Google has unveiled Hummingbird algorithm – an upgrade to the way it interprets users’ search requests.
Hummingbird is the first major upgrade for three years.
The new algorithm has already been in use for about a month, and affects about 90% of Google searches.
At a presentation on Thursday, Google was short on specifics but said Hummingbird is especially useful for longer and more complex queries.
Google stressed that a new algorithm is important as users expect more natural and conversational interactions with a search engine – for example, using their voice to speak requests into mobile phones, smart watches and other wearable technology.
Google has unveiled Hummingbird algorithm, an upgrade to the way it interprets users’ search requests
Hummingbird is focused more on ranking information based on a more intelligent understanding of search requests, unlike its predecessor, Caffeine, which was targeted at better indexing of websites.
It is more capable of understanding concepts and the relationships between them rather than simply words, which leads to more fluid interactions. In that sense, it is an extension of Google’s “Knowledge Graph” concept introduced last year aimed at making interactions more human.
In one example, shown at the presentation, a Google executive showed off a voice search through her mobile phone, asking for pictures of the Eiffel Tower. After the pictures appeared, she then asked how tall it was. After Google correctly spoke back the correct answer, she then asked “show me pictures of the construction” – at which point a list of images appeared.
The news was announced at an intimate press event at the Silicon Valley garage where founders Sergei Brin and Larry Page worked on the launch of the search engine, which is fifteen years old on Friday.
At the event, Google also announced an updated search app on Apple’s iOS, as well as a more visible presence for voice search on its home page.
Toyota and Nissan have announced new vehicle recalls.
Toyota is calling back 615,000 Sienna minivans in the US to fix a lever problem that could cause vehicles to shift out of park mode “without the driver depressing the brake pedal”.
Toyota said that it was aware of 24 “minor accidents” due to the issue.
Meanwhile, Nissan said it is recalling 908,900 vehicles globally due to a flaw in an accelerator sensor but added that no accidents had been reported.
Toyota’s recall applies to models made during 2004 to 2005 and 2007 to 2009
Nissan said the accelerator pedal’s sensor could become unstable, leading to a less-than-intended acceleration. It added that in a worst case scenario, the engine could stall.
Its recall affects Infiniti M, Serena, X-Trail, Lafesta and Fuga models produced in Japan between 2004 and 2013.
Toyota’s recall applies to models made during 2004 to 2005 and 2007 to 2009.
This is the second time in a month that Toyota has issued a recall of its vehicles in the US market.
Earlier in September, Toyota issued a recall for more than 780,000 vehicles in the US to address a suspension defect in its RAV4 and Lexus HS 250h models, on fears that an initial recall last year did not fix the problem
Spain is to consider changing time zones by an hour after a report said this would improve eating, sleeping and working habits.
The document by a parliamentary commission said that “Spain for more than 71 years has not been in the correct time zone”.
In 1942, the Spanish dictator General Franco moved Spain onto Central European Time to follow Nazi Germany.
Spain is to consider changing time zones by an hour after a report said this would improve eating, sleeping and working habits
The report says Spain should be in the same time zone as the UK and Portugal.
Spain – on the western edge of Europe – is currently one hour ahead of GMT during the winter and two hours ahead in the summer.
“We sleep almost an hour less than the World Health Organization recommends,” the commission said.
“All this has a negative effect on productivity, absenteeism, stress, accidents and school drop-out rates.”
It said that following the “wrong clock” explained why Spaniards tended to eat, leave work and go to bed later than their European neighbors.
“Our timetable is determined more by the sun than by the clock. We eat at one o’clock in the afternoon and dine at eight, according to the sun, but the clock says it is three o’clock and 10 o’clock,” the text said.
It added that jumping back an hour would bring Spain “into line with Europe in many respects in which we currently differ”.
New reports claim that Yahoo email addresses reassigned to a new owner are receiving personal emails intended for the previous owner.
One user told news website Information Week that he had received emails with some highly sensitive information in them.
In June the company announced Yahoo addresses and IDs would be reassigned if they had been inactive for a year.
Privacy experts called on Yahoo to address the issue “immediately”. Yahoo says it has taken a series of measures to overcome privacy and security fears.
“Before recycling inactive accounts we attempted to reach the account owners [in] multiple ways to notify them that they needed to log in to their account or it would be subject to recycling,” said a Yahoo representative.
“We took many precautions to ensure this was done safely – including deleting any private data from the previous account owner, sending bounce-backs to the senders for at least 30-60 days letting them know the account no longer existed and unsubscribing the accounts from commercial mail.”
Yahoo email addresses reassigned to a new owner are receiving personal emails intended for the previous owner
It is also in the process of rolling out a feature called “Not My Email” where users can report an email that is not intended for them.
The process will come as little comfort to the previous owner of an email account now owned by Tom Jenkins, an IT security professional.
Tom Jenkins told Information Week: “I can gain access to their Pandora account [online radio] but I won’t. I can gain access to their Facebook account, but I won’t. I know their name, address and phone number. I know where their child goes to school. I know the last four digits of their social security number. I know they had an eye doctor’s appointment last week and I was just invited to their friend’s wedding.”
Other users have revealed that they have also received messages that contain personally identifiable information.
“I recommend logging into your Yahoo account every six months or so in order to ensure that you retain control over it,” said security expert Lee Munson.
Privacy experts said that the issues were inevitable.
“These problems were flagged by security and privacy experts a few months ago when Yahoo announced their intention to recycle old emails, and cautioned that Yahoo’s plan created significant security and privacy risks. Yahoo downplayed these risks, and ignored critics, but now we see these concerns were legitimate,” said Mike Rispoli, spokesman for Privacy International.
“This email recycling scheme, an effort to re-engage old users and attract new ones, is resulting in some of our most intimate data being accessed by someone we don’t know and without our knowledge.
“We’re talking about account passwords, contacts for friends and families, medical records – this issue needs to be addressed immediately by Yahoo if they care about the privacy of their users and want them to trust the company with sensitive information.”
Duck Dynasty stars Jase and Missy Robertson have three kids: Reed, Cole, and Mia.
The little one is Mia Robertson. Ten-year-old Mia hasn’t been on the show at all, except sitting around Miss Kay’s table for the family blessing that ends each episode.
Mia Robertson and her brother Reed
Mia Robertson had a cleft lip (cheiloschisis) and cleft palate (palatoschisis) condition and she had an operation for it.
Reed Robertson is Jase and Missy’s eldest son. He is a senior in high school, playing football, and hanging out with his girlfriend.
Cole Robertson is Jase and Missy’s second child. He has been on the show quite a bit. He is 15, now, and looks so much like Willie’s boy, John Luke, that seeing the two cousins together on camera is always fun. You’ll find him playing video games with John Luke on one episode and, in the same episode, getting a lesson from Granddad Phil on how not to be a “yuppie.”
Duck Dynasty’s Jase Robertson and his wife Missy have three kids: Reed, Cole, and Mia.
Reed Robertson, 18, is Jase and Missy’s eldest son. He is a senior in high school, playing football, and hanging out with his girlfriend.
Jase and Missy Robertson and their children
Cole Robertson is Jase and Missy’s second child. He has been on the show quite a bit. He is 15, now, and looks so much like Willie’s boy, John Luke, that seeing the two cousins together on camera is always fun. You’ll find him playing video games with John Luke on one episode and, in the same episode, getting a lesson from Granddad Phil on how not to be a “yuppie.”
The little one is Mia Robertson. Ten-year-old Mia hasn’t been on the show at all, except sitting around Miss Kay’s table for the family blessing that ends each episode.
Next episode of Duck Dynasty reveals how Si Robertson shows up to work on a mobility scooter, claiming to have an invisible injury from a fender bender with nephew Willie.
After losing her beloved turtle “Mr. T”, Miss Kay Robertson enlists Phil on a mission to find a new pet turtle.
Duck Dynasty new episodes return on Wednesday, October 2
Duck Dynasty new episodes return on Wednesday, October 2, 10/9C.
Iran has been urged by China and the US to respond “positively” to an international offer over its nuclear programme, US officials say.
The call came ahead a rare, high-level meeting between the US and Iran.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for a world without nuclear weapons, hours after saying Tehran wanted a deal in three to six months.
The West suspects Tehran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon, a claim strongly denied by Iran.
Iran has been negotiating over the issue since 2006 with the P5+1 – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany.
On Tuesday, Hassan Rouhani told the UN General Assembly that he was prepared to engage in “time-bound and results-oriented” talks.
On Thursday, Hassan Rouhani called from stricter controls on nuclear weapons as part of a global effort to eventually rid the world of them.
“No nation should possess nuclear weapons; since there are no right hands for these wrong weapons,” he said, speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement at the General Assembly.
Hassan Rouhani called from stricter controls on nuclear weapons as part of a global effort to eventually rid the world of the
The P5+1 has asked to halt production and stockpiling of uranium enriched to 20% – a step away from achieving a nuclear weapons capability.
It also demanded Iran shut down the Fordo underground enrichment facility.
In return, it offered to ease the sanctions that have severely affected Iran’s economy.
“Both the US and China believe that Iran should cooperate with the P5+1 and should respond positively to the proposals that are on the table,” a US official told journalists at the UN.
Later, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is due to meet US Secretary of State John Kerry as well as diplomats from the UK, France, Russia, China and Germany on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly summit in New York.
It will be the highest level direct contact between the US and Iran for six years.
President Barack Obama has welcomed the new Iranian president’s more “moderate course”.
Barack Obama told the UN on Tuesday that the US wanted to resolve the nuclear issue peacefully, but was determined to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
Hassan Rouhani has said he is fully empowered by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to negotiate on the issue.
Interpol has issued a wanted persons notice for Briton Samantha Lewthwaite, known as the “White Widow”, at Kenya’s request.
Samantha Lewthwaite, 29, is the widow of Germaine Lindsay, one of the four suicide bombers who attacked London on July 7th, 2005.
She has been linked with Somali militant Islamist group al-Shabab.
Interpol did not link the warrant to Nairobi’s Westgate mall attack that left at least 67 dead.
However, it comes after much speculation linking Samantha Lewthwaite to events there.
Al-Shabab was behind the attack and subsequent four-day siege at the Westgate shopping complex in the Kenyan capital.
An Interpol statement said Samantha Lewthwaite was “wanted by Kenya on charges of being in possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a felony dating back to December 2011”.
The Interpol alert, known as a “Red Notice”, requires member countries to detain the suspect pending extradition procedures.
Interpol has issued a wanted persons notice for Briton Samantha Lewthwaite, known as the “White Widow”, at Kenya’s request
Samantha Lewthwaite – who is believed to use the alias “Natalie Webb” – had previously only been wanted for the alleged possession of a fraudulently obtained South African passport.
She is the widow of Germaine Lindsay, one of the four bombers involved in the July 7 terror attacks in London in 2005 in which 52 people were killed and hundreds more injured.
Interpol’s red notice acts like a global wanted poster, but it’s also a concession by the Kenyan security forces that she is an international danger, not just someone who should be regarded as a passport fraudster.
Kenya is continuing three days of official mourning for the civilian and military victims of the siege.
The funeral of pregnant television and radio star Ruhila Adatia-Sood was one of many being held on Thursday.
Flags are flying at half mast amid visibly tighter security around the Kenyan capital. Security guards were scanning passengers with metal detectors before they boarded buses.
Kenyan investigators have been joined by experts from the US, UK, Germany, Canada and Interpol to comb the sprawling shopping complex for DNA, fingerprints and ballistic clues.
Somali Islamist group al-Shabab has said it had carried out the attack in retaliation for Kenyan army operations in Somalia.
The militants stormed the Westgate centre on Saturday, throwing grenades and firing indiscriminately at shoppers and staff.
Twitter posts on an al-Shabab account said the group’s militants had held 137 people hostage, and claimed the hostages had died after security forces fired chemical agents to end the siege.
A government spokesman denied any chemical agents were used, and authorities called on Kenyans to ignore militant propaganda.
Al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, has repeatedly threatened attacks on Kenyan soil if Nairobi did not pull its troops out of Somalia.
About 4,000 Kenyan troops have been serving in the south of Somalia since October 2011 as part of an African Union force supporting Somali government forces.
The group is banned as a terrorist group by both the US and the UK and is believed to have between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters.
Al-Shabab members are fighting to create an Islamic state in Somalia.
Divers working on the salvage operation of the Costa Concordia, which crashed off the Italian coast of Giglio in January 2012, have found human remains.
Two people have been unaccounted for since the night the Costa Concordia sank off the Italian shore in a disaster which claimed the lives of 30 other people.
The 951 ft vessel was raised upright last week in a major salvage operation off Giglio island.
Costa Concordia’s Captain Francesco Schettino is on trial over the disaster in January of last year.
Francesco Schettino is accused of manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning ship, but says he is being made a scapegoat for others’ errors.
“During a search in the water near the central part of the ship, coast guard and police divers found remains which still have to be identified with DNA,” Italy’s civil protection agency said in a statement on Thursday.
Divers working on the salvage operation of the Costa Concordia have found human remains near wreck
The agency’s head, Franco Gabrielli, reaffirmed that further tests were needed but told reporters the remains were “absolutely consistent” with the two missing people, said Reuters news agency.
Recovering the remains after 20 months under the weight of the cruise ship was “almost a miracle,” Franco Gabrielli said.
An Indian waiter, Russel Rebello, and Italian passenger Maria Grazia Trecarichi were reported missing, presumed dead, after the disaster.
It was thought that perhaps they had been trapped beneath the ship and the rocks.
Divers found remains lying just outside the hull on the seabed. They still have not been brought ashore, and the process of running DNA identification tests is yet to begin.
Relatives of the two missing people have been informed of the find.
Lamar Odom broke his silence on Twitter this week slamming his estranged father Joe Odom and praising the Kardashians for being his family.
Lamar Odom broke his silence on Twitter this week slamming his estranged father Joe Odom and praising the Kardashians
The 33-year-old basketballer tweeted of the Kardashians as being “the ONLY ones that have been here consistently 4 me during this dark time”.
Lamar Odom very briefly tried rehab before – for less than a day – but his recent tweet is an indication that he’s really ready to get himself healthy again.
Kim Kardashian will appear on an upcoming episode of the Fox cartoon comedy American Dad! later in this season, FOX confirmed to E! News.
Entertainment Weekly first broke the story.
Kim Kardashian will appear on an upcoming episode of the Fox cartoon comedy American Dad! later in this season
Kim Kardashian, 32, will play a furry creature from another planet and will be a love interest for alien Roger (played by Seth MacFarlane), after her spaceship has a crash landing in Langley Falls, Virginia. She “falls hard for her fellow extraterrestrial”, and she ends up in a relationship with Roger.
American Dad! tells the story of staunch GOP supporter and CIA agent Stan Smith (also voiced by Seth MacFarlane) and the adventures of his family. According to the show’s website, Roger is a “sassy, sarcastic and routinely inappropriate space alien” who lives in the attic.
There is no set date for Kim Kardashian’s appearance.
A new European report suggests that some of the continent’s key animals have made a comeback over the past 50 years.
Conservationists say species such as bears, wolves, lynx, eagles and vultures have increased in numbers.
They believe that protection, curbs on hunting and people moving away from rural areas and into cities have helped Europe’s wildlife to recover.
The analysis was carried out by the Zoological Society of London, Birdlife and the European Bird Census Council.
The report was commissioned by the conservation group Rewilding Europe.
Frans Schepers, the organization’s director, said: “People have this general picture of Europe that we’ve lost all our nature and our wildlife.
“And I think what the rest of the world can learn from this is that conservation actually works. If we have the resources, a proper strategy, if we use our efforts, it actually works.”
Over the past few centuries, animals in Europe have not fared well. Hunting, habitat loss, and pollution have sent animals into decline.
But this report marks a reversal in fortunes.
The researchers looked at 18 mammals and 19 bird species found across Europe.
They found that all, apart from the Iberian lynx, had increased in abundance from the 1960s.
The largest increases were for the European bison, the Eurasian beaver, the white-headed duck, some populations of the pink-footed goose and the barnacle goose. These had all increased by more than 3,000% during the past five decades.
Europe’s key animals have made a comeback over the past 50 years
For top predators such as the brown bear, numbers have doubled. And for the grey wolf, which saw serious losses in the past, populations have climbed by 30%.
For mammals, the comeback was largest in the south and west of Europe, and their range had increased on average by about 30%. The average range of the birds remained stable.
Frans Schepers said: “The wildlife comeback actually started after World War II in the 1950s and 1960s. Compared to the numbers in the 1600s and 1700s, it’s still at a very low level, but it’s coming back.”
The researchers believe a combination of factors have been driving this return.
Legal protection in the EU, such as the birds directive and habitats directive, had helped to revive the fortunes of species, as had dedicated conservation schemes, said Frans Schepers.
And while some animals are still hunted in parts of Europe, there are often limits on the number that can be killed.
“It is also because people are leaving the countryside, which leaves more space for wildlife,” he said.
The recovery of some species, particularly large predators, has raised concerns. In France, for example, where wolves have recently returned, farmers are concerned that their livestock is at risk.
The report warns that this could be a growing problem, but suggests that governments should put in place compensation schemes to offset any losses for farmers. It also says that rural communities could benefit from more animals, as ecotourism could offer a boost to local economies.
The finding is surprising when seen in the global context, where biodiversity is in continuing decline.
Prof. Jonathan Baillie, director of conservation at the Zoological Society of London, said: “We’re trying to find success stories so we can learn from them, so we can see what works and scale that up across the conservation movement globally.
“And it is really important that we focus on success and where we are winning.
“But there are massive challenges out there globally. And we have to realize that the threats that Europe creates are not just within our borders, it’s internationally, and that we are having an impact on the 60% decline we’re seeing in low income countries around the world.”
He also warned that Europe’s wildlife was at a pivotal moment.
“We just have to be aware that into the future there will be increasing pressure for food production and so on within Europe,” Prof. Jonathan Baillie said.
“And for a lot of these species, where we have seen the gains, we might lose them again if we are not careful. So it’s our job to keep our eye on the ball.”
Danone food unit Nutricia has started an internal investigation into bribery claims in China.
A report in Chinese newspaper 21st Century Business Herald has alleged that Nutricia, maker of KariCare milk formula, bribed doctors to boost sales.
The report, which cited an unidentified person, claimed that the unit gave gifts and travel subsidies to more than 100 doctors in 14 hospitals in Beijing.
This is the second such allegation made against a Danone unit in recent weeks.
“At the moment we still don’t know the details,” Zhao Qinghua, a spokeswoman for Nutricia in China, was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.
“We need to wait to see the outcome of the investigation before we can make our next plans.”
A report in Chinese newspaper 21st Century Business Herald has alleged that Nutricia, maker of KariCare milk formula, bribed doctors to boost sales
Earlier this month a report on China Central Television alleged that Dumex, a baby food brand owned by Danone, bribed doctors to boost sales.
It was accused of giving “sponsorship fees” or payments of up to 10,000 yuan ($1,632) to hospital staff.
Dumex said it was “shocked” by the allegations and was investigating the claims.
The French food giant has also faced other problems in China this year.
Danone cut prices for its infant milk formula products by as much as 20% after China’s top economic planning body fined it in August for price-fixing.
The company also had to issue a precautionary recall of its milk formula products last month after one of its suppliers, Fonterra, said some items may have been contaminated.
Demand for foreign brands has surged in China, after tainted milk scandals in recent years led to a distrust of local producers.
According to some estimates, foreign brands now account for about half of all infant milk sales in the country.
However, foreign companies have come under scrutiny recently amid a government-led crackdown on corruption in the healthcare sector.
Their First Misunderstanding, a long-lost movie starring silent actress Mary Pickford, is to be restored and shown to the public.
Mary Pickford, known as “the girl with the golden curls”, received her first on-screen credit in Their First Misunderstanding, made in 1911. But the film was thought to have disappeared by historians who followed the performer’s career.
A solitary copy was discovered in a barn by carpenter Peter Massie in 2006.
The US Library of Congress is now funding a project to restore it.
Peter Massie found the film, along with six other vintage reels, in New Hampshire seven years ago.
They were languishing in a barn that had once been used as a summer camp for boys. It is believed the movies were shown to entertain the campers.
Not realizing the nitrate film was highly flammable, Peter Massie kept the reels in his truck where he regularly smoked cigarettes. He later stored them near his woodstove at home.
Eventually he donated the discoveries to the nearby Keene State College, where scholars have since been working to identify and restore them.
“This is the coolest thing I’ve ever found on any job,” said Peter Massie.
Their First Misunderstanding, a long-lost movie starring silent actress Mary Pickford, is to be restored and shown to the public
“It’s pretty fantastic, that’s what I think.
“They were seconds away from going into a dumpster.”
Mary Pickford was 18 when she made Their First Misunderstanding, a 10-minute film about a wife’s fight with her husband.
“We have a list of all of Mary Pickford’s films, but this was among the missing,” film historian Leonard Maltin told CBS News.
“It’s like finding an early song by George Gershwin, or an unpublished short story by Mark Twain.”
Their First Misunderstanding was initially identified by Larry Benaquist, who founded the film school at Keene State.
It took longer than usual, as the 35mm celluloid had degraded and stuck to itself.
Once a lab had separated the layers, Larry Benaquist asked Mary Pickford scholar Christal Schmidt to confirm his findings.
“I was really stunned, because a lot of those early films, you just figure they’re gone,” said Christal Schmidt.
“For that one to turn up was really exciting.”
Mary Pickford was born Gladys Louise Smith in 1892 in Toronto, Canada. She went to work in the theatre at the age of five after her father died from a brain haemorrhage.
She moved to Broadway when she was 15. There she formed a working partnership with pioneering film director DW Griffith, head of the Biograph studio.
Mary Pickford soon became known as the “Biograph girl” and made more than 40 short movies in 1909 alone.
After audiences first learned her name in Their First Misunderstanding, Mary Pickford became famous around the world.
She won two Oscars and later founded the United Artists film studio along with DW Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks – whom she married in 1920 – and Charlie Chaplin.
Mary Pickford retired from the screen in 1933 but continued to produce. She died in 1979.
Larry Benaquist said that while the first minute or so of Their First Misunderstanding had been destroyed, the rest was in remarkably good condition.
Their First Misunderstanding will be screened at Keene State in October.
New declassified documents reveal the US National Security Agency spied on Martin Luther King and Muhammad Ali during the height of the Vietnam War protests.
The documents show the NSA also tracked journalists from the New York Times and the Washington Post and two senators.
Some NSA officials later described the programme as “disreputable if not outright illegal”, the documents show.
The operation, dubbed “Minaret”, was originally exposed in the 1970s.
However, the names of those on the phone-tapping “watch list” had been kept secret until now.
The secret papers were published after a government panel ruled in favor of researchers at George Washington University.
New declassified documents reveal the NSA spied on Martin Luther King and Muhammad Ali during the height of the Vietnam War protests
The university’s National Security Archive – a research institute that seeks to check government secrecy – described the names on the NSA’s watch-list as “eye-popping”.
The NSA eavesdropped on civil rights leaders Martin Luther King and Whitney Young as well as boxing champion Muhammad Ali, New York Times journalist Tom Wicker and WashingtonPost columnist Art Buchwald.
The agency also monitored the overseas phone calls of two prominent US senators – Democrat Frank Church and Republican Howard Baker.
Many of those targeted were considered to be critics of US involvement in the Vietnam War.
In 1967 the strength of the anti-war campaign led President Lyndon Johnson to ask US intelligence agencies to find out if some protests were being stoked by foreign governments.
The NSA worked with other spy agencies to draw up the “watch lists” of anti-war critics, tapping their phone calls.
The programme continued after President Richard Nixon entered the White House in 1969. US Attorney General Elliot Richardson shut down the NSA programme in 1973, just as the Nixon administration was engulfed in the Watergate scandal.
The latest revelations come as the NSA is embroiled in fresh controversy over its surveillance programmes.
US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden recently exposed far-reaching electronic surveillance of phone records and internet traffic by the agency.
Researchers Matthew Aid and William Burr, who published the documents on Wednesday, said the spying abuses during the Vietnam War era far surpassed any excesses of the current programme.
“As shocking as the recent revelations about the NSA’s domestic eavesdropping have been, there has been no evidence so far of today’s signal intelligence corps taking a step like this, to monitor the White House’s political enemies,” they wrote.
Citigroup has agreed to pay $395 million to Freddie Mac to settle claims of potential flaws in mortgages it sold to the firm.
The sum covers nearly 3.7 million loans sold to Freddie Mac between 2000 and 2012.
It is latest in a series of settlements by US banks with agencies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae – bailed out by the government during the financial crisis.
The two have claimed that banks sold them toxic debts and as a result should be responsible for the losses on them.
“Today’s agreement with Freddie Mac marks another important milestone in successfully resolving Citi’s remaining legacy mortgage issues,” Jane Fraser, chief executive of CitiMortgage, said in a statement.
Tom Fitzgerald, spokesman for Freddie Mac said the agreement was an “equitable one” and “allows both companies to move forward”.
Citigroup has agreed to pay $395 million to Freddie Mac to settle claims of potential flaws in mortgages it sold to the firm
In the run-up to the financial crisis of 2007-08, the US witnessed a big boom in its housing market.
The boom saw banks grouping together home loans and selling them as investments, including to firms such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
But as the housing market collapsed and financial crisis spread many of the underlying mortgage holders were unable to repay their debts.
As a result, the investments plummeted in value, with disastrous consequences for banks all over the world.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae lost more than $30 billion, partly because of their investments in the subprime mortgages, and had to be bailed out by the US government.
Since then, banks have been under pressure to resolve claims on potentially faulty mortgages sold to the two firms.
Citigroup announced a deal in July to pay Fannie Mae $968 million for loans over a similar period.
In January, Bank of America agreed to pay Fannie Mae $11.6 billion to settle claims relating to residential home loans.
Richard Gere and Carey Lowell have separated and are planning to file for divorce, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Richard Gere married Carey Lowell in 2002.
A source close to the couple told Page Six the couple has “been spending time apart for quite some time”.
Richard Gere and Carey Lowell have separated and are planning to file for divorce
Another source told Page Six Richard Gere, 64, and Carey Lowell, 52, have different lifestyles: “They have a place in Bedford, [N.Y.], and he likes it because it’s quiet and he likes the solitude. She likes being in North Haven in the limelight.”
Richard Gere was previously married to supermodel Cindy Crawford. Carey Lowell, meanwhile, was previously married to actor Griffin Dunne.
Carey Lowell and Richard Gere have a 13-year-old son, Homer.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has warned that he US will hit its debt ceiling by October 17, leaving the government with half the money needed to pay its bills.
Jack Lew said that unless the US is allowed to extend its borrowing limit, the country will be left with about $30 billion to meet its commitments.
“Net expenditures on certain days can be as high as $60 billion,” he said.
The US government and Republicans are at stalemate over extending the credit limit needed to avoid default.
President Barack Obama and the Democrats have said they will not negotiate with Republicans over their demand that the government agrees budget cuts in return for backing a rise in the borrowing limit.
Jack Lew’s comments underline how close Washington is to running out of money. Failure to reach a deal would be “catastrophic” for the US economy, he said in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner.
“Treasury now estimates that extraordinary measures will be exhausted no later than October 17. We estimate that, at that point, Treasury would have only approximately $30 billion to meet our country’s commitments.
Jack Lew said that unless the US is allowed to extend its borrowing limit, the country will be left with about $30 billion to meet its commitments
“If we have insufficient cash on hand, it would be impossible for the United States of America to meet all of its obligations for the first time in our history,” Jack Lew said.
Jack Lew urged Congress to “act immediately” and increase the borrowing ceiling, which has been limited at $16.7 trillion since May.
In return for supporting a rise in the ceiling, Republicans are pushing for a series of measures, including a delay by a year in the introduction of the Affordable Care Act, which would increase benefits under Barack Obama’s Medicare health programme.
A spokesman for John Boehner said Jack Lew’s letter was a reminder of the need for an agreement to raise the ceiling while at the same time cutting US debt.
But he added: “And it should remind President Obama that refusing to negotiate with Congress on solutions just isn’t an option.”
Washington faced a similar impasse over its debt ceiling in 2011. Republicans and the Democrats only reached a compromise on the day the government’s ability to borrow money were due to run out.
In his letter, Jack Lew reminded Congress that the 2011 battle “caused significant harm to the economy”.
That fight was resolved just hours before the country could have defaulted on its debt, but nevertheless led to ratings agency Standard & Poor’s downgrading the US for the first time ever.
The 2011 compromise included a series of automatic budget cuts known as the “sequester” which came into affect earlier this year.
A video footage of Washington DC Navy Yard gunman Aaron Alexis prowling the corridors of the complex as he hunts for victims has been released by the FBI.
During a press conference, an FBI spokeswoman said Aaron Alexis, 34, believed he was being controlled by extremely low frequency radio waves.
Aaron Alexis killed 12 people in the rampage on September 16 before he was shot by police in a running gun battle.
Officials say they believe he did not target any specific individuals.
Clear video footage taken from the Navy Yard’s gate and at locations on site shows Aaron Alexis calmly entering the complex.
Later clips show him stalking a corridor armed with a shotgun and checking if a room is empty, before running down a flight of stairs.
The agency also released images of a weapon Aaron Alexis used during the shooting.
He had written “my ELF weapon” – apparently referring to extremely low frequency waves – and “Better off this way!” on a Remington 870 shotgun.
Washington DC Navy Yard gunman Aaron Alexis prowling the corridors of the complex as he hunts for victims
A photo of his backpack, which he used to bring the weapon into the building and then left in a men’s toilet, was also published by the FBI.
Valerie Parlave, head of the FBI’s field office in Washington, said in Wednesday’s news conference that they were still investigating Aaron Alexis’ background and motivations.
But she noted the former Navy reservist had a well-documented history of mental health issues.
Valerie Parlave said: “At this point I can confirm that there are multiple indicators that Alexis held a delusional belief that he was being controlled or influenced by extremely low frequency, or ELF, electromagnetic waves.
“The etching… is believed to reference these electromagnetic waves.
“In addition, a document retrieved from the electronic media stated <<ELF attack is what I’ve been subject to for the last three months, and to be perfectly honest that is what has driven me to this>>.”
Valerie Parlave added: “ELF technology was a legitimate programme for naval subtonal submarine communications.
“However, conspiracy theories exist which misinterpret its application as the weaponisation of remote neural frequencies for government monitoring and manipulation of unsuspecting citizens.”
As an IT subcontractor, Aaron Alexis had an entry pass to the Navy Yard complex.
Investigators say he acted alone and died on the third floor of Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters after about an hour of exchanging gunfire with officials.
The shooting has led to questions about how Aaron Alexis received the security clearance necessary to be a contractor and enter the installation and prompted calls to review the government vetting process.
Also on Wednesday, Washington Police Chief Cathy Lanier told local media a Washington DC police officer was shot in the chest while responding the shootings but was saved by protective gear.
Another police officer was shot in the leg and is currently recovering in hospital.
Pakistan earthquake death toll raised to 328 while hundreds more are wounded in south-west province of Balochistan.
The 7.7-magnitude quake struck on Tuesday afternoon at a depth of 13 miles north-east of Awaran, the US Geological Survey said.
Many houses were flattened and thousands of people have spent the night in the open.
After the quake, an island appeared off the coast near the port of Gwadar.
People gathered on the beach to see the new island, which is reported to be about 656ft long, 300 ft wide and 60ft high, and scientists have been sent to survey it.
Officials say such land masses have appeared before in the area, and usually disappear again over time.
Pakistan earthquake death toll raised to 328 while hundreds more are wounded in south-west province of Balochistan
Tuesday’s quake was so powerful it was felt as far away as India’s capital, Delhi, and Dubai. Workers in Karachi had to evacuate their offices because of the strong tremors.
Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest but least populated province.
The military has a heavy presence in the area because it is fighting a long-running separatist Baloch insurgency, and so its troops were among the first to respond to the crisis.
More than 300,000 people have been affected over a total of six districts – Awaran, Kech, Gwadar, Panjgur, Chaghi and Khuzdar – Balochistan government spokesman Jan Muhammad Buledi said.
The death toll currently stood at 328 – 160 in Awaran town, 125 in other areas of Awaran district and 43 in Kech.
It is feared the death toll could rise once other areas are reached. The number of wounded is reportedly more than 440.
Awaran local government official Abdul Rasheed Baluch said about 90% of houses in the district had been destroyed.
Some 250 houses collapsed in the village of Dalbedi and villagers were clawing through debris for possessions, an AFP photographer at the scene said.
The army says it has sent more than 200 soldiers, medical teams and tents from the regional capital Quetta.
But the mountainous terrain and loss of communications is hampering the rescue operation.
Helicopters have been airlifting the most seriously injured to Karachi, while others are being cared for in neighboring districts.
The affected area is vast, impoverished and sparsely-populated. Awaran district reportedly has around 300,000 residents.
Most people live in easily-collapsible mud homes, and many are feared to be trapped under the rubble.
The region is prone to earthquakes, with at least 35 people killed in a 7.8-magnitude tremor that was centred in south-eastern Iran in April.
Half an hour after Pakistan was hit by a major earthquake on Tuesday, people of coastal town of Gwadar had another shock when they saw a new island emerge in the sea, just over a mile from the shore.
A local journalist, Bahram Baloch, received the news via a text message from a friend.
“It said a hill has appeared outside my house,” Bahram Baloch said.
“I stepped out, and was flabbergasted. I could see this grey, dome-shaped body in the distance, like a giant whale swimming near the surface. Hundreds of people had gathered to watch it in disbelief.”
Bahram Baloch and some friends landed on the island on Wednesday morning to check it out and to take pictures.
“It’s an oval shaped island which is about 250ft to 300ft in length, and about 60 to 70ft above the water,” he said.
It has a rough surface, much of which is muddy and some parts are mostly made up of fine- to coarse-grained sand. One part of it is solid rock, and that is where Bahram Baloch and his friends landed.
Pakistani people of coastal town of Gwadar saw a new island emerging in the sea after the earthquake
“There were dead fish on the surface. And on one side we could hear the hissing sound of the escaping gas,” he said.
Though they couldn’t smell methane, they did put a match to the fissures from where the gas was oozing, and set it on fire.
“We put the fire out in the end, but it was quite a hassle. Not even the water could kill it, unless one poured buckets over it.”
The story now doing the rounds in Gwadar is that a similar hill had jutted out of the sea 60 or 70 years ago, and that the elders had then named it the Zalzala Koh, or the quake hill.
They say Tuesday’s earthquake has brought it back.
Their story is not entirely incorrect. However the quake hill that appeared in 1945 was not near Gwadar, but over 100km to the east, although it was along the same coastline, which is called the Makran coast.
About 430 miles from east to west, the Makran coast is characterized by high seismic activity, and is home to several hills called mud volcanoes, having craters at the top from which methane gas seeps.
These volcanoes are located inland, and have been there for a long time. But similar formations that emerge offshore are usually washed away by the sea.
Geologists say it is part of the continuing process of continental drift, or the drift of land mass across the oceans that brought the Indian sub-continent to collide with Eurasia and created the fault-lines, some of which run through the Makran coast.
Rashid Tabrez, the director-general of the Karachi-based National Institute of Oceanography, says the energy released by the seismic movements of these fault-lines activates inflammable gases in the seabed.
“The seabed near the Makran coast has vast deposits of gas hydrates, or frozen gas having a large methane content,” he explained.
“These deposits lay compressed under a sediment bed that is 300 m-800 m thick.”
“When the plates along the fault-lines move, they create heat and the expanding gas blasts through the fissures in the earth’s crust, propelling the entire sea floor to the surface.”
The island that popped up near Gwadar is the fourth in this region since 1945, and the third during the last 15 years, he said.
The French government has revealed the country’s public debt will hit a record 95.1% of GDP in 2014, above previous estimates, and up from 93.4% in 2013.
The figure was revealed as the country unveiled its budget for next year.
The debt should fall back in 2015, and repeated its aim to bring the public deficit below 3% that year, the EU’s deadline for doing so.
The government also said there will be some tax increases for households, but other tax reductions for businesses.
In addition, the budget focuses on tightening public spending, with some 15 billion euros in savings planned, as part of a plan to cut some 18 billion euros off the deficit.
France public debt will hit a record 95.1 percent of GDP in 2014
Debt servicing costs will rise to 46.7 billion euros, compared with 45 billion euros in 2013.
The 2014 budget is based on a growth forecast of 0.9%, lowered from a previous 1.2% forecast, with just 0.1% in growth forecast for this year.
But an economist has warned that next year’s growth figure was no cause for optimism.
“We can’t talk about a recovery as long as economic growth is around 1%,” said Eric Heyer, an economist with the French Observatory for Economic Forecasts.
“Since today, we produce less than five years ago, we are still in recession. That’s the real definition of a recession.
“The real rebound will be when we have a production level well above 2007 and when the economy has started to create jobs again. That’s not in the government’s scenario.”
In other measures, there will be a change in corporate tax policy, with a new levy being introduced based on operating profits.
The much-heralded 75% tax rate on salaries of more than 1 million euros a year will be introduced.
However, this tax will be paid by firms rather than employees.
France is the eurozone’s second largest economy after Germany.
Meanwhile, France will issue 174 billion euros in medium and long-term debt in 2014, compared with an estimated 169 billion euros this year.
Rubbing a dose of sugar gel into the inside of the cheek of premature babies is a cheap and effective way to protect them against brain damage, say experts.
Dangerously low blood sugar affects about one in 10 babies born too early. Untreated, it can cause permanent harm.
Researchers from New Zealand tested the gel therapy in 242 babies under their care and, based on the results, say it should now be a first-line treatment.
Rubbing a dose of sugar gel into the inside of the cheek of premature babies is a cheap and effective way to protect them against brain damage
The researcher’s work is published in The Lancet.
Dextrose gel treatment costs just over $1.5 per baby and is simpler to administer than glucose via a drip, say Prof. Jane Harding and her team at the University of Auckland.
Current treatment typically involves extra feeding and repeated blood tests to measure blood sugar levels.
But many babies are admitted to intensive care and given intravenous glucose because their blood sugar remains low – a condition doctors call hypoglycaemia.
The study assessed whether treatment with dextrose gel was more effective than feeding alone at reversing hypoglycaemia.
The Muppet Show, Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock’s puppets have been donated to the Museum of American History in Washington.
Miss Piggy has now joined her on-screen paramour Kermit the Frog and other 19 puppets created by Jim Henson in the Smithsonian Institution’s collection.
Cookie Monster, Bert, Ernie, Elmo and Fozzie Bear were also “inducted” during a special ceremony on Tuesday.
The event took place on what would have been Jim Henson’s 77th birthday.
Jim Henson died in 1990, while his wife and collaborator Jane died in April this year.
Their daughter Cheryl, who is president of the Jim Henson Foundation, said she was “so happy to have [her] father’s work be part of the cultural heritage of this country”.
“When you look at these different characters, you can hear their voices,” she said.
Miss Piggy has now joined her on-screen paramour Kermit the Frog and other 19 puppets created by Jim Henson in the Smithsonian Institution’s collection
“They are like living beings.”
The fame-seeking Miss Piggy will be on view within the museum’s American Stories exhibition, which starts in March 2014.
Several other Muppets and Sesame Street characters will be part of a broader puppetry display that will open this November.
“The Muppets are very much a touchstone to my childhood,” said museum director John Gray.
John Gray called comedy and variety programme The Muppet Show, which ran from 1976 to 1981, “the best example of American vaudeville”.
The donation also includes Scooter, the Swedish Chef, Grover and Count Von Count, as well as Boober Fraggle and Travelling Matt from Fraggle Rock.
Many of the puppets show the characters as they were first constructed.
These include Rowlf, a scruffy brown dog created for a dog food commercial in the early 1960s who later joined The Muppet Show as a pianist.
“Kermit was Jim’s alter-ego, but Rowlf was Jim’s alter-ego without the ambition,” said Karen Falk, an archivist with The Henson Corporation.
“He was Jim on the weekend, Jim in a hammock.”
The Museum of American History is already home to Oscar the Grouch, Kermit and the cast of Jim Henson’s early TV show Sam and Friends.
