Twitter apologized for mistakenly blocking IStandWithPhil.com and restored pro-Phil Robertson users’ ability to link to the website.
Phil Robertson’s supporters had accused Twitter of censoring the site, which hosts a petition for reinstating him in Duck Dynasty show that has received 200,000 signatures.
Those who tried to link to IStandWithPhil.com on Monday received a message saying: “Oops! A URL in your Tweet appears to link to a page that has spammy or unsafe content.”
Twitter later lifted the block.
Twitter apologized for mistakenly blocking IStandWithPhil.com and restored pro-Phil Robertson users’ ability to link to the website
“The URL IStandWithPhil.com was mistakenly flagged as spam tonight, by an outside organization that tracks spam sources. We have restored access and apologize for the error,” Twitter said in a statement to news site Marketing Land.
Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson was suspended from his A&E show last week after making anti-gay remarks in an interview with GQ magazine.
Police closed the case of Barron Hilton’s fight with blogger Ray LeMoine after the socialite reportedly refused to co-operate.
Paris Hilton’s younger brother was allegedly punched in the face by Ray LeMoine following an all-night party at a rented mansion on Star Island, off the coast of Miami Beach in Florida, earlier this month.
Police closed the case of Barron Hilton’s fight with blogger Ray LeMoine after the socialite refused to co-operate
Barron Hilton, 24, subsequently documented his facial injuries in a picture posted on his Instagram page, but Miami police officers investigating the case have been unsuccessful in reaching him to get his side of the story and brought the investigation to an end, TMZ reported.
Turkey’s Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan and Interior Minister Muammer Guler have resigned after their sons were charged amid a corruption inquiry that has hit the government.
Twenty-four people have been charged as part of the investigation, including the head of state-owned Halkbank.
In a statement, Zafer Caglayan condemned the inquiry as an “ignoble operation”.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to “break the hands” of rivals who used the inquiry to undermine his rule.
Zafer Caglayan said he was stepping down “so that all the light may be laid on this ignoble operation that targets our government”
Zafer Caglayan’s son Kaan and Baris Guler, the interior minister’s son, have both denied accusations of involvement in bribery relating to urban development projects and the allocation of construction permits.
Zafer Caglayan, in his statement, said he was stepping down “so that all the light may be laid on this ignoble operation that targets our government”.
In response to the police crackdown, a number of police commissioners have been removed from their posts, including the head of police in Istanbul.
A Santa’s helper delivering toys in Washington has been shot in the back with a pellet gun.
As a TV crew filmed him in the street, he said “Merry…” before staggering in pain as the pellet hit.
The man, who has not been named and is recovering in hospital, initially said he wanted to carry on with the giveaway but paramedics stepped in and took him away in an ambulance.
A Grinch character then saved Christmas by stepping in to deliver the gifts.
On the video posted on the website of WJLA-TV, the man waves as he walks down the street.
He says: “This is awesome, Merry…” but then recoils in pain.
Santa’s helper has been shot in the back with a pellet gun while delivering toys in Washington
“Someone’s shooting. Someone just shot me.”
He recovers to say: “I’m glad I got hit and nobody else go hurt”, before being taken to hospital.
A man dressed as the green-clothed Dr. Seuss character then took over.
ABC reported that the man would be out of hospital on Christmas Eve after the pellet was removed.
Its reporter quoted witnesses as saying two shots were fired from a second-floor window of a home, but no-one has yet been arrested. Police are investigating the incident.
The US government has offered help to people who missed the December 24 deadline to enroll for the ObamaCare.
The government said anyone who failed to finish their application through a dedicated website – HealthCare.gov – could still obtain a policy for the new year.
On Monday, it extended the original deadline by a day amid high demand and technical issues.
HealthCare.gov has been plagued by glitches since its October 1st rollout.
The problems with President Barack Obama’s signature bill have hit his popularity ratings hard.
The website was set up under a 2010 healthcare law that seeks to cover millions of Americans who do not have health insurance.
The US government has offered help to people who missed the December 24 deadline to enroll for the ObamaCare
“Sometimes despite your best efforts, you might have run into delays caused by heavy traffic to HealthCare.gov, maintenance periods, or other issues with our systems that prevented you from finishing the process on time,” a message on the federal marketplace website said just hours before the Tuesday midnight deadline.
“If this happened to you, don’t worry – we still may be able to help you get covered as soon as 1 January.”
The website also provided helpline contact numbers and told applicants to “tell our customer service representative that you’ve been trying to enroll and explain why you couldn’t finish by the deadline.
“They can tell you what you can do to finish your enrolment and still get covered for 2014.”
Two states have extended the deadline for coverage in the new year even further, to December 27th in Maryland and December 31st in Minnesota.
While the website has been upgraded over the course of the past two months, it has still experienced downtime in the past few weeks.
Americans may still enroll in private insurance plans through the website after December 24th, but they will not be guaranteed coverage at the start of the new year.
A more important deadline for the Obama administration is March 31st 2014, when enrolment in the programme ends for the year.
Those who do not have coverage through their employer, government-run health programmes or through the federal or state-run websites by then will have to pay a tax penalty.
Pope Francis celebrated his first Christmas Eve Mass since becoming pontiff St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
The pontiff once again preached the importance of acceptance and humility, qualities he has demonstrated continually in his first nine months as head of the Catholic Church.
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light,” Pope Francis began, quoting from Isaiah, a book of the Bible that includes prophesies foretelling the birth of Jesus.
Pope Francis has sought to change the image of the Catholic Church as a judgmental, lavish, inflexible institution since his election in March.
On Monday, he made a Christmas visit to Pope Emeritus Benedict and asked him to pray for him.
In Christmas Eve’s Mass, Pope Francis reiterated the importance of reaching out to the downtrodden, using the shepherds who were the first to hear of Jesus’ birth as an example.
“They were the first because they were among the last, the outcast,” he said.
“We bless you, Lord God most high, who lowered yourself for our sake. You are immense, and you made yourself small; you are rich and you made yourself poor; you are all-powerful and you made yourself vulnerable,” he said in thanks to God and also a clear indication of the humility he encourages his flock to emulate.
Before Christmas Eve Mass, Pope Francis personally placed a baby Jesus doll in a replica of a manger, a custom usually performed by an aid
In his address to Vatican administrators on Saturday, Pope Francis said holiness was a practice of “deep humility and fraternal charity in our relationships with our fellow workers,” as he urged the cardinals, bishops and priests to avoid gossip.
Before the Mass, Pope Francis further inspired meekness, when he personally placed a baby Jesus doll in a replica of a manger, a custom usually performed by an aid.
The 2 1/2-hour Mass was the first of many services Pope Francis will lead during the holidays. On Christmas Day, he will deliver a “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message from the basilica’s balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Pope Francis will also hold mass on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day and another on January 6, for the feast of the Epiphany or “Three Kings’ Day”, celebrating the Magi’s visit to the baby Jesus.
According to specialists familiar with Target security breach, the hackers who compromised up to 40 million credit cards and debit cards also managed to steal encrypted personal identification numbers (PIN).
One major US bank fears that the thieves would be able to crack the encryption code and make fraudulent withdrawals from consumer bank accounts, said an executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the data breach is still under investigation.
Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said “no unencrypted PIN data was accessed” and there was no evidence that PIN data has been “compromised.” She confirmed that some “encrypted data” was stolen, but declined to say if that included encrypted PINs.
The retailer said last week that hackers stole data from as many as 40 million cards used at Target stores during the first three weeks of the holiday shopping season, making it the second-largest data breach in US retail history.
Target has not said how its systems were compromised, though it described the operation as “sophisticated.” The US Secret Service and the Justice Department are investigating. Officials with both agencies have declined comment on the investigations.
The attack could end up costing hundreds of millions of dollars, but it is unclear so far who will bear the expense.
The hackers who compromised up to 40 million credit cards and debit cards also managed to steal encrypted PIN’s
While bank customers are typically not liable for losses because of fraudulent activity on their credit and debit cards, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Santander Bank said they have lowered limits on how much cash customers can take out of teller machines and spend at stores.
The unprecedented move has led to complaints from consumer advocates about the inconvenience it caused from the late November Thanksgiving holiday into the run-up to Christmas. But sorting out account activity after a fraudulent withdrawal could take a lot more time and be worse for customers.
JPMorgan has said it was able to reduce inconvenience by giving customers new debit cards printed quickly at many of its branches, and by keeping branches open for extended hours. A Santander spokeswoman was not available for comment on Tuesday.
Security experts said it is highly unusual for banks to reduce caps on withdrawals, and the move likely reflects worries that PINs have fallen into criminal hands, even if they are encrypted.
While the use of encryption codes may prevent amateur hackers from obtaining the digital keys to customer bank deposits, the concern is the coding cannot stop the kind of sophisticated cyber criminal who was able to infiltrate Target for three weeks.
The attack on Target began on November 27, the day before the Thanksgiving holiday and continued until December 15. Banks that issue debit and credit cards learned about the breach on December 18, and Target publicly disclosed the loss of personal account data on December 19.
On December 21, JPMorgan Chase alerted 2 million of its debit cardholders that it was lowering the daily limits on ATM withdrawals to $100 and capping store purchases with their cards at $500.
Honey Boo Boo and her family say they aren’t going to let thieves dampen their Christmas display in McIntyre, Georgia.
The family is now using their celebrity status to help needy families.
The Thompson family has been setting up a light display at their home for years – long before they became household names from the show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Visitors are encouraged to donate what they can to help those in the community. This year they’ve already collected 5,000 cans and more than $18,000.
Honey Boo Boo and her family say they aren’t going to let thieves dampen their Christmas display in McIntyre
Over the weekend, the family discovered more than 50 bulbs missing from the display. They suspect it was nothing more than souvenir hunters.
Honey Boo Boo’s family vows that the theft won’t stop them from lighting up the city and helping those in need. The display runs through Christmas Eve.
Les Miserables star Hugh Jackman has decided to pull out of a new Broadway musical about Harry Houdini in which he was to have played the famed illusionist.
Hugh Jackman cited scheduling demands as the reason for his departure, saying he “wasn’t able to commit to the time this role will require”.
“I have tremendous respect and admiration for the creative team and I wish everyone the best,” the actor continued.
Hugh Jackman cited scheduling demands as the reason for his departure from Houdini Broadway musical
“I know they’re well on their way to making something extraordinary.”
Producer Scott Sanders said Hugh Jackman had been “terrific to have on this part of our journey”.
“We will continue to move forward with our remarkable creative team as they craft this ambitious new musical,” he said.
First mooted in 2008, the long-gestating Houdini musical had been on track for a 2014 premiere before Hugh Jackman’s exit.
Danny Elfman, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz are among those to have been involved in the project over the past five years.
Hugh Jackman was recently seen in the film version of Les Miserables, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award.
Crowds of pilgrims and tourists have begun to gather in the biblical town of Bethlehem to kick off Christmas Eve celebrations.
The nearby Church of the Nativity sits on the spot where the Bible says Jesus was born.
The number of visitors to Bethlehem has been steadily rising in recent years as peace talks to resolve the Middle East conflict have resumed.
Crowds of pilgrims and tourists have begun to gather in the biblical town of Bethlehem to kick off Christmas Eve celebrations
Despite the erection of Israel’s separation barrier with the West Bank, which appears as a high concrete wall around the town, three gates have been opened for Christmas to allow the Christmas procession led by the Latin Patriarch coming from Jerusalem to enter the city.
In Vatican City, Pope Francis has made a Christmas visit to Pope Emeritus Benedict, 86, and said he found his predecessor looking well.
Pope Francis, who was elected in March, spent about 30 minutes with Pope Emeritus Benedict in an ex-convent on the Vatican grounds where the former pope has been living since he stepped down earlier this year, the Reuters news agency reports.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky has applied for a visa to travel to Switzerland, the Swiss foreign ministry says.
A ministry’s spokesman said Russian former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky submitted his request for a three-month Schengen visa at the Swiss embassy in Berlin.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, 50, a staunch critic of President Vladimir Putin, spent 10 years in a Russian prison for fraud and tax evasion.
He was pardoned and freed on Friday and immediately flew to Germany.
Swiss foreign ministry spokesman Stefan von Below told the Associated Press news agency that the three-month visa request would probably be processed in the coming days.
He declined to give further details.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky has applied for a visa to travel to Switzerland
Schengen visas allow holders to travel to most EU countries without having their passports or other documents checked at the border.
Earlier, Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s spokeswoman, Olga Pispanen, told AFP news agency that he was considering moving to Switzerland where his twin sons go to school.
Olga Pispanen said he was due to be reunited with his wife, Inna, and their three children in Berlin on Christmas Eve and he planned to discuss the idea with them.
“He is waiting for the family’s arrival. They will sit down and discuss everything,” she added.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky has always insisted that his conviction was politically motivated.
Rachel Zoe and Rodger Berman welcomed second baby boy, whose nickname is Kai, joining older brother Skyler Morrison.
Fashionista Rachel Zoe and husband Rodger Berman announced the birth of their second son via Twitter Sunday and now they revealed their new baby boy’s name is Kaius (Kai) Jagger Berman.
Rachel Zoe and Rodger Berman welcomed second baby boy Kaius Jagger Berman
“As loyal readers of The Zoe Report, I wanted you to be the first to see a picture of the beautiful new addition to our family, Kaius Jagger Berman, aka <<Kai>>,” Zoe Rachel wrote on her website along with a black and white photo of her and Rodger Berman with their newborn son.
“So excited to welcome our baby boy into the world,” Zoe Rachel tweeted Sunday.
“He’s 7 lbs 12 oz, beautiful, healthy and we couldn’t be happier.”
Although A&E suspended Phil Robertson from future episodes of Duck Dynasty last week, the network is still welcoming him home for holidays.
A&E Networks is celebrating Christmas with a staggering 25 consecutive episodes of Duck Dynasty, beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Christmas Day and running until the wee hours of December 26.
A&E Networks is celebrating Christmas with a staggering 25 consecutive episodes of Duck Dynasty
According to the schedule on the networks website, the Robertson family will take over the channel until 4 a.m., and then paid programming – meaning infomercials – will kick in.
Phil Robertson, 67, will not be left out of the Christmas Day airings as he is a key character in plenty of the episodes scheduled to air, including Quack-O-Lantern and Drag me to Glory.
The Duck Dynasty patriarch came under fire last week when GQ magazine published his anti-gay comments. He was subsequently suspended from the series indefinitely, and the family has stated they are hesitant to continue with the show if Phil will not be part of it.
Duck Dynasty Season 5 will premiere on January 15 and Phil Robertson is slated to appear in several episodes that have already been filmed.
People tweeting IStandWithPhil.com, the website created in support Duck Dynasty ’s Phil Robertson, have been blocked by Twitter.
It appears that those who type IStandWithPhil.com receive the following message: “Oops! A URL in your Tweet appears to link to a page that has spammy or unsafe content.”
The Christian group Faith Driven Consumer, which is behind the IStandWithPhil.com page, said a petition at the site has yielded 200,000 signatures in less than four days.
The group said Twitter has also shut down two other pro-Phil Robertson social media accounts.
Twitter has blocked people from tweeting IStandWithPhil
“Despite Twitter’s shut down of iStandWithPhil.com, we are surging through 200,000 supporters. In recent days, iStandWithPhil.com is among the top trending hash tags on Twitter,” said Chris Stone, founder of the group.
“We’re encouraging supporters to be heard, Tweet the @support or @twitter account, and use their other means of communication to get iStandWithPhil.com back online.”
The group notes that a Google page diagnostic of the site indicates it “is not currently listed as suspicious” and that “this has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days”.
When it complained to Twitter, the group said, it received a boilerplate message saying Twitter “has systems that blocks [sic] the posting of suspected harmful URLs in order to make Twitter safer and more secure for our users. … Even if Google’s diagnostic report of the URL is clean, we may decide to continue blocking the URL on Twitter as potentially harmful”.
Russian authorities have decided to drop piracy charges against the first of 30 people accused of taking part in a Greenpeace protest in the Arctic.
The man has been identified as Anthony Perrett from Newport in Wales, who is now preparing to leave Russia.
He was in the group of 28 activists and two freelance journalists arrested in September as they staged a protest at a Russian offshore oil rig.
They were all charged with hooliganism – but have all been freed on bail.
They are being granted amnesty under a new Russian law which has seen several high-profile releases in recent days.
Greenpeace said on Tuesday that one man from the “Arctic 30” group had been told his case was now closed, and that others were expected to receive notice soon.
The statement did not name the man.
An earlier report saying that three people had been notified for release was later corrected.
Anthony Perrett was in the group of 28 Greenpeace activists arrested after they staged a protest at a Russian offshore oil rig
Twenty-six of the group are foreigners – six of them Britons – and Greenpeace said they would be free to leave Russia once they had the right stamps in their passports.
“We know that getting those stamps would be the best Christmas present for the Arctic 30 and we hope it can happen quickly, but until such time as they do, we still cannot say when they will leave,” it said in a statement.
The detainees, from 16 different countries, had sailed to an oil rig operated by Russia’s state-run energy company Gazprom in September.
They were intercepted by Russian coastguards, who fired warning shots as some activists tried to climb on board the rig.
Their ship, the Arctic Sunrise, was seized.
The group was initially charged with piracy but the charges were later reduced to hooliganism.
They denied the charges, saying their protest had been peaceful and legal.
The Russian amnesty law was passed last week by the State Duma and could see the release of some 20,000 people.
New evidence is emerging of alleged ethnic killings committed during more than a week of fighting in South Sudan.
The violence follows a power struggle between President Salva Kiir Mayardit, a Dinka, and his Nuer ex-deputy Riek Machar.
A reporter in the capital, Juba, quoted witnesses as saying more than 200 people, mostly from the Nuer ethnic group, were shot by security forces.
Another man in Juba said gunmen from the majority Dinka ethnic group were shooting people in Nuer areas.
The fighting first erupted in Juba last week and has spread throughout South Sudan, with rebels supporting Riek Machar seizing the major towns of Bor and Bentiu, north of the capital.
Bentiu is the capital of the oil-producing Unity State.
New evidence is emerging of alleged ethnic killings committed during more than a week of fighting in South Sudan
Salva Kiir has accused Riek Machar, who he sacked in July, of plotting a coup. Riek Machar denies he is trying to seize power, while the government has denied it is behind any ethnic violence.
The fear is that the personal rivalry between the former allies will spark a full-scale conflict between the Nuer and Dinka groups.
The official death toll stands at 500, but aid agencies say the true figure is likely to be much higher.
There has also been fighting in Upper Nile State but few details have emerged.
Another 81,000 people have been displaced, the UN’s humanitarian agency says, with about half seeking shelter at UN bases.
President Salva Kiir has said he is willing to hold talks with Riek Machar – and that a delegation of East African foreign ministers had offered to mediate – but that his former deputy would have to come to the table without any conditions.
In a recent interview, Edward Snowden – who leaked details of NSA electronic surveillance programs – says he’s achieved his aim.
“In terms of personal satisfaction, the mission’s already accomplished,” he told the Washington Post.
“I already won,” said 30-year-old Edward Snowden, whose extensive leaks have caused a reassessment of US surveillance policy.
Edward Snowden was interviewed in Russia, where he was granted temporary asylum on August 1st.
The former NSA contractor fled the US in late May, taking a huge cache of secret documents with him. He faces espionage charges in the US.
Edward Snowden was interviewed in Russia, where he was granted temporary asylum
“As soon as the journalists were able to work, everything that I had been trying to do was validated. Because, remember, I didn’t want to change society. I wanted to give society a chance to determine if it should change itself,” Edward Snowden told the newspaper.
“All I wanted was for the public to be able to have a say in how they are governed,” he said.
The NSA, accustomed to watching without being watched, faces scrutiny it has not endured since the 1970s, or perhaps ever, the Washington Post reports.
Edward Snowden told the newspaper he had no way of knowing whether the public would share his views.
“You recognize that you’re going in blind… But when you weigh that against the alternative, which is not to act, you realize that some analysis is better than no analysis.”
The website also has games and activities, videos, music and more.
The official NORAD Tracks Santa app is also available in the Windows, Apple and Android stores. Tracking opportunities are also offered on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google+.
NORAD Tracks Santa started in 1955
Santa followers just need to type “@noradsanta” into each social media site to get started.
Starting Christmas Eve, website visitors can watch Santa make preparations for his flight through the Bing maps and Cesium technology to track Santa with NORAD in 2D and 3D.
Beginning at 5 a.m. Tuesday, trackers can speak with a live phone operator to ask about Santa’s whereabouts by dialing the toll-free number 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) or by sending an email to noradtracks santa@outlook.com.
NORAD Tracks Santa started in 1955 when a local media advertisement directed children to call Santa direct – only the number was misprinted. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone rang through to the Crew Commander on duty at the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center.
Thus began the tradition which NORAD carried on since it was created in 1958.
Anna Paquin’s character Rogue will no longer feature in X-Men: Days of Future Past, director Bryan Singer has revealed.
Anna Paquin, 31, had reprised her role in a rescue sequence shot early in the sequel’s production that has since been adjudged to be surplus to requirements.
Bryan Singer told Entertainment Weekly the scene had become “extraneous” and “was just one of the things that had to go”.
Anna Paquin, the director said, “completely understood” that “films evolve”.
Anna Paquin’s character Rogue will no longer feature in X-Men: Days of Future Past
He said Anna Paquin had done “a fantastic job” in the X-Men sequel, had been “awesome” in the sequence and was “a brilliant actress”.
The scene, which took a week to shoot, had seen Anna Paquin appear alongside Ian McKellen’s Magneto, Patrick Stewart’s Professor X and Shawn Ashmore’s younger mutant Iceman.
Bryan Singer said the sequence would “probably” feature on the film’s DVD and that he would work with Anna Paquin again “in a heartbeat”.
“It’s very disappointing, but she’s very professional and she knows that stuff happens, particularly with material you shoot early on in production.”
The announcement follows Anna Paquin’s appearance at last July’s Comic Con event in San Diego, California alongside fellow members of the Future Past cast.
Bryan Singer directed the first two installments in the X-Men series, which deal with characters endowed with superhuman abilities and the difficulties they face assimilating into society.
Anna Paquin was 11 when she won a best supporting actress Oscar for her role in The Piano. She played Rogue in the first three X-Men movies before landing the role of Sookie Stackhouse in True Blood.
Beyonce surprised supermarket shoppers in Massachusetts when she paid an unexpected visit to a Wal-Mart in Tewksbury.
The Single Ladies singer, 32, bought a doll for her toddler Blu Ivy at the store on Friday night, as well as a copy of her self-titled new album.
Beyonce surprised supermarket shoppers in Massachusetts when she paid an unexpected visit to a Wal-Mart in Tewksbury
Beyonce announced over the shop loudspeaker she would pay the first $50 of all of their shopping bills and wished everyone in the store a Happy Christmas. The singer spent $37,500 in gift cards.
Pervez Musharraf’s trial has been postponed after explosives were found on his route to court in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad.
The special court hearing on treason charges against Pakistan’s former military ruler will now take place on January 1st.
On Monday, Pervez Musharraf’s petition that only a military court could examine his actions was rejected.
The charges relate to his decision in 2007 to suspend the constitution and impose emergency rule.
Pervez Musharraf, who is on bail in several other cases, says all the accusations against him are politically motivated.
The 70-year-old also faces separate charges of murder and restricting the judiciary.
He is the first Pakistani former president to face trial for treason.
Pervez Musharraf’s trial has been postponed after explosives were found on his route to court in Islamabad
Pervez Musharraf’s lawyer, Anwar Mansoor, told the court on Tuesday that the trial could not go ahead because of a heightened security threat.
Police said 5 kg of explosives had been found along the route to the National Library, where the hearing is taking place.
The court granted Pervez Musharraf a one-time exemption from appearing, and ordered the court registrar to ensure he had safe transit on January 1st, where charges will be read to him.
Pervez Musharraf seized power in a military coup in 1999 and remained president until 2008 when a democratically elected government forced him to resign.He went into exile soon afterwards.
On Monday, Pervez Musharraf’s lawyers had argued – unsuccessfully – that as he was the army chief in 2007, only a military court had the authority to try him.
But Islamabad’s high court rejected the petition. It also dismissed objections over the appointment of judges and prosecutor.
Pervez Musharraf ousted PM Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup.
After his resignation in 2008 he left Pakistan to live in self-imposed exile in Dubai and London.
On his return in March Pervez Musharraf hoped he could lead his party into elections, but was disqualified from standing and found himself fighting an array of charges relating to his time in power.
Mariah Carey and Eminem long-running feud continues.
Eminem, now 41, famously claimed that he and Mariah Carey had a relationship after their meeting in 2001.
Mariah Carey’s pointed response on the matter was her 2009 smash Obsessed, which inspired a video that featured herself in male drag as, presumably, Eminem himself.
On the Sunday episode of Watch What Happens Live!, Andy Cohen broached the topic to Mariah Carey during a round of Plead the Fifth by asking her to say three nice things about Eminem.
Mariah Carey and Eminem long-running feud continues
Mariah Carey response was sweetly sarcastic: “They come in a package that you can carry wherever you go. People love them around the world, and they’re tasty. You can have peanut or the regular kind.”
“Oh my god, I love it!” Andy Cohen replied.
Mariah Carey also revealed that she and husband Nick Cannon won’t be adding to their brood ever: “Here’s the thing, I’m responsible for the kids for like forever. They didn’t ask for this lifestyle but here they are.”
Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has called for foreign countries to boycott February’s Sochi Winter Olympics, hours after she was freed from jail.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova dismissed the amnesty law that set her free, saying it was a “cosmetic measure”.
She and band-mate Maria Alyokhina, who was also freed, said the prison system needed wider reform and promised to continue anti-government action.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Ayokhina were jailed in 2012 after singing a protest song in a Moscow cathedral.
The act was seen as blasphemous by many Russians, and was condemned by the Orthodox Church.
But their conviction for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” was criticized by rights groups, anti-government activists and foreign politicians.
The amnesty passed last week aimed to free some 20,000 prisoners.
Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has called for foreign countries to boycott February’s Sochi Winter Olympics
Both Pussy Riot members said their anti-government stance had not softened, and both promised to form a human-rights group to fight for prison reform.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who was freed from a prison hospital in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, immediately called for a boycott of the Sochi Games.
“What is happening today – releasing people just a few months before their term expires – is a cosmetic measure,” she said.
“That includes the case of Khodorkovsky, who didn’t have much time left on his prison term. This is ridiculous.”
She said far more people should be set free.
“I’m calling for a boycott, for honesty. I’m calling [on Western governments] not to give in because of oil and gas deliveries from Russia.”
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 24, labeled the Russian state a “totalitarian machine” and said prison reform was the starting point for reform of Russian society.
Maria Alyokhina, released in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, 280 miles east of Moscow, told Russian TV that the amnesty was “a profanation”.
British computer pioneer and codebreaker Alan Turing has been given a posthumous royal pardon.
Queen Elizabeth II granted a rare “mercy pardon” Monday to Alan Turing, the computing and mathematics pioneer whose chemical castration for being gay drove him to suicide almost 60 years ago.
The conviction meant he lost his security clearance and had to stop the code-cracking work that proved vital to the Allies in World War II.
The pardon was granted under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy after a request by Justice Minister Chris Grayling.
“Dr. Alan Turing was an exceptional man with a brilliant mind,” said Chris Grayling.
He said the research Alan Turing carried out during the war at Bletchley Park undoubtedly shortened the conflict and saved thousands of lives.
Alan Turing was one of the leading scientific geniuses of the 20th century – the man who cracked the supposedly uncrackable Enigma code used by Nazi Germany in World War II and the man many scholars consider the father of modern computer science.
Alan Turing was one of the leading scientific geniuses of the 20th century
By the time he was 23, Alan Turing had hypothesized what would become today’s computers – the Turing machine, which could emulate any computing device or program. Almost 80 years later, Alan Turing machines are still used in theoretical computation.
“His later life was overshadowed by his conviction for homos**ual activity, a sentence we would now consider unjust and discriminatory and which has now been repealed,” said Chris Grayling.
“Turing deserves to be remembered and recognized for his fantastic contribution to the war effort and his legacy to science. A pardon from the Queen is a fitting tribute to an exceptional man.”
The pardon comes into effect on December 24.
Alan Turing died in June 1954 from cyanide poisoning and an inquest decided that he had committed suicide. However, biographers, friends and other students of his life dispute the finding and suggest his death was an accident.
Combine the salt, sugar, eggs, milk, and butter in a blender until well mixed. Add the flour and blend until smooth. Let the batter chill in the refrigerator for at least half an hour.
When you’re ready to cook, heat a small amount of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat, then blend the batter once more. Drop a few tablespoons of batter in the pan, tilting and rotating the pan to spread the batter uniformly over the bottom.
Cook until the underside has slightly browned and bubbles form on the top of the crepe, then flip the crepe and cook until the other side has slightly browned.
As you cook them, stack the finished crepes on a warm dish, then, when you’re ready to eat, let everyone fix them to their liking. Makes approximately 20 crepes.
