According to revised official figures, the US economy expanded more than previously estimated in Q2 2015.
The US Commerce Department said the economy expanded at an annualized pace of 3.9%, rather than 3.7%.
The overall US economic growth was due to strong consumer spending, business investment and residential construction.
Photo Getty Images
It rate is much higher than the 0.6% rate recorded in Q1 2015.
The growth rate is expected to have slowed in the current quarter, but in a speech on September 24 Federal Reserve head Janet Yellen said economic growth appeared “solid” and the US remained “on track” for an interest rate rise this year.
Janet Yellen said as long as inflation was stable and the US economy was strong enough to boost jobs, the conditions would be right for a rise.
US interest rates have been held at near-zero since the 2008 financial crisis. When they finally do rise, it will be the first interest rate increase in nine years.
Stocks on Wall Street made a bright start in the wake of the GDP figures and Janet Yellen’s comments, with the Dow Jones rising 1% in morning trade.
Switzerland has opened a criminal proceedings against FIFA President Sepp Blatter.
The Swiss attorney general’s office said Sepp Blatter was suspected of criminal mismanagement or misappropriation over a TV rights deal and of a “disloyal payment” to European soccer chief Michel Platini.
Sepp Blatter, 79, was being questioned, and his office was searched, it added.
The world’s governing body said it was co-operating with the investigation.
Sepp Blatter has run FIFA since 1998 and has always denied any wrongdoing.
The attorney general’s office said the investigation surrounds a TV rights deal Sepp Blatter signed with former Caribbean soccer chief Jack Warner in 2005.
“Swiss criminal proceedings against the president of FIFA, Mr. Joseph Blatter, have been opened… on suspicion of criminal mismanagement… and – alternatively – misappropriation,” it said.
Sepp Blatter is also suspected of making a “disloyal payment” of two million Swiss francs ($2 million) in 2011 to Michel Platini, the head of the European soccer body UEFA, the statement said.
It said the payment was “at the expense of FIFA, which was allegedly made for work performed between January 1999 and June 2002”.
Sepp Blatter is due to step down in February and Michel Platini is widely expected to replace him.
In May, Swiss authorities arrested seven FIFA officials in Zurich at the request of the US. They face extradition.
The US then unveiled indictments against seven other people in their corruption case, nine of whom are high-ranking officials.
Among them was Jack Warner, president of the Caribbean football association CONCACAF and one of the most powerful men in world football. He is currently in Trinidad awaiting extradition to the US on charges of corruption.
The Swiss opened their own investigation into FIFA hours after the initial arrests.
FIFA owns the TV rights to the World Cup and sells them to regional federations which then sell them on to broadcasters.
Sepp Blatter’s lawyer, Richard Cullen, said he was confident the inquiry would clear Blatter of any wrongdoing regarding the contract with Jack Warner.
“We are confident that when the Swiss authorities have a chance to review the documents and the evidence, they will see that the contract was properly prepared and negotiated by the appropriate staff members of FIFA who were routinely responsible for such contracts, and certainly no mismanagement occurred,” he said.
Sepp Blatter won a fifth consecutive FIFA presidential election on May 29 but, following claims of corruption, announced his decision to step down on June 2. He is due to finish his term at a FIFA extraordinary congress on February 26.
FIFA canceled its news conference on September 25 only minutes before it was due to start.
Sepp Blatter would have been speaking in public for the first time since general secretary Jerome Valcke was suspended last week amid allegations regarding ticket sales at the 2014 World Cup.
Newspaper reports implicated Jerome Valcke, 54, in a scheme to sell tickets for above face value.
Jerome Valcke, who describes the allegations as “fabricated”, has been released from his duties pending an investigation.
FIFA also announced earlier that it had moved its next executive committee meeting from Tokyo to Zurich.
Correspondents say that, although Sepp Blatter has not been indicted, he might be more vulnerable to an extradition request outside of Switzerland.
German businessman Matthias Muller has been named as Volkswagen’s new CEO in the wake of the scandal of rigged emissions tests in diesel cars.
Matthias Muller succeeds Martin Winterkorn who resigned on September 23.
VW admitted cheating emissions tests in the US.
Some VW cars being sold in the US had devices in diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested, changing the performance accordingly to improve results.
Matthias Muller, who has been Porsche AG CEO since 2010, said restoring VW’s reputation was his top priority: “My most urgent task is to win back trust for the Volkswagen Group – by leaving no stone unturned and with maximum transparency, as well as drawing the right conclusions from the current situation.”
He also announced sweeping changes to the way the world’s largest carmaker was run, including handing greater autonomy to regional divisions.
Matthias Muller, 62, said he would tighten up procedures at the company: “At no point was the safety of our customers in danger. We will now have even stricter compliance. Our objective is that the people continue to use and drive our vehicles with confidence and pleasure. That’s 80 million people driving our cars worldwide.”
The US’s Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) findings of the scandal cover 482,000 cars in the US only, including the VW-manufactured Audi A3, and the VW brands Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Passat.
The automaker has admitted that about 11 million cars worldwide are fitted with the so-called “defeat device” – 2.8 million cars in Germany – and further costly recalls and refits are possible.
Half of VW’s sales in Europe – the company’s biggest market – are for diesel cars.
VW shares plunged around 30% in the days after the scandal broke.
Transport authorities in several countries – including the UK and Germany – have announced investigations in to the scandal.
In a speech in front of the world’s leaders at the United Nations in New York, Pope Francis has urged them to respect humanity’s “right to the environment”.
The pontiff also called on financial agencies not to subject countries to “oppressive lending systems” that worsen poverty.
In an allusion to the Church’s teachings on s**ual minorities, Pope Francis called for respect for the “natural difference between man and woman”.
Pope Francis went on to visit the 9/11 memorial for a multi-faith service.
He said the universe was “the fruit of a loving decision by the Creator” and that humanity “is not authorized to abuse it, much less to destroy it.”
The Pope also said he hoped a forthcoming summit on climate change in Paris would produce a “fundamental and effective agreement”.
In a wide-ranging speech, Pope Francis addressed topics including girls’ education drug trafficking, and welcomed the deal between Iran and world powers on its nuclear deal, calling it “proof of the potential of political goodwill”.
Earlier, he addressed UN staff after being greeted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, telling them their roles were very important.
“Thank you for all you do… I bless each one of you from my heart. I will pray for you and your families,” the Pope said.
“I ask each of you to remember to pray for me. If anyone is not a believer, I ask you to wish me well.”
Photo Reuters
Later on Friday Pope Francis will visit a school in the heavily Hispanic neighborhood of East Harlem.
About 80,000 are expected to watch the procession as Pope Francis makes his way to Mass at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
Nearly 20,000 are set to attend the service at the major sporting and concert arena.
Thousands lined Fifth Avenue on September 24 as Pope Francis made his way to St Patrick’s Cathedral for evening prayers.
The Pope arrived in New York from Washington, where he delivered the first-ever papal address to the US Congress.
In the speech, he urged a humane response to refugees, an end to the death penalty and better treatment of the poor and disadvantaged.
Next Pope Francis will go to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he will speak in front of Independence Hall and have Mass at a Catholic families’ rally.
The United Nations warns that a daily flow of about 8,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees to Europe is likely to continue.
The figure came from UN regional coordinator for refugees Amin Awad, who spoke to Reuters news agency.
More than 5,000 refugees are arriving daily in Greece.
That flow could continue during the winter if the weather remains good and the borders open, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said.
About half a million migrants – mostly from Syria and other conflict zones in the Middle East and Africa – have arrived in Europe this year.
The refugee influx has caused tensions between EU neighbors in Central Europe, which continued on September 25 despite a visit to Austria by Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban.
Viktor Orban and Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann did not appear together in public after their talks.
Werner Faymann had earlier likened Hungary’s tough handling of migrants to the policies of Nazi Germany – a comparison angrily dismissed by Hungary.
Speaking in Vienna, Viktor Orban said Hungary had to build a fence on its border with Croatia like the razor-wire fence completed on its border with Serbia.
What happens on the Croatia-Hungary border will be “decisive in the next few days” for the refugee crisis, he said. Hungary has nearly completed the fence on that border.
Hungary’s traditionally good relations with Austria must be maintained, Viktor Orban said, urging Vienna to show “clear support” for protection of the EU’s external borders.
Croatia – the EU’s newest member state – has struggled with an influx of migrants from Serbia, since they were blocked at the Hungarian border. Croatia-Serbia tensions escalated into a war of words.
On September 25, Croatia’s PM Zoran Milanovic said he was working to lift the country’s border restrictions “today or tomorrow”.
Vehicles have been blocked and Serbia – a candidate to join the EU – angrily compared the restrictions with “those of the World War Two fascist regime”.
Scars remain from the Serb-Croat fighting of the 1990s, when Yugoslavia disintegrated in inter-ethnic conflict.
The EU’s Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy, Johannes Hahn, visited a refugee camp in the border zone on September 25 with Serbia’s PM Aleksandar Vucic.
Deep divisions surfaced in the EU this week when ministers agreed to relocate about 120,000 refugees across Europe.
The refugees – from Syria, Iraq and Eritrea – will be transferred from Greece and Italy, to ease the pressure on overcrowded reception centers there.
However, there is still a dispute about the distribution plan. Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia voted against it. They resent the imposition of quotas, arguing that they are ill-equipped to integrate non-EU rrefugees.
Many of the refugees are determined to reach Germany, whose Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged EU partners to take in more refugees. Germany expects to have at least 800,000 asylum seekers in 2015.
Germany’s federal government has pledged €4 billion ($4.5 billion) to its regional states, double the current levels of funding, to help them cope with a record refugee influx.
Prince Majed Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia has been arrested in Los Angeles for allegedly abusing a worker at a Beverly Hills mansion.
According to LAPD, Majed Abdulaziz al-Saud, 28, was arrested on September 23 and released the following day after posting a $300,000 bond.
The prince is scheduled to appear in court on October 19.
Majed Abdulaziz al-Saud does not have diplomatic immunity, police said.
According to the Los Angeles Times, a neighbor had spotted a bloodied woman calling for help and trying to climb over a wall surrounding the $37 million estate.
The Saudi Arabian embassy is yet to comment on the case.
John Boehner will resign from his position as speaker of the House and give up his seat at the end of October.
He has been under pressure from the conservative wing of the Republican Party, and in particular over government funding for Planned Parenthood.
Aides say John Boehner had planned to resign since 2014.
The announcement comes one day after the speaker hosted Pope Francis for a major address to the US Congress.
John Boehner is expected to make a public announcement at 10:30 local time.
He assumed the leadership position in January 2011, when Republicans took control of the House.
Photo AP
John Boehner’s resignation comes as Republicans have been deliberating over plans to defund women’s healthcare provider Planned Parenthood.
The organization has come under fire from anti-abortion activists who claimed its employees were selling fetal organs.
Hard-line conservatives have urged the leadership to stall a government funding bill – a move that could see the US government shut down next week for the second time in as many years – if language defunding the healthcare provider is not included.
Reuters is reporting that Rep Steve King has told reporters that Rep Kevin McCarthy is top pick to replace John Boehner as speaker.
Rep Bill Huizenga said in a tweet that the speaker made the announcement to his conference this morning.
In a statement, John Boehner’s staff said that he had intended to resign at the end of last year, but the surprise defeat of then House Majority Leader Eric Cantor “changed that calculation”.
On September 24, Pope Francis became the first pontiff to address a joint session of Congress following an invitation from the catholic House speaker.
King Salman of Saudi Arabia has ordered a safety review for the annual Hajj pilgrimage after at least 717 people died in a stampede near the holy city of Mecca.
Another 863 people were injured in the incident at Mina, which occurred as two million pilgrims were taking part in the Hajj’s last major rite.
It is the deadliest incident to occur during the pilgrimage in 25 years.
King Salman said there was a need “to improve the level of organization and management of movement” of pilgrims.
The crush occurred after two massive lines of pilgrims converged on each other from different direction at an intersection close to the Jamarat Bridge in Mina.
As part of the Hajj, pilgrims travel to Mina, a large valley about 3 miles from Mecca, to throw seven stones at pillars called Jamarat, which represent the devil. The pillars stand where Satan is believed to have tempted the Prophet Abraham.
The crush is the second disaster to strike in two weeks, after a crane collapsed at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, killing 109 people.
Photo Getty Images
Offering condolences to the relatives of the dead and injured, King Salman said: “We have instructed concerned authorities to review the operations plan and to raise the level of organization and management to ensure that the guests of God perform their rituals in comfort and ease.”
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayyef, who chairs the Hajj committee, has begun an inquiry into the tragedy.
Interior ministry spokesman, Major General Mansour al-Turki, said the reason for the unusual number of pilgrims at the site of the disaster was “not known yet”.
Health Minister Khaled al-Falih promised a “fast” investigation and said the crush occurred “perhaps because some pilgrims moved without following instructions by the relevant authorities”.
Iran has fiercely criticized Saudi Arabia’s handling of the pilgrimage.
Announcing three days of national mourning, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said: “The Saudi government should accept the responsibility of this sorrowful incident… Mismanagement and improper actions have caused this catastrophe.”
The disaster began at 09:00 local time on September 24.
Gen. Mansour al-Turki said: “The great heat and fatigue of the pilgrims contributed to the large number of victims.”
The temperature in Mina was 46C on September 24.
Photographs showed the bodies of dozens of pilgrims on the ground, some piled high. They were all dressed in the simple white garments worn during the Hajj.
Pope Francis, who is visiting the US, expressed his “sentiments of closeness” with Muslims, during a prayer service at St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.
Four people have died after a duck boat and a charter bus carrying foreign students have collided in Seattle, Washington, officials say.
TV footage showed an amphibious “Ride the Ducks” vehicle smashed into the side of the bus on Aurora Bridge.
The four victims were foreign students from North Seattle College. Several people were critically injured.
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray described the crash as “a terrible tragedy”.
The tragedy happened at about 11:00 local time on September 24. Two smaller vehicles were also involved in the crash.
Most of the victims were on board the charter bus. Officials have not said which countries they were from.
Forty-five students and staff members from the school’s international programs were taking an orientation trip ahead of the school year starting on September 21.
Fifty-one people were taken to hospitals. Fire department officials said 12 had critical injuries.
“Today, the North Seattle College community learned devastating news that four of our students were tragically killed in a vehicle accident on the Aurora Bridge,” the school said in a statement.
“Additionally, several students remain in critical condition, and other students and a North employee sustained serious injuries.”
Government officials were working to contact next of kin.
A witness said the duck boat signaled to move left when it lurched and the front left wheel came off. It then clipped a vehicle before colliding with the bus.
Mayor Ed Murray said the company had voluntarily suspended trips for the time being.
“Ride the Ducks” tours, using vehicles which can drive on roads and float on water, are known for guides who play loud music and quack through speakers when leading tourist groups.
The amphibious vehicles have been involved in multiple fatal accidents.
Two people died when one collided with a barge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 2010.
The “Duck” name is derived from DUKW, the six-wheel amphibious vehicles used by the US military during World War Two.
Hakubun Shimomura, the Japanese sports minister, has resigned over canceled plans for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Stadium.
British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid’s original design was ditched in July as estimated building costs almost doubled, reaching $2 billion.
Hakubun Shimomura said he had been asked to stay on until a planned cabinet reshuffle, but would repay some salary.
A new stadium design is due to be chosen by November.
Concerns have already been raised about whether that design will be completed in time for 2020 – the first time Tokyo has hosted the Summer Games since 1964.
As well as objections to its ballooning cost, Zaha Hadid’s design was criticized by some in Tokyo for its similarly huge size and its unusual shape.
A close ally of conservative PM Shinzo Abe, Hakubun Shimomura runs the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, which is in charge of overseeing the Olympic Games.
Speaking at a press conference at his ministry following a meeting with the prime minister, Hakubun Shimomura said he told Shinzo Abe he wanted to take responsibility for the stadium problems.
“It is true that this has caused much concern and inconvenience,” he said.
Hakubun Shimomura added that he had first heard of the inflating costs and delays in April, “which is why I have decided to return the six months’ worth of pay I have received from that day onwards”.
His offer to quit came after an independent investigation into the fiasco.
Local reports said the panel pinned responsibility on the government body overseeing the project, the Japan Sports Council, and Hakubun Shimomura’s ministry. Former PM Yoshiro Mori, president of Tokyo’s organizing committee, was also blamed.
Plans to host the 2019 Rugby World Cup have also been thrown into doubt by the cancelation of Zaha Hadid’s original plans, as organizers now have to find an alternative final venue.
Olympic organizers are also looking for a new logo, after a Belgian artist complained that a logo he designed for a theater had been copied.
Those allegations have been denied by both Olympic organizers and the Japanese logo designer himself but he admitted his team did copy other work in the past, and the Tokyo Games committee said too many doubts had been raised for it to be used.
Supermodel Bar Refaeli’s request to close Israel’s air space over her wedding venue has sparked a row between the country’s transport minister and the civil aviation authority (CAA).
The CAA had agreed to close the skies over the hotel in northern Israel.
However, Transport Minister Yisrael Katz then threatened to sack the CAA boss if he did not overturn that decision.
In the end, the skies stayed open to all air traffic during Thursday’s wedding, Israeli media reported.
Photo Instagram
Bar Refaeli, 30, Israel’s most famous supermodel, married billionaire Israeli businessman Adi Ezra at the Carmel Forest resort near Haifa.
According to Israeli media reports, Bar Refaeli and Adi Ezra were planning to have five drones, two helicopters and an observation balloon circling the venue, some for photographic purposes.
The CAA initially agreed to the couple’s request for a ban, citing safety reasons.
However, Minister Yisrael Katz on September 20 overturned that decision saying: “The skies belong to all Israeli citizens and we can’t offer special treatment for this event over other events.”
Israeli pilots had also objected to the ban.
On September 22, according to Israeli media, the CAA, appearing to disregard Yisrael Katz’s comments, announced a no-fly zone would be in place for safety reasons from 17:00 on September 24 to 02:00 on September 25.
Yisrael Katz reportedly told CAA chief Joel Feldschuh: “If the skies are not open above Bar Refaeli’s wedding – you will be removed from your post.”
On Thursday evening the transport ministry told The Jerusalem Post that the skies had stayed open to all air traffic.
The Times of Israel reported the rabbi was flown in by helicopter for the ceremony.
Forbes Israel has ranked Bar Refaeli as Israel’s top-earning model reporting revenue of nearly $16 million in 2013 when she appeared in a lucrative Super Bowl advert.
She has hosted Israeli X Factor and modeled for brands including Desigual and Escada.
A former girlfriend of actor Leonardo DiCaprio, Bar Refaeli prompted criticism in 2003 when it was reported she had opted not to finish her compulsory military service.
Blogging, social media, SEO, online advertising — digital marketing comes with a long to-do list — which is the last thing a busy business owner needs. You’re already responsible for product development, customer service, management, and accounting, but you also have to promote your company and your product.
Instead of trying to plan and execute the perfect digital marketing strategy, start with a few high-yield, low-labor online marketing tactics. Even with your packed schedule, you can squeeze in these five tasks within the next 30 days.
1. Update Your Business Listings
Listing your business in many places with a correctly spelled business name, along with an accurate address and phone number, makes it easy for customers to find you. Another nice benefit of improving your business listings: It’s good for local SEO.
Create a consistent name, address, and phone number (NAP) format for your company. If you use a CMS, copy and paste it into a widget so it populates every page. Make sure it also appears on your “Contact Me” page.
Check your existing social profiles. Add your NAP to business social media profiles, and include a link to your website.
Add your name to relevant directories. Submit your updated NAP to professional organization member directories, local small business listings sites, and other high-quality sites that will refer customers to your business.
List your business information with search engines. Submit your listing to Google My Business, Bing Places, and Yahoo Local. Be sure to follow up on any verification requests.
2. Optimize Your Business Web Pages and Social Profiles
Incorporating specific keywords into your business Web pages and improving how your site looks in search can improve your search rankings and send additional traffic your way. It’s also a great first step toward developing a solid SEO strategy.
Research some keywords related to your business. Visit your Google Webmaster Tools page, choose your website, and find Search Analytics under search traffic. Look at queries people used to find your site, which will give you some initial keyword ideas. Plug your ideas into Ubersuggest or Wordstream’s free keyword tool to generate a list of keyword ideas. Also, research your competitors’ sites to see which keywords they rely on to attract search traffic. Once you have some keyword ideas, incorporate them into your Web pages and social media profiles without overstuffing your text with keywords.
Create better title tags and meta descriptions. If you use WordPress, add the SEO by Yoast plugin, and fill in title tags and meta descriptions for each page. Incorporate your keywords, and make them compelling so people won’t be able to resist clicking. Website content writing at a very high level may require the services of a professional copywriter.
3. Write One Blog Post Per Week
Weekly blogging serves up fresh content for search engines every week and consistent content to share on social networks. Seeing what you know written down and shared also accomplishes other important goals, such as increasing your confidence, fine-tuning your marketing message, and creating new opportunities to communicate with customers.
4. Develop a Social Media Routine
Social media can become an inescapable time vortex if you’re not careful, but you can’t avoid it either. Try these tips to manage business social media in fewer than 20 minutes per day:
Check the day’s activities. Respond to notifications, mentions, requests for connections, customer service queries, and other immediate issues.
Browse your feeds. Scroll through your feeds and hashtags relevant to you to catch the latest news.
Post something. Share a link, make a comment, or offer a promotion related to your company. If you use a tool like HootSuite or Buffer, you can create multiple posts and schedule them ahead of time.
See which posts and shares performed best for you, and learn more about your followers. Repeat your successes, and keep experimenting as you learn more about your audience.
5. Spend $1 per Day on Facebook Ads
Facebook has outstanding demographic targeting tools to put your business in front of prospective customers. Spend $30 this month experimenting with Facebook ads. Next month, keep experimenting before moving onto Twitter promoted tweets or Google AdWords.
The key to getting started with online marketing is simple: just get started. You’ll be surprised by how much you’ll accomplish when you take the 30-day challenge.
Vladimir Putin has phoned Elton John and proposed a meeting, according to the Kremlin.
Elton John has said he wants to talk to the Russian president about his “ridiculous” attitude to gay rights.
The British star previously fell victim to pranksters who impersonated Vladimir Putin on the phone.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media that President Vladimir Putin had this time called Elton John and asked him not to be offended by the hoax.
Vladimir Putin said on September 24 he was ready to meet Elton John – when their schedules allowed it – and discuss “any issues of interest” to the singer, Dmitry Peskov said.
Russia has faced international criticism for its laws against gay rights.
A report by Human Rights Watch in 2014 said Russia was failing to prevent and prosecute homophobic violence amid a rise in attacks against minorities.
Prankster Vladimir Krasnov admitted his involvement in the hoax phone call to Elton John.
He told Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda that he made the call with his sidekick Alexei Stolyarov, known as “Lexus”.
Pope Francis has made a historic address to US Congress, where he received a warm welcome from more than 500 lawmakers, justices and officials.
He has become the first pope to address a joint meeting of the US Congress.
The Pope was greeted at the Capitol by Speaker of the House John Boehner, who is Catholic, and then entered the chamber to thunderous applause.
The pontiff began his speech by warning of the dangers of “ideological extremism”.
He emphasized the importance of welcoming immigrants.
Pope Francis said the world is facing a refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen since World War Two, and noted that thousands travel north into the US for a better life every year.
Photo Reuters
“We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation,” he said.
Pope Francis also related the work of lawmakers to that of Moses, saying they had a responsibility to promote unity through “just legislation”.
The pontiff said the world must be attentive to “fundamentalism, whether religious or of any other kind” but also touched on economic inequality saying “even in the developed world, the effects of unjust structure and actions are all too apparent”.
During his speech, Pope Francis renewed calls for “the global abolition of the death penalty” saying criminals should be rehabilitated.
He also reaffirmed his “esteem and appreciation” to the indigenous people of the Americas who faced “turbulent and violent” contacts with colonizing powers.
Noting that most Congress members were the descendents of migrants, Pope Francis urged them to “treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated”.
After finishing with the words “God bless America”, Pope Francis received a prolonged standing ovation.
Thousands of people have gathered on the West Lawn of the Capitol hoping to see the Pope.
Sitting behind the Pope was Vice President Joe Biden and John Boehner, the first and second in line to the presidency, who are both Roman Catholics.
John Boehner, a Republican, is a former altar boy who invited the Pope to speak after failing to persuade his two predecessors to do likewise. He has ruled out fears that Pope Francis – who has a reputation for being politically engaged – will stir up controversy.
“The Pope transcends all of this,” John Boehner wrote in an online essay.
“He appeals to our better angels and brings us back to our daily obligations. The best thing we can all do is listen, open our hearts to his message and reflect on his example.”
Later on the day, Pope Francis is due to share a meal with homeless people.
VW has admitted using the same fake emissions test in Europe as it used to falsify results in the US, Germany’s Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt says.
It was not known how many of the 11 million vehicles affected were in Europe, Alexander Dobrindt said.
He also said other manufacturers’ vehicles would be checked.
The scandal began unfolding on September 18 when Volkswagen said it had used software in the US to provide false emission test results.
Alexander Dobrindt said he had been told vehicles with 1.6 and 2.0 liter diesel engines are “affected by the manipulations that are being talked about”.
Photo Volkswagen
VW’s Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Audi A3 models in the US from 2009 to 2015, and the Passat from 2014-15, were fitted with the devices which produced doctored results. However, diesel cars are far more popular in Europe than in the US.
Alexander Dobrindt also said random tests would be conducted on cars made by manufacturers other than VW: “It is clear that the Federal Office for Motor Traffic will not exclusively concentrate on the VW models in question but that it will also carry out random tests on vehicles made by other carmakers.”
The value of the world’s largest automaker has shrunk by around 30% since the scandal was revealed.
Separately, BMW shares dropped by 10% on reports the false tests had been used by other automakers.
BMW issued a statement denying the report, saying the “group does not manipulate or rig any emissions tests”.
“We observe the legal requirements in each country and adhere to all local testing requirements,” it continued.
Volkswagen is setting aside €6.5 billion to cover the costs of the scandal.
VW CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned following the revelation.
Martin Winterkorn said he was “shocked” by recent events and was “not aware of any wrongdoing on my part”.
VW’s supervisory board said it would announce Martin Winterkorn’s successor at a board meeting on September 25.
There has been speculation in German media that Matthias Mueller would be named as VW’s next chief executive. He is head of Porsche, which is part of the Volkswagen group of companies.
German public prosecutors are considering an investigation into VW emissions case, with US authorities also said to be planning criminal investigations.
Chinese police have arrested 19,000 suspects in a three-month cross-border anti-triad operation in Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong province, state media say.
Police said triad gangs were increasingly expanding into mainland China.
The organized-crime involved includes drug dealing, gambling and prostitution.
Triads are transnational crime groups, often based in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, but operating globally.
Photo Tumblr
“The message we want to send out to the public is that police have zero tolerance for organized crimes and any other illegal activities,” Au Chin-chau, chief superintendent of Hong Kong police’s Organized Crime and Triad Bureau told journalists.
Illegal loans were also found to be a new source of income for the gangs, he said.
Reports said 4,343 people, 1,177 of them from mainland China, were arrested by police in Hong Kong, where more than 7,500 properties were searched.
In Hong Kong, police seized $102 million Hong Kong dollars ($13 million) in cash, along with drugs, pirated DVDs, weapons and contraband cigarettes worth HK$67 million.
In neighboring Guangdong province, more than 11,000 suspects were arrested.
In Macau, almost 4,000 people were picked up by police.
The crime-sweep, part of a regular operation codenamed Thunderbolt 15, was reportedly the longest joint operation of its kind, and a model for increasing cross-border police cooperation in the future, state media said.
North Korea has blamed the “evil” United States for triggering Europe’s worst refugee crisis since WW II.
In a lengthy screed denouncing “intolerable” criticism of Pyongyang’s human rights record, a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman argued that the US should be the real focus of censure.
“The US is an evil empire… committing all sorts of human rights abuses,” the spokesman said in a statement carried by North Korea’s official KCNA news agency on September 24.
Photo KCNA
As an example, the spokesman cited the plight of the hundreds of thousands of refugees from war zones like Syria and Afghanistan who are seeking shelter in European countries.
“It is the US which caused the serious refugee issue sweeping the whole of Europe,” he said.
“As the US started wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and other parts of the world, and fostered civil wars under the pretexts of ‘war on terrorism’ and establishment of ‘democracy,’ refugees have been on a sharp increase,” he added.
North Korea, by contrast was a “cradle of happy life”, the spokesman said.
The statement was a response to a recent discussion of North Korean rights violations at the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
A report published in 2014 by a special UN commission accused North Korea of committing human rights violations “without parallel in the contemporary world”.
More than 700 people taking part in this year’s Hajj pilgrimage have been killed in a stampede near the Islamic holy city of Mecca, officials in Saudi Arabia say.
Besides 717 deaths, other 805 people were injured in the incident at Mina, which occurred as two million pilgrims were taking part in the Hajj’s last major rite.
They converge on Mina to throw stones at pillars representing the devil.
Preparations for the Hajj were marred when a crane collapsed at Mecca’s Grand Mosque this month, killing 109 people.
Mina, a large valley about 3 miles from Mecca, is the location of the three Jamarat pillars and also houses more than 160,000 tents where pilgrims spend the night during the pilgrimage.
The Saudi civil defense directorate said in a statement that the stampede occurred on September 24 at the junction of Street 204 and Street 223, as pilgrims walked towards the five-story structure which surrounds the pillars, known as the Jamarat Bridge.
The incident happened when there was a “sudden increase” in the number of pilgrims heading towards pillars, the statement said.
This “resulted in a stampede among the pilgrims and the collapse of a large number of them”, it added.
Security personnel and the Saudi Red Crescent were “immediately” deployed to prevent more people heading towards the area, the directorate said.
The hundreds of wounded have been taken to four hospitals in the area.
Amateur video and photographs posted on social media showed the bodies of dozens of pilgrims on the ground. They were all dressed in the simple white garments worn during the Hajj.
The civil defense directorate said the victims were of “different nationalities”, without providing details.
Iran’s state news agency, Irna, said at least 43 Iranians were among the dead.
Many pilgrims from Niger were also killed.
Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV reported that the head of the central Hajj committee, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, had blamed the stampede on “some pilgrims with African nationalities”.
The head of Iran’s Hajj organization, Said Ohadi, told Irna that two routes to the Jamarat pillars had been inexplicably closed off by the Saudi authorities, resulting in the build-up in pilgrims.
Today’s stampede was the deadliest at the Hajj since 2006, when more than 360 pilgrims were killed in the same area.
The Saudi authorities have spent billions of dollars on improving transport and other infrastructure in the area in an attempt to try to prevent such incidents.
The Hajj is the fifth and final pillar of Islam. It is the journey that every able-bodied adult Muslim must undertake at least once in their lives if they can afford it.
More than 300 people taking part in the Hajj pilgrimage have been killed in a stampede near the Islamic holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabian officials say.
Another 450 people were injured in the incident at Mina, between Mount Arafat and Mecca’s Grand Mosque.
Photo NBC News
The stampede occurred as more than a million pilgrims were taking part in the last major rite of the Hajj.
Earlier this month, a crane collapsed at Mecca’s Grand Mosque, killing 109 people and injuring some 400 others.
The Hajj had been largely incident-free for the past nine years as a result of a series of safety improvements made the Saudi authorities.
In 2006, a stampede during the symbolic stoning of the devil at Mina left 364 pilgrims dead.
China’s President Xi Jinping has met US tech leaders in Seattle.
He has promised to strengthen protections on intellectual property and clear obstacles to investment in China.
Speaking at the Seattle meeting, Xi Jinping said: “Without reform, there will be no driving force; without opening up, there will be no progress.”
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Apple CEO Tim Cook were among those attending.
US tech companies are eager to tap into China’s massive market of consumers.
Photo AP
Xi Jinping addressed recent China’s recent economic troubles, and said the government was taking steps to address it.
However, the president said: “I believe in the long run that the fundamentals of the Chinese economy are good.”
Xi Jinping stressed that reaching agreements to ensure continued robust international trade was a top priority.
US officials have said the two countries have made progress in negotiating a new trade agreement, but key issues remain unresolved.
Former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson moderated a closed-door discussion with more than 30 business leaders before Xi Jinping’s public remarks.
Representatives from Twitter, Facebook and Google were notably missing from the event as China blocks those companies’ websites.
However, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg joined Jeff Bezos and President Xi Jinping later on the day as they toured Microsoft’s corporate campus in suburban Seattle.
Xi Jinping travels to Washington DC on September 24 to meet President Barack Obama.
Usher and his long-time girlfriend Grace Miguel secretly married prior to jetting off to Cuba for their honeymoon over Labor Day weekend, UsMagazine.com reported.
Usher, 36, who got engaged to Grace Miguel in January after approximately six years of dating.
Photo Instagram
Usher and Grace Miguel were originally planning to exchange vows during a lavish ceremony in front of 100 guests in Atlanta, but decided to elope instead, according to the insider.
The singer was previously married to Tameka Foster for two years until 2009. They have two sons together, Naviyd Ely, 6, and Usher Raymond V, 7.
Usher secured primary custody of their children following his split from Tameka Foster.
Chris Brown may be blocked from entering Australia because of his domestic violence conviction.
The singer’s announcement last week he would tour in December sparked criticism on social media and an online petition.
The Federal government said on September 24 it was reviewing Chris Brown’s visa application in light of his conviction.
Australia’s Minister for Women, Senator Michaelia Cash, said the government was not afraid to “say no”.
Photo Instagram
“People need to understand, if you are going to commit domestic violence and you want to travel around the world, there are going to be countries that say to you, <<You cannot come in because you are not of the character that we expect in Australia>>,” Michaelia Cash said.
The senator’s comments were made at a press conference in Melbourne where PM Malcolm Turnbull announced a national domestic violence prevention program.
The review of Chris Brown’s visa follows the Australian government’s decision earlier this year to refuse a visa for world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather on similar grounds.
Floyd Mayweather, 37, had been booked for dinner and nightclub appearances in Sydney and Melbourne in January.
He has a criminal record, which includes serving two months in jail in 2012, after pleading guilty to an assault on his former partner in front of their children.
Pope Francis has canonized 18th-Century missionary Junipero Serra, in a move cheered by Hispanic Catholics but criticized by some Native Americans.
Junipero Serra, who lived in what is now California, is the first person to be made a saint in the US.
Latino churchgoers have said honoring Junipero Serra is an overdue acknowledgment of the American Church’s Hispanic history.
However, Native American groups have accused Junipero Serra of helping wipe out indigenous people and their culture.
Junipero Serra was a Franciscan friar who brought Christianity to California. Native Americans there say he was instrumental in the killing of thousands of people by the Spanish conquerors.
But his defenders insist he worked as a moderating influence.
Pope Francis, who is on his first official visit to the US, defended Junipero Serra saying he helped protect native peoples.
“[Junipero Serra] was the embodiment of a Church which goes forth,” Pope Francis said on September 23.
“Today, like him, may we be able to say: Forward. Let’s keep moving forward.”
Pope Francis – speaking in his native Spanish – made the announcement during a Mass in Washington attended by about 25,000 people.
The Pope had “fast-tracked” his canonization, meaning that there was no need to show proof of two miracles.
Earlier, the pontiff called for further action on climate change saying that it was “a critical moment of history”, on the first day of his visit to the US.
Speaking at the White House, Pope Francis said the problem could “no longer be left to a future generation”.
President Barack Obama said the Pope reminded people “that we have a sacred obligation to protect our planet”.
The environmental issue is divisive in the US, with one Republican congressman boycotting the Pope’s speech to Congress on September 24 because of the pontiff’s stance.
All the leading Republican presidential hopefuls say tackling climate change will hurt the economy.
At the White House large crowds gathered on the South Lawn to greet the pontiff. Officials said over 11,000 tickets had been issued, but noted that the crowd was even larger.
After the Pope spoke, he held a private meeting with the president at the White House Oval Office before the Pope embarked on a parade in a specially outfitted jeep known as the “Popemobile”.
The pontiff will also visit New York and Philadelphia.
Pope Francis, who has sought to bring Catholics back to the Church with a more inclusive message, is very popular in the US and is expected to draw massive crowds.
Russia has reopened the 1918 murder case of Tsar Nicolas II and his family, the Romanovs.
The bones of Russia’s last tsar, Nicholas II, and his wife, reburied in a St Petersburg cathedral, will be re-examined.
Revolutionary Bolsheviks killed the Romanovs in a cellar in the Urals region.
The Investigative Committee, a state body, says new checks are needed in order to verify the remains of four other Romanov family members.
The Russian Orthodox Church requested the new investigation in July – despite the fact that the murder case had been closed in 1998.
Some church members remain unconvinced that the buried remains are those of Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra.
The Romanovs were ousted from power and exiled in 1917, shortly before the communist Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government.
Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, their four daughters – grand duchesses Anastasia, Maria, Olga and Tatiana – their son, the Tsarevich Alexei and four royal staff members were murdered at a remote house in Yekaterinburg in 1918.
The remains of nine victims were found in a mass grave in 1993. But the remains of Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria were found in 2007 at a different spot. DNA tests identified them as the murdered royals.
Tsar Nicholas, Tsarina Alexandra and three daughters were formally reburied at St Petersburg’s Peter and Paul Cathedral on July 17, 1998 – the 80th anniversary of the murder. They were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000.
The new investigation is focusing on the remains of four Romanovs. They are: Tsarevich Alexei, Grand Duchess Maria – both kept at the Russian State Archive – Alexandra’s sister the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna, and Nicholas’s grandfather, former Tsar Alexander II, who was assassinated in 1881.
Only now can investigators get access to Duchess Elizabeth’s remains, which are in Jerusalem.
Investigators want to examine spots of blood on the greatcoat of Alexander II. He was killed by a bomb thrown by a “People’s Will” revolutionary, and buried in his military uniform in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
Documents from the so-called “White Guards Investigation” concerning the 1918 murder will also be studied. They came to light in the past four years.
Jailed Al Jazeera journalists Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed have been freed after receiving pardons from Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi.
Egyptian-Canadian Mohammed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed were among 100 prisoners whose release was ordered.
Egypt’s state media said a third person from the case was also pardoned. It is not clear if this is the Australian Peter Greste, who was deported in February.
They were sentenced to three years in prison last month after a retrial.
Prosecutors accused them of collaborating with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood after the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi by the military in 2013.
The journalists denied the allegation and said they were simply reporting the news. Legal experts said the charges were unfounded and politically motivated.
A statement from President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi’s office issued on September 23 said Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were named on a decree pardoning 100 young people “who had received final court sentences, having been convicted on the grounds of violating the anti-protest law and assaulting police forces”.
“Other prisoners were pardoned due to their health conditions and on humanitarian grounds,” the statement added.
Also named were the prominent activists Yara Sallam and Sanaa Seif, who were jailed in 2014 for taking part in an “illegal protest”.
After the pardons were first reported, a tweet from Mohammed Fahmy’s account said: “Thank you to all the supporters sending us the news, we have heard and are very happy. AJ Staff is Free!”
Al Jazeera said in a report on its website that it “continues to demand all charges and sentences against its journalists are dropped”, noting that Peter Greste and six other employees had been convicted in absentia.
The pardons were issued by President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi ahead of the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha and a day before he travels to New York to address the UN General Assembly.
The president had said he would be willing to pardon the Al Jazeera journalists once the judicial process had ended.
Mohammed Fahmy, who renounced his Egyptian citizenship to qualify for deportation in February, was expected to leave for Canada following his release.
