Former Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina and his vice-president, Roxana Baldetti, took at least $25 million in bribes from Spanish port company TCB, an anti-corruption commission alleges.
TCB (Terminal de Contenedores Barcelona) won a contract to operate a new container terminal on Guatemala’s Pacific coast for 25 years.
Otto Perez Molina was arrested in September after standing down amid anti-corruption protests.
The former leader is due to appear in court next week. He and Roxana Baldetti deny wrongdoing.
Attorney General Thelma Aldana said Otto Perez Molina started the approval process for the $225 million project immediately after his election in November 2011. There were no competing bids.
Otto Perez Molina and Roxana Baldetti “formed a criminal group”, Thelma Aldana added.
Thelma Aldana made the announcement alongside the head of the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), Ivan Velasquez, who headed the investigation.
The commission was set in 2006 to help Guatemala reform its justice system and confront criminal gangs that had infiltrated the state.
The Spanish executive in charge of the local branch of TCB, Juan Jose Suarez, has been arrested.
Juan Jose Suarez said he had no idea why he had been detained, EFE news agency reported.
Otto Perez Molina resigned on September 2 and was arrested a day later. He said the contract offered the best deal for the country.
Anti-corruption protests had forced Roxana Baldetti to stand down in May.
In a separate scandal, Otto Perez Molina and Roxana Baldetti were accused of running a bribery scheme at Guatemala’s customs, which became known as La Linea, or The Line.
German comedian Jan Boehmermann could be prosecuted for insulting Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the Turkish president filed a complaint.
Jan Boehmermann had recited a satirical poem on television which made sexual references to Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Under German law, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government had to approve a criminal inquiry.
Angela Merkel stressed that the courts would have the final word, and it was now up to prosecutors to decide whether to press charges.
The chancellor added that her government would move to repeal the controversial and little-used Article 103 of the penal code, which concerns insults against foreign heads of state, by 2018.
Photo AFP
Jan Boehmermann is a satirist and TV presenter well-known for pushing the boundaries of German humor. He was given police protection earlier this week.
Some experts say the comedian has a strong defense against potential charges, because his poem could be seen as part of a wider piece of satire about free speech, rather than a deliberate insult.
An earlier remark by Angela Merkel that the poem was “deliberately offensive” had led to accusations in Germany that she was not standing up for free speech.
The poem was broadcast on ZDF TV two weeks ago. The public TV channel has decided not to broadcast Boehmermann’s weekly satire program this week because of the furor surrounding him.
Before announcing that Jan Boehmermann could be prosecuted, Angela Merkel stressed her government expected Turkey to comply with EU democratic norms in the areas of free speech and judicial independence.
“In a state under the rule of law, it is not a matter for the government but rather for state prosecutors and courts to weigh personal rights issues and other concerns affecting press and artistic freedom,” the chancellor said.
“The presumption of innocence applies,” Angela Merkel added, explaining that she was not making any prejudgement about Jan Boehmermann.
In her statement in Berlin, Angela Merkel said that the approval of the federal government was a legal precondition for the prosecution of this specific offence.
“The foreign office, the justice ministry, the interior ministry and the chancellery took part in this review,” she said.
“There were diverging opinions between the coalition partners… The result is that in the present case the federal government will grant its approval.”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has drawn much criticism in Turkey and internationally for attacking opponents, including harassment of journalists. Many accuse him of authoritarian methods, stifling legitimate dissent and promoting an Islamist agenda.
Some Germans worry that Angela Merkel is compromising on freedom of expression in order to ensure Turkey’s continued co-operation to stem the influx of refugees into the EU.
Belgian transport minister Jacqueline Galant has stepped down over accusations she ignored lapses in security at Brussels airport before the attacks of March 22.
A confidential document shows security lapses at Belgium’s airports were identified by EU inspectors in 2015.
Jacqueline Galant had denied having seen the report, which was leaked by opposition parties.
ISIS attacks on Zaventem airport and a Brussels metro station left 32 people dead.
Belgian PM Charles Michel had previously defended Jacqueline Galant, and he had told parliament that her office had not seen the critical EU report.
However, on April 15, following the publication of further documents on April 14, Charles Michel said that “contrary to what was communicated to me” the report had been discussed, according to public broadcaster RTBF.
Charles Michel said he had met Jacqueline Galant on April 15 and following the meeting the minister submitted her resignation to the king.
Jacqueline Galant wrote in her resignation letter that “the orchestrated and theatrical confusion of the last 48 hours prevents me from continuing in the performance of my duties”.
The minister’s resignation followed that of Belgian federal transport agency chief Laurent Ledoux on April 14.
Laurent Ledoux had complained of a lack of funding from Jacqueline Galant and said that the minister herself should “take responsibility and step aside”.
Jacqueline Galant said on April 15 that she was shocked by the way Laurent Ledoux had resigned, and said he was carrying out a “media crusade”.
The 2015 European Commission report, published by public broadcaster RTBF, cited “serious deficiencies” and said airport security programs, air carriers and suppliers were “not adequately monitored”.
The two suicide bombers who attacked Brussels airport blew themselves up in the departures area and would not normally have faced any security checks.
The bomb attacks on the airport and Maelbeek metro station occurred just four days after Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam was caught near his home in Molenbeek. He had been on the run for four months.
Belgium’s parliament is to hold an inquiry into how the attacks were handled.
The interior and justice ministers both offered to resign in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, following revelations that Turkey had warned Belgian authorities about one of the attackers when it deported him back to Belgium, but the prime minister asked them to stay on.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized for erroneously claiming that German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung was owned by Goldman Sachs.
Vladimir Putin made the remark in his annual televised question-and-answer session with the public on April 14.
It concerned who was responsible for the publication of the so-called Panama Papers, which were leaked to Sueddeutsche Zeitung and revealed massive international tax evasion.
In an apology issued by the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin said he was misinformed by aides.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “It is more the error of those who prepared the briefing documents, my error.”
“There was information there that had not been checked and rechecked again and we gave it to the president. We have apologized [to the bank] and we will also apologize to the publication.”
The Panama Papers, which contained the names of people allegedly involved in tax evasion schemes, revealed a number of offshore companies owned by close associates of Vladimir Putin.
Vladimir Putin has denied “any element of corruption” over the schemes, saying his opponents are trying to destabilize Russia.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung shared the documents with a large group of newspapers and publishers.
The Brazilian Supreme Court has upheld the result of an impeachment vote against President Dilma Rousseff.
Dilma Rousseff, who says her opponents are plotting a “coup”, faces claims she manipulated government accounts.
The president has vowed to fight to “the last minute” despite the desertion of three allied parties ahead of Sunday’s vote in the lower house of parliament.
The Supreme Court made its decision in an extraordinary session.
The impeachment debate in the lower house of parliament is due to start today and continue until April 17 vote. If two-thirds of lawmakers vote for impeachment, the motion will pass to the Senate.
An impeachment vote would pave the way for Dilma Rousseff to be removed from office.
Yesterday’s injunction to suspend the vote was filed by Attorney General Jose Eduardo Cardozo who claimed that alleged procedural failings had violated the president’s right to a defense.
Seven of 10 justices voted to reject the motion even before the Supreme Court session had finished.
The Progressive Party (PP), which quit the coalition on April 12, says most of its 47 lawmakers would vote for the impeachment, and the Republican Party (PRB) said its 22 members had been told to vote in favor.
The move comes weeks after the PMDB, the largest party in the lower house, voted to leave the coalition. The PMDB’s leader in the lower house, Leonardo Picciani, said on April 14 that 90% of the party’s members would vote to impeach Dilma Rousseff.
Lawmakers from Dilma Rousseff’s own Workers’ Party are said to be increasingly despondent about April 17 vote.
The allegations, which Dilma Rousseff denies, are that she juggled the accounts to make her government’s economic performance appear better than it was, ahead of her election campaign two years ago.
Dilma Rousseff’s supporters say the issue is not valid grounds for impeachment.
On April 12, the president seemed to suggest that her Vice-President, Michel Temer, was one of the ringleaders of the “coup” attempt against her.
Dilma Rousseff said a widely distributed audio message of Michel Temer appearing to accept replacing her as president was evidence of the conspiracy. However, she did not identify him by name.
Brazil is “living in strange times”, she said, “times of a coup, of farce and betrayal”.
Lawmakers are due to start debating on April 15, with voting beginning on April 17 at about 14:00. The result should be known later in the evening.
Security is expected to be stepped up around the Congress building in Brasilia as the vote takes place.
A North Korean missile test was conducted off the country’s east coast on April 15.
However, the launch appears to have failed, the US and South Korean officials say.
The rocket has not yet been identified but is suspected to have been a previously untested “Musudan” medium-range ballistic missile.
The launch coincided with the birthday of North Korea’s founding leader, Kim Il-sung.
It also comes amid particularly high tension on the Korean peninsula.
South Korea’s Yonhap national news agency quoted government sources as saying that the missile was a type of intermediate-range ballistic missile known as a Musudan, also called the BM-25.
North Korean forces were seen recently moving two such missiles.
According to the Yonhap report , it would be North Korea’s first Musudan test, and that it may have at least 50 more.
The Musudan is named after the village in North Korea’s northeast where a launch pad is sited.
The rocket has a range of about 1,800 miles, which extends to the US Army base on the Pacific island of Guam, but not as far as the mainland US.
The US said it had tracked the latest launch, but could also not confirm details.
“We call again on North Korea to refrain from actions and rhetoric that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its international commitments and obligations,” a State Department official said.
China also criticized what it called “the latest in a string of saber-rattling that, if unchecked, will lead the country to nowhere,” according to the official Xinhua news agency.
North Korea has made a series of threats against the South and the US since the UN imposed some of its toughest ever sanctions on the country.
The move was a response to North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in January and its launching of a satellite in February, both of which broke existing sanctions.
More than 2,000 of Zimbabweans have joined a protest against President Robert Mugabe in Harare.
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai called for countrywide demonstrations against the deteriorating economy.
The march went ahead after a ruling by the High Court. Police had initially denied permission.
It is the biggest such protest in many years.
“Mugabe has no solution to the crisis. We are here to tell Mugabe and his regime that you have failed,” Morgan Tsvangirai said in a brief speech to supporters.
“This is about jobs and improving the economy, which is in dire straits,” he added.
Robert Mugabe has been in power since independence in 1980.
The 92-year-old president remains active but his increasingly fragile health has sparked speculation over his successor and the direction the country will then take.
Zimbabwe’s economy has struggled since a government program seized most white-owned farms in 2000, causing exports to tumble.
Unemployment and poverty are endemic and political repression commonplace. Many Zimbabweans have left the country in search of work in South Africa.
More than 40,000 Verizon workers across six US states went on strike on April 13 after contract negotiations failed to produce a settlement.
The unions organizing the action represent customer service and network technicians.
Verizon called the strike “regrettable” and said it had brought in 10,000 non-union workers.
Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders spoke at a protest in New York in praise of the workers.
Bernie Sanders said they were “standing up to this powerful special interest”.
The workers are members of the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
CWA representative Bob Master said the new workers would not be able to make up the workload left by those out on strike.
“There’s no way that these 10,000 people … can make up for 40,000 people who have decades of experience [in highly technical jobs],” Bob Master said.
The union workers have been without a contract since August and negotiations have stuck on Verizon’s plan to cut healthcare and pension benefits over a three-year period.
In a statement, Marc Reed, Verizon’s chief administrative officer, said: “It’s regrettable that union leaders have called a strike, a move that hurts all of our employees.”
During the last contract talks in 2011 workers also went out on strike. A deal was eventually reached through mediation.
The strike could effect Verizon’s television, phone and Fios Internet businesses.
It is not expected to impact Verizon wireless, which made up 29% of the company’s 2015 revenue.
The Philippines and US Navy are conducting joint patrols in the South China Sea, US officials announce.
The US rarely conducts joint patrols with its partners in the region.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the US would also increase rotations of its forces and military support in the Philippines.
Tensions have escalated in the South China Sea in recent years, with China steadily expanding its military presence in the region.
The joint naval patrols, which began last month, “contribute to the safety and security of the region’s waters,” Ash Carter told reporters after a meeting with Philippines President Benigno Aquino.
US troops and combat aircraft are currently participating in joint combat exercises with Philippines forces.
The announcement comes just days after a Philippine diplomat asked the US to help persuade China not to build on a South China Sea shoal important to Filipino fishermen.
The US has expanded its support for allies in the South Pacific in recent months, following China’s military build up – which includes construction of islands with airstrips.
China, which claims a wide swathe of the sea, has been reclaiming land around reefs.
The US and other countries have called for the halt of such activities, accusing it of militarization, but China has insisted that the construction is for civilian purposes.
Last week, US military officials announced they would send $40 million in military assistance to the Philippines to increase intelligence sharing, surveillance and naval patrols.
If you can free up money in different areas of your business you’ll be more secure. You will have money in the coffers in case the company requires it. So, it’s important to think about the different places you can save money. Take a look at some of these suggestions, and use them as inspiration to help you save yourself cash.
Outsource
The classic and most popular way to free up money within a business is through outsourcing. It’s something that plenty of your business rivals will be doing so you need to follow suit. In fact, you have to think about the fact that you are probably already outsourcing some things without realising. There are so many areas of the business that you can outsource so you need to make a decision about them.
Going virtual these days is always a good way to improve the business at a low cost. You have to consider how you can use this to your advantage. So, you might think about researching virtual receptionist for physicians and other medical professionals. Have a look at you how a virtual receptionist would fit into your business. You also need to think about switching to virtual offices as well. Taking these kinds of approaches works out much cheaper for the company, as well as making you more efficient too.
Downsize
You hear a lot of people talk about downsizing with regards to moving house. You may not have thought about it much in a business sense. But, you can save a lot of cash by downsizing your business. This sounds like a negative, but it really isn’t. The bottom line is you’re going to be spending a lot of money on areas you don’t need to be. With a bit of thought and application you can free up a lot of money by downsizing in particular areas. You can reduce your workforce significantly by outsourcing. You might also wish to move the business to a smaller office to help you save on costs.
Work From Home
If you are really conscious about saving pennies you should think about working from home. One of the biggest costs you’ll face as an entrepreneur is the cost of renting a commercial space. Offices are very useful, but they can also set you back a lot of money. By working from home, you free up having to spend this cash as much as possible. It’s going to mount up to be a lot of money, and you can spend this cash on other things. If you can possibly run your business from home this needs to be something you do.
There are so many techniques and hints you can employ to try to help your business free up cash. That should be one of the things you strive for as a business owner. You have to understand how important it is to ensure you are financially comfortable. This can have a huge bearing on the way your company progresses in the future.
Boko Haram has released a video apparently showing some of the schoolgirls kidnapped two years ago from the town of Chibok.
The footage, apparently filmed in December, was sent to the Nigerian government and shows 15 girls in black robes identifying themselves as pupils abducted from the school.
Some of those filmed have been identified by their parents.
It is the first footage of the girls to be seen since May 2014.
The kidnapping of the 276 girls triggered the global social media campaign #BringBackOurGirls, involving First lady Michelle Obama and a host of celebrities.
However, despite their efforts, most of the girls are still missing.
Meanwhile, hundreds of parents are due to hold a march in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to demand the government does more to find their daughters.
Boko Haram militants attacked the government boarding school in Borno state on April 14, 2014, seizing the girls who had gone there to take exams.
Shortly afterwards the Islamist group released a video of the girls and demanded a prisoner exchange.
Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, said the girls had converted to Islam and he threatened to force them into marriage with his fighters or sell them into slavery.
As the months passed, about 57 students managed to escape but at least 219 are still missing.
The latest video, apparently filmed on Christmas Day 2015 and now broadcast on CNN, shows the girls pleading with the Nigerian government to co-operate with militants on their release.
They said they were being treated well but wanted to be with their families.
Two mothers, Rifkatu Ayuba and Mary Ishaya, said they recognized their daughters in the video while a third mother, Yana Galang, identified five of the missing girls, Reuters reported.
They were shown the video at a screening organized by local officials in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state.
According to Amnesty International, about 2,000 children have been abducted by Boko Haram since 2014. Many are used as slaves, fighters and even suicide bombers.
Kobe Bryant has retired from the sport after a career spanning two decades with a stunning final performance.
The NBA star scored 60 points to help the LA Lakers make a dramatic comeback against the Utah Jazz in Los Angeles.
Kobe Bryant, 37, spent his entire career with the Lakers, winning five NBA titles and recording the third highest total number of points in the sport.
Tickets for his final match changed hands for up to $27,500.
Kobe Bryant scored 23 points in the fourth quarter to help his team overcome a 15-point deficit to win the game.
He took a career-high 50 shots in the fifth highest-scoring game of his career.
Addressing the crowd after the game, Kobe Bryant said it was “crazy” to end on such a high note.
“You know, I was really, really tired, but I thought, I just got to continue to push it because the fan support was just tremendous and I think that’s the thing I’ll remember the most,” he said.
Hollywood stars, famous rappers and sports legends were in the sell-out crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The LA transport department has renamed a metro station near the Staples Center “Kobe Station” for the day.
Los Angeles City Hall was lit up in the Lakers’ colors of purple and gold at dusk.
However, correspondents say Kobe Bryant is not universally adored by fans.
His performances could be inconsistent and in 2003 he was accused of rape by a woman with whom he eventually reached an out-of-court settlement.
Growing up in Philadelphia, Kobe Bryant entered the NBA straight from high school at the age of 17.
Kobe Bryant became the youngest-ever player to appear in an NBA game, coming on against Dallas aged 18 years, two months and 11 days.
More than 350 Chinese officials are to face punishment over a scandal involving the illegal sale of vaccines.
According to the Xinhua news agency, 192 criminal cases had been filed over the case, which saw improperly stored or transported vaccines sent to 59 health institutions.
The government has said it will tighten procedures around vaccine-handling.
The vaccine scandal has caused widespread anger in China.
The illegal vaccine ring was reportedly in operation since 2011, and in April 2015 two women were arrested for selling some $88 million worth of vaccines.
However, the details were only made public last month, when the authorities issued a call demanding that suppliers come forward to help them trace potential victims.
China’s State Council said the 357 officials faced demotion or losing their jobs and that 202 had been detained so far.
Health authorities have also urged people to continue coming forward for vaccinations.
The China office of t
The World Health Organization (WHO) in China has said vaccines needed to be handled properly or they can become less effective.
It stressed that improperly kept vaccines did not in themselves present much danger.
Donald Trump has accused GOP’s leaders of conspiracy, saying they do not want him to win the presidential nomination.
The system was “stacked” against him, the Republican frontrunner said in New York, accusing the Republican National Committee (RNC) of conspiring against him.
Donald Trump’s comments come after his rival Ted Cruz was awarded all the delegates in Colorado without a state-wide vote.
He leads the race but may fall short of getting enough delegates to get the nomination outright.
That would lead to a contested convention in July, where delegates are free after the first ballot to back whom they want, opening the door for Texas Senator Ted Cruz or even the third candidate in the race, John Kasich.
The Washington Post reported on April 13 that Ted Cruz is likely to win on a second vote, because he has persuaded so many delegates to vote for him when they are “unbound” to vote as pledged.
However, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus rejected Donald Trump’s charge that the rules in states like Colorado had been changed in response to his rise in the polls.
Reince Priebus tweeted that the nomination process had been well known for more than a year.
“It’s the responsibility of the campaigns to understand it. Complaints now? Give us all a break.”
Asked at a town hall event in New York whether the RNC wanted him to win, Donald Trump said: “No, I don’t think so. I really don’t.”
He has been criticized for not campaigning hard enough on the ground in states like Colorado.
However, Donald Trump said delegates who wanted to support him were being pushed out by the RNC.
“They don’t like when I put up my own money because it means they don’t have any control of me because I’m working for the people,” he said.
Most states have opted to hold state-wide primaries or caucuses to determine the number of delegates pledged to a particular candidate.
However, Colorado decided last summer to select its delegates in a different way, at its own state convention.
The state-by-state primary contests come to New York next week where a high number of delegates will be up for grabs.
Several senior Republicans have expressed opposition to Donald Trump winning, doubting his ability to win a general election and disagreeing with his hard line on immigration.
The property tycoon has broken an earlier pledge he made to support whoever the Republicans nominate, therefore refusing to rule out a third-party run.
Donald Trump has said there will be “riots” if he is not chosen as the party’s nominee, having headed to the convention with the most delegates.
Brazil’s Progressive Party (PP) has announced it is quitting the governing coalition ahead of President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment vote.
The president is now dealing with a further blow to her bid to stave off impeachment.
The PP said most of its 47 lawmakers would vote for Dilma Rousseff to be impeached.
Last month the PMDB, the largest party in Brazil’s governing coalition, also voted to leave.
Dilma Rousseff, who faces an impeachment vote in the lower house on April 17, says her opponents are plotting a “coup”.
They claim she manipulated accounts to hide Brazil’s growing deficit ahead of her election campaign two years ago. Dilma Rousseff denies this and her supporters say the issue is not valid grounds for impeachment anyway.
A PP spokeswoman told AFP news agency on April 12: “The party decided to withdraw from the… alliance, by majority decision.”
The PP is the fourth-largest party in the 513-seat lower house but it is not clear how its departure from the government might affect April 17 vote.
A two-thirds majority – 342 alawmakers – is needed to send the impeachment case to the Senate.
A recent poll, before the PP’s announcement, showed 300 in favor of impeachment and 125 opposed, leaving 88 lawmakers still undecided or not stating their position.
On April 122, Dilma Rousseff suggested that Vice-President Michel Temer was one of the ringleaders of the “coup” attempt against her.
She said a widely distributed audio message of Michel Temer appearing to accept replacing her as president, was evidence of the conspiracy. However, she did not identify him by name.
“They now are conspiring openly, in the light of day, to destabilize a legitimately elected president,” Dilma Rousseff said.
She referred to “the chief and… the vice-chief” of the plot, an apparent reference to Michel Temer and lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha.
Brazil is “living in strange times”, she said, “times of a coup, of farce and betrayal”.
Michel Temer has said that the message was released by accident.
Speaking in an interview with the conservative Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper on April 12, Michel Temer argued that he had spent weeks away from the capital Brasilia specifically so that no-one could accuse him of plotting behind the scenes.
On Monday evening, amid rowdy scenes, a 65-member congressional committee voted 38 to 27 to recommend going ahead with impeachment proceedings.
Lawmakers are due to start debating on April 15, officials said, with voting beginning on April 17 at about 14:00. The result should be known later in the evening.
Security is expected to be stepped up around the Congress building in Brasilia as the vote takes place.
While President Dilma Rousseff’s opponents say the impeachment is supported by most Brazilians, the president’s supporters have labeled it a flagrant power grab by her political enemies.
If Dilma Rousseff and Michel Temer are both suspended from office, the next in line to assume the presidency is Eduardo Cunha.
However, Eduardo Cunha is facing money-laundering and other charges.
So much information about making an energy-efficient home is about creating a tight seal with no holes, and that is important, but it’s also important that your attic can breathe a little. Although this means letting cold air enter your attic, it actually improves the efficiency of your home, and if you have enough insulation, it won’t let that cold air enter your living space. If you think your attic needs some extra ventilation, check out these four important tips.
Install Roof Vents
Roof vents are simply vents that are located directly on the roof. Make sure you mark the position of the vents before you start cutting, and mark them from the inside, so you can see where the rafters are located. Just hammer a few nails through the roof from the attic, so they show on the outside of your roof. On the outside of the roof, cut the shingles and roof sheathing in the size and shape of the roof vent. Last, install the vent and nail it with roofing nails.
Install Soffit Vents
Photo Flickr via ArmChairBuilder.com
Another option is to install soffit vents if you have an overhang. To start, use a cardboard template to mark where the vent is going to be placed. Make sure the template is about one-half inch smaller on each side than the size of the vent. Once you have the area mapped, start cutting the vent hole with a jigsaw. Once the hole is ready, install the vents.
Install Rafter Vents
One problem you may discover if you have soffit vents and a lot of insulation is that the insulation covers the soffit vents, which makes them useless. You can fix this problem by installing rafter vents. Rafter vents are long vents that span from the soffit vents to above the insulation. This way, you can still add plenty of insulation, but the insulation doesn’t become blocked, so you still get all the great benefits of attic ventilation.
Install an Attic Fan
One last way you can help improve your attic ventilation is to install an attic fan. An attic fan helps air circulate through your attic. When used correctly, it pulls cold air through the vents and pushes it into the attic. At the same time, it pulls hot air from the attic and expels it outside. However, if your vents are blocked because of too much insulation and no rafter vents, the fan loses its efficiency. Instead of pulling cool air from outside and pushing hot air outside, it will pull cool air from your air-conditioned home and push the hot air back into your home, which will force you to use more energy to keep your living spaces cool. Click here to find more.
A tight home with no holes is important, but there are some necessary holes that can help improve energy-efficiency in your home. As long as you use attic ventilation and insulation correctly, the cold air that enters your attic won’t reach your home. Instead, it will help reduce your heating and cooling costs throughout the year. Get started today by learning what (if any) ventilation your attic currently has.
South Korea is voting to elect a new National Assembly with the governing Saenuri party eager to strengthen its position in parliament.
The vote is seen as especially important for President Park Geun-hye, whose time in office has been hampered by legislative gridlock.
Saenuri party hopes to win the three-fifths of seats needed before bills can be introduced and passed by parliament.
It currently holds only a slim majority in the chamber.
Voters are casting ballots at nearly 14,000 polling stations to elect 253 of 300 lawmakers. The remaining 47 proportional representation seats are allocated to parties according to the numbers of votes they receive overall.
Photo Reuters
Park Geun-hye’s administration will gain significant momentum if the governing party gains a majority of seats, The Korea Times reported, enabling it to push through labor and economic reforms before her term in office expires in about 20 months’ time.
South Korea’s youth unemployment rose to 12.5% in February, much higher than the country’s average rate of nearly 5%. At the same time all the main parties have promised measures to reduce poverty among the elderly.
There is speculation in the South Korean media that the polls could end the country’s two-party system, as new parties challenge Saenuri and the main opposition Minju party, which in February set what appeared to be a new world record for a combined filibuster after speaking for 192 hours.
The turnout is estimated to be higher than in previous general elections, local pollsters told The Korea Times.
Panamanian police have raided the headquarters of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the center of a massive data leak known as “Panama Papers”.
Prosecutors said the operation had been carried out at the company’s offices in Panama City “without incident or interference”.
The leaked “Panama Papers” have shown how some wealthy people use offshore companies to evade tax and avoid sanctions.
Mossack Fonseca has denied wrongdoing. The company says it is the victim of a hack and that the information is being misrepresented.
Panama’s President Juan Carlos Varela has promised to work with other countries to improve transparency in its offshore financial industry.
Police carried out the raid along with officials from an organized crime unit. Officers set up a perimeter around the headquarters while prosecutors entered the offices to search for documents.
Afterwards, the attorney general’s office said the aim had been “to obtain documentation linked to the information published in news articles that establish the use of the firm in illicit activities”.
The statement added that searches would also take place at Mossack Fonseca’s subsidiaries.
Panama’s government promised an investigation soon after news reports emerged more than a week ago based on more than 11 million documents from the company.
Mossack Fonseca tweeted that it “continues to co-operate with authorities in investigations made at our headquarters”.
Many other countries are probing possible financial crimes by the rich and powerful in the aftermath of the leak.
The company partner Ramon Fonseca says it had been hacked by servers based abroad and has filed a complaint with the Panamanian attorney general’s office.
Ramon Fonseca served as a minister in Juan Carlos Valera’s government but stepped aside earlier this year after separate allegations linked Mossack Fonseca to the corruption scandal engulfing the Brazilian state oil company Petrobras.
Liza Minnelli’s ex-husband, David Gest, has died in a London hotel aged 62, a statement from his friend Imad Handi says.
The entertainer, producer and reality TV star died at the Four Seasons hotel in Canary Wharf.
David Gest’s friend and ex-bodyguard Imad Handi confirmed the news in a statement.
The entertainer had planned to tour the UK in July with his latest show, called the David Gest Is Not Dead But Alive With Soul Tour!
Several singers were due to appear on the tour, including Dina Carroll and Freda Payne.
The show was named after the mix-up on this year’s Celebrity Big Brother, when Angie Bowie informed Tiffany Pollard that David – meaning her ex-husband Bowie – had died during their time on the reality show. Tiffany Pollard broke down in tears believing David Gest, who was ill in bed at the time, had died.
Photo Getty Images
David Gest stayed in the Celebrity Big Brother house for 13 days but left the series on medical grounds.
In 2007 he was admitted to hospital with chest pains and respiratory problems.
One of the biggest successes during his career was producing the highest-rated special in US music history – 2001’s Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration.
David Gest was perhaps best known for his marriage to Liza Minnelli. They were married in 2002 and officially divorced in 2007. He was also a childhood friend of Michael Jackson and his brother Tito.
His name-dropping anecdotes and raucous tales of showbiz friendships during his appearances on reality TV shows won him legions of fans in the UK.
David Gest finished fourth in ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here in 2006, and later became a judge on talent show Grease Is The Word.
In 2011, Cliff Richard worked with David Gest on his album Soulicious.
David Gest helped develop the concept of the album, which saw Cliff Richard collaborate with soul singers including Roberta Flack and Candi Staton. He later produced and directed the Soulicious tour.
Imad Handi, who confirmed the news of David Gest’s death, described him as a “huge talent”.
“David was truly larger than life. He was not just a huge talent and a dear friend but a showbiz icon.
“I know he will be missed by millions of fans around the world, and particularly in Britain, who came to love his charm and blistering one-liners.”
A Metropolitan Police statement said: “Police were called at 10:17 on Tuesday 12 April to the Four Seasons hotel, in Westferry Circus to reports of an unexplained death of a man in his 60s.
“London Ambulance Service were called to the scene. Life was pronounced extinct at the hotel. A post-mortem will be held in due course. Next of kin are in the process of being informed.”
Police have said there appear to be no suspicious circumstances.
David Gest was born on May 11, 1953, in Los Angeles, California. He worked as a music video and TV producer.
He released an autobiography, titled Simply The Gest, in 2007.
David Gest’s appearance often hit the headlines, and he said having cosmetic surgery was his “biggest regret”.
For the last few years of his life David Gest lived in York – shying away from his former lifestyle in LA.
David Gest married actress and singer Judy Garland’s daughter Liza Minnelli in 2002 in a star-studded wedding at New York’s St Regis hotel.
The couple’s 300 guests included Michael Jackson, Joan Collins and Martine McCutcheon.
Michael Jackson was the best man at the ceremony, arriving with matron of honor Elizabeth Taylor and Diana Ross.
His brothers Tito, Marlon, Randy and Jackie were among the groomsmen.
Martine McCutcheon, together with actresses Mia Farrow and Janet Leigh and singer Petula Clark, was a bridesmaid at the ceremony.
David Gest and Liza Minnelli announced their separation a year later and divorced in 2007 when their lawyers filed court papers saying they had settled their differences and agreed to get divorced without fault.
Paul Ryan has officially ruled out his 2016 presidential bid as Republican candidate.
The Speaker of the House said: “I do not want, nor will I accept the Republican nomination.”
Paul Ryan’s name was floated as a late contender if there is a contested convention in July, as doubts persist over the strength of the candidates.
If Donald Trump, John Kasich nor Ted Cruz is able to win 1,237 delegates, the convention will be contested.
The state-by-state primary contests, which come to New York next week, determine the number of delegates pledged to a particular candidate.
Donald Trump is still well ahead in the number of delegates accumulated but may fall short of the magic number required.
At a contested convention, the delegates are free after the first ballot to back whom they want, opening the door for Texas Senator Ted Cruz or even the third candidate in the race, John Kasich.
Some in the party had hoped Paul Ryan would emerge as a candidate at that stage, believing he would be a more effective and less divisive figure than Donald Trump or Ted Cruz.
Speaking at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, Paul Ryan – who ran as Mitt Romney’s running mate in the 2012 presidential election – ruled himself out unequivocally.
Some commentators were quick to point out that Paul Ryan said he did not want to run for Speaker of the House in 2015 before eventually accepting the job.
Do your employees enjoy the benefits of working from home? If so, you also understand all the concerns that come with their offsite connectivity. Such remote access to your company’s services is a potential security breach. Hackers can take control of these accounts and disrupt all phases of your business. Here are three ways to eliminate account access vulnerability among remote employees.
Add Antivirus Software
Photo Flickr/Mike Cogh
Research suggests 60 percent of companies have suffered data breaches over the last two years. You should provide your employees with computer hardware such as laptops rather than allow them to use their own. This will allow you to have the ability to add software to each system. This strategy attacks the same problem twice to guarantee full protection.
You cannot control the internet surfing behavior of your workers. Some sites include malware that will infect a computer. Then, when the user connects to your servers, the malware will attempt to replicate itself there.
By providing your own hardware, you can guarantee that antivirus protection runs in tandem with the system. Similarly, you can set the software to update automatically. Antivirus programs lose effectiveness if they’re not current with new malware. You shouldn’t trust your employees to update the software. Instead, you can do it yourself before handing the laptops over to your workers. That guarantees they use up-to-date protection.
Add Cloud Software
Even if your company does provide computer hardware with current antivirus software, you still aren’t safe. Hackers are always trying to find new ways to compromise systems. It’s a criminal industry that costs consumers between $375 billion and $575 billion annually. So, you must include many safeguards to protect your business interests.
The best way to shield your servers is through constant vigilance via real-time security protection. One of the most clever cloud-based software solutions is Skyhigh Threat Protection, a third-party account verification service. It’s a perfected automated system that recognizes when your employees are accessing your servers inappropriately. In other words, it can tell if your employee is attempting to read and write to files they don’t need.
Cloud-based threat protection software can also identify if multiple accounts in different locations are using the same log-in, a strong sign of incursion. This type of heuristic programming is functionally a full-time monitor for all your servers. Purchasing this product will save you money in the long run.
Train Employees on Proper Procedures
With the technology side of your servers covered, the last step is to teach employees about the dangers of social engineering. Hackers understand that the easiest way to gain access to your servers is by tricking your employees. They’ll try to con workers with various tactics such as pretending that they’re from the company’s IT department. Then, they’ll ask users to provide their login data and passwords.
Obviously, no one should fall for this tactic, yet some do. You need to train your employees about what your IT department will and won’t do when they contact remote workers. That way, they’ll know never to give their passwords to strangers.
Allowing your employees to work from home is a great way to build loyalty. Still, you have to safeguard your servers against the potential incursions created by remote access. Follow the steps above to protect your business from disaster.
Celebrity ambassadors have always been a great way for brands to appeal to larger audiences or enhance their image, but in the social media age, big stars bring far more to the table than just their recognisable faces. Celebrities can have millions of followers on Twitter, huge Facebook fan bases, and all kinds of other useful outreach through things like Instagram. While brands themselves also often have big followings of their own on social media, people tend to be less excited about hearing what businesses have to tweet about than their favourite stars, so by connecting themselves with their celebrity ambassadors they not only get more views, but those views mean more to the people who see them.
This could be one of several reasons why financial trading company XTrade.com has recently announced a strategic partnership with Real Madrid and Portugal football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo Is the New Face of XTrade
XTrade is a company with a global online CFD trading (contract for difference) platform, which can be used to make CFD trades on a huge range of markets, including the international stock exchanges, Forex pairs, and commodities. XTrade already has the biggest market share of mobile app users for CFD trading, and has global scope, with 38 languages supported by the platform and round the clock customer support. XTrade recently announced that they had partnered up with Cristiano Ronaldo as their new brand ambassador, with a press release quoting their head of operations Mike Leigh as saying:
“We are very excited to have Cristiano Ronaldo as our partner. We recognise strong similarities between us, as we both strive to be the number one performers in our fields. This partnership signifies an opportunity to support one of the world’s most exciting talents while promoting our market-leading and innovative online CFD trading products globally, increasing our international presence.”
What Ronaldo Can Bring To The XTrade Brand
Ronaldo’s social media outreach is huge even by celebrity standards. Footballers tend to have high social media performance as fans look for exclusive insight into the sport and the glamorous lives of the players, and Ronaldo appeals to football fans and general celeb spotters alike as he is also something of a sex symbol and male fashion icon. His outreach across his social media accounts is estimated to be over 200 million people all over the world, and this makes him a very tantalising prospect for XTrade’s brand to work with.
Ronaldo’s Comments on the New Partnership
It is still early in the partnership, but Ronaldo is already appearing in images for XTrade and has commented on the relationship between himself and the trading company:
“To be the best, you need the best. That is why I have chosen to partner with XTrade, one of the world’s leading digital trading platforms. And there is no easy way to become the world’s best. The only way is through perseverance, practice, and more practice – until perfection.”
We are looking forward to seeing how XTrade will leverage Ronaldo’s following to gain bigger brand awareness in the coming months.
Robert Plant and Jimmy Page must face trial in a copyright row over Led Zeppelin’s song Stairway to Heaven, a Los Angeles court has ruled.
The LA district judge said there were enough similarities between the song and an instrumental by the band Spirit to let a jury decide.
The trial has been scheduled for May 10.
Stairway to Heaven, released in 1971, is widely seen as one of the greatest rock compositions of all time.
The copyright infringement action has been brought by Michael Skidmore, a trustee for the late Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe, who played on the same bill as Led Zeppelin in the 1960s, and claims he should be given a writing credit on the track.
Guitarist Jimmy Page and lead singer Robert Plant are reputed to have written Stairway to Heaven in a remote cottage in Wales.
Michael Skidmore has suggested the song came about after the band heard Spirit perform the instrumental Taurus while the bands toured together in 1968 and 1969.
Judge Gary Klausner said a jury could find “substantial” similarity between the first two minutes of Stairway and Taurus.
“While it is true that a descending chromatic four-chord progression is a common convention that abounds in the music industry, the similarities here transcend this core structure,” Judge Gary Klausner ruled.
“What remains is a subjective assessment of the <<concept and feel>> of two works… a task no more suitable for a judge than for a jury.”
The judge also said the trustee can get only 50% of any damages awarded, citing a 1967 contract Randy Wolfe signed.
Dubai developer Emaar Properties is planning to build a new tower that will surpass the Burj Khalifa, currently the world’s tallest building.
The government-backed company has not announced the height of the proposed tower, saying only that it would be “a notch” taller than the Burj Khalifa’s 2,717ft (828m).
The $1 billion project is scheduled to be completed for the Dubai Expo trade fair in 2020.
The new tower is expected to have residential units, a rooftop courtyard and a hotel.
It is designed by Spanish-Swiss neo-futuristic architect Santiago Calatrava Valls and will be supported by a matrix of cables.
The structure’s design means that it is unlikely to be widely recognized as a taller “building” than the Burj Khalifa even if it surpasses it in height, Associated Press reported.
Emaar-built Burj Khalifa is expected to be overtaken by the 0.6 mile-high Kingdom Tower in Jeddah as the world’s tallest building in 2020.
The construction will be the center piece of the redevelopment of the Dubai Creek, the heart of old Dubai. It will also have observation decks and restaurants.
Emaar Properties’ announcement from comes as developers continue to launch new projects amid what experts are saying is a softening real estate sector.
