Porsche has unveiled its plans to build an all-electric car aimed at challenging Tesla’s dominance of the battery-powered sports car market.
The German automaker said it would create more than 1,000 jobs via a €700 million investment in new facilities and assembly line.
Porsche’s Mission E, revealed as a concept car earlier this year, is due to go on sale by 2019.
The four-door car’s range will be 310 miles, and hit 62mph in 3.5 seconds.
This pitches the Mission E – a name unlikely to stay once the launch date nears – against Tesla’s powerful Model S.
Porsche is owned by Volkswagen Group, currently embroiled in Dieselgate scandal, which has said it would invest in a range of all-electric and hybrid vehicles across its brands over the next few years.
Dr. Oliver Blume, chairman of Porsche’s executive board said putting Mission E into full development was the “beginning of a new chapter in the history of the sports car”.
Porsche said the car would be charged via an 800-volt unit specially developed for the vehicle, which is twice as powerful as today’s quick-charge system.
The lithium-ion batteries integrated within the vehicle floor will have enough power for 80% of its mileage range after 15 minutes charging, Porsche said in a statement. The vehicle can optionally be “refueled” wirelessly by induction via a coil set into a garage floor.
The four-seat car features energy storage technology derived from the Le Mans-winning Porsche 919 Hybrid race car.
The €700 Mission E investment was part of a €1 billion spending plan on new facilities announced by Porsche on December 4.
Kim Kardashian and her husband, rapper Kanye West, have welcomed the arrival of their baby boy.
Kim Kardashian confirmed the news on her website with a statement saying: “To our fans, Kanye and I welcome our baby boy! Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West welcomed the arrival of their son this morning. Mother and son are doing well.”
The newborn is the second child for Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.
Their first child, daughter North West, was born in June 2013.
Photo Twitter
Kim Kardashian announced she was pregnant again in an episode of her Keeping Up with the Kardashians reality show at the end of May.
The reality star revealed their second child would be a boy in a tweet on Father’s Day: “You’re such a good daddy to North & you will be the best daddy to our new son too!”
No news on the name yet, but Kim Kardashian has previously said South West was not in the running.
“I don’t like South West… North will always, you know, be better and be more… she has a better direction,” Kim Kardashian said in an interview with National Public Radio in America.
Kim Kardashian tweeted a photo of her baby bump hours before the birth writing: “Ready whenever you are lol.”
Caitlyn Jenner has been sued by Hummer crash victims in a new lawsuit from last February’s fatal accident.
The reality star, then known Bruce Jenner, caused a chain-reaction accident on Pacific Coast Highway after hitting a Lexus driven by Kim Howe and sending it into oncoming traffic.
Kim Howe’s car was then hit by a Hummer, leading to her death.
While Kim Howe’s family already has a suit against Bruce Jenner pending, as does the driver of a Prius Jenner struck after first hitting the Lexus, the reality star is now being sued by the occupants of the Hummer.
Photo Instagram
The Wolf-Millesi family says they had five relatives in the Hummer, all of whom were injured physically and emotionally as a result of the crash. One family member claims to have suffered a severe cervical fracture that has left her permanently disabled.
Another car passenger says he suffered blunt force trauma, while a different individual had severe nerve damage. Perhaps most disturbingly, a month-old newborn was in the car as well, and was not responsive at the scene, leading the baby to be rushed to the hospital. The child survived, but it is not clear if he or she suffered injuries.
According to TMZ, the legal documents state: “The emotional effects of being involved in a collision that has taken the life of another has caused tremendous distress and suffering.”
All is attributed to Caitlyn Jenner, whom the lawsuit blames for driving recklessly at an unsafe speed. The Wolf-Millesi family is seeking unspecified damages, TMZ reports.
The filing comes more than two months after the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office announced it would not pursue criminal charges against Caitlyn Jenner.
Coca-Cola Mexico comes under fire for racist implications of a new commercial depicting young white people on a mission to “share Coke with a smile” in a remote area of Oaxaca.
Consumer rights and health groups, in addition to Coke fans, have urged the Mexican government to pull the ad from air just days after its release.
Some critics are calling the spot an insult to indigenous groups for its premise-that a group of model-looking Caucasian people arrive to partake in a “faux philanthropy” service project of handing out sodas and building a Coke-themed Christmas tree for locals.
In the new ad, Coca-Cola says the #AbreTuCorazon (Open Your Heart) campaign is meant to “break down prejudice and share”.
Then it goes on to say: “This Christmas a group of young people decided to give something very special to the indigenous community of Totontepec (Villa) de Morelos in Oaxaca. You, too, open your heart.” These messages display on screen as blond women and men cheerfully construct a red wooden tree and seemingly bring joy to the locals of the community.
The Alliance for Food Health-a coalition of consumer rights and health organizations-has called on the Mexican government to block the commercial entirely, arguing that it both attacks the dignity of indigenous people and contributes to the deteriorating health of Mexican communities, the AP reports.
Meanwhile, many others have taken to social media with their complaints about the controversial spot.
Coca-Cola has removed the ad from its YouTube channel and all planned televised spots, telling teleSUR that its message was misinterpreted.
Oscar-nominated actor Robert Loggia has died at the age of 85 on December 4 in Los Angeles, his widow Audrey confirmed to Variety.
Robert Loggia had been battling Alzheimer’s disease for the past five years.
He was nominated for a Supporting Actor Academy Award for 1986’s Jagged Edge for his portrayal of a blunt private detective.
Robert Loggia’s most notable movie roles included Scarface, Independence Day, Prizzi’s Honor, An Officer and a Gentleman, Big and Problem Child.
The actor was nominated for an Emmy in 1989 for his portrayal of FBI agent Nick Mancuso in the series Mancuso FBI and again in 2000 for his guest star role in Malcolm in the Middle.
Robert Loggia was a versatile supporting actor, assembling credits on three different episodes of The Rockford Files as three different characters. He also portrayed a violent mobster named Feech La Manna on several episodes of The Sopranos.
He was born to Italian immigrants in Staten Island. After serving two years in the US Army, Robert Loggia began classes with Stella Adler and at The Actors Studio.
Robert Loggia is survived by his widow; three children, Tracy, John and Kristina, and a stepchild, Cynthia.
His family has asked that donations be made to the Motion Picture and Television Fund.
Robert Loggia was an active supporter of the fund.
Tashfeen Malik – the woman involved in San Bernardino deadly gun attack – pledged allegiance to ISIS leader on Facebook, US officials say.
She made the post under an account with a different name, the officials told US media.
Fourteen people were killed and 21 wounded in December 2 attack.
Tashfeen Malik, 27, and her husband Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, died in a shootout with police after the killings at San Bernardino, east of Los Angeles.
According to the New York Times, there was no evidence that ISIS had directed the couple in the attack.
“At this point we believe they were more self-radicalised and inspired by the group than actually told to do the shooting,” the newspaper quoted an official as saying.
Tashfeen Malik is reported to have posted the message on Facebook in support of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The post has since been removed.
On December 4, the couple’s landlord opened their apartment to the media, prompting journalists and camera crews to rush in and survey the scene.
After the attack at the Inland Regional Center social services agency, bomb equipment, weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition were found in the couple’s home.
Tashfeen Malik and Syed Rizwan Farook had destroyed computer hard drives and other electronic equipment before the rampage took place, a US government source said on December 4.
Investigators are also said to be following up a report that Syed Rizwan Farook had argued with a colleague at work who denounced the “inherent dangers of Islam”.
Tashfeen Malik was born in Pakistan and had recently lived in Saudi Arabia.
Intelligence officials in Pakistan have contacted relatives there, a family member quoted by Reuters said.
Syed Farook, who worked as an inspector for San Bernardino’s environmental health department, was the son of Pakistani immigrants and born in the US state of Illinois.
Police said between 75 and 80 people were attending a party at the center when the shooting began.
The identities of the victims have since been released by San Bernardino’s coroner. The youngest was 26 and the oldest was 60.
San Bernardino is the deadliest mass shooting in the US since 26 people were killed at a school in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012.
French and Belgian police are seeking two new suspects accused of aiding the fugitive suspect from the Paris attacks Salah Abdeslam, the federal prosecutor’s office says.
The two suspects are “armed and dangerous” and are thought to have helped Salah Abdeslam travel to Hungary in September.
Investigators say Salah Abdeslam may have driven the suicide bombers at the Stade de France to their target on the night of the Paris attacks.
The November 13 attacks left 130 people dead and more than 350 wounded.
Salah Abdeslam was stopped at the Hungary-Austria border in September accompanied by two men with fake IDs bearing the names Soufiane Kayal and Samir Bouzid, Belgian police said.
“The Federal Prosecutor’s Office and the investigating judge wish to appeal to the public again to look out for two new suspects the investigators are actively searching for,” the Belgian prosecutor’s statement said.
Salah Abdeslam’s precise role in the attacks remains unclear. There are suggestions he was meant to carry out a suicide attack on the night but decided against it.
The name Soufiane Kayal was used to rent a house searched in November after the Paris attacks.
The identity card of Samir Bouzid was used to transfer money to Hasna Aitboulahcen, the cousin of attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, four days after the attacks, police said.
Both Hasna Aitboulahcen and Abdelhamid Abaaoud were killed in a police raid on the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, along with a third, as-yet unidentified person.
On December 4, the Paris cafe La Bonne Biere became the first of the venues targeted during the co-ordinated assaults to reopen its doors.
India’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) is facing online mockery after posting on Twitter an edited image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi surveying deadly Chennai floods.
The state-run bureau initially re-tweeted Narendra Modi’s photo of himself looking through a plane window, with submerged fields and buildings visible.
Hours later, they tweeted the same image again, but with a much clearer scene pasted on to the window.
The second tweet was deleted but not in time to prevent social media ridicule.
The PIB has made no public comment yet.
Photo Twitter
PM Narendra Modi flew to Chennai (Madras) in Tamil Nadu state on December 3 to see the damage caused by the widespread flooding, which has left more than 260 people dead since last month.
A large-scale rescue operation is under way, amid neck-high water in some areas.
It isn’t the first time Narendra Modi has fallen victim to some amateur image editing.
In 2014, before Narendra Modi became prime minister, a fake photo showing President Barack Obama watching one of his speeches went viral.
Commentators on Twitter suggested the image was released by an ardent Narendra Modi supporter trying to imply the US president was following Modi’s election campaign.
A bid by Takata and Honda to end a class action lawsuit representing millions of owners of cars with potentially faulty air bags has been rejected by a Miami court.
Air bag maker Takata along with other carmakers will continue to face the lawsuit that alleges that they violated anti-racketeering laws, district judge Federico Mareno ruled.
The companies have been moving quickly to settle US death claims.
Over 19 million US cars have been recalled since 2008 due to the air bags.
The two compaies have agreed to undisclosed settlements for six of the eight deaths linked to ruptured Takata airbag inflators in Honda vehicles.
Takata’s air bag inflators use ammonium nitrate and can deploy with too much force, spraying metal shrapnel.
A Honda spokesman told Reuters that the Japanese auto giant had been working quickly to settle the claims and had worked in good faith to resolve the concerns of the families affected.
However, the judge ruled on December 2 that the lawsuit still stands.
The lawsuit claims that owners overpaid for the cars with the faulty air bags and that the value of those vehicles has been reduced by the recalls.
Globally, tens of millions of cars with Takata airbags have been recalled since 2008.
Honda – Japan’s third biggest automaker – has been the hardest hit with 24.5 million cars recalled – more than half the global total.
Last month, Honda announced that it would no longer use front air bag inflators made by Takata, after the equipment maker was fined $70 million by the US auto safety regulator.
Honda was Takata’s biggest air bag customer and made up about 10% of Takata’s global sales.
Asian markets traded lower on December 4, following a global trend, as investors reacted negatively to the European Central Bank’s (ECB) policy-easing moves.
The ECB cut its deposit rate by 0.1 percentage point to -0.3%.
The bank also extended its asset purchase program, but did not increase its monthly government bond purchases.
Investors were expecting a bigger cut in the rates, analysts said.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed down 2.2% to 19,504.48, leading losses across the region.
The six-month extension of its stimulus program was seen as the bare minimum. Traders were looking for a one-year extension of the plan – or even an open-ended option.
China’s stock market fell after four consecutive days of gains, with Shanghai Composite index closing down 1.67% at 3,524.99.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed down 0.81% at 22,235.89, in line with global markets.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 1.5% at 5,151.60 despite retail sales rising 0.5% in October from the month before.
It was the third month of solid growth as shoppers spent big on household goods and at department stores.
South Korea’s Kospi index finished lower, falling by 1% to 1,974.4.
The European Commission has opened an investigation into fast food giant McDonald’s tax affairs.
The investigation will focus on McDonald’s tax deals with Luxembourg.
According to the Commission, the deals allowed McDonald’s to avoid paying taxes in both Luxembourg and the US on royalties from Europe and Russia.
It follows similar investigations into tax deals made by Starbucks and Amazon with some authorities in Europe.
The Commission said two tax rulings given by the Luxembourg authorities in 2009 had allowed McDonald’s Europe Franchising to pay no corporation tax in Luxembourg since then, despite recording large profits. It added that in 2013, McDonald’s profits were more than €250 million.
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of EU competition policy, said: “A tax ruling that agrees to McDonald’s paying no tax on their European royalties either in Luxembourg or in the US has to be looked at very carefully under EU state aid rules.
“The purpose of double-taxation treaties between countries is to avoid double taxation – not to justify double non-taxation.”
McDonald’s said in a statement: “McDonald’s complies with all tax laws and rules in Europe and pays a significant amount of corporate income tax. In fact, from 2010-14, the McDonald’s companies paid more than $2.1 billion just in corporate taxes in the European Union, with an average tax rate of almost 27%.
“Additionally, we pay social, real estate and other taxes. Our independent franchisees, who own and operate approximately 75% of our restaurants in Europe, also pay corporate tax and many other taxes.
“We are confident that the inquiry will be resolved favorably.”
Under the first tax ruling in March 2009, tax authorities in Luxembourg agreed to allow McDonald’s to pay no corporation tax on its European earnings in the country, as long as the food chain could prove that it paid tax on those earnings in the US each year.
This was done to avoid McDonald’s becoming subject to double taxation in the EU and the US.
It was subsequently discovered that McDonald’s earnings in the EU were not registered in the US for tax purposes, leaving McDonald’s no way to prove it had paid tax on its European royalties there.
A second tax ruling in September allowed McDonald’s to pay no tax in Luxembourg on its European earnings, without needing to prove it paid tax on those earnings in the US. The Commission said it planned to investigate whether this amounted to state aid.
The latest Commission investigation comes two months after it ordered Luxembourg to recover up to €30 million from Fiat Chrysler and the Dutch to do the same for Starbucks, because their tax deals were seen as unlawful aid.
Former Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland has died at the age of 48.
Scott Weiland’s manager, Tom Vitorino, confirmed his death on December 3.
A statement, on Instagram, said Scott Weiland had “passed away in his sleep while on a tour stop in Bloomington, Minnesota, with his band The Wildabouts”.
Scott Weiland had a history of drug problems. He formed the Grammy-winning band Stone Temple Pilots, and was a member of supergroup Velvet Revolver.
According to TMZ, Scott Weiland’s body was discovered on his tour bus outside a motel, near the venue where the band was due to play.
Photo Twitter
Born in California, Scott Weiland formed the band Stone Temple Pilots with brothers Robert and Dean DeLeo in the late 1990s and went on to enjoy early critical and commercial success.
The success of tracks such as Big Empty, Vasoline and Interstate Love Song, which propelled the 1994 album Purple to the top of the US charts, was marred by in-fighting among band members.
Stone Temple Pilots took a number of breaks, with Scott Weiland eventually leaving and forming the supergroup Velvet Revolver – with former Guns N’ Roses members Slash (guitars), Duff McKagan (bass) and Matt Sorum (drums) – in 2002.
However, Scott Weiland’s drug addiction issues were becoming increasingly problematic.
In 1995, the singer was convicted of buying crack cocaine and sentenced to probation.
He was jailed in 1999 for violating his probation after being convicted of heroin possession in 1998, and four years later, in 2003, sentenced to three years’ probation for drug possession.
In 2008, Scott Weiland was sentenced to eight days in jail after pleading no contest to a drink driving charge.
Velvet Revolver had to frequently alter its schedules to accommodate Scott Weiland’s court appearances and spells in rehab and the band’s 2007 release, Libertad, was the last to feature Weiland on vocals.
They split with Scott Weiland the following year, blaming the singer’s “erratic behavior”.
Scott Weiland later returned to the reformed Stone Temple Pilots – but in 2013, they too ejected him from the band, claiming he had been “misappropriating” their name to further his solo career.
Reports of Scott Weiland’s death began to circulate after musician Dave Navarro reportedly tweeted: “Just learned our friend Scott Weiland has died. So gutted, I am thinking of his family tonight.”
That tweet later appeared to have been removed.
No immediate cause of death was given in the official statement. The statement asked for “the privacy of Scott’s family be respected”.
Scott Weiland’s current band, Scott Weiland & the Wildabouts, were scheduled to play at a Medina, Minnesota, concert venue, on December 3. The event was canceled.
Coldplay will headline the halftime show at Super Bowl 50 in February 2016.
Frontman Chris Martin said the band was “excited and honored and thrilled” to take part in next year’s event. He has also described the show as the “greatest moment” in the band’s career.
Coldplay revealed the news on Twitter, saying the show would reflect the past, present and the next 50 years ahead.
A record 118.5 million viewers in the US watched Katy Perry perform in this year’s half-time show.
The NFL promised “fun, celebration and surprises” for the event at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Recent half-time headliners have also included Beyonce, Madonna and Bruno Mars, with Bruce Springsteen and The Who also playing in past years.
In a promotional video, Chris Martin said: “We are so excited and honored and thrilled to be playing the half-time show.
“It’s going to be wonderful and I hope we see you there.”
Coldplay’s artistic director, Phil Harvey, said there would be a “special guest” – but did not reveal their identity.
The band is planning to tour “early next year”, after only playing a handful of low-key shows to promote their last album, Ghost Stories.
It was also announced on Coldplay’s website that they were to play a free show in Paris for their French fans on December 9, weeks after the attacks in the city that left 130 dead, including many at the Bataclan theatre where the Eagles of Death Metal were performing.
Police have found bomb equipment, weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition at San Bernardino shooters’ home.
The attackers killed 14 people and wounded 21 at San Bernardino’s Inland Regional Center in California.
Authorities still have not found a motive in the attack by Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27.
According to police, the attack indicated there had been “some degree of planning”.
San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said it appeared that the duo was prepared to carry out another attack.
“There was obviously a mission here. We know that. We do not know why. We don’t know if this was the intended target or if there was something that triggered him to do this immediately,” said David Bowdich, assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles office.
In the shootout with police hours after the attack, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik fired 76 rounds of ammunition at the officers and the officers fired 380 rounds back.
Two police officers were injured during the pursuit.
San Bernardino attack marks the deadliest mass shooting in the US since 26 people were killed at a school in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012.
Authorities are expected to start releasing the names of the victims on December 3.
President Barack Obama said the FBI had taken over the investigation from local authorities.
“It is possible that this was terrorist-related, but we don’t know. It’s also possible that this was workplace-related,” he said.
“We’re going to have to search ourselves as a society to make sure we can take basic steps that would make it harder – not impossible, but harder – for individuals to get access to weapons.”
Law enforcement officials are also looking at possible “co-conspirators” and have been in touch with the suspects’ relatives.
Syed Rizwan Farook, who was born in the US, was not “on the radar” of law enforcement, Jarrod Burguan said.
He worked for the past five years as a restaurant inspector for the San Bernardino County Health Department. The Los Angeles Times reported that co-workers said he was a devout Muslim but rarely discussed his religion.
He and Tashfeen Malik were recently married and had a six-month-old baby, who they dropped off at its grandmother’s house before the attack.
On December 2, Syed Rizwan Farook and his colleagues were attending a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center.
Co-worker Patrick Baccari said he was sitting at the same table as Syed Farook before he abruptly left, leaving his coat.
Wearing military-style clothing and armed with assault rifles and semi-automatic handguns, Syed Farook returned with Tashfeen Malik a short time later to open fire.
When the shooting started, Patrick Baccari took refuge in a bathroom and was hurt when shrapnel sliced through the wall.
Belgian authorities have detained two more suspects in connection with the November 13 Paris attacks.
One man was held on November 29 at an airport in Brussels trying to leave for Morocco, prosecutors said. Another was held the same day in Brussels’ Molenbeek area.
This brings the number of people detained in Belgium to eight.
Attackers armed with automatic rifles and suicide belts killed 130 people at a number of sites in Paris. Some of the attackers had lived in Belgium.
Belgian prosecutors said a 20-year-old Frenchman, listed as Samir Z, had been stopped at Zaventem airport, north-west of Brussels, preparing to board a flight to Morocco in the early hours of Sunday.
They said he was “considered to be part of the entourage of Bilal Hadfi”.
Bilal Hadfi was said to have blown himself up in a street after failing to get into the Stade de France at the soccer match between France and Germany on November 13.
Prosecutors said Samir Z was “under the suspicion of having attempted to leave for Syria at least twice in 2015”.
The second arrest was at dawn on Sunday, November 29. A Belgian national listed as Pierre N and born in 1987 was detained in his home in Molenbeek.
Both were placed in custody “on grounds of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization”, the prosecutors’ statement said.
They have appeared before a court, which has extended their detention.
Since the attacks, Belgian authorities have carried out a series of raids searching for key suspects believed to have lived in the Molenbeek area.
The verdict in Oscar Pistorius case has been changed to murder.
The Paralympic champion has been found guilty of murder after a South African appeals court overturned an earlier manslaughter verdict.
Oscar Pistorius, 28, killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013 after shooting her four times through a locked toilet door.
He is currently under house arrest after spending one year of his original five-year sentence in jail.
Photo AP
Oscar Pistorius will have to return to court to be re-sentenced, for murder.
South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the lower court did not correctly apply the rule of dolus eventualis – whether Oscar Pistorius knew that a death would be a likely result of his actions.
The minimum sentence for murder is 15 years but judges can apply some discretion.
South African law does not make provision for someone to be placed under house arrest for more than five years, so Pistorius will be going back to prison.
Oscar Pistorius’ family gave a brief response, saying lawyers are studying the finding who will advise them on “options going forward”.
Reading the ruling reached by a panel of five judges, Justice Eric Leach said that having armed himself with a high-caliber weapon, Oscar Pistorius must have foreseen that whoever was behind the door might die.
“As a matter of common sense at the time the fatal shots were fired, the possibility of the death of the person behind the door was clearly an obvious result.
“And in firing not one but four shots, such a result became even more likely,” the judge said.
Oscar Pistorius always maintained that he believed there was an intruder in the house but the judge said that the identity of the person behind the door was “irrelevant to his guilt”.
Justice Eric Leach compared it to someone setting off a bomb in a public place not knowing who the victims might be.
The judge also rejected the argument that Oscar Pistorius had acted in self-defense.
Justice Eric Leach said that Oscar Pistorius’ life was not in danger at the time of the shooting, as the athelte did not know who was behind the door or if they posed a threat.
The judge added that Oscar Pistorius did “not take that most elementary precaution of firing a warning shot”.
The double amputee did not attend the hearing in Bloemfontein.
But Reeva Steenkamp’s mother, June, was present and afterwards she was seen outside the court being embraced by members of the African National Congress Women’s League, who were singing songs of celebration.
Many in South Africa were upset by the original acquittal on murder charges, with women’s rights groups arguing Oscar Pistorius should have been found guilty of murder as a deterrent because of the high number of women who are killed by their partners in the country.
The Paralympic champion was released from prison on October 19. Under South African law, he was eligible for release under “correctional supervision”, having served a sixth of his sentence.
Oscar Pistorius can challenge the ruling in the constitutional court but only if his lawyers can argue that his constitutional rights have been violated.
Two FIFA officials have been arrested in a dawn raid at the luxury Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich on suspicion of accepting millions of dollars of bribes.
Police swooped on the luxury hotel, where several FIFA officials were arrested in May.
A two-day meeting of FIFA’s executive committee is taking place in Zurich, Switzerland, to vote on reforms.
“FIFA became aware of the actions taken today by the US Department of Justice,” the soccer’s world governing body said.
“FIFA will continue to co-operate fully with the US investigation as permitted by Swiss law, as well as with the investigation being led by the Swiss Office of the Attorney General.
“FIFA will have no further comment on today’s developments.”
In May, seven FIFA officials, including two vice presidents, were arrested at the same hotel at the request of a US investigation into corruption, as the organization was engulfed by claims of widespread wrongdoing.
The Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FoJ) has said the two people arrested overnight are alleged to have taken money for selling marketing rights in connection with soccer tournaments in Latin America, as well as World Cup qualifying matches.
“A further two FIFA officials were arrested in Zurich today,” the Swiss FoJ said on December 3.
“They are being held in custody pending their extradition [to the US]. According to the US arrest requests, they are suspected of accepting bribes of millions of dollars.”
Swiss officials said they would release the names of the two arrested people and the outcomes of the hearings later on Thursday, December 3.
A Swiss criminal investigation into the bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups was also launched earlier this year, alongside the US inquiry.
Police have named two suspects killed after a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, left 14 people dead at a social services center.
The man and woman, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, were killed in an exchange of fire with police.
Syed Rizwan Farook had been a San Bernardino public health employee for five years, police chief Jarrod Burguan said.
The attack took place at an event on December 2 for Syed Rizwan Farook’s colleagues. None of the victims has been identified.
The Inland Regional Center, where the shooting took place, provides services for people with developmental disabilities, but the shooting appeared to be unrelated to its clients.
The incident marks the deadliest mass shooting in the US since 26 people were killed at a school in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012.
Jarrod Burguan, who said another 17 people were wounded, said police were “reasonably confident” that there were just two shooters.
A third person seen running from the scene was detained, but police said it was unclear whether that person was involved.
Both suspects were killed in their vehicle after a shoot-out with police involving 20 officers. A tip-off had earlier led police to a house in nearby Redlands.
The dead man and woman were believed to be a couple, the police chief said. They were armed with assault rifles and semi-automatic handguns and wore military-style clothing.
According to the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), two of the four guns recovered were linked to “an individual associated with this investigation”. They are investigating the origin of the other two guns.
One police officer was injured, but his injuries are not life threatening.
Three possible explosive devices were found at the Inland Regional Center, where the shooting took place.
Jarrod Burguan said that Syed Rizwan Farook had left the event – which was possibly a holiday party for employees or a meeting – “under some circumstances that were described as angry,” and returned with Tashfeen Malik.
Earlier, the FBI said it was not ruling out the possibility of terrorism but the situation was still being investigated.
San Bernardino is a city of about 200,000 people, 60 miles east of Los Angeles.
The attack took place in a conference area where the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health was holding a social event, said Maybeth Field, the center’s president.
Syed Rizwan Farook, who was born in the US, worked for the county as an environmental health specialist, police said. They had no information on whether he had a criminal record, nor further details on Tashfeen Malik.
Colleagues told the Los Angeles Times that Syed Rizwan Farook had traveled to Saudi Arabia and returned with a new wife. The couple had a young baby, they said.
His brother-in-law, Farhan Khan, told a press conference he had “absolutely no idea” what could have prompted the shooting.
The mass shooting comes just days after three people were killed at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic.
President Barack Obama said in response to San Bernardino shooting: “One thing we do know is that we have a pattern of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere in the world.
“There are some steps that we could take, not to eliminate all incidents, but to make sure they happen less frequently.”
North Korea is building a new tunnel at its nuclear test site, recent satellite images indicate.
A report on 38 North, a website run by the US-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, studied images taken between April and November.
These appeared to show work in a new area of the Punggye-ri nuclear zone.
However, the report said, there is no sign that any nuclear test is imminent.
North Korea carried out three underground nuclear tests at Punggye-ri in 2006, 2009 and 2013. The country’s nuclear program has been a source of great concern for the international community.
The tunnel identified in the latest imagery is in a new area of the site, separate from three other tunnels that North Korea has excavated or used for tests in the past, the report said.
“While there are no indications that a nuclear test is imminent, the new tunnel adds to North Korea’s ability to conduct additional detonations over the coming years if it chooses to do so,” it added.
The commercially-available satellite imagery on which the researchers based their conclusions appear to show a new tunnel entrance, the site’s fourth, as well as signs of construction work taking place as recently as October and November.
The report says some analysts believe each entrance connects to a single tunnel but there is debate about the exact nature and structure of the underground testing facility.
It is not the first indication of construction activity at the site. In October, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted a South Korean government source saying there were workers constructing a new tunnel at Punggye-ri.
In September, North Korea said that its reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear facility, the source of plutonium for the country’s nuclear weapons, had resumed normal operations.
Yongbyon’s reactor was shut down in 2007 but Pyongyang vowed to restart it in 2013, following its third nuclear test and amid high regional tensions.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dismissed Russian claims he is benefiting from the oil trade with ISIS as “slander”.
Russia claims that Turkey is the biggest buyer of oil smuggled from ISIS-held territory, accusing Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family of direct involvement.
However, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would resign if such allegations were proved.
Russia and Turkey are locked in an angry spat over the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkish forces.
Responding to the allegations, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said “no one has a right to engage in slander against Turkey by saying that Turkey is buying oil from Daesh [ISIS]”.
Earlier, Russia’s defense ministry displayed satellite images it said showed columns of trucks loaded with oil crossing from ISIS territory in Iraq and Syria into Turkey.
“According to available information, the highest level of the political leadership of the country, President Erdogan and his family, are involved in this criminal business,” Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov told the briefing in Moscow.
Russia said it was producing only “part of the evidence” for now and did not provide direct proof of their claim that Recep Tayyip Erdogan and family were involved.
The US has also rejected the allegations.
“We just don’t believe that to be true in any way, shape or form,” a State Department spokesman said.
President Vladimir Putin has already accused Ankara of downing the plane on its Syrian border to protect oil supply lines.
Turkey said the Russian SU-24 fighter plane intruded into its airspace and ignored repeated warnings to leave.
Russia and Turkey have important economic ties, and in the wake of the incident Moscow imposed visa requirements for Turkish visitors, and placed restrictions on trade with Ankara.
On December 2, Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Russia’s response “disproportional” and said Turkey would take their “own measures” if they continued, without specifying what they would be.
Despite the tensions Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said he is prepared to meet Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu at a security conference in Serbia this week.
It would be the first time the officials have met since the downing of the Russian fighter jet.
Brazil’s lower house of Congress has opened impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff.
The process is based on allegations Dilma Rousseff broke the law in managing 2014 budget, President of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha said.
Despite re-election in 2014, Dilma Rousseff’s popularity has slumped amid a corruption scandal involving the state-owned oil giant, Petrobras.
“I was outraged by the decision,” the president said in a televised speech.
“I haven’t committed any wrongful act,” she added.
Dilma Rousseff, who earlier called an emergency cabinet meeting, said she was confident that the impeachment motion would be rejected.
Two-thirds of the lower house must approve the process for it to proceed.
The governing coalition has a majority in the lower house of Congress.
The defeated opposition candidate in last year’s presidential election, Senator Aecio Neves, has tweeted that he supports the impeachment request.
“Everyone in the country must obey the law, especially the president,” he wrote.
Eduardo Cunha is himself facing corruption allegations, which he denies.
He has been accused of lying about a secret bank account in Switzerland.
An ethics committee is voting on whether to authorize action to eject him from his post of speaker.
Eduardo Cunha had been threatening to open impeachment proceedings if the governing party did not offer him backing.
His decision was “purely technical”, he said.
“It was a difficult decision. I did not become speaker of the Chamber of Deputies aiming to approve impeachment proceedings against the president,” said Eduardo Cunha.
The impeachment request had been filed by a distinguished jurist, Helio Bicudo, and some opposition members.
The document blames the government for the corruption scandal at Petrobras and says Dilma Rousseff violated Brazil’s fiscal responsibility laws.
In October an audit court ruled that Dilma Rousseff had borrowed money illegally from state banks to make up for budget shortfalls.
On December 1, the economy minister announced that Brazil’s economy shrank by 1.7% in the Q3 of 2015 compared with the second quarter, deepening the country’s worst recession in 25 years.
Compared with a year ago, the economy is 4.5% smaller.
The corruption scandal at Petrobras was partly to blame for the downturn, said Economy Minister Joaquim Levy.
California police are searching for up to three gunmen after a shooting at a facility for disabled people.
Fire officials in San Bernardino said it was responding to a “20 victim shooting incident” at the Inland Regional Center and it was working to clear the scene.
ABC News reports that there are 12 people dead but police have not confirmed that number.
It is still a “very active scene” and police were trying to secure the building, said a police spokeswoman.
There may be up to three gunmen, she said, and they were heavily armed and possibly wearing body armor.
The gunmen may have fled the scene in a black SUV and may have had long guns.
Photo AP
One man received a text from his daughter that said she was hiding inside the building, where she works.
Terry Petit told reporters his daughter wrote to him: “People shot. In the office waiting for cops. Pray for us. I am locked in an office.”
President Barack Obama has responded to the shooting.
“One thing we do know is that we have a pattern of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere in the world,” he said.
“There are some steps that we could take, not to eliminate all incidents, but to make sure they happen less frequently.”
A local reporter tweeted that people were being evacuated from the Inland Regional Center, a medical and health organization.
The organization administers help to people with disabilities like autism and other mental health problems.
The shooting is happening less than a week after a shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado left three people dead and nine people wounded.
People are being seen wheeled away on stretchers with medics and police officers in attendance.
CNN reports that area hospitals are receiving at least 15 patients from the shooting.
An employee of the centre told CNN that the building was holding an event for county personnel inside an auditorium when the shooting occurred.
Representatives from the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are on the scene.
No arrests have been made yet.
There are also unconfirmed reports of an explosive device at the scene.
Witnesses told CNN they heard rapid shooting coming from nearby the building.
Police confirmed a report that the suspects entered a conference room in the building and started shooting but had no further details.
There are three buildings on the campus with more than 600 employees total, said Kristin Myricks, an employee of the centre who did not go to work today.
The facility has had active gunman training in the past. Badges are needed to enter the facility.
Neurology is one of the most complicated branches of medicine. If you’re a neurologist running your own practice or working with a team, you’ll want to make sure your files are always up-to-date and accurate. That’s not just a tendency toward obsessive-compulsiveness. In your line of work, it’s necessary. Lives depend on the accuracy of your notes. A single mistake in number could cause someone to miss their medication or lead to overdose.
However, if you’re a one-man team or if the rest of your team find themselves incapacitated by a nasty bug going around the hospital, you won’t be able to handle those files alone. That’s where an excellent neurology medical transcription service provider like Eyered Transcription comes in handy—at least until everyone on the team is back on their feet.
Accurate Medical Transcription
If you’re running a private practice and you’re the only one around to transcribe your notes and check it for errors, you might miss a couple of things, not unless you spend countless hours reviewing your files. If the place is packed, though, and you’ve got more patients coming in, you might not even have enough time to sit down for sandwich, much less transcribe your own notes. Top Ten Review says that’s one reason you should hire a medical transcription service provider. A great transcriptionist won’t just help you transcribe your files, she’ll also make sure your files are free of errors. That’s one easy and simple way for you to maintain the accuracy of your files without having to require yourself to spend more time proofing and editing your patient documents.
Trained and Skilled Professionals
Self-growth says great transcriptionists have the right training and skills to help you out. Some of them undergo medical transcription training programs to develop familiarity with their subject matter as well as acquire the skills they need. This should include fast typing as well as great skill in editing and writing. Some transcriptionists also enroll themselves in online courses just to make sure they’re updated with the latest in terms of trends and practices. They never stop learning. So if you find a medical transcription service provider, one of the first things you should definitely ask about is the current skill level of the staff on board and the types of training they have to ensure they’re on top of the game.
Quick Delivery of Results
Great transcriptionists deliver the goods and they do it quick and efficient. That’s the kind of service you want from your transcription provider. Some companies, like Eyered Transcription, are able to provide neurology medical transcription assistance and results within less than 24 hours. The faster turnaround times the company is capable of, the better.
However, fast delivery, in itself, doesn’t automatically mean quality. So make sure you still check the quality of the work before you load it up into your system. Never put anything automatically into your system without thoroughly checking the work. Hiring professionals for the job mean you don’t have to work as much on file documentation. However, it still pays to keep an eye on the work. That way, if and when your transcriptionist misses something, you’ll be there to pick up the slack.
Instructions are Followed to a Tee
According to Transcription Pro, great transcriptionists are a stickler for following client instructions. Most of them like to cross their Ts. That works to your advantage, of course. If they do it right the first time, then the dictations can be completed and sent back to you right on time. That means no delays in the delivery schedule. Another tip to keep delays from happening, though, is to ensure your instructions are clear and easily understood. Clarifications, while welcome, take time to explain as well. Even if you only need to clarify the instructions for a few minutes, that’s still a few minutes more of your transcriptionist’s time spent away from the work. So if you want to make the most out of the services you paid for, send out clear, concise instructions every time.
Dependable and Reliable
Another great thing about great transcriptionists is that they’re utterly reliable. In business, deadlines are often a binding contract. Meaning, if you tell your clients to expect something by a given date or time, then you should have the power and skills to make that happen. Otherwise, people may stop trusting you. Don’t let delays detract from your professional credibility and the value of your service. With a reliable transcription service provider on your side, being reliable in your deadlines will be easy and simple enough to manage.
These are spot-on reasons to hire a transcription service provider to take care of your transcription needs for you. If you want more time, less stress, and a better way to manage your files, take a gander into hiring the right transcription service.
