According to Turkish researchers, spearmint tea may help to control excessive hair growth in women.
Drinking spearmint tea twice a day reduced levels of androgen or male hormones, which can cause excessive hair growth (hirsutism) on the stomach, breasts and face.
Treatment for hirsutism, usually involves drugs to reduce the levels of androgen hormones in the body.
Writing in Phytotherapy Research, the Turkish scientists said spearmint could be a good natural alternative therapy.
Hirsutism is rarely caused by a serious illness but excess hair growth in women can cause distress or embarrassment.
In some cases, hirsutism may be a result of an underlying medical disorder, such as polycystic ovary syndrome.
Drinking spearmint tea twice a day reduced levels of androgen or male hormones (photo Thinkstock)
All women produce small amounts of the androgen hormones, which includes testosterone, but it is the over production of the hormones that leads to excessive hair growth.
According to the researchers, extracts of spearmint plant (Mentha spicata Labiatae) had been reported to reduce libido in men in a town called Isparta in southwest Turkey, possibly due to reduced androgen hormone levels.
To look at the effects in women, 21 volunteers with hirsutism, 12 of whom had polycystic ovary syndrome, were given a cup of spearmint tea twice a day for five days in the follicular (when the ovarian follicle develops) phase of their menstrual cycle.
They made the tea by pouring a cup (250ml) of boiling water over one heaped teaspoon (5g) of dried leaves, and leaving it for five to 10 minutes.
The researchers found a significant decrease in free (active) testosterone in the blood and an increase in several female hormones including follicle-stimulating hormone.
However, there was no decrease in overall testosterone levels, suggesting that more of the hormone was bound to protein in the bloodstream and was inactive.
Spearmint could affect the metabolism of hormones such as testosterone or directly affect synthesis of androgen hormones, the researchers suggest.
More work is needed to test the reliability of spearmint in treating mild hirsutism, warned lead researcher, Professor Mehmet Numan Tamer.
“Current therapies use either oral contraceptives to suppress androgen production, or medications such as spironolactone that prevent the body responding to androgen – but this study shows that spearmint could be a good natural alternative for women who have mild symptoms.”
“We now need to do further studies to test the reliability of this finding, and to see the extent to which the reduced androgens do help women with mild hirsutism,” she said.
More than 80% of voters backed the independence of Catalonia during an informal poll, officials say.
The non-binding vote went ahead after Spain’s constitutional court ruled out holding a formal referendum in the autonomous north-eastern region.
More than two million people out of an estimated 5.4 million eligible voters took part in the ballot.
Catalan leader Artur Mas hailed the poll “a great success” that should pave the way for a formal referendum.
“We have earned the right to a referendum,” he told cheering supporters.
“Once again Catalonia has shown that it wants to rule itself.”
He added: “I ask the people in the world, I ask the media and I also ask the democratic governments in the world to help the Catalan people decide its political future.”
More than 80 percent of voters backed the independence of Catalonia during an informal poll
The ballot was held in the face of fierce opposition from the Spanish government.
Speaking beforehand, Spanish Justice Minister Rafael Catala dismissed the exercise as “fruitless and useless”.
“The government considers this to be a day of political propaganda organized by pro-independence forces and devoid of any kind of democratic validity,” he said in a statement.
Voters were asked two questions – whether they wanted Catalonia to be a state and whether they wanted that state to be independent.
Vice President Joana Ortega said that more than two million people had taken part in the “consultation of citizens” and that with almost all votes counted, 80.72% had answered “Yes” to both questions.
Just over 10% voted yes for the first question and no for the second, he said, and about 4.5% voted no to both questions.
Opinion polls suggest that as many as 80% of Catalans want an official referendum on the issue of Catalonia’s status, with about 50% in favor of full independence.
Spanish unionist parties argue that because the ballot was organized by grassroots pro-independence groups it cannot legitimately reflect the wishes of the region.
More than 40,000 volunteers helped to set up and run the informal exercise.
The Catalan National Assembly pressure group collected signatures at polling stations on a petition to be sent to the UN and the European Commission asking for help to convince Spain to allow an official referendum.
Nationalism in Catalonia has been fuelled by economic and cultural grievances. The wealthy region of 7.5 million people contributes more to the Spanish economy than it gets back through central government funds.
The Libres e Iguales (Free and Equal) group, which opposes the vote, held protests in dozens of cities.
Madonna’s collection of dresses and outfits has topped Julien’s celebrity auction in Beverly Hills raising $3.2 million.
The highest lot was a jacket from Desperately Seeking Susan, which fetched $252,000, while a gown from Madonna’s Material Girl video reached $73,125.
The auction also saw lots from Michael Jackson, Cher and The Beatles.
Madonna’s collection of dresses and outfits has topped Julien’s celebrity auction in Beverly Hills raising $3.2 million
A red sequined cape worn by James Brown sold for $41,600.
The wedding dress Madonna wore when she wed actor Sean Penn in 1985 sold for $81,250, while a dress she wore on her Who’s That Girl tour reached bids of $50,000.
Other lots which attracted the bidders were a pair of John Lennon’s spectacles which sold for $25,000 and a ring worn by Elvis Presley for $57,600.
Guitars from a host of rock greats formed part of the two-day sale including Prince’s Sign of the Times Love guitar and a 1940 Gibson J200 owned by Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, which sold for $43,750.
The UK is marking Remembrance Sunday with Queen Elizabeth II to lead commemorations later to honor members of the armed forces killed in conflict.
She will be joined by political leaders and veterans for a ceremony at the Cenotaph in London – the focal point of the UK’s Remembrance Sunday services.
Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast will be among the places paying their respects.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War One, 70 years since the D-Day landings and the end of Britain’s conflict in Afghanistan.
UK’s PM David Cameron said the anniversaries made 2014’s commemorations “particularly poignant”.
Scotland Yard said there would be “appropriate and proportionate” policing at the Cenotaph after four men were arrested on November 6 in west London and High Wycombe in connection with an alleged Islamist terror plot on British soil.
David Cameron said: “Today we stand united to remember the courageous men and women who have served our country, defended our freedoms and kept us safe.
“We remember all those who have fallen and those who have risked their lives to protect us.
“We owe each and every member of our armed forces and the families who support them a tremendous debt – one that can never be repaid – and I pay huge tribute to their bravery and resolve.”
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War One, 70 years since the D-Day landings and the end of Britain’s conflict in Afghanistan
Queen Elizabeth will be joined by the Duke of Edinburgh for the wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, along with the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall and Earl and Countess of Wessex.
After dusk falls, images of falling poppies are to be projected on to Big Ben, officially known as Parliament’s Elizabeth Tower.
On November 8, the Queen and other members of the Royal Family joined veterans and the public at the Royal British Legion’s annual Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Elsewhere on November 9, a service will also be held at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
In Glasgow a two-minute silence will be observed at the cenotaph in George Square, while in Edinburgh a parade will take place from the castle esplanade to the city’s stone of remembrance.
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond will be among those laying wreaths and a ceremonial gun will be fired.
Meanwhile, the National Secular Society has written to the government asking it to review the role of the Church of England at the national ceremony of remembrance, which it argues should be equally inclusive of all citizens, regardless of religion and belief.
The society believes the commemoration should be redesigned to make it an inclusive national event, not led by a single Christian denomination.
Earlier this week, David Cameron announced that a key part of the World War One poppy display at the Tower of London is to remain in place until the end of November.
The installation of ceramic poppies, entitled Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red, is to be dismantled on November 12.
The Wave segment will now stay in place until the end of the month before being sent on a tour across the UK until 2018, when it will be joined by the installation’s Weeping Window segment.
An Andy Warhol exhibition featuring more than 100 artworks has opened in Liverpool, the UK.
Called Transmitting Andy Warhol, the Tate Liverpool exhibition focuses on how the American artist publicized his iconic paintings around the world.
It is the first major solo display of Andy Warhol’s work ever to be shown in the north of England.
Andy Warhol was a leading proponent of the “pop art” genre, a post-war style based on vivid imagery from popular culture.
The artist, who died in 1987, was famous for producing works featuring Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, as well as pieces highlighting everyday items like soup cans.
Transmitting Andy Warhol, the Tate Liverpool exhibition focuses on how the American artist publicized his iconic paintings around the world
Andy Warhol’s works are among the most sought-after in the world and, in 2011, a self-portrait sold for $38.4 million at Christie’s in New York.
Tate Liverpool said the new exhibition explores how Andy Warhol “transmitted” his work into the public realm via his interaction with popular culture.
The exhibition is also intended to “challenge the traditional separation between high and low culture”.
Stephanie Straine, the exhibition’s assistant curator, said: “Andy Warhol believed that art was for everyone, and tried to get his work out there to the biggest audience possible.
“This led him to have his own show on Manhattan cable TV, and even to create designs for musicians and albums, such as Velvet Underground and John Lennon’s Menlove Avenue.
“I’m thrilled that we have this exhibition here in Liverpool and I’m sure our visitors will enjoy it.”
Transmitting Andy Warhol runs until February 8 2015.
Germany is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Concerts and exhibitions are being staged in the city and Chancellor Angela Merkel will later attend a huge open-air party at the Brandenburg Gate.
White balloons marking a stretch of the Berlin Wall will be released to symbolize its disappearance.
The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 to stop people fleeing from Communist East Germany to the West.
Its fall in 1989 became a powerful symbol of the end of the Cold War.
Angela Merkel will be joined for the festivities by former Polish trade union leader Lech Walesa and Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader.
White balloons marking a stretch of the Berlin Wall will be released to symbolize its disappearance
The wall stretched for 96 miles through Berlin but today only about 2 miles of it still stands.
Within a year of its collapse, Germany – divided after its defeat in World War Two – was reunited.
More than a million visitors have descended on Berlin for the weekend of festivities that will culminate at the Brandenburg Gate.
The monument itself was inaccessible during the partition of Germany and is seen as a symbol of the country’s reunification.
On November 8, people posed for photos in front of the few remaining graffiti-daubed slabs of the wall, or read information boards about life under Berlin’s 28-year division.
Others admired the art installation of almost 7,000 white balloons, pegged to the ground and winding along a 9 miles stretch of the wall’s route.
At the bustling Potsdamer Platz, which was once cut in two by the wall, a small crowd watched archive footage of East German demonstrators chanting: “We are the people.”
Catalonia is holding an informal poll on independence.
The Spanish judiciary has ruled the vote unconstitutional but Catalan leader Artur Mas warned against any attempt to disrupt it.
Spain’s constitutional court suspended earlier plans for a referendum on secession.
PM Mariano Rajoy said the vote would have no effect and urged the region to return to “sanity”.
Voters will be asked whether they want a Catalan state and whether that state should be independent.
Catalonia is a wealthy a region of 7.5 million people and contributes more to the Spanish economy than it gets back through central government funds. Economic and cultural grievances have fuelled Catalan nationalism.
He says there is a long history of support for winning independence from Spain, or at least much greater autonomy within it.
This week, the Constitutional Court demanded the vote be suspended.
Catalonia is holding an informal poll on independence
Catalonia’s government insisted it went ahead, organized by volunteers and with no official electoral roll.
Artur Mas warned the Spanish government against any attempt to halt the vote.
He said: “I don’t know what they will do, it does not depend on us, but if they have a minimum of common sense I think any action out of the ordinary would be a direct attack on democracy and a direct attack on fundamental rights.”
Mariano Rajoy urged a return to sanity and for talks “within the legal framework of the constitution”.
He said the vote would be “neither a referendum nor a consultation nor anything of the sort”.
He added: “What is certain is that it will not have any effect.”
The Libres e Iguales (Free and Equal) group, which opposes the vote, held protests in dozens of cities.
One protest in Barcelona witnessed minor scuffles but no arrests.
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has said that the world is on the brink of a new Cold War, and trust should be restored by dialogue with Russia.
At an event to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, Mikhail Gorbachev said the West had “succumbed to triumphalism”.
He expressed alarm about recent Middle Eastern and European conflicts.
Tensions have been raised between the West and Russia over Ukraine, which was part of the Soviet Union.
Mikhail Gorbachev, 83, was attending an event at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate.
The landmark was inaccessible during the Partition of Germany, and is seen as a symbol of the country’s reunification.
“Bloodshed in Europe and the Middle East against the backdrop of a breakdown in dialogue between the major powers is of enormous concern,” Mikhail Gorbachev said.
“The world is on the brink of a new Cold War. Some are even saying that it’s already begun.”
Mikhail Gorbachev is attending an event marking the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (photo Reuters)
The former Soviet leader said that the West, in particular the US, had succumbed to “triumphalism” after the collapse of the USSR in 1991.
For this reason the global powers had been unable to cope with conflicts in Yugoslavia, the Middle East and now Ukraine, he added.
He urged the West to lift sanctions on Russian officials – imposed over the annexation of Crimea and Moscow’s alleged involvement in the Ukraine conflict – and restore trust through dialogue with the Kremlin.
Mikhail Gorbachev, as leader of the USSR in the late 1980s, is credited with rapprochement with the West and creating a more liberal atmosphere which led to the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe in 1989.
On November 9 1989 East Germany opened its borders including the Wall, which separated East and West Berlin.
Its collapse led to a mood of euphoria, as many East Germans got their first glimpses of the West.
Hundreds are now arriving in Berlin to celebrate anniversary on November 9.
Festivities will include a rock concert and fireworks at the Brandenburg Gate. Other participants include German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Polish president Lech Walesa.
North Korea has released detained US citizens Matthew Todd Miller and Kenneth Bae.
Matthew Todd Miller and Kenneth Bae are now on their way home.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper travelled to North Korea and is accompanying the men back, the US has confirmed.
A third US citizen, Jeffrey Fowle, was freed last month and no Americans are now being held in North Korea.
President Barack Obama said he was “grateful” for their safe return.
He said it was “a wonderful day” for the men and their families.
The US had accused North Korea of using its citizens as pawns in a diplomatic game. Pyongyang denies the accusations.
James Clapper travelled to North Korea for direct talks with the authorities.
North Korea has released detained US citizens Matthew Todd Miller and Kenneth Bae
Barack Obama said: “I appreciate the director doing a great job on what was obviously a challenging mission.”
The US department of state said in a statement that it “welcomes the release of US citizens Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller from the DPRK [North Korea], where they have been held for two years and seven months, respectively”.
It added: “The United States has long called on DPRK authorities to release these individuals on humanitarian grounds. We join their families and friends in welcoming them home.”
One US official told Associated Press news agency that nothing was offered in return for the releases.
The official said that the releases had not changed the US view of North Korea’s nuclear program and that the North should show a serious commitment to denuclearization and improved human rights.
The US thanked Sweden, which serves as the US protecting power in North Korea, for its efforts in the releases.
Matthew Todd Miller, 24, had been sentenced to six years’ hard labor in September for what North Korean state media described as “hostile acts”.
He had been in custody since April 10 when, according to North Korean sources, he destroyed his tourist visa and demanded asylum.
Kenneth Bae, 42, had been arrested in November 2012 as he entered the north-eastern port city of Rason, a special economic zone near North Korea’s border with China.
He has been described as both a tour operator and Christian missionary. North Korea said he used his tourism business to form groups to overthrow the government.
Kenneth Bae was sentenced to 15 years’ hard labor in May 2013.
Big Paybacc has been shot dead at a Los Angeles McDonald’s restaurant.
The 38-year-old rapper was targeted by a man who’d walked into a Palmdale fast-food restaurant and fired at him several times from close range with a handgun.
Big Paybacc was affiliated with former G-Unit artist Spider Loc, who was discovered by Suge Knight.
His 2011 track Gangsta Luv was based on LA’s gang culture and has been watched more than 250,000 views since it was released.
Big Paybacc was affiliated with former G-Unit artist Spider Loc
The shooting in Palmdale, about 35 miles north of Los Angeles, happened with about 15 people inside the restaurant, where Big Paybacc was eating lunch.
The LA County Sheriff’s Department said: “It appears to detectives… that this was not a random shooting.”
It identified the person shot inside the fast-food restaurant as Habeeb Ameer Zekajj, who is also known as Big Paybacc.
Sheriff’s deputies found Habeeb Ameer Zekajj with multiple gunshot wounds and detectives say they are still looking for the gunman.
Jessica Jefferson, a woman who identified herself as Big Paybacc’s girlfriend, told local television station CBS2 that he had three children.
An emergency fund has been set up by top African business leaders to help countries hit by the Ebola outbreak.
After a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the group raised $28.5 million to deploy at least 1,000 health workers to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Experts say that if the Ebola virus is to be speedily contained, it needs to be tackled in these three countries.
Nearly 5,000 people out of about 14,000 cases have been killed by Ebola, most of them in Liberia.
Speaking at the end of the Addis Abada meeting, African Union chairman Dlamini Zuma said the resources mobilized would be part of a longer term program to deal with such outbreaks in the future.
The chairman of telecommunications giant Econet Wireless, Strive Masiyiwa, said that several companies had pledged money to the emergency fund – to be managed by the African Development Bank.
The Ethiopia meeting took place as Liberia was reported by the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on November 7 to have seen a significant reduction in the number of new cases.
It warned, however, that Ebola was still on the rise in Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Nearly 5,000 people out of about 14,000 cases have been killed by Ebola, most of them in Liberia
Of the West African countries hit by the 11-month outbreak, Liberia has seen the most deaths.
However, last weekend Liberian health ministry said two-thirds of the 696 beds in the country’s treatment centers were empty.
Liberia’s government has been running an awareness campaign, advertising the best health practices and installing hand washing stations at buildings across the country.
However, despite significant contributions from the US, the UK, China and others, the head of the UN mission charged with fighting Ebola says more help is urgently needed.
President Vladimir Putin revealed his romantic side as he gave a speech at the Russian Geographical Society on November 7.
Vladimir Putin, 62, spelled out the heart of his philosophy: the power of love.
“The meaning of our whole life and existence is love,” Vladimir Putin told his audiences.
Vladimir Putin revealed his romantic side as he gave a speech at the Russian Geographical Society
“It is love to the family, to the children, to the motherland. This phenomenon is complicated, it lies at heart of any of our behaviors.”
Vladimir Putin’s comments may seem surprisingly wistful, but the Russian leader was a married man for over 30 years, and long-running rumors about younger lovers were reignited following last year’s announcement of his impending divorce.
Eggs were thrown at Italian PM Matteo Renzi’s staff car as he arrived at a new Alcatel-Lucent factory in northern Italy on November 6.
It was the second time this week that eggs were thrown towards PM Matteo Renzi as tensions in Italy mount over plans that will make it easier for companies to fire people.
Trade union activists, carrying signs saying “no unfair dismissal” and “tax the rich, jobs for everyone”, gathered outside the French telecommunications company’s new plant in Monza, where Matteo Renzi gave a speech calling for “crucial” investment in technology, both within Italy and the EU, and for the eurozone to break from the shackles of democracy.
Eggs were thrown at Italian PM Matteo Renzi’s staff car as he arrived at a new Alcatel-Lucent factory
Matteo Renzi was reportedly unscathed by the attack and hustled into the building through a side door, Ansa reported.
Matteo Renzi’s pithy rejoinder that “if they throw eggs, I’ll make crepes” did nothing to calm the controversy.
The egg attack comes a few days after scuffles broke out between protesters and police on November 3 in Brescia, where PM Matteo Renzi gave a speech to local industrialists.
Unions are incensed about Matteo Renzi’s so-called Jobs Act, a series of labor reforms which will make it easier for companies to hire, but also fire, people.
Mexico’s Attorney General Jesus Murillo has said that suspected gang members have confessed to killing 43 students missing for six weeks.
Jesus Murillo said three alleged gang members claimed the students were handed over to them by police.
They said some were already asphyxiated and they shot the others dead, before setting fire to all the bodies.
A total of 43 students went missing after clashing with police on September 26 in the town of Iguala.
The suspects from the Guerreros Unidos drug gang were recently arrested in connection with the disappearances.
Relatives of the missing said they had been told that six bags of unidentified human remains had been found along a river near where the students vanished.
Jesus Murillo warned that it would be difficult to identify the charred remains and that authorities would continue to consider the students as missing until DNA tests confirmed the identities.
Previous searches have uncovered mass graves in the area, but initial tests suggested they did not contain the remains of the students.
Jesus Murillo showed videotaped confessions by the suspects who said they had loaded the students into dumper trucks and taken them to a landfill site in Cocula, a city near Iguala.
About 15 of the students were already dead when they arrived and the rest were shot, according to the suspects.
Jesus Murillo said the bodies were then burned with petrol, tires, firewood and plastic in an inferno that lasted for 14 hours.
A total of 43 students went missing after clashing with police on September 26 in the town of Iguala
“The fire lasted from midnight to 2PM the next day. The criminals could not handle the bodies (for three hours) due to the heat,” he said.
He said that the suspects then crushed the remains, stuffed them into bags and tossed them in a river.
Jesus Murillo showed videos of investigators combing through small pieces of burned remains that were found in black plastic bags.
The suspects said they were not sure how many students they had taken but one said there were more than 40, Jesus Murillo added.
“The high level of degradation caused by the fire in the remains we found make it very difficult to extract the DNA that will allow an identification,” he added.
However, relatives of the missing remained skeptical. The families have been highly critical of the investigation into the students’ disappearance.
The case has shocked Mexico. Thousands have staged protests over what they say is collusion between officials and organized crime, along with government inaction.
President Enrique Pena Nieto has faced widespread criticism and on November 7 he vowed to hunt down all those responsible for the “horrible crime”.
The students from a teacher training college in Ayotzinapa, in Guerrero state, had travelled to nearby Iguala to protest against what they said were discriminatory hiring practices, and to collect funds for their college.
They went missing after clashes with the police.
Six people were also killed after police opened fire and witnesses described seeing the students being bundled into police cars.
More than 70 people have been arrested in connection with the disappearances, including the Mayor of Iguala, Jose Luis Abarca, and his wife, Maria de los Angeles Pineda, who were detained in Mexico City on November 4.
Mexican officials accused Jose Luis Abarca of ordering police to confront the students to prevent them from disrupting a public speech given by Maria de los Angeles Pineda.
Former University of Pittsburgh researcher Robert Ferrante has been found guilty of murdering his wife, Autumn Klein, by lacing her energy drink with cyanide.
Prosecutors said neuroscientist Robert Ferrante concocted the plan to kill Autumn Klein after she pressured him to have a second child.
Robert Ferrante now faces a mandatory life sentence.
Autumn Klein’s relatives burst into tears upon hearing the guilty verdict in the Pittsburgh court.
“Justice for Autumn,” said her mother, Lois Klein, outside the court.
The jury deliberated for 15 hours over two days before finding Robert Ferrante, 66, guilty of first-degree murder.
Former University of Pittsburgh researcher Robert Ferrante has been found guilty of murdering his wife, Autumn Klein, by lacing her energy drink with cyanide
Robert Ferrante hung his head when the verdict was read out.
Police said Robert Ferrante had given the supplement to his wife on April 17 2013. She died three days later.
Prosecutors described him as a “master manipulator” and said he may also have acted out of fear that she was having an affair or was planning to divorce him.
Robert Ferrante had denied poisoning Autumn Klein, saying he had bought the cyanide for stem cell experiments.
Police said Robert Ferrante used a university credit card two days before Autumn Klein fell ill to buy more than 8oz of cyanide.
His lawyers made the case that Autumn Klein, 41, might not have been poisoned at all, citing three defense experts who said poisoning couldn’t be conclusively proved.
The prosecution, however, maintained that a test on Autumn Klein’s blood had revealed a lethal level of cyanide.
The blood was drawn while doctors tried for three days to save Autumn Klein’s life, although the results were not known until after she had died and her body was cremated.
New York federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch has been nominated by President Barack Obama to replace Eric Holder as US attorney general, the White House announces.
If the Senate confirms her appointment, Loretta Lynch will be the first African-American woman to head the US Justice Department.
Eric Holder, who resigned from the post six weeks ago, was the first African-American to serve as attorney general.
The White House said Loretta Lynch would be formally nominated on November 8.
Correspondents say Loretta Lynch, 55, is known for her low-key personality and has stirred little controversy during her two tenures as US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Loretta Lynch will be the first African-American woman to head the US Justice Department
“Ms Lynch is a strong, independent prosecutor who has twice led one of the most important US Attorney’s Offices in the country,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement.
Her nomination comes after Republicans won control of the Senate in Tuesday’s mid-term elections.
Loretta Lynch – a North Carolina native and Harvard-trained lawyer – was one of several candidates Eric Holder had recommended to succeed him.
She has experience in both civil rights and corporate fraud cases.
Eric Holder, 63, led the justice department for six years, earning praise from President Barack Obama who called him “the people’s lawyer”.
However, Eric Holder frequently clashed with Republicans in Congress over issues including gun control and same-gender marriage.
A memorial walk took place in the Philippines on the anniversary of Typhoon Haiyan which ravaged central parts of the country a year ago.
Thousands of people marched through the city of Tacloban as sirens sounded and bells rang at the exact time the storm hit.
There were also anti-government protests at what some see as the slow pace of rebuilding.
President Benigno Aquino has denied moving too slowly. More than 7,000 people were killed in the disaster.
Typhoon Haiyan, known as Yolanda in the Philippines, hit on November 8 2013, sending huge storm swells into inland areas and destroying wide swathes of central Philippines.
More than four million people were displaced, many of whom are still living in temporary shelters.
Ceremonies were held on November 8 at mass graves in Tacloban where several thousand victims of the storm are buried.
Thousands marched by candlelight through the city at dawn, passing through areas devastated by the typhoon.
Gathering at the graves, mourners wrote names of loved ones on white crosses planted symbolically to represent unidentified victims.
More than four million people were displaced after typhoon Haiyan hit Tacloban in November 2013
“It’s important that we make it meaningful, so for the next generation’s people will remember this,” city mayor Alfred Romualdez said, quoted by Reuters news agency.
Hundreds also staged protests in the city and in the capital Manila at what they regard as a lack of progress in reconstruction.
The protesters burned an effigy of the president in the middle of Tacloban.
President Benigno Aquino has been accused of showing a lack of urgency in the reconstruction, with plans to find safe land away from the coast and build new homes falling behind schedule.
Benigno Aquino says the plan will take time.
“I would hope we can move even faster and I will push everybody to move even faster, but the sad reality is the scope of work you need to do can really not be done overnight,” said the president.
The president has decided not to come here to mark the anniversary, although he visited the typhoon-hit Eastern Samar province on November 7.
Tacloban is a stronghold of Benigno Aquino’s political enemies – it is the birthplace of former First Lady, Imelda Marcos.
The US will send 1,500 more non-combat troops to Iraq to boost local forces fighting Islamic State (ISIS) militants, the White House has announced.
The Pentagon said the troops would train and assist Iraqi forces.
President Barack Obama authorized the deployment following a request from Iraq’s government, the Pentagon added.
ISIS militants control large areas of Iraq and Syria but have been targeted by hundreds of air strikes by a US-led coalition since August.
The 1,500 additional US troops will join several hundred military advisers that are already in Iraq to assist the country’s army.
A statement from the Pentagon said the troops would be establishing several sites to train nine Iraqi army and three Kurdish Peshmerga brigades.
The US military would also be setting up two “advise and assist operations centers” outside Baghdad and the northern city of Irbil, the statement added.
The US will send 1,500 more non-combat troops to Iraq to boost local forces fighting ISIS militants
“US troops will not be in combat, but they will be better positioned to support Iraqi security forces as they take the fight” to ISIS, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama would also be asking Congress for $5.6 billion to support the ongoing operations against ISIS fighters in both Iraq and Syria.
The announcement came hours after Barack Obama met congressional leaders in Washington for the first time after the Republicans won control of the Senate in Tuesday’s elections.
The Obama administration has said its aim was to “degrade and ultimately destroy” Islamic State militants, who control large parts of the country after launching an offensive in the north in June.
A US-led coalition has launched more than 400 air strikes on the group in Iraq since August, and more than 300 across the border in Syria.
The strikes have destroyed hundreds of the group’s armed vehicles and several of its bases, but Islamic State has continued its campaign to establish a caliphate.
Last week, officials in Iraq’s western Anbar province said ISIS militants had killed at least 322 members of a Sunni tribe who had tried to resist the jihadists.
French actress Julie Gayet has been pictured entering and leaving the back entrance of the Elysee palace, VSD magazine has reported.
VSD, a weekly gossip magazine, published pictures it said proved that President Francois Hollande spends “almost every night” with Julie Gayet at the French presidential palace.
Julie Gayet, 42, also spent several days this summer with Francois Hollande in La Lanterne – the same Versailles retreat where Valerie Trierweiler, the president’s spurned ex-girlfriend, was sent to recover from a nervous breakdown after revelations over the affair.
President François Hollande, 60, suffered one of the darkest days of his flailing presidency on November 7 after a midterm television bid to persuade the French he can turn the tide was widely panned, and his turbulent private life hit the headlines once again.
Francois Hollande’s affair with Julie Gayet was first revealed in January 2014
Although almost eight million French people tuned into Francois Hollande’s television interview on November 6, precisely halfway through his five-year mandate, the general press consensus was that he had flounced perhaps his “last chance” to win back the French.
Hours after Francois Hollande went onto national television to ask the media to respect his private life following a string of damaging revelations, pictures of a blue Ford Galaxy said to contain Julie Gayet leaving the Elysee hit the news-stands.
In recent months, there have been several reports that Francois Hollande’s relationship with Julie Gayet – a staunch Socialist supporter – was over.
VSD insisted that the relationship was very much back on track and that she sleeps “almost every night at the Elysee”.
“There is no longer any possible doubt: François Hollande and Julie Gayet are still in love,” it wrote.
According to VSD, Julie Gayet arrives almost every evening “around 6.30 PM and leaves the following morning at 8.30 AM”, spending most weekends in the Elysee “making sure she doesn’t stand in front of any windows”.
Francois Hollande’s affair with Julie Gayet was first revealed in January 2014, when Closer magazine published sensational pictures of the president arriving on the back of a moped for secret trysts a stone’s throw from the Elysee, using a helmet as camouflage.
It emerged yesterday, however, that former President Nicolas Sarkozy, who Francois Hollande succeeded at the Elysee in 2012, was aware of the affair two months before it reached the public – sparking speculation he might have been tipped off by an Elysee mole.
Robin Williams’ autopsy report has revealed that the actor was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of his suicide.
Robin Williams was found dead in his California home on August 11 in what authorities soon ruled a suicide. He was 63.
A Marin County coroner’s report released on Friday found Williams died from asphyxia due to hanging.
Robin Williams had been treated for depression.
Robin Williams was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of his suicide
He was last seen alive by his wife, Susan Schneider, on August 10, and was found dead the following day.
On the morning Robin Williams was found, the actor’s personal assistant became concerned when he did not respond to knocks on the door, authorities say. The assistant entered the room and found Robin Williams dead.
Robin Williams won an Academy Award for his role in Good Will Hunting and starred in films including Good Morning Vietnam and Jumanji.
In the past the actor had talked, and even joked, about his struggles with alcohol and drugs. After his death, his representative said he had also been “battling severe depression”.
Robin Williams had earlier returned to a rehabilitation centre to “fine-tune” his sobriety, the Los Angeles Times reported in July.
A second legal challenge to President Barack Obama’s signature 2010 healthcare law (ObamaCare) will be reviewed by the Supreme Court, the court has said.
The court will determine whether the law allows health insurance subsidies to millions of Americans.
The challenge was brought by conservatives who argue that only states, not the federal government, can pay such subsidies.
Residents of 36 states rely on the federal government for the payments.
The sweeping healthcare reform law, the Affordable Care Act, established health insurance exchanges run by the federal government and by 16 states that provide subsidies to help Americans purchase insurance premiums.
In 2014, more than eight million people signed up for coverage on the exchanges.
The Supreme Court will hear a second legal challenge to President Barack Obama’s signature 2010 healthcare law
The law’s conservative opponents argue a close reading of the statute only allows subsidies to be paid by states that have their own healthcare exchanges, not by the federal government, which serves residents of states that have not established their own.
Currently, 36 states do not have exchanges of their own. Should the Supreme Court find in favor of the plaintiffs, more than five million people could find their insurance costs rise dramatically.
In July, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the law’s opponents, but later threw the ruling out so it could rehear the case.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in March, with a decision in June.
On November 7, the White House dismissed the lawsuit as a partisan attempt to undermine the law.
“These lawsuits won’t stand in the way of the Affordable Care Act and the millions of Americans who can now afford health insurance because of it,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement.
“We are confident that the financial help afforded millions of Americans was the intent of the law and it is working as Congress designed.”
The ObamaCare passed with no Republican votes in 2010, and has been a focus of conservative outrage ever since.
In 2012, the Supreme Court upheld the central provision of the law requiring Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty, in a 5-4 decision.
The US unemployment rate has fallen to 5.8% after the economy added 214,000 jobs in October 2014, official Labor Department figures show.
The number of jobs created is slightly below forecasts of about 230,000 new posts, but still indicates a healthy US jobs market.
The figures are a significant gauge of the health of the economy.
US employers have added at least 200,000 jobs for nine months in a row, the longest growth period since 1995.
Jobs figures for August and September were also revised higher.
The US unemployment rate has fallen to 5.8 percent in October 2014
The burst of hiring lowered the unemployment rate to 5.8% from 5.9%. That is the lowest rate since July 2008.
Shares in New York were down shortly after the start of trading. The Dow Jones was 0.28% lower at 17505.28.
The number of unemployed in the US has dropped to 8.995 million, below nine million for the first time in six years.
The work force participation rate, which counts those with jobs and those actively seeking jobs, was barely changed in October at 62.8%.
The financial crisis of 2008 has dented that rate, with some people simply giving up the search for work.
Although economic growth has picked up this year and job opportunities with it, this week’s mid-term elections revealed employment was voters’ top worry, suggesting many Americans have not yet felt any improvement.
