Lance Armstrong has pleaded guilty to careless driving in Aspen, Colorado.
The cyclist’s girlfriend Anna Hansen initially told police it was her in the driver’s seat when the pair collided with parked vehicles in Aspen last year.
Anna Hansen later admitted that she lied to avoid media attention.
Lance Armstrong, who won and was then stripped of seven Tour de France titles, received a lifetime cycling ban after confessing to systematic doping.
The incident which led to his careless driving plea happened in December 2014.
Driving in icy conditions, the couple’s SUV collided with two parked cars.
Officers traced the accident back to Lance Armstrong and his girlfriend.
A local police report quoted by the Aspen Daily News said Anna Hansen became “upset” when the veracity of her initial account was questioned.
“We’ve had our family name smeared over every paper in the world in the last couple of years,” Anna Hansen was quoted as saying in a police statement, reported the Aspen Daily News.
“I just wanted to protect my family.”
According to court records, Lance Armstrong paid $238.50 in court fees and a fine of $150.
Lance Armstrong entered his plea by mail, thereby avoiding a court appearance.
Mexican actress Lorena Rojas has died at the age of 44 following a lengthy battle with breast cancer.
Lorena Rojas starred in more than a dozen soap operas.
The actress was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and became an advocate for cancer education in Latino communities.
Lorena Rojas passed away at her home in Miami. Her last message to her fans was sent on Twitter less than a week ago.
In the birthday message, Lorena Rojas wrote: “Thank you all for celebrating my birthday with me. Beautiful day.”
Lorena Rojas starred in such acclaimed Spanish soaps as El Cuerpo del Deseo, Pecados Ajenos, Alcanzar Una Estrella and, most recently, the series Demente Criminal.
She also appeared in movies such as Manos Quietas and Aventurera.
In addition, Lorena Rojas wrote and recorded an album of children’s music called Hijos del Sol, which was inspired by her daughter Luciana.
Lorena Rojas was initially thought to have made a recovery after her original breast cancer diagnosis. But in 2012 she was told her cancer had spread to her bones, and last year the tumor spread to her liver.
Her boyfriend, family and friends were by her side when she died, her agent Latin WE said.
A statement from Latin WE said: “Lorena takes a step into eternal life leaving as her greatest legacy the love for animals and for art in all its forms, her tender devotion to her daughter, her passion for life, the appreciation of all her Lobitas and fans who she loved until the end.”
Oscar-nominated movie Birdman has been honored at the 17th Costume Designers Guild Awards on Tuesday, February 17th, 2015 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
The Michael Keaton movie won the prize for excellence in contemporary film, while Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel won the period film category.
Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel are nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards, although only Wes Anderson’s film is up for the best costume Oscar.
The musical Into the Woods won in the fantasy film category.
With costumes designed by multiple Oscar-winner Colleen Atwood, it beat Guardians of the Galaxy, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 and Maleficent.
Double Oscar winner Albert Wolsky’s costumes in Birdman triumphed over Boyhood, Gone Girl, Interstellar and Wild.
Milena Canonero – yet another multiple Academy Award winner – beat The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything and Inherent Vice with her costumes for The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Boyhood director Richard Linklater was honored with the distinguished collaborator award.
Harrison Ford presented the career achievement award to Aggie Guerard Rodgers, with whom he worked on a number of films including American Graffiti, Return of the Jedi and The Fugitive.
She was nominated for an Oscar for The Color Purple and also worked on One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Rainmaker and Beetlejuice.
Achievements in television were also recognized at the ceremony, with True Detective winning the outstanding contemporary TV series award.
Game of Thrones won the period/fantasy series prize and American Horror Story: Freak Show won the mini-series award.
Full list of winners at the 2015 Costume Designers Guild Awards:
Excellence in Contemporary Film Birdman – Albert Wolsky Excellence in Period Film The Grand Budapest Hotel – Milena Canonero Excellence in Fantasy Film Into the Woods – Colleen Atwood Excellence in Commercial Costume Design
Army, “Defy Expectations, Villagers” – Christopher Lawrence Outstanding Contemporary Television Series True Detective – Jenny Eagan Outstanding Period/Fantasy Television Series Game of Thrones – Michele Clapton Outstanding Made for Television Movie or Mini Series American Horror Story: Freak Show – Lou Eyrich
Nestle has announced it will be removing all artificial flavors and colors from its chocolate products in the US.
The Swiss food giant’s US unit has promised on February 17 to get rid of artificial flavors and government certified colors in more than 250 chocolates by the end of this year.
The move was prompted by its market research, which showed that US consumers wanted the additives gone.
Nestle will replace the flavors and colors with natural ingredients.
The ingredients from natural sources are certified as safe by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the company said.
Photo Nestle
For example, the centre of its Butterfinger bars will now have annatto, which comes from the seeds found in the fruit from the achiote tree, instead of certified colors Red 40 and Yellow 5, it said in a statement on February 17.
“In CRUNCH, natural vanilla flavor will replace artificial vanillin.”
Nestle is making changes to more than 75 recipes, said health and wellness manager Leslie Mohr, who added that consumer testing had been done on the new recipes.
More than 60% of Americans said the absence of artificial coloring or flavoring was an important factor in their decision to buy food, according to a recent Nielsen survey the company cited.
Nestle is also in the process of removing caramel coloring from its chocolate products.
The new products are expected to be available for sale by the middle of 2016.
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel had its royal premiere on Tuesday, February 17.
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall have attended the British comedy sequel premiere at London’s Leicester Square which was decorated to resemble a set from the Indian-based film.
The release follows the 2012 box office hit The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Critics have given director John Madden’s sequel mixed reviews.
Based in Jaipur, India, the follow-up sees the original cast members reprise their roles, with Richard Gere joining the cast.
The Second Best Marigold Hotel also stars Bill Nighy, Celia Imrie, Dev Patel, Tina Desai, Penelope Wilton and Tamsin Greig.
Following the premiere, Tina Desai said the royal couple had been “extremely warm and gracious”, and that Prince Charles was very interested in the Bollywood film industry.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel earned more than $135 million at box offices worldwide on a production budget of $10 million.
Sequel The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel will be released on February 26. Money raised by the premiere will go to The Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund, which provides support to film and TV industry employees and their families who fall on hard times.
The HBO announcement to commission two more series of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, has ended rumors that the comedian may replace Jon Stewart on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.
John Oliver launched Last Week Tonight in 2014 after seven years as one of Jon Stewart’s sidekicks on The Daily Show.
He was mentioned as a possible new Daily Show host after Jon Stewart announced last week that he is to stand down.
The new HBO deal means John Oliver will present 35 episodes of Last Week Tonight per year in 2016 and 2017.
The announcement comes three days after his late-night chat show won the Writers’ Guild of America award for best comedy/variety series.
John Oliver rose to fame after joining The Daily Show as its Senior British Correspondent in 2006.
In 2013, John Oliver stood in for Jon Stewart for eight weeks while the host was shooting a film. John Oliver received positive reviews, with some critics suggesting he should eventually succeed Stewart.
Other possible contenders to replace Jon Stewart include Tina Fey, Jessica Williams and Amy Poehler.
“We are incredibly proud to have John as part of the HBO family,” HBO president Michael Lombardo said.
“His unique ability to deliver socially significant commentary week after week, along with his innate comedic brilliance, puts John in a class by himself.”
In the first season of Last Week Tonight, which ended last November, John Oliver covered topics including net neutrality, Uganda’s anti-LGBT laws, Miss America, climate change and civil forfeiture abuse by the police.
The second series of 35 episodes began earlier this month. The show is produced by the US arm of Britain’s Avalon Television.
Roman Polanski is to attend an extradition hearing in Krakow court after the US lodged a request with Poland to have him brought back.
The Polish-born film director has been wanted by US police since 1977, when he fled the country after being charged with assaulting a 13-year-old girl.
Roman Polanski, 81, has been working in Poland to prepare for a film he wants to shoot later this year.
The hearing will take place in Krakow on February 25.
Even if the court rules Roman Polanski should be extradited, the justice minister can approve or reject the decision.
Roman Polanski’s lawyer Jan Olszewski confirmed his client would be there.
Prosecutors in Poland refused a US request to arrest Roman Polanski in October but see no legal obstacles to the extradition.
If the Polish court agrees to the extradition, a final decision would be taken by the Polish justice minister.
It appears unlikely Poland would allow Roman Polanski to be extradited, where he is viewed by many as one of the country’s greatest living artists.
The Rosemary’s Baby director was held in Switzerland in 2009 after travelling to Zurich to pick up a prize at a film festival.
However, the extradition bid failed and he was eventually allowed to return to his home in France.
Roman Polanski has been to Poland several times in recent years.
In 2010, the Polish prosecutor general said Roman Polanski could not be extradited because under Polish law too much time had passed since the offences.
President Petro Poroshenko says the Ukrainian troops are making an “organized” withdrawal from the embattled town of Debaltseve.
Petro Poroshenko said 80% of Ukraine’s forces had left on Wednesday morning, February 18, with more to follow.
Fighting has raged over the transport hub, with pro-Russian rebels seizing control of most areas, despite a ceasefire deal.
Russia’s foreign minister said Ukrainian forces had been encircled and were forced to battle their way out.
“I’m reckoning that common sense will prevail,” said Sergei Lavrov as he urged the rebels to provide troops who surrendered with food and clothes.
Earlier, Vice-President Joe Biden accused Russia of violating the accord, agreed in Minsk last week.
Sergei Lavrov told reporters that the rebel attack in Debaltseve did not violate the ceasefire agreement, because the town was part of the rebel-held area at the time the peace deal was signed.
Eyewitnesses saw dozens of tanks and columns of weary Ukrainian troops retreating from Debaltseve on February 18.
“This morning the Ukrainian armed forces together with the National Guard completed an operation for a planned and organized withdrawal from Debaltseve,” the Ukrainian president said in a statement before travelling to the frontline in the east.
“As of now we can say that 80% of our units have left,” he said.
“We are expecting another two columns [to leave].”
The withdrawal comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Ukraine’s troops in Debaltseve to surrender.
International observers monitoring the truce have been unable to enter the town.
It has become a key prize for rebels and government forces, as it sits on a strategic railway line linking rebel-held Donetsk and Luhansk.
Most of its 25,000 population has been evacuated but about 7,000 civilians are still believed trapped by the fighting.
The ceasefire, which came into effect on February 15, has been broadly observed elsewhere.
Rebel leaders in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic said on February 18 they had begun to withdraw heavy weaponry from the parts of the frontline where the ceasefire was holding.
The withdrawal was due to start no later than the second day after the truce came into effect and be completed within two weeks, creating buffer zones 30-85 miles wide.
Everest climbing route in Nepal is to be changed amid fears of an increased avalanche risk.
Nepal will change the path in March after a deadly collapse in 2014 killed 16 Sherpa guides – the worst single loss of life in expedition history.
The current route up the mountain has been in use since the 1990s.
Mountaineers will now take a more central route after Base Camp, avoiding the left side of the Khumbu Icefall, where last year’s accident occurred.
The fatal avalanche last year triggered a boycott by Sherpa climbers who demanded better wages and conditions.
Their protest at Base Camp led to the cancellation of all expeditions to Everest.
The Nepali government is seeking to improve safety at the start of the 2015 spring climbing season.
“We think the risk of avalanche in the left part of the Khumbu Icefall is growing and we are moving the route to the centre where there is almost no such danger,” said Ang Dorji Sherpa, chairman of the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, an organization authorized to set the route of Everest expeditions.
Ropes and ladders had already been imported from countries including the UK and will be fixed into position along the new route, he added.
The central route up the mountain immediately after Base Camp is not actually new. It was the path used by mountaineers more than two decades ago.
In the 1990s, the route was changed to run up what is known as the “west shoulder” because it was shorter and easier to climb, even for inexperienced mountaineers.
The downside was that the avalanche risk there was greater.
“The route through the centre part will be difficult and time consuming but it will be relatively free from the risk of avalanche, as the ice cliffs and hanging glaciers [along the west shoulder] are comparatively far away from it,” said Ang Dorji Sherpa.
One of the demands of Sherpas during their protest last year was for the Nepali government to allow the use of helicopters to drop heavy equipment at Camp One – the next stop for climbers after leaving Base Camp.
This would free Sherpas from carrying heavy loads and reduce the frequency of their trips through treacherous parts of the route.
Porters, many of them from the Sherpa community, pass through the Khumbu Icefall 30-40 times during the climbing season, carrying heavy loads.
Foreign operators have sided with the Sherpas on this issue, but Nepali expedition operators disagree.
“Nepal’s law does not allow even rescue helicopters above base camp mainly because of the environmental fragility of the mountains and we agree with that provision,” Tika Gurung, an executive member of the Expedition Operators’ Association of Nepal.
The government has not agreed to any change on the use of helicopters, though it may hope that shifting the route will assuage some of the Sherpas’ anger.
Both foreign and Nepali expedition operators have welcomed the decision to move the climbing path.
Figures show nearly 40 climbers, most of them support staff of expedition teams, have died in the Khumbu Icefall.
Some 250 people in total have died trying to climb Mount Everest since it was first scaled in 1953.
Offices of the Geneva subsidiary of HSBC bank are being raided by Swiss police in an inquiry into alleged money-laundering.
Prosecutors said they were investigating HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) and “persons unknown for suspected aggravated money laundering”.
The investigation could be extended to people suspected of committing or participating in money laundering.
HSBC said it was “co-operating with the Swiss authorities.”
The police raid comes more than a week after allegations first emerged that HSBC’s Swiss private bank may have helped wealthy clients evade tax.
HSBC published a full-page advert in several weekend papers containing an apology over the claims.
Photo EPA
The chief executive of HSBC’s Swiss private bank, Franco Morra, said last week it had shut down accounts from clients who “did not meet our high standards”.
Franco Morra added the revelations about “historical business practices” were a reminder that the old business model of Swiss private banking was no longer acceptable.
HM Revenue & Customs was given the leaked data in 2010 and has identified 1,100 people who had not paid their taxes.
Last week, HSBC admitted that it was “accountable for past control failures”, but said it had now “fundamentally changed”.
“We acknowledge that the compliance culture and standards of due diligence in HSBC’s Swiss private bank, as well as the industry in general, were significantly lower than they are today,” it added.
HSBC faces criminal investigations in the US, France, Belgium and Argentina, but not in the UK, where the bank is based.
The bank said it was “co-operating with relevant authorities”.
Offshore accounts are not illegal, but many people use them to hide cash from the tax authorities.
While tax avoidance is perfectly legal, deliberately hiding money to evade tax is not.
Lunar New Year celebrations have begun in countries across Asia and China on February 19 to welcome the year of the sheep/goat.
In China, hundreds of millions of people are travelling home in what is considered the world’s biggest annual human migration.
State media says about three billion passenger trips will be made by plane, train and car over the 40-day period.
Originating during the Shang Dynasty (about 17th – 11th century BC), it celebrates family reunion and hopes the advent of spring and flowers blossomingrich with full of colorful activities. People from different regions and different ethnic groups celebrate it in their unique ways.
It is a public holiday in many places with ethnic Chinese populations such as Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.
The festival is known as Tet in Vietnam and Seollal in South Korea, and is traditionally a time to be with family.
Damascus has agreed to halt its aerial bombardment of Aleppo for six weeks for a trial ceasefire, UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura says.
Staffan de Mistura said the Syrian pledge offered a glimmer of hope although it is unclear when it would take effect.
The opposition Syrian National Council says the government will be judged by actions rather than words.
Government forces have been engaged in heavy fighting as they try to cut a crucial rebel supply route.
More than 100 soldiers and rebels were reported to have been killed on February 17 as the army captured several villages north of the city.
Staffan de Mistura has been working since October to negotiate what are called “local freezes” in the Syrian fighting that would start with Aleppo.
During a recent visit to the country, he held a long meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, during which the Syrian president apparently indicated a willingness to halt all aerial bombing and artillery shelling of Aleppo for the six-week period.
Photo Reuters
Staffan de Mistura said he would return to Syria as soon as possible with the aim of announcing a freeze in the fighting in the northern city, during which opposition forces would also be expected to suspend their mortar and rocket fire.
“Let’s be frank, I have no illusions because based on past experiences, this will be a difficult issue to be achieved,” he said.
Aleppo has been divided between rebel and government control since fighting erupted in the city in mid-2012.
Soldiers, backed by pro-government militiamen and fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, have made steady advances since launching an offensive to retake the rebel-held west of the city last year.
Aleppo-based rebels and opposition activists have expressed concerns that the government will exploit any local truces to redeploy its forces to fight elsewhere, and have questioned how they will work with jihadist militants from the Islamic State (ISIS) group in the area.
Vladimir Putin has urged the Ukrainian government to allow its troops to surrender to rebels in the strategic town of Debaltseve.
The Russian president also said he hoped the rebels would let any captured troops return to their families.
Fierce fighting raged throughout Tuesday in Debaltseve despite a ceasefire deal signed last week, with rebels saying they now controlled most areas.
The UN Security Council called for an immediate end to hostilities.
On Tuesday evening a resolution drafted by Russia calling on all sides to respect the deal, signed in the Belarusian capital Minsk last week, was adopted unanimously by the council.
International observers monitoring the truce have been unable to enter Debaltseve.
Debaltseve has become a key prize for rebels and government forces, as it sits on a strategic railway line linking rebel-held Donetsk and Luhansk.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko described rebel attempts to take the town as a “cynical attack” on the ceasefire.
“Today the world must stop the aggressor,” Petro Poroshenko said in statement posted on his website following a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“I call on the permanent members of the UN Security Council to prevent further violation of fundamental principles and rules of the UN and the unleashing of a full-scale war in the very centre of Europe,” he said.
Speaking on a visit to Hungary, President Vladimir Putin said he hoped the ceasefire agreements would be observed by both sides.
Photo Reuters
Vladimir Putin said there had been a “significant reduction” in the intensity of combat since the truce came into effect over the weekend.
He said the conflict could not be solved by military means.
“I hope that the Ukrainian authorities are not going to prevent the Ukrainian soldiers from laying down their weapons,” he said.
“If they aren’t capable of taking that decision themselves and giving that order, then [I hope] that they won’t prosecute people who want to save their lives and the lives of others.”
Vladimir Putin added that the fighting in Debaltseve was “understandable and predictable”.
He said he had warned participants in the Minsk talks that – ceasefire or no ceasefire – encircled government troops would try to break free and the rebels would try to prevent this.
Meanwhile, sources in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said Debaltseve police station and railway station had been taken, and at least 80% of the city was under rebel control.
According to later reports, the city’s military HQ – where many government troops are based – has also been surrounded.
The rebels said that up to 300 Ukrainian troops in Debaltseve had surrendered, and Russian TV showed footage of what it said were 72 captured soldiers.
Ukraine said a group had been taken prisoner after an ambush but denied large-scale surrenders.
The Ukrainian military said there was intense fighting in the streets and confirmed that the rebels were in control of parts of the city.
Although Debaltseve has suffered weeks of artillery exchanges, correspondents say this is the first fierce fighting inside the town.
Most of its 25,000 population have been evacuated but about 7,000 civilians are still believed trapped by the fighting, according to Amnesty International.
The ceasefire, which came into effect on February 15, has been broadly observed but separatists insist the agreement does not apply in Debaltseve because they have the town almost surrounded.
Both sides have also failed to pull back heavy weapons from the front line.
The withdrawal was due to start no later than the second day after the truce came into effect and be completed within two weeks, creating buffer zones 30-85 miles wide.
Officials say more than 5,400 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in eastern Ukraine in April 2014, but the UN believes the actual death toll to be much higher.
Ukraine’s pro-Western government says Russia is supporting the separatists with troops and weapons, but the Kremlin has consistently denied this.
According to new reports, Greece is expected to request a six-month extension of its loan agreement on February 18.
The loan would not be an extension of the current bailout agreement, which includes strict austerity measures, Greek government officials were quoted as saying.
On February 16, Greece rejected a plan to extend its 240 billion euros bailout describing it as “absurd”.
Without a deal, Greece is likely to run out of money.
The eurozone has given Greece until February 20 to decide if it wants to continue with the current bailout deal.
Greece wants to replace the bailout with a new loan that it says would give it time to find a permanent solution to the debt crisis.
The country’s current bailout expires on February 28. Any new agreement would need to be approved by national governments, so time is running out to reach a compromise.
Earlier Greek PM Alexis Tsipras called for a vote to scrap its austerity program on February 20, the same day as the eurozone deadline.
“We will not succumb to psychological blackmail,” Alexis Tsipras told parliament.
“We are not in a hurry and we will not compromise.”
Earlier, Germany’s Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said that Greece needed to make up its mind whether it wanted to extend the bailout program.
“None of my colleagues so far understands what Greece wants… whether Greece itself knows is not clear either,” he said.
Alexis Tsipras criticized Wolfgang Schaeuble, saying that the German finance minister had lost his cool on Monday.
“Not because he spoke up against the Greek government, because that is his right, but he spoke condescendingly towards the Greek people,” he said.
The Greek stock exchange closed down by 2.45%, having fallen by as much as 4% earlier in the day.
JP Morgan claimed over the weekend that €2 billion worth of deposits was flowing out of Greek banks each week and estimated that if that were to remain the case, they would run out of cash to use as collateral against new loans within 14 weeks.
Bruce Jenner admitted he is on the process to become a woman in a highly anticipated interview with ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer.
The 65-year-old former Olympian opened up about his transition and even revealing his female name.
Bruce Jenner has already taped his interview with Diane Sawyer and revealed many secrets about his bombshell decision to transition from a man to a woman.
A source told US Weekly about the interview: “He did not wear feminine make up during his chat.”
However, the source said, “he did reveal a name” that he will ask people to call him once he become a woman. The source also said Bruce Jenner “referred to her in the third person”.
Bruce Jenner will be appearing on Keeping Up With The Kardashians Season 10, which premieres on March 15.
He told Diane Sawyer that he is “mulling a name” for his own reality show, which will chronicle his journey during his transition.
Bruce Jenner married Kris Kardashian in 1991 after five months of dating.
In September 2014, Kris Jenner filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences.
According to recent reports, Bruce Jenner opened up to his family that he has known since the age of 5 that he was a female.
The Kardashian-Jenner patriarch told his family he has kept his “true self” inside since he was a child, and even during the ’76 Olympics – when he was considered the greatest male athlete in the world – in his head he was a woman, TMZ has reported.
However, the gossip website says, Bruce Jenner has “never been female” in front of any of his kids, meaning that he never wore female attire around the children.
Keeping Up With the Kardashians Season 10 will premiere on March 15, 2015.
A sneak peek of the upcoming season reveals that Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick are still having issues about his whereabouts at times.
The new season also got a glimpse of the divorce drama between Kris and Bruce Jenner, plus a peek at Kendall Jenner’s world changing from Calabasas to catwalk.
In a highly anticipated interview with ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer, Bruce Jenner admitted he is on the process to become a woman.
The former Olympian opened up about his transition and even revealing his female name.
Bruce Jenner, 65, has already filmed his interview with Diane Sawyer and revealed many secrets about his bombshell decision to transition from a man to a woman.
A source told US Weekly about the interview: “He did not wear feminine make up during his chat.”
However, the source said, “he did reveal a name” that he will ask people to call him once he become a woman. The source also said Bruce Jenner “referred to her in the third person”.
Bruce Jenner will be appearing on Keeping Up With The Kardashians Season 10, which premieres on March 15.
He told Diane Sawyer that he is “mulling a name” for his own reality show, which will chronicle his journey during his transition.
Bruce Jenner married Kris Kardashian in 1991 after five months of dating.
In September 2014, Kris Jenner filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences.
Islamic State (ISIS) militants have burned to death 45 people in the western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi, the local police chief says.
Exactly who these people were and why they were killed is not clear.
However, Col. Qasim al-Obeidi said he believed some were members of the security forces.
ISIS militants captured much of al-Baghdadi town, near Ain al-Asad air base, last week.
Col. Qasim al-Obeidi said a compound that houses the families of security personnel and local officials was now under attack.
He pleaded for help from the government and the international community.
The fighting and poor communications in the area make it difficult to confirm such reports.
Earlier this month, ISIS published a video showing militants burning alive a Jordanian air force pilot, whose plane crashed in Syria in December.
Al-Baghdadi had been besieged for months by ISIS militants before its fall on February 12.
It had been one of the few towns to still be controlled by the Iraqi government in Anbar province, where ISIS and allied Sunni Arab tribesmen launched an offensive in January 2014.
Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters on February 13 that al-Baghdadi’s capture needed to be put in perspective.
He said it was the first time in the last couple of months that the jihadist group had taken new ground.
However, Ain al-Asad air base, where about 320 US Marines are training members of the Iraqi army’s 7th Division, is only 5 miles away.
The base was itself attacked by ISIS fighters, among them several suicide bombers, on February 13. The militants were eventually repelled by Iraqi troops backed by US-led coalition aircraft.
Thousands of people have protested in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, ahead of talks between PM Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Today’s visit is Vladimir Putin’s first to an EU leader since June 2014.
Hungary wants to negotiate a new agreement for Russian gas supplies.
Russia has been largely shunned by EU member states because of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, although it denies accusations of fomenting the violence.
Protesters rallied in Budapest on Monday night carrying banners saying “Putin No! Europe Yes!”.
Much of the city centre was closed to traffic on February 17 as security was stepped up ahead of the visit.
Vladimir Putin’s trip comes less than two weeks after German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Budapest before embarking on a week of intense diplomacy, which resulted in the announcement of a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.
He is keen to demonstrate that he has allies within the EU and NATO, observers say.
During his visit, Vladimir Putin is due to visit the graves of Soviet soldiers.
Hungary has backed EU sanctions imposed on Russia over the situation in Ukraine, but has been vocal about their negative impact.
In 2014, Viktor Orban said the EU had “shot itself in the foot” by restricting trade with Moscow.
Hungary relies on Russia for more than half of its gas supplies and wants to negotiate a flexible long-term deal to succeed the current agreement which expires later this year.
Viktor Orban, who rose to prominence with a strong anti-communist and anti-Russian stance as a student leader, told Hungarian radio on Friday that there were psychological tensions with Russia, but he wanted to overcome them.
He is considered to be among Vladimir Putin’s closest allies in Europe.
Many of the demonstrators who marched through Budapest on the eve of Vladimir Putin’s visit said they were wary of closer ties with Russia.
Nick Gordon changed his Twitter profile picture to an image of Bobbi Kristina Brown’s name tattooed on his forearm.
Bobbi Kristina Brown’s partner also tweeted: “Thank you for all your prayers. She is a strong person and will pull through this. Continue to pray for her.”
Photo Twitter
The tribute isn’t a surprise, considering Nick Gordon already has a picture of Bobbi Kristina Brown’s late mother, Whitney Houston, inked on his other arm.
Bobbi Kristina Brown’s family has reportedly banned Nick from her bedside at Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital, where she is in a medically induced coma following a near-drowning incident on January 31.
Police is now looking into the possibility of an altercation between Nick Gordon and Bobbi Kristina Brown more than an hour before she was found face down and unresponsive in a bathtub in her Roswell home, TMZ reported.
Bobbi Kristina Brown will remain on life support throughout this week following a near-drowning incident at her home on January 31.
Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown’s 21-year-old was placed in a medically-induced coma upon admission to the hospital after she was found unresponsive and face-down in her bathtub.
Photo Getty Images
Bobbi Kristina Brown has been fighting for her life, surrounded by her father, grandmother Cissy Houston and close family members ever since.
Amid new reports suggesting Bobbi Kristina is close to death, her dad’s lawyer, Christopher Brown, told People.com that her condition isn’t quite as bleak, insisting rumors the family is planning to take her off life support are “false”.
Meanwhile, officials at the Roswell Police Department in Georgia have confirmed the case involving Bobbi Kristina Brown’s bathtub incident is a criminal investigation.
Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney are now engaged after the actor popped the question on Valentine’s Day with a heart-shaped engagement ring.
Photo Instagram
Lady Gaga, 28, celebrated the news with Taylor Kinney, 33, and family at Joanne’s Trattoria in New York City, Us Weekly reported.
The singer confirmed the happy news on her Instagram, writing: “He gave me his heart on Valentine’s Day, and I said YES!”
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, started dating Chicago Fire star Taylor Kinney in 2011 after he stared in her music video for You and I.
A South Texas federal judge has put on hold President Barack Obama’s executive order on immigration, giving a coalition of 26 states time to pursue a lawsuit that aims to permanently stop the orders.
District Judge Andrew Hanen’s decision on February 16 comes after a hearing in Brownsville in January and temporarily blocks Barack Obama’s orders that could spare as many as five million people who are in the US illegally from deportation.
Andrew Hanen wrote in a memorandum accompanying his order that the lawsuit should go forward and that without a preliminary injunction the states will “suffer irreparable harm in this case.”
“The genie would be impossible to put back into the bottle,” he wrote, adding that he agreed with the plaintiffs’ argument that legalizing the presence of millions of people is a “virtually irreversible” action.
The White House in a statement on February 17 defended the executive orders issued in November as within the president’s legal authority, saying that the US Supreme Court and Congress have said federal officials can set priorities in enforcing immigration laws.
“The district court’s decision wrongly prevents these lawful, commonsense policies from taking effect and the Department of Justice has indicated that it will appeal that decision,” the statement said. An appeal would be heard by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
The first of Barack Obama’s orders – to expand a program that protects young immigrants from deportation if they were brought to the US illegally as children – was set to start taking effect on February 18. The other major part of Barack Obama’s order, which extends deportation protections to parents of US citizens and permanent residents who have been in the country for some years, was not expected to begin until May 19.
Joaquin Guerra, political director of Texas Organizing Project, called the ruling a “temporary setback.”
“We will continue getting immigrants ready to apply for administrative relief,” he said in a statement.
The coalition of states, led by Texas and made up of mostly conservative states in the South and Midwest, argues that President Barack Obama has violated the “Take Care Clause” of the US Constitution, which they say limits the scope of presidential power. They also say the order will force increased investment in law enforcement, health care and education.
In their request for the injunction, the coalition said it was necessary because it would be “difficult or impossible to undo the President’s lawlessness after the Defendants start granting applications for deferred action.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called the decision a “victory for the rule of law in America” in a statement late Monday.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who as the state’s former attorney general led the state into the lawsuit, said Judge Andrew Hanen’s decision “rightly stops the President’s overreach in its tracks”.
Judge Andrew Hanen, who’s been on the federal court since 2002 after being nominated by President George W. Bush, regularly handles border cases but wasn’t known for being outspoken on immigration until a 2013 case.
Congressional Republicans have vowed to block Barack Obama’s actions by cutting off Homeland Security Department spending for the program.
