Duck Dynasty’s Jase and Missy Robertson are visiting Washington D.C. with their three children, Mia, Reed and Cole.
Jase Robertson with his wife Missy and their kids in front of the White House (photo Facebook)
Missy Robertson wrote on her Facebook page: “We’re in Washington, D.C., where I’ve wanted to bring the kids for years, goofing off, learning a lot and having a few <<selahs>>, as Jase says. It truly is humbling to see our country’s history. We were spotted at the changing of the guard and we’re honored to take a picture with the Honor Guard. Now, onto the Nationals game to watch Adam.”
Justin Bieber will be charged with misdemeanor vandalism in connection with the egging of his neighbor’s home, say Californian prosecutors.
According to a spokeswoman, Justin Bieber will not be in court for the hearing on Wednesday afternoon.
Justin Bieber, 20, faces two other criminal cases in Florida and Toronto.
Justin Bieber will be charged with misdemeanor vandalism in connection with the egging of his neighbor’s home (photo Getty Images)
Investigators searched Justin Bieber’s Calabasas, California, home in January searching for evidence after the egging apparently caused serious damage.
One of Justin Bieber’s friends was arrested on drug possession charges after that search.
The LA County Sheriff’s Office says they were looking for surveillance video tapes when they spotted the drugs “in plain view”.
Surveillance footage seized from the home appears to show Justin Bieber high-fiving friends and celebrating after throwing eggs at his neighbor’s home, police said.
Justin Bieber could have faced a more serious felony charge if the damage to the home was greater than $20,000.
Two previous investigations into Justin Bieber’s conduct by the sheriff’s department have not led to charges.
Prosecutors declined to charge him last year after a neighbor complained he drove recklessly through the area, and in November 2012 after a paparazzi photographer accused Justin Bieber of assault.
Halle Berry’s older sister is Heidi Berry-Henderson.
Halle and Heidi were raised by their mother, actress Judith Hawkins, after their father Jerome Berry abandoned the family.
Halle Berry and her mother Judith Hawkins (photo Getty Images)
After Jerome Berry left the family, Judith Hawkins moved the family to a predominantly white suburb of Cleveland called Bedford. Halle Berry’s time in a nearly all-white school was marred by racial discrimination. The actress has said that this time drove her to work harder.
In interviews over the years, Halle Berry has alleged her father was a violent alcoholic who beat her mother in front of her and her sister Heidi.
Halle Berry excelled in beauty pageants and easily found work in modeling after leaving college early to pursue her dreams.
LG has unveiled the Kizon, a wrist-worn device designed to let parents keep track of where their child is and listen to what they are up to.
The Kizon uses GPS and Wi-Fi signals to identify the wearer’s location and sends the information to an Android app.
LG is targeting the device at families with pre-school and primary school children.
LG’s Kizon is a wrist-worn device designed to let parents keep track of where their child is and listen to what they are up to (photo LG)
However, others have raised concerns about the idea.
LG is not the first to market such a device – start-ups including KMS Solutions, Tinitell and Filip have announced similar products – however, the South Korean company’s launch marks the entry of a tech giant into the sector.
The company says the Kizon can run for up to 36 hours between charges, is water resistant and works with 2G and 3G cellular networks.
The wearer can call a pre-configured phone number by pressing a button on its front.
The button also allows the child to accept calls from approved numbers, and if they fail to press it within 10 seconds the device will automatically let the caller listen in to the machine’s built-in microphone.
LG said it planned to launch the device in South Korea this week, and introduce it to Europe and North America before the end of September.
Thunderstorms with powerful winds have hit northern New York killing at least 4 people and leaving more than 70,000 people without electricity.
Four residents of the rural town of Smithfield were found dead after several homes were destroyed by the fast-moving storms.
Madison County Sheriff Allen Riley told a local broadcaster investigators were searching for others in the rubble.
A boy at summer camp in Maryland was also killed when a tree fell.
Four residents of the rural town of Smithfield were found dead after several homes were destroyed by the fast-moving storms
Six of his friends were injured in the same accident, which happened as they were moving to shelter.
Forecasters said winds from the storms in New York state were at least 60mph.
The National Weather Service said they were sending investigators to Smithfield to see if a tornado touched down.
Town Supervisor Rich Bargabos told the Syracuse Post Standard a mother and her four-month-old baby, a relative of the family and an unrelated neighbor had been killed.
“The houses are obliterated,” Rich Bargabos said.
“There is not a piece of framework together.”
Three small tornadoes touched down in Ohio, forecasters said, and another was spotted in Pennsylvania.
At the height of the outages on Tuesday, more than 300,000 homes and businesses were without electricity in the north-west area of the state.
President Dilma Rousseff has urged Brazilians to bounce back after the national soccer team devastating 7-1 World Cup defeat against Germany.
“Like all Brazilians, I am very, very sad after the defeat. But we will not let ourselves be broken,” Dilma Rousseff tweeted.
The coach of the Brazilian team Luiz Felipe Scolari called the defeat “the worst day of his life”.
Brazilian media reflected the mood of shock on Wednesday, describing the result as a “historic humiliation”.
The result was Brazil’s biggest defeat in World Cup finals history.
“I feel bad for all of us – for fans and for our players,” Dilma Rousseff said, urging Brazilians to “get up, shake off the dust and come out on top”.
President Dilma Rousseff has urged Brazilians to bounce back after the national soccer team devastating 7-1 World Cup defeat against Germany
Some have speculated that the team’s poor showing may affect Dilma Rousseff’s chances in the presidential election in October.
“Brazil’s historic humiliation has set off a warning signal in Dilma Rousseff’s government, which fears that the bad mood stemming from the defeat may affect expectations for the economy – already not very favorable – as well as the campaign trail,” a column in the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper said.
It added that fans in the stadium had chanted insults about Dilma Rousseff.
The German team established a 5-0 lead within just 29 minutes, adding two more goals in the second half.
By the end of the match many of the remaining Brazilian fans were cheering the German team.
The match was the first time a team had scored seven goals in a World Cup semi-final, and the first World Cup game with eight or more goals since Germany beat Saudi Arabia 8-0 in 2002.
Edward Snowden has officially applied for the extension of his stay in Russia after his visa expires.
His lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, confirmed that paperwork had been submitted to Russia’s Federal Migration Service.
The current document granting him temporary asylum expires on July 31.
Edward Snowden fled the US in May 2013 and has been living under temporary asylum in Russia. Last year, he fed a trove of secret intelligence to news outlets.
“We have gone through the procedure of getting temporary asylum… We have submitted documents for extending his stay in Russia,” Anatoly Kucherena told reporters on Wednesday.
The lawyer did not say for how long Edward Snowden wanted to stay in Russia, or whether he wanted to become a Russian citizen.
Edward Snowden has officially applied for the extension of his stay in Russia after his visa expires
Edward Snowden became stranded in the international airport at Moscow last year while travelling from Hong Kong to Cuba. He was in effect trapped in the airport’s transit zone for several weeks before the Russian government allowed him refugee status for a year.
He went to Russia shortly after leaking details of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) international surveillance and telephone-tapping operation.
Russia’s decision to give asylum to Edward Snowden – a former NSA contractor – was strongly criticized by the US.
Correspondents say that while Edward Snowden has in recent weeks increased his media visibility in Russia by giving several closely monitored interviews, he has conceded that he would like to go home, where he faces spying charges that could result in a substantial jail sentence.
News of his moves to extend his visa came as prosecutors in Germany searched the home of a defense ministry employee suspected of spying – the second such case in a week.
The US has not denied allegations that the intelligence agency employee arrested earlier this month was passing secret documents to the NSA.
The two countries, the biggest members of the NATO alliance, have been close allies for decades but relations were strained last year when it was revealed – from paperwork leaked by Edward Snowden – that the NSA had been monitoring German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone calls.
Matthew Sandusky, the adopted son of imprisoned former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, speaks out about his ordeal in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Matt Sandusky’s first public interview will air on July 17 when he will answer questions from Oprah Winfrey on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) at 9 p.m. ET, Huffington Post reported.
Matt Sandusky’s first public interview will air on July 17 when he will answer questions from Oprah Winfrey on the OWN (photo OWN)
In the interview, Matthew Sandusky – currently married and a father himself – will describe the ordeal he endured while being raised by Jerry and Dottie Sandusky.
According to the publication, Matthew Sandusky will respond to Dottie Sandusky’s accusations against her husband’s victims and share details on Jerry Sandusky’s nightly ritual. He is one of six children Jerry and Dottie Sandusky adopted.
Jerry Sandusky was convicted in June 2012 on 45 counts of child abuse, found guilty of raping or fondling 10 boys he had met through the acclaimed youth charity he founded, The Second Mile.
Pamela Anderson is divorcing from Rick Salomon for a second time.
The 47-year-old Baywatch star originally wed film producer and poker professional Rick Salomon in 2007, but the couple had the union annulled two months later.
Pamela Anderson is divorcing from Rick Salomon for a second time (photo Getty Images)
Pamela Anderson and Rick Salomon, 46, rekindled their romance in 2013, and in January 2014, she surprised fans by confirming rumors they had walked down the aisle once more.
However, it appears the relationship isn’t meant to be and Pamela Anderson has since filed legal papers to end the marriage, according to TMZ.
Pamela Anderson was also previously married to rockers Tommy Lee and Kid Rock.
Carrefour is shutting its business in India less than four years after it opened its first store in the country.
One of the world’s largest retail chains, Carrefour currently operates five cash and carry wholesale stores in India.
The French retailer has been exiting underperforming markets, including Singapore, Malaysia and Greece, under chief executive Georges Plassat’s three-year revival plan.
It has said it wants to focus on key markets in Europe, China and Brazil.
Carrefour is shutting its business in India less than four years after it opened its first store in the country
India opened up its multi-brand retail sector to foreign companies in 2012.
But it has put pre-conditions, including those on local sourcing and infrastructure investment, and has also left the final decision on whether to allow foreign companies to open stores to individual state governments.
Many analysts have said the pre-conditions have deterred foreign companies from entering the sector.
So far, only one company – the UK’s Tesco – has announced plans to open stores in the country.
The decision to open up the sector to foreign firms also faced political opposition at the time.
The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) – which has recently formed a new government in India – had opposed the move arguing that the arrival of big name supermarkets may hurt the small retailers in the country.
Cupcake chain Crumbs Bake Shop has said it will shut all its shops, a week after its shares were suspended from trading on the Nasdaq index.
“Regrettably Crumbs has been forced to cease operations,” it said.
The company said it was now evaluating “its limited remaining options”.
Crumbs listed on the stock market in 2011 at the height of the cupcake boom.
Crumbs Bake Shop will shut all its shops, a week after its shares were suspended from trading on the Nasdaq index
It had 65 shops in 12 states and Washington DC as of the end of March, according to its website.
Crumbs, which was founded in 2003, sold cupcakes in flavors such as red velvet cheesecake, peanut butter cup and cookie dough, with some of them containing more than 600 calories.
It sold the cupcakes in sizes varying from a one-inch taster cake to its “colossal” six-inch cake serving six to eight people.
Its fortunes began to decline as its cake sales slowed.
Crumbs reported a loss of $18.2 million last year, which came on top of a $10.3 million loss in 2012.
The company warned in May in an official filing that it “may be forced to curtail or cease its activities” if its operations did not generate enough cash flow.
As of the end of last year, Crumbs listed 165 full-time employees and about 655 part-time hourly employees as working in its stores.
Greek public sector workers have begun a 24-hour strike to protest against continuing cuts in government spending.
Hospitals, tax offices, prisons and archaeological sites are expected to be disrupted by the action.
The workers are protesting against austerity measures, including a 40% reduction to salaries and pensions.
Greek public sector workers have begun a 24-hour strike to protest against continuing cuts in government spending (photo Reuters)
The strike coincides with a visit from Greece’s international creditors to check on the country’s progress.
The European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank – known collectively as the Troika – are monitoring austerity measures that were a condition of a 240 billion-euro ($325 billion) bailout.
The lenders have praised Greece’s progress in meeting the targets set. It has achieved a “primary budget surplus”, with its deficit wiped out apart from interest owed on the bailout.
After six years of recession, the economy is expected to return to growth this year.
After Greece’s high court ruling that recent wage cuts to judges, the armed forces and emergency service workers were illegal and must be repaid, there will be tense discussions about the widening hole in next year’s finances.
The nagging question remains about how to bring down a 26% unemployment rate caused chiefly by four years of austerity.
Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Beijing for the annual China-US dialogue.
China’s President Xi Jinping has called for mutual respect between the two nations, saying that a confrontation with the US would be a “disaster”.
Diplomats are expected to discuss China’s currency, North Korea and tensions in the South China Sea.
The US delegation is led by John Kerry, who in his opening remarks said that the US was not seeking to “contain” China.
Xi Jinping said the two countries’ interests were now “more than ever interconnected”, with much to gain from co-operation.
US diplomats at the Beijing talks are expected to discuss China’s currency, North Korea and tensions in the South China Sea
“China-US confrontation, to the two countries and the world, would definitely be a disaster,” he said.
“We should mutually respect and treat each other equally, and respect the other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and respect each other’s choice on the path of development.”
John Kerry, meanwhile, said the US did “not seek to contain China” and urged Beijing not to “interpret it as an overall strategy” when the US differed from China on certain issues.
President Barack Obama also said in a statement that the US “welcomes the emergence of a stable, peaceful, and prosperous China”.
“We remain determined to ensure that co-operation defines the overall relationship,” he said.
US leaders have also called on China to do its part in maintaining stability in Asia.
John Kerry said the US welcomed a China that “contributes to the stability and development of the region and chooses to play a responsible role in world affairs”.
The talks come with China locked in bitter disputes with several neighbors in the region, notably Vietnam and the Philippines, over claims in the South China Sea.
In turn, the US has stepped up joint military exercises with the Philippines and its military presence there, a move over which China has raised concerns. One of the latest exercises was conducted in the South China Sea near disputed waters two weeks ago.
Increased anti-Japan rhetoric has also come from China in recent weeks, following a decision by the Japanese cabinet to reinterpret the constitution, giving the Japanese military greater latitude to fight overseas.
Both countries claim a string of islands in the East China Sea and ties are severely strained over this issue.
The US and China have also had disagreements in recent months, particularly over cyber-attacks.
In May, US authorities charged five Chinese military officers with hacking into American businesses. Beijing has vigorously denied the charges, accusing the US of launching cyber-attacks against China.
Two suspected short-range missiles have been launched by North Korea, South Korea says, in the fourth such test in two weeks.
The projectiles were fired from a western province into waters east of the Korean peninsula in the early hours of Wednesday, officials said.
The move follows a recent visit by the Chinese president to South Korea.
Chinese leaders traditionally go to Pyongyang before Seoul, and the visit has been seen as a snub to North Korea.
North Korea has fired two suspected short-range missiles into the sea
“North Korea fired two short-range missiles presumed to be Scud-type ones… from a site in Hwanghae province in a north-easterly direction,” South Korean spokesman Um Hyo-sik was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.
“They flew some 500km [310 miles] and landed in international waters,” he added, without giving further details.
North Korea has carried out several such launches in recent months, including four within the last two weeks.
It has interspersed these launches with apparently conciliatory moves towards the South, including a recent offer to suspend provocative military activities and cross-border slander.
Previous similar offers have come to nothing and South Korea has dismissed this latest offer.
The latest launch also comes days after Chinese President Xi Jinping and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye reaffirmed their opposition to North Korean nuclear tests during talks in Seoul.
Italian police have released an eight-minute footage with underwater images from within the Costa Concordia wreckage, two and a half years after it capsized.
Several scenes are spookily reminiscent of James Cameron’s recordings from the Titanic wreck.
Italian police have released an eight-minute footage with underwater images from within the Costa Concordia wreckage
The 950-foot liner, which ran aground off the Italian island of Giglio with the loss of 32 lives in 2012, has lain on the seabed since it capsized. The hull of the ship was righted last September, allowing police divers to record the extraordinary scenes. Splashing into the water beside the discolored wreck, the divers are seen swimming through eerily empty corridors and public areas, past shop fronts and desks with computers still standing, and floating by balconies on which sunbathers would once have stretched.
Paintings are slowly being turned green by algae.
Since the tragedy, Costa Concordia Captain Francesco Schettino has been on trial for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship.
Costa Concordia ship will be refloated within 7-10 days and towed to Genoa, where it will be dismantled for scrap.
Tammy Rivera got married to Waka Flocka Flame on May 26, 2014, as the reality star announced on her Twitter account.
The Love & Hip Hop Atlanta star tweeted the news by writing: “Mrs.Malphurs,” then thanked fans for their congratulatory replies.
Tammy Rivera got married to Waka Flocka Flame on May 26, 2014 (photo Instagram)
Tammy Rivera is known for using her Instagram account quite regularly and often posts pictures of her life with Waka Flocka Flame.
On May 31, 2013, when Waka Flocka Flame – aka Juaquin Malphurs – celebrated his 27th birthday, she posted pictures announcing their engagement.
Instead of going the traditional route and simply buying rings, Tammy Rivera and Waka Flocka Flame marked their engagement by getting tattoos on their ring fingers. Tammy Rivera’s says “Waka,” while Waka Flocka Flame’s reads “Tammy.”
Tammy River has a daughter, Charlie, from a previous relationship.
During Love & Hip HopAtlanta Season 3, Tammy Rivera and Waka Flocka Flame are being filmed as they plan their wedding. There are also hints of drama between Tammy Rivera and Waka Flocka Flame’s mother, Debra Antney, who is already somewhat of a regular on the show.
Twenty five more people have died from Ebola in West Africa since July 3, taking the total number of deaths to 518, health officials say.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said 50 new cases of the deadly disease had also been reported.
A WHO spokesman said health workers were struggling to contain the outbreak in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
On Monday, a doctor in Ghana said preliminary tests on a US citizen showed he did not have the disease.
But further tests are now being carried out.
Twenty five more people have died from Ebola in West Africa since July 3
The man had recently visited Sierra Leone and Guinea and was quarantined after showing signs of the virus.
In a statement on Tuesday, the WHO said the latest figures from health ministries in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea showed a total of 844 cases since the epidemic began in February.
Guinea’s ministry reported two deaths since 3 July but no new cases in the past week, the WHO said, calling the situation in the affected region of West Africa a “mixed picture”.
It said Sierra Leone had accounted for 34 of the new cases and 14 deaths, while Liberia reported 16 new cases and 9 deaths.
“These numbers indicate that active viral transmission continues in the community,” the statement said.
WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said the two main modes of transmission were people caring for sick relatives at home and people attending funerals of victims.
“If we don’t stop the transmission in the several hotspots in the three countries we will not be able to say that we control the outbreak,” she said.
Last week, health ministers from 11 West African countries adopted a common strategy to fight the outbreak.
At an emergency meeting in Ghana last Thursday, ministers promised better collaboration to fight what has become the world’s deadliest outbreak to date.
Under the new strategy, the WHO will open a sub-regional control centre in Guinea to co-ordinate technical support.
Dolly Parton has announced she wants to adopt a dog that was left behind following the exodus of Glastonbury Festival 2014.
The white lurcher was discovered in one of the 5,000 tents discarded at Worthy Farm during a clean-up of the 1,200-acre festival site last week.
Dolly Parton has announced she wants to adopt a dog that was left behind following the exodus of Glastonbury Festival 2014
Taken in by the Happy Landings animal shelter, the dog was named Dolly after Dolly Parton stole the show with her debut performance at the event.
Dolly Parton, 68, said she would take it in if its owner was not found.
The shelter, which described the dog as a “sweet-natured older lady”, said it had received “many, many phone calls” but that it would not be re-homed “until we can ascertain whether she has an owner”.
A South Dakota 4th of July hot dog eating contest turned tragic when a contestant choked to death.
Walter Eagle Tail, 47, of Custer, died at a hospital Thursday after attempts to save him at the scene failed, Custer County Sheriff Rick Wheeler told the Rapid City Journal.
“There was someone doing CPR when we arrived,” Rick Wheeler said.
“He probably just suffocated. It got lodged in his throat and they [paramedics] couldn’t get it out.
A South Dakota 4th of July hot dog eating contest turned tragic when a contestant choked to death
“It all happened within minutes,” the sheriff said.
The Custer Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored the contest, canceled a pie-eating contest scheduled for Friday.
“We are at a loss for words,” Chamber Executive Director Dave Ressler said.
“We are mourning for Walter and his family right now.”
Speed-eating competitions are popular over the 4th of July weekend. Eight-time champion Joey “Jaws” Chestnut managed to eat 61 hot dogs in 10 minutes at an annual contest in Coney Island, New York, on Friday – eight short of the record 69 he swallowed in the 2013 competition.
George Shea, chairman of Major League Eating, a competitive eating organization based in New York, said organizers do all they can to prevent casualties during contests.
Funeral arrangements were pending for Walter Eagle Tail, whom friends described as a fun-loving, kind and caring man.
Giorgio Faletti died on Friday, July 4, in Turin, Italy, at the age of 63.
The Italian author and actor died from an incurable illness.
Giorgio Faletti earned a law degree before starting his eclectic show business career as a comedian on several Italian TV shows. He went on to enjoy great success and acclaim as a singer/songwriter, actor and painter.
Giorgio Faletti died from an incurable illness
His first novel, I Kill, published 2002, was an international sensation, topping the bestseller lists in Italy for over a year and selling more than 5 million copies to become one of the bestselling books in the history of Italy. The book has since been published in 35 countries and translated into 25 languages.
Giorgio Faletti’s later works include The Killer in My Eyes (2004), I Am God (2009), Three Acts and Two Strokes (2011) and A Pimp’s Notes (2012).
As an actor, Giorgio Faletti starred in Fausto Brizzi’s 2006 Italian teen comedy Notte prima degli esami (Night Before the Exams), which is considered a cult hit amongst European teens.
Giorgio Faletti’s funeral service will take place on July 8 in his hometown of Asti, where he lived with his wife Roberta.
The producers of the latest Transformers movie are being sued by a Chinese tourism company for breach of contract, according to state media.
The Chongqing Wulong Karst Tourism Co Ltd said in a statement that the producers had failed to show its logo prominently in the film as promised.
The company said it would file a case against Paramount Pictures and one of the movie’s Chinese partners.
The Beijing-based 1905 Internet Technology company, the Chinese company also being sued, said in a statement on its website that Wulong had not paid them on time.
The Chongquing Wulong Karst Tourism Co Ltd said it is suing for unspecified damages.
The Chongquing Wulong Karst Tourism is suing Transformers producers for unspecified damages
The company said it was not clear to viewers that the shots of the scenic spot in Transformers: Age of Extinction were of Wulong, because they were interspersed with scenes from Hong Kong.
It also said that other tourist spots were claiming that the famous Karst peaks were theirs.
Last month, a Beijing property developer said it had filed a case alleging that Paramount and two of its Chinese associates had not featured images of its hotel in trailers and movie posters as promised, and had reneged on a pledge to hold the film’s premiere at its hotel.
Soon after, Paramount and the developer said they had come to an agreement over the dispute.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the fourth movie in the Transformers franchise has now become China’s biggest film.
Its cumulative total now stands at $222.74 million, overtaking the record held by James Cameron’s Avatar, which took $221.9 million. It was released in China in January 2010.
The success of the latest Transformers film has been boosted by the inclusion of Chinese actors Li Bingbing and Han Geng, along with product placement featuring various Chinese goods.
JK Rowling has published a new short story about Harry Potter on her Pottermore fan website, set during the Quidditch world cup final.
The 1,500-word tale is written in the style of a newspaper column by Daily Prophet reporter, Rita Skeeter.
The article reports that Harry Potter took his sons James and Albus to visit the world cup compound “where he introduced them to Bulgarian seeker Victor Krum”.
Rita Skeeter then speculates on the absence of Harry Potter’s wife Ginny at the event.
“Are cracks beginning to show in a union that the Potters are determined to promote as happy?”
JK Rowling has published a new short story about Harry Potter on her Pottermore fan website, set during the Quidditch world cup final
Quidditch is the fictional game played on broomsticks that features in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels.
Harry Potter is about to turn 34 in JK Rowling’s latest story, which can be accessed by registering on the Pottermore website.
The former boy wizard now “sports a nasty cut over his right cheekbone” along with his famous lightning scar. His hair is said to be slightly greying.
There is no mention of Harry and Ginny’s third child, Lily, who is referred to in the epilogue of Rowling’s final Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Hermione, who now has two children with her husband Ron, is now deputy head of the department of magical law enforcement.
Ron is now full-time at his brothers’ joke shop, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes.
JK Rowling had said in previous interviews that Ron was an auror with Harry Potter at the ministry of magic but Rita Skeeter now claims he has had to leave for unknown reasons.
Now working for his brothers’ joke emporium Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, she claims Ron has had to step away from his job at the Ministry of Magic for reasons he has not revealed to the public.
The article also refers to other well-known characters from the Harry Potter series, including Luna Lovegood and Fleur Delacour.
JK Rowling, who is a supporter of the Hacked Off campaign which is putting pressure on newspapers to put into practice the Royal Charter on press self-regulation, has also penned a tongue-in-cheek reference to the media and privacy.
“One always hesitates to invade the privacy of young people, but the fact is that anyone closely connected with Harry Potter reaps the benefits and must pay the penalty of the public interest.”
More than 450 million copies of JK Rowling’s seven Harry Potter books, the first of which was published in 1997, have been sold worldwide.
The profit of the Vatican bank plunged in 2013 largely due to a clean-up process which has seen it end relationships with 3,000 customers.
Officially known as the Institute for Religious Works, the bank reported a 2.9 million euro (3.9 million) profit for 2013, down from 86.6 million euros ($117.8 million) in 2012.
Most of its losses came from the winding up of investments made before its reform program began.
Without these, it said profit would have been 70 million euros.
Pope Francis has sought to stamp out corruption and other abuses at the Vatican bank, which handles funds for the Catholic Church (photo Bloomberg)
Pope Francis has sought to stamp out corruption and other abuses at the Vatican bank, which handles funds for the Catholic Church.
He pledged to clean up the bank following accusations of money laundering and a lack of due diligence which allowed non-religious, and even crony, businessmen to hold accounts.
Between May 2013 and June 2014, outside experts combed through all the bank’s accounts in what the Vatican said was a “systematic screening of all existing customer records”.
As a result, it said it had terminated 2,600 “dormant” accounts which had seen no activity for a long time, as well as 396 customers who didn’t meet the criteria for doing business with the bank.
It said a further 359 customer accounts which didn’t meet its criteria were in the process of being terminated.
“I repeatedly said that I would proceed with zero tolerance for any suspicious activity. We have carried out our reforms in this spirit,” said the bank’s President, Ernst von Freyberg.
Ernst von Freyberg’s statement came ahead of an announcement on Wednesday which is expected to detail further expected re-structuring at the bank.
Henri Matisse’s painting Odalisque in Red Pants, which was stolen more than a decade ago, has been handed back to the Venezuelan authorities by US officials.
Odalisque in Red Pants was recovered in Miami Beach in an undercover operation two years ago.
An American and a Mexican citizen were both arrested and convicted of theft.
The painting, which used to be on display in a museum in Caracas, was replaced by a fake but the switch took years to discover.
Odalisque in Red Pants was recovered in Miami Beach in an undercover operation two years ago (photo AP)
It was exchanged for a bad copy sometime between 1999 and 2002 but it was not until 2003 that officials at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Caracas realized what had happened.
The original was found by US undercover agents in a hotel room in Miami.
“The work is in extraordinary condition, with only slight imperfections on the edges, but it is fine,” said Joel Espinoza, an official with Venezuela’s attorney general’s office.
Odalisque in Red Pants was flown back and arrived in Venezuela on Monday where it will go on public display in two weeks time.
Painted in 1925, Odalisque in Red Pants has been valued at more than $3 million.
Odalisque in Red Pants was bought by the Venezuelan government from a gallery in New York in 1981.
