Chinese stocks were flat on August 14 as the central bank raised the trading range of the yuan.
China’s central bank set the yuan rate at 6.3975 per dollar compared to Thursday’s close of 6.3982.
The rate is set daily and allows a 4% fluctuation – over the past week, the bank had guided the yuan to a record low sparking fears of a currency war to help lagging Chinese exports.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite was flat at 3,947.47 points.
Following the mainland’s lead, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng also remained unchanged, trading flat at 24,005.92.
Japanese shares traded lower with the Nikkei 225 index closing 0.4% lower at 20,519.45 points.
Investors are anticipating next week’s release of Japan’s economic growth for the past three months.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 also fell by 0.5% finishing at 5,360.90 points as investors took a cue from Wall Street’s flat close and the ongoing uncertainty over the yuan.
China’s currency is important to Australia as it is the main export market for the country’s natural resources.
In South Korea, the Kospi index remained closed on August 14 as the country will mark a national holiday on August 15.
Fidel Castro has published an open letter to Cubans in which he makes no mention of the historic reopening of the US embassy in Havana.
The former Cuban leader instead criticizes American foreign and economic policies since World War Two and accuses the US of owing Cuba millions of dollars.
The letter was published to mark Fidel Castro’s 89th birthday.
The US embassy will be reopened in Havana on August 14, with Secretary of State John Kerry attending.
Fidel Castro said the US owed Cuba money because of the trade embargo the US imposed on the communist-run island in 1960.
Cuba says the embargo – which it calls a blockade – is hugely damaging to its economy.
The letter says relations will only be fully restored once it is lifted.
Three marines who lowered the American flag for the last time on January 4, 1961, will raise it again during Friday’s ceremony in Havana.
They are now retired and in their late 70s.
“I’m gonna love seeing that flag go back up,” said former marine Jim Tracy, 78, on a State Department video.
Cuba reopened its embassy in Washington last month.
In his birthday letter published in state newspaper Granma, Fidel Castro says Cuba is committed to “good will and peace in our hemisphere” but adds: “We will never stop fighting for the peace and welfare of all human beings, regardless of the color of their skin and which country they come from.”
Fidel Castro led his country from the Cuban Revolution, in 1959, until 2006, when he stood down because of undisclosed health problems.
He passed on power to his younger brother, Raul Castro, who embarked on a number of economic reforms.
After Raul Castro and President Barack Obama announced in December that Cuba and the US had agreed to restore diplomatic relations, it took Fidel Castro more than a month to express lukewarm approval for the historic reconciliation.
Some situations cannot be foreseen, no matter how good your strategy skills are in business. Up until just a couple of weeks ago, AAC Holdings had one of the hottest stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, having grown 150% since its original public offering in October last year. However, now, the company has faced a sharp, shocking nosedive, with its share price dropping as much as 53% on August 4th, with trading on the stock briefly halted because of its volatility on the same day.
Why did AAC Holdings lose so much market confidence in such a short space of time? The short version of the story is that four of its employees, including its president Jerrod Nathan Menz, were indicted by California Attorney General Kamala Harris for the murder of a patient in the care of A Better Tomorrow drug and alcohol treatment center – a facility operated by American Addiction Centers, AAC’s key operating unit.
To understand the full story, however, we need to look back five years to July 2010, when AAC was operating as ForterusInc, and the death that sparked the scandal took place.
The Death of GaryBenefield at A Better Tomorrow
The patient Jerrod Nathan Menz and AAC have been indicted with the murder of a 52 year old man named Gary Benefield. MrBenefield lived in Springerville, Arizona, where he worked at a coal power plant. The day before his 53rd birthday, Gary Benefield left Arizona to fly to Los Angeles, where he then went on to A Better Tomorrow treatment center in Murrieta to receive treatment for an addiction which has not been specified in the notes concerning his case.
Gary Benefield had several pre-existing medical conditions. He suffered from emphysema, had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and had also recently been admitted to hospital with pneumonia. He had been using an oxygen tank prior to his trip to LA, which had been emptied at the airport.
The report from the investigation into MrBenefield’s case by the California Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes, which was released in 2012, shows what happened when Gary Benefield arrived at the A Better Tomorrow rehab center. He was not provided with further oxygen, as would be expected for a patient in his condition, but was instead given some antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication. Staff at the clinic then reportedly failed to check in on MrBenefield from around midnight until the following morning. The next day – MrBenefield’s 53rd birthday – he died. The coroner concluded the cause of death was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Photo Source: www.examiner.com
Indictment
Five years later, almost to the day, California prosecutors unsealed a murder indictment against Jerrod Nathan Menz, two employees who had left A Better Tomorrow in the time in between, and one Mignon Dean, who is still with AAC. This sparked the immediate resignation from the board by Menz, who was also one of the company’s founders and its second largest shareholder, as well as the massive stock downturn for AAC Holdings.
Other Incidents Examined by the California Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes at A Better Tomorrow
The death of Gary Benefield is not the only death that has come under scrutiny at A Better Tomorrow drug and alcohol treatment center. The report from 2012 by the California Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes also looked at four other patient deaths which had occurred in around the same two year timeframe as MrBenefield’s. In addition to these, there were also two patients who committed suicide, whose families took legal action against A Better Tomorrow for failing to take reasonable preventative action.
Jerrod Nathan Menz posted bond and is not expected to go to court for the criminal case until October. AAC filed stating that they do not admit liability for the death of Gary Benefield, and will fully defend those indicted.
Of course, a complicated case like this and the cost of what could be a lengthy defense has been more than enough to scare the markets away from AAC shares, and it will probably take a long time before confidence in the business resumes, if it ever does.
Russia has announced it is extending its list of countries subject to a food import ban in retaliation for Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.
Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev said the ban would now apply to Iceland, Liechtenstein, Albania and Montenegro.
Dmitry Medvedev said Ukraine would be added in 2016 if an economic agreement between Kiev and the EU came into force.
The bulldozing of tonnes of Western-produced cheese and other foodstuffs has angered anti-poverty campaigners.
Russia began destroying banned produce earlier this month, steamrollering fruit and burning boxes of bacon. Critics say it should be used to feed the poor and hungry.
The move comes after the EU and US introduced sanctions over Russia’s annexation of Crimea and actions in eastern Ukraine.
Photo RIA Novosti
Certain products from EU countries as well as Australia, Canada, Norway and the US were banned in August last year.
Speaking at a cabinet of ministers on August 13, Dmitry Medvedev said Iceland, Liechtenstein, Albania and Montenegro would also now be affected because they had joined EU sanctions against Russia.
“Joining the sanctions is a conscious choice which means readiness for retaliatory measures from our part, which have been adopted,” the prime minister said in comments broadcast on state-owned channel Rossiya 24.
The ban includes meat, fish, dairy products, fruit and vegetables.
Dmitry Medvedev previously said that the counter-sanctions had given domestic agriculture a significant boost and had not caused shortages, according to Rossiya 24.
Russian authorities have also started burning Dutch flowers, saying they pose a safety risk because they may be infected with pests.
However, critics say Russia wants to take revenge on the Netherlands over its handling of the investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over rebel-held eastern Ukraine last year.
In a rare move against President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s Communist Party announced on August 13 it had submitted a bill to parliament calling for smuggled Western food to be given to the needy instead of being destroyed.
The Kremlin says food cannot be given away because it could be unsafe.
The 29th president of the United States, Warren G. Harding, had a love child, advanced DNA tests revealed.
President Warren Harding fathered a child with Nan Britton during his presidency.
The tests show that Warren Harding, who was married, was indeed the father of Elizabeth Ann Blaesing, Nan Britton’s daughter.
Warren Harding’s immediate family and the public had rejected the claims and shamed Nan Britton, calling her a liar.
Dr. Peter Harding, one of the former president’s grand-nephews who spearheaded getting the DNA tests done, thinks advanced DNA testing was definitely conclusive.
He and his cousin Abigail Harding pursued the tests with James Blaesing, a grandson of Nan Britton.
Ancestry.com, which provided the test with their AncestryDNA service, confirmed the results were true to the BBC.
Elizabeth Ann Blaesing died in 2005. Her mother wrote a book, The President’s Daughter, in 1927, in an attempt to make money and prove Warren Harding’s paternity after his death at 57 as he had left no financial arrangement for their daughter.
The scandal rocked the 1920s, also known as the “Roaring Twenties” – the president was married and much older than Nan Britton.
In the past, the Blaesing family did not want to submit to DNA tests, thinking it insulting to their late matriarch.
British-Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor has complained of plagiarism following reports that a sculpture similar to Cloud Gate he made for Chicago has been constructed in China.
The artist said in a statement: “It seems that in China today it is permissible to steal the creativity of others.”
According to Chinese media, the stainless steel work in the town of Karamay, north-west China, is intended to represent “a big oil bubble”.
Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate was unveiled in Chicago in 2006.
The sculpture, which reflects Chicago’s dramatic skyline, is also known as The Bean. It featured prominently in Source Code, a 2011 thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal.
“I feel I must take this to the highest level and pursue those responsible in the courts,” Anish Kapoor said.
“I hope that the Mayor of Chicago will join me in this action.
“The Chinese authorities must act to stop this kind of infringement and allow the full enforcement of copyright.”
An employee of Karamay’s tourism bureau denied that the Chinese sculpture was a copy of Anish Kapoor’s, insisting any similarities were coincidental.
“While we use similar materials, the shapes and meanings are different,” Ma Jun told the Wall Street Journal’s China Real Time blog.
“Cloud Gate intends to reflect the sky, but ours reflects the ground.”
Piracy of goods, brands and copyrighted materials is so rife in China that there is a word for the results – Shan Zhai, a term originally used to describe a bandit stronghold outside government control.
Anish Kapoor is known for works including the Orbit tower in London’s Olympic Park and the Sky Mirror in Nottingham.
His more recent works include Dirty Corner, a 200ft steel tube in the gardens of France’s Palace of Versailles, which has caused controversy and has been the target of vandalism.
Greece’s economy grew by 0.8% in Q2 2015, confounding expectations of a steep contraction.
The official figures, based on a flash estimate, also revised a reading of 0.2% negative growth in Q1 to a flat reading, showing no change in economic activity.
The reading did not break down which sectors had been most active.
The figures, provided by Greece’s Elstat agency, come as the parliament prepares to vote on new bailout plans.
The Greek government has defended the controversial new program as tough, but essential if the country is to avoid financial collapse.
The credit crisis sparked six years of recession in Greece, from which it emerged in 2014 before shrinking again.
Until these latest figures were released, Greece’s economy had been forecast to shrink again this year by between 2.1% and 2.3%.
Nikos Magginas at National Bank said it was now possible that the contraction would be less than 2%.
He said there were a number of sectors likely to have helped boost activity: “Some economic activity indicators in the second quarter, including consumption, industrial production and tourism, had shown particular resilience.”
Greece must repay some €3.4 billion ($3.8 billion) to the ECB by August 20. If the deal is not finalized by then, Athens may need more emergency funding.
Eurozone finance ministers are expected to meet at the weekend to endorse the draft deal.
PM Alexis Tsipras said the deal would end the country’s economic uncertainty.
The chances of the eurozone vote succeeding improved on Thursday afternoon, when Finland, which originally indicated it favored a temporary Greek exit from the euro, backed the plan.
Finland’s finance minister, Alexander Stubb, said: “We have come a long way during the summer. The future of the euro was at stake…. but now we’ve got a solution and will live with it.”
On August 12, former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said the bailout deal was “not going to work”, because it was based on an unsustainable debt burden that the economy would be unable to produce enough to repay.
Yanis Varoufakis was removed from the talks early last month and replaced by the present finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos.
Samsung has unveiled two new smartphones, the Galaxy S6 Edge+ and the Galaxy Note 5.
Both smartphones have 5.7in screens and are going on sale earlier in the year than their previous generations.
The new launches follow five successive falls in Samsung Electronics’ quarterly profits.
Analysts say the popularity of mid-range phones from Chinese rivals, and Apple’s shift to bigger iPhones, have dented demand for Samsung’s devices.
However, Samsung remains the world leader in terms of overall smartphone shipments.
The announcements were made at a press conference in New York.
Samsung also revealed that its smart wallet service, Samsung Pay – which allows the phones to trigger payment card transactions.
The service would go live in South Korea on August 20.
Samsung Pay will be extended to the US on September 28 and then to the UK and Spain at an unspecified date.
Like previous versions of the Note, Galaxy Note 5 comes with a stylus – which Samsung says makes it suitable for productivity tasks. But the phone now has metal edges and a glass back to give it a more “premium” feel.
Photo Samsung
In a change of strategy, Samsung has no plans at present to release the Note 5 in Europe – a decision it says is purely for marketing reasons.
Unlike last year, there is no “edge” edition of the Note.
Instead, the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus is targeted at those who want a “phablet”-sized handset with curved sides.
The “plus” in its name refers to the fact that its screen is both 0.6in larger than the earlier edition and more scratch-resistant.
Photo Samsung
The Galaxy S6 Edge+ now has an extra gigabyte of memory, taking it up to 4GB of RAM to aid multi-tasking, but uses the same in-house Exynos processor as before.
This marks a change from the S5 Plus, which was the same size but contained a faster processor than the original S5.
The decision to host a standalone press conference for the handsets marks a change of strategy for Samsung.
All the previous versions of the Note were unveiled at Germany’s annual IFA tech show, which is still three weeks away. The S5 Plus was announced last October in a low-key press release.
One of the benefits of announcing the new models together at this point is that it should give Samsung about a month’s lead on Apple – reports suggest the company will update its own smartphones on September 9.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ and the Galaxy Note 5 go on sale on August 21.
On an increasing basis, clinicians have embraced the use of neuroimaging techniques to detect traumatic brain injury (TBI) and mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), and as the detection methods improve for MTBI, personal injury attorneys may find a wealth of data with which to help their clients in seeking restitution for injuries related to negligence.
MTBI, sometimes referred to as concussion, results from external impact or other forces that involve the head. Other causes can include shock waves from large explosions, as encountered in the military, yet the most common origins of MTBI stem from motor vehicle accidents, head injuries during falls, sports-related injuries and physical violence. Physically, the accident jolts the head forwards and backwards or side-to-side, and the acceleration and deceleration resulting from the impact causes the brain to hit against the skull.
Over 1.7 million people in the United States suffer from TBI annually. However, the cases of MBTI may go underreported because victims with mild cases frequently seek out their private physician rather than seek treatment in a hospital emergency room, which may be more inclined to order neuroimaging tests to determine the extent of the injuries. Fortunately, approximately 80 percent of TBI cases are mild with recovery periods within days to weeks.
However, a significant minority will develop post-concussive symptoms that can continue for months and years. In some cases, MBTI may lead to more extensive disability thus disrupting a victim’s ability to work.
Neuroimagingin DetectingMBTI
As recognition of MBTI has increased, the diagnostic frameworks have improved. Generally, 80 to 90 percent of MBTI patients have positive prognoses, yet that means approximately 10 to 20 percent continue to suffer with a range of persistent cognitive, physical and emotional symptoms. For MBTI, detecting brain alterations is more difficult than moderate to severe TBI, and clinicians have increasingly relied upon diffusion imaging to discern diffuse axonal damage. The literature discussing investigations into this phenomenon present two hypotheses regarding the causative factors: neurogenic or psychogenic. As neuroimaging has made inroads into the diagnosis, the neurogenic causative factors have gained a hold.
Thus, obtaining a conclusive diagnosis or more accurate data regarding MBTI in a victim represents a critical element of a personal injury legal action. Generally, conventional testing using computed axial tomography scans (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has not resulting in differentiating diagnoses from post-traumatic stress disorder or depression. Therefore, the current objective is to diagnose MBTI through the utilization of more sophisticated tools, such as diffusion tensor imaging, which can detect damage to brain’s white matter, which functions as the pathways that connect neurons. Diffuse axonal injury is the most common injury in MBTI, and these innovative techniques are gaining importance in evaluating subtle changes to the brain that traditional methods miss.
Symptoms
Victims suffering from MBTI experience a range of symptoms that may be different for each individual. These fall into categories including cognitive, physical, behavioral and emotional symptoms. Cognitive symptoms may include lack of concentration, inattention, an inability to focus and difficulties making decisions. Physical symptoms can include headaches, hearing problems, blurred vision, changes in smell or taste, sensitivity to light, a persistent feeling of lethargy, sleep disturbances, dizziness or vertigo. In addition, emotional symptoms can result in irritability, anger, sadness, anxiety, depression and getting easily frustrated by small matters.
Most symptoms will resolve within three months; however, for the significant minority of victims in which the symptoms continue unabated, having the neuroimaging data from sophisticated testing not only lends credence to the reality of the pain, but also evidence of real trauma that directly changes their lives. Moreover, Oregon personal injury attorneys may have clients describing feelings of being in a fog, an inability to think on one’s feet or difficulties in concentrating. These attorneys may well serve their clients well by suggesting investigational neuroimaging when MBTI is indicated.
One of the IKEA knife attack suspect, who is accused of killing two people at a store in Vasteras, Sweden, faced imminent deportation hours before the attack, Swedish officials say.
The 35-year-old Eritrean suspect attended a meeting on his asylum status just hours before the knife attack, officials added.
The suspect, who was found at the scene with serious knife injuries, had earlier met to discuss his failed residency application, the Swedish Migration Agency said.
A mother and her adult son died in the attack in Vasteras on August 10.
A second man has also been detained.
On August 12, the prosecutor’s office said that investigators were still holding the 23-year-old who was staying at the same centre for asylum seekers as the injured man.
He has denied any involvement in the attack.
Police say the reason for the stabbing is unclear, but they do not believe it was politically motivated.
Migration officials said the 35-year-old had attended a meeting at the agency on Monday morning about plans to deport him to Italy after his residency application was rejected last month.
Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet has reported that CCTV images show the suspect grabbing two knives from the kitchenware section of IKEA just before the two shoppers, a 55-year-old woman and her 27-year-old son, were attacked.
“The attack ends when the alleged murderer stabs himself in the stomach,” the report said.
Police chiefs have not confirmed the footage or whether knives on sale in the shop were used.
The 35-year-old has not yet been interviewed due to the serious nature of his injuries.
Police increased security at refugee accommodation centers in the region this week after confirming they had arrested two Eritrean asylum seekers over the murders.
The store in Vasteras, which is about 70 miles west of the capital Stockholm, is one of the largest in Sweden.
Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen are heading towards a split despite their sweet public messages to each other on social media, OK! Magazine reports.
A source told the gossip magazine: “Things between Tom and Gisele have been strained for a long time.
“Gisele is ramping up the social media activity because her marriage is breaking down.”
Photo Instagram
The magazine claims that the New England Patriots quarterback and his wife had a “massive fight” at a recent birthday dinner for Tom.
Since then, the couple has been allegedly communicating via angry texts.
A rumor of Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen’s divorce isn’t new, as the couple has dealt with speculation since tying the knot in February 2009.
Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady reportedly signed an ironclad prenuptial agreement but OK! Magazine says the marriage may end in a $460 million divorce battle.
Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen’s divorce rumors come in the midst of an actual battle he is currently having with the NFL over his alleged role in deflating footballs.
Jane Rosenberg’s courtroom sketch of New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady has drawn mirth on Twitter, with hundreds of users poking fun at the not-so-recognizable likeness.
Twitter users pasted the sketch on everything from Edvard Munch’s The Scream to an image from the film E.T.
The online uproar prompted the artist New York to ask for forgiveness.
Jane Rosenberg said: “I apologize to Tom Brady if I didn’t make him as good looking as he really is.
“I’m probably going to go home and feel terrible.”
Jane Rosenberg has been a courtroom artist for more than 35 years.
Tom Brady was in a New York court on August 12 fighting a decision by the NFL to suspend him for four games.
The NFL claims Tom Brady broke league rules by using deflated footballs during a playoff game last season. Deflated balls can be easier to catch, giving a player an unfair advantage.
Married to supermodel Gisele Bundchen, Tom Brady is known for his movie star good looks – something that many felt the sketch failed to capture.
Alphabet Inc – Google’s new parent company – will make the company’s activities “cleaner and more accountable”, said its CEO Larry Page in a blog post announcing the news.
Larry Page, Google’s original founders, admitted that from the outset, some of Google’s interests “might seem very speculative or even strange” for the firm.
“We are still trying to do things other people think are crazy but we are super-excited about,” he said.
More detail of the surprise restructure is expected in the coming weeks, but here’s a brief guide to Alphabet’s core areas of activity so far:
Google itself will continue to exist as a subsidiary of Alphabet under the leadership of a new CEO, but long-term Google exec, Sundar Pichai.
It will include Google’s most obvious – and profitable – internet outlets such as search, Maps, YouTube, Chrome and the Android mobile phone platform.
Google X: This is Google’s research and development lab, where projects like the driverless car, drone delivery service Project Wing and Project Loon, an ambitious idea to connect rural communities to the net via a global network of high-altitude balloons, are born and nurtured.
Last year pharmaceutical giant Novartis agreed a deal to work with Google X on a smart contact lens for people with diabetes, designed to measure the level of glucose in the wearer’s tears and communicate the information to a mobile phone or computer.
The division is notoriously tight-lipped about much of its work but its web page lists 20 different research areas including artificial intelligence, data mining, software engineering and cryptography.
It refers to some of its more outlandish projects as “moonshots” – a Google X code word for big-thinking propositions.
Calico: Google launched a separate health-focused research and development company in 2013, with Larry Page announcing in a blog post that its work would be based around the research areas of “health and well-being, in particular the challenge of ageing and associated diseases”.
“We are scientists from the fields of medicine, drug development, molecular biology, and genetics,” says the company on its website.
“Through our research we’re aiming to devise interventions that slow ageing and counteract age‑related diseases.”
Nest: Google bought thermostat maker Nest Labs for $3.2 billion in early 2014.
Nest’s first major product, the thermostat, was able to learn about users’ behavior and decipher whether a building was occupied, but it has since branched out into other areas of smart homeware.
This has included, most recently, a camera that senses movement in a user’s home and alerts them via a smartphone app.
Google Fiber is a superfast broadband and TV-on-demand service, promising speeds of up to 1,000 megabits per second. It’s currently only available in certain parts of the US, including Atlanta, Nashville and Salt Lake City.
Google Robotics: It is unclear whether Google’s robotics work will also become a more separate entity under Alphabet Inc.
Google snapped up six robotics companies in 2013 – including military robot-maker Boston Dynamics which developed Cheetah, the world’s fastest running robot.
However the tech giant has been clear that none of its robots will be used for military means.
Investment: In addition to its acquisitions, Google has two investment arms – Google Ventures and Google Capital.
Google Ventures claims to have made more than 300 investments alone, with recipients including Uber, Periscope, and Fitstar (which has since been bought by fitness tracker form FitBit).
Tianjin explosions’ death toll has risen to 44 as more than 500 people were injured.
Twelve firefighters were among the dead, China’s official Xinhua news agency said as it reported a doubling of the death toll following two major explosions in the northern port city.
The blasts happened in a warehouse storing “dangerous and chemical goods” in the port area of Tianjin.
The explosions caused a huge fireball that could be seen from space.
Buildings within a 1.5 miles had windows blown out, office blocks were destroyed and hundreds of cars burnt-out.
Images on Chinese media showed local residents and workers fleeing their homes, some of them covered in blood from broken glass and flying debris.
As of 12:00 local time, 44 people had died and a total of 520 people had been hospitalized, including 66 in a critical condition, Xinhua reported.
The first explosion occurred at about 23:30 local time on August 12, followed seconds later by another, more powerful blast and a series of smaller explosions. The impact could be felt several miles away.
The China Earthquake Networks Centre said the magnitude of the first explosion was the equivalent of detonating three tonnes of TNT, while the second was the equivalent of 21 tonnes.
State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said a shipment of explosives had detonated but this has not been confirmed.
Senior managers of Ruihai Logistics, which owns the warehouse where the explosion happened, are being questioned by authorities, state media report.
China National Radio also said cracks were visible in buildings near the site of the blast.
Several tower blocks near the port area are without power, CCTV added.
Tianjin, home to some 15 million people, is a major port and industrial area to the south-east of the Chinese capital, Beijing.
The FDA has condemned Kim Kardashian’s promotion of morning sickness prescription drug Diclegis on social media.
Kim Kardashian, who is 5-month pregnant with her second child, posted a selfie last month holding up a branded bottle of the pills alongside text endorsing their effects.
Diclegis maker, Canada-based Duchesnay, later confirmed it had compensated Kim Kardashian for “sharing her experience”.
However, the FDA has attacked the posts for failing to flag potential side effects.
The agency has ordered the drugmaker to stop promoting its product in this manner.
Kim Kardashian’s posts talked of her own use of the drug Diclegis, before stating: “Most importantly, it’s been studied and there was no increased risk to the baby.”
The 34-year-old reality star provided a link to the pharmaceutical company’s own realted safety warnings, but did describe the potential risks herself.
One side effect of a normal dose of Diclegis is drowsiness. An overdose can cause vertigo, mental confusion and an abnormal heart rate.
“The social media post is misleading because it presents various efficacy claims for Diclegis, but fails to communicate any risk information,” FDA division director Robert Dean wrote in a complaint to Duchesnay.
“Because the violations described above are serious and repeated, we request, further, that your submission includes a comprehensive plan of action to disseminate truthful, non-misleading, and complete corrective messages about the issues discussed in this letter to the audiences that received the violative promotional materials.”
Robert Dean added that the correction should be distributed “using the same media” as the original messages, indicating that the warnings should appear on Kim Kardashian’s social media accounts.
Kim Kardashian’s selfie has since been deleted from Instagram and Facebook – although a tweet alluding to the posts remains online.
Duchesnay said that it would issue a formal response ahead of a August 21 deadline.
Sweden will drop its investigation into assault allegations against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on August 13 because of the statutes of limitation, the BBC reports.
Julian Assange still faces the more serious allegation of rape.
However, Swedish prosecutors have run out of time to investigate Julian Assange for assault because they have not succeeded in questioning him.
The Australian journalist and activist denies all allegations and has said they are part of a smear campaign.
Julian Assange sought asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden.
Under Swedish law, charges cannot be laid without interviewing the suspect.
Prosecutors had until August 13 to question Julian Assange about one accusation of molestation and one of unlawful coercion, while the time limit on a further allegation of molestation runs out on August 18.
The more serious allegation of rape is not due to expire until 2020.
An official announcement from the prosecutor’s office is expected on Thursday morning.
Julian Assange has always denied all the accusations and says he fled into the Ecuadorian embassy because he fears being extradited from Sweden to the US and put on trial for releasing secret American documents.
He has said in the past that he will not leave the embassy, even if the accusations of se* crimes are dropped.
The woman who accused Julian Assange of molestation and unlawful coercion – who is identified in legal papers only as AA – is said to be relieved that the case is now behind her.
Swedish prosecutors had initially insisted that Julian Assange be questioned in Sweden, but earlier this year – under pressure to advance the investigation – agreed that he could be interviewed in London.
The Swedish government has been unable to negotiate access with the Ecuadorian authorities, with both sides blaming the other for the impasse.
Lawyers for Julian Assange say the allegations of assault should have been dropped long ago.
He said he believed Julian Assange could clear his name over the rape allegation.
Sweden is expected to continue discussions with Ecuador over the terms under which the prosecutor could question Julian Assange over the remaining accusation.
The UK government has urged Ecuador to co-operate, stressing that the UK has a legal obligation to extradite Julian Assange.
The cost of policing the Ecuadorian embassy in Knightsbridge for the past three years now stands at around £12 million ($18.8 million).
Jimmy Carter has revealed he has been diagnosed with cancer after a recent liver surgery.
The 90-year-old former president also said the disease has spread to other parts of his body.
Jimmy Carter underwent surgery to remove a small mass in his liver earlier this month.
He said he would reveal more “when facts are known, possibly next week”.
Jimmy Carter, a Democrat from Georgia, was elected president in 1977 and left the White House in 1981.
He has remained active carrying out humanitarian efforts with his Carter Center in recent years.
He founded the centre, which focuses on human rights efforts and political mediation, soon after he left office.
Jimmy Carter was later responsible for negotiating a 1994 nuclear disarmament pact with North Korea and has visited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in recent years.
Your natural eye color can be enhanced far more easily than you might imagine with a few tricks and tips that you can do at home. There are three tips that can make the biggest impact when trying to enhance your natural eye color and knowing how to pull them off seamlessly is simple.
Enhancing With Contact Lenses
For starters, contact lenses are perhaps the easiest way to enhance your natural eye color. Contact lenses can also help change your eye color entirely if you so decide. A product like the FreshLook ColorBlends contact lenses work with your eye color to make it brighter, more vivid, and more striking without having to do much. These contacts work with your natural eye color instead of changing it completely. Contacts like FreshLook ColorBlends help to add just a hint of color that works with the natural color of your eyes. With color options like amethyst, blue, brilliant blue, brown, gray, green, honey, and more, you can help to make your own eye color brighter and more beautiful.
These contact lenses are going to help bring out your natural eye color without masking it. FreshLook ColorBlends blend in with the natural color of your eyes. These contacts have just enough color that they make your own eye color look different rather than masking it. With these contact lenses, it’s easy to use colors that complement the natural tones of your eyes and help to make them brighter and more vivid.
Photo Source: fashionihub.com
Using Makeup
Another way that you can help to enhance the color of your eyes is to use makeup. Makeup can do wonders and can change the whole look of a person with the right amount of product. With the correct makeup application, you can make your eyes look bigger, brighter, and more. The first step to enhancing your eye color with makeup is to figure out where your eye color falls on the color wheel. You will then need to figure out what color is opposite on the color wheel to find the shade that best enhances your own eye color.
Blue eyes look great with browns and oranges, brown eyes look great with blues, green eyes look best with purple, and gray eyes can be paired with whichever color you want. Colors that are opposite on the color wheel naturally look great paired together. Wearing a shade that is opposite of your eye color is going to help make your eye color stand out and sparkle. You can also use shades that are similar to your own eye color to bring out the color itself.
Wearing shades that are in the same color group as your own shade can also help bring out your natural color. For instance, wearing blue with blue eyes can make them appear bluer. Wearing green with green eyes can similarly bring out the green in the eyes. These colors can help make a huge difference in the overall color and appearance of your eyes. Using these colors can bring out the color of your eyes and make them much more vivid.
Brighteners and Concealers
If these options do not work for you there is a third option — using eye brighteners and concealers to help bring out the eye area can also help enhance your natural eye color. Brighteners draw attention to the eye area and they are going to make your eye color much brighter. Any of these tricks can help make your eye color stand out and can help make for a much more beautiful eye color all around. If you are feeling very bold, you can also pair contact lenses with eye makeup for an even bolder impact that will bring attention to your eyes and that will also help make your eyes look more beautiful than ever. Your natural eye color is stunning and you should embrace it, so the best tip is to look for ways to enhance it, rather than hide it.
Jeb Bush has blamed President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton for the current unrest in the Middle East and the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS).
In a 40-minute speech on August 11 at the Reagan Presidential Library in California, Jeb Bush outlined an argument made by many of the current Republican candidates.
By executing a “premature withdrawal” of all US forces in Iraq in 2011, the Republican hopeful said, the Obama administration and then-Secretary of State Clinton committed a “fatal error”, destabilizing the nation and setting the stage for the rise of ISIS militants.
“So eager to be the history-makers, they failed to be the peacemakers,” Jeb Bush said of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
“It was a case of blind haste to get out and to call the tragic consequences somebody else’s problem. Rushing away from danger can be every bit as unwise as rushing into danger, and the costs have been grievous.”
Rushing into a dangerous war is the critique often laid at the feet of Jeb Bush’s brother, President George W. Bush, the man who oversaw the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
However, Jeb Bush never mentioned his brother by name, although he made a few veiled references to his sibling’s often tumultuous foreign policy experience.
“No leader or policymaker involved will claim to have gotten everything right in the region, Iraq especially,” he said.
Jeb Bush went on to argue that the US military should become more involved in the Middle East – although the extent of such involvement was left unclear.
He called for a no-fly and “safe” zones over Syria, the removal of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, increasing support for Iraqi Kurds and greater co-ordination between US and Iraqi troops.
Earlier this week, Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton engaged in a round of accusations and counter attacks over education policy via Twitter.
The Indian government is suing food giant Nestle for $100 million over “unfair trade practices”, the BBC reports.
The complaint against Nestle is that it caused damage to consumers through misleading advertisements related to its Maggi noodles product.
Maggi noodles were banned in India after the food safety regulator accused Nestle of not complying with food safety laws.
The company has challenged this at the Bombay high court, saying its products are safe.
However, Nestle, which has 80% of India’s instant noodles market, has already destroyed 400 million tonnes of Maggi products.
The claim, made on behalf of Indian consumers, was not filed through the courts but with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), which has semi-judicial powers.
A Nestle spokesman in Delhi told the Reuters news agency that the company would only be able to “provide substantive response” after it received an official notice about the complaint filed to the NCDRC.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had earlier said that tests deemed the instant noodles to contain “unsafe and hazardous” amounts of lead.
Nestle says that its noodles are safe as seen in the results of tests conducted in other countries, including the US, the UK and Singapore.
Two Indian laboratories in the western state of Goa and the southern city of Mysore also recently cleared the noodles, but the findings were dismissed by India’s food safety authority, saying there were lapses in the tests.
The Bombay high court verdict on the case is expected soon. It has reserved its order, but has suggested that samples of Maggi noodles be re-tested. Nestle has agreed, but the safety regulator has responded negatively.
“There is no provision for such a testing according to the law, we will not follow a different procedure because of Nestle,” the lawyer for the regulator told the Indian Express newspaper.
The news of legal action has caused a stir on Indian social media. The tag “Rs 634” – a reference to the amount of the damages the government is seeking (634 crore rupees which is 6.34 billion rupees) – has begun trending on Twitter.
Most have asked whether the large amount of compensation that has been sought on behalf of the consumers would be redistributed to everyone who ever ate Maggi.
North Korea’s vice-premier Choe Yong-gon was executed in May on the orders of supreme leader Kim Jong-un, the South Korean government says.
Choe Yong-gon was executed after he “expressed discomfort against the young leader’s forestation policy”, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reports.
Close to 70 officials have been killed under Kim Jong-un’s rule, Yonhap says.
North Korea rarely confirms South Korea’s reports of executions.
Choe Yon-gon was last seen publicly in December, South Korea’s unification ministry said.
The ministry said it was “closely monitoring the possibility of any changes in Choe’s circumstances”.
Few details about the execution were given by Yonhap, which is often first to report news from North Korea.
Choe Yong-gon was deputy minister of construction and building material industries, and had represented North Korea in trade talks in Seoul in the mid-2000s.
He was appointed as one of seven vice-premiers in June 2014, and his promotion was seen by one analyst as a sign Pyongyang was keen to maintain close ties with South Korea.
In April, South Korea’s intelligence agency said Kim Jong-un had ordered the execution of 15 officials in the first four months of the year.
Among them was a forestry official who complained about the leader’s forestation plan, the agency said at the time, but it is not clear if this man was Choe Yong-gon.
In May, the agency said North Korean Defense Minister Hyon Yong-chol was reportedly executed by anti-aircraft fire for apparently showing disloyalty to the leader.
The reports of the killing of Choe Yong-gon for disagreeing with Kim Jong-un’s forestry policy bring into focus a program that is closely followed by the leader.
North Korea is suffering its worst drought in a century and close to a third of rice paddies have dried up.
Radio Free Asia says the country launched an intensive “greenification” program last year, with more power granted to every province’s forestry department.
In a speech in February, Kim Jong-un delivered a speech in which he said: “At present, the forests of the country can be said to have reached a crossroads – whether to perish for ever or to be restored.”
Kim Jong-un also criticized officials for seeking to respond to problems caused by flooding, rather than prevent flooding in the first place by planting more trees.
Texas police officer Brad Miller has been fired after shooting and killing unarmed black college student Christian Taylor.
Christian Taylor, 19, broke into a car dealership on August 7, prompting police to respond.
Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson called Officer Brad Miller’s pursuit of Christian Taylor “questionable”.
Surveillance video shows Christian Taylor jumping on vehicles in a car park and driving a car through a window into the showroom.
Christian Taylor’s death is one of several cases under scrutiny in the US, in which an unarmed black person has died during an arrest or while in police custody.
Although Christian Taylor – a student at Angelo State University in West Texas – failed to heed Brad Miller’s orders, Chief Will Johnson said that there was no physical contact between the officer and Taylor.
Brad Miller, a recent graduate of the city’s police academy, shot Christian Taylor four times killing him.
Chief Will Johnson said Brad Miller failed to follow police department policy and put himself and other officers in danger. The police chief said the officer “exercised poor judgement”.
Brad Miller, 49, has not been charged with any crime. However, police are still investigating and will turn over evidence to a grand jury, which will decide whether to charge him.
It is uncommon for a police officer in the US to be dismissed so quickly after a shooting involving the police. The investigative process normally takes months, which has frustrated victims’ families elsewhere.
However, amid months of nationwide protests over excess force by police, departments are becoming more aggressive in dealing with allegations of officer misconduct.
In April, North Charleston police officer Michael Slager was quickly fired and charged with murder after video surfaced showing him shooting a man in the back as he ran away.
Tyrone Harris appears in a video released by Missouri police while brandishing a gun before he was shot and badly wounded by officers during Sunday’s protests in Ferguson.
Police said the short clip from a security camera showed the teenager grabbing a gun from his waistband.
Tyrone Harris’s father has said his son was unarmed and was running away from police when he was shot on August 9.
Tyrone Harris, 18 was fired on during protests in Ferguson to mark a year since the killing of another black teenager, Michael Brown.
According to police, a gunfight erupted between two rival groups in West Florissant Avenue and a suspect, identified as Tyrone Harris, then shot at plain-clothes police officers, who returned fire.
“The video shows Harris grab a handgun out of his waistband once shots are fired during the protest in the West Florissant corridor,” St Louis’s police department said.
Tyrone Harris’s father said, before the video was released, that his son had been unarmed and was “running for his life”.
Prosecutors have filed 10 charges against Tyrone Harris, including assaulting an officer.
A state of emergency was declared on August 10 as protests continued to mark the anniversary of the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by white police officer Darren Wilson.
Protesters staged a sit-in outside the main courthouse in St Louis and gathered along a major highway as part of a day of civil disobedience called by activists.
Police in riot gear forced people off the streets on Monday night. They said 23 people were reportedly detained, but “there were no shots fired, no smoke or tear gas used”.
The state of emergency was still in effect on August 11 but no major protests were reported.
Michael Brown, 18, was shot dead in August 2014 by a white police officer who was later cleared of any wrongdoing by a grand jury and the DoJ.
Michael Brown’s death triggered a wave of protests over alleged racism and the use of excessive force by police officers.
Although the Chinese yuan’s devaluation shocked the international markets, a total move of more than 3% is not significant for most companies.
Further falls could start to change the fortunes of some businesses in and out of China.
China’s Central Bank has again cut the guiding rate for the national currency, the yuan, a day after August 11 record 1.9% devaluation.
The move sent fresh shockwaves through Asian markets, but the bank has sought to calm fears, saying it was not the start of a sustained depreciation.
The yuan fell another 1% on August 12, marking the biggest two-day lowering of its rate against the dollar in more than two decades.
Here are the potential winners and losers:
Winners
Chinese exporters, in particular textile and car companies, could become more competitive.
Foreign retailers will finds Chinese consumer goods cheaper, as will companies using Chinese services, products and components.
Foreign tourists to China will get marginal benefits from a cheaper yuan.
Losers
Chinese companies will have to pay more interest on debt in foreign currencies, in particular property companies and local government financing vehicles.
Chinese air carriers are also exposed to foreign currency debt and big fuel bills that have to be paid in dollars.
Exporters to China, particularly of luxury goods, will find it harder to sell as they become more expensive to Chinese consumers.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the move to make the rate more market-based “appears a welcome step”.
“Greater exchange rate flexibility is important for China as it strives to give market-forces a decisive role in the economy and is rapidly integrating into global financial markets,” the IMF said in a statement.
“We believe that China can, and should, aim to achieve an effectively floating exchange rate system within two to three years.”
The IMF added, though, that the decision would not affect its considerations of Beijing’s hopes for the yuan to be added to the “special drawing rights” (SDR) reserve currencies.
These are currencies which IMF members can use to make payments between themselves or to the Fund.
China has long been lobbying to have the yuan included alongside the dollar, euro, yen and the British pound.
