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Saving Mr. Banks: Marry Poppins film gets world premiere at BFI London Film Festival

Sonia Pantiss
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Saving Mr. Banks: Marry Poppins film gets world premiere at BFI London Film Festival

Saving Mr. Banks – a film about the long and difficult process of making the Disney musical Mary Poppins – had its world premiere in London on Sunday night.

The film, which stars Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, officially brought this year’s BFI London Film Festival to a close.

Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks walked the red carpet in Leicester Square to the delight of hundreds of fans who had braved heavy rain earlier in the day.

The film focuses on the real-life battle of wills between prickly author PL Travers, played by Emma Thompson, and Walt Disney over the movie rights to her famous literary creation.

Directed by John Lee Hancock, the film is already being tipped for Oscar success.

Saving Mr. Banks is a film about the long and difficult process of making the Disney musical Mary Poppins
Saving Mr. Banks is a film about the long and difficult process of making the Disney musical Mary Poppins

This year’s BFI London Film Festival kicked off with maritime thriller Captain Phillips, a true story in which Tom Hanks plays a ship’s captain taken hostage by Somali pirates in 2009.

Speaking about his role as Walt Disney, Tom Hanks said: “In a lot of ways Mary Poppins was the crowning achievement of everything he did, it won all the Academy Awards, it was a huge monster hit and it was the last movie that he truly was hands-on.”

In reality, Walt Disney had spent some 20 years in pursuit of the film rights to Mary Poppins. The main focus of the film is the two weeks in 1961 that PL Travers reluctantly spent with Walt Disney in Los Angeles as he tried to win her over.

During the visit she was played songs by the Sherman brothers, which ended up in the 1964 film, such as A Spoonful of Sugar and Let’s Go Fly a Kite.

PL Travers, who died in 1996, so disliked the Oscar-winning Disney production that she never allowed any more Mary Poppins books to be adapted into films.

The cast of Saving Mr. Banks also includes Irish actor Colin Farrell and English actress Ruth Wilson, who play the parents of the young PL Travers in 1906 Australia.

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China smog closes schools, highways and airport in Harbin

Nancy Clayson
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China smog closes schools, highways and airport in Harbin

China’s smog has forced schools, highways and airport to shut in northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province.

The density of airborne particles was several times above World Health Organization (WHO) recommended limits.

Visibility was reduced to below 160ft in parts of the city, reports said.

Local media have linked the pollution to the city switching on its public heating system for winter.

China’s smog has forced schools, highways and airport to shut in northern city of Harbin
China’s smog has forced schools, highways and airport to shut in northern city of Harbin

PM2.5 levels, used to measure the amount of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres in the air, were above 500 micrograms per cubic metre on Monday morning, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

WHO guidelines say average daily concentrations of PM2.5 should be no more than 25 microgrammes per cubic metre.

All of Heilongjiang province’s highways, and the Taiping International Airport in Harbin were forced to close, Xinhua reported.

A red alert for thick smog had been issued in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, the news agency added.

Earlier this year, air pollution in China’s capital, Beijing, also soared past hazardous levels.

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Nairobi mall attack: Westgate CCTV footage shows Kenyan soldiers looting goods

Diane A. Wade
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Nairobi mall attack: Westgate CCTV footage shows Kenyan soldiers looting goods

Nairobi shopping center’s security camera footage shows what appear to be Kenyan security forces looting goods during last month’s siege of the Westgate mall.

In the footage, some soldiers can be seen carrying white shopping bags, while others appear to take white boxes from a mobile phone store.

At least 67 people died when suspected al-Shabab militants stormed the Nairobi shopping centre on September 21.

The Kenyan military says it is investigating the looting allegations.

News agencies say the CCTV footage is taken inside the entrance to the Westgate mall’s Nakumatt supermarket, which sells everything from food to televisions.

In one section of footage, several soldiers are seen walking out of the supermarket, past a blood-spattered floor, carrying plastic carrier bags.

In another clip, Kenyan soldiers can be seen next to a mobile phone outlet.

Nairobi shopping center’s security camera footage shows what appear to be Kenyan security forces looting goods during last month's siege of the Westgate mall
Nairobi shopping center’s security camera footage shows what appear to be Kenyan security forces looting goods during last month’s siege of the Westgate mall

One reaches over the counter, and apparently removes a white item.

Then more soldiers remove white items, which the Reuters news agency describes as mobile phone boxes.

The Westgate attack sparked a four-day siege in which large parts of the shopping centre were destroyed.

The Kenyan military says it has launched an investigation into the looting allegations, which correspondents say will have angered many Kenyans.

At the weekend, Kenya’s biggest-selling newspaper, The Nation, ran an article entitled Shame of soldiers looting Westgate.

The footage of the alleged looting emerged as the Kenyan authorities announced they had recovered the body of what they consider to be a fourth attacker.

“Today, Sunday 20 October 2013, we recovered a fourth body, which we know from CCTV footage to be that of a terrorist,” said the Kenyan interior minister, Joseph Ole Lenku.

“DNA and other investigations will confirm their identities. We have also recovered four AK47 assault rifles which we know were used by the terrorists in the assault. We also recovered 11 magazines of AK47 assault rifles.”

Officials had initially said 10 to 15 gunmen were involved, but CCTV footage appears to show only four militants.

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Katyn massacre: European court criticizes Russia over inquiry

James J. Williams
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Katyn massacre: European court criticizes Russia over inquiry

Russia has failed to explain why it kept key files secret when it investigated the 1940 Katyn massacre of more than 20,000 Polish war prisoners, the European Court of Human Rights says.

Russia failed to comply with a human rights obligation to provide evidence, the Strasbourg judges ruled.

Soviet Russia only admitted to the atrocity in 1990 after blaming the Nazis for five decades.

But the ruling also said the court had no authority to rule on the killings.

The massacre in Katyn forest took place before the European Convention on Human Rights was signed.

The court’s examination came after 15 relatives of the victims claimed that Russia had failed to carry out an adequate investigation.

They said Moscow had prevented them from finding out the truth about the killings in western Russia.

Moscow started a criminal investigation into the killings the same year, but the inquiry was discontinued in 2004 on the orders of the Russian chief military prosecutor’s office.

Russia has failed to explain why it kept key files secret when it investigated the 1940 Katyn massacre of more than 20,000 Polish war prisoners
Russia has failed to explain why it kept key files secret when it investigated the 1940 Katyn massacre of more than 20,000 Polish war prisoners

Files about that decision remain classified, and the Polish claimants have not had access to it or any other information about the investigation.

No-one has ever been convicted in connection with the massacre, with Russian prosecutors arguing that those responsible are now dead.

However, in 2010 Russia’s parliament issued a statement saying more work needed to be done in “verifying the lists of victims… and uncovering the circumstances of the tragedy”.

The parliament also said the killings had been carried out on Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s orders.

In 2010, Russia also published online six once-secret files on the mass killings. The documents had until then only been available to researchers.

Poland has repeatedly demanded that Russia open all its files on Katyn.

The killings were carried out by the Soviet secret police (NKVD) in April and May 1940 in the Katyn forest near the city of Smolensk, and also near the village of Mednoye, in the Tver region, and the village of Pyatykhatky in what was then Soviet Ukraine.

The victims were members of the Polish elite, arrested after the USSR invaded and annexed eastern Poland in 1939.

They were shot on the recommendation of NKVD head Lavrenty Beria, according to one of the published secret files.

In a letter to Joseph Stalin dated March 5, 1940, Lavrenty Beria says the Polish prisoners of war should be executed and refers to them as “steadfast, incorrigible enemies of Soviet power”.

“Each of them is just waiting for liberation so as to actively join the struggle against Soviet power,” it says.

The letter bears Joseph Stalin’s signature in blue pencil, with the comment: “In favor”.

In April 2010, Polish President Lech Kaczynski and more than 90 other government officials were killed when their plane crashed as it was trying to land at Smolensk airport to attend an event marking the Katyn massacre.

Edward Snowden NSA leaks: France summons US ambassador over spy scandal

Diane A. Wade
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Edward Snowden NSA leaks: France summons US ambassador over spy scandal

France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has summoned the US ambassador over Le Monde newspaper claims that the US spied on millions of phone calls in France.

France has labeled such activity between allies as “unacceptable”.

Le Monde says the data, based on leaks from ex-intelligence analyst Edward Snowden, suggest the US NSA monitored businesses and officials as well as terrorism suspects.

The intercepts were apparently triggered by certain key words.

Le Monde says the US National Security Agency (NSA) spied on 70.3 million phone calls in France in just 30 days between December 10, 2012, and January 8, 2013.

The NSA also apparently captured millions of text messages.

Leaks from ex-intelligence analyst Edward Snowden suggest the NSA monitored businesses and officials as well as terrorism suspects
Leaks from ex-intelligence analyst Edward Snowden suggest the NSA monitored businesses and officials as well as terrorism suspects

It was unclear whether the content of the calls and messages was stored, or just the metadata – the details of who is speaking to whom.

Le Monde did not say whether the operation, codenamed US-985D, was still in progress.

Laurent Fabius announced that he had summoned the US ambassador to discuss the claims “immediately”.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls had earlier said the allegations were “shocking”, and added: “If an allied country spies on France, this is totally unacceptable.”

Le Monde reported in July that the French government ran a huge snooping operation on its own citizens, giving its intelligence agencies access to vast amounts of personal data.

The latest revelations follow claims in the German media that US agents hacked into the email account of former Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

Edward Snowden, a former NSA employee, went public with revelations about US spying operations in June.

The information he leaked led to claims of systematic spying by the NSA and CIA on a global scale.

Targets included rivals like China and Russia, as well as allies like the EU and Brazil.

The NSA was also forced to admit it captured email and phone data from millions of Americans.

Edward Snowden is currently in Russia, where he was granted a year-long visa after making an asylum application.

The US wants Edward Snowden extradited to face trial on criminal charges.

Gravity tops US and Canadian box office for a third week

Sonia Pantiss
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Gravity tops US and Canadian box office for a third week

Space thriller Gravity has held on to the top of the US and Canadian box office for a third week.

Sandra Bullock’s 3D thriller, co-starring George Clooney, took $31 million according to figures from Rentrak.

Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks, stayed in second place, taking $17.3 million in its second week.

WikiLeaks drama The Fifth Estate, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange, had 2013’s worst debut weekend so far, taking just $1.7 million.

Julian Assange, who founded whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, had claimed Disney’s film would be a failure. Last week, an email he wrote to Cumberbatch urging him not to take part in the project was released online.

Gravity, directed by Alfonso Cuaron and starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts stranded in space, has now made more than $170 million in three weeks.

IMAX screenings have proved particularly popular because of the film’s groundbreaking visuals, accounting for $38 million in ticket sales, with 82% of audiences opting for 3D showings.

Warner Brothers’ Jeffrey Goldstein has attributed the film’s success to “phenomenal word of mouth”.

Gravity has held on to the top of the US and Canadian box office for a third week
Gravity has held on to the top of the US and Canadian box office for a third week

Paul Greengrass’s true story-based Somali pirate drama Captain Philips also held off newcomer Carrie. The horror remake, starring Kick-Ass actress Chloe Grace Moretz, took third place, with $17 million.

The original 1976 film, based on Stephen King’s novel, saw Oscar nominations for actresses Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie.

Family favorite, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, was in fourth after taking $10.1 million in its fourth week.

Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new action film Escape Plan rounded off the top five with $9.8 million.

In a limited release of just 19 cinemas, Steve McQueen’s Oscar-tipped slavery epic 12 Years a Slave, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, opened with a promising $960,000.

North American box office Top 5:

1. Gravity – $31 million

2. Captain Phillips – $17.3 million

3. Carrie – $17 million

4. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs – $10.1 million

5. Escape Plan – $9.8 million

Figures from Rentrak

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Greece: Roma couple in court on charges of abducting mystery blonde girl Maria

Nancy Clayson
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Greece: Roma couple in court on charges of abducting mystery blonde girl Maria

The Roma couple keeping a four-year-old blonde girl named Maria on their camp is due to appear in court in Greece on charges of abducting the toddler.

Maria was found during a raid on a Roma camp in central Greece last week.

DNA tests showed that Maria is not related to the couple, who insist they were given her legitimately.

The little girl is being cared for in Athens by a charity, called The Smile of the Child, which has received more than 8,000 calls after an appeal for information about her identity.

The Roma couple – a woman aged 40 and a 39-year-old man – are due to appear before judges later on Monday to answer charges of abducting a minor and holding false papers.

The Roma community where the girl was found has rallied around the couple, saying they looked after her well.

Maria was found during a raid on a Roma camp in central Greece last week
Maria was found during a raid on a Roma camp in central Greece last week

The head of the Roma association in Farsala in central Greece says the pair treated her better than their biological children and that she loved them.

The brother of the man claiming to be Maria’s father repeated the defense that she had been given to them lawfully after her birth.

A lawyer representing the Roma couple, Kostas Katsavos, said they were carrying out a search for the girl’s mother.

Kostas Katsavos said the couple claim the woman had given Maria to them because she could not look after her own biological daughter.

“Our clients’ claim is that <<we never abducted this child we just adopted her>> in a way that was not legal, that we can confess,” said the lawyer.

But the couple are suspected by social workers of kidnapping the girl and sending her out to beg.

Police initially raided the Roma camp to search for drugs and weapons.

They noticed the lack of resemblance between the blonde-haired, green-eyed, pale-skinned little girl and her parents, and found further discrepancies when they investigated the family’s documents.

The couple had registered different numbers of children with different regional family registries.

The Greek authorities say the couple were in possession of false papers which suggested the woman had given birth to six children within a 10-month period.

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Edward Snowden leaks: Mexico condemns alleged US spying on President Felipe Calderon

Diane A. Wade
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Edward Snowden leaks: Mexico condemns alleged US spying on President Felipe Calderon

Mexico’s foreign ministry has strongly condemned alleged US spying after a report said that former President Felipe Calderon’s emails were hacked by the National Security Agency (NSA).

Data leaked by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden showed Mexico’s ex-President Felipe Calderon’s emails were hacked in 2010, Germany’s Der Spiegel reports.

Mexico’s foreign ministry said such spying was “unacceptable, illegal” and contrary to good relations.

It urged President Barack Obama to complete an investigation into the allegations.

Data leaked by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden showed Mexico’s ex-President Felipe Calderon's emails were hacked in 2010
Data leaked by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden showed Mexico’s ex-President Felipe Calderon’s emails were hacked in 2010

In an official statement, the Mexican foreign ministry said it would soon re-iterate the importance of such an investigation through diplomatic means.

“In a relationship between neighbors and partners, there is no place for the alleged practices,” the statement said.

Previous reports had already suggested the NSA had intercepted communications involving current President Enrique Pena Nieto before he took office in 2012 and Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff. Messages involving her aides and state oil company Petrobas were also said to have been compromised.

The revelations prompted a sharp response from Brazil, with the suspension of plans for a state visit by Dilma Rousseff to Washington next month.

The NSA is also alleged to have seen electronic data from other Latin American governments, including Venezuela and Ecuador.

At the G20 meeting in Russia last month, Barack Obama promised to investigate the allegations of espionage against Dilma Rousseff and her Mexican counterpart.

The allegations were also based on documents leaked by Edward Snowden.

A US federal court has since filed espionage charges against the former intelligence contractor and is seeking his extradition.

Edward Snowden is currently living in Russia where he has been granted temporary asylum.

Vladimir Putin singing on The Voice Russia

Lisa.Felice
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Vladimir Putin singing on The Voice Russia

President Vladimir Putin appeared on the Russian version of The Voice.

Vladimir Putin was singing on The Voice but the jury has no idea.

Vladimir Putin appeared on the Russian version of The Voice
Vladimir Putin appeared on the Russian version of The Voice

The competition commenced with unchanged panel of judges including Alexander Gradsky, Dima Bilan, Leonid Agutin and Pelagea.
The video of the qualifying stage of the project was run by television host Ivan Urgant in his program, with the blind casting part of the footage featuring none other than President Vladimir Putin. The footage was later revealed to have been taken from a Saint Petersburg charity evening where Vladimir Putin performed Blueberry Hill.
The first season of the Russian The Voice concluded on December 29, 2012.

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Syria: Suicide truck bomb kills at least 30 people in Hama

Roy Siemens
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Syria: Suicide truck bomb kills at least 30 people in Hama

A suicide truck bomb has killed at least 30 people in the central Syrian city of Hama.

State news agency Sana said Syrian rebels had driven a truck laden with over a tonne of explosives into a government checkpoint on a busy road.

The explosion appears to have set ablaze a nearby petrol tanker, increasing the damage and casualties.

A suicide truck bomb has killed at least 30 people in the central Syrian city of Hama
A suicide truck bomb has killed at least 30 people in the central Syrian city of Hama

According to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front carried out the attack.

“A man detonated a truck laden with explosives at a checkpoint near an agricultural vehicles company on the road linking Hama to Salamiya,” the Observatory said.

It said the attack had targeted government soldiers, but that most of the dead were civilians.

Pictures on Syria TV showed firemen battling to contain fires as black smoke rose from charred trucks and cars.

Hama saw some of the largest demonstrations against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad in the first months after the Syrian uprising began in March 2011.

But in late summer 2011, security forces stormed the city and have maintained control ever since.

Hama occupies a significant place in the history of modern Syria. In 1982, then-President Hafez al-Assad, father of Bashar, sent in troops to quell an uprising by the Sunni opposition Muslim Brotherhood. Tens of thousands were killed and the town flattened.

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Beyonce freefalls from Auckland’s Sky Tower in New Zealand

Lisa.Felice
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Beyonce freefalls from Auckland’s Sky Tower in New Zealand

Beyonce decided to jump a freefall off Sky Tower in New Zealand.

Beyonce, 32, headed to Auckland’s Sky Tower, New Zealand’s tallest man-made structure at 1,076-feet tall, to make the brave 629-foot leap from the observation deck.

Beyonce decided to jump a freefall off Sky Tower in New Zealand
Beyonce decided to jump a freefall off Sky Tower in New Zealand

The star donned a bright blue and yellow jumpsuit and was hooked up to a harness for the freefall, and she documented her exhilarating experience by sharing snaps on her Instagram account.

Beyonce performed in New Zealand as part of the Australasia leg of her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour.

Mata Hari’s birthplace in the Netherlands destroyed by fire

Nancy Clayson
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Mata Hari’s birthplace in the Netherlands destroyed by fire

The house in the Netherlands in which Mata Hari was born has been destroyed in a fire.

One person was killed by the fire on Saturday evening as it engulfed several buildings in Leeuwarden, about 87 miles north of Amsterdam.

Local media said the victim was thought to be a 24-year-old man who had lived in a flat in the buildings.

Mata Hari was born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle in August 1876, to a shopkeeper and a Javanese mother.

The house in the Netherlands in which Mata Hari was born has been destroyed in a fire
The house in the Netherlands in which Mata Hari was born has been destroyed in a fire

In the early 1900s she left her husband and travelled to Paris where she found fame as an exotic dancer. Her work brought her into contact with many high society figures.

Mata Hari was arrested by France during WWI, accused of being a spy for Germany.

She was executed by firing squad in 1917 after a short trial, though her guilt has long been disputed.

Several films have been made about Mata Hari’s life, most famously in 1931 where she was played by Greta Garbo.

NOS TV said dozens of people had had to abandon their homes in the town centre building because of the fire, which started in one of the shops.

Fifteen homes and businesses were affected, said the channel, five of which were totally destroyed.

Gloria Lynne dies of heart attack aged 83

Sonia Pantiss
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Gloria Lynne dies of heart attack aged 83

Jazz star Gloria Lynne, whose career included dozens of albums and whose signature song was I Wish You Love, has died just weeks before her 84th birthday, her son said.

Gloria Lynne died on October 15 at Columbus Long-Term Acute Care Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, of a heart attack.

Born in New York in 1929, Gloria Lynne sang as a child in church, then won an amateur contest at age 15 at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, said her son, P.J. Allen.

Gloria Lynne sang as a child in church, then won an amateur contest at age 15 at Harlem's Apollo Theater
Gloria Lynne sang as a child in church, then won an amateur contest at age 15 at Harlem’s Apollo Theater

The prize: $15, $5 of which Gloria Lynne lost when her mother slapped the bills out of her hand upon discovering she had entered the contest without telling her.

Soon, she was signed by Everest Records.

“But her real break came with Harry Belafonte’s Strolling ’20s,” P.J. Allen said, referring to the 1966 television special that included Duke Ellington, Sidney Poitier, Nipsey Russell, Sammy Davis Jr. and Diahann Carroll.

Gloria Lynne last performed on August 27 at 54 Below in New York, said Todd Barkan, who produced the show and knew her for 40 years.

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Drake postpones Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center concert

Sonia Pantiss
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Drake postpones Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center concert

Drake’s fans left Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center early Saturday night after the hip hop star’s concert was postponed at the last minute.

Drake’s concert was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. It wasn’t until around 8:30 p.m. however that the concertgoers were told the performance was canceled. According to Rebecca Goodman, a spokeswoman for the Wells Fargo Center, the concert was postponed due to an “unexpected technical issue.”

Rebecca Goodman says Drake’s Philadelphia concert will now take place on Wednesday, December 18.

Drake's Philadelphia concert was rescheduled for December 18
Drake’s Philadelphia concert was rescheduled for December 18

“Drake, the Wells Fargo Center, Live Nation, and the entire team behind tonight’s show want to ensure fans will experience an unforgettable live music event and have decided to move the concert to a new date,” she wrote in a released statement.

“All tickets and original parking receipts from tonight’s show will be honored at the Wednesday, December 18 date.”

Saturday’s event was supposed to be the second concert of Drake’s Would You Like a Tour?. The tour kicked off Friday night at Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center.

Drake’s third studio album Nothing Was the Same was released on September 24. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart and so far has sold over 880,000 copies.

Hong Kong TV protest draw thousands of people

Nancy Clayson
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Hong Kong TV protest draw thousands of people

Thousands of people in Hong Kong have taken to the streets to protest against what they see as a lack of government transparency and accountability following Hong Kong Television Network controversy.

Police put the turnout at 20,000, while organizers said 120,000 were there.

The controversy was sparked last week when the government declined to grant a free-to-air license to Hong Kong Television Network.

Thousands of people in Hong Kong have taken to the streets to protest against what they see as a lack of government transparency and accountability
Thousands of people in Hong Kong have taken to the streets to protest against what they see as a lack of government transparency and accountability

Critics of the government have urged officials to give a clear account of why the license was refused.

Organizer Kristine Chan, from Hong Kong Free TV Action, told the Associated Press: “People are feeling very angry about this event, that the government is not really giving us many choices of free TV and trying to monopolies the industry by limiting the licenses.”

Lawrence Lau, a Hong Kong citizen taking part in the protest, said: “They don’t have the resolve to make a fair decision. They always suppress Hong Kong people and try to favor the government in Beijing.”

A spokesman for the city’s Commerce Bureau has said the content of discussions made during meetings of the Executive Council were, as a rule, not made public.

Zubaida Khanum dies aged 78 following heart attack

Sonia Pantiss
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Zubaida Khanum dies aged 78 following heart attack

Pakistani singer Zubaida Khanum has died aged 78 following a heart attack at her home in Lahore.

Zubaida Khanum, who recorded almost 250 songs during her career, was famed for her performances during Lollywood’s “golden era” of the 50s and 60s.

PM Nawaz Sharif described Zubaida Khanum as a “national asset”.

Zubaida Khanum acted in the film Billoo in 1951 but found fame in 1953 with playback singing, pre-recorded for use in films.

She received great recognition from the Pakistani film industry for her playback work in the 1953 film Shehri Babu.

Zubaida Khanum was famed for her performances during Lollywood's "golden era" of the 50s and 60s
Zubaida Khanum was famed for her performances during Lollywood’s “golden era” of the 50s and 60s

During the early years of her career, she also did brief roles in a handful of films including Morni and Patey Khan alongside the late Noor Jehan.

President Mamnoon Hussain recalled her services for performing arts in the country and said they were “unforgettable”.

Born in 1935 in Amritsar, Zubaida Khanum migrated with her family to Pakistan after the partition.

Zubaida Khanum was the eldest of four children and her talent for singing was spotted at school by her teacher, who put her in touch with Radio Pakistan.

Despite her family being against a career in music, she performed her first song in Punjabi.

At the height of her career, Zubaida Khanum, married renowned cameraman Riyaz Bokhari and left the music industry.

Zubaida Khanum went on to have two daughters and two sons. She spent the last few years of her life using a wheelchair and living with her sons in Lahore.

One of Zubaida Khanum’s sons is the well-known cameraman Faisal Bokhari.

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Elias Acevedo: Ariel Castro’s neighbor charged with 1990’s murders

Nancy Clayson
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Elias Acevedo: Ariel Castro’s neighbor charged with 1990’s murders

Ariel Castro’s neighbor Elias Acevedo has confessed to killing two women.

The man who lived in the same block as Cleveland kidnapper also faces multiple rape charges.

Increased scrutiny of missing person cases in a Cleveland neighborhood following the arrest of Ariel Castro led to charges against Elias Acevedo, Sr. for the murders of two women in the 1990s, the FBI said.

Elias Acevedo, Sr., 49, was charged late Thursday with the kidnapping, rape and murder of his 30-year-old neighbor, Pamela Pemberton, found strangled in 1994, and another woman believed to be Christina Adkins, a pregnant 18-year-old who disappeared in 1995. He also is charged with the rape of two young girls.

“Because the public became more aware and investigators were determined and relentless, people were re-interviewed and there was an increased interest in these missing person cases,” FBI spokeswoman Vicki Anderson said Friday.

Elias Acevedo was arrested in June at his Seymour Avenue residence after police questioned Ariel Castro’s neighbors and discovered that Acevedo was a convicted s** offender who had failed to report his current address.

Ariel Castro’s neighbor Elias Acevedo has confessed to killing two women
Ariel Castro’s neighbor Elias Acevedo has confessed to killing two women

He became a suspect in the Adkins and Pemberton murders after the FBI re-examined the disappearance of other missing women from the Seymour Avenue neighborhood in the aftermath of Ariel Castro’s arrest, according to a statement from the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office.

Cleveland’s Seymour Avenue garnered international attention after three women – Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus – were found with Berry’s 6-year-old daughter in a dilapidated home owned by 53-year-old Ariel Castro. The women had been missing for about a decade; Ariel Castro had fathered the child.

While incarcerated, Elias Acevedo’s DNA was linked to a 1993 rape that occurred near the location where Pemberton’s body was found. The FBI then linked Elias Acevedo to the 1995 disappearance of Christina Adkins, last seen in the vicinity of Seymour Avenue.

Elias Acevedo has confessed to the murders, which means authorities will not seek the death penalty, according to Joe Frolik, spokesman for the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office.

He led authorities to a spot near a highway where he had put Christina Adkins’ body in a manhole 18 years ago, according to the FBI and prosecutors.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office is in the process of positively identifying what are believed to be Christina Adkins’ remains after her identification card was found nearby.

The indictment against Elias Acevedo includes 115 kidnapping charges and more than 173 charges of rape involving Christina Adkins, Pamela Pemberton and the repeated rapes over a period of months of two girls, starting when they were 8 and 11 years old. He was also charged in the 1993 rape of his brother’s common-law wife.

Elias Acevedo is scheduled to be arraigned in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas court Monday. He has not yet been assigned a lawyer, according to court documents.

 

Jovanka Broz dead: Tito’s widow dies aged 88

Diane A. Wade
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Jovanka Broz dead: Tito’s widow dies aged 88

Jovanka Broz – the widow of Josip Broz Tito, the Communist leader of what was once Yugoslavia – has died in Belgrade of a heart attack, aged 88.

Jovanka Broz joined the partisans led by Josip Broz Tito who fought the Nazi occupation in World War Two.

She became first Tito’s personal secretary, then his third wife in 1952.

When Josip Broz Tito died in 1980, she was under house arrest for a time. She lived her last three decades in isolation

Jovanka Broz was left stateless by the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Jovanka Broz became first Tito's personal secretary, then his third wife in 1952
Jovanka Broz became first Tito’s personal secretary, then his third wife in 1952

“With Broz’s death, we are left without one of the last most reliable witnesses of our former country’s history,” Serbian PM Ivica Dacic said in a message of condolence.

Jovanka Budisavljevic, an ethnic Serb, was born into a farming family in what is now Croatia on December 7, 1924.

She joined the partisans when she was just 17, remaining with them until the end of the war in 1945.

After her marriage to Yugoslavia’s authoritarian president Josip Broz – known as Tito – she spent nearly three decades as first lady.

But after he died, Jovanka Broz was accused of plotting a coup.

She lived in seclusion in the Belgrade suburb of Dedinje and rarely gave interviews.

However, in 2009 Jovanka Broz spoke to the Politika daily about the period after her husband’s death.

“They chased me out … in my nightgown, without anything, not allowing me even to take a photo of the two of us, or a letter, a book,” she said.

“I was in isolation and treated like a criminal… I could not leave the house without armed guards.”

Jovanka Broz had been admitted to hospital in August in a serious condition, suffering from heart problems. Her last wish was to be buried in the House of Flowers, in Belgrade, next to her husband.

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Why Kanye West doesn’t want to marry Kim Kardashian

Lisa.Felice
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Why Kanye West doesn’t want to marry Kim Kardashian

According to new reports, Kanye West doesn’t want to marry Kim Kardashian but instead wants them to have a ”modern” relationship.

A source told Radar Online that Kanye West, 36, was heard telling his friends that he felt no need or desire to make their relationship official in the eyes of the law.

Kanye West doesn’t want to marry Kim Kardashian but instead wants them to have a ''modern'' relationship
Kanye West doesn’t want to marry Kim Kardashian but instead wants them to have a ”modern” relationship

Kanye West sees marriage as outdated and doesn’t believe in marrying Kim Kardashian – who turns 33 tomorrow – just because they had baby daughter North together, the source said.

Kendall Jenner shares baby North West new photo

Lisa.Felice
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Kendall Jenner shares baby North West new photo

Kendall Jenner shared a new photo of baby North West via Instagram.

In the picture, the 17-year-old model shows baby North, 4 months, reaching out to hold on to her aunt’s index finger. North’s face isn’t visible.

Kendall Jenner shared a new photo of baby North West via Instagram
Kendall Jenner shared a new photo of baby North West via Instagram

Just three days prior, Khloe Kardashian posed for a similar shot. Her photo, also covering baby North’s face, showed the 29-year-old cradling her niece’s little arm.

“NW,” Khloe Kardashian wrote alongside the photo. She also added a lipstick emoji icon.

Kim Kardashian, who turns 33 tomorrow, and Kanye West, 36, are currently living at Kris Jenner’s home in Calabasas, California.

Florida killers Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker recaptured

Nancy Clayson
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Florida killers Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker recaptured

Convicted murderers Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker, who used forged documents to trick their way out of prison in Florida, have been recaptured, US officials say.

Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker, both 34, were seized without incident at a motel in Panama City, Florida.

The men, who were serving life sentences, had been freed from separate jails after officials were fooled by fake papers reducing their terms.

The prison authorities have pledged to tighten up their early-release policy.

The two convicts were arrested at the Coconut Grove Motor Inn on Saturday evening, the authorities said.

They were detained hours after relatives held a news conference urging them to turn themselves in.

Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker, both 34, were seized without incident at a motel in Panama City, Florida
Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker, both 34, were seized without incident at a motel in Panama City, Florida

Joseph Jenkins had walked out on September 27 and registered as felon three days later at a jail in Orange County, Florida, about 300 miles from the prison where he was serving his sentence.

Charles Walker had been set free on October 8 from the same prison and registered on October 11.

The falsified documents were not identified until several weeks after the first convict’s release. It is not clear who provided the bogus release documents.

The two prisoners had apparently signed on to maintain the ruse that they had been released early by a judge.

Released felons are required to register as they re-enter the public, otherwise a warrant is issued for their arrest.

The registration process includes fingerprinting, images of which are uploaded to Florida police records.

Officials also verify that felons do not have any outstanding warrants.

Release documents bearing the forged signature of a sitting judge had been processed through standard channels this autumn, officials said.

Orange County Chief Judge Belvin Perry said there were several red flags that should have alerted the court clerk’s office or the corrections department: notably, how rare it was for a sentence reduction to come from prosecutors.

On Friday, Florida Corrections Secretary Michael Crews said prisons would now verify with judges, not just court clerks, before releasing prisoners early.

Joseph Jenkins was serving a life sentence for the 1998 fatal shooting of a father of six during a botched robbery.

Charles Walker was sentenced to life in prison for the 1999 shooting of a 23-year-old man. Walker said he did not mean to kill the man but fired three shots in warning because the man had been bullying him.

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Australia bushfires: New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell declares state of emergency

Diane A. Wade
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Australia bushfires: New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell declares state of emergency

Australian firefighters battling destructive bushfires in New South Wales are preparing for worsening conditions in the next few days.

The return of hot weather and strong winds is expected to fan the flames – the worst in the state for 40 years.

New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell declared a State of Emergency on Sunday and several areas are being evacuated.

The Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, has been the worst-hit region with some fires still raging out of control.

Australian firefighters battling destructive bushfires in New South Wales are preparing for worsening conditions in the next few days
Australian firefighters battling destructive bushfires in New South Wales are preparing for worsening conditions in the next few days

About 200 homes have already been destroyed and hundreds of people have been left homeless.

One man has died – possibly of a heart attack – while trying to protect his home.

After several cooler days, forecasters are predicting the return of unseasonably hot weather – with temperatures reaching 86F and higher.

“We are likely to see deteriorating conditions starting this afternoon (Sunday) as we’ve already been acutely aware of, but more so as we move into Monday and Tuesday,” Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said.

An emergency warning was issued for the Blue Mountains village of Bell on Sunday morning.

Residents were urged to evacuate or to take shelter “in a solid structure when the fire front arrives”.

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Patti Austin cancels Beijing concert following severe asthma attack

Sonia Pantiss
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Patti Austin cancels Beijing concert following severe asthma attack

Jazz singer Patti Austin has cancelled a concert in Beijing after suffering “a severe asthma attack”.

A statement on the singer’s website said Patti Austin was unable to perform at Forbidden City Concert Hall on Friday night “due to health problems”.

While the cause of her illness has not been confirmed, it comes at a time of growing concern over air pollution levels in the Chinese capital.

Beijing has recently announced measures to combat worsening pollution.

They include taking half of the city’s four million private cars off the roads on days when there are serious levels of pollution.

The system will be based on a vehicle’s license plate – odd numbers will be allowed on the roads one day, even numbers the next.

Patti Austin was unable to perform at Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing due to health problems
Patti Austin was unable to perform at Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing due to health problems

A statement on Patti Austin’s website said: “She was taken in an emergency to the Peking Union Medical College Hospital this morning where she has been treated for a severe asthma attack in combination with respiratory infection.

“Ms Austin is currently resting in her hotel. Her current breathing condition does not physically enable her to perform tonight.

“Ms Austin is extremely disappointed about this situation since she was very much looking forward to performing.”

The new anti-pollution system will give out four different degrees of air pollution warning – blue, yellow, amber and red.

On days when an amber warning is given, factories will stop production and work will be halted on construction and building sites.

Restaurants which offer open-air barbecues will be ordered to close temporarily, and fireworks will be banned throughout the city.

When a red warning is issued, the new car restriction measure will be implemented. Schools and kindergartens will also be closed.

The measure to restrict the number of private cars from using the road is proving to be controversial.

Critics have aired their concern that those who can afford to buy two or more cars will able to drive any day when the restriction is in force.

Beijing has almost 21 million permanent residents, according to official estimates.

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JP Morgan faces $13 billion fine to settle mortgage-backed securities investigations

Clyde K. Valle
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JP Morgan faces $13 billion fine to settle mortgage-backed securities investigations

JP Morgan is set for a record $13 billion fine to settle investigations into its mortgage-backed securities, US media reports say.

A tentative deal is believed to have been reached in talks with senior US justice department officials.

The sale of overvalued mortgage-backed securities was blamed for the near-collapse of the banking system in 2007.

JP Morgan is set for a record $13 billion fine to settle investigations into its mortgage-backed securities
JP Morgan is set for a record $13 billion fine to settle investigations into its mortgage-backed securities

Last month, JP Morgan was fined almost $1 billion in a separate case over the “London Whale” trading debacle.

The scandal arose from disastrous trades by former bank employee Bruno Iksil, who made big bets on the financial markets.

The tentative deal to pay the $13 billion fine to the justice department was reached during the talks on Friday, between JP Morgan lawyers with US Attorney General Eric Holder and his deputy Tony West, the Wall Street Journal said, citing officials familiar with the decision.

The New York Times also reported that the investment bank was nearing the agreement, although final details are still being discussed.

Neither the justice department nor the bank was available for comment.

If confirmed, it would be the biggest settlement of its kind ever paid by an American company.

The $13 billion sum is said to include $9 billion in fines and a further $4 billion in relief for struggling homeowners.

In the run-up to the financial crisis, sophisticated financial products known as mortgage-backed securities were created by many investment banks.

What JP Morgan is alleged to have done was sell the mortgage-backed assets knowing full well that many of the home loans were in fact very risky.

The mortgage-backed assets are widely thought to have played a central role in the near collapse of the banking system when banks realized in 2007 that many of their assets were worth a fraction of their official book value.

The fine would settle all potential civil action that might be taken against the bank in future but does not mean that criminal cases against individuals are ruled out.

JP Morgan had initially aimed to persuade US justice department officials to drop the criminal investigation but the attorney general ruled that out, reports said.

In August, US government officials filed two lawsuits against Bank of America relating to mortgage-backed securities. Bank of America denied civil fraud in failing to disclose risks and misleading investors.

JP Morgan has found itself overwhelmed by mounting legal troubles lately.

Once the darling of Washington and Wall Street, it reported a rare quarterly earnings loss last week, mostly due to legal costs totalling $9.2 billion.

The bank lost $380 million during the quarter, compared with a profit of $5.7 billion in the same period last year.

JP Morgan says it has set aside a fund of $23 billion to deal with mounting legal costs.

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Lebanese Shia pilgrims kidnapped in Syria released in swap deal

Roy Siemens
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Lebanese Shia pilgrims kidnapped in Syria released in swap deal

Nine Lebanese Shia pilgrims kidnapped by Syrian rebels in May 2012 have been released and arrived back in Beirut.

There were jubilant scenes as they were greeted on the tarmac by family members and Lebanese politicians.

Two Turkish pilots who were being held hostage in Lebanon were also freed as part of a complex swap.

Murat Akpinar and Murat Agca were seized in Beirut in August in a retaliatory abduction.

They were met by their relatives and Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan after flying to Istanbul on a Qatari jet late on Saturday.

A third part of the hostage negotiations – reportedly mediated by Qatar, Turkey and the Palestinian Authority – involved the release of a number of female prisoners being held by the Syrian government.

Nine Lebanese Shia pilgrims kidnapped by Syrian rebels in May 2012 have been released and arrived back in Beirut
Nine Lebanese Shia pilgrims kidnapped by Syrian rebels in May 2012 have been released and arrived back in Beirut

It is not yet clear whether that has taken place.

The Lebanese group, all men, were released by their captors on Friday evening and driven to Istanbul, from where they flew to Beirut.

At the airport they were greeted by friends and family, as well as politicians and religious leaders.

The men appeared tired but in good health.

The nine Lebanese were among 11 people seized while making their way back to Lebanon after a tour of holy sites in Iran. Two of them escaped.

They were reportedly being held in northern Syria by fighters from a Sunni-based rebel group opposed to President Bashar al-Assad.

The rebels insisted their hostages were fighters with the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah, and were demanding the release of women detainees held by the Syrian regime in exchange.

Then in August, Murat Akpinar and Murat Agca were seized from a bus close to Beirut’s international airport. A previously unknown group called Zuwwar al-Imam Rida said it had kidnapped them, and that they would be freed if the Lebanese group were set free.

It demanded that Turkey used its influence with Syrian rebels to make the swap possible.

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