Eleven Nobel prize-winners have written to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking him to drop charges against 30 Greenpeace activists and journalists.
They were held last month during a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic.
The signatories – including Archbishop Desmond Tutu – described the charges of piracy as “excessive”.
Eleven Nobel prize-winners have written to Vladimir Putin asking him to drop charges against 30 Greenpeace activists and journalists
But Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, responded that the president had no power to influence the courts.
The Greenpeace activists, who complain of being detained in harsh conditions, face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
In the letter, which was released by Greenpeace, the laureates urge Vladimir Putin “to do all you can to ensure that the excessive charges of piracy against the 28 Greenpeace activists, freelance photographer and freelance videographer are dropped, and that any charges brought are consistent with international and Russian law”.
It is also signed by former East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta and Northern Irish peace campaigner Betty Williams.
Prince George’s christening service will take place next week, on October 23, and Kensington Palace has shared details concerning the event.
According to People magazine, Prince William and Kate Middleton will bring their 3-month-old son before the Archbishop of Canterbury on Wednesday, October 23, at 3 pm, at the chapel at St. James Palace. The service will last 45 minutes.
St. James Palace chapel holds special meaning for Prince William as it housed the coffin of his late mother Princess Diana for one week before her burial. There has been some speculation that Prince William chose the location to pay tribute to his mother, as he did with the royal wedding that was held in Westminster Abbey, where Princess Diana’s funeral took place.
Prince William and Kate Middleton will bring their 3-month-old son before the Archbishop of Canterbury on Wednesday, October 23
Those expected to attend Prince George’s christening service include Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla Parker Bowles, Prince Harry and the Middletons.
The guest list for the christening has not been released but Kensington Palace has said “close members of both families” will attend.
The names of Prince George’s godparents are also yet to be announced.
Following the christening, a picture will be released showing the Queen with three future monarchs – Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George.
The last time such a gathering of a monarch and her three heirs occurred was in Queen Victoria’s time.
That photograph, taken at the christening of the future Edward VIII in July 1894 showed the royal baby with his father, later George V; grandfather, the future Edward VII; and great grandmother, Queen Victoria.
Meanwhile, the Royal Mint is to create a set of commemorative coins to mark the christening.
President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill to re-open the government and extend the debt ceiling, just hours after the House and Senate passed the measure with broad bipartisan support.
Barack Obama said the measure would immediately restart federal programs that had been put on hold during the funding lapse.
The world reaction to the debt deal was one of relief Thursday, but there were signs the drawn-out process has undermined confidence in America’s global standing in both finance and politics. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged Washington to build a more stable management of U.S. finances, mindful that Wednesday night’s deal only suspends the debt limit until February 7, 2014.
Asian money markets rose after the deal, but key European markets fell in early trading, Reuters reported.
After weeks of stalemate that shuttered the government for 16 days, the standoff is finally over
The GOP-dominated House passed the measure 285-144, with 87 Republicans joining all Democrats in support. The Senate passed it 81-18. In both chambers, only Republicans voted against the measure.
Office of Management and Budget director Sylvia Mathews Burwell told federal employees to expect to return to work on Thursday morning.
Federal employees who were furloughed as a result of the shutdown will receive back pay “as soon as practicable,” according to the bill’s text.
The bill will fund the federal government through January 15 and extend the government’s borrowing power through February 7. It also calls for a congressional agreement by mid-December on a long-term budget plan.
After more than two weeks of standoff over the government shutdown, Republicans -faced with Thursday’s debt ceiling deadline – were forced to accept a deal with only minor concessions from Democrats.
Microsoft is launching the Windows 8.1 update for its flagship operating system today.
The download seeks to address some of the criticisms leveled at the original version of Windows 8.
In particular, Windows 8.1 restores the start button and allows a computer to boot up with a traditional desktop interface.
Windows 8.1 launch comes at a critical time for Microsoft as it seeks a new boss, with PC sales experiencing a long decline.
Windows 8 sought to bridge the gap between touchscreen devices, such as tablets and smartphones, and more traditional form laptops and desktop machines. As such it had an interface built of tiles that could be tapped or swiped to open applications.
Microsoft is launching the Windows 8.1 update for its flagship operating system
However, many people found the tiled interface did not work well for some of the things they were used to doing with a computer.
Windows 8.1 changes include:
Start button – tapping once on this brings up the tiled interface and a long press opens up system controls
desktop mode – lets people avoid the tiled interface entirely
keyboard shortcuts – removes the need to toggle between different on-screen keyboards when typing numbers and letters
gesture control – some applications, such as those for cooking, can now be paged through without touching a screen
tile sizing – the blocks on the touchscreen interface can be in one of four sizes
web browsing – Windows 8 machines will now display separate web pages side by side
A host of other changes, including better support for multi-tasking and improved links to Microsoft’s Xbox game console, are also in the update.
Windows 8 was created to capitalize on the growing popularity of tablets and other portable gadgets. Microsoft needs to get people using its software on these machines because sales of desktop machines are in sharp decline.
The shrinking sales are important for Microsoft because traditionally the bulk of its revenue comes from people and companies buying laptops and desktops and office software to run on them.
It is not clear that Microsoft is adjusting to the changes in the types of gadgets that people use. In July, Microsoft was wrote off $900 million following poor sales of its own-brand Surface touchscreen devices.
Servers ready to dispense Windows 8.1 are scheduled to be turned on at 07:00 New York time. The update is free to those already running Windows 8. Charges will apply if users upgrade to 8.1 from Windows 7. The update comes just over a year after the launch of Windows 8.
Character actor Ed Lauter has died aged 74, it has been announced.
Ed Lauter, recently seen in the Oscar-winning The Artist, played chauffer to the female character Peppy Miller, played by Oscar nominee actress Berenice Bejo.
Publicist Edward Lozzi said Ed Lauter died on Wednesday of mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung, commonly caused by asbestos exposure.
The character actor also starred in ER and opposite Burt Reynolds in 1974’s The Longest Yard.
Ed Lauter played a sadistic prison guard whose team squares up to Burt Reynolds’ team of misfit convicts in a game of American Football.
He also starred in a 2005 remake, starring Adam Sandler.
The original landed him a starring role in Alfred Hitchcock’s final movie Family Plot in 1976.
Ed Lauter, who started out as a standup comic, was also famed for his impersonations of movie stars
Last year, Ed Lauter starred with Clint Eastwood and Justin Timberlake in the baseball movie Trouble With the Curve.
Ed Lauter, who started out as a standup comic, was also famed for his impersonations of movie stars.
Edward Lozzi told the Hollywood Reporter: “He called me as Clint Eastwood from the set of Trouble With the Curve last year. We really thought it was Eastwood!”
Ed Lauter was also known to do impersonations of black and white stars James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart.
Born in Long Island, New York in 1938, Ed Lauter made his Broadway debut in the original 1968 stage production of The Great White Hope, which also starred James Earl Jones.
His TV debut was came in a 1971 episode of private eye series Mannix and he made his first big screen appearance in the Western, Dirty Little Billy.
Standing at 6ft 2in and prematurely bald with a long, square face, Ed Lauter was often cast as thugs or stern authority figures.
He was quoted as saying: “I like those roles. Lee Marvin once told me, <<When you play a heavy, every once in a while make the audience like you a little bit. Then they’ll think, “Wait a minute, he’s not such a bad guy. Did you see the way he petted that dog?”>>”
Ed Lauter played the recurring character Dick Healy in the US version of Shameless and had several projects in post-production.
Morrissey’s autobiography has revealed his first full relationship came with a man when he was in his 30s.
The former Smith singer also used his autobiography to criticize the UK legal system and music business.
Morrissey, 54, was scathing about the judges in his 1990s legal battle with former bandmate Mike Joyce, describing one as the “pride of the pipsqueakery”.
The Smiths’ record label Rough Trade, he said, had been “brutally drab”.
The singer accused music paper NME of being out to “get Morrissey” in the 1990s.
Morrissey, who is normally protective of his private life, opened up about a relationship with Jake Walters that began in 1994.
Morrissey’s autobiography has revealed his first full relationship came with a man when he was in his 30s
He wrote about how Jake Walters followed him back to his house after meeting him at a restaurant and “steps inside and stays for two years”.
“For the first time in my life the eternal <<I>> becomes <<we>>, as, finally, I can get on with someone,” he wrote.
Morrissey also revealed how he later discussed having a baby – or, as he put it, a “mewling miniature monster” – with Tina Dehgani, with whom he described having an “uncluttered commitment”.
Giving his version of his 1996 court battle with Mike Joyce, who was seeking 25% of The Smiths’ earnings, Morrissey accused the drummer of “constant inaccuracies and assumptions vomited out with leaden fatigue” in court.
The group, one of the most revered bands in British music, split up in 1987 after five years together.
The presiding judge, John Weeks, came in for particularly scathing criticism, portrayed caustically as an “unsmiling Lord of the Hunt, with an immutable understanding of the world of The Smiths”.
“The pride of the pipsqueakery, John Weeks begins his judgment by falling flat on his face: He brilliantly announces to the world how The Smiths formed in 1992 – his judicial accuracy not to be questioned!” Morrissey wrote.
Morrissey autobiography was published on Thursday as a Penguin Classic. It had been due for release in September, but was delayed by what Morrissey described as “a last-minute content disagreement”.
The US government is to reopen after Congress has passed a bill to raise the federal debt limit, with hours to spare before the nation risked default.
The Democratic-controlled Senate passed the measure by 81 votes to 18, and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives by 285 votes to 144.
Despite reluctant support from the House Republican leadership, most of the party’s lawmakers voted against it.
It came hours before the deadline to raise the $16.7 trillion limit.
The bill yanked the US back from the brink of a budgetary abyss by extending the treasury’s borrowing authority until February 7.
It also funds the government to January 15, reopening closed federal agencies after 16 days of partial government shutdown and bringing hundreds of thousands of employees back to work.
President Barack Obama signed the bill into law early on Thursday morning.
The US government is to reopen after Congress has passed a bill to raise the federal debt limit, with hours to spare before the nation risked default
The White House budget office said federal workers should return to work on Thursday.
The deal, however, offers only a temporary solution and does not resolve the budgetary issues that fiercely divide Republicans and Democrats.
President Barack Obama warned that US lawmakers must “earn back the trust of the American people”.
“We’ve got to get out of the habit of governing by crisis,” Democratic Barack Obama added, speaking after the Senate vote on Wednesday evening.
“My hope and expectation is everybody has learned there’s no reason why we can’t work on the issues at hand, why we can’t disagree between the parties without still being agreeable and make sure that we’re not inflicting harm on the American people when we do have disagreements.”
Also speaking after the first vote, Senate Democratic Majority leader Harry Reid said: “Let’s be honest, this is pain inflicted on a nation for no good reason and we cannot, cannot make the same mistake again.”
The US Treasury has been using what it called “extraordinary measures” to pay its bills since the nation reached its current debt limit in May.
It said those methods would be exhausted by October 17, leaving the US unable to meet all of its debt and other fiscal obligations.
Politicians, bankers and economists had warned of dire global economic consequences unless an agreement to raise the US government’s borrowing limit was reached.
Meanwhile, ratings firm Standard & Poor’s said on Wednesday that the partial US government shutdown, the first in 17 years, had already shaved $24 billion from the American economy and would cut growth significantly in the fourth quarter.
According to Global Slavery Index 2013 – ranking 162 countries – nearly 30 million people around the world are living as slaves.
The index says India has the highest number of people living in conditions of slavery at nearly 14 million.
However, Mauritania has the highest proportional figure with about 4% of its population enslaved.
The report’s authors hope it will help governments tackle what they call a “hidden crime”.
Nearly 30 million people around the world are living as slaves
The index was compiled by Australian-based rights organization Walk Free Foundation (WFF) using a definition of modern slavery that includes debt bondage, forced marriage and human trafficking.
“A lot of governments won’t like hearing what we have to say,” WFF chief executive Nick Grono told AFP news agency.
“Those governments that want to engage with us, we will be very open to engaging and looking at ways in which we can better measure the issue of modern slavery.”
The organization’s estimate of 29.8 million slaves worldwide is higher than other attempts to quantify modern slavery. The International Labour Organization estimates that almost 21 million people are victims of forced labor.
India, China, Pakistan and Nigeria have the highest numbers of people enslaved, the charity said.
Together with five other countries, they account for three-quarters of the total estimated number of people in modern slavery worldwide.
The report said India’s ranking was mostly due to the exploitation of Indians citizens within the country itself.
While the highest proportion of slaves is in Mauritania, with many people inheriting slave status from their ancestors, Haiti is second in the index and Pakistan is third.
The new survey has the backing of world figures including former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, ex-British PM Tony Blair.
Hillary Clinton said that although the index was not perfect, it provided a starting point, according to the Associated Press.
“I urge leaders around the world to view this index as a call to action, and to stay focused on the work of responding to this crime.”
Cressida Bonas had short cameo in ITV2 drama Trinity, it has emerged today.
Prince Harry’s girlfriend is said to be “mortified” after brief footage of her as a cheerleader in the short-lived TV drama resurfaced online.
Cressida Bonas, 24, appeared in just two minutes of the canned Trinity series wearing a cheerleader costume. She is among a group of girls who offer s***al favors in order to win votes on the student council in the clip.
Trinity, which appeared on ITV2 in 2009, centred on the fiction school Trinity College and was filmed in Royal Holloway, University of London.
Cressida Bonas appeared in just two minutes of the canned Trinity series wearing a cheerleader costume
Cressida Bonas got the job through her half-sister Isabella Calthorpe, who also features in the series and was said to be the object of Prince William’s affection after he and Kate Middleton broke up in 2007.
According to the Sun, a source said: “Cressida will be mortified – she had been hoping this acting gig would never see the light of day.”
Cressida Bonas’ character is one of a group of girls who enters a bedroom full of male students holding a maths and computer science party.
Isabella Calthorpe’s characters asks: “We were wondering if you handsome young mathmos had decided who to vote for in the student rep elections? And to help you decide we thought maybe you’d like to party? Come on girls.”
Trinity was cancelled after one season because of low viewer ratings.
Prince George’s christening service will take place Wednesday, October 23, at 3 p.m., Kensington Palace confirmed today.
The service will be held in The Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace and will last 45 minutes.
Prince George’s christening service will take place Wednesday, October 23, at 3 pm
Prince George’s christening will be conducted by The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby.
The reason for a late afternoon ceremony is that Queen Elizabeth is holding a reception at Buckingham Palace earlier in the day for her Diamond Jubilee Trust.
Ashton Kutcher has topped Forbes Highest-Paid Actors List for the second year running, having earned an estimated $24 million for his role in Two and a Half Men.
Not only did he replace Charlie Sheen in the lead role on the hit show, he also took his place at the top of the Forbes TV earnings list in 2012.
Ashton Kutcher’s co-star Jon Cryer jumped from seventh to second, earning $21 million.
Last year Charlie Sheen, who was fired from the CBS show, did not earn enough to get into the top 10.
This year his role in Anger Management saw him make it to joint ninth, with $10 million.
Twenty-year-old Angus T. Jones, who also stars in Two and a Half Men as Jake Harper, made the list taking home an estimated $11 million.
Ashton Kutcher has topped Forbes Highest-Paid Actors List for the second year running
One of those who fell out of the Forbes list was British actor and comedian Hugh Laurie, who last year earned $18 million for his lead role in House.
To make the list Forbes estimated the entertainment-related income of celebrities between June 2012 and June 2013 by talking to agents, managers, producers and executives.
Grey’s Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey, Dexter’s Michael C Hall and Mark Harmon of NCIS also feature in the top 10.
Democrat and Republican leaders of the Senate have struck a cross-party deal to end a partial government shutdown and raise the US debt limit.
Their bill must also pass the House, where a small group of Republicans are expected to join Democrats to send the bill to President Barack Obama.
The bill extends the federal borrowing limit until February 7 and funds the government to January 15.
The move comes just a day before the deadline to raise the $16.7 trillion limit.
Democrat and Republican leaders of the Senate have struck a cross-party deal to end a partial government shutdown and raise the US debt limit
On the floor of the Senate, Democratic leader Harry Reid called the legislation “historic”, saying it would provide time for Congress to work toward a long-term budget agreement.
“Our country came to the brink of disaster,” Harry Reid said.
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Harry Reid’s negotiating partner, said he was “confident” the government could reopen and avoid default under the proposed bill.
“Now it’s time for Republicans to unite behind other crucial goals,” Mitch McConnell said.
JP Morgan will pay $100 million to settle with the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission over losses stemming from its “London Whale” trading debacle in 2012.
In a first, JP Morgan will admit that its traders acted “recklessly”.
The CFTC says the trades, which ultimately cost the bank $6 billion in losses, distorted prices in the market.
Last month, the bank agreed to pay $920 million to other regulators in the US and the UK over the bad trades.
JP Morgan will pay $100 million to settle with the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission over losses stemming from its “London Whale” trading debacle in 2012
The scandal arose from disastrous trades by former bank employee Bruno Iksil, who earned the nickname of the “London Whale” for his big bets on the financial markets.
David Meister, the head of enforcement at the CFTC, said in a statement that the traders tried “to <<defend>> their position by dumping a gargantuan, record-setting volume of swaps virtually all at once, recklessly ignoring the obvious dangers to legitimate pricing forces”.
The bank 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 totaling $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 relating not just to the “London Whale” trading debacle, but also to charges that the bank misled consumers and investors during the housing market collapse.
US media has estimated that JP Morgan could be negotiating a settlement of several billion dollars with a variety of US regulators.
An announcement of this settlement – surely the largest banking fine in US history – is expected to be announced soon.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has revealed he is one of the Duck Dynasty fans.
In his lengthy new Q&A with New York Magazine, Antonin Scalia touched on plenty of serious topics, including gay rights, the media and his pop culture diet.
Antonin Scalia admitted to watching at least one episode of Duck Dynasty reality show.
“I don’t watch it regularly, but I’m a hunter,” he told the magazine.
Antonin Scalia admitted to watching at least one episode of Duck Dynasty reality show
“I use duck calls.”
Antonin Scalia explained that his interest in hunting came from his grandfather, who used to take him out to the Long Island woods to shoot rabbits. Aside from the common interest of hunting, it was word of mouth that got him to tune in.
“So many people said <<Oh, it’s a great show>> that I thought I’d better look at it,” he said.
Duck Dynasty, currently airing in its fourth season, has drawn in other celebrity fans as well, including Andrew Lincoln of The Walking Dead and Dakota Fanning.
Duck Dynasty’s Willie, Korie, Miss Kay and Uncle Si Robertson will visit Northwest Arkansas at 3 p.m. Sunday, October 20 at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale as part of an event sponsored by Cox Communications.
The event, called Field of Ducks, will also include local band Backroad Anthem, which is scheduled to perform live music before the Robertsons take the stage. Vendor booths and a kids zone are also planned.
Duck Dynasty stars will be at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale as part of an event sponsored by Cox Communications
Tickets range from $28 to $60 each, and are available at nwanaturals.com or by calling 877-444-2637.
Duck Dynasty follows the lives of the Robertsons, a Louisiana bayou family living the American dream as they operate a thriving homegrown mom-and-pop business, which makes products for duck hunters, primarily the top-of-the-line Duck Commander duck call.
According to new reports, Duck Dynasty fans are heading to West Monroe, Louisiana, as the Robertson family’s home place has become the vacation spot of the year.
Duck Dynasty, which follows Willie Robertson, his redneck family and their multimillion-dollar duck call business Duck Commander, is one of television’s most-watched reality series. More than 11.8 million viewers tuned in for the season four premiere in August, and fans are now taking their love for the show and hitting the road to visit the Robertsons’ town of West Monroe.
“We laugh and smile and shake our heads because the show has really put us on the map,” said Courtney Hornsby, president of the West Monroe-West Ouachita Chamber of Commerce. “We’re just trying to embrace it and see how we can use it to help grow the community.”
Duck Dynasty fans are taking their love for the show and hitting the road to visit the Robertsons’ town of West Monroe
Although Courtney Hornsby did not have official tourism numbers, she says the town of 13,000 is inundated on weekends. And local businesses are aiming to take advantage of the Duck Dynasty crowds.
The local Hampton Inn has a Duck Commander package which gives participants a gift bag with their very own Phil Robertson mug when booking a room. The Downtown Monroe Alliance is planning a holiday event around the show, to be called A Very Merry Commander Christmas, and the Monroe-West Monroe Convention and Visitors Bureau created the Duck Commander Hometown Tour to help tourists find locations from Duck Dynasty.
“It’s really exciting to see our area revitalized with increased tourism from the show,” said Rebekah Landry, art and social media director for Landry Vineyards. Her family’s vineyard was shown on an episode of Duck Dynasty in 2012. Rebekah Landry estimates that half of the vineyard’s visitors come by because of the show.
“People are always asking <<Where’s Willie?>>, <<Where can I meet him?>>, <<Where does he live?>>” said Rebekah Landry.
“It can be an irritant but people are coming in the door and buying our wines, so you can’t complain.”
Lori and Dalton Young and their four children spent their spring break visiting West Monroe from McKinney, Texas. Their first stop was the Duck Commander warehouse where they bumped into Si Robertson.
“Our youngest daughter has Down syndrome, and it was really sweet to see Si talking to her,” said Lori Young.
“She kept calling him daddy so he was laughing and joking with her.”
The World Food Day theme for 2013 is “Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition”.
The official World Food Day theme – announced at the start of every year by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) – gives focus to World Food Day observances and helps increase understanding of problems and solutions in the drive to end hunger.
World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on October 16
Today almost 870 million people worldwide are chronically undernourished. Unsustainable models of development are degrading the natural environment, threatening ecosystems and biodiversity that will be needed for our future food supply. Calls for profound changes in our agriculture and food systems are becoming more frequent and more insistent.
World Food Day 2013 is an opportunity to explore these and other questions, and help bring about the future we want.
World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on October 16 in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945.
The day is celebrated widely by many other organizations concerned with food security, including the World Food Programme.
Jose Manuel Riella and Martina Lopez from Paraguay have got married in a religious ceremony after living together for 80 years.
From his wheelchair, Jose Manuel Riella, 103, promised his eternal love to Martina Lopez, his 99-year-old bride, who wore a long white dress.
The wedding was held in the couple’s garden, where an altar had been set up.
Jose Manuel Riella and Martina Lopez from Paraguay have got married in a religious ceremony after living together for 80 years
The ceremony was attended by many of their eight children, 50 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren and 20 great-great-grandchildren.
The priest said they were the oldest newlyweds he had ever known.
Jose Manuel Riella and Martina Lopez had already got married in a civil wedding 49 years into their relationship, but had not gone through a religious ceremony at the time.
Martina Lopez said she felt very emotional at having her relationship blessed by the priest.
The family said the vows very followed by an “entertaining” party at the couple’s home in Santa Rosa de Aguaray.
A Lao Airlines aircraft on an internal flight has crashed into the Mekong River in southern Laos, media in the region say.
Reports from neighboring Thailand put the number of dead at around 40.
There is no official word from the airline on casualties so far.
An airline official quoted by the Bangkok Post said the plane crashed in bad weather just before it was due to land at Pakse on a flight from the capital Vientiane.
A Lao Airlines official said the plane had crashed at about 4 p.m. near Pakse, Champasak province, which is on the borders of both Thailand and Cambodia.
A Lao Airlines aircraft on an internal flight has crashed into the Mekong River in southern Laos,
Thai television showed a photograph of the ATR 72 turboprop plane partly submerged in shallow water on a stretch of the Mekong, the tail severed. Another television channel showed what appeared to be several bodies on the bank of the river.
“We do not yet know the number of casualties, our executives are currently in a meeting and will provide more details in the morning,” a Lao Airlines official told Reuters.
Lao Airlines is the national carrier of the communist state and has operated since 1976. Its aircraft carried 658,000 passengers last year and it has a fleet of just 14 planes, mostly propeller-driven.
Alexei Navalny’s jail sentence for embezzlement has been suspended by a Russian court, allowing him to go free.
However, Alexei Navalny’s conviction is likely to prevent him running in the next presidential election.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to five years in July but released pending the appeal.
He has always denied the charges, which relate to his time as an adviser to the governor of the Kirov region.
His conviction bars him from running for elected office. Navalny has said in the past he would like to stand for president.
But it appears Alexei Navalny’s five-year sentence would rule him out of running for the next presidential election, due to take place in spring 2018.
Alexei Navalny’s jail sentence for embezzlement has been suspended by a Russian court
Alexei Navalny vowed to continue in politics, accusing the authorities of prosecuting him for political reasons, and said he would appeal against the sentence.
While on bail, he stood for mayor of Moscow, coming second and nearly managing to force the Kremlin’s candidate into a run-off.
In July, Alexei Navalny was found guilty of heading a group that embezzled timber worth 16 million roubles ($500,000) from the Kirovles state timber company while working as an adviser to Kirov’s governor, Nikita Belykh.
Speaking after the appeal verdict, he said: “It’s clear for me that the authorities are trying by all means to hound me out of politics, coming up with some restrictions and fabricated cases.
“One thing is for sure, they will not succeed in pushing me and my allies out of political life.”
Alexei Navalny could be seen using a mobile phone bearing a sticker which mocked Russia’s current President, Vladimir Putin, as a thief.
The veteran anti-corruption campaigner hugged his wife, Yulia, who has travelled from Moscow to Kirov with him for his court appearances.
Co-defendant Pyotr Ofitserov, who was jailed for four years, also had his sentence suspended on Wednesday.
Alexei Navalny took 27% of the mayoral vote in Moscow against the Kremlin-backed incumbent, Sergei Sobyanin, who officially scraped through on the first round with 51% – a result the opposition leader disputes.
French Catholic Church has finally corrected a “blasphemous” error that crept into the Gallic version of The Lord’s Prayer 50 years ago.
After a 17-year debate, theologians and writers concluded that the French equivalent of “And lead us not into temptation” implied that God Himself could lead us astray, rather than help us keep on the straight and narrow, and thus had “blasphemous” overtones.
The French line before read: “And don’t submit us to temptation.”
It now reads: “And don’t let us enter into temptation.”
The change will be incorporated into a new French translation of the Bible validated by the Vatican that will be published next month.
Traditionalists were appalled when the unfortunate wording was introduced in 1966, as according to father Frédéric Louzeau, a theologian, it suggested that: “God, who is infinitely good and the source of all goodness, could drive man to evil or sin.”
French Catholic Church has finally corrected a “blasphemous” error that crept into the Gallic version of The Lord’s Prayer 50 years ago
Le Figaro, France’s main conservative daily, said the consequences of the poor translation on “millions of Catholics” was “incalculable”.
The “error” was due to an ecumenical compromise between Orthodox Christians and reformed Protestants to create a “common Lord’s Prayer”. The resulting text came in the wake of the Second Vatican Council of 1965, which sought to address relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world.
The French Protestant version of the Bible modified the phrase at the time.
The new translation will be presented during the forthcoming plenary assembly of French bishops at Lourdes. However, it will not be used in French parishes until the changes are incorporated into the latest Roman Missal – not before 2015.
“We’ll have to explain it to our congregation. Even the priest will get it wrong,” Father Scheffels, priest in Nanterre, west of Paris, told Le Parisien.
Eric Denimal, a theologian, told the newspaper that believers should not worry about having said the wrong thing for the past 50 years.
“Whatever way the phrase is pronounced, what counts ultimately is the authenticity of the relationship between the person praying and the God he is addressing,” he said.
The Lord’s Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity also commonly known as the Our Father and in Latin as the Pater Noster.
In the New Testament, it appears a longer form in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the Sermon on the Mount, and a shorter form in the Gospel of Luke, as a response by Jesus to a request by “one of his disciples” to teach them “to pray as John taught his disciples”.
The prayer concludes with “deliver us from evil” in Matthew, and with “lead us not into temptation” in Luke.
The death toll from the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit Philippines yesterday continues to rise.
At least 99 people died in the quake, which hit the central Philippines on Tuesday, a national holiday.
Residents have described ongoing aftershocks on Wednesday morning, with many afraid to return to their homes.
The earthquake struck below the island of Bohol, where the most casualties were reported.
Philippines earthquake struck below the island of Bohol, where the most casualties were reported
People were also killed in the province of Cebu, and historic churches, as well as roads, markets and buildings, were reported damaged on both islands.
The air force was carrying 24,000 lb of relief supplies to affected residents in Bohol province, Reuters news agency reported, citing a military spokesman.
Minda Morante, civil defense chief for the central islands, told AFP news agency that she expected the death toll to rise.
“We expect the number to increase considering there are still areas that need search and rescue [personnel] and there are areas where they need more aid,” Minda Morante said.
Philippines President Benigno Aquino is expected to visit the affected areas on Wednesday.
Riot police and protesters have clashed in Brazil’s largest cities – Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo – after marches in support of striking teachers.
Soon after a peaceful march by more than 5,000 people ended in Rio, a much smaller masked group attacked shops, set fire to a police car and threw petrol bombs.
There were also clashes in Sao Paulo, where shops were ransacked.
Police responded with tear and pepper gas and detained dozens of people.
Four officers were injured and seven banks were vandalized during the unrest in Sao Paulo, according to Reuters news agency.
Extra police had been deployed in Rio de Janeiro for the huge protest coinciding with Teacher’s Day, on which the country recognizes the profession.
Many shops and banks had boarded up their windows after last week’s larger protests, which had gathered more than 10,000 supporters.
Police also cordoned off the Rio house of representatives, which was targeted last week.
Teachers in Rio are demanding better working conditions and salaries and have the support of colleagues in other cities
After the end of Tuesday’s march, masked protesters from the so-called Black Bloc anarchist group set fire to the boards, as well as public telephones, rubbish bags and other street furniture.
Metal boards were also taken by some groups and used as shields to confront the police.
A police car was set alight and protest slogans written on walls.
Teachers in Rio are demanding better working conditions and salaries and have the support of colleagues in other cities.
They have been on strike for two months and many complained that Rio’s state government had started procedures to sanction the striking teachers.
On Tuesday night, a Supreme Court judge said it considered the government’s actions illegal.
Judge Luiz Fux told Brazil’s state news agency, Agencia Brasil, that the sanctions infringed, “even if in a roundabout way, the civil servants’ right to freedom of expressions through strike”.
Luiz Fux also summoned union leaders and government officials for talks on October 22.
In an earlier demonstration on Tuesday, a group of homeless people tried to break into the house of representatives of Sao Paulo.
Police held off the crowd, and a small group later met with government officials.
In the south-eastern city of Belo Horizonte, a peaceful protest was held a central square.
Smaller groups also gathered on Tuesday in Brasilia, the north-eastern city of Salvador and other cities.
Brazil’s security situation is a challenge to cities that will play host to the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games.
Nike has unveiled Fuelband SE – its second generation activity-tracking wristband – addressing criticism that its earlier device failed to recognize that some activities use more energy than others.
The Fuelband SE lets owners define the start and end of a session and then tag it – for example as yoga or basketball.
Nike’s software then adjusts its “fuel” score accordingly.
However, speculation that Nike would add a heart monitor or other new sensor to improve accuracy proved incorrect.
The New York launch came two weeks after the Fitbit Force was unveiled – a rival activity tracker that introduced a height-measuring altimeter that can record how many stairs its owner has climbed.
Jawbone, iHealth, Garmin, Withings and Adidas are among other firms to offer dedicated fitness-measuring gadgets. Meanwhile Samsung and Sony are promoting their newly released smartwatches’ ability to download and run Android-based activity-tracking apps.
One market watcher suggested Nike might have missed a trick.
Nike has unveiled Fuelband SE, its second generation activity-tracking wristband
“Since Nike launched the first Fuelband early last year there has been an explosion of fitness wearables and apps,” said Nitin Bhas, senior analyst at the tech consultancy Juniper Research.
“On the one hand you have Apple’s promotion of the new motion processor in its iPhone 5S, which extends battery life when the function is used, and on the other hand you have Fitbit adding new technology.
“But you mustn’t forget that Nike has the fact that it’s an established brand in its favour, unlike some of the other firms involved.”
Other improvements to the Fuelband include an upgrade to the lower-power Bluetooth 4.0 technology, allowing the device to automatically synchronize its data to an iPhone rather than requiring the owner to carry out a series of button presses.
There continues to be no official Fuelband app for Android devices, although users can connect the gadget to a computer to upload their data to a website.
Nike also suggested a redesigned internal circuit board and other changes meant the device offered “greater flexibility” and “improved water resistance”. Issues with the original model meant several users suffered error messages after several months’ use, requiring the bracelet to be replaced.
Like its predecessor, Nike suggests the Fuelband SE can be worn in the shower but should not be submerged for extended periods, for example while swimming.
Nike said that its iOS app also introduced a feature allowing users to work together to hit a fuel score target as well as a way to better monitor how much energy was used at different hours of the day.
The company also announced plans to expand an existing programme to encourage third-party firms to develop software that makes use of the information generated by the device.
Analysts agree that the wearable tech market – which includes devices such as Google’s forthcoming Glass eyewear – is set to expand, but differ over its expected size.
According to a new report from Juniper Research, the sector will grow from $1.4 billion of annual sales this year to $19 billion by 2018.
Nike is adding France, Germany and Japan to its existing Fuelband markets – the US, Canada and the UK.
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The Fuelband SE will be available from November 6.
Glenn Greenwald, The Guardian journalist who covered data leaked by Edward Snowden, has announced he is leaving the British newspaper.
Glenn Greenwald said he was departing to take up a “dream” opportunity.
He told Buzzfeed website he would be involved in a “new, large-scale… media outlet”.
In a statement posted online, Glenn Greenwald said the news of this “momentous new venture” had been leaked before he had planned to announce it so he was not able to provide further details, but that it would be unveiled shortly.
“My partnership with the Guardian has been extremely fruitful and fulfilling: I have high regard for the editors and journalists with whom I worked and am incredibly proud of what we achieved,” Glenn Greenwald said.
Glenn Greenwald, The Guardian journalist who covered data leaked by Edward Snowden, has announced he is leaving the British newspaper
The Guardian‘s Jennifer Lindauer said: “Glenn Greenwald is a remarkable journalist and it has been fantastic working with him.
“Our work together over the last year has demonstrated the crucial role that responsible investigative journalism can play in holding those in power to account.”
Glenn Greenwald has been fiercely criticized for his work with Edward Snowden, who is wanted in the US on espionage charges and is living under asylum in Russia.
However, Glenn Greenwald, who is a lawyer by training, said during an interview that none of the information he had published in the Guardian could have damaged national security.
In August, Glenn Greenwald’s partner David Miranda, who lives with the journalist in Rio de Janeiro, was held for nine hours at Heathrow under anti-terror laws. Police seized a number of electronic items he was carrying.
British Home Secretary Theresa May defended the move, saying the police had to act if someone had “highly sensitive, stolen information”.
