A couple in a small Alaska town was mistakenly told by police that their son had been killed in a car crash, leading to an extraordinary reunion hours later.
In Palmer on October 9, at about 03:00 an officer told Karen and Jay Priest their son Justin, 29, had been killed.
The devastated couple drove to Justin Priest’s girlfriend’s home to inform her, when he greeted them at the door.
In fact, another man with the same name but different birthday was killed. The Juneau police apologized for the error.
Juneau police mistakenly told Justin Priest’s parents that their son had been killed in a car crash (photo Facebook)
After hearing the horrible news, the Priests telephoned far-away relatives, then drove to Anchorage to tell their other son in person, they told Alaska Dispatch News.
Then, the grieving family set out to inform Justin Priest’s girlfriend of five years.
At her home at about 05:30, Justin Priest said he heard a knock on the door as he was getting ready to walk his dog. Still bleary-eyed from sleep, he was surprised to see his family. All erupted with joy, praising Jesus and embracing one another in tears.
“It opens and right here is Justin. I don’t even see it but Jay is sobbing. It doesn’t compute to me. Then I see him,” Karen Priest told the Associated Press news agency.
“You want it to be true, but you go, <<Am I hallucinating?>> Justin didn’t know what was going on.”
The Juneau police have apologized for the anguish, however momentary.
Justin Priest told the Alaska Dispatch that the family’s relief and joy is tempered by the awareness another family lost a son.
King Philippe of Belgium has sworn in a new centre-right government, more than four months after the general election.
The new cabinet is led by French-speaking liberal Charles Michel, 38, who will be Belgium’s youngest prime minister since 1841.
The government is the first to include ministers from the separatist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) party. It has vowed to cut government spending and balance the national budget.
Belgium is notorious for long political deadlocks following elections.
It took 541 days to form the country’s previous, Socialist-led government.
Charles Michel has become Belgium’s youngest prime minister since 1841
Belgium is also deeply divided linguistically. Dutch-speaking parties performed well in the elections, but they chose to form a four-party coalition and appoint a French-speaking prime minister.
The N-VA, which campaigns for more autonomy for northern, Dutch-speaking Belgium, came first in the May elections.
Its leader, Bart De Wever, will remain mayor of Antwerp and did not join the government.
As well as a commitment to lower taxes, the new government plans to raise the pension age from 65 to 66 in 2025 and to 67 in 2030.
Outgoing prime minister, French-speaking socialist Elio di Rupo, has vowed to lead the political opposition to the policies.
Protesters have joined the first march of a planned weekend of demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri, against police shootings.
The protests were sparked by the killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by police in August.
Weeks of protests and violence in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson followed Michael Brown’s shooting.
Tensions in St Louis are high after another black teenager was shot dead by a police officer on Wednesday.
Police in riot gear used pepper spray to try to dispel protesters angry at the shooting of Vonderrit D. Myers, 18.
Hundreds of protesters have joined the first march of a planned weekend of demonstrations in Ferguson against police shootings
Police said Vonderrit D. Myers shot at an officer, but the victim’s parents say he was unarmed and racially profiled.
Friday’s protest saw hundreds of demonstrators line up against police in riot gear outside the office of the St Louis prosecutor Robert McCulloch.
Demonstrators chanted slogans calling for Robert McCulloch to charge Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Michael Brown in August.
Protest organizers said the weekend of events was intended “to build momentum for a nationwide movement against police violence”.
“We are here to bring peace, to bring restoration, to lift our banners in the name of those who’ve been sacrificed,” said protest organizer Montague Simmons.
The events, which will include street protests as well as a music event and a day of “civil disobedience”, have been branded “Ferguson October”.
Organizers have urged people from across the US to attend.
A US justice department investigation into the shooting of Michael Brown is continuing.
Misty Upham has been missing in Washington state for six days, police said on Friday, October 10.
The Native American actress is known for playing a housekeeper in the movie adaption of August: Osage County.
Misty Upham, 32, was last seen walking by herself from an apartment on Sunday, October 4, around Auburn, some 20 miles south of Seattle, and was reported missing by her father on October 6, Auburn Police Commander Steve Stocker said.
Misty Upham has been missing in Washington state for six days
Police responded to a suicide call from the apartment but Misty Upham had already left by the time officers arrived, Steve Stocker said.
There were no suspects or leads in Misty Upham’s disappearance and she is believed to have left on her own free will, Steve Stocker said.
Police had responded to suicide calls four times in the past year at the same apartment, Steve Stocker said, and Misty Upham’s parents have told police she is on medications for mental health issues.
Misty Upham, who was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her supporting role in the 2008 crime drama Frozen River has not been in contact with friends or family since her disappearance, police said.
Lego will not renew a promotional contract with Royal Dutch Shell following pressure from environmental group Greenpeace.
The Danish toymaker did not say when its “long-term” contact with Shell expires.
Greenpeace has been campaigning against Arctic drilling by oil companies such as Shell and has accused Lego of associating with “bad company”.
Lego toys are handed out to people filling up at Shell gas stations in more than 30 countries.
As part of a branding deal first signed in 2011, Lego has also sold toy brick sets in the shape of petrol stations and drilling rigs with Shell’s logos on them.
Greenpeace said Shell has been using Lego to build brand loyalty with millions of children who are the “next generation of consumers”.
As part of its campaign, the lobby group uploaded a YouTube video showing Lego toys drowning in oil in the Arctic, which received nearly six million hits.
Greenpeace has been campaigning against Arctic drilling by oil companies such as Shell and has accused Lego of associating with bad company (photo Facebook)
Greenpeace said in response to Lego’s decision: “It should choose its partners more carefully when it comes to the threats facing our children from climate change.”
Lego Group president and chief executive Jorgen Vig Knudstorp said the company should never have become part of Greenpeace’s dispute with Shell.
“The Greenpeace campaign uses the Lego brand to target Shell,” he said in a statement.
“We firmly believe Greenpeace ought to have a direct conversation with Shell.”
“We do not agree with the tactics used by Greenpeace that may have created misunderstandings among our stakeholders about the way we operate,” Jorgen Vig Knudstorp added.
Shell said its contract with Lego “has been a great success and will continue to be as we roll it out in more countries across the world”.
The company has been exploring for oil in the Arctic since 1918 and is forecast to spend billions of dollars drilling for oil and other fossil fuels in the Arctic over the next decade.
In recent years, the practice has come under intense scrutiny because of concerns it will damage the environment and contribute to global warming.
“The extreme Arctic conditions, including giant floating icebergs and stormy seas, make offshore drilling extremely risky,” Greenpeace said.
“Scientists say that in the Arctic, an oil spill would be impossible to clean up meaning devastation for the Arctic’s unique wildlife.”
Benjamin Careathers, a regular consumer of Red Bull, sued the drinks giant for false advertising.
The American argued that after 10 years drinking the caffeinated soft drink he neither had wings nor any enhanced athletic or intellectual performance.
Red Bull slogan claims the fizzy drink “gives you wings”.
According to the complainant, the Austria-based firm deliberately misled unsuspecting customers to spend millions of dollars on the premium drink in the hope of gaining an edge on their competitors.
And fearful of a costly and time-consuming trial, Red Bull was forced to settle the case out of court, pledging to refund $10 to any US customer who bought the drink since 2002 and agreeing to amend future advertising.
Red Bull GmbH must pay $13 million to settle the suit, $6.5 million of which will go into a fund that will be paid out to an estimated 1.4 million consumers, who can apply for the refund through a specially created website.
“Red Bull settled the lawsuit to avoid the cost and distraction of litigation,” a spokesman said.
“However, Red Bull maintains its marketing and labelling have always been truthful and accurate, and denies any and all wrongdoing or liability.”
Red Bull slogan claims the fizzy drink gives you wings
However, the class-action lawsuit, which began in January 2013, cited evidence in The New York Times, Nutrition Reviews and the European Food Safety Authority Journal that indicated energy drinks provide their boost through caffeine alone, not guarana or any other ingredient.
As a result, Benjamin Careathers argued, Red Bull’s performance-enhancing properties could only be tested by the quantity of caffeine in each can, which worked out more expensive that a cup of coffee from Starbucks.
“Such deceptive conduct and practices mean that [Red Bull’s] advertising and marketing is not just <<puffery>>, but is instead deceptive and fraudulent and is therefore actionable,” the suit said.
“Even though there is a lack of genuine scientific support for a claim that Red Bull branded energy drinks provide any more benefit to a consumer than a cup of coffee, the Red Bull defendants persistently and pervasively market their product as a superior source of <<energy>> worthy of a premium price over a cup of coffee or other sources of caffeine.”
The company’ pledge to refund $10 – or $15 worth of Red Bull products – to each drinker since 2002 has sparked an overwhelming reaction around the world, temporarily crashing the energydrinksettlement.com website.
It has since been confirmed that the amount refunded to individuals could be much lower than originally estimated, as more and more consumers apply for compensation from a finite pool of settlement money.
Singer Taylor Swift has been named Billboard‘s Woman of the Year 2014.
Taylor Swift has become the first artist to receive the award twice.
The award goes to the female artist who “has shaped and inspired the music industry with her success, leadership and innovation” over the last year.
Previous winners include Pink, Beyonce and Katy Perry.
Taylor Swift has been named Billboard’s Woman of the Year 2014 (photo billboard.com)
Taylor Swift will receive the prize at the Billboard Women in Music award ceremony on December 12 in New York.
“As one of the most influential artists of her generation, Taylor Swift has seen incredible success on the Billboard charts,” said Janice Min, co-president and chief creative officer of Guggenheim Media’s Entertainment Group, which includes Billboard.
“Over the course of her career, she’s charted 60 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 – the most of any female artist since her debut in 2006.
“We are tremendously excited to be honoring her as the 2014 Billboard Woman of the Year for the second time.”
Taylor Swift is a seven-time Grammy winner and the best-selling digital music artist of all time.
New York’s JFK airport has started to implement the Ebola screening measures on Saturday, October 11.
The recent outbreak has killed more than 4,000 people.
Passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – the worst-hit countries – will have their temperatures taken and have to answer a series of questions.
Checks at O’Hare in Chicago, Newark, Washington’s Dulles and Atlanta’s airport will begin in the coming days.
This comes after the first person died of Ebola in Texas on Wednesday, October 8.
Thomas Eric Duncan had travelled to the US from Liberia, and was only diagnosed with the disease once he arrived in Dallas.
The latest figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO) show the number of deaths attributed to the haemorrhagic fever has risen to 4,033.
The vast majority of the fatalities – 4,024 – were in the West African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
The screening measures at JFK are starting on Saturday, with border agents checking for signs of illness such as high temperatures.
New York’s JFK airport has started to implement the Ebola screening measures on Saturday, October 11 (photo Getty Images)
Passengers from the three African nations will also be asked about their travel details before leaving for the US and also if they have been in contact with anyone suffering from Ebola.
If they answer “Yes” to any questions or are running a fever, a representative of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will intervene and provide a public health assessment.
Factsheets will be distributed to travelers with information on symptoms of Ebola and instructions to call a doctor if they become ill within three weeks.
There are currently no scheduled direct flights from the three countries to the US, with most passengers from Africa travelling via Europe.
All passengers travelling from airports in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia are already being screened for symptoms when they depart.
JFK and the four other airports account for 90% of air travelers arriving in the US. As many as 160 people enter the US from the worse-affected countries each day.
“There is no cause for alarm,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said earlier, adding that the city was “particularly well prepared”.
“Physicians, hospitals, emergency medical personnel are trained in how to identify this disease and how to quickly isolate anyone who may be afflicted.”
To test the readiness of New York, people pretending to display Ebola symptoms – the so-called “simulated patients” – have been walking into hospital emergency rooms to see if there were any weaknesses in the new system.
Standard and Poor’s has cut France’s credit outlook to “negative”, due to concerns about the country’s struggling economic recovery.
However, the credit rating agency affirmed France’s AA/A-1+ rating, the third-highest rating.
“We believe that…a recovery of the French economy could prove elusive,” said S&P in a statement.
France’s finance minister, Michel Sapin, said the country’s debt was “one of the surest in the world”.
“We will pursue the needed reforms, to boost our medium term growth prospects,” Michel Sapin said in a statement.
Standard and Poor’s has cut France’s credit outlook to negative, due to concerns about the country’s struggling economic recovery
“French debt is one of the surest and most liquid in the world, with debt levels very much contained,” he continued.
Official figures from the Bank of France showed that the French economy did not grow at all in the second quarter, and for the third quarter it is forecasting growth of 0.2%.
“We believe that…a recovery of the French economy could prove elusive and that France’s public finances might deteriorate beyond 2014,” S&P said.
S&P added that it expected France’s budget deficit will average 4.1% of GDP between 2014 and 2017, an increase from earlier projections of 3.2%.
The French government has also said it will reduce its budget deficit to below the EU threshold of 3% of GDP by 2017, two years later than promised.
S&P said the negative outlook indicated a one in three chance that certain events would occur which would push it to downgrade France’s actual credit rating within the next two years.
For now, S&P said France’s high income per capita and productivity, recovering competitiveness and profitability among French companies, and France’s stable financial sector justified the country keeping its current rating.
S&P last downgraded France in November 2013 when it cut its rating to AA.
A record 83 titles have been submitted for 2015’s foreign language film Oscar – seven more than 2014’s previous record number.
The new entries include four countries – Kosovo, Malta, Mauritania and Panama – that have not submitted a film before.
Notable titles include Turkish entrant Winter’s Sleep, Palme d’Or winner at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Another Turkish-language title, Little Happiness, is the UK’s official entry for the foreign language film category.
Ireland has put forward its own entry – The Gift, a crime thriller that features dialogue in English and Gaelic.
Australia, meanwhile, has submitted Charlie’s Country, a film about an ageing Aborigine in which some of the dialogue is spoken in the Yolngu language.
A record 83 titles have been submitted for 2015’s foreign language film Oscar
Belgian siblings Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are among the high-profile directors to have had their films submitted by their country’s national film body.
Others include former BAFTA winner Paweł Pawlikowski, whose latest drama Ida has been put forward on Poland’s behalf.
The Philippines’ submission – Norte, the End of History, an epic drama partly inspired by Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment – runs 250 minutes.
The 83 titles will be narrowed down in January to a shortlist of nine, from which five nominees will be selected for the 2015 award.
For the first time the award will have the winning director as well as the submitting country engraved upon it, following an amendment to the Academy’s rules confirmed last month.
Italy won 2014’s foreign language film with The Great Beauty, a portrait of an ageing social butterfly enjoying the high life in contemporary Rome.
Italy holds the record for the country with the most foreign language Oscar victories, having triumphed 14 times since the category was introduced in 1947.
The nominations for the 2015 Academy Awards will be announced on January 15, while the ceremony itself will take place on February 22.
Angelina Jolie has been made an honorary dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to UK foreign policy and charity campaigns.
Angelina Jolie, 39, was presented with the insignia of an Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George on October 10.
The investiture took place during a private audience at Buckingham Palace.
Angelina Jolie was recognized in the Queen’s Birthday Honors earlier this year.
Angelina Jolie was presented with the insignia of an Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George during a private audience at Buckingham Palace
The actress is a special envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and co-founded the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) in 2012.
The award was first announced in June during the week when Angelina Jolie was co-chairing the End Sexual Violence in Conflict (ESVC) global summit in London with then foreign secretary William Hague.
Angelina Jolie said at the time that it meant “a great deal… to receive an honor related to foreign policy”.
Lauren Bacall’s effects – jewellery, artworks and furniture – are to go under the hammer in New York, auction house Bonhams has announced.
Artworks including pieces by Picasso and Henry Moore are set to make $3 million at next year’s sale.
A number of sculptures by Henry Moore, greatly favored by Lauren Bacall, will be offered in separate art sales.
Lauren Bacall, famed for her on and off-screen partnership with Humphrey Bogart, died in August aged 89.
Lauren Bacall was famed for her on and off-screen partnership with Humphrey Bogart
Her collection of art decorated her homes around the US, in Los Angeles, New York and Long Island.
Some of the 700 items adorned the home Lauren Bacall shared with Humphrey Bogart, her first husband, who died in 1957.
Numerous pieces of furniture, tribal art and couture will also be among the lots.
According to Bonhams, Lauren Bacall’s interest in African art was cultivated when she was on the movie set of The African Queen, which starred Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepbu
A giant step forward has been taken in the hunt for a cure for type 1 diabetes, researchers have announced.
Type 1 diabetes is caused by the immune system destroying the cells that control blood sugar levels.
A team at Harvard University used stem cells to produce hundreds of millions of the cells in the laboratory.
Tests on mice showed the cells could treat the disease, which experts described as “potentially a major medical breakthrough”.
Beta cells in the pancreas pump out insulin to bring down blood sugar levels.
But the body’s own immune system can turn against the beta cells, destroying them and leaving people with a potentially fatal disease because they cannot regulate their blood sugar levels.
Type 1 diabetes is caused by the immune system destroying the cells that control blood sugar levels
Type 1 diabetes is different to the far more common type 2 diabetes which is largely due to poor lifestyle.
The team at Harvard was led by Prof. Doug Melton who began the search for a cure when his son was diagnosed 23 years ago. He then had a daughter who also developed type 1.
Prof. Doug Melton is attempting to replace the approximately 150 million missing beta cells, using stem cell technology.
He found the perfect cocktail of chemicals to transform embryonic stem cells into functioning beta cells.
Tests on mice with type 1 diabetes, published in the journal Cell, showed that the lab-made cells could produce insulin and control blood sugar levels for several months.
Dr. Doug Melton said: “It was gratifying to know that we could do something that we always thought was possible.
“We are now just one pre-clinical step away from the finish line.”
However, his children were not quite so impressed: “I think, like all kids, they always assumed that if I said I’d do this, I’d do it.”
If the beta cells were injected into a person they would still face an immune assault and ultimately would be destroyed.
However, more research is needed before this could become a cure.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the number of people killed in the Ebola outbreak has risen above 4,000.
The latest figures show there have been 8,376 cases and 4,024 deaths in the worst-affected West African nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The news comes as Liberian lawmakers refused to grant the president additional powers to deal with the Ebola crisis.
Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has already declared a state of emergency that allows her to impose quarantines.
The number of people killed in the Ebola outbreak has risen above 4,000 (photo AFP)
One parliamentarian, Bhofal Chambers, warned that creeping extra powers could turn Liberia into a “police state”.
The total death toll of 4,033 includes the death of a Liberian man in the US, Thomas Eric Duncan, this week and the eight people who died in Nigeria, where health authorities say they have now contained the virus.
The UN says more than 233 health workers working in West Africa have now died in the outbreak, the world’s deadliest to date.
Spanish nurse Teresa Romero is being treated for the virus after becoming infected after an Ebola patient who had been repatriated from Liberia – the country most badly hit by the disease with 2,316 deaths.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has apologized for remarks he made advising women not to ask for a pay rise but to have “faith in the system”.
At a conference to celebrate women in technology, Satya Nadella suggested that women not asking for a rise were “good karma”.
The comments sparked outrage and Satya Nadella has now apologized.
In an email to Microsoft staff, Satya Nadella said he answered the question “completely wrong” and “wholeheartedly” supported programs to close the pay gap.
At the conference, called the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, the Microsoft boss said: “It’s not really about asking for the raise, but knowing and having faith that the system will actually give you the right raises as you go along.
“Because that’s good karma. It’ll come back because somebody’s going to know that’s the kind of person that I want to trust.”
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has apologized for remarks he made advising women not to ask for a pay rise
The interviewer at the event, Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College and a Microsoft director, immediately disagreed with him. Instead, she suggested women do their homework on salary levels and then practice asking for pay rises.
The comments caused a furor on Twitter and Saty Nadella later tweeted that he was “inarticulate” in his answer about how women should ask for a pay increase.
That was then followed up with an email to staff in which he said: “Maria asked me what advice I would offer women who are not comfortable asking for pay raises. I answered that question completely wrong.
“Without a doubt, I wholeheartedly support programs at Microsoft and in the industry that bring more women into technology and close the pay gap. I believe men and women should get equal pay for equal work.
“And when it comes to career advice on getting a raise when you think it’s deserved, Maria’s advice was the right advice. If you think you deserve a raise, you should just ask.”
Indian-born Satya Nadella became Microsoft CEO earlier this year, taking over from Steve Ballmer.
Take That have announced III, their first album without Jason Orange.
The trio started work on new material earlier this year without Jason Orange but had his “blessing” to make the record.
The new album is due out on December 1st, 2014.
Take That also revealed that the first single off the new record will be called These Days and it will get its first radio play on October 10 before being released in November.
Gary Barlow shared an image promoting their new material on Twitter, adding: “Nice hey? #TTIII”
He later tweeted: “Thanks to our brilliant team who’ve turned this all around in record time! Phew! #ttIII”
Take That have announced III, their first album without Jason Orange
Members of that team include ELO frontman Jeff Lynne, who along with Take That, has also produced stars including Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson and Tom Petty.
They also worked with Stuart Price, who was involved with their 2010 album, Progressed.
That record featured both Jason Orange and Robbie Williams and sold more than a quarter of a millions copies in one day.
These Days is described as an “out-and-out feelgood pop” song and also gives “a nod to the sound that defined their early years”.
All three remaining members – Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen – share vocal duties.
Recently the trio have all faced accusations of tax avoidance and Gary Barlow has since apologiZed on Twitter for the “tax stories”.
Last month Jason Orange announced he had left Take That and would not be recording the new album with the band.
He said there had been “no fallings out” and he had “spent some of the best years” of his life with them.
However, Jason Orange did not want to commit to making and promoting a new record.
Take That formed in 1990, split up in 1996 and four of the five members reformed for a successful comeback in 2005. The fifth founder member, Robbie Williams, rejoined briefly in 2010.
Saturday Night Live star Jan Hooks has died aged 57.
The actress’ agent confirmed she died in New York though no cause of death has been given.
Jan Hooks also played Jenna Maroney’s mother Vera in two episodes of hit comedy 30 Rock.
Her SNL co-stars included Wayne’s World stars Mike Myers and Dana Carvey.
Seth Myers – former head writer at SNL and the host of this year’s Emmy awards – tweeted: “RIP Jan Hooks. One of the all time greats.”
Jan Hooks was born and grew up in Georgia and began her comedy career in the Los Angeles-based troupe The Groundlings
Jan Hooks was born and grew up in Georgia and began her comedy career in the Los Angeles-based troupe The Groundlings, whose alumni include Will Ferrell, Jack Black and Friends star Lisa Kudrow.
She was offered a contract with SNL in 1986 alongside Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman – who would go on to voice several characters in The Simpsons, including failed actor Troy McLure.
Her impersonations included Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan and Jodie Foster.
Jan Hooks’ other TV work included the CBS sitcom Designing Women and Futurama.
She voiced Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon in The Simpsons in six episodes between 1997 and 2002 before she was replaced by Tress MacNeille.
On film, Jan Hooks had roles in 1985’s Pee-wee’s Big Adventure and played the Penguin’s image consultant in 1992’s Batman Returns.
WHO Director of Strategy, Dr. Christopher Dye, has said in a recent interview that leading global health experts did not anticipate the scale of the Ebola outbreak.
He said the international response was helping but needed to continue.
Ebola is entrenched in the capitals of the worst-affected countries – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the WHO says.
The Ebola outbreak has killed more than 3,860 people in 2014, mainly in West Africa.
More than 200 health workers are among the victims.
Christopher Dye said that that although no-one was in a position to anticipate the scale of the current outbreak, the important thing was to look forward.
The Ebola outbreak has killed more than 3,860 people in 2014, mainly in West Africa
“We’ve asked for a response of about $1 billion; so far we have around $300 million with more being pledged, so a bit less than half of what we need but it’s climbing quickly all the time,” he told BBC.
In April 2014, the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warned of the potential spread of the virus, but the WHO played down the claims, saying that Ebola was neither an epidemic, nor was it unprecedented.
On October 10, MSF reported a sharp increase of Ebola cases in the Guinean capital, Conakry, dashing hopes that the disease was being stabilized there.
Meanwhile in Mali, an experimental serum is being tested on volunteer health workers.
The trial spans several countries, and the results will be sent to experts to determine whether it is able to protect against Ebola.
Meanwhile in Spain, seven more people are being monitored in hospital for Ebola.
They include two hairdressers who came into contact with Teresa Romero, a Madrid nurse who looked after an Ebola patient who had been repatriated from West Africa.
Teresa Romero is now reported to be gravely ill but stable.
Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi have jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2014.
At the age of just 17, Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai is the youngest ever recipient of the prize.
Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen in October 2012 for campaigning for girls’ education. She now lives in Birmingham in the UK.
The Nobel committee praised the pair’s “struggle against the suppression of children and young people”.
Indian child rights campaigner Kailash Satyarthi, 60, has maintained the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and headed various forms of peaceful protests, “focusing on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain,” the committee said at the Nobel Institute in Oslo.
Kailash Satyarthi founded Bachpan Bachao Andolan, or the Save the Childhood Movement, which campaigns for child rights and an end to human trafficking.
Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi have jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2014 (photo Reuters/AFP)
Malala Yousafzai was taken out of her classroom in her new home city of Birmingham to hear the news on October 10.
Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, told the Associated Press that the prize would “boost the courage of Malala and enhance her capability to work for the cause of girls’ education”.
Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, paid tribute to Malala Yousafzai’s achievements.
“Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzai, has already fought for several years for the right of girls to education and has shown by example that children and young people too can contribute to improving their own situations,” he said.
“This she has done under the most dangerous circumstances. Through her heroic struggle she has become a leading spokesperson for girls’ rights to education.”
The committee said it was important that a Muslim and a Hindu, a Pakistani and an Indian, had joined in what it called a common struggle for education and against extremism.
Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi will now be invited to attend an award ceremony in Oslo in December to receive a medal and $1.4 million pounds in prize money.
This year’s record number of 278 Nobel Peace Prize nominees included Pope Francis and Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege, although the full list was kept a secret.
Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta had also been tipped as favorites for the award.
Oklahoma corrections officials have unveiled the state’s remodeled death chamber, where at least three men are scheduled to be executed before the end of the year.
The chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester was renovated at a cost of $71,000.
The new facility features more space for the executioners to work and new audio and video equipment.
It was rebuilt after an April execution went awry when executioners failed to inject the lethal drugs properly.
Convicted murderer Clayton Lockett writhed for nearly an hour as the execution team struggled to find suitable veins in his arms, legs, neck and feet.
Oklahoma corrections officials have unveiled the state’s remodeled death chamber (photo AP)
They ultimately attempted to inject the drugs into a vein in his groin but that failed, dispersing the powerful sedative into his tissue rather than directing it into his bloodstream.
The execution was halted when the error was discovered. Lockett died shortly after of a heart attack.
On October 9, Oklahoma corrections officials took news media on a tour of the new facility, showing the enlarged “chemical room” where the executioners administer the lethal drugs.
By expanding the “chemical room”, the state reduced the size of the witness chamber and the room where the condemned is strapped down. In future, five members of the news media will be allowed to witness executions, down from 12.
The chamber has cameras, video screens and a heartbeat monitor enabling the executioners to track the procedure’s progress. An ultrasound machine will enable the team to more easily locate the condemned’s veins.
Charles Fredrick Warner, who had initially been scheduled to die just hours after Clayton Lockett on April 20, will be next in the chamber, his execution scheduled for November 13.
Kim Jong-un missed a key political anniversary ceremony on October 10, the North Korean media said, amid speculation over his absence from public view.
The North Korean leader’s name was not on a list of those who visited a mausoleum to mark the ruling party’s anniversary.
Kim Jong-un has not been seen for more than a month, the longest hiatus since he came to power in 2011.
State television last month said Kim Jong-un had an “uncomfortable physical condition” and later showed him limping.
On October 10, South Korea said it believed Kim Jong-un remained in control of the communist state.
“It seems that Kim Jong-un’s rule is in normal operation,” Unification Ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying.
“With regard to his specific health conditions, our government has no information to confirm yet,” he said.
On October 10, North Korean officials visited Kumsusan Palace, a mausoleum for late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, to mark the 69th anniversary of the Workers’ Party.
For the first time in three years, Kim Jong-un’s name was not included in the list.
Kim Jong-un, 31, who inherited power after his father Kim Jong-il died in 2011, has not been seen in public since September 3.
Kim Jong-un has not been seen in public for more than a month, the longest hiatus since he came to power in 2011
His absence has led to speculation over both his health and his grip on power.
South Korean media outlets, citing unidentified sources, suggest Kim Jong-un, who is overweight, has gout.
Adding to speculation about Kim Jong-un’s whereabouts, Reuters correspondent James Pearson tweeted an image of a North Korean newspaper on Friday featuring an image of Kim Jong-il, the now deceased former leader.
“Front page of today’s main North Korean paper shows leader Kims pics, but no Kim Jong-Un – to whom it pledges loyalty,” said James Pearson, who covers North and South Korea.
Appearances by Kim Jong-un’s number two, coupled with recent claims by a former North Korean official, have also led to suggestions that the young leader may have been toppled.
Hwang Pyong-so, a top military aide who is considered Kim Jong-un’s number two, has made high-profile appearances.
General Hwang Pyong-so, 65, led a delegation of North Korean officials to Seoul for the closing ceremony of the Asian Games, in a visit seen as a rare opportunity for high-level talks between the North and South.
None of the speculation can be confirmed.
Hwang Pyong-so’s visit, coupled with continued coverage in North Korean state media of Kim Jong-un’s leadership, were cited by the Seoul on October 10 as evidence that Kim Jong-un was still in power.
It is not the first time that Kim Jong-un has failed to appear in public for an extended period. He spent 21 days out of the public eye in March 2012 and then another 24 in June the same year.
In January 2013, Kim Jong-un was absent for 18 days.
An international arbitration tribunal has decided that Venezuela must pay Exxon Mobil $1.6 billion in compensation for expropriated assets.
Exxon had claimed up to $16.6 billion over the nationalization of its Cerro Negro Project and other losses in 2007.
Venezuela has not said whether it will appeal. But the foreign minister said the decision was “reasonable”.
The ruling was made by the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
It is a blow to Venezuela which is struggling with a shortage of foreign currency, inflation and a stagnating economy.
Venezuela must pay Exxon Mobil $1.6 billion in compensation for expropriated assets
Foreign minister Rafael Ramirez called it a victory for Venezuelan sovereignty over “exaggerated claims”, referring to the much higher amount indicated by the Exxon Mobil.
The Venezuelan government is currently battling more than 20 similar demands at the World Bank by other foreign companies over the state’s takeover of private assets under its former president, Hugo Chavez.
Exxon Mobil said in a statement: “The decision confirms that the Venezuelan government failed to provide fair compensation for expropriated assets.”
The company added that it “accepts Venezuela’s legal right to expropriate the assets of our affiliates subject to compensation at fair market value”.
A previous decision in 2012 ruled that PDVSA, the state oil company, should pay Exxon $908 million.
Venezuela has since paid a portion of that award, which will be taken into account in calculating the balance that Venezuela owes.
In a recent interview, Pink Floyd guitarist and singer David Gilmour has said he is “pretty certain” the band’s latest album, The Endless River, will be their final LP.
The Endless River is a tribute to Pink Floyd’s keyboard player Rick Wright, who died in 2008.
David Gilmour said Rick Wright was “underestimated by the public, by the media and by us at times I hate to say”.
The Endless River will be Pink Floyd’s final LP
The album will be released in November and will included material recorded by Rick Wright before his death at the age of 65.
Pink Floyd was formed in London in 1965 by Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright.
David Gilmour joined the band in 1967 and Syd Barrett, who suffered from mental health problems left a year later.
Pink Floyd’s albums, which include The Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall and Wish You Were Here are listed among the most influential rock albums of the 20th Century.
China overtakes the USA as the world’s largest economy, according to figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The figures are adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).
According to the IMF, the combined purchasing power of China’s citizens now outstrips that of America’s. By the end of 2014, China should make up 16.48& of the world’s purchasing-power adjusted GDP for a total of $17.632 trillion.
The US economy, by contrast, will make up 16.28%, or $17.416 trillion.
China overtakes the USA as the world’s largest economy in 2014
Purchasing power parity seeks to address the fact that while wages tend to be lower in “developing” countries than in mature economies like the US, the price of goods and servicing is also typically much lower.
The Economist’s Big Mac Index, for example, quotes the price of the McDonalds staple in July at $4.80 in the US, but just $2.73 in China.
PPP, therefore, bases economic output on what a country’s citizens can purchase, as opposed to an unadjusted GDP figure using market exchange rate, which is more often quoted.
Loading gallery
However, the figure is controversial. It requires the comparison of a huge amount of goods and services, and is therefore a vast statistical undertaking that can only be conducted infrequently with estimates used during intervening periods. The methods used to collect the data have also led to controversy in the past.
When it comes the raw GDP data base on exchange rates, China will eventually also overtake the US if it carries on growing as it has, but that is still likely to take many years.
