Wal-Mart announced that it will begin its in-store Black Friday sales at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, two hours earlier than last year.
In addition, Walmart.com will begin offering Black Friday sales on a limited number of items Thursday morning.
The announcement comes as a growing list of retailers – from Best Buy to Toys R Us, and most recently Target – said they will push their Black Friday initiatives to Thursday.
Wal-Mart announced that it will begin its in-store Black Friday sales at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, two hours earlier than last year
“We’re always looking at what’s going on in the competitive environment,” said Duncan Mac Naughton, executive vice president, chief merchandising and marketing officer for Walmart U.S.
Wal-Mart will bring back its one-hour guarantee during events at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, followed by an 8 a.m. event on Black Friday. If customers are in a designated line within an hour of one of these sales’ kickoffs, they are guaranteed to receive an item at a certain price either that night or before Christmas.
The program is expanding to 21 products this season from three last year, ranging from a Vizio 60-inch LED HDTV for $688, to a one-carat diamond and sterling silver pendant and earring set for $98. The stores will integrate wristbands so shoppers can browse the store while waiting for the events to begin.
Wal-Mart is also ramping up its social media and online components, advertising “manager’s specials” – when managers will lower prices for an entire category – on its local Facebook pages, and curating deal maps on its website to be viewed while in-store.
Police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas to break up violent clashes during Poland Independence Day march in capital Warsaw.
A number of people were injured during the annual rally organized by far-right and nationalist movements.
The violence started when groups of youths broke off from the main march to attack a squat and set fires to cars.
They also set ablaze a rainbow-colored arch symbolizing tolerance, and tried to attack the Russian embassy.
Police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas to break up violent clashes during Poland Independence Day march in capital Warsaw
The protesters – many of them wearing masks – threw firecrackers at the diplomatic mission. Several youths also tried to scale the building’s fence but were stopped by the police.
“There is no justification for hooliganism,” Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Marcin Wojciechowski said.
The authorities also said that at least four police officers were among those injured during the violence.
Thousands of people took part in the main march, which began noisily but peacefully. They carried white-and-red Polish flags and chanted: “God, honor, fatherland!”
For the third year in a row violence broke out during the march.
The rally commemorates the day Poland regained its independence at the end of World War One in 1918.
Before that, Poland had been carved up between Russia, Prussia and the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Duck Dynasty ’s Christmas album debuted as No 1 in Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart this week.
Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas debuted this week in the Billboard chart knocking Luke Bryan’s album from first to fourth.
The album took over the top spot ahead of Thomas Rhett’s It Goes Like This and Toby Keith’s Drinks After Work, which are also in their first week on the chart.
Duck Dynasty ’s Christmas album debuted as No 1 in Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart this week
Duck the Halls is also ranked second on the publication’s list of Top Holiday Albums behind Kelly Clarkson’s Wrapped in Red.
Duck Dynasty’s album is currently listed as fourth on the Billboard 200, which ranks top-selling albums for the week across all genres. The Christmas record is situated behind new albums from Arcade Fire, Katy Perry and Clarkson.
The Robertsons are joined on their album by country music stars like Luke Bryan, Alison Krauss, Josh Turner and George Strait, who won the Country Music Association award for Entertainer of the Year on Wednesday.
Duck the Halls features a blend of original songs, such as Ragin’ Cajun Redneck Christmas, and more traditional Christmas tunes, including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and I’ll Be Home for Christmas.
President Barack Obama spends Veterans Day on Monday honoring those who sacrificed for the nation.
In the early morning, Barack Obama hosts a White House breakfast for invited veterans and their families.
Later, the president travels to Arlington National Cemetery for the traditional wreath laying ceremony.
President Barack Obama traveled to Arlington National Cemetery for the traditional Veterans Day wreath laying ceremony
In his weekend radio address, President Barack Obama said Veterans Day is a chance for all Americans “to say two simple words: <<Thank you>>.”
President Barack Obama said: “Thank you to that greatest generation who fought island by island across the Pacific, and freed millions from fascism in Europe. Thank you to the heroes who risked everything through the bitter cold of Korea and the stifling heat of Vietnam. And thank you to all the heroes who have served since, most recently our 9/11 Generation of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.”
President Nicolas Maduro announced the Christmas season would come early in Venezuela and holiday bonuses would be issued in November.
Nicolas Maduro said state workers will receive the first two-thirds of their Christmas bonuses and pensions on November 10-11 instead of December this year in what the president said was an effort to lift people’s spirits, NPR reported last week.
“We made Christmas earlier because happiness and The Nativity and waiting for the arrival of the baby Jesus, it is the best medicine,” Nicolas Maduro said at the Socialist Christmas Fair in Caracas.
During his visit to the so-called Socialist Christmas Fair 2013, organized by the government in a central area of Caracas, Nicolas Maduro exchanged a few words with actors posing as the Three Kings, sang traditional Venezuelan Christmas songs and witnessed the sale of typical holiday food and items.
President Nicolas Maduro announced the Christmas season would come early in Venezuela and holiday bonuses would be issued in November
Last weekend Nicolas Maduro lit the Nativity lights at the Presidential Palace of Miraflores and said that the last two months of the year should be premonitory of what 2014 will be.
“Merry Christmas 2013, Christmas early, early victory, early happiness for the whole family,” Nicolas Maduro said.
“We wanted to declare the arrival of Christmas because we want happiness for everyone,” he added.
Political experts, though, said the move may be an effort by Nicolas Maduro to get votes for municipal elections on December 8, NPR reported.
Nicolas Maduro won by a slim margin in the spring, and Venezuela’s economy has been suffering, with 45% inflation and a shortage of toys in retail stores for the holiday season.
Bulgarian students have chained the doors of Sofia University as anti-government unrest continues.
After occupying a lecture hall for nearly three weeks, they declared “total and effective occupation” to demand the government’s resignation.
Thousands joined a student march through the city on Sunday.
Unrest over poverty and corruption in the EU’s poorest state has continued despite early elections in May.
A Socialist-backed technocratic government was formed under Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski, but has lost support amid allegations of corrupt ties with business groups.
Similar popular unrest had plagued its predecessor in power, a centre-right minority government led by Boyko Borisov.
Academic business at the university was “brought to a complete halt” as protesters were not allowing either teachers or administrative staff to enter the university, according to the Novinite news agency.
Bulgarian students have chained the doors of Sofia University as anti-government unrest continues
Sit-ins, the agency added, were under way at 15 universities across the country.
“We are protesting against poverty and unemployment,” a student declaration said, quoted by AFP news agency.
“We are protesting before we become beggars with a higher education.”
On Sunday, university professors and teachers issued a statement condemning the “lies and <<tycoonisation>>” of the political and social environment”.
One banner, seen by Reuters news agency, read “Your time is up! 24 years of false transition is enough”, referring to administrations since the end of communist rule in 1989. Other banners read “Down with the mafia” and “We stay, you emigrate”.
President Rosen Plevneliev, who is from Boyko Borisov’s GERB party, told a French magazine he supported citizens calling for a “moral revolution”
Asked by Le Nouvel Observateur about the allegation that the current government was backed by a “Red Mafia”, Rosen Plevneliev added: “The mafia does not have a definite colour. What is certain is that what we call ‘mafia’ is a pathology of our democracy that we must eradicate.”
The desperation of many Bulgarians has been brought home by a series of self-immolations since the start of the year. At least nine people have burnt themselves to death, according to Novinite’s figures.
Wal-Mart erroneously priced a handful of computer monitors at a heavy discount online last week.
Monitors ranging from a high-definition, 24-inch product by Viewsonic to a 20-inch version made by Hewlett-Packard were made available at the bargain price of $8.85.
The suggested retail price of those two monitors are $199.99 and $185, respectively, although retailers often offer them at discounts.
Wal-Mart erroneously priced a handful of computer monitors at a heavy discount online
Many of the monitors were sold out by 8 a.m. ET, although the prices persisted on Walmart.com.
Wal-Mart says that a technical error caused a number of products to be priced absurdly low or high on its website earlier Wednesday. The company says it is working to resolve the issue and that the site may have intermittent problems with availability until then.
A spokesperson declined to specify whether an error was made, but said the tech goodies were unavailable in the retailer’s brick-and-mortar stores and are “no longer available” online. She also couldn’t immediately comment on whether people who swooped in on the pre-holiday snafu would be able to buy the monitors at the specified prices.
Black Friday 2013 is just days away and the Iowa Attorney General’s office warns consumers to be savvy shoppers and read the fine print when using ads to map out shopping strategies.
Officials there and at the National Retail Federation offer these tips:
• Read store ads carefully. Is the store offering sale items at a limited quantity? Can you get a rain check if it’s an out-of-stock sale item?
• Use the Internet to compare prices, not just the Black Friday ads but also retailers’ regular websites.
Black Friday 2013 is just days away and the Iowa Attorney General’s office warns consumers to be savvy shoppers and read the fine print when using ads to map out shopping strategies
• Take the ad with you when you go shopping to make sure you find the precise item at the price advertised. It’s often a good idea to go to the store now to see if the items you want have the quality and features you desire.
• Check to see if your favorite retailer offers an option to buy online and pick up in store. That will allow you to skip the frenzy and head to the customer service counter.
• Focus on bottom-line prices, not discounts. Discount claims may not reflect real savings if the seller inflated the original price of an item.
• Know retailers’ return and exchange policies. Some have a specified number of days in which to return items. Others will give the recipient credit for their after-holiday clearance price without a gift receipt, and some won’t let you return an item bought online to a physical store.
Black Friday is just days away, and shoppers already have started to refine their shopping lists, searching for ads online that reveal gotta-have gifts and rock-bottom prices at major retailers.
The holiday shopping season represents the bulk of many merchants’ yearly sales, so luring shoppers early is important, retail analysts say. Dozens of Black Friday websites entice shoppers with early releases of ads.
Retailers count on shoppers poring over their newspaper inserts. Papers’ Thanksgiving Day editions often are the largest of the year.
“This is the one time of year when consumers have the opportunity to see all this sales stuff in advance,” said Brad Wilson, who has a website called BradsDeals.com.
“It gives people three or four weeks to strategize about what they are going to buy.”
Online sneak-peak ads for Black Friday come out earlier every year, he said.
Black Friday 2013
“Consumers love the game of it all,” Brad Wilson said.
“They want to find the best deals. And they want to be able to get to the right stores at the right time.”
Shoppers caught up in the adrenaline rush of getting the best Black Friday deals – like last year’s $97 flat screen television – will be in for even better deals this year, Brad Wilson is predicting.
“The bargains have gotten better every year for a while,” he said.
Some of the websites that already have started posting Black Friday ads:
President Benigno Aquino has declared a state of national calamity in Philippines in order to speed relief efforts for victims of Typhoon Haiyan.
In a statement, Benigno Aquino said the two worst affected provinces, Leyte and Samar, had suffered massive destruction and loss of life.
Thousands of survivors are still desperately waiting for the aid effort to reach them.
Up to 10,000 people are feared to have been killed.
Tacloban is one of the worst affected cities.
Hundreds of thousands more people have been displaced after the high winds and floodwaters destroyed their homes. Damage to roads and airports has delayed the delivery of aid.
One of the most powerful storms on record to make landfall, Typhoon Haiyan – named “Yolanda” by Filipino authorities – struck the coastal provinces of Leyte and Samar on Friday.
President Benigno Aquino has declared a state of national calamity in Philippines in order to speed relief efforts for victims of Typhoon Haiyan
It then headed west, sweeping through six central Philippine islands.
More than nine million people have been affected in the Philippines. Many are now struggling to survive without food, shelter or clean drinking water.
A huge international relief effort is under way, but rescue workers have struggled to reach some towns and villages cut off since the storm.
However, reports from Tacloban say that soldiers have been on the streets distributing food and water to some residents and the US military has sent marines to the city.
The head of the Philippine Red Cross, Richard Gordon, described the situation as “absolute bedlam”.
Jane Cocking, the humanitarian director for Oxfam, said her colleagues witnessed “complete devastation… entire parts of the coastline just disappeared”.
A Philippine military spokesman was quoted as saying on Monday that 942 people had died in the typhoon’s aftermath, though it is clear the official death toll will rise significantly.
Almost 630,000 people have been reported displaced.
Typhoon Haiyan’s aftermath in Philippines:
The exposed easterly town of Guiuan, Samar province – population 40,000 – is said to be largely destroyed
Tacloban, Leyte province, was largely flattened by a massive storm surge and scores of corpses are piled by the roadside, leaving a stench in the air as they rot, say correspondents. Hundreds of people have gathered at the airport desperate for food and water, others trying to get a flight out
In the far north of Cebu province had shown some towns had suffered “80-90% damage”
Baco, a city of 35,000 in Oriental Mindoro province, was 80% under water, the UN said.[youtube mAERAlp5bTk 650]
John Lennon’s school detention documents are being put up for sale.
Teachers from Liverpool’s Quarry Bank High School for Boys wrote that 15-year-old John Lennon was punished for “fighting in class” and “sabotage”.
The two documents from 1955 were rescued by a teacher in the 1970s who had been told to burn all of the books in a storage room at the school.
The sheets are expected to be sold for up to £3,000 ($5,000) each at auction.
The documents reveal that on two occasions John Lennon received three detentions in one day.
Other reasons given by his teachers for punishment include “nuisance”, “shoving” and “just no interest whatsoever”.
John Lennon’s school detention documents are being put up for sale
The documents cover the periods when he was in Class 3B between May 19 and June 23, 1955, and in Class 4C from November 25, 1955, to February 13, 1956.
John Lennon went on to meet Paul McCartney in 1957 and together they formed the Beatles, who had their first hit in late 1962 with the song Love Me Do.
The details of the young John Lennon’s detentions were discovered by an enterprising teacher in the late 1970s.
He had been asked to clear out a storage room to make space for a newly-appointed teacher and had been instructed to burn all the books stored in the room.
But spotting the name “Lennon” in the top of some of the pages he realized they related to the famous former student and tore the sheets from the book to retain as a keepsake.
A number of the pages he had taken out of the book and kept were destroyed at a later date in an accident involving chemicals.
Other sheets he gave away but these pages are some of the few that have survived.
The sheets have been authenticated by John Lennon’s close school friend, Pete Shotton, who wrote a book John Lennon: In My Life.
Peter Beech, who was John Lennon’s general science teacher at the time, said: “The sheet is typical of John Lennon, he was an extremely cheeky boy.
“He did, however, know his limits. In the classroom, if you settled John down, you generally settled the class down.
“His chemistry teacher Eric Oldman said that John could actually go far.”
John Lennon died aged 40 after he was shot outside his New York apartment on December 8, 1980, by Mark Chapman.
Online bidding for the detention sheets and other items of Beatles memorabilia starts at TrackAuction.com on November 22.
Thor: The Dark World topped the North American box office, taking $86.1 million in its opening weekend.
The sequel to the 2011 movie sees Chris Hemsworth reprise his role as the god of thunder who battles to save Earth from evil forces.
Bad Grandpa, from the makers of Jackass, held the number two spot for a second week, taking $11.3 million.
Animated film Free Birds was just behind at three with $11.2 million.
Free Birds features the voices of Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson as a pair of turkeys who try to keep their kind off Thanksgiving dinner plates.
Last Vegas, featuring Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline as four friends who reunite for a stag party, fell one place to four.
Thor: The Dark World topped the North American box office, taking $86.1 million in its opening weekend
Last week’s number one, Ender’s Game, tumbled down the chart in its second week to five.
Industry forecasts had predicted the second Thor installment would debut with at least $90 million. The new movie missed that target but did surpass the original film, which opened with $65.7 million.
Miley Cyrus lit what appeared to be a joint on stage at the MTV EMAs in Amsterdam last night.
Miley Cyrus, 20, was accepting her award for best video for Wrecking Ball.
She opened her bag, took out the rolled up cigarette and lit it in front of the crowd.
The drug is not legal in the Netherlands but you will not be prosecuted for having a small amount in your possession and it is sold openly in cafes in the city.
The fans in Amsterdam did not seem to find it offensive.
Miley Cyrus lit what appeared to be a joint on stage at the MTV EMAs in Amsterdam
Miley Cyrus performed twice during the ceremony, opening the show with We Can’t Stop.
She later silenced the room with a powerful vocal performance of Wrecking Ball, stood in front of a video of her crying.
Meanwhile at the event, Eminem picked up best hip hop act and the global icon award.
Bruno Mars won for best song, while Justin Bieber and Katy Perry picked up best male and female.
There were performances from Snoop Dogg, Kings of Leon and The Killers.
30 Seconds to Mars picked up best alternative act, beating Arctic Monkeys for the fan voted awards.
“We’re just happy to be at the party, enjoy the insanity, it’s our fifth time at the EMAs and we have a lot of gratitude,” frontman Jared Leto said.
The MTV EMAs will take place in Glasgow in 2014, where they will be held at the brand new SSE Hydro venue.
A South Korean newspaper reported on Monday that North Korea publicly executed around 80 people earlier this month, many for watching smuggled South Korean TV shows.
The conservative JoongAng Ilbo cited a single, unidentified source, but at least one North Korean defector group said it had heard rumors that lent credibility to the front-page report.
The source, said to be “familiar” with North Korea’s internal affairs and recently returned from the country, said the executions were carried out in seven cities on November 3.
In the eastern port of Wonsan, the authorities gathered 10,000 people in a sports stadium to watch the execution of eight people by firing squad, the source quoted one eyewitness as saying.
Most were charged with watching illicit South Korean TV dramas.
North Korea publicly executed around 80 people earlier this month, many for watching smuggled South Korean TV shows
Several of the cities, including Wonsan and Pyongsong in the west, have been designated as special economic zones aimed at attracting foreign investment to boost the North’s moribund economy.
The Seoul-based news website, Daily NK, which is run by North Korean defectors and has a wide network of sources, said it had no information on the executions.
But another defector-run website, North Korea Intellectual Solidarity, said its sources had reported several months ago on plans for a wave of public executions.
“The regime is obviously afraid of potential changes in people’s mindsets and is pre-emptively trying to scare people off,” said one website official.
Watching unsanctioned foreign films or TV — especially those from the capitalist South — is a serious offence in North Korea.
However, efforts to control their distribution have been circumvented by technology, with an increasing number being smuggled in on DVDs, flash drives and mp3 players.
As well as South Korean soap operas, US shows like Desperate Housewives are believed to have a small but avid following.
Supporters of Chinese politician Bo Xilai have set up a political party, and made Bo the party chairman.
Wang Zheng said she was inspired to set up the Zhi Xian Party after following Bo Xilai’s trial.
It is a highly unusual move in China, where the ruling Communist Party retains a monopoly on power.
Bo Xilai, the former Chongqing Party chief, was given a life sentence in September for corruption and abuse of power.
Wang Zheng, a university professor, said her party would act in a similar manner to a special interest group, calling for the Chinese constitution to be upheld and for income inequality to be tackled.
“The goal of the party is to guard the constitution,” Wang Zheng said.
“In the past, for so many years, the ruling party has often done things that are against the constitution.”
Wang Zheng said the party was inspired by Bo Xilai’s work to help the poor as Chongqing party chief.
Bo Xilai, the former Chongqing Party chief, was given a life sentence in September for corruption and abuse of power
“In recent decades, China’s reform methods were against the constitution” as the political system had allowed the gap between the rich and the poor to increase, she said.
She added that what she was doing was consistent with Chinese law.
“The Communist Party is the ruling party. According to the constitution, the nation is led by the Communist Party that co-operates with the other parties, and we are one of the participating parties.”
Wang Zheng said there had been an overwhelmingly positive response to her party, but did not reveal the size of her party’s membership.
The party has named Bo Xilai its honorary chairman, although it is unclear whether Bo has agreed to any association with the group.
The Zhi Xian Party translates into “The Supremacy of the Constitution” Party in Chinese.
Wang Zheng is already facing a backlash by the government for her actions, and her home is under police surveillance.
However, Wang Zheng said she was “not scared”.
“I have the confidence that what I am doing is not illegal and most of the people I am in touch with, including the security police, they are actually nice people,” she said.
China has jailed activists in the past for setting up political parties. Activist Qin Yongmin was jailed for 12 years in 1998 after trying to register the China Democracy Party.
Bo Xilai was removed from office in 2012 amid a scandal which saw his wife Gu Kailai convicted of British businessman Neil Heywood’s murder.
During his time in Chongqing, Bo Xilai was popular with the city’s poor and rural citizens for running a high-profile crackdown on crime and promoting China’s communist past, including the public singing of “red songs”.
In September Bo Xilai’s was found guilty of taking bribes amounting to 20 million yuan ($3.3 million) either personally or through his family. He was also accused of abusing his office by using his position to cover up for his wife’s crime.
Bo Xilai’s supporters, however, believe he is the victim of a political purge.
Soyuz capsule carrying the Sochi 2014 Olympic torch has returned to Earth after it was taken on its first spacewalk as part of the Russian lead-up to the Winter Games.
The Olympic torch landed in central Kazakhstan after leaving the International Space Station (ISS).
Three astronauts delivered it back after a three-and-a-half hour descent.
The torch was taken up to the ISS on Thursday and then waved outside the space station.
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky posed for photographs as they held the torch 260 miles above Earth.
The Olympic torch has been carried into space twice before – in 1996 and 2000 – but it had never previously left a spaceship.
The torch was unlit inside the ISS because of safety concerns and outside due to the lack of oxygen.
A different crew – Russia’s Fyodor Yurchikhin, NASA US astronaut Karen Nyberg and Italian Luca Parmitano – bought it back to Earth, landing on the Kazakh steppes shortly before 08:50 on Monday.
Soyuz capsule carrying the Sochi 2014 Olympic torch has returned to Earth after it was taken on its first spacewalk
The capsule descended to the ground under a parachute.
Fyodor Yurchikhin, the mission commander, was carried from the capsule to a reclining chair and covered with blanket against the cold.
The torch was removed from a protective bag and given to Fyodor Yurchikhin, who waved it and smiled for the cameras.
The capsule completed a perfect descent and touched down exactly on time, according to a NASA TV commentator.
It will to be used to light the Olympic cauldron at the winter games in February next year.
The trip to the space station is all part of elaborate preparations for Russia’s first Olympics since the Soviet era.
It was seen as part of a rebranding exercise by Russia designed to portray it as a strong, modern country.
Sochi Winter Games are the most expensive Olympics so far, costing around $50 billion (1,620 billion roubles).
Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito has been at the center of a racial scandal for the past weeks after allegedly bullying his own teammate Jonathan Martin, who left the team on October 28.
Jonathan Martin’s attorney, David Cornwell, released a statement Thursday saying that Martin endured harassment that went far beyond the traditional locker-room hazing. David Cornwell also stated that, beyond the well-publicized voicemail with its racial epithet, his client “endured a malicious physical attack on him by a teammate, and daily vulgar comments. The facts are not in dispute.”
Richie Incognito responded to the controversy Sunday, in a sit-down interview with FOX Sports that was taped Saturday at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. It is Richie Incognito’s first extended interview since the story broke. The interview first aired on NFL FOX Sunday, but an extended version aired Sunday night on FOX Sports Live.
In an exclusive interview with Jay Glazer, Richie Incognito asserts that he’s not a racist and insists that his relationship with Jonathan Martin was not as fractured as it may seem
In the interview, Richie Incognito asserts that he’s not a racist, insists that his relationship with Jonathan Martin was not as fractured as it may seem and says that much of what has been reported is misleading.
Richie Incognito also turned over his phone records, which showed 1,142 texts between him and Jonathan Martin in the past year.
Jonathan Martin sent these two texts to Richie Incognito three days after he left the team:
“Wassup man? The world’s gone crazy lol I’m good tho congrats on the win”
“Yeah I’m good man. It’s insane bro but just know I don’t blame you guys at all it’s just the culture around football and the locker room got to me a little.”
GOCE satellite has re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, burning up in the process.
Early estimates suggested any surviving debris of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) satellite could have fallen somewhere along a path through East Asia and the Western Pacific to Antarctica.
Dubbed the “Ferrari of space” because of its sleek looks, GOCE is the first ESA mission to make an uncontrolled re-entry in more than 25 years.
The gravity mapping probe’s plunge was inevitable once it ran out of fuel.
The mission was operating in an extremely low orbit – at 139 miles altitude, the lowest of any scientific satellite – and needed to constantly thrust an electric engine to stay aloft, but last month its fuel reserves were exhausted.
Pre-return modelling had indicated that perhaps a fifth to a quarter of GOCE’s one-tonne mass could have endured the fiery fall through the atmosphere.
Its sophisticated gradiometer – the instrument used to make gravity measurements – incorporated composite materials that were expected to ride out the destructive forces that would ordinarily incinerate traditional components.
GOCE was last observed at 22:42 GMT on Sunday as it passed 75 miles above Antarctica.
GOCE satellite has re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, burning up in the process
It has fuel and thrusters to direct its destructive dive towards the vast and uninhabited waters of the Southern Ocean, east of New Zealand.
The Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee – the global forum on “space junk” – chose GOCE as its special study project for 2013.
This meant a large number of tracking and surveillance facilities around the world were activated to monitor the satellite’s descent to Earth.
More detailed information is therefore likely to emerge in the coming hours and days on exactly where and when any materials struck the surface of the planet.
Statistics show that there is typically at least one piece of space “junk” re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere every day; with, on average, one intact defunct spacecraft or old rocket body coming back every week.
ESA’s last mission to make an uncontrolled re-entry was the magnetosphere explorer Isee-2, which came back in 1987.
ESA does, however, regularly manage controlled re-entries. Its space station freighter, the Automated Transfer Vehicle, can weigh some 13 tonnes when it comes back to Earth.
GOCE (Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer) was launched in 2009 as part of a series of innovative environmental research satellites.
Its super-sensitive gradiometer was used to detect the tiny variations in the pull of gravity across the surface of the Earth.
GOCE’s maps have very broad applications. The data is a key reference in civil engineering for relating heights measured at widely separated locations, and for the computer models that need to understand how the oceans move to forecast future changes in climate.
California-based Glass Onion Catering that makes prepared chicken salad has recalled more than 180,000 pounds of its products after some were linked to a few cases of E. coli infection.
Glass Onion Catering has recalled products distributed to Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.
So far, 26 people in three states have been diagnosed with the same E. coli infection, the USDA says. Fifteen of them say they ate products traced to Glass Onion Catering, which supplies midsized grocery store chains such as Trader Joe’s with “gourmet grab and go” products.
“The company announced that the products are being recalled in conjunction with other foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A full list of products being recalled will be available on FDA’s website at: www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/Recalls/default.htm,” USDA said in a statement.
Some of the affected products include:
12 oz. packages of “delish pan pacific chop salad”
13.4 oz. packages of “atherstone Fine Foods Southwestern Style White Chicken Wrap with Chimichurri Sauce”
10.7 oz. packages of “super fresh Foods California Grilled Chicken Salad, Low Fat Mendocino Mustard Dressing
10.7 oz. packages of “Lunch Spot Southwestern Style Chicken Wrap, Chile & Lime Dressing
10.7 oz. plastic containers of “TRADER JOE’S Field Fresh Chopped Salad with Grilled Chicken”
Glass Onion Catering has recalled more than 180,000 pounds of its products after some were linked to a few cases of E. coli infection
It’s unusual for chicken to be contaminated with E. coli. Usually, the culprit is salmonella with chicken. The latest outbreake involving chicken was traced to Foster farms chicken produced in California. It made 300 people sick.
USDA, which regulates the safety of many foods, says the cluster of E. coli 0157:H7 illnesses started October 29.
“Working in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), FDA, the California Department of Public Health, the Washington State Department of Health, and the Arizona Department of Health Services, FSIS has determined that there is a link between the grilled chicken salads and the illness cluster,” USDA says.
Foodborne illness is common, according to CDC. Every year, about 48 million Americans, or one in six people, get sick from eating contaminated food. Common outbreaks include Salmonella in eggs or vegetables, E. coli in beef and Listeria in dairy products.
E. coli is a very common and usually harmless bacteria but the 0157:H7 strain can cause dehydration, bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps. Most people get better on their own but infection can cause a sometimes-deadly type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
Malala Yousafzai’s book has been banned from private schools across Pakistan, education officials said on Sunday.
The Pakistani officials claim the teenage activist’s book doesn’t show enough respect for Islam and called her a tool of the West.
Malala Yousafzai attracted global attention last year when the Taliban shot her in the head in northwest Pakistan for criticizing the group’s interpretation of Islam, which limits girls’ access to education.
Her profile has risen steadily since then, and she released a memoir in October, I Am Malala, that was co-written with British journalist Christina Lamb.
While Malala Yousafzai has become a hero to many across the world for opposing the Taliban and standing up for girls’ education, conspiracy theories have flourished in Pakistan that her shooting was staged to create a hero for the West to embrace.
Adeeb Javedani, president of the All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association, said his group banned Malala Yousafzai’s book from the libraries of its 40,000 affiliated schools and called on the government to bar it from school curriculums.
“Everything about Malala is now becoming clear,” Adeeb Javedani said.
Malala Yousafzai’s book has been banned from private schools across Pakistan
“To me, she is representing the West, not us.”
Kashif Mirza, the chairman of the All Pakistan Private Schools Federation, said his group also has banned Malala Yousafzai’s book in its affiliated schools.
Malala Yousafzai “was a role model for children, but this book has made her controversial,” Kashif Mirza said.
“Through this book, she became a tool in the hands of the Western powers.”
He said the book did not show enough respect for Islam because it mentioned Prophet Muhammad’s name without using the abbreviation PUH – “peace be upon him” – as is customary in many parts of the Muslim world. He also said it spoke favorably of author Salman Rushdie, who angered many Muslims with his book The Satanic Verses, and Ahmadis, members of a minority sect that have been declared non-Muslims under Pakistani law.
In her reference to Salman Rushdie, Malala Yousfzai said in the book that her father saw The Satanic Verses as “offensive to Islam but believes strongly in the freedom of speech.”
“First, let’s read the book and then why not respond with our own book,” the book quoted her father as saying.
Malala Yousafzai mentioned in the book that Pakistan’s population of 180 million people includes more than 2 million Ahmadis, “who say they are Muslim though our government says they are not”.
“Sadly those minority communities are often attacked,” the book said, referring also to Pakistan’s 2 million Christians.
The conspiracy theories around Malala Yousafzai reflect the level of influence that right-wing Islamists sympathetic to the Taliban have in Pakistan. They also reflect the poor state of education in Pakistan, where fewer than half the country’s children ever complete a basic, primary education.
Millions of children attend private school throughout the country because of the poor state of the public system.
The Taliban blew up scores of schools and discouraged girls from getting an education when they took over the Swat Valley, where Malala Yousafzai lived, several years ago. The army staged a large ground offensive in Swat in 2009 that pushed many militants out of the valley, but periodic attacks still occur.
The mastermind of the attack on Malala Yousafzai, Mullah Fazlullah, recently was appointed the new head of the Pakistani Taliban after the former chief was killed in a US drone strike.
Pope Francis donned a bright red nose and clowned around with a newlywed couple inside the Vatican this week.
The Pope posed with the bride and groom, who are volunteers at a charity that brings clown therapy to sick children.
The lighthearted moment came hours after Pope Francis kissed and prayed with a severely disfigured man at the end of his general audience at St. Peter’s Square.
Pope Francis donned a bright red nose and clowned around with a newlywed couple inside the Vatican
In the eight months since he was elected pope, Pope Francis, 76, has emerged as an endearing figure known for his humility and desire to build a more inclusive church.
When a young boy wandered on stage during a homily last month, the pontiff let him stay by his side and even gave him a playful pat on the head.
Pope Francis has stayed true to his humble Jesuit roots by choosing to live a simple life.
The US government is seeking $864 million in compensation from Bank of America for losses over home loans sold to it by the bank’s Countrywide Financial unit.
US attorney Preet Bharara made the request in documents filed late Friday in New York.
Bank of America was found liable for defrauding two US state-backed mortgage companies by a federal jury last month.
Countrywide Financial was acquired by Bank of America in 2008.
The ruling was a major win for the US government, which launched the case in the wake of the financial crisis.
Reports last month suggested that US banking giant JP Morgan is set for a record $13 billion fine to settle investigations into its mortgage-backed securities.
The US government is seeking $864 million in compensation from Bank of America for losses over home loans sold to it by the bank’s Countrywide Financial unit
Wells Fargo agreed to pay $335 million to settle claims it misled investors over mortgage-backed bonds.
The US Department of Justice is investigating at least nine banks over their sales of mortgage-backed securities.
Countrywide Financial was found liable for selling thousands of defective loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The month-long trial focused on a Countrywide programme that was internally called “Hustle” or “high-speed swim lane” which allowed loans to be processed quickly without checking their quality.
The wrongdoing, which mostly took place before Countrywide was acquired, was discovered after a whistleblower filed a lawsuit against the firm.
The US economy witnessed a big boom in its housing market in the lead-up to the 2007-08 global financial crisis.
As house prices continued to rise, many banks looked to cash in on the boom by creating complex financial products that grouped together home loans.
However, a collapse in the housing market saw the value of those investments plummet as the underlying mortgage holders became unable to repay their debts.
This snowballed into the subprime crisis, which hurt investors globally and caused billions of dollars in losses.
Peruvian sisters Roxana and Victoria Abril are claiming to be the rightful owners of the land on which the UNESCO World Heritage site Machu Picchu is located.
They say it legally belonged to their grandfather.
Roxana and Victoria Abril are asking for millions of dollars in compensation from the Peruvian state.
Machu Picchu is the crown jewel in Peru’s tourism industry, but it has not been without its controversies since its “rediscovery” in 1911 by US explorer Hiram Bingham.
Each year, those on South America adventure tours are joined by hundreds of thousands of other visitors to the famous Incan citadel, which is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
While many travel by train, hundreds of intrepid tourists set out each week to take on the four-day Inca trail trek, arriving at the Sun Gate at sunrise on the fourth morning for a spectacular view of the site that is difficult to forget.
Machu Picchu is the crown jewel in Peru’s tourism industry
However, a running court battle between the Abril family and the Peruvian government over the ownership of the land and ruins has hit the headlines after the Abrils called on UNESCO to put pressure on ministers to compensate them.
According to the Telegraph, the family bought the site on June 14th 1910 – a year before it was “rediscovered” by Hiram Bingham.
Edgar Echegaray Abril, 70, still holds the deed, which showed that his ancestors paid gold for the site.
The estate was sold to the Zavaleta family in 1944, but the ruins were not part of the deal as they were being expropriated by the state.
However, this expropriation was never completed and Edgar Echegaray Abril and his relations believe they are due compensation from the Peruvian government for decades of tourism on what would appear to be their land.
The Abrils’ lawyer Fausto Salinas claimed that UNESCO should step in to help in the same way it calls for greater protection of the historic ruins.
“The state said at that time [1944] <<we’re going to expropriate>>, but the process was never completed, and in Peru, as in international law, if the property is not expropriated from you, you don’t lose it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the lawyer is also representing the Zavaletas, who are claiming compensation for the land they own lying outside the ruins, but inside the Machu Picchu Archaeological Park.
Those travelling arounf South America and wishing to see Machu Picchu normally start their journey from nearby Cuzco – itself a beautiful mountain city with numerous Incan wonders to behold.
