Bolshoi ballet dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko has pleaded not guilty to ordering an acid attack on company’s artistic director Sergei Filin.
Sulphuric acid was thrown at Sergei Filin outside his Moscow flat in January, damaging his eyesight.
Pavel Dmitrichenko entered his plea at the start of a trial, in a case that has revealed infighting at the Bolshoi.
Another defendant, Yuri Zarutsky, accused of throwing the acid, told the court in Moscow that he had attacked Sergei Filin and had acted alone.
At the hearing, Pavel Dmitrichenko denied that he had colluded with Yuri Zarutsky and a third defendant, Andrei Lipatov, who is accused of driving the car used to transport the alleged attacker.
Pavel Dmitrichenko had told the court during earlier hearings that he had met Yuri Zarutsky at his country house, and had said he disapproved of Sergei Filin’s management style.
But he denied organizing the attack on the Bolshoi’s artistic director.
Pavel Dmitrichenko has pleaded not guilty to ordering an acid attack on company’s artistic director Sergei Filin
“What happened to Filin is a result of Zarutsky’s savage conduct, not a result of my activities,” said Pavel Dmitrichenko.
“I had no hostile attitude towards Filin.”
He said Yuri Zarutsky, acting on his own motives, “committed this dangerous act, which we never discussed since I had no intent, and could not have had one to commit such an act in any form”.
Yuri Zarutsky – sitting at the opposite end of the defendants’ caged section to Pavel Dmitrichenko – told the trial judge that he threw the acid.
“I admit being guilty of attacking Filin,” he said, adding that Pavel Dmitrichenko and Andrei Lipatov were not involved.
In his testimony, Andrei Lipatov also denied any part in the attack.
Sergei Filin was not present in court during the hearing.
His lawyer said he was in Germany, receiving more treatment to save his sight and repair damage to his face.
After a very public Twitter fight on Sunday, Kelly Osbourne is ready to bury the hatchet with Lady Gaga.
“@ladygaga I acted like a child last night. Just not into publicity stunts call me & we will end this like adults I don’t want 2 fight anymore,” Kelly Osbourne tweeted on October 28
Their latest feud started after Lady Gaga visited the X Factor UK set and posed with Kelly Osbourne’s mother holding a birthday cake for Kelly.
Then Kelly Osbourne took to Twitter to share her frustrations saying: “Not to be ungrateful but why would you send me a birthday cake via my MOTHER in a country half the would away? #JustSendItToME #LoveNotWar.”
She also posted a picture of the cake with the caption: “#EatMySh – #Hypocrisy.”
Kelly Osbourne is ready to bury the hatchet with Lady Gaga
The post has since been taken down.
The feud originated long before bakers got involved. In 2009, Kelly Osbourne called Lady Gaga a “butterface,” causing the iconic crooner’s band of loyal fans to launch into a series of threats against the Brit.
Lady Gaga later penned an open letter to Kelly Osbourne, criticizing her career choice saying: “Your work on E! with the <<Fashion Police>> is rooted in criticism, judgment, and rating people’s beauty against one another.”
But it was Sharon Osbourne who criticized Lady Gaga’s note, saying the eccentric star was bullying her daughter.
Sharon Osbourne and Lady Gaga have made up. After Lady Gaga performed on The X Factor UK, Sharone tweeted: “Blown away by Lady Gaga’s performance and graciousness.”
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has told a House committee that discerning foreign leaders’ intentions is a key goal of US spying operations.
James Clapper described such efforts as a “top tenet” of US intelligence policy.
However, he told the House intelligence panel the US did not “indiscriminately” spy on other nations.
James Clapper was reacting to a growing international row over reports the US eavesdropped on foreign allies.
“Leadership intentions is kind of a basic tenet of what we collect and analyze,” he said, adding that foreign allies spy on US officials and intelligence agencies as a matter of routine.
James Clapper has told a House committee that discerning foreign leaders’ intentions is a key goal of US spying operations
Also testifying before the House intelligence committee on Tuesday was NSA Director General Keith Alexander, who called media reports in France, Spain and Italy that the NSA collected millions of telephone calls “completely false”.
The information “that lead people to believe that the NSA or United States collected that information is false, and it’s false that it was collected on European citizens,” he added.
“It was neither.”
Tuesday’s hearing followed calls by US Senate intelligence committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein to end eavesdropping on leaders of the nation’s allies.
Dianne Feinstein said the White House had told her such surveillance would stop.
President Barack Obama has faced significant criticism over reports he was unaware of the extent of the spying.
Domnica Cemortan, a Moldovan dancer who was on the bridge of the Costa Concordia cruise ship with Captain Francesco Schettino, has admitted she was his lover at his trial.
Domnica Cemortan testified that she was in a romantic relationship with the captain and was with him when the cruise ship ran aground.
Francesco Schettino faces multiple charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship.
The January 2012 tragedy killed 32 people.
Francesco Schettino faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
On the night the Costa Concordia ran aground, Domnica Cemortan had dinner with Francesco Schettino before he invited her to join him on the bridge as he oversaw what was meant to be a close sail-past of the little Tuscan island of Giglio.
The Italian media has speculated the captain may have been distracted by Domnica Cemortan’s presence, or even showing off.
In court, Domnica Cemortan acknowledged after being pressed that they had been romantically involved. She boarded the ship as a non-paying passenger hours before the crash, saying “when you are someone’s lover no one asks you for a ticket.” Domnica Cemortan dismissed the remark as a joke to her translator.
Domnica Cemortan said she had worked for the company that operated the Costa Concordia for about three weeks in December 2011. She met Francesco Schettino on a previous cruise.
Domnica Cemortan testified that she was in a romantic relationship with Captain Francesco Schettino and was with him when the Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground
After the ship hit the rocks, Domnica Cemortan said the captain urged her to “save herself”.
She told court that she helped other passengers to abandon ship before getting into a lifeboat herself.
The court is expected to hear evidence from about 1,000 surviving passengers and crew in Captain Francesco Schettino’s trial.
In testimony earlier in the day, a crew member from the cruise ship told the court he had asked the captain to sail closer to a Tuscan island as a favor to his family.
The ship’s maitre d’ Antonello Tievoli told the court in Grossetto, Italy that he had asked the captain if he could sail close to the island of Giglio because he has family there, the news agency AP reported.
Francesco Schettino obliged on January 6, but was apparently disappointed with the result, and ordered the ship’s helmsman to plot a closer route for next time.
A week later, the Costa Concordia ran aground on rocks after veering too close to the island, with 3,206 passengers and 1,023 crew aboard.
Francesco Schettino has acknowledged fault in the tragedy, but his defense team is arguing the ship sank in part because watertight doors did not function on the ship.
He also told the court in late September that his Indonesian helmsman was to blame for steering the ship onto rocks and ignoring orders to slow down.
However, an Italian naval expert told the trial these were not crucial factors and the crash would have happened anyway.
The helmsman, Jacob Rusli Bin, is one of five employees who were granted plea bargains in return for mild sentences in a separate proceeding. He was given a sentence of one year and eight months.
The 290m-long Costa Concordia ship was righted last month in one of the largest, most complex salvage operations ever that took 18 hours and followed months of stabilization and preparation work by a team of 500 engineers and divers.
That operation allowed divers to retrieve the remains of one of the two people still missing in the disaster, a young waiter. An Italian passenger, Maria Grazia Trecarichi, is still unaccounted for.
Plans are now being made to attempt to remove the Costa Concordia wreckage next year.
Duck Dynasty stars made their musical debut Tuesday with the national release of Christmas album – Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas.
“We’re proud of it,” Willie Robertson told The News-Star on Monday.
“It has classics and some originals.
“Christmas is about faith and family so it made sense to blend them with the Robertsons.”
Duck Dynasty stars made their musical debut Tuesday with the national release of Christmas album Duck the Halls
Willie, Phil, Missy Robertson, Uncle Si and Sadie Robertson are all featured on the album, along with musical artists George Strait, Alison Krauss, Josh Turner and Luke Bryan.
“We love to sing and love the season,” said the Duck Commander CEO.
“It was a lot of fun, and fans of the show will see similarities to the show with a prayer and my thoughts to close it out.
“And of course, Si has some classic funny songs. It’s a real family album that hopefully is successful.”
Marmaray tunnel underneath the Bosphorus Strait has been opened in Turkey, creating a new link between the Asian and European shores of Istanbul.
The Marmaray tunnel is the world’s first connecting two continents, and is designed to withstand earthquakes.
The railway tunnel was inaugurated on the 90th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey.
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has for years championed the undersea engineering project, first conceived by an Ottoman sultan in 1860.
Work began in 2004, but archaeological excavations delayed construction.
The underwater section runs for 0.8 miles (1.4 km), but in total the tunnel is 8.5 miles (13.6 km) long.
Japan invested $1 billion of the $4 billion total cost of the project, named Marmaray, which is a conflation of the nearby Sea of Marmara with “ray”, the Turkish word for rail.
The Turkish government hopes the new route under the Bosphorus will eventually develop into an important trading route.
Marmaray tunnel underneath the Bosphorus Strait has been opened in Turkey, creating a new link between the Asian and European shores of Istanbul
In theory it brings closer the day when it will be possible to travel from London to Beijing via Istanbul by train.
The Marmaray project will upgrade existing suburban train lines to create a direct link joining the southern part of the city across the Bosphorus Strait.
Istanbul is one of the world’s biggest cities, with about 16 million people. Some 2 million people cross the Bosphorus every day via just two bridges, causing severe traffic congestion, the AFP news agency reported.
The rail service will be capable of carrying 75,000 people per hour in either direction.
“While creating a transport axis between the east and west points of the city, I believe it will soothe the problem” of congestion, said Istanbul’s Mayor Kadir Topbas.
Critics of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan have seen the tunnel as one of his grandiose construction projects for the city where he used to be mayor.
Detractors of his proposals, including a third airport, a parallel canal, a third bridge over the Bosphorus and a second tunnel – for cars, south of Marmaray – say they illustrate Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “pharaonic” ambitions.
Authorities came under fire earlier this year when protesters opposed plans to redevelop Istanbul’s Gezi Park. Widespread violence between anti-government demonstrators and security forces ensued.
Marmaray tunnel is still not fully operational after Tuesday’s opening, AFP reports.
“The part that is in service is very limited. All that has been delayed until much later,” said Tayfun Kahraman, president of the Istanbul Chamber of Urban Planners.
“We are wondering why this inauguration is happening so soon.”
After recently selling a half-hour comedy to CBS, Channing Tatum is now going to be executive producing a reality pilot for A&E.
The hour-long docuseries would revolve around Saints & Sinners, the New Orleans nightclub Channing Tatum opened last year with his friend and business partner Keith Kurtz.
Modeled after New Orleans’ Storyville era, Saints & Sinners’ motto is: “Where the red light is always on.”
Variety magazine reported: “The project is currently in the pilot stage at A&E, and hails from Tatum’s 33andOut Prods. and Original Media. Tatum and Kurtz will exec produce the show alongside Original’s Charlie Corwin. It is unclear whether Tatum will appear in the show.
“Should the burlesque club docuseries be picked up by A&E, it would join the cabler’s slate of unscripted programs including <<Duck Dynasty>>, the <<Storage Wars>> franchise, and <<American Hoggers>>.”
Duck Dynasty’s Alan and Si Robertson will join a number of other celebrities to welcome a new Field & Stream outdoor store in Cincinnati.
Alan Robertson and Uncle Si will be at the new Field & Stream store at Buttermilk Towne Center on Sunday, November 1st. Their visit is part of a three-day event to celebrate the opening of the second-ever Field & Stream retail location.
Two months ago, Willie Robertson surprised a couple at Field & Stream wedding in Pennsylvania
The weekend will also feature visits from Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green and country music star Dustin Lynch as well as several outdoor industry experts and activities.
The weekend’s events will kick off with a performance from Dustin Lynch at 9:30 a.m. Friday and a 10 a.m. ribbon cutting.
Si Robertson dressed up as a beaver for the Halloween celebration on Duck Dynasty’s season finale.
“Look, it ain’t about the costume,” Uncle Si insisted.
“It’s about the attitude.”
“You’re telling me that if you saw a beaver the size of a man, that that would not scare you?” Si Robertson said looking straight into the camera.
Si Robertson dressed up as a beaver for the Halloween celebration
“Buck teeth the size of your head? One chomp, he’d bite your right arm off.”
But when his nephew Willie Robertson, who dressed as Freddy Krueger, failed to see the sinister side of Uncle Si’s creature feature, what with it lacking any blood, Si warned him to be patient.
“That’ll come later when I eat a kid,” he smiled.
When Duck Commander’s haunted house kicked off, Willie Robertson could be seen jumping from the swamp with a warning: “I’m a man-eating mutant beaver, and I love little children the best!”
National Cat Day is an American public holiday celebrating cats and encouraging adoption rather than buying from pet stores supplied by kitten mills.
The holiday celebrates fabulous felines of all breeds, shapes and sizes.
National Cat Day is celebrated on October 29th each year.
The annual event was created to raise awareness about the millions of homeless cats and kittens waiting for homes.
National Cat Day is a public holiday celebrating cats and encouraging adoption rather than buying from pet stores
National Cat Day is an official holiday of the Animal Miracle Foundation, founded by Pet Lifestyle Expert and Animal Advocate, Colleen Paige to help galvanize the public to recognize the number of cats that need to be rescued each year and also to encourage cat lovers to celebrate the cat(s) in their life for the unconditional love and companionship they bestow upon us.
Since its inception, nearly 1 million cats have been saved since National Cat Day began back in 2005. This year’s goal is to “facilitate the adoption of 10,000 shelter cats” on October 29, 2013.
O.J. Simpson’s South Florida house will be auctioned today (October 29), a Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts official said.
The sale is part of a bank foreclosure proceeding issued by a judge in August for JPMorgan Chase Bank.
The 4,233-square-foot home near Miami has been in foreclosure proceedings for about two years. The home is expected to appear in the online auction Tuesday.
O.J. Simpson was convicted in 2008 in Nevada of the kidnapping and armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers in Las Vegas
O.J. Simpson was convicted in 2008 in Nevada of the kidnapping and armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers in Las Vegas. He was also acquitted in 1995 of killing his ex-wife and her friend.
Court documents show O.J. Simpson owes more than $796,000 in principal and interest on the Florida property. There’s also nearly $42,000 in unpaid property taxes and insurance premiums of about $43,000.
The property is located on 9450 Southwest 112 Street in Kendall.
Poisoned candy, black cats, the “unlucky” number 13 – some legendary superstitions that make your skin crawl on Halloween.
1. Halloween is the devil’s holiday
Halloween is actually derived from Celtic and Druid ritual, which is separate from Christianity – meaning “Satan” isn’t even a factor. Scholars attribute this myth to Christian fundamentalists who thought that the dark imagery associated with Halloween made it evil and the work of the devil. In all actuality, the original Halloween celebrations were dedicated to positivity, like celebrating the harvest.
2. People hand out poisoned (or otherwise tampered with) candy
Every year, parents worry about their children’s well-being when they go out to trick or treat. But maybe this will make you relax just a bit: There have only been two confirmed cases of children being killed by poisoned Halloween candy, and in both cases, they were killed intentionally by one of their parents. With those two exceptions, no child has been killed or seriously injured thanks to Halloween candy.
3. A black cat crossing your path means bad things to come
Halloween is derived from Celtic and Druid ritual, which is separate from Christianity
If a black cat crosses your path, well – you’re screwed. This myth originates from the idea that witches used to keep these creatures as companions and that some could even change themselves into cats. All of this is completely bogus, and in some countries and cultures (the UK, Japan and Scotland, for example), a black cat actually has a positive connotation: foreshadowing good things to come.
4. A broken mirror equals bad luck
Break a mirror and you’ll have seven years’ bad luck. This myth is derived from an idea that our ancestors had: The image in a mirror was your actual soul, and if a mirror was shattered, it meant your soul had gone astray. The only way to set it straight? Bury the pieces of broken glass.
5. The number 13 is unlucky
Could a number get a worse rep than 13? People even skip it as an official floor in many buildings, going straight from 12 to 14. But this number is just that. There’s a lot of speculation as to why 13 has been deemed unlucky, including the idea that there were 13 witches in a coven, but rest assured – it’s perfectly fine to leave your house on the 13th. Even on a Friday.
Two soldiers have been sacked and jailed for looting during last month’s attack on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping centre, Kenyan army chief Julius Karangi has said.
Julius Karangi said that a third soldier was under investigation.
He has previously said that soldiers had only taken water during the four-day siege, despite CCTV footage seeming to show them helping themselves to goods in a supermarket.
Somali Islamist group al-Shabab says it was behind the attack, which killed 67.
Two soldiers have been sacked and jailed for looting during last month’s attack on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping centre
At the same news conference, Police Criminal Investigation Department head Ndegwa Muhoro said that a phone call had been made to Norway during the siege.
One of the suspected attackers has been named as 23-year-old Somalia-born Norwegian national, Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow.
The Kenyan army has said that all four of the attackers died.
Ndegwa Muhoro said that Interpol was helping to analyse the bodies to confirm their identities, reports the AFP news agency.
Officials had initially said there were 10-15 attackers.
Ndegwa Muhoro said that five other people were in detention over the attack and would be charged soon.
Several shop-owners have said that their premises were looted during the siege.
The WHO has confirmed 10 cases of polio in Syria – the first outbreak in the country in 14 years.
The WHO says a further 12 cases are still being investigated. Most of the 22 people who have been tested are babies and toddlers.
Before Syria’s civil war began in 2011, some 95% of children were vaccinated against the disease.
The UN now estimates 500,000 children have not been immunized.
The WHO said the suspected outbreak centres on the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.
The highly contagious disease is most often spread by consuming food or liquid contaminated with faeces.
“Of course this is a communicable disease, with population movements it can travel to other areas. So the risk is high for [its] spread across the region,” the Reuters news agency quotes WHO spokesman Oliver Rosenbauer as saying in Geneva.
“Immunizations have started in that area,” he said.
The WHO has confirmed 10 cases of polio in Syria
There are more than 100,000 children, all under age five, now at risk of polio in Deir Ezzor province alone, which has been caught in fierce battles between Syrian government forces and opposition fighters.
The city of Deir Ezzor remains partially controlled by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, while the countryside is in the hands of the opposition.
More than 4 million Syrians have been displaced internally by the conflict and generally live in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions.
A further two million have fled the country, many of them living in refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt.
The WHO has already reported increases in cases of measles, typhoid and hepatitis A.
Since the first suspected polio case was reported 10 days ago, Syria’s Health Ministry has begun an immunization drive and aid agencies have begun developing emergency immunization plans at Syrian refugee camps.
Oliver Rosenbauer said most victims were under two years old and were thought never to have been vaccinated against polio.
“The next step will be to look genetically at these isolated viruses and where they came from. That should give some clarity on the origin,” he said.
Polio has been largely eradicated in developed countries but remains endemic in Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
There is no known cure, though a series of vaccinations can confer immunity.
Young children are particularly susceptible to paralytic polio, the most serious form of the disease.
What is polio?
Polio (poliomyelitis) mainly affects children aged under five
It is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus which invades the nervous system
Symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and limb pain
One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis
Between 5-10% of those who suffer paralysis die because their breathing muscles are immobilized
Cases have fallen by over 99% since 1988, from around 350,000 then to 223 in 2012
However polio remains endemic in Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan
Conductor Daniel Barenboim is stepping down as musical director of La Scala opera house two years early at the beginning of 2015.
Stephane Lissner, superintendent of Milan’s La Scala, called Daniel Barenboim’s departure the “end of an era”.
Daniel Barenboim joined the world-renowned opera house in 2006 before becoming musical director in December 2011.
Unconfirmed reports in Italian media suggested he will be succeeded by Milanese conductor, Riccardo Chailly.
Conductor Daniel Barenboim is stepping down as musical director of La Scala opera house two years early at the beginning of 2015
Stephane Lissner is also leaving La Scala in August 2014 to manage the Paris Opera and will be succeeded by Alexander Pereira, the Austrian artistic director of the Salzburg Festival.
Alexander Pereira previously indicated that he would like an Italian to be the next musical director and Italian media suggested Riccardo Chailly would be his choice.
Israeli-Argentine Daniel Barenboim, 70, will continue to work on his many other projects, including establishing an academy for Israeli and Palestinian musicians and overseeing an academy for young musicians in Berlin, housed in a concert hall built by architect Frank Gehry.
Some of Daniel Barenboim’s commitments at La Scala in 2014 include Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride, Cosi Fan Tutte by Mozart and Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra.
Daniel Barenboim will open the 2014-15 season with Fidelio, Beethoven’s only opera.
The Senate’s intelligence committee has ordered a major review of the US surveillance operations.
The committee’s chair, Senator Dianne Feinstein, said eavesdropping on leaders of friendly nations was wrong.
Dianne Feinstein said the White House had told her such surveillance would stop.
Senior US intelligence agency officials are to testify before the House of Representatives later on Tuesday.
Correspondents say pressure is growing on the White House to explain why President Barack Obama apparently did not know about the extent of the intelligence gathering operations.
Barack Obama has spoken publicly of his intent to probe spying activities amid claims of eavesdropping on US allies.
In a recent interview, Barack Obama said that national security operations were being reassessed to make sure the NSA’s growing technical spying capability was kept under control.
“We give them policy direction,” Barack Obama told ABC’s Fusion channel.
The Senate’s intelligence committee has ordered a major review of the US surveillance operations
“But what we’ve seen over the last several years is their capacities continue to develop and expand, and that’s why I’m initiating now, a review to make sure that what they’re able to do, doesn’t necessarily mean what they should be doing.”
An EU delegate in Washington has described the row over intelligence gathering as “a breakdown of trust”.
German media has reported that the US bugged German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone for more than a decade – and that the surveillance only ended a few months ago.
Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate intelligence panel, called for a “total review” of US intelligence programmes in light of the Merkel revelations.
“With respect to NSA collection of intelligence on leaders of US allies – including France, Spain, Mexico and Germany – let me state unequivocally: I am totally opposed,” she said in a statement.
“It is my understanding that President Obama was not aware Chancellor Merkel’s communications were being collected since 2002. That is a big problem.”
Dianne Feinstein said the White House had told her that all surveillance of leaders of countries friendly to the US would stop.
The US has had a “no spying pact”, known as Five Eyes, with Britain since just after World War II, with Australia, New Zealand and Canada later joining.
Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has decided to inspect three major banks, including giant Mitsubishi, over possible transactions involving yakuza organized crime gangs.
One of them, Mizuho Financial, has already admitted senior managers knew three years ago it had lent 200 million yen ($2 million) to Japanese criminal gangs, but did not take action.
An external inquiry cleared the bank of intentionally covering up the loans.
Mizuho Financial has already admitted senior managers knew three years ago it had lent $2 million to Japanese criminal gangs
Sumitomo Mitsui is the third involved.
The yakuza gangs are not actually illegal. But like the Italian mafia or the Chinese triads, they are involved in unsavory activities such as gambling, drugs and prostitution, as well as operating protection rackets.
On Monday, lawyers hired by Mizuho to look into the transactions said “many officials and board members were aware of, or were in a position to be aware of, the issue”.
But the lawyers’ report also said that Mizuho failed to recognize it as a problem, believing that the compliance division “was taking care of it”.
The company said 54 former and current executives would be punished, including Mizuho bank chairman, Takashi Tsukamoto, who is resigning his position but will remain as head of the parent company.
One year ago, Superstorm Sandy hit the US east coast, killing at least 117 people.
Sandy was the most destructive storm in the US since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
On Monday, historical immigration landmark Ellis Island reopened for the first time since the storm flooded low-lying areas in New York City.
But many communities are still struggling to rebuild amid complaints emergency funds have failed to reach the hardest-hit.
As of August, just under a quarter of the $48 billion earmarked for rebuilding had been committed to local governments, according to Reuters news agency.
Federal officials have unveiled plans for a second round of disaster relief amounting to $5 billion for five states and New York City, and they pledged that the pace of spending would pick up after a slow start.
“In year one, we all agreed the aid flowed too slowly,” Senator Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, told reporters.
One year ago, Superstorm Sandy hit the US east coast, killing at least 117 people
“The second year will be a lot better. The spigot is now open.”
The shorelines of New Jersey and New York still bear deep scars from Sandy, with empty lots where family and vacation homes used to stand, and businesses are closed down and boarded up.
Many owners are still battling to receive pay-outs from their insurance companies, while others are still waiting to find out whether they will receive compensation from the government for wrecked properties that are now uninhabitable.
Almost two-thirds of the people who applied for federal disaster aid have not received any, our correspondent says.
In New York City, as work repairing the last subway line to be damaged by flooding continues, transit officials were offering free subway rides on Tuesday from hard-hit areas of the Rockaways and Howard Beach.
Meanwhile, homes in Oakwood Beach, Staten Island, have been bought out under a state programme that promises to turn neighborhoods wrecked by Superstorm Sandy into perpetual green space.
Events are being held to mark the anniversary of the storm, including a state-wide prayer service in New Jersey.
At least 117 deaths have been blamed on Sandy in the US, according to officials.
Turkey is to open a railway tunnel underneath the Bosphorus Strait, creating a new link between the Asian and European shores of Istanbul.
Turkey’s PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has for years championed the undersea engineering project, conceived by an Ottoman sultan in 1860.
Work began in 2004 but archaeological excavations delayed the construction.
Japan invested $1 billion of the $4 billion total cost of the 0.8 mile tunnel, designed to withstand earthquakes.
The Bosphorus tunnel is scheduled to be inaugurated at 11:00 a.m., local time.
The railway tunnel underneath the Bosphorus Strait creates a new link between the Asian and European shores of Istanbul
The Turkish government hopes the new route under the Bosphorus will eventually develop into an important trading route, extending from China all the way to Western Europe.
Critics of Recep Tayyip Erdogan have seen the tunnel as one of his grandiose construction projects for the city where he used to be mayor.
Detractors of his proposals, including a third airport, a parallel canal and a third bridge over the Bosphorus, say they illustrate Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “pharaonic” ambitions.
Authorities came under fire earlier this year when protesters opposed plans to redevelop a park in Istanbul. Widespread violence between anti-government demonstrators and security forces ensued.
The rail tunnel will not be fully operational after its official opening on Tuesday, the news agency AFP reports.
“The part that is in service is very limited. All that has been delayed until much later,” said Tayfun Kahraman, president of the Istanbul Chamber of Urban Planners.
“We are wondering why this inauguration is happening so soon.”
Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe will be present at the official opening in recognition of the Bank of Japan’s status as the project’s principal financial backer.
City officials say the tunnel will relieve pressure on the two existing bridges, as well as ease traffic congestion and pollution.
Two suspects have been named by Beijing police after a deadly car crash in Tiananmen Square, state media report.
The vehicle crashed into a crowd and burst into flames, killing five people.
Police subsequently issued a notice to hotels in Beijing seeking information about two people from Xinjiang province, Chinese media said.
The note also described a vehicle and four number plates from Xinjiang, the scene of sporadic violent incidents.
State-run Xinhua news agency said of the five people who died on Monday, three people died inside the car and two tourists were killed. Another 38 people were injured.
Police shut down the scene of the incident – at the north end of the square at an entrance to the Forbidden City – shortly after it occurred, temporarily closing a subway station and a road.
There has been no official statement on the cause of the incident.
Five people died on Monday in Tiananmen Square car crash
“A major case has taken place on Monday,” the police notice said, without specifying what. It named two residents from Xinjiang’s Pishan and Shanshan counties as suspects.
The notice, unconfirmed images of which have been widely circulated on Chinese social media, also asked hotels to look out for “suspicious guests” and vehicles.
China’s state-controlled Global Times said it had confirmation from the Beijing police that the notice was genuine, although police did not comment on the “major case” itself.
Zhao Fuzhou, a security official at Beijing’s Xinjiang Dasha hotel, said that police had circulated a notice to hotels searching for information about two suspects with Uighur names, AP news agency reported.
Xinjiang is home to the minority Muslim Uighur group, some of whom complain of cultural and religious repression under Beijing’s rule. There have been sporadic outbreaks of violence in Xinjiang, including both Pishan and Shanshan counties.
China says it grants the Uighurs wide-ranging freedoms.
On Monday a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said she did not know “specifics” about the incident. The country’s main state-run news agency, Xinhua, on Monday offered no reason for the incident but said police were investigating.
Tiananmen Square is a highly sensitive site due to its link to China’s 1989 pro-democracy protests, which were ended by a military crackdown.
The square is generally kept under very tight security both because of its proximity to key political institutions and so that is does not serve as a hub for protesters and petitioners, although incidents have nonetheless occurred there before.
The White House has admitted the need for additional “constraints” on US intelligence gathering, amid claims of eavesdropping on allies.
President Barack Obama’s spokesman, Jay Carney, said an ongoing White House intelligence policy review would account for “privacy concerns”.
Spain is the latest of several countries reported to have been the target of US collection of phone data.
A top Democrat in the Senate has said its intelligence panel will undertake a “major review” of US spying programmes.
Senator Dianne Feinstein said she was “totally opposed” to the NSA’s intelligence gathering on leaders of US allies.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said an ongoing White House intelligence policy review would account for privacy concerns
An EU delegate in Washington described the row as “a breakdown of trust”.
On Monday Jay Carney told reporters the administration “recognize[s] there needs to be additional constraints on how we gather and use intelligence”.
He said the US did not use its intelligence gathering capabilities for the purpose of promoting its economic interests, and that Barack Obama was committed to ensuring “that we are collecting information not just because we can, but because we should, because we need it for our security”.
“We also need to ensure that our intelligence resources are most effectively supporting our foreign policy and national security objectives, that we are more effectively weighing the risks and rewards of our activities,” he said.
An across-the-board review of US intelligence resources, currently under way, is also expected to assist the administration in “properly accounting for both the security of our citizens and our allies and the privacy concerns shared by Americans and citizens around the world”, Jay Carney added.
Jay Carney or Barack Obama have not commented on specific allegations that the US eavesdropped on international allies, including tapping the phones of foreign officials.
Kim Kardashian celebrated her 33rd birthday on Friday with friends and family in Las Vegas.
The newly engaged Kim Kardashian flocked to one of her favorite spots, TAO at The Venetian, for the bash, where she was joined by her fiancé Kanye West, momager Kris Jenner, sisters Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian, as well as Scott Disick, Naya Rivera, Tyga, Blac Chyna, Jonathan Cheban, Simon Huck and Robin Antin.
Kim Kardashian donned a white corset-style dress that left little of her post-baby body to the imagination.
Kim Kardashian celebrated her 33rd birthday on Friday with friends and family in Las Vegas
The festivities kicked off as costumed dancers lined the catwalk behind a row of VIP tables on the dance floor. Kim Kardashian’s crew enjoyed plenty of champagne and a super-sweet treat: a birthday cake topped with a giant sugar replica of her 15-carat diamond ring and a compass displaying the initials of baby daughter North West, whom she welcomed with Kanye West on June 15.
As the party continued, guests were treated to a montage of “Flashback Friday” photos displayed on the screen above the deejay booth (where the playlist included songs by West, of course).
Before the birthday bash came to a close, Kim Kardashian took the mic for a shout-out her guests.
Earlier in the night, Kim Kardashian hit Kanye West’s Yeezus Tour stop at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Penn State has spent $59.7 million on costs related to the scandal involving Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted of child abuse.
Penn State is paying the sum to 26 young men over claims of child abuse at the hands of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
The school said 23 deals are fully signed and three are agreements in principle, but did not disclose the names of the recipients. The school faces six other claims, and the university says it believes some of those do not have merit while others may produce settlements.
University president Rodney Erickson issued a statement calling the announcement a step forward for victims and the school.
“We cannot undo what has been done, but we can and must do everything possible to learn from this and ensure it never happens again at Penn State,” said Rodney Erickson, who announced the day Jerry Sandusky was convicted in June 2012 of 45 criminal counts that Penn State was determined to compensate his victims.
The settlements have been unfolding since mid-August, when attorneys for the accusers began to disclose them. Penn State followed a policy in which it has not been confirming them, waiting instead to announce deals at once.
Penn State has spent $59.7 million on costs related to the scandal involving Jerry Sandusky
Harrisburg lawyer Ben Andreozzi, who helped negotiate several of the settlements, said his clients were satisfied.
“They felt that the university treated them fairly with the economic and noneconomic terms of the settlement,” said Ben Andreozzi, who also represents some others who have come forward recently. Those new claims have not been presented to the university, he said.
Penn State has spent more than $50 million on other costs related to the Sandusky scandal, including lawyers’ fees, public relations expenses, and adoption of new policies and procedures related to children and abuse complaints.
It said Monday that liability insurance is expected to cover the payments and legal defense, and expenses not covered should be paid from interest paid on loans by Penn State to its self-supporting units.
Jerry Sandusky, 69, has been pursuing appeals while he serves a 30- to 60-year state prison sentence.
He was convicted of abusing 10 boys, some of them at Penn State facilities. Eight young men testified against him.
Jerry Sandusky did not testify at his trial but has long asserted his innocence. He has acknowledged he showered with boys but insisted he never molested them.
The abuse scandal rocked Penn State, bringing down football coach Joe Paterno and leading college sports’ governing body, the NCAA, to levy unprecedented sanctions against the university’s football program.
Three former Penn State administrators await trial in Harrisburg on charges they engaged in a criminal cover-up of the Sandusky scandal. Former president Graham Spanier, retired vice president Gary Schultz and retired athletic director Tim Curley deny the allegations, and a trial date has not been scheduled.
Spain has demanded the US to give details of any eavesdropping, amid reports it monitored 60 million Spanish telephone calls in a month.
The US ambassador to Spain, who had been summoned by its EU minister, vowed to clear the “doubts” that had arisen about his country’s alleged espionage.
Spanish Minister for European Affairs Inigo Mendez de Vigo said such practices, if true, were “inappropriate and unacceptable”.
An EU delegate in Washington said there had been “a breakdown of trust”.
Representatives from the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs spoke to members of the US Congress about the alleged US spying on European leaders and citizens.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is also sending intelligence officials to Washington to demand answers to claims that her phones were tapped for a decade.
Spain has demanded the US to give details of any eavesdropping, amid reports it monitored 60 million Spanish telephone calls in a month
German media reported that the US had bugged Angela Merkel’s phone for more than a decade – and that the surveillance only ended a few months ago.
The German government hoped that trust between the two countries could be restored, a spokesman told a news conference in Berlin.
The latest allegation, published by Spain’s El Mundo newspaper, is that the NSA tracked tens of millions of phone calls, texts and emails of Spanish citizens, in December 2012 and January 2013. The monitoring allegedly peaked on December 11.
The White House has so far declined to comment on the El Mundo report.
It is not clear how the alleged surveillance was carried out, whether it was through monitoring fibre-optic cables, data obtained from telecommunication companies, or other means.
The NSA is reported to have collected the sender and recipient addresses of emails, along with their IP addresses, the message file size, and sometimes the top or subject line of the message.
For each telephone call, the numbers of the caller and recipient are believed to have been logged, as was its duration, time, date and location.
The contents of the telephone call itself, however, were not monitored, US intelligence officials say. The NSA has also suggested it does not usually store the geolocational information of mobile phone calls, which could determined by noting which mobile signal towers were used.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8×8 inch baking dish.
Lightly mix together the ground beef, egg, bread cubes, onion, tomato, garlic, chili sauce, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
Wash the peppers, and cut jack-o’-lantern faces into the peppers with a sharp paring knife, making triangle eyes and noses, and pointy-teeth smiles. Slice off the tops of the peppers, and scoop out the seeds and cores. Stuff the peppers lightly with the beef stuffing, and place them into the prepared baking dish so they lean against each other.
Bake in the preheated oven until the peppers are tender and the stuffing is cooked through and juicy, about 1 hour.[youtube uM6ErLnAGW4 650]
