This week’s episode of Duck Dynasty showed Si Robertson feeling neglected by his family.
Uncle Si Robertson decided to draw some attention to himself by accidentally-on-purpose forcing his nephew Willie to bump into the front his truck in the Duck Commander parking lot.
“Hey, are you going to pay for this?” asked Si Robertson, pointing to the non-existent damage to his bumper.
Willie Robertson looked at dent-free bumper and shrugged: “Pay for what?”
“Look,” declared Si Robertson, wagging his finger.
“You’re going to pay for this. It’s probably going to run you $3,500.”
After a brief debate, Willie Robertson dismissed his uncle and got into his truck: “Yeah, whatever, Si.”
“You’ll be hearing from my lawyer,” warned Uncle Si.
Uncle Si Robertson decided to draw some attention to himself by accidentally-on-purpose forcing his nephew Willie to bump into the front his truck
The next day, John Godwin, Justin Martin, Jase Robertson and his brother Jep are inside Duck Commander HQ, debating the potential reproductive capabilities of mermaids. Willie Robertson arrived and learned that Si was at the doctor’s office.
“For what,” Willie asked dubiously.
“Is he sick?”
“Nah,” said Jase Robertson.
“After y’all had your wreck.”
Willie Robertson’s wife Korie came in the warehouse to announce that there was “a man outside and he said he’s here to deliver Si”.
“What is he, a pizza,” Willie cracked.
The crew went outside to see Si Robertson grandly exit out of a minivan and down a motorized ramp in his brand-new, bright blue mobility scooter.
“Si, get off that thing,” said Willie Robertson.
“I can’t,” replied Uncle Si.
“I got back damage – I’ve got residual nerve damage in my back. It compressed two or three vertebra back there – I likely broke my neck.”
Willie Robertson was not especially convinced of Si’s injuries.
“About once a year, Si comes up with some stupid excuse to miss work,” he explained.
“Last year, he was on crutches for two weeks before I finally broke down and made him employee of the month.”
A bill to support independent bookstores against competition from online retailers has been approved in France.
The new laws will restrict companies like Amazon from combining offers of 5% discounts with free deliveries.
France’s 3,000 independent bookshops have complained that they can’t compete with the cut-price offers online.
The new laws will restrict companies like Amazon from combining offers of 5 percent discounts with free deliveries
The opposition right-wing party UMP proposed the bill, but it also has the support of the left.
It has been approved by the lower house and will now be sent to the Senate.
French Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti has criticized Amazon’s practices in the past, particularly free deliveries or its policy of “tax optimization.”
Amazon insists the arrangement is legal under the European Union’s single market rules.
In June, Aurelie Filippetti said: “Today, everyone has had enough of Amazon, which, by dumping, slashes prices to get a foothold in markets only to raise them once they have established a virtual monopoly.”
France is known for being proud of its local stores, considering them essential to bring culture to small villages.
Bitcoin value has dropped after the closure of the clandestine Silk Road online marketplace.
The FBI seized bitcoins worth approximately $3.6 million on Tuesday.
The price of a bitcoin, a virtual currency for use online, fell steeply after the arrest of suspected website administrator Ross Ulbricht.
Investor confidence may have been shaken by the association of bitcoins with illegal activity, according to a security expert.
“When there’s a big bust, that’s going to knock people’s confidence in investing,” said Rik Ferguson, a senior researcher at security company Trend Micro.
“The more a currency is associated with illegal activity, the more people will be nervous about using it,” he said.
Bitcoin value has dropped after the closure of the clandestine Silk Road online marketplace.
Silk Road, which allowed users to trade in illegal drugs, required transactions to be made using the virtual currency.
News of the closure was followed by a rapid drop in the price of bitcoins, according to figures from the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange.
The going rate for bitcoin dropped from more than $140 to around $110, before climbing back up to $123.
Investors may have been concerned about the FBI’s ability to confiscate bitcoins, said Rik Ferguson.
“Knowing that a currency could be seized or shut down could pressure people to look for alternative investment vehicles,” he said.
The FBI seized the virtual currency by getting hold of encryption keys for the bitcoins, according to Jerry Brito, George Mason University’s technology policy director.
The keys were made available through seized computer equipment, Jerry Brito said in a blog post.
The FBI then transferred the bitcoins to an address controlled by the US government, according to the seizure order.
Woody Allen’s spokesman dismissed as “absurd” speculation that the director may not be the father of Mia Farrow’s son Ronan.
The claims are “so fictitious and extravagantly absurd that he is not going to comment,” said his spokesman.
Mia Farrow’s admission to Vanity Fair that Ronan may “possibly” have been fathered by ex-husband Frank Sinatra has also been rubbished by the singer’s widow.
“It’s just a bunch of junk,” Barbara Sinatra told the Desert Sun newspaper.
“There’s always junk written – lies that aren’t true,” the 85-year-old said on Wednesday.
“It sounds like a phony to me.”
Ronan Farrow, 25, has made his own comment on the story, tweeting: “Listen, we’re all *possibly* Frank Sinatra’s son.”
Mia Farrow admitted to Vanity Fair that her son Ronan may “possibly” have been fathered by ex-husband Frank Sinatra
Mia Farrow’s comments came in a lengthy article in Vanity Fair‘s November issue, which also contains quotes from eight of the actress’s children.
In excerpts released ahead of its publication, Mia Farrow claims she and Frank Sinatra “never really split up” following the end of their two-year marriage in 1968.
Mia Farrow subsequently married, and divorced, the composer Andre Previn, with whom she had three children and adopted three more.
The actress went on to have both a professional and personal relationship with Woody Allen, with whom she had Ronan – originally named Satchel – in 1987.
The revelation that Woody Allen was having a secret affair with Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn caused the break-up of their 12-year relationship in 1992.
This led to a bitter custody battle in which Woody Allen was accused of molesting their adopted daughter Dylan, charges Allen denied and which have never been proved.
Dylan, who now goes under the name Malone, refers to the alleged molestation in the Vanity Fair article, claiming she had been “scared” and had “wanted it to stop”.
“I have never been asked to testify,” she is quoted as saying.
“If I could talk to the seven-year-old Dylan, I would tell her to be brave, to testify.”
The article offers further insights into how Mia Farrow and Woody Allen’s acrimonious break-up has impacted on their biological and adopted children.
Fletcher Previn, it is revealed, used Photoshop to remove Woody Allen from every family photo and edited him out of the Farrow’s home videos.
Speaking in 2005, Woody Allen confirmed he no longer had relationships with the three children from his relationship with Mia Farrow.
Ronan Farrow, now a human rights campaigner and journalist, is reportedly in talks to host his own show on US channel MSNBC.
Cory Monteith died of a fatal cocktail of heroin and alcohol, the coroner’s report has revealed today.
The 31-year-old Glee star, who played Finn Hudson on the hit TV show, was found dead in a Vancouver hotel in July.
Investigators at the scene found drug paraphernalia, including “a spoon with drug residue and a used hypodermic needle, along with two empty champagne bottles and multiple glasses”.
Coroner Claire Thompson concluded that Cory Monteith’s death was “accidental”.
The final findings support the initial coroner’s report into the death of the Canadian actor on July 13.
At the time of his death, Cory Monteith had an alcohol level of 0.13 percent, with a “moderate” level of intoxication. The report also pointed to the presence of morphine, codeine and “6-monoacetylmorphine,” a by-product of heroin.
Cory Monteith died of a fatal cocktail of heroin and alcohol
Hotel video footage showed the actor returning alone to his room in the early hours of July 13, marking the final time he was seen alive.
“He had checked in to the hotel on July 6 and had been expected to check out on the 13th,” the report stated.
“When he had not done so, hotel staff checked his room and found him unresponsive on the floor.”
The report concluded Cory Monteith had been dead for several hours: “Mr. Monteith was clearly deceased and resuscitation was not attempted.”
Cory Monteith, who had been in Glee since its inception in 2009, was admitted to rehab earlier this year having struggled with addiction since he was a teenager. The coroner’s report said the actor’s “periods of abstinence ranged from years to months in duration”.
The report found that Cory Monteith’s erratic drug use contributed to his death, adding that “after a period of cessation from opiod drug use, a previously tolerated drug concentration level may become toxic and fatal”.
Glee, which follows a group of American high school misfits who form a singing club, will pay tribute to Cory Monteith in a special episode to be broadcast next week.
“[The] third episode will deal with the Finn Hudson character being written out of the show,” Fox’s Kevin Reilly told reporters at a Television Critics Association meeting in August.
Glee – now in its fifth series – is known for its upbeat pop covers and cameo appearances by celebrities.
New reports claimed that Cote de Pablo is pregnant after she was spotted with what appeared to be a baby bump.
Cote de Pablo, 33, was spotted this week with a prominent stomach during a night out with her long time partner, actor Diego Serrano.
On July 10, 2013, it was reported by CBS that Cote de Pablo will be leaving NCIS for undisclosed reasons
On July 10, 2013, it was reported by CBS that Cote de Pablo will be leaving NCIS for undisclosed reasons, although she will remain on long enough to conclude her character Ziva David’s storyline at the beginning of season 11.
As a consequence of kickboxing during scenes, Cote de Pablo has been injured several times on the show, including injuring her neck and back.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers asked a judge Wednesday to lift restrictions placed on him in prison, arguing that the conditions are overly harsh, have left him nearly totally isolated and are impairing their ability to defend him.
Lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect said in court documents that he has been confined to his cell except for visits from them and “very limited access” to a small outdoor enclosure.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, is accused of building and planting bombs near the finish line of the April 15 marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 260. Authorities say he and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, ethnic Chechens from Russia who emigrated to the US as children, planned and carried out the attack to retaliate against the US for its involvement in Muslim countries.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers said in court documents that he has been confined to his cell except for visits from them and “very limited access” to a small outdoor enclosure
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed four days after the Boston Marathon attack following a gun battle with police. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found wounded and hiding in a boat in a backyard in Watertown. Authorities said he had scrawled anti-American messages on the inside of the boat, including “The US government is killing our innocent civilians” and “We Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all”.
In their motion, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers said “Special Administrative Measures” (SAM’s) were imposed on their client beginning in August, at the request of US attorney Carmen Ortiz and the approval of US attorney general Eric Holder.
“SAMs” are used in terrorism cases and other high-profile cases when authorities allege there is “substantial risk” that a defendant’s communications or contacts with people “could result in death or serious bodily injury” to others. The special restrictions were placed on shoe-bomb suspect Richard Reid, “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh and other terror suspects.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers say prosecutors have presented no evidence that the special restrictions are needed in Tsarnaev’s case.
“The government has not alleged that Mr. Tsarnaev has done or said anything since his arrest to commit violence, incite violence, or engage in communications that pose a security threat,” his lawyers argued in the filing.
They also said the special measures limit Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s interaction with people who are helping the defense and restrict the communications and other activities of the defense team.
Italian officials have revealed that divers scouring the site of the Costa Concordia wreck off the coast of Italy have recovered what could be more human remains.
It comes days after Italy’s civil protection agency said it had found remains that could belong to the last two missing victims of the disaster.
All the remains have been sent for DNA testing.
The cruise ship ran aground and partially sank off Giglio island last year with the loss of 32 lives.
Divers scouring the site of the Costa Concordia wreck off the coast of Italy have recovered what could be more human remains
It was raised upright last month in a major salvage operation.
“Other remains have also been found and are currently undergoing DNA tests,” the agency’s chief Franco Gabrielli told reporters on Wednesday.
“We are waiting for the results of the analysis,” he added.
Costa Concordia’s captain, Francesco Schettino, is on trial over the disaster.
Francesco Schettino is accused of manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning ship, but says he is being made a scapegoat for the errors of others.
Two people were reported missing, presumed dead, after the disaster – Indian waiter Russel Rebello and Italian passenger Maria Grazia Trecarichi.
It was thought they had been trapped beneath the ship and the rocks, correspondents say.
At least 50 people have died after a boat carrying migrants sank off near Lampedusa, southern Italy, reports say.
Rescue operations are continuing and officials warn the toll may rise.
At least 50 people have died after a boat carrying migrants sank off near Lampedusa, southern Italy
Passengers reportedly threw themselves into the sea as the vessel got into trouble and Italian officials were quoted as saying that dozens of people were still in the water.
There are reports that a fire broke out on board, before the boat sank.
Local media reports say that at least one child and a pregnant woman are among the dead.
Earlier this week, 13 migrants drowned while trying to reach the coast of Sicily.
President Barack Obama has warned that Wall Street should be concerned that a conservative faction of Republicans is willing to allow the country to default on its debt.
The US government has begun a partial shutdown after Congress failed to agree a budget and will run out of cash on October 17 unless its debt ceiling is raised.
In a TV interview on Wednesday, Barack Obama said he was “exasperated”.
The president later held talks with Congressional leaders that ended without agreement.
The US government closed non-essential operations on Tuesday after Congress failed to strike a deal on a new budget.
Republicans and Democrats are blaming each other for the impasse.
The shutdown has left more than 700,000 employees on unpaid leave and closed national parks, tourist sites, government websites, office buildings, and more.
However, as one budget crisis raged in Washington DC, another one – potentially more dangerous – loomed in the coming weeks.
On October 17, the US government will run out of cash to pay its bills unless the debt ceiling is raised.
President Barack Obama has warned that Wall Street should be concerned that a conservative faction of Republicans is willing to allow the country to default on its debt
On both issues, the Republicans who control the House of Representatives have demanded concessions from Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats in return for funding the government’s continued operation and for raising the debt ceiling.
Chiefly, the Republicans demand the repeal, delay or defunding of a healthcare reform law – dubbed Obamacare – passed by the Democrats in 2010.
Major portions of that law, which was subsequently validated by the US Supreme Court and was a major issue in the 2012 presidential election, took effect on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Barack Obama met the heads of some of Wall Street’s biggest banks – including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America – to discuss the debt ceiling and other economic issues.
The bankers are members of the Financial Services Forum, a lobby group which has, along with 250 other businesses, sent a letter to Congress urging it to raise the debt limit.
Following the meeting, Barack Obama told CNBC “it’s important for them to recognize that this is going to have a profound impact on our economy and their bottom lines”.
Barack Obama also said he was unwilling to negotiate “with the extremist wing of one party” as the October 17 deadline neared.
“The message I have for the [Congressional] leaders is, as soon as we get a clean piece of legislation that reopens the government… until we get that done, until we make sure that Congress allows [the Department of the Treasury] to pay for things that Congress itself already authorized, we are not going to engage in a series of negotiations,” he said.
As foreign markets anxiously monitored the US budget crisis, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi warned that a protracted shutdown was “a risk not only for the US, but also the world economy”.
On Wednesday evening Barack Obama met Republican House Speaker John Boehner, as well as Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi at the White House.
John Boehner later left the talks complaining that the Democrats would not negotiate.
“All we’re asking for here is a discussion and fairness for the American people under Obamacare,” he told reporters.
Nancy Pelosi, however, accused the Republicans of “moving the goalposts” on the budget deal.
Harry Reid said Democrats were “locked in tight on Obamacare” and neither the president nor Democrats in Congress would accept changes to the law as the price for a deal on reopening the government.
Analysts say John Boehner could end the current government showdown by allowing the House to vote on a “clean” budget bill that does not alter the health law, because that could pass with a coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans.
But doing so would risk his standing with the most conservative elements of his caucus.
Earlier on Wednesday, senior US intelligence officials warned the shutdown of the government seriously damaged the ability of spy agencies to protect the US.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a Senate panel that an estimated 70% of intelligence workers had been placed on unpaid leave.
Also on Wednesday, the White House announced Barack Obama would cut short a planned four-nation tour of Asia next week.
The president will attend regional summits in Indonesia and Brunei, but skip Malaysia and the Philippines due to the government shutdown.
The US government ceased operations deemed non-essential at midnight on Tuesday, when the previous budget expired.
The Republic of the Gambia has decided to withdraw from the Commonwealth, 48 years after joining.
The West African nation branded the 54-member grouping, which includes the UK and most of its former colonies, a “neo-colonial institution”.
The withdrawal was announced on state TV but no other reasons were given.
Two years ago President Yahya Jammeh accused the UK of backing his political opposition ahead of elections. The UK said it would “very much regret” The Gambia leaving the Commonwealth.
There is a history of tension between President Yahya Jammeh, who came to power in a 1994 coup, and the UK.
Earlier this year, a Foreign Office report singled out The Gambia for its human rights record, citing cases of unlawful detentions, illegal closures of newspapers and discrimination against minority groups.
In August 2012, The Gambia was criticized by Amnesty International and others for executing nine prisoners by firing squad.
Two years ago President Yahya Jammeh accused the UK of backing his political opposition ahead of elections
The Commonwealth was founded in 1931 but acquired its modern shape after 1949 as former British colonies and protectorates, including The Gambia, started to achieve self-government and varying degrees of independence.
The grouping dropped the word British from its name and the allegiance to the crown from its statute and other independent nations joined.
In its statement, the Gambian government said it had “withdrawn its membership of the British Commonwealth”.
It said it had “decided that The Gambia will never be a member of any neo-colonial institution and will never be a party to any institution that represents an extension of colonialism”.
The last time a nation left the Commonwealth was in 2003, when Zimbabwe withdrew.
The UK’s Foreign Office said: “Decisions on Commonwealth membership are a matter for each member government. We would very much regret Gambia, or any other country, deciding to leave the Commonwealth.”
Queen Elizabeth II, who is 87, is the head of the Commonwealth, which holds its next heads of government meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, next month.
However, the gathering will be the first that the Queen has not attended.
The Queen is sending her son, the Prince of Wales instead, with Buckingham Palace saying she is making fewer overseas trips because of her age.
Michael Jackson’s family has lost the negligence case against concert promoters AEG Live over the death of the pop star.
A jury concluded Dr. Conrad Murray, who was looking after Michael Jackson ahead of his concert tour was not unfit for his job – and so AEG had not been negligent in hiring him.
Michael Jackson died in 2009 at the age of 50 after taking an overdose of a surgical anaesthetic.
Dr. Conrad Murray was jailed for four years for involuntary manslaughter for administering the drug.
To reach its verdict, the jury of six men and six women had to go through five key yes-no questions seeking to establish whether AEG was responsible for Conrad Murray’s hiring in the first place and concerning his competence for the job.
The jury decided that AEG Live did hire Conrad Murray but found that he was not unfit or incompetent for the job.
Delivering the verdict, jury foreman Gregg Barden said: “That doesn’t mean we felt he was ethical.”
The ruling was welcomed by AEG Live, who argued that they hired Conrad Murray at the request of Michael Jackson and had no knowledge of the star’s drug dependency.
“I counted Michael Jackson a creative partner and a friend,” said AEG Live executive Randy Phillips, who had testified at the trial.
Michael Jackson’s family has lost the negligence case against concert promoters AEG Live over the death of the pop star
“We lost one of the world’s greatest musical geniuses, but I am relieved and deeply grateful that the jury recognized that neither I, nor anyone else at AEG Live, played any part in Michael’s tragic death.”
Michael Jackson’s 83-year-old mother Katherine was in court for the verdict, and appeared emotional as it was read out, Reuters news agency reports.
Katherine Jackson’s lawyer, Kevin Boyle, said the family was “of course… not happy with the result as it stands now. We will be exploring all options legally and factually and make a decision about anything at a later time.”
In closing arguments, the Jackson lawyers had suggested the damages they were seeking could exceed $1 billion – amounts AEG Live had described as “absurd”.
Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, at his rented home in Los Angeles where he was rehearsing for a series of worldwide This Is It concerts.
It was billed as his comeback tour, coming four years after he had been acquitted in a high-profile child molestation case that took a toll on his reputation and his finances.
The five-month civil case heard about his battles with chronic pain and insomnia and a reliance on powerful painkillers.
Michael Jackson died after Dr. Conrad Murray administered an overdose of the hospital anaesthetic propofol to help him sleep.
Katherine Jackson and Michael’s three children had argued that AEG Live were negligent in failing to properly investigate Conrad Murray before hiring him and ignoring signs that the singer was in poor health.
The concert promoters said only Michael Jackson and Conrad Murray knew he was taking the drug and they would have pulled the plug on the tour if they had known.
More than 50 witnesses testified during the trial, including Katherine Jackson and Michael’s eldest son, Prince.
Dr. Conrad Murray is due to be released later this month after serving two years in jail.
Senior intelligence officials have warned the government shutdown “seriously damages” spy agencies’ ability to protect the US.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a Senate panel that an estimated 70% of intelligence workers had been placed on unpaid leave.
Also, the head of the US electronic spy agency said morale had been devastated.
The US government closed non-essential operations on Tuesday after Congress failed to reach a new budget deal.
James Clapper appeared before a Senate judiciary committee hearing on Wednesday, warning lawmakers the damage to US intelligence capabilities caused by a shutdown would be “insidious”.
“This is not just a Beltway issue,” he said, referring to the Washington DC area.
“This affects our global capability to support the military, to support diplomacy, and to support our policymakers.”
James Clapper told a Senate panel that an estimated 70 percent of intelligence workers had been placed on unpaid leave due to shutdown
James Clapper also warned that foregoing paying employees during the shutdown could cause them financial hardship, making them inviting targets for foreign spies.
“This is a dreamland for foreign intelligence services,” he said.
General Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency (NSA), said the electronic spying agency had placed thousands of mathematicians and computer scientists on unpaid leave.
“Our nation needs people like this,” he said.
“And the way we treat them is to tell them, <<you need to go home because we can’t afford to pay you, we can’t make a deal here>>.”
The government shutdown has left more than 700,000 employees on unpaid leave, and closed national parks, tourist sites, government websites, office buildings and more.
It came after weeks of wrangling between Democrats in the White House and Senate and the Republicans who control the US House of Representatives.
House Republicans have demanded repeal, defunding or delay of a healthcare law passed in 2010 by the Democrats as a condition for continuing to fund the government. President Barack Obama and the Democrats have refused, leading to the current morass.
The spy chiefs’ remarks came after the White House announced Barack Obama would cut short a planned four-nation tour of Asia next week.
President Barack Obama will attend regional summits in Indonesia and Brunei, but skip Malaysia and the Philippines due to the government shutdown.
Italy’s Prime Minister Enrico Letta has won a confidence vote after a last-minute U-turn by former PM Silvio Berlusconi.
Silvio Berlusconi had initially promised to topple the government by withdrawing his party’s support – a move which prompted the Senate vote.
But he backed down when it became clear that several of his senators would back the government.
Enrico Letta had earlier said that if he were defeated in the vote, it might prove a “fatal risk” for Italy.
In the event he won easily: the Senate voted 235 to 70 in favor of the government.
Some of Silvio Berlusconi’s most hardline followers left the chamber and did not vote at all.
The result of the vote increases the possibility of Silvio Berlusconi being thrown out of the Senate on the grounds he is a convicted criminal.
Enrico Letta has won a confidence vote after a last-minute U-turn by former PM Silvio Berlusconi
On Friday a Senate committee is due to vote on whether to strip him of his seat following his conviction for tax fraud.
As he left the Senate building on Wednesday, people outside greeted him with catcalls, whistles and cries of “go away”.
Last weekend, Silvio Berlusconi demanded that five ministers from his centre-right People of Freedom party (PDL) leave the government and bring it down.
But Silvio Berlusconi’s close ally Renato Schifani insisted he had not been weakened by the vote, telling Italian news agencies that his leadership “has been strengthened”.
When he rose to speak in the Senate to announce his turnaround, Silvio Berlusconi said: “Italy needs a government that can produce structural and institutional reforms. We have decided, not without internal travail, to back the confidence vote.”
The Milan stock exchange gained nearly 2% on the announcement.
In his address to the Senate, Enrico Letta defended his government’s performance and said Italy “runs a risk, a fatal risk” if it were to fall.
He said: “Give us your confidence to realize [our] objectives. Give us your confidence for all that has been accomplished… a confidence vote for Italy and Italians.”
Silvio Berlusconi had accused Enrico Letta of allowing his “political assassination through judicial means” – a reference to Berlusconi’s criminal conviction for tax fraud in August.
The former prime minister said he asked his ministers to defy the government to protest against an impending rise in VAT, not because of the attempts to throw him out of the Senate.
Enrico Letta accused Silvio Berlusconi of using the VAT issue as an “alibi” for his own personal concerns.
He refused to accept the resignation of the five PDL ministers and hence called the vote of confidence.
Silvio Berlusconi’s plan to bring the government down began to unravel when the ministers signaled their own unwillingness to leave the government, and even his deputy and party secretary, Angelino Alfano, said that PDL members should back Enrico Letta.
Analysts say the crisis threatened to hamper badly needed reforms to tackle Italy’s economic problems that include debt, recession and high youth unemployment.
Enrico Letta’s cross-party alliance was formed in April after two months of political deadlock following an inconclusive election.
A 3D printed toothbrush can clean teeth thoroughly in less than six seconds.
Manufacturer Blizzident uses the same scans dentists use to fit braces and an extremely precise 3D printer to create a brush for each individual customer.
Each brush contains about 400 soft bristles and requires the wearer to grind their teeth in order to clean.
Blizzident says the toothbrush eliminates brushing errors that people typically make, but experts say more research is needed.
The technology comes at a price – a customer’s first brush, which will last for a year, costs 299 euros ($405).
Blizzident toothbrush can clean teeth thoroughly in less than six seconds
Subsequent brushes are cheaper, and old ones can be reconditioned for less than 100 euros, the company says.
“Because you are brushing all your teeth at the same time, you are brushing extremely quickly,” the company says.
“You brush all the difficult-to-reach and interdental regions without even having to think about it.”
The typical toothbrush has long been considered fit for purpose by most people – but there have been several attempts to reinvent its design.
One recent example, from a former student of New York’s School of Visual Arts, took inspiration from the traditional miswak stick, a “tooth-cleaning twig” used mainly in the Middle East and parts of Asia.
The miswak stick – which grows on a Salvadora persica tree – is used by biting off a small part of the stick for each use, exposing a fresh set of bristles.
Three more Duck Dynasty books will be released in 2014, Howard Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, announced on Monday.
Five books from the Robertson family already are out, including such top sellers as Happy, Happy, Happy and The Duck Commander Family.
Five books from the Robertson family already are out, including such top sellers as Happy, Happy, Happy and The Duck Commander Family
Scheduled for next year are Faith in the Duck Blind, The Women of Duck Commander and Phil-Osophy.
The Duck Dynasty series first aired in 2012. Set in Louisiana bayou country, it follows a brood of brothers who manufacture duck calls and love to go bird hunting.
Faith in the Duck Blind will be written by Jase Robertson, and according to Simon & Schuster’s website, will detail “his personal family life, his childhood days with a drunken father, and how he came to faith.” Jase Robertson will share “his strong commitment to not be like Phil had been, opting for total abstinence from drinking and s**,” and his first date with wife Missy.
The Women of Duck Commander will bring together Miss Kay, Korie,Missy, Jessica, and Lisa Robertson‘s thoughts about what’s great – and what’s challenging – about supporting the bearded men in their lives.
No official synopsis on Phil-Osophy has been posted yet, but based on the title, it sounds as though Phil Robertson will be sharing more of his beloved nuggets of wisdom about living life to the fullest.
Fourteen Greenpeace activists have been charged with piracy by the Russian authorities.
They were among a 30-strong crew on a Greenpeace ship that was protesting against oil drilling in the Arctic.
The group was arrested last month after two of the protesters tried to board an oil platform owned by the Russian state-controlled firm Gazprom.
Greenpeace has called the charges “irrational, absurd and an outrage”.
The 14 activists were taken from jail to the Murmansk office of the Investigative Committee, the Russian equivalent of the FBI.
There they were formally charged with “piracy of an organized group”, an offence that carries a 15-year prison sentence.
Those charged include Kieron Bryan, a freelance video producer from London; Anthony Perrett from Newport in Wales; Alexandra Harris, originally from Devon, and Philip Ball from Chipping Norton.
Fourteen Greenpeace activists have been charged with piracy by the Russian authorities
Greenpeace said more activists are expected to be formally charged on Thursday.
The group’s international executive director, Kumi Naidoo, said the charges were “extreme and disproportionate”.
“A charge of piracy is being laid against men and women whose only crime is to be possessed of a conscience. This is an outrage and represents nothing less than an assault on the very principle of peaceful protest,” Reuters news agency quoted Kumi Naidoo as saying.
Kumi Naidoo said the way Russian officials had treated the protesters represented “the most serious threat to Greenpeace’s peaceful environmental activism” since the bombing of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in New Zealand in 1985, when the group was campaigning against French nuclear testing in the Pacific.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously said the activists were “not pirates”, but may have broken international law.
The Investigative Committee said earlier this week that peaceful aims would not justify what it has described as an “attack” that posed a threat to the rig and its personnel.
Last month the Greenpeace ship approached the Prirazlomnaya platform, Russia’s first offshore oil rig which is scheduled to start operating by the end of the year.
Two activists tried to climb up onto the platform and tie themselves onto it, in an attempt to draw attention to the issue of the expansion of oil and gas exploration in the Arctic Ocean.
They were detained after a short skirmish in inflatable dinghies in which armed Russian FSB officers in balaclavas fired warning shots into the water.
Greenpeace has released cameraphone images it says show the moment Russian security forces boarded the Arctic Sunrise ship.
The Arctic Sunrise ship, with its crew comprising 18 nationalities, was then towed to Murmansk.
Duck Dynasty stars are getting the royal treatment Sunday when they fly to Minnesota for an Eden Prairie appearance.
Si Robertson, his nephew, Alan Robertson, and their beloved neighbor Mountain Man, known to the IRS as Tim Guraedy, will be at Grace Church in Eden Prairie to talk about how a TV show has made millionaires of the quirky Louisiana makers of duck calls.
Si Robertson and his nephew Alan Robertson will be at Grace Church in Eden Prairie
The 3 to 6 p.m. event, for which tickets can be bought at www.itickets.com, is a fundraiser for Southwest Christian High School in Chaska and Chapel Hill Academy in Chanhassen.
Duck Dynasty Season 4 premiere attracted 11.8 million viewers, shattering cable records.
The Duck Commander warehouse in Monroe, Louisiana, attracts nearly 3,000 people daily, with hopes of catching a glimpse of a Si Robertson.
Uncle Si Robertson may be just as elusive after arriving in Minnesota via private plane.
“We have a bunch of corporate sponsors who made it possible for the Minnesota visit, so they are going to be cranking,” said Si Robertson.
“They only are going to autograph if you have a VIP ticket. There are only a few people who will actually get their autographs.”
Spy novelist Tom Clancy, known to millions for his Jack Ryan series of novels, has died aged 66, his publisher has confirmed.
Tom Clancy wrote a string of best-selling spy and military thrillers.
Several of his books featuring CIA analyst Jack Ryan were adapted into successful films, including The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games.
The former insurance broker died in a Baltimore hospital near his Maryland home, according to reports.
Tom Clancy is known to millions for his Jack Ryan series of novels
The Hunt for Red October (1984) was Tom Clancy’s first published novel and sold more than five million copies.
President Ronald Reagan helped to fuel the success of the book when he called it a “perfect yarn”.
The novel was made into a successful film in 1990, starring Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan and Sean Connery as Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius.
Harrison Ford went on to play Jack Ryan in film versions of Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, while Ben Affleck played him in 2002 release The Sum of All Fears.
Jack Ryan: Shadow One, a new film to feature the character directed by Kenneth Branagh, is set for release this December.
As well as a successful writer, Tom Clancy also became closely associated with the world of video gaming.
In the 1990s he founded Red Storm Entertainment, later bought by Ubisoft, which developed games based on Tom Clancy’s ideas.
Blockbuster video game titles bearing his name included Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six.
A police dog was filmed biting a policeman’s behind after Millwall beat Leeds 2-0 last weekend in the English Football Championship.
After the match got underway at the New Den rival fans faced-off at London Bridge train station.
Millwall beat Leeds 2-0 last weekend in the English Football Championship
There was a heavy police presence at the station in order to contain the charged atmosphere as fans from the two clubs met, and amid the mayhem one fan filmed a mad moment when a police dog got a little bit confused.
Rather than looking to contain the fans, the police dog set about attacking one of the policemen by biting his behind.
Giuliano Gemma died in a car crash on Tuesday, October 1, 2013.
The 75-year-old Italian actor was involved in a collision near Rome, Italy.
Giuliano Gemma died in a car crash on Tuesday
Giuliano Gemma was taken to hospital but died shortly after his arrival.
After working as a stuntman, Giuliano Gemma began acting in 1962. He became famous for his roles in spaghetti westerns, appearing in films such as A Pistol for Ringo, Blood for a Silver Dollar and Day of Anger.
Giuliano Gemma went on to win the David di Donatello, Italy’s equivalent of the Oscar, for his performance in Desert of Tartars in 1976, according to Hollywood.com.
Leader of Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn party Nikos Michaloliakos is to appear in court to answer charges of organizing a criminal group.
Nikos Michaloliakos was one of six MPs arrested over the weekend amid outrage over the recent murder of an anti-racist musician.
Three of the detained MPs have been freed pending trial while a fourth was remanded in custody.
All four denied the charges against them during a marathon court hearing in Athens.
In all, 22 people were detained following the September 18 murder of Pavlos Fyssas.
A man held for the stabbing told police he was a Golden Dawn supporter, though the party strongly denies any link.
Nikos Michaloliakos faces charges including murder, assault and money-laundering.
According to Greek law, he will set out a preliminary defense argument when he appears before an investigative judge on Wednesday.
The judge will then decide – on the basis of the charges and the defense statement – whether to grant bail or remand Nikos Michaloliakos in custody pending his full trial, which the authorities are keen to conclude swiftly.
MP and party spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris was freed on Wednesday on bail of 50,000 euros ($68,000) and banned from leaving the country. Fellow MPs Ilias Panagiotaros and Nikos Michos were freed under travel bans but with no bail set.
A fourth MP, Yannis Lagos, was remanded in custody.
The plea session lasted 18 hours, Reuters news agency reports.
Nikos Michaloliakos is to appear in court to answer charges of organizing a criminal group
Nikos Michaloliakos’s deputy, Christos Pappas, is set to appear in court in the coming days.
Any MPs finally convicted would lose their seats in parliament, prompting by-elections and – the government hopes – leading to the destruction of Greece’s neo-Nazi party.
During Tuesday’s court appearances, there was a heavy presence of riot police – a reminder that despite falling popularity in the opinion polls, the party still commands significant support.
Supporters outside court chanted slogans, including “You are heroes!”
Details from witness testimony have been emerging about the way in which the party operated.
The testimony speaks of a strict hierarchical structure – or “Fuehrer principle” as the indictment calls it – as well as assault squads and military-style training.
Searches of the homes of some MPs have found Nazi paraphernalia as well as unlicensed weapons, ammunition and bundles of cash.
The crackdown was sparked by outrage at the murder of rapper Pavlos Fyssas, 34, whose stage name was Killah P.
George Roupakias, 45, who said he was a supporter of Golden Dawn, was arrested in connection with the killing.
On Friday, Golden Dawn – which won nearly 7% of the vote in 2012 elections – threatened to pull its 18 MPs out of the 300-strong parliament.
The governing coalition headed by PM Antonis Samaras, which has 155 seats, would then face by-elections.
Speaking on a visit to the US on Monday, Antonis Samaras vowed to eradicate the “shame of neo-Nazism”.
In recent months, Golden Dawn has been accused of perpetrating attacks on migrants and political opponents.
Golden Dawn officially denies being a neo-Nazi movement, despite its swastika-like insignia.
Italian PM Enrico Letta has been addressing parliament ahead of a crucial vote of confidence in his governing coalition.
Enrico Letta told the Senate the collapse of his government could be fatal for the country.
The vote was called after former PM Silvio Berlusconi ordered ministers in his centre-right People of Freedom party (PDL) to leave the government.
But some key PDL figures have defied him, saying they will back Enrico Letta.
Enrico Letta earlier rejected the resignations of the five PDL ministers.
Silvio Berlusconi has accused Enrico Letta of allowing his “political assassination through judicial means” – a reference to Berlusconi’s criminal conviction for tax fraud in August.
“Even though I understand the risks that I am taking on, I have decided to put an end to the Letta government,” Silvio Berlusconi said in a letter to the weekly magazine Tempi.
However, Silvio Berlusconi appeared more circumspect on arrival at the Senate on Wednesday, saying: “We’ll see what happens. We’ll listen to Letta’s speech and then we’ll decide.”
Addressing the Senate, Enrico Letta defended his government’s performance and said Italy “runs a risk, a fatal risk” if it were to fall.
Italian PM Enrico Letta has been addressing parliament ahead of a crucial vote of confidence in his governing coalition
He said: “Give us your confidence to realize [our] objectives. Give us your confidence for all that has been accomplished… a confidence vote for Italy and Italians.”
In an apparent break with Silvio Berlusconi, his deputy and party secretary Angelino Alfano said PDL MPs should back Enrico Letta in the confidence vote.
“I am firmly convinced that our party as a whole should vote confidence in Letta,” said Angelino Alfano, who is also Italy’s interior minister.
The first vote on Wednesday is in Senate and is expected around midday. This will be the crucial moment, as it is where Silvio Berlusconi’s allies have a narrow majority. The chamber of deputies will vote later.
Enrico Letta needs 161 votes in the Senate but can only count on the support of about 137 members, meaning he will need about 25 votes from others.
There are reports that between 30 and 40 PDL senators may vote for the government.
Angelino Alfano’s comments had caused the Italian stock market to jump on Tuesday as investors appeared increasingly confident that the government would not fall.
Carlo Giovanardi, a senator from Silvio Berlusconi’s party, indicated he would support the government, adding: “We want to remain a moderate force.”
Fabrizio Cicchitto, a PDL deputy, said: “Making the government fall would be a mistake.”
He said any new government would be “hostile to the PDL” and would be a boon for Enrico Letta’s centre-left Democratic Party.
On Tuesday, Enrico Letta refused to accept the resignations of five ministers from the PDL, Italy’s Ansa news agency reported, citing a government source.
Enrico Letta called the vote of confidence after Silvio Berlusconi ordered his ministers to leave the government in protest at a rise in VAT (sales tax).
The prime minister accused Silvio Berlusconi of using the issue as an “alibi” for his own personal concerns.
Analysts say the crisis threatens to hamper badly needed reforms to tackle Italy’s economic problems that include debt, recession and high youth unemployment.
The International Monetary Fund has warned that political tensions are a risk to the Italian economy.
Enrico Letta’s cross-party alliance was formed in April after two months of political deadlock following an inconclusive election.
Several US government websites and Twitter feeds have been suspended due to a partial federal shutdown.
NASA’s website was unavailable as non-essential services were closed, and the White House web page was not being updated, after a lapse in federal funding.
The US Department of Homeland Security was not responding to public emails submitted via its website.
US government employees affected by the shutdown were not able to access email.
Republican opposition to President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law, the Affordable Care Act, lead to the government shutdown on Tuesday.
The act, known also as Obamacare, has caused legislative deadlock. Congress failed to pass legislation to fund the government on Monday.
Thousands of federal workers who had been sent home on Tuesday were barred from accessing work emails as part of US government policy.
Several US government websites and Twitter feeds have been suspended due to a partial federal shutdown
The same US law which gave the legal basis for the shutdown, the Antideficiency Act, also prohibited work “via mobile devices or remote computer connections” for employees who had been sent home.
Communications channels for members of the public were also affected by the shutdown.
US citizens can normally use federal websites and Twitter feeds to put queries to government institutions.
On Tuesday, email questions from the public were not being processed by US bodies including the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.
“Due to the lapse in government funding, information on this website will not be routinely updated, the transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the department may not be able to respond to inquiries until funding has been restored,” read a notice on the Department of Justice site.
People trying to reach NASA’s main website were redirected to a US government notice explaining that the page was not available.
Other federal websites such as the US Department of Agriculture and the US Census Bureau displayed holding pages.
Dozens of Twitter feeds, including tweets from the National Park Service for the Statue of Liberty, were stopped.
Smaller federal institutions such as the Smithsonian National Zoo were affected by the shutdown.
The zoo’s webcams, which normally stream images of giant pandas, cheetahs, flamingos, and naked mole rats, were also down.
“None of our live animal cams will broadcast,” said a notice on the Smithsonian National Zoo web page.
“The cams require federal resources, primarily staff, to run and broadcast. They’ve been deemed non-essential during the shutdown.”
