morning the ranks on those men’s shoulders reflected them less than the courage in their hearts.”
Barack Obama welcomed Shinzo Abe “in the spirit of friendship, in the manner Japan has always welcomed me”.
ShinzoAbe is the first Japanese leader to visit the memorial on the site of the Arizona, although several of his predecessors have been to Pearl Harbor in the past.
The Japanese prime minister and President Obama laid wreaths at the site and the two leaders prayed for the dead.
However, as expected, Shinzo Abe did not issue an apology for the attack.
Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor damaged all eight of the US battleships at the base and sunk four of them, propelling the US into World War II.
Nearly half of those killed were on the Arizona and the remains of most are still entombed in the wreckage.
All eight battleships at the base were damaged and four were sunk. But the key US aircraft carriers were at sea at the time.
On December 26, Shinzo Abe visited the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and laid a wreath.
He stood for a moment of silence at the cemetery near central Honolulu, a memorial to those who died the Pacific theater of war.
Shinzo Abe also held a summit meeting with Barack Obama in Hawaii, their last before President Obama steps down in January.
The chairman of South Korea’s pension fund, Moon Hyung-pyo, has been arrested for alleged corruption acts involving Samsung and President Park Geun-hye.
State prosecutors said they raided the National Pension Service (NPS) chairman’s home on December 26, before arresting him on December 28.
The NPS is the world’s third-largest pension scheme.
Moon Hyung-pyo’s arrest comes amid President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment over the scandal involving her close friend Choi Soon-sil.
Image source Korea Herald
In the latest arrest, investigators are looking into NPS’s support of an $8 billion merger between two Samsung Group affiliates and whether Moon Hyung-puo used his influence as health minister at the time, to pressure it to back the deal.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare runs the pension service, which manages 545 trillion won ($451 billion) and was a major shareholder in Cheil Industries Inc and Samsung C&T Corp when they merged.
The NPS has denied previous reports that Moon Hyung-pyo pressured the organization to back the deal, and he told reporters on December 27 that he would cooperate with the investigation.
The scandal has also caught Samsung up in allegations that it backed foundations controlled by Choi Soon-sil in the hope of receiving political favors, which investigators are also examining.
Politicians voted this month to impeach President Park Geun-hye – a decision South Korea’s constitutional court has six months to uphold or overturn. Until then Park Geun-hye remains formally president but stripped of her powers, which are handed to the prime minister, a presidential appointee.
Park Geun-hye denies wrongdoing but has apologized for the way she managed her relationship with Choi Soon-sil, who also denies committing criminal offences.
Carrie Fisher has died at the age of 60, days after suffering a heart attack during a flight from London to Los Angeles.
The actress was best known for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars series.
Carrie Fisher was taken ill on the flight on December 23 and was taken to hospital when the plane landed in LA.
Photo Flickr
A family statement said with “deep sadness” Carrie Fisher died on December 27.
As well as starring in other films such as The Blues Brothers and When Harry Met Sally, Carrie Fisher also wrote four novels and three memoirs.
In a statement released on behalf of Carrie Fisher’s daughter Billie Lourd, spokesman Simon Halls said: “It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8.55 this morning.
“She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly. Our entire family thanks you for your thoughts and prayers.”
The black box of the Russian military plane which crashed in the Black Sea on Christmas Day has been recovered and brought to Moscow.
The Tupolev Tu-154 plane came down with the loss of all 92 passengers and crew. At least 12 bodies have been recovered from Black Sea so far.
The aircraft was carrying the Alexandrov military ensemble due to give a concert for Russian troops in Syria, and journalists and military personnel.
The cause of the disaster is still being investigated but there is no suggestion of a terror attack.
According to Russia’s defense ministry, numerous fragments of the plane have been found, including the plane’s chassis and one of its engines.
The plane crashed soon after take-off from an airport near Sochi, where it had landed for refueling.
Image source WIkimedia
The aircraft disappeared from radar two minutes after taking off from Adler airport at 05:25AM local time on Christmas Day, heading for Latakia in Syria.
It was carrying 64 members of the famed Alexandrov military ensemble, as well as one of Russia’s best-known humanitarian figures, Yelizaveta Glinka, known as Dr. Liza, executive director of the Fair Aid charity.
The black box was found by a Seaeye Falcon underwater remotely operated vehicle at a depth of 56ft, 5,000ft from the shore, the Russian defense ministry told Russia’s Ria-Novosti news agency.
A military spokesman said the recorder was in a “satisfactory condition”.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu described the crash as a “horrible tragedy” and said everything was being done to establish the cause.
It is believed that the location of a second black box has also been established and it could be recovered shortly.
Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov reiterated that investigators were looking into whether pilot error or a technical fault might have brought down the aircraft.
A source close to the investigation told Interfax the plane may have been overloaded.
“Witness accounts and other objective data obtained during the investigation suggest the plane was unable to gain height and for some reason – possibly overloading or a technical fault – crashed into the sea,” the unnamed source said.
According to an Aviation Safety Net report, the plane made a U-turn back towards the coastline shortly after take-off, before disappearing off the radar.
However, an audio recording played on Russian media and said to be of the final conversation between air traffic controllers and the plane reveals no sign of any difficulties.
Voices remain calm until the plane disappears and the controllers try in vain to re-establish contact.
The plane involved in the crash was an old model no longer flown by air lines in Russia but still used by the military. It was 33 years old.
Korean Air will revised its guidelines allowing crew to react “firmly and actively against in-flight violence”, after facing criticism for its handling of an on-board incident, the South Korean carrier has announced.
Richard Marx said last week that he had intervened to help restrain a disruptive passenger on a Korean Air flight from Hanoi to Seoul.
Crew had been “ill-trained” and “ill-equipped”, the singer said.
Korean Air said it would also review the use of Taser guns on board.
The company said in a statement: “Korean Air will react more firmly and actively against in-flight violence that threatens the overall safety of the flight.”
Image source Wikimedia
As part of the changes, Korean Air said it would be providing more training to staff and hiring more male flight attendants, making sure at least one male is on duty in the cabin for each flight, according to Reuters.
Richard Marx’s wife Daisy Fuentes, who was travelling with the singer, said the staff “didn’t know how to use the taser” or to secure ropes.
Taser is a brand name often used to refer to electric stun guns.
“We have decided to improve our conditions and procedure on using Taser guns to cope with violent acts and disturbances on board in a fast and efficient manner,” Korean Air added, but did not elaborate on how the rules would change.
Korean Air said that under existing rules, stun guns were permitted for use only in “grave” situations – where the safety of a flight or the life of passengers and crew were in danger.
This meant staff had been “hesitant” to use the equipment, the airline added.
Individual airlines have their own policies on what equipment they carry on board to restrain passengers.
A man was killed in a horse race at Rubi Ibarra Garcia’s birthday party in Mexico attended by thousands of people after her father’s video invitation to “everyone” went viral on social media.
The man died after stepping into the path of a galloping horse during a race in honor of Rubi’s 15th birthday.
According to local media, the 66-year-old owned one of the horses taking part in the amateur race.
About 1.3 million people earlier vowed to attend Rubi’s birthday party, which also featured local bands and food.
In a video message recorded earlier this month, Rubi’s father, Crescencio Ibarra, announced that he would be organizing a 15th birthday party for his daughter on December 26 in La Joya community, central Mexico.
“Hello, how are you? We invite you this December 26 to the 15th birthday party of our daughter, Rubi Ibarra Garcia,” Crescencio Ibarra said while standing next to Rubi and his wife Anaelda Garcia.
Rubi’s father then went on to announce that the winner of the horse race to be held as part of the event would win 10,000 pesos ($490).
One of those drawn by the invite, and the horse race in particular, was Felix Pena of the local Coyotes Negros (Black Coyotes) stables.
Felix Pena told local broadcaster Hora Zero that he was entering his horse, Oso Dormido (Sleeping Bear), in the race and that he expected it to win.
“I’m not doing it for the [prize] money, I’m doing it for the fame and the glory.”
In a video taken of the race he can be seen rolling in the dust kicked up by the horses and then lying unconscious on the ground.
Emergency workers said Felix Pena died on the way to hospital.
It is not clear why Felix Pena, who regularly raced horses, stepped into the path of the galloping animals.
Some bystanders said he may have misjudged the distance as he tried to cheer on Oso Dormido.
Another man who also stepped into the path of the horses broke a leg.
Local police said apart from the accident during the horse race, Rubi Ibarra Garcia’s birthday party went off peacefully.
Thousands of people have attended Rubi Ibarra Garcia’s 15th birthday party in Mexico, after her parent’s video invitation to “everyone” went viral on social media.
Family members had to move away a crowd of waiting reporters so Rubi Ibarra Garcia could attend a Mass in La Joya community, central Mexico.
The girl was celebrating her 15th birthday – a traditional coming-of-age party in Mexico known as “quinceanera”.
About 1.2 million people had earlier vowed to attend the party.
However, Rubi’s father later said the idea had been to invite neighbors and friends only – while stressing he would not turn anyone away.
Image source Twitter
On December 26, dozens of tents and tables filled with food were prepared for those who made the journey.
They were met by Rubi, who looked serene despite the crowds, wearing a fuchsia dress and a tiara.
In a video posted online earlier this month Rubi’s father said that “everyone is welcome” to the party featuring three local bands, a meal and a horse race.
The footage shows Crescencio Ibarra standing next to his daughter Rubi and his wife Anaelda Garcia.
He then goes on to announce that the winner of the horse race to be held as part of the event stands to win 10,000 pesos ($490).
Crescencio Ibarra ends by saying that “hereby everyone is cordially invited”.
It is not clear why this particular video went viral and was shared more than 800,000 times and prompted countless memes and imitations.
Crescencio Ibarra said in a later TV interview he had no idea what had caught the public’s imagination.
“We wanted to invite the people from the area, that’s all,” he said, before denying he had since uninvited all but personal acquaintances.
