Vatican Radio’s new digital archive will made available to the public audio recordings featuring the voices of popes from as far back as 1884.
The online collection consists of more than 8,000 recordings from Vatican Radio’s pontifical archives.
It will take place in conjunction with the canonization of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII (1958-1963) on April 27.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the archive would help to preserve the recordings.
Vatican Radio’s online collection consists of more than 8,000 recordings from its pontifical archives
“This way, the popes remain among us thanks to their voices,” he said.
Vatican Radio has been gathering recordings since it was set up under Pope Pius XI in 1931.
However, it also has older recordings such as Pope Leo XIII’s Humanum Genus encyclical which the pontiff recorded on a Dictaphone in 1884.
The archive, entitled Voices of the Popes, captures historic moments such as Pope Pius XII’s appeal in August 1939 on the eve of World War Two, saying: “The danger is imminent but there is still time. Nothing is lost with peace, all can be lost with war.”
There is also Pope John XXIII’s impromptu 1962 Speech to the Moon in St Peter’s Square where he told the gathered crowd: “When you head home, find your children. Hug and kiss your children and tell them <<This is the hug and kiss of the Pope>>.”
The archive also includes Pope Paul VI’s heart-felt words following the kidnap and murder of Italian PM Aldo Moro in May 1978 and Pope John Paul II’s emotionally charged attack in 1993 on the Mafia’s “culture of death” following a spate of high-profile killings.
From more recent times is last year’s resignation speech by Pope Benedict XVI where he said he “will simply be a pilgrim starting the last phase of his pilgrimage on this Earth”.
NATO has decided to suspend all practical civilian and military cooperation with Russia.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region was the gravest threat to European security for a generation.
There could be no business as usual, he added.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen had earlier categorically denied reports that Russia was pulling its forces back from its border with Ukraine.
Moscow is believed to have massed tens of thousands of troops on Ukraine’s eastern border in recent days, causing alarm in Kiev and the West.
Foreign ministers from the 28-member NATO bloc, gathering in Brussels for their first meeting since Russia’s annexation of Crimea, issued a strongly worded statement in which they condemned Russia’s “illegal” annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.
NATO has decided to suspend all practical civilian and military cooperation with Russia
They agreed to suspend NATO co-operation with Russia in a number of bodies but added that dialogue in the NATO-Russia Council could continue, as necessary, at ambassadorial level and above “to allow us to exchange views, first and foremost on this crisis. We will review Nato’s relations with Russia at our next meeting in June”.
They are also looking at options including situating permanent military bases in the Baltic states to reassure members in Eastern Europe. Russia’s actions in Ukraine have caused concern in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which were part of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
NATO jets will take part in air patrols in the region later in a routine exercise that analysts say has taken on added significance due to the crisis. Several NATO countries, including the UK, US and France, have offered additional military aircraft.
Announcing the formal suspension of ties, Anders Fogh Rasmussen said NATO’s message was clear: it stood by its allies, it stood by Ukraine and it stood by the international system of rules that had developed in recent decades. He urged Russia to be part of a solution “respecting international law and Ukraine’s borders”.
He also said NATO would offer Ukraine greater access to alliance exercises and support the development of its military.
Answering questions from reporters, Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he expected NATO-Russia co-operation over Afghanistan – including counter-narcotics operations – to continue.
Ukrainian ministers were also in Brussels to meet their NATO counterparts. A joint NATO-Ukraine statement issued after their meeting announced that they would intensify co-operation and promote defense reforms in Ukraine through training and other programs.
In Moscow, the Russian foreign ministry warned Kiev against any attempts to join NATO, saying such efforts in the past had “led to a freezing of Russian-Ukrainian political contacts, a <<headache>> in NATO-Russia relations and… a deepening split within Ukrainian society”.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Angela Merkel he had ordered a partial withdrawal of Russian troops from the border with eastern Ukraine.
However, Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters: “Unfortunately, I cannot confirm that Russia is withdrawing its troops. This is not what we are seeing.”
Meanwhile, Russian energy firm Gazprom has announced an increase of the price it charges Ukraine for gas from Tuesday.
Gazprom’s chief executive Alexei Miller said the price of Russian gas for Ukraine had gone up to $385.5 per 1,000 cubic metres in the second quarter of 2014 from the previous rate of $268.5.
Alexei Miller added that Ukraine’s unpaid gas bills to Russia stood at $1.7 billion.
Greece is to receive its next 8.3 billion euro ($11.4 billion) bailout in three installments, eurozone finance ministers have announced.
A first tranche of 6.3 billion euros will be paid at the end of April, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said at a meeting of finance ministers in Athens.
Two more payments of 1 billion euros will be made in June and July, he added.
Ahead of the meeting, demonstrators were barred from parts of Athens including Syntagma Square, the focus of recent anti-austerity protests.
Greece, the current chair of the EU presidency, continues to struggle with high debt and unemployment.
Greece is to receive its next 8.3 billion euro bailout in three installments
Discussions at Tuesday and Wednesday’s meetings include Greece’s austerity programme and market reforms demanded under the terms of its international bailouts.
The latest bailout is one of the last Greece will get from the eurozone. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will continue to pay its installments for some months.
It comes after the Greek parliament narrowly passed a raft of reforms, mainly to open up retail sectors to competition.
The latest bailout announcement comes amid renewed optimism about Greece’s economic recovery.
Greece has wiped out its deficit, except for interest on its debt, and is forecast to exit six years of recession this year.
Athens hopes the progress will spur the Eurozone to consider debt relief in the coming months, by lowering the interest rate on its loans or extending the repayment period.
But unions and left-wing groups have called for mass protests on Tuesday.
They say people are still suffering under the austerity measures implemented under the bailout terms.
Unemployment is running at 27%, and many Greeks are still feeling the effects of tax rises and spending cuts.
It is unclear whether protesters will attempt to enter prohibited areas and try to reach Syntagma Square.
Athens has enforced protests bans in the past, including when German Chancellor Angela Merkel made high-profile visits.
Social networks are awash with rumors, gags and elaborate hoaxes on April 1st.
Each year, use of the hashtag #AprilFoolsDay has climbed ever higher on Twitter, as its membership has swelled.
#AprilFoolsDay has been used more than 400,000 times in the past 24 hours.
1. Vegemite – Australia’s version of Marmite – chose April 1st to “launch” a new energy drink, prompting imaginary delight for some, but disgust for others. The image has been shared almost 8,000 times on its Facebook page.
Vegemite chose April 1st to launch a new energy drink
2. Facebook’s next billion dollar acquisition was announced by Account Killer, an online service that helps people permanently delete their Facebook accounts, and other social media profiles. According to a post on the Account Killer website, Mark Zuckerberg himself explained the decision.
“Researchers predicted that we would lose 80% of our user base by 2017, so we might as well adapt swiftly,” they said Mark Zuckerberg explained.
3. InTurkey, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz chose a strange moment to make what appears to be an April Fool’s joke. Answering journalist’s questions about widespread power cuts during vote counting following Sunday’s local elections.
Taner Yildiz said: “A cat entered a power distribution unit. It was the cause of the blackout and it’s not the first time that it has happened.”
Twitter users took the bizarrely timed comment in their stride.
4. In Kenya, the renowned author Binyavanga Wainaina was “appointed” as the country’s ambassador to Uganda according to The Star newspaper.
The Kenyan writer recently came out, and has championed the rights of gay people in East Africa. If true, Binyavanga Wainaina would likely clash with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who recently signed an anti-gay bill into law.
An investigation into a supposedly groundbreaking stem cell study in Japan has found lead researcher Dr. Haruko Obokata guilty of misconduct.
The Riken Centre panel said Dr. Haruko Obokata fabricated her work in an intentionally misleading fashion.
It said there were irregularities in data and images used in Dr. Haruko Obokata’s scientific papers published in Nature.
She stands by her claim to be able to produce stem cells using an acid bath or mechanical stress.
There were high hopes about the technique that promised to offer a cheap and ethical source of stem cells.
The Riken Centre panel said Dr. Haruko Obokata fabricated her work in an intentionally misleading fashion
Stem cells can become any other type of tissue and are already being investigated to heal the damage caused by a heart attack and to restore sight to the blind.
But experts have been questioning Dr. Haruko Obokata’s findings and other research groups have failed to reproduce her results.
One of Dr. Haruko Obokata’s articles reused images related to her doctoral dissertation, which was based on different experiments.
“Actions like this completely destroy data credibility,” Shunsuke Ishii, head of the Riken committee, told a news conference.
“There is no doubt that she was fully aware of this danger. We’ve therefore concluded this was an act of research misconduct involving fabrication.”
In a statement, Dr. Haruko Obokata said she would soon file a complaint with Riken, challenging the panel’s findings.
“I’m filled with shock and indignation,” she said.
“If things stay as they are, misunderstanding could arise that the discovery of stap [stem] cells itself is forgery. That would be utterly unacceptable.”
The Rolling Stones will resume their world tour in May following the death of Mick Jagger’s girlfriend, L’Wren Scott.
The Stones will play 14 shows across Europe in May, June and July as part of their 14 On Fire tour, kicking off in Oslo, Norway, on May 26.
They cancelled seven dates in Australia and New Zealand following L’Wren Scott’s death on March 17.
The Stones will play 14 shows across Europe in May, June and July as part of their 14 On Fire tour (photo Getty Images)
L’Wren Scott took her own life, New York authorities have ruled.
According to tour organizers, “every effort” is being made to reschedule the postponed dates to October and November.
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood last played together in Singapore on March 15.
The European leg of the Stones’ current tour will see them play at the Stade de France in Paris on June 13 and at the Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid 12 days later.
Other confirmed dates include appearances at the Lisbon incarnation of the Rock in Rio festival on May 29 and the Roskilde Festival in Denmark on July 3.
Former Chinese General Gu Junshan has been charged with corruption, misuse of state funds and abuse of power, state media report.
Gu Junshan, who was deputy logistics chief in China’s army, is the most senior officer to be tried at a military court since 2006, reports said.
He was removed from his post in 2012 and has been under investigation since.
China’s President Xi Jinping has vowed to crack down on corruption at all levels of the Communist Party.
“Gu Junshan has been charged on suspicion of corruption, bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power,” state-run news agency Xinhua reported on Monday, adding that he would be prosecuted in a military court.
Former Chinese General Gu Junshan has been charged with corruption, misuse of state funds and abuse of power
Correspondents say it is extremely rare for senior military figures to be tried in this way, and a guilty verdict is almost guaranteed.
Chinese investigative magazine Caixin has reported on Gen. Gu Junshan’s apparently lavish lifestyle. The magazine said he owned several properties, including a home in Henan province modeled on China’s former imperial palace with several gold art pieces or statues.
Gen Gu Junshan’s patron Xu Caihou, the powerful former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, has also been detained and is under investigation, South China Morning Post, Reuters, and the New York Times reported.
Since being confirmed as China’s leader in late 2012, Xi Jinping has called for a crackdown on corruption, vowing to tackle it from the powerful “tigers” at the top to the “flies” at the bottom of the Communist Party.
Several high-profile government officials have been investigated and tried for corruption over the past year.
However, China has also put several prominent anti-corruption activists on trial, a move that human rights groups have described as hypocritical.
Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston – the man responsible for co-ordinating the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 from Australia – says the search is the “most challenging” ever seen.
ACM Angus Houston also said that the search for the plane could take weeks.
Malaysia Airlines plane disappeared on March 8 as it was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It was carrying 239 people.
Search teams are scouring the southern Indian Ocean for signs of the plane.
On Tuesday, the Malaysian authorities released the full transcript of communications between flight MH370 and Kuala Lumpur’s air traffic control. They said there was no indication of anything abnormal in the transcript.
Speaking on Tuesday, ACM Houston, who is heading a new Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre (JACC) managing the search, said the task was “very complex” because the teams had no hard information to work from.
Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said that the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane could take weeks
Search efforts would take time, he said.
“It’s not something that will necessarily be resolved in the next two weeks, for example.”
Ten military aircraft and nine ships were scheduled to examine Tuesday’s search zone, while an Australia defense vessel with a towed pinger was en route to the area, he added.
ACM Angus Houston explained that they had no information on how high the plane had flown once it disappeared off radar.
A relatively small change in altitude could affect both the plane’s speed and fuel consumption – and over the course of seven hours dramatically alter the location of any crash site.
It is now more than three weeks since flight MH370 disappeared. Malaysian authorities say that based on satellite data they have concluded that it crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.
However, many relatives of the passengers on board have demanded proof that the plane has crashed, and expressed anger at what they perceive as a lack of information from the Malaysian authorities.
Dozens of relatives of some of the 153 missing Chinese passengers have travelled to Kuala Lumpur in their search for answers.
Late on Monday, Malaysian officials issued a new version of the last communication between air traffic control and the plane’s cockpit.
According to a long-awaited US Senate report, the CIA repeatedly misled the government over the severity and effectiveness of its interrogation methods.
The Washington Post revealed Senate report said that the CIA used secret “black sites” to interrogate prisoners using techniques not previously acknowledged.
These included dunking suspects in icy water and smashing a prisoner’s head against a wall.
The findings stem from the time of former President George W. Bush.
Officials familiar with the secret document said that the CIA’s interrogation program yielded little useful intelligence.
CIA repeatedly misled the US government over the severity and effectiveness of its interrogation methods from the time of President George W. Bush
They also said that this intelligence had then been exaggerated so that the interrogation program looked more effective than it actually was.
The report is the result of a wide-ranging investigation by the Senate intelligence committee into CIA activities which began in 2009.
The committee will meet on Thursday to decide on whether to send a summarized version to President Barack Obama for eventual public release.
Officials at the CIA’s headquarters ordered officers to continue with harsh interrogations even after they were convinced that the prisoners had no more information to give, the Washington Post said.
One official said that almost all the valuable intelligence from al-Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaida was gained before he was waterboarded 83 times.
The report also spoke of divisions within the CIA in protest at the conditions prisoners were forced to endure.
A CIA spokesman told the Washington Post the agency had not yet seen a final version of the report and so could not officially comment on its contents.
However, current and former officials told the paper privately that the 6,300 page study contained factual errors and misguided conclusions.
Earlier in March the head of the Senate intelligence committee accused the CIA of improperly accessing Senate computers during the investigation.
Senator Dianne Feinstein said that the alleged hacking “may have undermined the constitutional framework” of government oversight.
The Obamacare enrollment period ended midnight Monday with hundreds of thousands of Americans signing up for insurance under Barack Obama’s healthcare program, in a frantic bid to beat a key deadline.
Officials believe they have reached their target of seven million sign-ups.
March 31 was the last day for most Americans to register for coverage and avoid a penalty next year.
Barack Obama’s allies say the Affordable Care Act will bring healthcare to those who need it most, but Republicans say it is a massive waste of money.
The initial launch of the system last autumn was dogged by website crashes and technical problems.
But analysts say White House officials will have been delighted with the last day of enrollment.
“What I think is important, because I know there’s been a lot of focus on glitches, is that there has been a remarkable story since the dark days of October and November,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
The Obamacare enrollment period ended midnight Monday with hundreds of thousands of Americans signing up for insurance (photo Los Angeles Times)
The Obamacare law has proved deeply unpopular among many voters, and Republicans are expected to tap into that discontent in November’s mid-term elections.
The elections will determine the shape of Congress for Barack Obama’s last two years in office.
Despite Jay Carney’s upbeat message, the federally-run health insurance marketplace website healthcare.gov was briefly out of service for several hours twice on Monday.
Visitors were initially advised the site was down for maintenance or directed to a virtual waiting room.
Spokesman Aaron Albright blamed a “technical problem”.
Meanwhile, long queues were reported at hospitals and clinics, where counselors were helping people sign up for insurance.
At a Houston community centre, immigrants from Ethiopia, Nepal, Eritrea, Somalia, Iraq, Iran and other countries were trying to enroll after having failed to register previously.
Many were waiting for interpreters to help them through the process.
Although March 31 was officially the last day people could sign up, millions could be eligible for extensions.
This includes people who had begun enrolling but did not finish before the deadline as a result of errors or website glitches.
Extensions may also be available to those prevented from enrolling because of a natural disaster, for example, or because they were subjected to domestic abuse.
The 2010 law, known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is intended to extend health insurance to the roughly 48 million Americans who do not receive it through their employers, the government, or a privately purchased plan.
The Obamcare program also aims to slow the growth in the cost of healthcare through various measures and requires private plans to meet a certain level of coverage.
The health law has been vigorously opposed by the Republican Party and by conservatives in the private sector, who see it as an inappropriate government intrusion into the massive healthcare industry and an affront to personal liberty.
Obamcare also remains controversial among the American public, as some people have seen their insurance costs rise or their old plans cancelled, and others object to having to purchase insurance at all.
Healthcare.gov and similar marketplace websites run by some states are a key element of the Affordable Care Act, providing a clearing-house for people to purchase health insurance for themselves and their families, often with generous subsidies.
Those who are not covered by private insurance or government programs by the end of Monday will face a tax penalty, although the Obama administration has extended a grace period for those who can prove they have had technical issues with the site.
Total enrolment through the federal and state-run websites has jumped since the beginning of March, from 4.2 million to 6 million on Friday.
DJ Frankie Knuckles, known as the Godfather of House music, has died unexpectedly at the age of 59.
A pioneer of house – the sparse, electronic dance music that emerged from Chicago in the 1980s – Frankie Knuckles was known for remixing tracks by Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, as well as his own songs, such as Your Love and The Whistle Song.
Frankie Knuckles’ death was confirmed by fellow DJ David Morales on Twitter.
“I am devastated to write that my dear friend Frankie Knuckles has passed away today,” David Morales wrote.
Frankie Knuckles’ longtime business partner, Frederick Dunson, told The Chicago Tribune told he had “died unexpectedly this afternoon at home”.
More details would be forthcoming on Tuesday, he added.
Frankie Knuckles was known as the Godfather of House music
No reason has yet been given for his death but several music websites reported Frankie Knuckles had died of complications from Type 2 diabetes.
Born in the Bronx, Frankie Warren Knuckles Jr. learned his craft in New York City, where he was mentored by club DJ Larry Levan.
He moved to Chicago in the 1970s, just as disco was dying out, and pioneered a style of extending soul and R&B records by adding drum machine loops.
Frankie Knuckles made his name at The Warehouse, a club in northern Chicago, predominantly patronized by gay men from the black and Latin-American communities.
By 1982, he had opened the his own venue for house music, called the Power Plant, where he premiered several tracks by local artist Jamie Principle, recorded on reel-to-reel tape.
The DJ helped secure a commercial release for several of those tracks – including Your Love and Baby Wants to Ride – which are recognized as the some of the earliest house classics.
Frankie Knuckles also produced the house anthem Tears with Robert Owens, and began his remixing career with a version of First Choice’s Let No Man Put Asunder.
He later signed to Virgin Records, where he remixed or produced such artists as Mary J Blige, Janet Jackson, Pet Shop Boys, Diana Ross, Luther Vandross and Toni Braxton, and won a Grammy for best remixer of the year in 1997.
Inducted to the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2005, Frankie Knuckles also had a Chicago street named after him in 2004, on the former site of the Warehouse club.
Mark Zuckerberg earned $3.3 billion on the sale of his Facebook share options in 2013, a new regulatory filing has revealed.
The Facebook founder has now exhausted his supply of stock options as a result of the social networking’s public offering.
Mark Zuckerberg earned $3.3 billion on the sale of his Facebook share options in 2013
Mark Zuckerberg was given 60 million shares to help him with his tax bill.
His base salary for 2013 fell to $1, like other tech leaders such as Google’s Larry Page and former Apple boss Steve Jobs.
However, Mark Zuckerberg’s total compensation for 2013 was $653,165, down from $1.99 million in 2012.
Facebook said the majority of that was to pay for flights on private jets, which are seen as necessary for security reasons.
Mark Zuckerberg still owns 426.3 million Facebook shares, which are worth around $25.7 billion.
Facebook shares have more than doubled in value over the past year, as the social networking has reported better than expected earnings due to its strong mobile ad sales.
Albuquerque’s new police chief commended officers for showing restraint and said he is about to unveil reforms that include changes to the embattled department’s recruiting process, just one day after a protest over police shootings devolved into violence.
Riot police launch tear gas toward activists in downtown Albuquerque, N.M. following a 10-hour protest around the city, Sunday, March 30, 2014.
Gorden Eden Jr. spoke to reporters after more than 300 people took to the streets Sunday, calling for him and other city officials to resign. The protest turned violent that evening, when people began hunting down officers, throwing rocks and bottles, and spitting on officers, he said.
Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden Jr. spoke to reporters after more than 300 people took to the streets Sunday, calling for him and other city officials to resign (photo Albuquerque Journal)
The chief said officials decided to disperse the crowd with tear gas after a man pulled out an AK-47, others blocked traffic by lying down on Interstate 25 and unruly crowds trapped people and officers in cars. Protesters also started attacking each other, impeded emergency crews and blocked the entrance to a hospital.
There was only one minor injury, an officer who hurt his knee, Gorden Eden said. Four protesters were arrested during the 12-hour demonstration.
Sunday’s protest and another last week were in response to the 37 shootings Albuquerque police have been involved in since 2010, 23 of them fatal, including the recent case of a homeless camper killed after he appeared to be surrendering. By comparison, police in the similarly sized cities of Denver and Oakland have been involved in fatal and non-fatal shootings totaling 27 and 23, respectively.
The US Justice Department has been investigating the Albuquerque department for more than a year, looking into complaints of civil rights violations and allegations of excessive use of force.
Gorden Eden, who has been on the job for a month, says he is working on reforming the department’s recruiting process. He says a “new recruiting philosophy” will be announced by early next week. An independent review of the department’s shootings nearly two years ago cited issues with officers being unable to de-escalate situations. It called for better screening to find candidates with problem-solving skills.
General Motors is recalling 1.3 million more cars for power steering loss.
The latest recall includes the 2004-2006 Pontiac G6, Chevrolet Malibu, and Malibu Maxx, 2004-2007 Saturn Ion, 2008-2009 Chevrolet Malibu, Pontiac G6 and Saturn Aura, 2009-2010 Chevrolet HHR (non-turbo models) and 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt.
At issue is a potential loss of power steering. GM has been involved with this particular problem since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began an investigation in December 2010, which forced GM to disclose it had received nearly 3,500 complaints from Ion owners.
Since the start of February, GM has recalled more than 6 million cars and is now facing the wrath of multiple federal investigations and lawsuits.
GM is recalling 1.3 million more cars for power steering loss
The NHTSA did not provide recall documents explaining the problem in greater detail. GM said dealers would replace one or a combination of parts, including the power steering motor, steering column and the motor control unit. Owners who paid for these repairs earlier will be reimbursed by GM. The carmaker said it would also give out lifetime warranties for the power steering motor for other non-recalled models, including the 2006-2009 Chevrolet HHR and 2003 Saturn Ion.
On Friday, GM recalled more than 490,000 pickups and SUVs, including the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, as well as the 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Yukon and Yukon XL. On those vehicles, the transmission oil cooler could leak. GM also recalled more than 170,000 Chevrolet Cruze sedans from 2013-2014 due to half-shafts on the front axle that can fail. Still on the same day, GM recalled an additional 971,000 cars for faulty ignition switches that had previously covered 1.62 million recalled cars in February. Two weeks earlier, GM recalled 1.54 million cars for faulty airbags, brake boosters and non-compliant dashboard material.
GM still has several more vehicle investigations pending within the NHTSA. One involves 1.77 million full-size SUVs and pickup trucks from 1999 to 2003 for brake line corrosion that can lead to increased stopping distances. GM and the NHTSA also received more than 1,300 complaints for brake light malfunctions on 2005-2008 Pontiac G6 models, which were not included in last year’s recall of just under 10,000 cars in the US. None of these investigations have been escalated to a recall either by the NHTSA or GM.
GM CEO Mary Barra is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the US House Energy and Commerce Committee on the ignition switch recalls.
Lufthansa has announced the cancelation of 3,800 flights for this week because of a strike by pilots over pay and working conditions.
The company said 425,000 passengers would be affected by the stoppages, due to take place on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (April 2 to April 4).
Lufthansa added it would inform passengers via text message or email about the flight changes.
Its freight carrier, Lufthansa Cargo, will also be affected.
Lufthansa said the impact on profits would be “in the range of tens of millions of euros”.
Lufthansa has announced the cancelation of 3,800 flights for this week because its pilots strike
“The announcement alone has already caused significant damages since passengers have already rebooked flights and logistic customers have made arrangements with other cargo airlines to secure the transport of their goods,” Lufthansa said in a statement.
“During the three-day walkout by Cockpit teams, there will only be around 500 short- and long-haul flights by Lufthansa and Germanwings,” the statement added.
However, the group said that pilots at its other airlines, including Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings, Lufthansa CityLine and Air Dolomiti, would not take part in the strike.
Lufthansa added that where possible, these airlines would “use larger planes on routes from and to Germany in order to bring as many rebooked Lufthansa passengers as possible to their destinations”.
Lufthansa said the strike would be one of the biggest walkouts in its history.
It is the third strike to hit Frankfurt airport, Lufthansa’s home base, in six weeks.
Lufthansa’s management is urging the pilots’ union, Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), to restart negotiations as soon as possible.
Six people have been killed and several others were wounded in two explosions in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, officials say.
The attack took place in the Eastleigh suburb of the city.
Eastleigh is known as “Little Mogadishu” because of its large Somali population.
Eyewitnesses said devices appeared to have been thrown towards a bus stop and a food kiosk as people made their way home for the evening.
Kenya’s Standard newspaper said that the twin blasts went off some 165ft apart on 11th Street, and some of those caught up in the attack had serious injuries.
“We suspect it is a grenade,” a local police officer told AFP.
Six people have been killed and several others were wounded in two explosions in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi (photo Reuters)
Eastleigh has seen several recent grenade attacks, including one in December last year that killed four people.
A week ago six people died when assailants burst into a church near the Kenyan port of Mombasa and opened fire on worshippers.
Kenya’s government has ordered all Somali refugees living in towns to move into designated camps in a bid to end the attacks.
Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said the directive had been issued because of the “emergency security challenges” facing Kenya. A refugee group condemned the decision as illegal.
Kenya has several thousand troops in Somalia, helping the UN-backed government tackle al-Shabab, who are linked to al-Qaeda.
Although no group said it was behind the latest attack, many are blaming it on the Somali militant group al-Shabab.
Four members of the group were behind the four-day siege at a shopping centre in Nairobi last September, in which 67 people died.
The militants had stayed in Eastleigh before launching the attack.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has said Kenya’s tourism sector is “on its knees” because of the threat from Islamist militants.
Uhuru Kenyatta met ethnic Somali leaders last week to ask for their help in identifying people they thought may be behind recent attacks in the capital.
According to the German government, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has ordered a “partial withdrawal” of troops from the border with Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin informed German Chancellor Angela Merkel of the move in a telephone conversation, according to her office.
Thousands of Russian soldiers are still said to be deployed along the border.
Earlier, Ukraine condemned a visit to Crimea by Russia’s PM Dmitry Medvedev and a delegation of government ministers.
Vladimir Putin has ordered a “partial withdrawal” of troops from the border with Ukraine (photo Getty Images)
A foreign ministry spokesman in Kiev said the highest-level trip to the Black Sea peninsula by officials from Moscow since its annexation by Russia was a “crude violation” of international rules.
A note protesting against the presence of an official in “the territory of another state without preliminary agreement” had been sent, he added.
Crimeans voted to leave Ukraine for Russia on March 16, in a referendum condemned as illegal by the UN General Assembly.
Dmitry Medvedev announced that he would make Crimea a special economic zone, with tax breaks and reduced bureaucracy to attract investors.
He also vowed to quickly boost salaries and pensions, and to improve education, healthcare and local infrastructure.
Tensions between Russia and the West rose after the overthrow of pro-Kremlin Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in February, following months of street protests.
Russia’s subsequent decision to annex Crimea triggered a crisis in relations.
A Kremlin statement did not mention a partial withdrawal, but said Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel had discussed “opportunities for international support for the restoration of stability” in Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin had also told Angela Merkel that Ukraine had to enact constitutional reforms to ensure that the interests of all its regions were respected, and called for measures to end the “blockade” of Trans-Dniester, the statement added.
A new version of the last communication between air traffic control and the cockpit of the missing flight MH370 has been issued by Malaysian authorities.
The last words spoken were: “Good night Malaysian three seven zero” – and not “All right, good night” as reported.
Malaysia’s acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said forensic investigations would determine whether the pilot or co-pilot spoke the words.
Malaysia Airlines plane, carrying 239 people, was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it disappeared on March 8.
The plane’s last contact took place at 01:19 Malaysian time.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it disappeared on March 8
The new version of the last words is more formal and more in keeping with the way a pilot might usually speak to air traffic control than the wording previously reported.
It is not clear why it has changed or why it has taken the authorities this long to determine this.
Earlier, Australian PM Tony Abbott said rescue crews had put no time limit on the hunt for the missing jet.
Aircraft and ships are scouring the Indian Ocean west of Perth looking for any trace of the flight.
Evidence from satellite “pings” received from the plane after its last contact with air traffic control and radar has been used to delineate a search area.
While floating objects have been spotted by search teams, none has been identified as coming from the Boeing 777.
The search teams are deploying a device known as a “towed pinger locator” (TPL) to listen for ultrasonic signals from the plane’s “black box” flight-data recorders.
The signals from the flight recorders last about 30 days.
Dozens of relatives of some of the 153 missing Chinese passengers have travelled to Kuala Lumpur in their search for answers.
They have become increasingly angry with what they perceive as a lack of information from the Malaysian authorities.
Hishammuddin Hussein said the Malaysian government would soon hold a briefing for those families to update them on the search, which would include international experts to explain the research, data and methodology used in the operation.
The briefing would also be broadcast live to other families in Beijing, he said.
A year and a half after the tragic death of Natasha Richardson, Liam Neeson started dating British businesswoman Freya St. Johnston.
Freya St. Jonston, 40, is a PR executive and a mother of two.
When asked about her relationship with Liam Neeson in 2010, Freya St. Johnston told the Daily Mail: “I am not saying anything whatsoever.”
Liam Neeson started dating Freya St. Johnston a year and a half after the tragic death of Natasha Richardson (photo Hello Magazine)
In October 2013, Liam Neeson and Freya St. Johnston’s relationship was reported to have “fizzled out” because the actor wanted to spend more time in New York with his sons.
Anyway, Liam Neeson, 61, had no intention of taking the romance to the next level. At the time, sources close to the actor revealed: “Liam learned how to live and love again thanks to Freya, and she’s very, very dear to him.”
Liam Neeson’s wife, Natasha Richardson, died on March 18, 2009, after she hit her head in a skiing accident in Quebec. The actor was the one who made the agonising decision to turn off her life support as she lay brain dead.
Natasha Richardson, the daughter of the actress Vanessa Redgrave and the director Tony Richardson, was 45 when she died.
Natasha Richardson, who starred in films including Patty Hearst and The Parent Trap, had been married to Liam Neeson for 15 years. Her first husband was Robert Fox, the film and theatre producer.
Rapper Benzino has been shot in his shoulder and back during his mother’s funeral.
The attack happened just outside Boston when the star of reality show Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta was taking part in the funeral procession.
Prosecutors say Benzino’s nephew, Gai Scott, 36, was behind the shooting.
Benzino has been shot in his shoulder and back during his mother’s funeral (photo Instagram)
Posting a photo on his Instagram account Benzino, whose real name is Raymond Scott, said: “Feel much better. God is real. My mother touched me, I’m certain.”
Speaking to local reporters, the co-founder of influential hip hop magazine The Source said he couldn’t identify who shot him but admitted he hadn’t spoken to his nephew for several years.
Benzino added: “In the past I felt my sister and nephew were taking advantage of my mother.
“Money sometimes takes over people’s love for each other, even family.
“Money, greed… you don’t want anyone taking advantage of your mother.”
Benzino was a member of hip hop group Made Men and had a long running beef with Eminem 10 years ago.
Michael Jackson’s new album, Xscape, featuring eight tracks from the late artist’s archive, will be released on May 13.
Xscape’s track listing was chosen by Epic Records chairman LA Reid, who trawled through four decades of Jackson’s demos and off-cuts.
The tracks were then updated by the likes of Timbaland, who works with Justin Timberlake, and Stargate, who have produced Rihanna and Beyonce.
LA Reid called the process of reworking the songs “contemporizing”.
“Michael left behind some musical performances that we take great pride in presenting through the vision of music producers that he either worked directly with or expressed strong desire to work with,” said LA Reid.
Xscape, featuring eight tracks from Michael Jackson’s archive, will be released on May 13 (photo Epic Records)
“We are extremely proud and honored to present this music to the world.”
A deluxe edition of the album will also feature the eight tracks in their original form alongside the remixed versions.
Xscape is the only track on the album to be updated by its original producer – Rodney Jerkins, who worked on the sessions for Michael Jackson’s final studio album, Invincible, in 2001.
John Branca and John McClain, co-executors of Michael Jackson’s estate said: “Michael was always on the cutting edge and was constantly reaching out to new producers, looking for new sounds.
“He was always relevant and current. These tracks, in many ways, capture that spirit. We thank LA Reid for his vision.”
Other producers involved in the project include John McClain and Jerome “J-Roc” Harmon.
Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, at the age of 50 from an overdose of the powerful anaesthetic propofol.
One previous album of unreleased material, titled Michael, was issued in 2010.
Among its better tracks were Hold My Hand, a duet with R&B singer Akon which was almost complete at the time of his death, and a cover of Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Behind the Mask, which dated from the 1980s.
Spinning is one of those evergreen gym classes that has stood the test of time, with other routines disappearing out of fashion spinning classes in London are as popular as ever and it is easy to see why. We all have goals and are looking to meet these with the results from our training, spinning is one of those programmes that after just three classes per week, each lasting between 30 minutes and an hour you will start seeing results in record time.
A class will typically burn around 300 calories, up to 800 for the longer classes and this will melt away the pounds and of course as you see the class is working you will want to keep going again and again. Who knew losing fat could be so fun?
The lower body is considered to be a trouble zone for many women and cycling can address these. Although it is not possible to target your fat burn to your legs, working the large muscles such as the hamstrings will tone up, improving the overall appearance.
You may think that a spinning class will only work out your leg muscles but, this is wrong, they aren’t the only muscle group that enjoys the benefits of spinning! With an experienced instructor you will be taught the correct posture to use whilst spinning, as well as combining this with side to side movements which will work to improve your core strength and as a result, once your body fat percentage is low enough you will have abs on display!
Of course, spinning isn’t easy, especially being on a static bike for a prolonged period of time and although the music and constant changes in music, speed and resistance will keep you on your toes it can still be a mentally tough workout to get through. The benefit of this is the increased mental endurance, strength and self confidence which develops from this.
Improving your strength and endurance during a spinning class may lead you to become more confident with cycling out of the gym and onto the roads. London cycling offers a whole new array of benefits on top of those enjoyed by spinning such as increased cardiovascular health, increased productivity, confidence and of course weight loss.
Globalization is sending people packing. That is, they are packing their belongings and sending themselves across national boundaries to find better paying jobs. These transnational families maintain deep roots in their home countries while they establish new social networks within the host country. An increasing number of women are leaving their children behind in order to provide a better life for them in the future. What does it take to make it to the US and secure that elusive green card?
Globalization’s Impact on Families
Strong family ties make civilization work. When important family members move thousands of miles away, those ties are broken. Workers from less-developed nations often find themselves marginalized by the more prosperous societies they have moved to and are restricted to low-paying positions within it.
Relocated workers have a powerful impetus to remain working within their more prosperous neighbors. Most send money back home to support family members unable to find work there. In fact, these remittances account of 20% of the GDP in some nations.
If workers arrive without a green card, and many do, the process of obtaining one begins. Without a green card, they run the risk of not being able to return to the host country after a trip home. Since this process can take many years, it effectively breaks down long-standing family bonds. Getting a green card for parents of individuals who have already become a citizen can be a trialing process that challenges many to succeed.
Globalization: The Journey to a New Land
When money is scarce, desperate individuals will do just about anything to find work. Stories abound of local area markets where illegal immigrants find work for pennies on the dollar with the promise that legal help for a green card will be provided. Some of the most horrific news stories tell the tale of truckloads of people left to die as they were being smuggled into the US.
Workers flock to areas where their native language is spoken to learn how to negotiate their new home. Those areas are often high in crime with sub-optimal housing. Companies such as WalMart provide profitable money wiring services so that temporary workers, unable to secure a banking account, can send their wages home. Globalization is big business in more ways than one.
The Economic Effect on Local Economies of a Large Migrant Workforce
Much of the disruption of families during this period of globalization stems from their inability to get legal paperwork completed to ensure that family members are able to return for regular visits. These difficulties are fueled by ideas that the wealth of the host country is being diminished when large numbers of migrating workers from low-wage nations arise. Is this truly the case?
Many migrants don’t apply for legal status because they wish to return to their home nations once they have saved some money. By loosening the restrictions for legal residence, local economies can actually thrive by keeping the best workers. Mobile workforces can be available for peak production periods. Workers who have been able to maintain their family ties will be much less isolated and more likely to contribute to the society at large.
What do you think? Should nations like the US that attract many workers from less industrialized nations take steps to help migrant workers maintain their traditional family structures? Do transnational families help or harm the local and national economies?
All too often, there is more packaging than product. The cardboard box is encased in a plastic theft-proof container, and inside the cardboard, the minute-by-comparison product is sealed between two protective pieces of Styrofoam. Usually, each of these levels of packaging serves a purpose; however, the plastics and foams are often not recyclable and become post-purchase waste. While it’s likely that we will remain a consumer society, producers can be encouraged to minimize plastic packaging through mutually-beneficial exchange programs.
In most developed countries, packaging alone constitutes about one-third of all municipal solid waste. Likewise, in developing countries, container waste is also on the rise; as standards of living increase, so do plastic-wrapped commodities. According to the EPA, there are nearly 30 countries worldwide that have developed legal sanctions encouraging manufacturers to reduce packaging and/or increase recyclability. Manufacturers in some countries are legally obligated to accept container returns and reuse or recycle all packaging discards, often having to pay for recycling out of pocket. The United States, however, is not currently one of these countries with production and packaging laws.
Regardless, concern over packaging waste is abundant. The EPA encourages manufacturers to abide by the principles of “product stewardship”: eliminating toxins, decreasing quantity, and increasing reusability and recyclability while using more recycled materials in production. The acceptance of an extended producer responsibility (EPR) on the part of manufacturers would relieve much of the waste-management burden of local governments. Product Stewardship Institute is an NGO working to engage stakeholders in a push toward a nationally-recognized EPR system.
Increased reusability and recyclability would have great potential for reducing municipal solid waste if relevant laws could be enforced on the national level. Furthermore, if manufacturers were to practice EPR, they could potentially cut costs by decreasing what gets literally thrown in the bin.
In the “reduce-reuse-recycle” triad, the components are listed in order of best practice. Because it is a preventative measure, reducing the production of new packaging is clearly the most beneficial and immediate way to reduce waste, and in theory, costs. Furthermore, reusing is a more valuable effort than recycling, which relies on energy-intensive production, chemical treatments, and which often generates additional pollutants.
Here is where packaging exchange programs come into play: by reusing already-produced materials, manufacturers avoid the expenses of new production and recycling. However, to reuse materials, they first have to be recovered. Sydney-area industries have recently agreed to a recovery-reuse program to help achieve financial, social and environmental sustainability. This case demonstrates that these three goals, which so often seem at odds with each other, can actually be merged into a single, mutually-beneficial arrangement.
A similar initiative was started in California, which recycles 65% of all materials and thus leads the country in this endeavor. CalMAX, a division of CalRecycle, has created a network of resources for industries to better facilitate materials exchange. Education and training through workshops and “business kits” help prepare and transition businesses, organizations, and schools into green-running, waste-reducing network members.
Cooperation between organizations of all types can lead to significant improvement in waste management and its efficiency. And because efficiency is one of the primary goals of all industries, there is great potential for packaging exchange networks to relieve the costs – financial, social and environmental – of container use and disposal.
Russell Crowe’s Noah has opened at the top of the US box office, taking $44 million over the weekend.
The epic biblical tale of Noah’s ark, directed by Black Swan’s Darren Aronofsky, also stars Jennifer Connolly and Emma Watson.
The movie follows in the wake of other recent religious films, including God’s Not Dead and Son of God.
Other faith-based movies out this year include Exodus and Heaven is Real.
Second on the box office chart was teen science fiction thriller, Divergent, starring Shailene Woodley and Kate Winslet, which took $26.6 million in its second week of release.
Noah has opened at the top of the US box office, taking $44 million over the weekend
Muppets Most Wanted, also in its second week, took third spot with $11.4 million.
Mr. Peabody and Sherman and God’s Not Dead – about a Christian college student whose faith is challenged by his atheist philosophy professor – rounded out the top five.
The second-highest new entry was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Sabotage, which could only manage takings of $5.3 million.
Friday sees the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier in the US and Canada.
The movie more than doubled Noah‘s takings at the international box office this weekend – Captain America took $75.2 million, while Noah picked up $33.6 million.
