Malta has responded to EU pressure over its controversial new passport scheme for non-EU nationals, announcing that applicants will now be required to spend at least a year in the country in order to qualify.
The new condition was announced by Malta in a joint statement with the European Commission.
Applicants will still have to invest at least 1.15 million euros ($1.57 million) in Malta to get a passport.
MEPs have condemned the Maltese scheme, saying it cheapens EU citizenship.
Earlier Malta had not set any residency requirement for rich foreigners wishing to get Maltese passports.
The new stipulation says “no certificate of naturalization will be issued unless the applicant provides proof that he/she has resided in Malta for a period of at least 12 months immediately preceding the day of issuing of the certificate of naturalization”.
Malta has changed its controversial new passport scheme for non-EU nationals
It followed talks between EU Commission officials and the Maltese government. EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding has said applicants should have “a genuine link to the country” – not just the ability to pay.
Malta, like most of the EU’s 28 countries, is in the Schengen zone, where citizens can mostly travel without passport checks. The EU single market has made it much easier for citizens to settle in another member state.
Owning an EU member state’s passport entitles the holder to EU citizenship, with all the rights guaranteed under EU law.
Malta’s scheme, called the Individual Investor Programme (IIP), was initially to be limited to 1,800 people – not including their close relatives, who could also buy passports, for a lower fee.
Malta is now considering raising that cap, so that more passports could be issued.
Prince has decided to drop a $22 million legal action against fans accused of posting bootleg footage of his concerts online.
Prince wanted $1 million each from 22 internet users but, according to TMZ which has obtained court documents, he has now decided not to pursue the case.
In a statement, Prince’s lawyer told TMZ that the illegal downloads had been removed.
Fans had reacted angrily to the news of the legal action.
Prince has decided to drop a $22 million legal action against fans accused of posting bootleg footage of his concerts online
Prince, 55, had intended to take legal action against 22 internet users who allegedly posted copies of his live performances on Facebook and on blogs.
“Because of recent pressure, the bootleggers have now taken down the illegal downloads and are no longer engaging in piracy,” his lawyer said.
“We recognize the fans craving for as much material as possible, but we’d prefer they get it from us directly than from third parties who are scalpers rather than real fans of our work,” the statement read.
Prince has often used legal battles to crack down on unauthorized distribution of his music.
Bootleg recordings are a bone of contention within Prince’s fan base, with many frustrated that the material has not been made commercially available.
France’s former first lady Valerie Trierweiler has said that hearing news of President Francois Hollande’s affair with actress Julie Gayet was like falling from a skyscraper.
Valerie Trierweiler said in an interview with Paris Match she had refused to believe reports of the affair until she saw it in gossip magazine Closer, which printed photos.
Francois Hollande said on Saturday he had “put an end” to his “shared life” with Valerie Trierweiler, his unmarried partner.
Opposition politicians have accused him of callousness and egotism.
Francois Hollande, 59, has neither confirmed nor denied the report in Closer on January 10 that he was having an affair with actress Julie Gayet, 41.
Valerie Trierweiler, 48, was admitted to hospital shortly after news of the report and had been living at a presidential retreat in Versailles since her release.
Hours after Francois Hollande announced he had left Valerie Trierweiler, her presidential Twitter account was shut down, while her page on the French presidential website was no longer active on Monday.
Speaking to Paris Match, the French magazine for which she works as a journalist, Valerie Trierweiler said: “When I found out, it was like I’d fallen from a skyscraper.”
Valerie Trierweiler has said that hearing news of Francois Hollande’s affair was like falling from a skyscraper
“Clearly I had heard the rumors but you heard [rumors] about everyone. I hear them about myself too, all of the time. I paid no attention to them.”
Valerie Trierweiler, who has been divorced twice, said she was not “undergoing a period of crisis”.
“It’s not the first break-up in my life,” she said.
“This one was violent because of the media attention.”
Telling the magazine she had no regrets, Valerie Trierweiler said she planned to take up her previous life, “enriched by a new experience”.
Valerie Trierweiler moved in with Francois Hollande after his official separation from Segolene Royal, the unmarried mother of his four children, in 2007. Valerie Trierweiler has three children of her own by her last husband.
Speaking separately to another French weekly, Le Parisien Magazine, Valerie Trierweiler said she and Francois Hollande had exchanged text messages after his announcement of their break-up because of his concern for her health.
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, a leading figure in France’s main centre-right party the UMP, has predicted that women voters will not quickly forget the dry manner in which the president announced their separation.
“I felt like I was reading a sacking letter rather than a break-up one,” the candidate for mayor of Paris said.
Julie Gayet has been keeping a very low profile, AFP news agency notes, although friends have been quoted in the media as saying she has no intention of trying to become the next first lady.
French doctors treating injured Michael Schumacher in Grenoble hospital are reducing his sedation to prepare to bring him out of a coma, his manager says.
This step will allow the “waking up process” to start, Sabine Kehm said in a statement.
But bringing Michael Schumacher out of the coma “could take a long time”, Sabine Kehm added.
Michael Schumacher, 45, suffered a severe head injury in a skiing accident in the French Alps on December 29.
The seven-time champion was put into a medically induced coma by his doctors at a clinic in Grenoble following operations to remove blood clots from his brain.
Doctors have kept Michael Schumacher asleep to help reduce the swelling.
French doctors treating injured Michael Schumacher in Grenoble hospital are reducing his sedation to prepare to bring him out of a coma
Sabine Kehm was approached by the media for comment on Michael Schumacher’s condition on Wednesday – exactly a month after his crash. She said then that his condition remained “stable”.
In her statement on Thursday, Sabine Kehm said it had been agreed to communicate details of his sedation “only once this process was consolidated”.
The statement again included an appeal by Michael Schumacher’s family for privacy for them and for his doctors, while at the same time expressing “sincere appreciation for the worldwide sympathy”.
At his bedside since the accident, the family has received hundreds of letters and gifts from around the world.
Earlier this month, investigators probing the accident said Michael Schumacher had been going at the speed of “a very good skier” at the time of his crash in the resort of Meribel.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has demanded NSA leaker Edward Snowden return the documents he has “stolen”.
At a Senate hearing, James Clapper harshly condemned Edward Snowden, saying his leaks caused “profound damage”.
James Clapper said the leaks had gone “way beyond [Edward Snowden’s] professed concerns” about domestic spying.
Edward Snowden, 30, remains in Russia on asylum but faces espionage charges in the US.
The documents from the NSA that Edward Snowden has leaked to journalists have shed new light on electronic spying operations in the US and UK.
Among other revelations, the documents showed the NSA collected data on millions of phone calls, collected millions of text messages per day, tapped the mobile phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, sought to collect intelligence by spying on users’ mobile apps, and more.
Some of the intelligence was shared with British spies in the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), according to the documents.
Edward Snowden, who was a contract computer technician for the NSA before he fled the US last year, has said he no longer has copies of the documents.
“Snowden claims that he’s won and that his mission is accomplished,” James Clapper told the Senate intelligence committee on Wednesday.
James Clapper has demanded NSA leaker Edward Snowden return the documents he has stolen
“If that is so, I call on him and his accomplices to facilitate the return of the remaining stolen documents that have not yet been exposed to prevent even more damage to US security.”
James Clapper did not clarify whom he meant by “accomplices”, but his spokesman told the Associated Press news agency he “was referring to anyone who is assisting Edward Snowden to further threaten our national security through the unauthorized disclosure of stolen documents related to lawful foreign intelligence collection programs”.
The former NSA contractor has said in recent interviews he believes the leaks have prompted a global reaction and a political debate within the US over spying programs.
But James Clapper said on Wednesday the leaks had damaged US national security and undermined co-operation with the country’s foreign partners.
US enemies “are going to school on US intelligence sources, methods and trade craft and the insights that they are gaining are making our job much, much harder,” he said.
As the hearing opened on Wednesday, protesters heckled James Clapper – one saying: “Should we be asking for James Clapper’s resignation for lying to Congress?”
James Clapper has been criticized for telling legislators during a hearing last year the US did not collect data on millions of Americans, though Edward Snowden’s leak has suggested the NSA had indeed been gathering data on calls of many Americans.
President Barack Obama is taking his campaign for a minimum wage rise to the streets, visiting local businesses after his State of the Union address.
Barack Obama travelled to a Maryland Costco store and a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, steel plant.
The visits promote a proposed national minimum wage increase to $10.10 per hour over the current $7.25.
The president said on Tuesday he would issue an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal employees.
“If you work hard, you should be able to pay your rent, buy your groceries, look after your kids,” Barack Obama told Costco employees on Wednesday.
Costco workers are said to earn at least $11.50 an hour, far above the current national minimum wage Barack Obama has asked a gridlocked Congress to increase.
President Barack Obama is taking his campaign for a minimum wage rise to the streets, visiting local businesses after his State of the Union address
On Thursday, Barack Obama plans to visit a General Electric facility in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and speak at a high school in Nashville, Tennessee, to promote measures outlined in his national address.
“It’s time to give America a raise,” Barack Obama told members of Congress on Tuesday night, pledging to circumvent their partisan politics through the use of executive orders.
“Wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do,” he said, noting that inequality has deepened and upward mobility stalled.
Among his planned proposals is a new savings programme aimed at employees without retirement plans.
The pilot program – involving “starter” accounts which let employees save and withdraw funds without paying additional taxes – will reportedly be available by the end of the year.
Barack Obama was scheduled to visit a US Steel Corporation plant on Wednesday along with Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew to tout the action.
With just three years left in office, Barack Obama faces falling approval ratings and determined opposition from the Republican Party, which controls the House of Representatives and has the numbers in the Senate to block his agenda.
House Speaker John Boehner has warned that increasing the federal minimum wage would cost jobs.
Following Barack Obama’s nationwide speech, Republican Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers called on him to take action “by empowering people, not making their lives harder with unprecedented spending, higher taxes and fewer jobs”.
Justin Bieber has been charged with assaulting a limousine driver in Toronto last month.
Justin Bieber, 19, handed himself in at a Toronto police station where he was mobbed by TV crews, news photographers and screaming teenage fans.
The charge comes a week after he was arrested and charged for a separate incident in Florida for driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
A lawyer for Justin Bieber said his client was innocent.
Justin Bieber handed himself in at a Toronto police station where he was mobbed by TV crews, news photographers and screaming teenage fans
Toronto police say that Justin Bieber was one of six people picked up by a limousine outside a nightclub in the early hours of December 30.
“While driving the group to a hotel, an altercation occurred between one of the passengers and the driver of the limousine,” a police statement said.
“In the course of the altercation, a man struck the limousine driver on the back of the head several times.
“The driver stopped the limousine, exited the vehicle and called police. The man who struck him left the scene before police arrived.”
After surrendering to police on Wednesday, Justin Bieber was charged with one count of assault and is scheduled to appear in court in Toronto on March 10.
Howard Weitzman, Justin Bieber’s lawyer in California, said the entertainer was innocent and that he expected the case to be treated as a summary offence, which is the equivalent of a misdemeanor in the US.
An online petition requesting Justin Bieber’s expulsion from the US attained 100,000 signatures.
The petition was filed on a White House website by a member of the public.
The US president has no power to order an individual’s deportation, and it is unclear whether the White House will respond to the petition.
Justin Bieber, 19, has had several run-ins with police over the past year.
In the early hours of last Thursday, the singer was arrested in Miami Beach after a police officer pulled him over on suspicion of racing a hired yellow Lamborghini on a public street.
The online petition requesting Justin Bieber’s expulsion from the US attained 100,000 signatures
Suspecting he was intoxicated, the officer arrested him. Justin Bieber was also charged with resisting arrest and driving on an expired license.
He was later released on bail of $2,500.
Earlier in January, police in California searched Justin Bieber’s home after he allegedly threw eggs at his neighbor’s house, causing thousands of dollars in damage.
Justin Bieber’s manager tweeted on Wednesday evening asking people “to be kind and hope for the best in people. Not assume the worst. Thanks”.
Hugh Grant is reportedly the father of three love children after Swedish TV producer Anna Elisabet Eberstein secretly gave birth to a baby boy in September 2013.
According to a copy of a birth certificate obtained by Us Weekly, the child was born at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in London on September 3.
Though the baby’s first name is not listed, his surname is “Grant,” and the actor’s full name, Hugh John Mungo Grant, is listed as the father on the document.
Swedish TV producer Anna Elisabet Eberstein secretly gave birth to a baby boy in September 2013
Coincidentally, Anna Elisabet Eberstein was pregnant at the same time as Tinglan Hong, who gave birth to her second child from Hugh Grant, a son named Felix, in December 2013.
There’s no word yet on the status of Hugh Grant’s current relationship with either Anna Elisabet Eberstein or Tinglan Hong.
Tinglan Hong first welcomed daughter Tabitha Xaoi Xi Hong Grant in September 2011, and though the affair was described as “fleeting”, the couple reunited and Hong gave birth to Felix a little more than a year later.
Hugh Grant, 53, famously dated model and actress Elizabeth Hurley for 13 years before moving on to writer Jemima Khan in 2004. The couple broke up three years later.
Taylor Swift tried to play matchmaker for Selena Gomez this time by arranging a date with Austin Mahone, who opened up for Taylor on tour Us Weekly reported.
Sources close to Austin Mahone, said: “They’re seeing each other.”
Selena Gomez and Austin Mahone were previously spotted together over the summer enjoying a jaunt to Disneyland
Selena Gomez, 21, and Austin Mahone, 17, are apparently trying to keep the ostensible romance hush-hush. To that end, after a January 24 concert in Los Angeles, they “sneaked out separately, then got in the same car,” says an eyewitness.
The two were previously spotted together over the summer enjoying a jaunt to Disneyland.
As for Justin Bieber, he’s seemingly moved on with a Kim Kardashian-alike named Chantel Jeffries, who is upset by all the negative publicity swirling around her.
The teenager who allegedly had been assaulted by Kanye West earlier this month after he tossed racially charged insults at Kim Kardashian has pocketed a hefty settlement from the rapper, TMZ reported.
The 18-year-old is believed to have walked away with more than $250,000 in a civil settlement over the January 13 incident, in which he purportedly insulted Kim Kardashian and used the n-word as she walked into a paparazzi-surrounded office building in Beverly Hills.
Kanye West has reportedly settled with the 18-year-old who incurred his wrath by hurling racial epithets at Kim Kardashian
Kanye West, who was nearby, came to help her, and he reportedly followed the teen into a chiropractor’s office, where a tussle ensued.
According to TMZ, the purported settlement makes it far less likely that Kanye West will be prosecuted for battery.
Before the incident, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were heading into a meeting to discuss furniture for their new Bel Air estate, and judging by their rumored interior design plans, the $250,000-plus payout won’t put much of a dent in their finances.
Jimmy Fallon officially handed-off the traditional Late Night giant plastic pickle to Seth Meyers on Tuesday’s show.
The pickle was given to Jimmy Fallon by previous Late Night host Conan O’Brien in 2009.
Conan O’Brien received the pickle from David Letterman’s staff in 1993. Before that, the giant plastic pickle was a staple decoration in the Letterman offices.
A few days before Jimmy Fallon’s first Late Night on March 2, 2009, the charming comedian shared the pickle’s tale and a sweet letter from his predecessor in an online video.
“Whenever you’re done – which won’t be for a long time – make sure you pass it on to the next sap,” Conan O’Brien penned and Jimmy Fallon read aloud.
“Knock ’em dead.”
Jimmy Fallon officially handed-off the traditional Late Night giant plastic pickle to Seth Meyers
Jimmy Fallon opined at the time: “It just kind of put everything in perspective, even though I’m holding a giant pickle …What a great tradition this is and what a great honor that I’m following in the footsteps of these great comedians.”
Seth Meyers takes over Late Night on February 24, when his first guest will be former SNL colleague Amy Poehler.
Jimmy Fallon’s first Tonight Show is a week earlier, with guests Will Smith and U2.
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon – soon to be Late Night With Seth Meyers – airs on NBC at 12:35 a.m. ET.
Madonna has decided to introduce two members of Russian protest punk rock act Pussy Riot at a concert promoting human rights at the Barclays Center in New York City.
Madonna said she was “honored” to introduce “my fellow freedom fighters” Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova at the Amnesty event.
“I have admired their courage and have long supported their commitment and the sacrifices they have made,” the singer added.
Madonna will introduce two members of Pussy Riot at a concert promoting human rights at the Barclays Center
Maria (Masha) Alyokhina and Nadezhda (Nadya) Tolokonnikova were released in December after spending 16 months in prison.
They and Yekaterina Samutsevich were arrested in August 2012 for singing a protest song in a Moscow cathedral.
Amnesty International announced last week that “Masha” and “Nadya” would make an appearance at the concert on February 5.
It will form part of their first trip to New York since being granted amnesty by Russian President Vladimir Putin – a gesture the pair dismissed as a publicity stunt.
Lauryn Hill, Bob Geldof, Yoko Ono and Imagine Dragons are also on the bill of the Bringing Human Rights Home event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
A snow storm spawned traffic chaos in the Deep South leaving thousands of people stranded overnight on motorways, in schools and churches.
Airports and roads were closed as five states declared emergencies.
Military vehicles were deployed to aid stuck motorists and to reach those in need of food and water.
Barely 3in of snow caused havoc in a warm-weather region where many cities do not even have snow ploughs or fleets of salt trucks.
Hundreds of road accidents were reported, a number of them involving trucks jackknifing on highways.
Despite ample weather warnings, school officials waited until the middle of Tuesday when snow was already falling to send students home on routes where traffic was grinding to a halt.
Nearly 8,000 students across Georgia and Alabama spent the night in school gyms or on buses, reports ABC News.
Many commuters abandoned cars along jammed motorways to seek shelter in churches and fire stations.
A snow storm spawned traffic chaos in the Deep South leaving thousands of people stranded overnight on motorways, in schools and churches
Gridlock on the streets of Atlanta, Georgia, was so bad that a police officer had to deliver a baby on a snowy motorway.
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal said on Wednesday morning that the National Guard had sent military Humvees on to the city’s motorways to move stranded school buses and provide food and water to people.
A school bus flipped over as it was driving students home amid dismal weather near Asheville, North Carolina.
Motorists were instructed to stay off roadways in Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, where states of emergency were declared.
“Residents should not overreact but should make plans now to ensure they are prepared for prolonged freezing conditions and icy roadways,” Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant told US media.
At least five people were killed due to weather-related accidents in Alabama on Tuesday.
New Orleans’ main airport, which was closed on Tuesday, has reopened with a reduced service.
Some 1,700 flights across the US were grounded on Wednesday.
State legislature activities in South Carolina were also cancelled due to weather.
The latest cold snap stretched across much of the US on Wednesday, sending temperatures as low as -30F.
According US researchers, exposure to a once widely used pesticide, DDT, may increase the chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
A study, published in JAMA Neurology, showed patients with Alzheimer’s had four times as much DDT lingering in the body as healthy people.
Some countries still use the pesticide to control malaria.
DDT was a massively successful pesticide, initially used to control malaria at the end of World War Two and then to protect crops in commercial agriculture.
However, there were questions about its impact on human health and wider environmental concerns, particularly for predators.
Exposure to DDT may increase the chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease
It was banned in the US in 1972 and in many other countries. But the World Health Organization (WHO) still recommends using DDT to keep malaria in check.
DDT also lingers in the human body where it is broken down into DDE.
The team at Rutgers University and Emory University tested levels of DDE in the blood of 86 people with Alzheimer’s disease and compared the results with 79 healthy people of a similar age and background.
The results showed those with Alzheimer’s had 3.8 times the level of DDE.
However, the picture is not clear-cut. Some healthy people had high levels of DDE while some with Alzheimer’s had low levels. Alzheimer’s also predates the use of DDT.
The researchers believe the chemical is increasing the chance of Alzheimer’s and may be involved in the development of amyloid plaques in the brain, a hallmark of the disease, which contribute to the death of brain cells.
Twenty journalists, including four foreigners, are facing charges in Egypt, prosecutors have said.
The Egyptian journalists are accused of belonging to a “terrorist organization” and the four foreigners are accused of assisting it, or spreading false news.
The defendants include two Britons, a Dutch national and an Australian – believed to be al-Jazeera correspondent Peter Greste.
Earlier, international news networks called for the release of five al-Jazeera journalists.
The 16 Egyptian defendants face several allegations including belonging to a terrorist group, harming national unity and social peace, and using terrorism as a means to their goals.
The four foreigners are accused of collaborating with the Egyptians and providing them with information, equipment, and money as well as broadcasting false information and rumors to convince the international community that Egypt was undergoing a civil war.
Eight of the defendants are in detention, while 12 are on the run with arrest warrants issued against them, according to the prosecutor’s statement.
No names are mentioned. But it said the four foreigners were correspondents for the Qatari al-Jazeera news network.
Peter Greste’s appeal against his detention without charge was denied on Wednesday by a Cairo court
“We only know of five people in jail,” said al-Jazeera’s head of newsgathering Heather Allen.
“We don’t know about the full charge. Things are not clear at the moment. We are still waiting for clarity.”
Peter Greste’s appeal against his detention without charge was denied on Wednesday by a Cairo court.
The staff members and journalists of al-Jazeera were arrested in late December following interior ministry accusations of illegally broadcasting from a hotel suite.
Al-Jazeera has said the men were merely reporting the situation in Egypt.
Of the three arrested a month ago, Peter Greste is accused of collaborating with “terrorists” by talking to members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been banned by the military-backed government.
Al-Jazeera Cairo bureau chief Mohammed Fahmy, who is Egyptian-Canadian, and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed are accused of the more serious offence of membership of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The al-Jazeera network says it was “surprised” when its reporters were arrested by Egyptian authorities.
Two more of its staff – journalist Abdullah al-Shami and cameraman Mohammad Badr – were arrested in July and August.
Stem cell researchers in Japan are heralding a “major scientific discovery”, with the potential to start a new age of personalized medicine.
Scientists showed stem cells can now be made quickly just by dipping blood cells into acid.
Stem cells can transform into any tissue and are already being trialed for healing the eye, heart and brain.
The latest development, published in the journal Nature, could make the technology cheaper, faster and safer.
The human body is built of cells with a specific role – nerve cells, liver cells, muscle cells – and that role is fixed.
Stem cell researchers in Japan are heralding a “major scientific discovery”, with the potential to start a new age of personalized medicine
However, stem cells can become any other type of cell, and they have become a major field of research in medicine for their potential to regenerate the body.
Embryos are one, ethically charged, source of stem cells. Nobel Prize winning research also showed that skin cells could be “genetically reprogrammed” to become stem cells (termed induced pluripotent stem cells).
Now a study shows that shocking blood cells with acid could also trigger the transformation into stem cells – this time termed STAP (stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency) cells.
Dr. Haruko Obokata, from the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology in Japan, said she was “really surprised” that cells could respond to their environment in this way.
She added: “It’s exciting to think about the new possibilities these findings offer us, not only in regenerative medicine, but cancer as well.”
The breakthrough was achieved in mouse blood cells, but research is now taking place to achieve the same results with human blood.
Angry Birds home pages have been hacked, two days after reports that the personal data of its customers might have been accessed by the NSA and British spy agency GCHQ, Rovio Entertainment Ltd. has announced.
Rovio spokeswoman says the hacking lasted a few minutes early Wednesday and that end-user data “was in no risk at any point”.
Angry Birds home pages have been hacked, two days after reports that the personal data of its customers might have been accessed by the NSA and GCHQ
The hacking came after documents leaked by Edward Snowden suggested that the NSA and GCHQ had been able to extract information through a host of smartphone apps across the globe, including the Angry Birds game franchise.
Rovio has denied the claims, saying it does not “share data, collaborate or collude” with any spy agencies and that it would re-evaluate third-party advertising networks.
Tom Sherak, former president of the Academy of Motion Pictures, has died aged 68.
Tom Sherak’s family confirmed he died at home on Tuesday after suffering from prostate cancer for 12 years.
He oversaw hits such as Titanic, Alien and Die Hard during 17 years at 20th Century Fox and led the Oscars organization from 2009 to 2012.
The Academy said it was “deeply saddened” by Tom Sherak’s passing.
The movie executive was awarded with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame just hours before his death, but was unable to attend the ceremony.
Tom Sherak served three terms on the Board of Governors, from August 2003 until July 2012, with the last three as president.
Tom Sherak led the Oscars organization from 2009 to 2012
He was credited with renewing the public’s interest in the Oscars ceremony, and extended the best picture category, making more room for box office hits.
Tom Sherak was responsible for completing a deal for the academy’s new film museum with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which is set to open in 2017.
“Tom is a true hero in our lives who has a star on the sidewalk and wings to fly,” said the Sherak family in a statement released by the academy and addressed “to the entertainment community”.
They hailed him as a “loving husband, daddy, papa, brother, friend, and <<go to guy>>.”
The Academy’s chief executive Dawn Hudson called him “my mentor and my friend”.
“I learned from him, I laughed with him, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the time we shared together.
“He had a huge influence on the direction of our Academy and on me personally,” said Dawn Hudson.
Current president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said: “In the more than 30 years I’ve known Tom, his passionate support of and excitement about the motion picture business, the Academy, his family and friends never wavered.”
Tom Sherak was chairman of 20th Century Fox’s domestic film group until 2000, working on high profile blockbusters such as Wall Street, Independence Day and Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Tuesday criticized Russian authorities for restricting news coverage of preparations for the Sochi Olympics.
The international journalism watchdog detailed in a report how Russian and international journalists have been harassed and prevented from covering sensitive stories in Sochi such as the abuse of migrant workers and environmental issues.
The report documented how Russian state-controlled media have been ignoring critical issues while few local journalists working for independent news outlets faced a campaign of smear and harassment.
”Russian authorities have cracked down on journalists, rights defenders, and civil activists in a way not seen since the break-up of the Soviet Union,” CPJ coordinator Nina Ognianova said in a statement.
CPJ criticized Russian authorities for restricting news coverage of preparations for the Sochi Olympics
There was no immediate response from Russian authorities to the criticism leveled by CPJ.
Months before the start of the games, journalists and activists were detained and some of them put on trial. Svetlana Kravchenko of the Caucasian Knot website, a prominent local journalist who has covered environmental travesties in Sochi and the heavy-handed tactics of local officials, was tried and found guilty of beating up a security guard.
Rights groups including Human Right Watch called local authorities responsible for the campaign of harassment against journalists and activists. Local authorities insist that criminal prosecution against members of the public including journalists is a matter of law enforcement agencies and is in no way politicized.
Sochi will host the Winter Games between February 7 and 23.
In his annual State of the Union address, President Barack Obama has promised to bypass a fractured Congress to tackle economic inequality.
Barack Obama pledged to “take steps without legislation” wherever possible, announcing a rise in the minimum wage for new federal contract staff.
On Iran, the president said he would veto any new sanctions that risked derailing talks.
Barack Obama is facing some of his lowest approval ratings since first taking office in 2009.
“Let’s make this a year of action,” Barack Obama said.
Noting that inequality has deepened and upward mobility stalled, he would offer “a set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class, and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class”.
“America does not stand still – and neither will I,” he said.
“So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Just over a year after his re-election, Barack Obama must contend with determined opposition from the Republican Party, which controls the House of Representatives and has the numbers in the Senate to block his agenda.
President Barack Obama has promised to bypass a fractured Congress to tackle economic inequality in his annual State of the Union address
Time is running short before Washington DC turns its attention to the 2016 race to elect his successor, threatening to sideline him even with three years remaining in office.
During his address, Barack Obama appealed to Congress to restore unemployment insurance that recently expired for 1.6 million people, and asked Republicans to stop trying to repeal his signature healthcare overhaul.
The botched rollout of the website on which Americans could sign up for healthcare has dented the president’s popularity.
Barack Obama stressed the importance of early childhood schooling, better value university education, and equal opportunities in the workplace for women.
He also appealed to Congress to approve a rise in the national minimum wage, currently $7.25 per hour. His executive order raising the hourly rate of federal contract workers to $10.10 will only apply to future contracts.
House Speaker John Boehner said the impact would be “close to zero” and warned that such a move would cost jobs. He told reporters his party would watch to ensure the president did not exceed his authority through the use of such executive actions.
Barack Obama also urged the Republican House of Representatives to support a broad overhaul of the US immigration system, saying it would “make our country a more attractive place for businesses to locate and create jobs for everyone”.
Last year, the Senate passed a bill that included a path to citizenship for some of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US.
The House has thus far declined to hold a vote on that legislation, although in recent days US media have reported the chamber’s Republican leaders are weighing a series of more limited measures.
On foreign policy, Barack Obama pledged to:
support a unified Afghanistan as it takes responsibility for its own future
back the opposition in Syria “that rejects the agenda of terrorist networks”
make sure any long-term deal on Iran’s nuclear program is “based on verifiable action”.
He also said that, with major US operations in Afghanistan due to end, “this needs to be the year Congress lifts the remaining restrictions on detainee transfers and we close the prison at Guantanamo Bay”.
After Barack Obama’s speech, three Republicans are offering several rebuttals, a departure from the tradition of the opposition choosing a single voice to follow the president.
Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington gave the official response on behalf of the Republican Party, calling on Barack Obama to take action “by empowering people, not making their lives harder with unprecedented spending, higher taxes, and fewer jobs”.
Republican Kentucky Senator and presumed 2016 presidential hopeful Rand Paul, a favorite of the party’s libertarian wing, released a taped address.
