Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has said he will sign a controversial association agreement with the EU on June 27.
Petro Poroshenko’s elected pro-Russian predecessor, Viktor Yanukovych, was overthrown in February after refusing to sign the deal at the last moment.
Heavy fighting has erupted between troops and pro-Russian rebels in Donetsk region despite talk of a truce.
President Petro Poroshenko has said he will sign a controversial association agreement with the EU on June 27
Meanwhile, NATO says Russia has moved troops back to the Ukrainian border.
Petro Poroshenko was elected president in May on a pro-EU platform after six months of political turmoil.
Since Viktor Yanukovych fled Kiev, Russia has annexed part of Ukraine’s territory, Crimea, and has also been accused of stoking the rebellion in the east.
According to a UN estimate reported this week, at least 356 people, including 257 civilians, have been killed in eastern Ukraine since May 7.
Political parts of the association agreement were signed in March by Ukraine’s interim government.
Petro Poroshenko made the announcement as he was replacing three senior officials in Kiev.
Harrison Ford broke his left leg in the injury he suffered while shooting Star Wars: Episode VII, the actor’s publicist has confirmed.
It was previously believed Harrison Ford, 71, had broken an ankle in an incident involving a door at Pinewood Studios on June 12.
Harrison Ford broke his left leg in the injury he suffered while shooting Star Wars
“His surgery was successful and he will begin rehab shortly,” continued Ina Treciokas in a statement.
“He’s doing well and looks forward to returning to work.”
Harrison Ford, who is reprising his role as Han Solo in Star Wars: Episode VII, was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford after the accident.
It is believed he was injured while filming a scene involving a door on the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo’s beloved spaceship.
Last week a spokesman for the Lucasfilm production company said Harrison Ford had “sustained an ankle injury” and shooting would continue while he recuperated.
Six cases of the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus have been confirmed in Cuba, health authorities say.
Cuba is the latest Caribbean nation to confirm cases of the virus, which resembles dengue fever and can cause high fever, skin rash and joint pain.
According to the Pan American Health Organization, there had been 4,600 confirmed and 166,000 suspected cases in the Caribbean as of mid-June.
Six cases of the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus have been confirmed in Cuba
There is currently no vaccine or treatment for chikungunya.
The Cuban health ministry said those affected had recently travelled to Haiti or the Dominican Republic, where thousands of people have reported suffering from the severe headaches, high fever and intense joint pain symptomatic for the virus.
Officials said they would “strengthen surveillance and control measures of travelers arriving from countries at risk of the disease, mainly in the Caribbean”.
The virus has long been present in Africa and Asia but it was only detected in the Caribbean in December.
On Wednesday, the Central American nation of El Salvador put seven municipalities on alert after its first cases were confirmed.
The virus is also spreading quickly in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and there have been confirmed cases in most of the Caribbean island states.
German caver Johann Westhauser has been brought to the surface after being trapped 3,300ft underground for 12 days.
Johann Westhauser, 52, is reported to be conscious but the extent of his head and chest injuries is still unclear.
Two doctors accompanied him to the surface and after initial checks he was airlifted to hospital.
Johann Westhauser was badly hurt in a rock fall on June 8 while exploring Germany’s deepest cave, near the Austrian border.
A medical team and helicopters were waiting as he left the cave at 11:44 local time.
Johann Westhauser was badly hurt in a rock fall on June 8 while exploring Germany’s deepest cave
Mountain rescue service chief Klemens Reindl, who supervised the operation, said 728 people from five countries had taken part.
The precarious rescue was beset with difficulties because of the deep shafts and narrow passages in the cave.
It involved rest periods in five bivouac stops, followed by a major final hoist up a 600ft vertical shaft near the entrance to the cave.
A motorized winch could not be used because of the potential risks to Johann Westhauser, and he had to be hauled up manually on a fiberglass stretcher.
The injured man was one of the explorers who in 1995 originally discovered the cave, which they named Riesending (“Giant thing”) because of its depth and size.
He had been on a trip during the Whitsun holiday when he suffered severe head and chest injuries at least 3,300ft underground.
Johann Westhauser works at the Institute for Applied Physics at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, but it is not known if he went into the complex (as he had done many times before) as part of his research or as a hobby.
Iraq forces are battling Sunni militants for control of the country’s biggest oil refinery.
A military spokesman said troops had repelled repeated attacks by the militants, led by the jihadist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
Forty assailants were killed overnight and on Wednesday, he added, denying the facility was close to being overrun.
But some workers said the militants had seized most of it and that troops were concentrated around the control room.
It comes as President Barak Obama considers a formal request from Iraq’s government for air strikes against the militants, who have seized several northern cities and towns since last week.
ISIS-led militants launched an assault on the Baiji refinery, about 130 miles north of the capital Baghdad, early on Wednesday.
Workers trapped inside said the attackers had breached the perimeter and destroyed one of its fuel tanks. Some said they had taken control of most of the facility. Video footage showed smoke billowing from the refinery and the black flag used by ISIS flying from a building.
ISIS-led militants launched an assault on the Baiji refinery, about 130 miles north of the capital Baghdad
However, officials insisted that troops had resisted the advance.
Nearly all the 15,000 workers at the refinery and 100 foreign experts left on Tuesday when the plant was shut down in anticipation of the attack.
On Thursday morning, the remaining 250 to 300 workers were evacuated under an agreement brokered by local tribal leaders, one of the workers told the Reuters news agency.
The battle over Baiji, which supplies much of the country’s domestic fuel, has sparked fears that Iraqis will soon experience long lines at petrol pumps and electricity shortages.
On Wednesday there were fierce clashes in the Baquba, about 37 miles north of Baghdad, as jihadists again tried to enter the city centre and seize its prison.
Shia militiamen have been sent to assist in the defense of the capital of Diyala province, which has effectively become a frontline, and the nearby city of Samarra, site of a major Shia shrine.
PM Nouri al-Maliki has tried to assure Iraqis that the momentum is shifting.
The Iraqi government is awaiting President Barack Obama’s decision on air strikes.
On Wednesday, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, warned that the US military still lacked sufficient intelligence to take action. He told a congressional hearing that pilots would have difficulty knowing who they were attacking from the air.
Asked if the intervention might come too late, Gen Dempsey said: “There is very little that could have been done to overcome the degree to which the government of Iraq has failed its people. That is what has caused this problem.”
ISIS has exploited deep resentment among Iraq’s minority Sunni Arabs, who have long accused Nouri al-Maliki of discriminating against them and monopolizing power.
Facebook was inaccessible for at least 1.3 billion users for around 15 minutes this morning.
People trying to log on to the site were faced with a message saying: “Something went wrong. We’re working to get it fixed as soon as we can.”
Facebook was inaccessible for at least 1.3 billion users for around 15 minutes
The short shutdown drew attention across the web with many taking to Twitter to ask what all the fuss was about.
Facebook apologized for the problem but did not say what caused it.
“Earlier this morning, we experienced an issue that prevented people from posting to Facebook for a brief period of time. We resolved the issue quickly, and we are now back to 100%. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
It is not yet clear how many countries were affected.
Felipe VI has been proclaimed king of Spain after the abdication of his father, King Juan Carlos, in a ceremony in parliament.
Earlier, King Felipe VI received the royal sash from his father, Juan Carlos, at the Zarzuela Palace near Madrid.
He acceded to the throne at the stroke of midnight after Juan Carlos formally abdicated on Wednesday.
Correspondents say the ceremonies have been kept low key, at a time when many in Spain are suffering economic hardship.
The ceremony takes the form of a proclamation rather than a coronation. It is the first royal transition in Spain since democracy was restored in the 1970s.
Felipe VI has been proclaimed king of Spain after the abdication of his father, King Juan Carlos
King Felipe VI, 46, swore an oath promising to uphold the constitution.
Congress President Jesus Posada then proclaimed him king, declaring: “Long live Spain! Long live the king!”
In a speech to parliament, King Felipe thanked his parents and said he had “great hope” for the future of Spain.
“You will find in me a loyal head of state who is ready listen and understand, warn and advise as well as to defend the public interest at all times,” he said.
“The monarch wants to be close to citizens… ensuring it can preserve its prestige and dignity.”
“Now more than ever, citizens of Spain are rightly demanding fundamental ethical principles should govern our public life. The king should not only be a reference but who serves all citizens of Spain.”
No foreign leaders or royal families have been invited to the event.
King Felipe and his wife Letizia will later be driven through Madrid’s streets before appearing on the front balcony of the Royal Palace.
Correspondents say the new king faces a series of tough challenges if he is to restore the reputation of the monarchy.
Although King Juan Carlos won plaudits for his role in restoring democracy, his image suffered when he went on a luxurious African elephant-hunting safari in the midst of a recession.
His reputation suffered further damage because of tax fraud allegations made against his daughter, Infanta Cristina, who is reported not to have been invited to the succession party.
At the same time many Spaniards are demanding a referendum on whether to have a monarchy at all.
A demonstration is scheduled to take place in central Madrid on Thursday, the same day as the enthronement, despite a ban imposed by authorities.
According to Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, President Barack Obama has told Congressional leaders he does not need lawmakers’ approval for any action in Iraq.
Senator Mitch McConnell was speaking after a meeting between President Barack Obama and senior members of Congress.
Iraq has asked for US air strikes against advancing jihadist militants, who have seized key cities and towns.
However, correspondents say any decision on military support from Washington could hinge on political changes in Iraq.
Vice-President Joe Biden discussed possible “additional measures” that could help “roll back the terrorists’ advances” with Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki on Wednesday, but also the need for national unity.
The Obama administration has shown signs of frustration with Nouri al-Maliki – a Shia Muslim who has long been accused of discriminating against the Sunni Arab minority community and monopolizing power.
President Barack Obama has told Congressional leaders he does not need lawmakers’ approval for any action in Iraq
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told a congressional hearing: “This current government in Iraq has never fulfilled the commitments it made to bring a unity government together with the Sunnis, the Kurds, and the Shia.”
Barack Obama met Congressional leaders at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the US response to recent advances by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
Speaking afterwards, Senator Mitch McConnell said the president had “indicated he didn’t feel he had any need for authority from us for steps that he might take”.
Correspondents say the White House has so far avoided the thorny question as to whether it needs Congressional authority for any military action in Iraq.
Experts say Barack Obama has several options, including citing the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) against al-Qaeda and its associated forces passed by Congress in 2001; the 2002 AUMF that led to the invasion of Iraq; and his own powers as commander-in-chief.
Last year, President Barack Obamaabandoned plans for punitive military strikes in Syria following a deadly chemical weapons attack once it became clear that Congress would not give its backing.
Administration officials say the president may be able to act unilaterally in Iraq because its government has requested US air strikes against ISIS, which seized the second city of Mosul last week and is advancing southwards towards Baghdad.
ISIS and their Sunni Arab allies are reported to be advancing in Diyala and Salahuddin provinces after they overran Iraq’s second city, Mosul, last week.
They have also launched an assault on Iraq’s biggest oil refinery at Baiji, north of Baghdad.
The administration has not officially responded to Iraq’s request for air support in its response to the offensive.
Three activists of China’s anti-corruption group – New Citizens’ Movement – have been given lengthy jail terms for urging officials to disclose wealth.
Wei Zhongping and Liu Ping, associated with the New Citizens’ Movement, were given six-and-a-half years in jail. A third activist, Li Sihua, received a shorter sentence.
Rights group Amnesty International said the charges were “preposterous”.
China’s leaders are running a crackdown on corruption, but refuse to tolerate grassroots groups with similar aims.
The three activists were detained after taking photographs with banners urging officials to disclose their assets.
They were put on trial in a high-security court in Xinyu, Jiangxi province, late last year.
The detainment of anti-corruption activists has been a recurrent human rights issue in China
At the time, defense lawyers complained of serious procedural problems and said they were not confident of the outcome.
The three were convicted of the broad charge of “creating a disturbance”.
Liu Ping and Wei Zhongping were convicted of other charges, which Amnesty said included “gathering a crowd to disrupt order in a public place” and “using an evil cult to undermine law enforcement”.
“The charges against these activists were preposterous from the very beginning,” said Amnesty’s William Nee.
Amnesty International described them as “prisoners of conscience” and called for their immediate release.
Chinese President Xi Jinping launched an anti-corruption drive when he took over in 2012.
But he has also overseen the broadest crackdown on grassroots activism that China has seen in recent years.
Several activists in the New Citizens’ Movement, which calls for more democracy and government transparency, have been detained.
In July last year, prominent lawyer Xu Zhiyong, one of the founders of the movement, was detained on suspicion of having “gathered crowds to disrupt public order”.
Xu Zhiyong was eventually jailed for four years in January.
Jazzman Horace Silver has died at the age of 85, National Public Radio (NPR) said on Wednesday.
NPR said Horace Silver’s son Gregory had called it directly with the news of his death.
One of the most highly regarded pianists and composers in jazz, Horace Silver was one of the pioneers of a rhythmic jazz style known as hard bop.
Horace Silver began his career as a tenor saxophonist in clubs in Connecticut. But after he moved to New York in the 1950s, he switched to piano and began performing at the Blue Note Jazz Club.
Many of his compositions became jazz standards, including Sister Sadie, The Preacher and Filthy McNasty.
Horace Silver was one of the pioneers of a rhythmic jazz style known as hard bop
His family came from Cape Verde, and Horace Silver was influenced by the folk music from the Portuguese-speaking islands off of Africa.
One of his earliest musical influence was his father, who played multiple instruments, including the violin, guitar and mandolin, according to NPR.
Horace Silver’s first album is regarded as a milestone in the development of hard bop – a style Silver continued to explore during his 25-year relationship with Blue Note records.
He also performed with many jazz greats such as Lester Young, Miles Davis and Art Blakey.
His bands have consistently been a training ground for great soloists, and his sidemen have included a host of subsequently famous names.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s he experimented with larger groups and a different style, but from midway through the 1980s he returned to hard bop, and in the 1990s created some worthy successors to the many classic albums he made during his 28 years at Blue Note.
Horace Silver’s piano style has been described as “involving sharply defined, bluesy right hand phrasing, over a grumbling left-hand bass unlike the style of any other player”.
Amazon has unveiled Fire Phone – its first handset offering 3D visuals thanks to four face-tracking cameras on its front and gesture controls.
The Fire Phone allows its users to change an image’s perspective by moving their head, rather than creating “pop-out” effects.
The owner can also scroll through a webpage or bring up menus by tilting the smartphone in their hand.
Chief executive Jeff Bezos announced the phone at a press event in Seattle.
One industry watcher had doubts about what was on show.
Amazon Fire Phone allows its users to change an image’s perspective by moving their head
The Fire Phone launch comes at a time when Amazon’s tablet sales appear to be on the wane, despite recent price promotions.
The basic version of the Fire Phone, with 32 gigabytes (GB) of storage, will cost $199 on top of a two-year contract with AT&T – the only network to offer it initially – on July 25.
That is the same price AT&T charges for the 16GB versions of Apple’s iPhone 5S and Samsung’s Galaxy S5.
The “dynamic perspective” effect is made possible by the inclusion of four “ultra-low power” cameras coupled with four infrared LEDs, which permit the device to keep tracking the position of the user’s eyes and mouth in the dark.
The process only requires two cameras, but the firm said the extra two meant users would not need to worry how they held the handset.
Another innovation introduced by the Fire Phone is a dedicated side-button to activate Firefly, an app that allows it recognize text, images and sound in the smartphone’s immediate vicinity.
It can be used to bring up information – for example details of a wine, the name of a song, or information about a painting – and when relevant, the chance to buy the same or a related product from Amazon.
The facility relies on Amazon’s computer servers, so will not be available when the phone is offline.
Amazon Fire Phone also takes advantage of several other online services the company offers, including:
Mayday – the ability to call up an Amazon adviser via a video feed, with a promise of a response within 15 seconds
ASAP – a facility that pre-loads video content to the phone from the firm’s Prime Instant Video collection, basing its choices on the user’s past viewing behavior
Cloud Drive – the firm’s internet based storage facility, which is being used to offer “unlimited” space for the photos it takes
Prime Music – access to more than a million songs that can be downloaded or streamed, although new releases are not included
Several of these services will only remain available if the owner renews their Amazon Prime membership after a year, at an annual cost of $99.
The Fed has cut its growth forecast for 2014 due to the harsh winter weather.
The US central bank is now predicting growth of between 2.1% and 2.3% for this year, down from its March forecast of 2.8% to 3%.
In its accompanying statement, the Federal Reserve said that economic activity had “rebounded in recent months”.
As expected, the Fed has also trimmed back its stimulus program by $10 billion a month to $35 billion.
The Fed has cut its growth forecast for 2014 due to the harsh winter weather
The central bank has been buying bonds to keep long-term interest rates low and encourage banks to lend.
This is the fifth cut in purchases since December and it is expected to stop buying bonds altogether by the autumn.
However, Fed chairman Janet Yellen stressed that this was not a pre-set program and if necessary it would change course.
As far as interest rates go, the bank said they would remain near zero “for a considerable time” after the bond buying ends.
On inflation, Janet Yellen said she expected it to remain at or below the target of 2% until the end of 2016. Low inflation would enable the bank to keep interest rates low. Currently, they are not expected to rise until the middle of 2015.
The Fed expects growth to pick up again in 2015, sticking to its prediction of 3% to 3.2% expansion.
“Economic activity will expand at a moderate pace and labor market conditions will continue to improve gradually,” the central bank said.
“Household spending appears to be rising moderately and business fixed investment resumed its advance.”
Janet Yellen added in a press conference afterwards that “over the next two years, the projections for real GDP growth remain somewhat above the estimates of longer-run normal growth”.
King Juan Carlos of Spain signed the bill of his abdication in favor of his son, Crown Prince Felipe.
King Juan Carlos, 76, signed the bill at a ceremony in the Royal Palace in Madrid, which was attended by only 160 guests.
At midnight local time, Crown Prince Felipe, 46, will become king although the event will not be marked in public until Thursday morning.
The succession was endorsed by both of Spain’s main political parties.
Before the signing, King Juan Carlos sat with Queen Sofia to his right and Crown Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia to his left as the content of the law was read out.
King Juan Carlos of Spain signed the bill of his abdication in favor of his son, Crown Prince Felipe
After Juan Carlos had signed the document that will end his rule, PM Mariano Rajoy also signed the law. Moments later, the assembled guests applauded, the prince’s two daughters joined the royal group and the national anthem was played.
Prince Felipe will head to the lower house of the Spanish parliament on Thursday for the first royal transition the country has seen since democracy was restored after the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975.
The ceremony at 10:30 local time will take the form of a proclamation rather than a coronation, in part because of the economic hardship that many Spaniards have experienced in recent years.
Juan Carlos, who has been king for 39 years, formally brought his reign to an end in the Hall of Columns at the 18th Century royal palace, the same room in which Gen. Francisco Franco’s body lay in state in November 1975.
Father and son both wore suits which bore the insignia of the order of the golden fleece, Spanish media reported.
King Juan Carlos announced his decision to abdicate on June 2, saying that a “new generation must be at the forefront… younger people with new energies”.
Although he was for many years a popular monarch, King Juan Carlos reputation has taken a knock from a corruption investigation into the business dealings his daughter’s husband and an lavish elephant hunting trip he took to Botswana in April 2012 in the midst of Spain’s financial crisis,
As Juan Carlos was Spain’s first ruling monarch for 44 years, a new law of abdication had to be passed by both houses of parliament under the country’s 1978 constitution.
A hidden portrait has been found by scientists beneath the brush strokes of The Blue Room, a 1901 Picasso artwork.
Art experts and conservators at The Phillips Collection in Washington used infrared technology on the masterpiece, revealing a bow-tied man with his face resting on his hand.
Pablo Picasso created both works in Paris during his famous blue period.
Acknowledged as one of the 20th Century’s greatest artists, Pablo Picasso focused on monochromatic paintings in shades of blue and blue-green during his blue period from 1900 to 1904.
A hidden portrait has been found by scientists beneath Picasso’s painting The Blue Room
The Blue Room has been the subject of exploration since 2008 by experts from the Phillips Collection, National Gallery of Art, Cornell University and Delaware’s Winterthur Museum.
Improved infrared imagery allowed them to see a man wearing a jacket and bow tie, resting his bearded face on his hand with three rings on his fingers.
Technical analysis confirmed the hidden portrait was likely to have been painted just before The Blue Room.
Curator Susan Behrends Frank told press agency AP: “When he [Pablo Picasso] had an idea, you know, he just had to get it down and realize it,” explaining that the artist had quickly painted over another completed picture when the inspiration took him.
“He could not afford to acquire new canvasses every time he had an idea that he wanted to pursue. He worked sometimes on cardboard because canvas was so much more expensive.”
The Blue Room has been part of the Phillips Collection since 1927.
Conservators suspected back in 1954 it may have had another painting below its surface, as brushstrokes did not match the composition of a woman bathing in Pablo Picasso’s studio.
But it was not until the 1990s that an X-ray revealed a “fuzzy image” of something under the main image.
Research on The Blue Room will continue and curators have planned a 2017 exhibition focusing on the painting and the portrait beneath it. It is also part of a tour to South Korea in 2015.
In November 2012, Jon Bon Jovi’s teenage daughter Stephanie Rose Bongiovi and her male friend identified as Ian S. Grant were arrested for possession of heroin.
Ian S. Grant and Stephanie Rose Bongiovi were arrested and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance
Ian S. Grant was born in Red Bank, New Jersey, on June 24, 1991. He graduated with honors in 2009 from Middletown. He also graduated last year with a bachelors of Arts and geoscience degree from Hamilton College where he also worked as a lab assistant.
Ian S. Grant overdosed at Stephanie Rose Bongiovi’s Dunham Dorm at Hamilton College, he was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, a class “A” misdemeanor, he was taken to Kirkland Police Station and later released.
Calhoun businessman Zach Dasher, a cousin of Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson, announced Monday he will run for Congress in Louisiana’s 5th District.
The seat is currently held by embattled GOP Rep. Vance McAllister, who won the district in a special election last November – largely thanks to the local reality television superstar Willie Robertson’s support.
Zach Dasher said he has the full support of the Robertson family in a Monday morning interview with Louisiana radio show host Moon Griffon.
Willie Robertson’s cousin Zach Dasher announced he will run for Congress in Louisiana’s 5th District
The news comes as a blow for Vance McAllister, who has waffled in recent weeks about whether he’s running for re-election. Earlier this year, Vance McAllister was caught on video kissing a staffer in his district office – an incident that gave him the title “kissing congressman”.
State Sen. Neil Riser, whom Vance McAllister defeated in the special election runoff for the seat, also announced on Monday that he will not run for the seat.
“I won’t be running in the 5th Congressional District this fall,” Neil Riser told LA Politics on Monday.
“I’m not ruling anything else out in the future, but I’m not going to be a part of this race in the fall.”
Candidates have until August 22 to file the necessary paperwork to run in Louisiana. In the state, all candidates who qualify run on the same ballot in November. If no candidate garners at least 50% of the vote, the race proceeds to a December runoff.
Louisiana’s 5th District is heavily Republican territory. GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney carried the district with 61% in 2012.
Michael Jace is due to appear in Los Angeles court today to enter a plea, after being charged with his wife April’s murder last month.
Prosecutors say the 51-year-old actor shot April Jace, 40, multiple times at their family home on May 19, while the couple’s young children were present.
Michael Jace called 911 to report the shooting, according to police, and was at the house when they arrived.
Michael Jace was charged with his wife April’s murder
The actor played Detective Julien Lowe in FX series The Shield.
Fire officials have released an emergency call from April Jace’s father, in which reveals the actor told him he had shot his wife.
The audio recording features an unnamed caller who explains to the operator: “My son-in-law called me, and [texted] me, and said come get the kids because he shot April, our daughter.”
April Jace’s family has called her death a senseless act of domestic violence and police are looking into whether financial or other domestic issues may have been the motive.
Michael Jace’s lawyers said the case is in its early stages and their investigation is ongoing.
April Jade worked at Biola University and had three sons, including two boys under the age of 10 with Michael Jace. They were unharmed and are now living with relatives.
The couple was married for nine years while Michael Jace, who has another child from a previous relationship, was previously married to Jennifer Bitterman. Michael Jace and Jennifer Bitterman divorced in 2002.
Paul Simon and Edie Brickell disorderly conduct case has been dropped.
Police were called after a heated dispute at the couple’s house in Connecticut in April.
Edie Brickell had told officers that her husband Paul Simon had shoved her and she had slapped him.
Prosecutors told a judge on Tuesday they were declining to pursue the case. Neither of the singers attended court.
Paul Simon and Edie Brickell disorderly conduct case has been dropped (photo AP)
Officers were called to the couple’s home in New Caanan on April 26, 2014.
Edie Brickell told them she had confronted her husband of 22 years after he did something to “break her heart”.
She did not provide any further details. The police report added Paul Simon suffered a superficial cut to his ear and Edie Brickell, who smelled of alcohol, had a bruise on her wrist.
At an earlier hearing, Paul Simon told reporters outside the court in Norwalk, Connecticut: “We’re fine. We love each other. We’re fine. We had an argument. It’s over.
“Neither one of us has any fear or any reason to feel threatened.”
Paul Simon, 72, and Edie Brickell, 48, had been scheduled to be in court on Tuesday, but did not appear.
The charges have now been dropped and will be erased after 13 months.
At least 66 people are feared drowned after a wooden boat carrying 97 Indonesian migrants capsized and sank after leaving Malaysia’s west coast.
The boat was believed to have sunk shortly after midnight while trying to leave Malaysia illegally, said a Malaysia’s maritime agency official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
At least 66 people are feared drowned after a wooden boat carrying 97 Indonesian migrants capsized and sank after leaving Malaysia’s west coast
He said that the Indonesians, including women and children, were believed to be heading home ahead of the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
The Malaysian official said that 31 people have been rescued so far. A ship and several boats were searching for survivors and a helicopter will soon be dispatched, he said.
No reason was immediately given for the accident.
Tens of thousands of Indonesians work illegally in plantations and other industries in Malaysia. They sometimes risk dangerous boat journeys to return home.
Afghanistan’s presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah has demanded an immediate halt to vote-counting over allegations of widespread fraud.
Ballot boxes had been stuffed and the whole system was working to benefit his rival Ashraf Ghani, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah said.
He said he had lost trust in election officials, adding: “We have asked our monitors to leave their offices.”
A run-off vote to choose who replaces Hamid Karzai was held on Saturday. Final results are due in July.
Abdullah Abdullah won most votes in the first round in April, but did not secure an outright majority.
There was no immediate comment from Ashraf Ghani, a former World Bank economist.
Afghanistan’s presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah has demanded an immediate halt to vote-counting over allegations of widespread fraud
Hamid Karzai, who has served two terms as Afghanistan’s first and only president since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, is obliged by law to stand down after the latest election, which would be the country’s first peaceful transfer of power.
He is expected to hand over to his successor in August.
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah said that a number of his observers had been beaten up, detained and only released on Tuesday.
He accused President Hamid Karzai of not being neutral and said important concerns he had raised over the election had been ignored.
Abdullah Abdullah also complained that there had been no clarification over what he had called inflated turnout figures – and no explanation for the sacking of several thousand election workers after the first round.
He added that he had also demanded that a senior member of the Independent Election Commission should be suspended, but this had not happened.
“The counting process should stop immediately and if that continues, it will have no legitimacy,” Dr. Abdullah Abdullah told reporters.
Ballot boxes have yet to reach Kabul for votes to be counted but the former foreign minister said preliminary evidence gathered by his team showed widespread fraud.
According to initial reports received by his staff, Ashraf Ghani is leading by nearly a million votes after Saturday’s run-off, Reuters news agency reported.
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah pulled out of Afghanistan’s 2009 presidential election which was also marred by claims of mass fraud.
UN and US officials have been urging both contenders in this year’s race to give officials time to count votes and look into possible malpractice.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has proposed a unilateral ceasefire by his troops to allow pro-Russian separatists to lay down their weapons.
Petro Poroshenko said the peace plan would be implemented “shortly”, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reports.
His announcement comes after Petro Poroshenko held a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
They discussed a solution to the crisis in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels are battling government forces.
More than 30 gunmen were killed and wounded in fighting near the town of Schastya in the Luhansk region on Tuesday, a spokesman for the government’s “anti-terrorism operation” said.
UN human rights investigators say the security situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions has deteriorated significantly over the past month.
Petro Poroshenko has proposed a unilateral ceasefire by Ukrainian troops to allow pro-Russian separatists to lay down their weapons
A report reveals a rising number of abductions and killings, with civilians increasingly caught in the cross-fire and thousands forced to flee the violence.
Meanwhile Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has said an explosion at a major pipeline in central Ukraine was caused by a bomb.
He said explosives had been placed under a concrete support at the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod Pipeline.
No-one was reported injured by the blast. European and Russian companies said gas exports were not affected by Tuesday’s pipeline explosion.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony at the National University of Defense in Kiev, Petro Poroshenko said a “brief” truce would be introduced to allow “Russian mercenaries” to leave Ukraine.
The Kremlin confirmed that Petro Poroshenko and Vladimir Putin “touched upon” the issue of a possible ceasefire during their talks on Tuesday.
Correspondents say Petro Poroshenko has made similar comments in the past but it is not clear when the ceasefire will be implemented.
“The peace plan begins with my order for a unilateral ceasefire,” Interfax-Ukraine quoted the president as saying on Wednesday.
“Immediately after that, we must receive support for the presidential peace plan from all sides involved. This should happen very shortly.”
He said Russia was waging “a new type of warfare” with the use of professional subversive groups and volunteers.
Russia says it has launched a criminal investigation into Ukraine’s interior minister and a local governor over the killings of civilians and journalists.
Arsen Avakov and Igor Kolomoisky, governor of Dnipropetrovsk, are accused of organizing military operations, including rocket strikes, in cities such as Donetsk, Sloviansk and Mariupol that left more than 100 dead, Russian state media said.
Iraqi Islamist militants have invaded the country’s biggest oil refinery, after pounding it with mortars and machine guns from two directions.
An official quoted by Reuters said the militants now controlled 75% of the Baiji refinery, 130 miles north of Baghdad.
Government forces have made new air strikes on militants advancing towards the capital.
Fighting is also reported in the western city of Ramadi.
Iraqi Islamist militants now controlled 75 percent of the Baiji refinery, 130 miles north of Baghdad
The government is battling to push back ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) and its Sunni Muslim allies in Diyala and Salahuddin provinces, after the militants overran the second city, Mosul, last week.
PM Nouri al-Maliki appeared on television with Sunni Muslim and Kurdish leaders on Tuesday to issue a call for national unity in the face of the advance – they demanded that non-state forces lay down their arms.
However, such a call is unlikely to have much effect as Nouri al-Maliki has openly sponsored the formation of Shia Muslim militias to fight alongside regular Iraqi troops.
Hundreds of people have been killed since the start of the militant offensive last week, many of them believed to be captured soldiers publicly shot by ISIS-led firing squads.
During fighting in the city of Baquba this week, 44 prisoners were killed inside a police station in unclear circumstances.
The attack on the refinery started at 04:00 a.m. from outside two of the three main entrances to the refinery, according to Reuters.
Smoke rose from a spare parts warehouse and some stores of oil were reportedly destroyed.
“The militants have managed to break into the refinery,” the unnamed official told Reuters from inside the refinery.
“Now they are in control of the production units, administration building and four watch towers. This is 75% of the refinery.”
Foreign personnel were evacuated earlier but local staff reportedly remained in place, with the military defending the facility.
Baiji accounts for a little more than a quarter of the country’s entire refining capacity, all of which goes toward domestic consumption for things like petrol, cooking oil and fuel for power stations, an official told AP news agency.
Militants in the western province of Anbar, where the capital is Ramadi, said they had made advances, with a number of police stations near the town of Hit going over to dissident tribes.
Further north, the Iraqi government said it had recaptured the citadel in the strategic town of Tal Afar, where militants were said to have taken control on Monday.
Using unusually strong language, Nouri al-Maliki accused Saudi Arabia – which is largely Sunni – of backing ISIS. He also fired four army commanders for failing to halt the sweeping advance by the militants. They included the top commander for Nineveh, the first province where ISIS fighters made major gains.
