Spectacular Wingsuit Jump Over Bogota
Sportsman Jhonathan Florez jumped from a helicopter above Bogota, the capital of Colombia, on Thursday.
Wearing a wingsuit, he flew past over the famous Monserrate Sanctuary at 160km/h. The sanctuary is located at an altitude of over 3000 meters and numerous spectators had gathered there to watch his exploit.
A black box in your car?
As America's road planners struggle to find the cash to mend a crumbling highway system, many are beginning to see a solution in a little black box that fits neatly by the dashboard of your car.
The devices, which track every mile a motorist drives and transmit that information to bureaucrats, are at the center of a controversial attempt in Washington and state planning offices to overhaul the outdated system for funding America's major roads.
The usually dull arena of highway planning has suddenly spawned intense debate and colorful alliances.
Libertarians have joined environmental groups in lobbying to allow government to use the little boxes to keep track of the miles you drive, and possibly where you drive them - then use the information to draw up a tax bill.
The tea party is aghast.
The American Civil Liberties Union is deeply concerned, too, raising a variety of privacy issues.
And while Congress can't agree on whether to proceed, several states are not waiting.
They are exploring how, over the next decade, they can move to a system in which drivers pay per mile of road they roll over.
Thousands of motorists have already taken the black boxes, some of which have GPS monitoring, for a test drive.
This really is a must for our nation.
"It is not a matter of something we might choose to do," said Hasan Ikhrata, executive director of the Southern California Assn. of Governments, which is planning for the state to start tracking miles driven by every California motorist by 2025.
There is going to be a change in how we pay these taxes.
The technology is there to do it.
The push comes as the country's Highway Trust Fund, financed with taxes Americans pay at the gas pump, is broke.
Americans don't buy as much gas as they used to.
Cars get many more miles to the gallon.
The federal tax itself, 18.4 cents per gallon, hasn't gone up in 20 years.
Politicians are loath to raise the tax even one penny when gas prices are high.
"The gas tax is just not sustainable," said Lee Munnich, a transportation policy expert at the University of Minnesota.
His state recently put tracking devices on 500 cars to test out a pay-by-mile system.
"This works out as the most logical alternative over the long term," he said.
Wonks call it a mileage-based user fee.
It is no surprise that the idea appeals to urban liberals, as the taxes could be rigged to change driving patterns in ways that could help reduce congestion and greenhouse gases, for example.
California planners are looking to the system as they devise strategies to meet the goals laid out in the state's ambitious global warming laws.
But Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Transportation Committee, has said he, too, sees it as the most viable long-term alternative.
The free marketeers at the Reason Foundation are also fond of having drivers pay per mile.
"This is not just a tax going into a black hole," said Adrian Moore, vice president of policy at Reason.
People are paying more directly into what they are getting.
The movement is also bolstered by two former U.S. Transportation secretaries, who in a 2011 report urged Congress to move in the pay-per-mile direction.
The U.S. Senate approved a $90-million pilot project last year that would have involved about 10,000 cars.
But the House leadership killed the proposal, acting on concerns of rural lawmakers representing constituents whose daily lives often involve logging lots of miles to get to work or into town.
Several states and cities are nonetheless moving ahead on their own.
The most eager is Oregon, which is enlisting 5,000 drivers in the country's biggest experiment.
Those drivers will soon pay the mileage fees instead of gas taxes to the state.
Nevada has already completed a pilot.
New York City is looking into one.
Illinois is trying it on a limited basis with trucks.
And the I-95 Coalition, which includes 17 state transportation departments along the Eastern Seaboard (including Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida), is studying how they could go about implementing the change.
The concept is not a universal hit.
In Nevada, where about 50 volunteers' cars were equipped with the devices not long ago, drivers were uneasy about the government being able to monitor their every move.
"Concerns about Big Brother and those sorts of things were a major problem," said Alauddin Khan, who directs strategic and performance management at the Nevada Department of Transportation.
It was not something people wanted.
As the trial got underway, the ACLU of Nevada warned on its website: "It would be fairly easy to turn these devices into full-fledged tracking devices."
There is no need to build an enormous, unwieldy technological infrastructure that will inevitably be expanded to keep records of individuals' everyday comings and goings.
Nevada is among several states now scrambling to find affordable technology that would allow the state to keep track of how many miles a car is being driven, but not exactly where and at what time.
If you can do that, Khan said, the public gets more comfortable.
The hunt for that technology has led some state agencies to a small California startup called True Mileage.
The firm was not originally in the business of helping states tax drivers.
It was seeking to break into an emerging market in auto insurance, in which drivers would pay based on their mileage.
But the devices it is testing appeal to highway planners because they don't use GPS and deliver a limited amount of information, uploaded periodically by modem.
"People will be more willing to do this if you do not track their speed and you do not track their location," said Ryan Morrison, chief executive of True Mileage.
There have been some big mistakes in some of these state pilot programs.
There are a lot less expensive and less intrusive ways to do this.
In Oregon, planners are experimenting with giving drivers different choices.
They can choose a device with or without GPS.
Or they can choose not to have a device at all, opting instead to pay a flat fee based on the average number of miles driven by all state residents.
Other places are hoping to sell the concept to a wary public by having the devices do more, not less.
In New York City, transportation officials are seeking to develop a taxing device that would also be equipped to pay parking meter fees, provide "pay-as-you-drive" insurance, and create a pool of real-time speed data from other drivers that motorists could use to avoid traffic.
"Motorists would be attracted to participate because of the value of the benefits it offers to them," says a city planning document.
Some transportation planners, though, wonder if all the talk about paying by the mile is just a giant distraction.
At the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in the San Francisco Bay Area, officials say Congress could very simply deal with the bankrupt Highway Trust Fund by raising gas taxes.
An extra one-time or annual levy could be imposed on drivers of hybrids and others whose vehicles don't use much gas, so they pay their fair share.
"There is no need for radical surgery when all you need to do is take an aspirin," said Randy Rentschler, the commission's director of legislation and public affairs.
If we do this, hundreds of millions of drivers will be concerned about their privacy and a host of other things.
David Bowie: Four Unpublished Songs Released
The British musician is full of surprises this year.
Following The Next Day, released in January, he has put together a deluxe re-release planned for November 04, featuring several unpublished tracks.
Four have already appeared on the Internet.
The announcement that David Bowie was releasing a new album had stunned the world.
On 08 January 2013, the date of his 66th birthday, he announced that a new album would be released in March.
After ten years of silence (his last record, Reality, was released in 2003) and very few public appearances, the British musician proved that he could still light up the pop scene.
A feast for fans
Not tired of making surprises, David Bowie had more than one trick up his sleeves with The Next Day:
the Thin White Duke was also planning to re-release the album on November 04.
He put together a real feast for his fans to mark the occasion.
This re-release, titled The Next Day Extra, was presented in the form of three disks: the original album, unpublished studio sessions and remixes, plus a DVD containing the four clips that have already been unveiled.
The Next Day Extra had a total of ten additional tracks compared to the original album: the three songs from the Deluxe edition, five songs specially unveiled for the occasion, and two remixes.
Moreover, David Bowie has introduced this fine box-set through a video.
In it, he presents each of the disks plus the accessories provided with them: exclusive photos and sleeves, a notebook for sharing your own impressions, a booklet of lyrics etc.
And finally, he gives a teaser to his new track, Atomica, which is typically in the style of The Next Day, with very prominent guitars and skillfully controlled rock electrics.
Previously Unpublished Tracks Released
However, Atomica is not the only track to have been released.
The Informer, Like A Rocket Man and Born In A UFO are also available on the net.
The Informer is double-edged - an unsettling intro followed by a brilliant rush of sound that progressively slows down to make way for a pop ballad.
Was Bowie trying to make a reference to Elton John's Rocket Man, or even Gravity, in his Like A Rocket Man?
Either way, with this cheerful track, the singer seems to be in his element when his feet are no longer on the ground.
Space Oddity, by comparison, was much more solemn.
On Born in a UFO, David Bowie once again refers to his strangeness: could he have come from another planet?
The spellbinding guitar riffs make you want to leave Earth.
In any case, Bowie enjoys playing the chameleon in these tracks: in turn, an informer, a rocket man, possibly a Martian...
He veils and reveals at the same time, and likes to take on different personalities, as he has throughout his career, most notably with his personas: Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane.
It is therefore not surprising that he should be holding a mask in the promotional photography for L'Invitation au Voyage, by Louis Vuitton, of which he is the new face.
He appears in one of their adverts, broadcast from November 10.
The Minister of Defence, Rob Nicholson, insisted that injured soldiers are not summarily discharged from the Canadian Armed Forces and stressed that all soldiers undergo a transition process before their return to civilian life.
Attacked by liberals and neo-democrats in the House of Commons, Mr. Nicholson assured that, prior to their discharge, members of the army underwent a transition plan in collaboration with their superiors.
"All injured soldiers receive the appropriate care in preparation for their return to civilian life and none has been discharged before being ready," he asserted.
The detractors are accusing the government of trying to save money by not allowing injured soldiers - who do not meet the army's rule of "universality of service", which requires that personnel be able to carry out a series of varying tasks - to reach the ten-year period of admissibility required for retirement benefits.
They have specifically noted two cases reported in La Presse Canadienne, one involving a soldier discharged last Friday.
Lance Corporal David Hawkins, a reservist from London, Ontario, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and discharged from the army, despite asking to be kept on for another year to receive a fully-indexed pension.
His case follows that of Lance Corporal Glen Kirkland, who declared before a parliamentary commission last month that he had been forced to leave before he was ready because he did not meet the rule of universality of service.
Mr. Hawkins stressed that a soldier could be prepared for his departure, with planning and consultation sessions, but that this was totally different than wanting to leave the army.
"I told them I wasn't ready," he said in an interview with La Presse Canadienne on Wednesday.
"For several months, I asked if there was a way that I could stay on, and they said no," he adds.
Since the start of major combat in Afghanistan, the army has struggled to determine what latitude it can give to injured soldiers who want to stay in the army but are not capable of combat.
Under the current rules, seriously injured soldiers have up to three years to recover.
If they do not meet the criteria for overseas deployment, they can be forced to leave the army.
The data presented to parliament last year indicates that, of the 1,218 soldiers discharged for medical reasons, 199 had not reached the length of service required to obtain retirement benefits.
On Wednesday, the liberal spokesman for former service personnel, Jim Karygiannis, asked for Lance Corporal Hawkins to be reinstated, while the neo-democrat Jack Harris demanded an immediate end to "this shameful practice".
Disney to Launch New Animated Series on Tablet PCs
American media and entertainment group Disney has decided to give priority to tablet PCs over its own television channels for the next release of a new series for children.
The first nine episodes of Sheriff Callie's Wild West will be available from November 24 on the site watchdisneyjunior.com or via its application for mobile phones and tablets.
The global launch on the Disney group channels is not planned until 2014, according to the press release from its Disney Junior division.
The animation, aimed at children aged 2 to 7, is about the adventures of the cat, Callie, the sheriff of a town in the Wild West where she keeps law and order using a magic lasso.
Each episode contains two 11-minute stories.
"Interacting with smartphones and tablets is second nature for children today," notes Albert Cheng, vice-president of digital products at the Disney/ABC Television Group, in a quote in the press release.
This kind of experience is part of Disney's efforts to "extend the lifetime of its series and build new relationships with audiences via digital platforms that are becoming ever more important," he added.
A survey published by Common Sense Media at the beginning of the week showed an explosion in the use of mobile devices by young children in the United States: 38% of children under 2 already use a tablet or mobile phone, and 72% of under 8s, compared to 10% and 38% respectively two years ago.
Snowden ready to "cooperate" with Germany over US surveillance
Edward Snowden, the US intelligence whistleblower, has declared that he is willing to travel to Berlin to give evidence to the German parliament if the US National Security Agency and its director Keith Alexander fail to provide answers about its activities.
German MP Hans-Christian Ströbele on Thursday met Mr Snowden in Russia, where he has been granted asylum, to discuss him testifying in Germany.
A letter from Mr Snowden, presented to the media in Berlin on Friday by the MP, said: "Though the outcome of my efforts has been demonstrably positive, my government continues to treat dissent as defection, and seeks to criminalise political speech with felony charges that provide no defence."
However, speaking the truth is not a crime.
In the letter, Mr Snowden said he believed the support of the international community could persuade the US government to abandon criminal charges against him.
The charges filed by the US justice department include espionage and theft of government property.
Hans-Peter Friedrich, German interior minister, told Zeit Online: "If Mr Snowden is ready to speak to German officials, we will find ways to make this possible."
Relations between the US and Germany have come under strain following claims that the NSA bugged Chancellor Angela's Merkel's phone.
Thomas Oppermann, the MP who heads the parliamentary panel that oversees intelligence, said that if there were an opportunity to hear Mr Snowden as a witness "without bringing him into danger and completely ruining relations with the US," it should be taken.
Mr Ströbele, an MP for Germany's Green party, published a picture of himself with Mr Snowden on his Twitter feed.
He was accompanied on his visit to Russia by two German journalists.
Mr Ströbele said that, according to the former NSA contractor's lawyer, Mr Snowden would not be able to return to Russia if he left.
If Mr Snowden testified in Germany he would need assurances that he would be "safe" there, the MP said.
Mr Snowden said in his letter that he had faced a "severe and sustained" campaign of persecution that forced him from his home.
However he said that he was heartened by the worldwide response to "my act of political expression."
Citizens around the world as well as high officials - including in the United States - have judged the revelation of an unaccountable system of pervasive surveillance to be a public service.
The letter extends an offer to cooperate with German authorities "when the difficulties of this humanitarian situation have been resolved."
Cogeco Cable Soon to Offer Interactive TV?
Cogeco Cable subscribers may soon have access to applications like Facebook, Twitter and, ultimately, the Netflix video-on-demand service through their television in a seemingly not too distant future.
The Cogeco subsidiary indicated on Thursday that it is currently carrying out preliminary tests of the beta version of this platform with some of its users.
"This will enable us to develop more user-friendly interfaces and larger numbers of options," explained the president and CEO of Cogeco, Louis Audet, in an interview.
Cogeco Cable is thus following in the path of its competitors, like Bell, even though the Cogeco subsidiary does not yet have a precise launching date for this new platform.
"We need to adapt and change or resist change and fail," emphasized Audet.
The ultimate goal is still to offer tools that our customers do not currently have access to.
The telecommunications giant Rogers has already indicated that it might offer Netflix if certain technical details (which it did not cite) could be sorted out.
In the United States, the popular video service is said to be discussing the possibility of making its service available via their broadcasting platforms with some major cable companies.
The CEO of Cogeco and Cogeco Cable also welcomed the announcement made by the Harper government during his speech from the Throne on October 16.
Ottawa wants to force cable and satellite television providers to offer customers the option of accessing the services on a pay-per-view basis.
"We have been saying for about two and a half years that the idea of forcing consumers to purchase major packages of channels doesn't work," stated Audet.
Nevertheless, he hopes that the consultations carried out by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) will give rise to interesting recommendations.
"These discussions need to produce a new type of reference framework for the definition of the new cultural policy in Canada relating to television," said Cogeco's CEO.
The CRTC has been conducting consultations with the public since last week, and these will be continued with the industry next spring.
In terms of results, Cogeco has said it has recorded a net profit of CAD 43.8 million in the fourth quarter, representing 82¢ per share.
This is a drop compared to the net profit of CAD 44.9 million, or 83¢ per share, recorded in the same period last year.
The Montreal-based company says this drop is due to depreciation expenses relating to recent acquisitions.
In 2012 Cogeco bought US-based cable distributor, Atlantic Broadband, for CAD 1,360 million.
This was the company's first major acquisition after its failed aquisition attempt in Portugal.
The Montreal company also bought Peer 1 Network Enterprises, an Internet services provider based in Vancouver, for CAD 526 million last December.
In terms of revenue, Cogeco saw growth of 41.5% in the fourth quarter, reaching CAD 504.7 million.
Its revenue stands at CAD 1,800 million for the current financial year.
The net profit of its principal subsidiary, Cogeco Cable, was CAD 43.9 million, or 90¢ per share, down from CAD 45.7 million, or 93¢ per share, for the same period last year.
Nevertheless, Cogeco Cable saw a 45% growth, reaching CAD 470.4 million.
The company lost 15,237 customers during the fourth quarter.
Even so, the number of Cogeco Cable customers rose by 5,546 for the 2013 fiscal year.
Audet is not concerned by this fluctuation in the company's number of customers.
"For me, this does not indicate a change in trend," he noted.
"It varies from one quarter to the next in the face of very lively competition."
Horse in Beef Products
Horse meat has been detected in beef-based canned food products sold by two small British low-cost distribution retailers, the Food Standards Agency announced today.
Routine tests revealed that products processed in Romania in January and sold by shops of the Home Bargains and Quality Save chains contained between 1 and 5% of horse DNA.
"Since horse meat is not mentioned in the list of ingredients, it should not have been present in the product," the British agency explained.
A scandal on the presence of horse meat in prepared meals had broken out in Europe at the beginning of the year, following tests carried out in Ireland.
According to investigations by the European Commission, France the most affected by the presence of this type of meat in products which are supposed to contain beef only.
Two vehicles collide on Route 131 in Lanaudière leaving four injured Friday morning.
Just before 4am, a driver heading north towards Saint-Félix-de-Valois lost control of his vehicle and crashed into another car travelling in the opposite direction.
The four occupants of the two vehicles were injured, though not lethally.
Traffic returned to normal at around 6am.
Frontier Airlines to charge for carry-on baggage
Frontier Airlines plans to charge up to $100 for passengers to store carry-on luggage on board their flight.
Frontier Airlines plans to start charging up to $100 for a carry-on bag and $2 for coffee or soda, although its announcement on Wednesday did say that passengers will get to keep the whole can.
The new carry-on fee is for bags in the overhead bin, so small bags under the seat will still be free.
Frontier said it will charge $25 if the fee is paid in advance, $100 if travelers wait to pay until they're at the gate.
Frontier spokeswoman Kate O'Malley said the $100 fee is to get travelers to take care of the charge in advance.
"We don't want to charge that," she said.
Airlines began charging for the first and second checked bags in 2008.
Passengers trying to avoid those fees have been stuffing as much as they can into carry-on baggage stashed in overhead bins, meaning those bins often run out of space.
Fees are one way to get passengers to bring less on board.
O'Malley said the new charge is not really about raising money.
It's about Frontier's most loyal customers making it very clear that finding overhead bin space has become increasingly difficult.
Passengers who buy their tickets on the airline's website won't have to pay.
That means one passenger in line at a Frontier gate might get to bring a bag on for free, while the next person in line might owe $100 for a similar bag.
O'Malley said Frontier's website and check-in procedures are being changed to make sure passengers know about the fee before they get to the gate.
Frontier's new carry-on fee won't start until summer, though a date hasn't been set.
Passengers often grumble about baggage charges and other fees, but airlines love them.
They argue that luggage costs money to handle, and passengers who want the service should pay for it.
Many on Wall Street view the addition of baggage fees as a sign that airlines are charging enough money to cover the cost of air travel after years of losses.
Most haven't touched carry-on bag fees, though.
Spirit Airlines Inc. started the first carry-on fee three years ago, and fellow discounter Allegiant Air later followed.
The only other airline with such a fee is Hungary's Wizz Air, said airline consultant Jay Sorensen, who closely tracks add-on fees.
He estimated in a December 2011 report that Spirit's carry-on fee brings in $50 million a year.
Sorensen, a former executive with Midwest Airlines, flew Spirit recently and wondered what he'd find at the gate as passengers encountered Spirit's unusual carry-on bag fee.
"The boarding process was the smoothest I had seen in my airline career," he said.
I was expecting to see gnashing of teeth and a fight breaking out at the gate.
The plane was full, he said, "and it boarded lickety-split."
Frontier is also following Spirit's $2 charge for coffee, tea, soda, or juice.
Frontier said passengers who get soda or juice can keep the whole can, and it will give coffee refills for free.
It will still give away water.
US Airways briefly tried charging for beverages in 2008 but backed down seven months later after passengers complained and no other major airline followed.
Frontier's move to charge the carry-on fee if passengers don't buy direct from the airline is its latest effort to steer customers toward its own website.
Airlines pay online travel sellers such as Orbitz $10 to $25 for each ticket sold.
That has given all airlines an incentive to steer passengers to buy directly from them instead of going through an online travel agency.
Frontier has gone the furthest in this area, though.
In September it began giving half as many frequent flier miles to customers who bought through an online travel agency.
On Wednesday it slashed the mileage award to 25 percent of the miles of the trip.
So, a 1,000 mile Frontier trip purchased from an online travel agency would earn 250 miles.
It also allows passengers to choose their seat in advance only if they buy directly from the Frontier website.
Frontier has a loyal base of customers in its home city of Denver, but its business is shrinking and losing money.
Revenue dropped 9 percent and its flying capacity shrank almost 13 percent in the first quarter, according to financial results released Wednesday by corporate parent Republic Airways Holdings Inc.
Republic has been trying to fix Frontier's finances as part of selling the airline.
NSA Blames "Internal Error," Not Hackers, For Website Crash
The shadowy National Security Agency said late Friday that it was a glitch that brought down its public website for a few hours, not hackers as some claimed online.
"NSA.gov was not accessible for several hours tonight because of an internal error that occurred during a scheduled update," the spy agency said in an emailed statement.
The issue will be resolved this evening.
Claims that the outage was caused by a distributed denial of service [DDoS] attack are not true.
Earlier this evening online server trackers noted the NSA's website had been down for at least six hours, and the site continues to be inaccessible for some users.
Earlier an NSA spokesperson told ABC News the agency's internal, sensitive network was "not at all" compromised.
No classified information is in danger, the spokesperson said.
At least one hacktivist group online claimed that they were responsible for bringing down the NSA site with a DDoS attack.
DDoS attacks are designed to flood a target website with traffic until the servers are overloaded and the site collapses.
The cyber tactic is a relatively unsophisticated one and the attacks are not meant to penetrate the internal network of the target system.
The formerly super secretive NSA, once nicknamed No Such Agency, has found itself in very public light, and amid vicious criticism, in past months following a stream of revelations about is vast foreign and domestic surveillance programs - collectively the product of secret NSA files stolen from the agency and leaked by disenchanted former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Such growing controversy surrounding the agency prompted early speculation that tonight's incident was the result of a targeted cyber operation.
Delta Centre-Ville Closes
Delta Centre-Ville Hotel in Montreal closed its doors on Thursday after 36 years of existence.
The investment fund that owned the building sold it to developers who will convert it into student residences.
The hotel had three hundred and fifty employees.
Of these, 200 have still not found a new job.
Delta has promised not to abandon its employees.
Employers have come to meet employees on site and have met with the employees individually to assess their needs.
"That support will continue for the next six months," explains the regional labour relations director at Delta hotels, Felix Bisson.
The closure of the Delta comes at a time of great competitiveness in the hotel market.
The investment fund that owned the building had to make a choice.
It had to either reinvest in the building to continue using it, which would require investments worth tens of millions of dollars while competition is fierce as a lot of new hotels have appeared in Montreal.
or sell it to someone else, which is what happened," explains Paul Arsenault, holder of the Transat Chair in Tourism at the School of Management at the UQAM.
Other hotels in Montreal will also be converted in the coming months, such as the Crown Plaza, which will become a home for the elderly.
Meanwhile, four hotel projects totaling almost 600 rooms will be implemented in the next two years.
"Plan to buy Goodyear Amiens will begin with zero employees," Titan CEO says
After dramatically throwing in the towel in January over the partial taking over of the Goodyear site in Amiens North, which is due to close, Maurice Taylor, CEO of American tire manufacturer, Titan, now says that he is ready to save 333 of the factory's 1,137 employees.
Arnaud Montebourg, Minister of Industrial Recovery, had already announced this on Monday October 21.
After giving up the plan to buy the factory in January, today you are back.
You had fired violent attacks and insults, talking of 'so-called workers' who 'work three hours' a day, and 'mad' unions, targeting the CGT.
It's hard to understand this U-turn.
Is this meant to please Mr. Montebourg?
I'm not trying to please anyone.
Except my wife.
Mr. Montebourg is a charming young man who is trying to save some of the best paid industrial jobs.
I'm sorry if my words have offended anyone.
But there are high levels of tax and unemployment in France too.
Does the truth offend you?
Working seven hours a day when people in other countries are working eight hours is holding France back.
In India, China and many other countries, people work ten to twelve hours a day.
But I don't have prejudices about France.
What I see is a factory which manufactures good agricultural tires, has good equipment, a good location and plenty of room for growth.
Why does Titan need this factory so much?
Titan doesn't need to buy this factory.
But, if the price is right and the workers are qualified, it's worth trying.
What sort of agreement do you expect between the CGT and Goodyear?
If Goodyear had offered the employees a good severance package after announcing that the factory was closing, I think 100% of the employees would have accepted it.
Now, let's imagine that Titan buys a closed factory from Goodyear.
At that point, Titan could choose to move the machinery to Poland or any other country in the European Union that still has its own currency.
I think Mr. Montebourg knows that.
However, he wants to keep the factory in Amiens with at least 333 well-paid employees.
Titan has agreed to recruit them from the 1,200 or so people currently working for Goodyear.
Also, Mr. Montebourg needs a commitment from Titan before trying to get the CGT to sit down with Goodyear.
The first step is for the CGT and Goodyear to seal an agreement on severance pay for all the employees.
Then there won't be any employees left in the factory.
Mr. Montebourg has said that you were prepared to guarantee these 333 jobs for four years.
Can you confirm that?
The only number I mentioned to the minister is 333.
I know he would like a four-year guarantee.
But, as I said to you, the CGT and Goodyear must first reach an agreement on the severance pay.
If all the employees accept it, the project of buying Goodyear Amiens will begin with zero employees.
How can we give guarantees on the length of employment when there are no employees left on site?
If Mr. Montebourg gets the CGT and Goodyear to reach an agreement and Titan buys the factory, we have every intention of staying in Amiens North for more than four years.
Bombardier profit dips as plane deliveries, orders fall
Canadian plane and train maker Bombardier Inc reported a 15 percent fall in net profit on Thursday, pressured by fewer aircraft orders and deliveries in the third quarter and contract issues in its train unit.
Montreal-based Bombardier also did not release any flight test data for its brand-new CSeries aircraft or offer an update on whether the plane will meet its ambitious schedule of going into commercial service by next September.
After the test plane's inaugural flight about a month and a half ago, it has only flown three more times, raising questions over whether the testing phase is on track.
Results fell short of forecasts and sent shares sliding more than 8 percent on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Cameron Doerksen, an analyst with National Bank Financial, lowered his rating to "sector perform" from "outperform" on Thursday with the view that the stock has limited upside over the next one or two quarters.
"While the weaker aircraft deliveries were mostly anticipated, we are clearly disappointed by the margin performance in transportation," Doerksen said in a client note.
We believe that Bombardier will receive new orders for the CSeries as the flight test program progresses.
However, if no new orders are announced in the coming months, we suspect that the market will become more skeptical of the program.
Bombardier hopes the CSeries aircraft family can catapult it into the low end of a market now dominated by Boeing and Airbus.
The first test plane was unveiled in March and took flight for the first time in September after months of delays.
But firm orders for the CSeries are moderate so far at 177 as potential buyers wait for flight test results to validate the company's claims about the new jetliner's fuel efficiency and cost savings potential.
There are currently 403 total orders and commitments with 15 customers and operators.
Chief Executive Officer Pierre Beaudoin was confident Bombardier would meet its 300 firm order target by the time the first jet is put into commercial use.
Executives also reassured analysts and media on Thursday the program was progressing according to schedule.
"The test plane didn't stay on the ground longer than anticipated," Beaudoin said in a conference call, adding that ground tests and software updates were scheduled during the plane's downtime.
Every manufacturer schedules it in a different way.
We had decided to do a first flight and to do an update period and that's what we have done.
That will happen all through the flight program.
The second of five test planes is expected to take flight in the coming weeks, with the remainder following shortly after, the company said.
Still, analysts are skeptical the first customer can begin operating a CSeries plane 12 months after its maiden flight.
Bombardier said it was evaluating the entry-into-service (EIS) schedule and will provide an update in the next few months.
"This slow pace of flight testing - although in line with Bombardier's internal schedule apparently - reinforces our view that entry-into-service will be pushed to Q1/15," said Doerksen.
For the third quarter ended September 30, Bombardier's net profit fell to $147 million, or 8 cents per share, from $172 million, or 9 cents per share a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings per share were unchanged at 9 cents.
Revenue dipped marginally to $4.1 billion from $4.2 billion.
Analysts had expected earnings of 10 cents per share and revenue of $4.56 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The world's fourth-largest planemaker said it delivered 45 aircraft during the quarter, down from 57 a year earlier.
Net orders fell to 26 aircraft, from 83.
The backlog in the aerospace division was $32.9 billion as of September 30, unchanged from December 31.
"In aerospace, results were in line with our guidance, but the low order intake and overall market conditions were a disappointment," Beaudoin said.
Aerospace revenue fell 13 percent to $2 billion.
Bombardier, the world's largest trainmaker, said revenue in that division rose nearly 11 percent to $2.1 billion.
The order backlog in the transportation unit was $32.6 billion as of September 30, up marginally from December 31.
The transportation division's margins were affected by execution issues in a few large contracts.
Executives said new guidance would be provided in the fourth quarter.
Shares of Bombardier, which also announced that Google Inc Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette would join the board, were down 8.5 percent at C$4.83 in mid afternoon trading on Thursday.
Brazil's Embraer SA, the world's third-largest commercial planemaker and Bombardier's closest rival, reported a 10 percent fall in quarterly profit on Thursday.
Two potholders aged 23 and 27 went missing in a cave under the Dent de Crolles on Thursday evening, according to a report from the Isère cave rescue organization on Friday.
They were found on Friday afternoon.
The two men, one experienced, the other not, set off underground on Thursday at around 9.30pm, in an attempt to cross the Dent des Crolles, which is in the district of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse.
There was no news of them after this, said the same source.
"The potholders were due to return at around 5am," said Thierry Larribe, technical consultant at the cave-rescue organization who organized the rescue efforts.
Dozens of people on site
Twenty or so rescuers, ten civilian members of the French cave-rescue organization, as well as the police, mountain rescue services and firefighters were on hand.
The two potholders were found late on Friday afternoon.
"Another group of potholders found them in the hollow exhausted but in good health and got a message to one of the rescue teams working in the network of tunnels," explained local newspaper, Le Dauphiné.
The two men, who are soldiers in the 13th Battalion of French Alpine Troops stationed in Chambéry, were found "exhausted but uninjured".
They got lost in the network, but retraced their steps while waiting for assistance, said the police.
After being given supplies, they are expected to exit the cave in the evening with the help of the rescuers.
German Journalists Urged to Shun Google and Yahoo
The union of German journalists urged its members to stop using Google and Yahoo online services on Thursday, following new revelations concerning the activities of the American and British intelligence services.
"The German Federation of Journalists is recommending that journalists avoid using the Google and Yahoo search engine and messaging services until further notice," it said in a press release.
It calls the reports in the Washington Post "scandalous". According to these, the National Security Agency (NSA) in America and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in Britain have gathered loads of information by infiltrating international networks, enabling the two bodies to synchronize their servers.
"The research carried out by journalists is just as confidential as the details of their sources and the nature of their communication with them," added Michael Konken, president of the union, which has 38,000 members.
Repainted Traffic Lights: MP Asks Brigitte Grouwels to Resign
Not everyone is pleased with Minister Brigitte Grouwels' plan to give traffic light posts in Brussels a "face-lift".
The Minister of Public Works and Transports in Brussels had launched a test project in the centre of Brussels on Thursday, consisting in repainting 16 traffic light posts in the yellow and blue colours of the Brussels region.
The aim of this is to both "increase safety" and "enhance the identity of Brussels".
The idea is to eventually repaint all the traffic lights in Brussels, at an estimated cost of one million Euros.
But the blue chosen by the Minister is "too dark", according to Brussels MP Emmanuel De Bock, who talks of the "Flemishing" of the capital and is demanding the resignation of Brigitte Grouwels.
"Not content with spending Brussels residents' money like water on this scheme of giving traffic light posts a face-lift with the colours of the Brussels region, Brigitte Grouwels is continuing her efforts to turn the capital Flemish," says an angry De Bock in a press release.
After her mango yellow and black taxis, she has ended up repainting the posts in Brussels yellow, dark blue and black.
According to the MP, there is now "no difference in visual continuity between Flanders and Brussels.
The residents of Brussels deserve better than to see their money wasted by a Christian Democratic and Flemish Minister, who is carrying out the New Flemish Alliance program herself.
It is high time the Flemish Trojan Horse was stopped.
Let's not forget, Brigitte Grouwels was elected by 2,245 votes, that is 0.5% of Brussels inhabitants!" De Bock concludes.
Pont-de-Buis Portico Dismantled
The ecotax portico in Pont-de-Buis, around which a violent demonstration against the tax took place on Saturday, was taken down on Thursday morning.
Cranes arrived on the site just after 10am, and traffic on the main road was diverted afterwards.
The decision to take the portico down, which was announced by the Finistère police department on Wednesday, was taken by Ecomouv, the company managing the portico.
This was the last of three ecotax porticos still operating in the department of Finistère, the other two having been taken down or sabotaged.
Google Glass Accessories Shop Launched
An online shop offering a range of accessories for Google Glass has just been launched for the thousands of developers who own a prototype of the Google-branded, web-enabled glasses.
It means they can now get headphones, a charger or even a storage case.
The shop, which is strictly reserved for developers who already have Google Glass, offers some accessories, such as a charger and USB cable, for $50.
It is also possible to get a micro-fiber protective cover or in-ear headphones for the same price.
Although Google is currently working on a model of Google Glass equipped with corrective lenses, no date for a full-scale launch has yet been announced.
Five years ago, my father passed away.
At first, I was in denial about his death. I spoke of him in the present tense.
I was afraid of forgetting him, or perhaps I did not know how I was going to continue to "spend time" with him.
There is no formula, no method for passing through the wall of the invisible to be with your loved ones.
Then signs started to appear.
The first time I had this very strong feeling of his presence, he was in the passenger seat while I was driving.
Another time is when I quietly woke up in the middle of the night and went to look at his watch, which I always have with me, lying on the bedside table.
The smiling image of my father stays with me during my everyday activities.
Our mother left us after an exhausting fight against cancer.
At least, that is what I thought when I saw the shell of her stiff body under the crumpled sheets of the hospital bed.
Similarly, her funeral was a cold goodbye focused on the dim light of the candles surrounding her coffin.
I thought she had gone.
Gradually, by way of tiny and slightly faint or faded appearances during the day and night, she soon came back into my life, evolving as she took back her place in the landscape of my mind which thought it was still in mourning.
And then she revealed herself by showing me aspects of myself I had never seen before, that were hidden by my relationship with her.
Thus, I learnt and understood that I had not lost my mother herself at all, just a woman that I did not know very well, a woman who embodied her during her stay on this earth.
In dying, this woman had completed her life and freed the person that I loved, and now she was back, whole and complete.
This detour in the path of my life is still the most unexpected and beautiful thing.
It is a privilege to know that the people we love never leave us.
I am like my father, "inside and out", it seems.
I have always been told that.
I never believed it at the time.
I had a difficult relationship with him until he became old and ill.
At that point I was no longer afraid of him and I was able to love him.
One day, he died.
For a long time, he stayed with me - when I stopped smoking, when I was afraid, when I was ill...
He would speak to me, constantly encourage me, he lived in my body.
I would see his hands when I looked at mine; I lent him my body.
But this was never indiscreet.
I could still lead a personal life.
He allowed me my privacy.
That lasted a long time, then one day he was gone.
In the end, it felt comfortable and reassuring to be understood, encouraged, advised.
I don't know who it was that said that those who die are not forgotten but invisible.
My parents are no longer here but I feel them close to me constantly.
In every event, every moment of my life, I feel their presence, and I am always referring to them: what would they say, what would they think, what would they do?
I constantly dream of them, perhaps not every night, but several times a week for sure.
I often dream of the last moments I shared with them before it was too late, except that there is still one thing that prevents me from enjoying the moment.
I often wake up distressed because it hits me and I feel their absence deeply.
Sometimes, some dreams affect me differently and make an impression on my mind, so, in effect, they continue to live and be a part of my life.
On the day before my ultrasound, when I was going to find out the gender of my baby, I dreamt that I woke up and hauled myself out of bed, and my father was waiting for me on the landing. He was smiling at me and was happy that I was expecting a little boy.
The following day, I had the feeling that he had come to visit me in my dream to tell me that he was sharing the joy I was feeling.
And, yes, I was indeed carrying a boy.
I loved sharing that moment with him and enjoy talking of that shared memory that happened after his death.
Exactly five years ago, my grandmother died of cancer.
One year previously, she had travelled with my family to Cuba.
Hence the shock that her loss provoked in the young graduate I was then.
In spite of everything, I said my goodbyes fairly quickly.
But she continues to influence my life, particularly in when I'm going through hard times, or when I have to make an important decision.
Deciding to learn Arabic and pursuing an interest in the Middle East, to the point of doing a Masters at a major university, in hindsight, were not trivial decisions.
Actually, I often used to listen to her speak Arabic during my childhood and talk about Morocco where she had lived for decades before coming back to France when it became independent.
The values she instilled in me are still there, so I often end up wondering what she would want me to do at a given moment.
It's the same with my opinions: I try to live up to the generosity and correctness of her mind as a fervent believer.
Nowadays I feel her as a daily presence, a benevolent force, a saving spirit.
I see her eyes resting on me.
My mother died nineteen years ago now.
She died after talking to me on the telephone.
I went through all the stages: incomprehension, anger, grief, tears that would come on their own, anywhere, anytime, in unusual places, at incongruous moments.
But time eased the pain.
Now there is just the gap, the silent emptiness, the need for her to entrust me, to reassure me in the palm of her gentleness.
Yet, she is there, a silent presence, watching me.
Every morning I see her worried eyes looking at me, I see the dark rings giving her a burdened look, the wrinkles around the lips dug by cigarettes, the lines that mark the forehead on days of worry.
My mother has taken possession of my face, and every morning she looks back at me in the mirror.
And every morning, I look away.
My wife and the mother of my three children died of cancer at 43.
We always feel her protecting us, nothing bad will happen to us.
This was her promise on her death bed; so, gradually, we learnt to smile again, and saying her name is no longer taboo but a comfort.
Of course, I talk to her at the dead of night when the absence hurts too much, and she comes into my dreams when my spirits are a little low.
We feel supported and protected in difficult moments, and the passage of time has made us realise that she was the conductor, with us trying to stay on the path she had drawn for us.
If somebody truly loved you, their absence cannot tear them out your heart or your memories.
In a way, the person you loved becomes your inner energy.
I lost my father on 22 August 2008 to asbestos-related cancer.
I was very close to him, I always acted according to what he would have thought or would have appreciated.
I was unable to attend his burial, and three weeks after his death, I gave birth to a little boy.
Sometimes my beliefs are different from his, so I am always asking myself if what I am doing conforms with his way of seeing things.
I have even had problems at work because of these convictions.
However, I can't do otherwise; I lose sleep and constantly ask myself what he would think.
I don't know if I have adopted his way of thinking or if I am simply like him - is it genetic?
Whatever the case, he will always be my point of reference.
He was a bit like an alter ego, we didn't even need to speak.
In short, he is there every day.
I feel his presence and it makes me happy.
Almost thirty years ago, my husband died aged 33.
I was 28 and our son was 6.
The immense pain that engulfed me has eased of course, but he is still close to me.
He very often "turns up" in my dreams, in a very specific way, so vivid that when I wake up I am sad again when I realise that it was just a dream.
The other night, he asked me how I was; I said not good, and he said "I'm coming down", but in a voice so real that I woke up with a start, upset, and I switched on the bedside lamp and looked around, convinced that he would come.
I still live in the same house and, frequently, I feel he is watching me; I turn round and see he isn't there, but I know it's him and I talk to him.
I feel his presence in every room and it makes me happy.
I wouldn't leave this house for anything in the world. We were happy here and his spirit lives here with me.
I'm 58 and I have always lived alone since losing him. He is and will remain the love of my life.
I should say that I am rather sociable and have a job with responsibilities. I laugh and sing, I go out, I'm a grandmother, I have lots of friends, but my heart and my soul belong to him. I never talk about him except with my son, and I never go to the cemetery.
October: Bloodiest Month in Iraq Since 2008
October was the bloodiest month in Iraq since April 2008
Baghdad published official figures on Friday: 964 people lost their lives last month - 855 civilians, 65 police and 44 soldiers.
The publication came on the day the Iraqi Prime Minister met the American President.
Noury al-Maliki is seeking aid from the United States.
"We are not asking the world to stand by our side and support us, but we have the right to ask the world because we are part of it," declared Al-Maliki in Washington this Thursday.
"And because if what is happening in Iraq is not handled, it will spread, as will what is happening in Syria.
And what happens when the virus of terrorism is alive? It spreads."
Noury al-Maliki was speaking at the United States Institute of Peace, an independent institution created by Congress.
Outside the building, demonstrators were protesting against the Iraqi leader.
They were brandishing placards accusing him and others of being murderers and appealing to the United States to refuse to give him aid.
Cocaine-addict lawyer who tipped off Mr Big about police investigation is jailed
Basharat Ditta, 42, would feed information to crime lord Neil Scarbrough
The solicitor feared his secret drug addiction would be exposed
Was given a three-year prison sentence at Liverpool Crown Court
A top defence lawyer who told a drugs Mr Big about a major police investigation, because he feared his secret drug addiction would be exposed, has been jailed for three years.
Basharat Ditta, 42, would feed sensitive intelligence to crime lord Neil Scarbrough about inquiries into his drug trafficking activities after he became compromised by his cocaine habit.
The solicitor, who was nicknamed "Bash" and hailed by criminals as a "top brief," was arrested at his home in 2011 following a police surveillance operation into Scarborough, who he had represented in a previous narcotics trial.
Officers spotted Sarborough, 32, dropping off three bags of cocaine at the lawyer's home in Blackburn, Lancashire, while he was out at a Law Society dinner with colleagues.
Inquiries revealed Ditta was a "regular user" of the Class A drug after tests found traces of cocaine in his hair, on his wallet and on his credit cards.
Over an eight month period between January and August 2011 he sought to illicitly obtain information on the arrests of two men on behalf of Scarborough as well as one of his associates.
All four suspects were being watched by police at the time as part of a major investigation into a heroin and cocaine racket operating across Lancashire, Cumbria, Merseyside, Berkshire and West Yorkshire.
They and 32 other men were later jailed after police seized heroin and cocaine worth £1.5million along with more than £200,000 in cash during a series of raids.
Ditta, 42, fed information to criminals because of fears his cocaine addiction would be exposed
Today at Liverpool Crown Court Ditta, who works at law firm Forbes Solicitors, based in Blackburn, was facing disgrace after being found guilty of two counts of perverting the course of justice following a three week trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
He admitted cocaine possession at an earlier hearing.
The lawyer's downfall came after police investigating Scarborough discovered he had been in regular phone contact with Ditta in February 2011.
Two detectives trailed the suspect and spotted him arriving at Ditta's house in and was seen to place the drugs which had a purity of 60 per cent under the lawyer's bins in a black golf glove.
Soon after the drop off, Scarborough was in regular phone contact with Ditta who had been out at the dinner at the Blackburn Rovers football stadium, Ewood Park.
The lawyer returned home to discover the drugs and there were nine communications between them.
The court heard Ditta was a "regular user" of cocaine after tests found traces of the Class A drug in his hair, wallet and on his credit cards
Ditta was arrested later but denied using cocaine and and said he had been speaking to the suspected dealer because he was his client and argued their discussions were subject to "legal privilege."
During his arrest Ditta picked up his wallet and tried to remove several credit cards but they were all seized and a hair sample was taken fom him.
In a police interview he said he ran an office at his home address as well as work place and clients would call at his house on legal business.
But the court heard he would call major players in the drugs supply chain, some of whom he had previously represented, after key arrests to tell them what detectives knew about them.
Prosecuting, Anne Whyte said: "If anyone should know not to the break the law, it is a criminal solicitor."
Mr Ditta is accused of abusing his position as a criminal solicitor, having become too involved with specific clients.
The relationship we are talking about is not simply a drug dealer, but a drug dealer providing his own lawyer with drugs.
Some of his communications will undoubtedly have been legitimate ones because he was their lawyer.
But this went way beyond the ordinary confines of a lawyer-client relationship.
He thwarted the police's investigation as much as possible to enable them to continue in their criminal activities.
Mr Ditta was not honouring his profession, but dishonouring it.
He got too close to certain clients, in particular Scarborough, and he allowed his independence to be compromised.
Ditta denied wrongdoing and claimed: "If I was a corrupt lawyer, which I am not, and I wanted to feed information to Mr Scarborough, I would not wait 15 hours, I would do it immediately."
But after the hearing Supt Lee Halstead from Lancashire Police said: "Mr Ditta turned from criminal solicitor to a criminal himself the moment he started obtaining drugs from organised criminals."
His addiction to cocaine left him hopelessly compromised and vulnerable to the motives of leading members of organised crime groups who tasked him to obtain valuable information regarding police investigations.
Solicitors should uphold the highest standards of integrity and should instil trust and confidence in the public.
Mr Ditta has betrayed this trust and attempted to hide behind the veneer of his profession.
Lancashire's Serious and Organised Crime Unit led the investigation into Mr Ditta which has also seen him convicted of three counts of possession of cocaine and now perverting the course of justice, demonstrating our commitment to bringing criminals to justice.
Let this case serve as a warning to criminals that no one is beyond the reach of the law.
We will find you and put you before the courts.
Scarborough himself was jailed for 14 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine and cannabis.
Thirty five other men involved in the racket were jailed for a total of 153 years for drugs offences.
On his website Ditta gave a question and answer session about himself in which he says his fantasy job would be a lawyer representing clients on Death Row in America, his ultimate dinner guest as being Mohammed Ali and inequality as his motivation for work.
Aretha Franklin Back on Stage in December
According to Detroit News, the queen of Soul will be performing at the Sound Board hall of MotorCity Casino Hotel on 21 December.
Mrs Franklin has been busy in November recording an album for Clive Davis and Sony Music, produced by Don Was and Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds.
Without specifying the illness she was suffering from, the star performer of "Respect" confirmed to the media on 16 October that the side effects of a treatment she was receiving were "difficult" to deal with.
She said she was "happy to be back".
Menton Reduces Cost of Christmas Lights
With 420 patterned designs and 2.2 kilometers of seafront draped in a mantle of light, the bill for the illuminations in Menton could give you a bit of a shock.
What's more, unlike in many communes, the bill is met by taxpayers rather than by business associations.
The town has decided to use LEDs to reduce costs.
There has also been a change in the management of the public lighting network and Christmas decorations.
Los Angeles Airport Evacuated After Shooting
There was a shooting in Los Angeles International Airport.
A man opened fire at 10am local time.
At least two people were injured, according to local police.
One was an employee working for the United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and the other was the gunman.
The incident occurred in terminal 3, provoking a wave of panic.
Travelers and staff rushed for the exits or onto the tarmac.
The police intervened very quickly and the suspected gunman was arrested on the roof of an airport car park.
The airport is currently being evacuated and air traffic has been suspended.
Classical Singing for Teenagers
The student body has, each time, been the target of an initiative that had a lot of success last season.
Teenagers have been given the chance to get to grips with classical singing through five short plays created and performed by regional artists - performances containing a large dose of humour.
Besides this show, the Société d'Art Lyrique du Royaume will be bringing back "Destinations Lyriques", a program that has been a crowd-puller at La Pulperie in Chicoutimi.
Two other concerts will be held in the summer of 2014, giving regional artists the chance to show what they are capable of.
In addition to these events, there was the Apéro Lyrique, the benefit concert held last August, with the support of coloratura soprano, Marie-Eve Munger.
This, in parallel with the artistic dimension, was a benefit event which helps the non-profit organisation achieve financial balance-sheet that sounds as soothing to the ear as a tune from Die Fledermaus.
Without giving precise figures, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, Yves Bergeron, used the press conference held at Chicoutimi yesterday to give assurances.
Despite the precarious situation that so many cultural institutions face, the future looks bright, even in the long term.
We have more solid and stable support.
"Finances are on an even keel and we hope to see the 50th anniversary of the operetta, a milestone we will reach in seven years," the administrator remarked.
"I would even say beyond that," added the general manager, Helene Gaudreault, with a smile.
A 38-year-old man who took a child hostage at the Gabrielle Roy school in Surrey is facing six charges, according to the Royal Gendarmerie of Canada.
Omar Moustapha Hassan stands accused of hostage-taking, hostage-holding, making of verbal threats, carrying a weapon with dangerous intent, abduction and failure to follow an order.
"The fast response by the police officer involved and their ability to defuse the situation immediately were critical to the safe ending of this incident," said Lance Corporal Bert Paquet in a press release.
Omar Hassan is still in detention and is due to appear in court on Friday.
New Class Action Claim Against Holy Cross Brothers
A new class action claim has been filed against the brothers of the Congregation of the Holy Cross involving sexual assaults, allegedly carried out, this time, at the Saint-Joseph Oratory and several orphanages, colleges and schools.
The claim is based on the testimony of an applicant identified as "J. J", who would have been masturbated in the 1950s, first at Notre-Dame-des-Neiges by his teacher, Brother Soumis, then by his confessor, Father Bernard, at the Saint-Joseph Oratory, where he was an altar boy and where his father worked as a painter.
"The first action involved only three institutions, and when the ruling was announced, many people said to us: 'I was assaulted at so and so place, can I add my name?" says lawyer Alain Arsenault, who is defending the victims in the two actions.
The class action that has just been filed specifically enables the inclusion of plaintiffs from any institution where members of the Congregation of the Holy Cross may have been involved in abuses.
Currently, the action combines the complaints of 25 individuals who claim to have been assaulted by the brothers of the Holy Cross.
The alleged deeds generally took place before those cited in the first action as many of the institutions concerned were closed in the 1960s.
Moreover, the action specifies that the Congregation of the Holy Cross and the Saint-Joseph Oratory, which is a separate entity, "allowed acts of sexual abuse to be committed against children", that they "exercised moral, religious and psychological constraint over the victims," and that they "knew about sexual assaults committed but kept quiet" and "deliberately and consciously chose to ignore the problem".
The latter accusations are partly based on letters written by the lawyer of the brothers of the Holy Cross, Mr Emile Perrin QC, in the 1990s, as well as through research carried out in the archives on this subject by Brother Wilson Kennedy, a former brother of the Holy Cross who has publicly denounced the abuses.
The class action must first be deemed admissible by the Superior Court.
Once the Court has declared it admissible, it will proceed to the second stage, the preliminary hearings.
In the first action, the Congregation of the Holy Cross agreed to settle out of court before preliminary hearings were conducted.
Serious Fire in Shop
A fire caused serious damaged to a shop in the LaSalle district of Montreal on Thursday night.
The emergency services were called at around 1am on Friday for a fire which had broken out in the basement of an Indian restaurant on Dollard Avenue, near the junction with Rue Rejane.
It tool the thirty-something firefighters who rushed to the scene almost an hour to bring the flames under control.
The fire "caused significant damage to the structure of the building", said the chief of operations of the Montreal Fire Department, Richard Bordeaux.
The cause of the fire is unknown, however there was nobody in the restaurant when the firefighters arrived on the scene.
There were no casualties, but close to twenty flats on the first and second floors of this row of shops had to be evacuated.
The Red Cross was called in given that the residents of one of the apartments might need temporary accommodation, according to the Fire Department.
Great Opposition to Medically-Assisted Death at Palliative Care Congress
The Canadian Palliative Care Congress, holding in Ottawa this week, comes several days after the vote in favour of the bill on medically-assisted death in Quebec.
Several palliative care associations used the opportunity to restate their disapproval.
"If every ill person had access to effective care to relieve their suffering, in addition to being able to stay at home, very few of them would wish to end their lives," said a spokesperson for the Canadian Palliative Care Association, Maryse Bouvette.
"If emphasis was put on palliative care in Canada, the call for euthanasia would become minimal," she added.
The Chairperson of the Quebec Palliative Care Network also rejects the bill on medically-assisted death.
Alberte Déry is concerned about the consequences for future generations if it is adopted.
"What is the meaning of life?" she laments.
The majority of palliative care homes will refuse to help patients die, according to the vice-president of the Alliance of Palliative Care Homes, Suzanne Fitzback.
Mrs Fitzback, who is also the director of the Mathieu-Froment-Savoie Home in Gatineau, thinks the service would be useless anyway.
"Nobody ever says to us: 'I want to die, give me an injection."
The director of the Palliative Care Association of Ontario, Rick Firth, believes that the Quebec bill is confusing people with regard to the purpose of palliative care.
He does not believe that Ontario will follow suit.
Meanwhile, the liberal MP of Gatineau, Stephanie Vallee, thinks that the concept of termination of life needs to be clarified before the bill can be adopted.
Kenyan press outraged at controversial media law
"It is a frightening place, and it is valid to ask: what is there to prevent Parliament from simply sweeping away the independence of the judiciary tomorrow?" the paper said, challenging the bill as unconstitutional.
"This law is draconian and very punitive and we reject it," said Cyrus Kamau, managing director for Capital Group - home to CapitalFM, one of Kenya's most respected independent radio stations and news websites.
He said the new media tribunal "will always be biased because it's an extension of the government," and that restrictions on content and advertising would damage Kenya's place in the global economy.
"I hope the president will listen to us, and we appeal to him to reject this bill and return it to the MPs," he said.
According to The Star newspaper, the new bill will effectively hand the government "a stranglehold over the media," while The Standard said democracy and free speech in Kenya had been "dealt a major blow" and lambasted the bill as "draconian."
The passing of the bill comes amid a string of measures to reinforce national security in the wake of the September's attack by Islamist gunmen on the Westgate shopping mall.
Kenya media drew the ire of authorities by broadcasting security camera footage of troops who were dispatched to the scene of the attack purportedly robbing the upmarket mall.
Police chief David Kimaiyo reacted by summoning two journalists and a media executive for questioning, although the summons was retracted following a media outcry.
Under the new bill, media houses can be fined up to 20 million Kenyan shillings and individual journalists up to one million with the additional risk of being "de-listed," or barred from receiving official press accreditation.
The tribunal also has the power to seize the property of an offender if a fine is not paid.
According to the Daily Nation, "even one fine is enough to cripple most FM stations."
It also said the measures could have a devastating effect on what it described as Kenya's "lively blogosphere."
By silencing the media, politicians know they can do whatever they like with impunity.
"No one will ever know," wrote Nation journalist Mutuma Mathiu, describing the Kenyan media as a key source of checks and balances in public life.
"Left to themselves, politicians would bankrupt the country and take us back to hunting and gathering," he wrote.
Kenyan lawmakers have been the target of public anger in the past.
In May they voted to overturn cuts ordered by the national salaries commission and reinstate their hefty salaries of around 532,000 shillings a month tax-free - ranked among the highest in the world.
Difficult Year for Pharmacists
The departure of almost 10 pharmacists from the Centre for Health and Social Services (CSSS) in Laval has caused turmoil amidst the managers of the Cité-de-la-Santé hospital in the year 2012-2013.
The pharmacy department has been left seriously short-staffed following multiple departures due to retirement, maternity leave or, simply, resignations.
There is a staff shortage of almost 30%, making the financial year "very difficult" according to department head, Gillian Beaudet.
Even so, the CSSS has decided not to employ independent labour, which could be up to three times more expensive than taking on a full-time pharmacist.
"We didn't resort to a stop-gap solution," explained Beaudet.
"We consolidated or reduced some of our activities within the institution to get around while waiting for things to fall back in place.
We clearly worked hard on trying to persuade our young [pharmacy residents] to come and stay here.
A combination of circumstances put us in a difficult situation last year."
Improved situation
After this difficult period, 2013-2014 looks like a definitely easier one for the pharmacy department at the CSSS.
Three pharmacists have already returned to work after maternity leave and three others have been taken on in recent months.
In addition, the efforts made by the department to hold on to staff have paid off, as the four students currently in residence in Laval have also decided to stay on at the CSSS.
"Things are going much better now," stressed the pharmacist.
"By the end of the financial year, we will have seven new pharmacists and three back from maternity leave.
So that will fill the gaps we had last year."
Need still growing
However, the situation is still precarious.
Several factors, such as the shortage of pharmacists in hospitals or a predominance of young women in the profession, make situations like that experienced in 2012 difficult to predict.
"For us [the number of staff] is always precarious as this is a young environment where a lot of young women are being employed. So in terms of pregnancies, you can always count on three people being on maternity leave when things are going well," she added.
"Last year there were many more and there were no pharmacists available to replace them, so it was more difficult."
22-year-old Top Model Starts Acting Career in Grand Style.
The director Lars von Trier chose her to play the young Charlotte Gainsbourg in his next film, Nymphomaniac.
This pornographic drama in eight chapters that will be released in two parts (on January 1st and 8th) deals with the erotic memories of a forty-year-old hooked on sex since her adolescence.
Stacy Martin's resemblance to her elder sister is striking: a twig-like figure, a transparent complexion and Franco-English origins.
And she likes taking risks - the girl who did not hesitate to pose naked on glossy paper will be exposing herself in much more nefarious situations on the big screen.
An excerpt from Nymphomaniac caused a lot of excitement on the Internet: it shows Stacy Martin in the middle of a climax in bed with Shia LaBeouf.
The provocative filmmaker may have asked his actors to put their shame to one side, but he had to use X-rated film professionals for the most daring sex scenes, before merging the bodies digitally: the top half is the star, the bottom half is the double.
From Björk to Charlotte Gainsbourg through Nicole Kidman, Lars von Trier has a habit of pushing his actresses to the limit, always in a bid to achieve the best.
Stacy Martin is not done being the topic of conversations.
CGR Theatre in Narbonne Evacuated on Thursday Evening
The first showing of a film at the Mega CGR theatre in Narbonne was interrupted on Thursday evening out of precaution after viewers reported a tingling sensation in the throat.
The theatre director immediately began an evacuation procedure and called the fire brigade to check out a suspicious smell.
Around 70 people were evacuated from the viewing.
They were examined, and a thorough check of the cinema revealed nothing.
Was it a bad joke involving tear gas?
Or was it an involuntary incident?
Either way, the management of the theatre decided to implement the principle of precaution and put the safety of its customers first.
The cinema was ventilated and everyone returned in good order.
The cinema was able to show itself in a good light and the customers could continue enjoying events unfolding...
but, on the screen only.
Woman Tries Smuggling 2kg of Cocaine Inside Pumpkins
Taking advantage of Halloween, a woman tried to smuggle two kilos of cocaine hidden inside pumpkins into the country through Montreal-Trudeau Airport on Thursday morning.
The drugs were detected when passenger luggage was checked.
The cocaine was split between three pumpkins that had been previously hollowed out.
The drugs were subsequently taken to the office of the Royal Gendarmerie of Canada (GRC), which then took over the investigation.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) did not reveal where the woman had been travelling from when she was intercepted.
"That is part of the investigation," indicated Jacqueline Roby, spokesperson for the CBSA.
"What I can tell you is that she was entering the country."
Since the start of 2013, the Canada Border Services Agency at Montreal-Trudeau Airport has conducted 173 drugs seizures, of which 10 involved seizures of cocaine totaling 44 kilograms.
In 2012 the Border Services Agency for the province of Quebec made 1,653 seizures of narcotics.
Air Raid Against Military Installations in Syria
Israeli aircrafts entered Lebanese air space early on Wednesday afternoon, but did not carry out attacks until the evening, according to the Lebanese army.
A cargo of short range SA-8 ground-to-air missiles was targeted and destroyed.
This latest raid by the Israeli air force in Syrian territory (the sixth since the start of the year, according to the Israeli daily newspaper, Haaretz) has been confirmed neither by Israel nor Syria.
The raid took place under circumstances almost identical to that of July 5: on that occasion, it was also an unnamed American official who confirmed to CNN an Israeli attack that targeted Yakhont ground-to-air missiles supplied to Damascus by Russia.
Israeli officials made no attempt to hide their anger when Washington revealed the attack, at the risk of forcing President Assad to respond.
Ukraine Close to Economic Collapse
Rating agency, Standard & Poor's, reduced Ukraine's credit rating on Friday, casting a doubt on the ability of the former Soviet republic, which has been in recession for a year, to meet its financial obligations.
The government debt rating moved to B-, further down into the category of speculative investments.
This rating is accompanied by a negative outlook, with S&P seeing at least one chance in three that it will downgrade the rating again in the next year.
"It is increasingly unlikely that the government's strategy will make it possible to sufficiently guarantee foreign currencies to meet its increased external financial commitments," explained the American agency.
The agency notes that Ukraine's foreign exchange reserves fell by 26% between September 2012 and September 2013, and the trend is expected to continue.
This complicates the repayment of credit from abroad.
These reserves, which the authorities have had to use extensively to support the local currency, the hryvnia, are collapsing, leading to the agency considering devaluation more and more likely, which would inflate the country's foreign debt.
Moreover, Kiev needs liquid assets to pay for its gas imports from Russia, which accuses it of not having paid a bill of 882 million dollars.
The announcement comes as bad news for the Ukrainian government in a period of serious tension with its Russian neighbour, which is furious with Kiev's willingness to sign an association agreement with the EU at the end of November.
This was made public the day after the publication of official statistics showing that the country's economy had suffered its fifth consecutive quarterly drop between July and September.
Its debt, which is still relatively modest, has exploded in recent years. S&P estimates it as 33.5% of the GDP, as opposed to 10% prior to the crisis of 2008-2009.
Experiencing a budgetary deficit, the country has been asking for aid from the International Monetary Fund for months. The latter, in 2010, had given the former a 15,300 million dollars loan, but this time it has released just 3,400 million.
The IMF is refusing to pay any further installments until the country has adopted unpopular reforms to reduce its deficit, especially by increasing the price of gas for the population.
Following a fruitless mission to the country, the IMF noted this week that "the significant need for external finance" represented "a weakness", even though there were "signs of economic improvement".
However, for the economist, Oleksandr Joloud, from the Centre for Political Studies, "no improvement can be expected in the short term".
"There is little hope of unpopular reforms being made in a pre-election year," said the expert in an AFP interview. Presidential elections are planned for 2015.
The only hope is for an improvement in international circumstances.
S&P notes, furthermore, the "uncertainty" linked to the possible signing of an association agreement between Ukraine and the EU, which for Brussels is conditional on the release of opposition leader Yulia Timochenko.
"Signing the agreement would be good for business in the long term, but it might have negative consequences in the short term in relation to Russia's reaction," explained S&P, which is concerned Moscow may introduce "trade restrictions".
Russia, which is responsible for a quarter of Ukrainian exports, has warned that if a free trade area is created between the EU and Kiev, it will have to reinforce its border controls for imported goods.
US Green-lights Publicis-Omnicom Merger
Publicis and Omnicom said on Friday that they had not received any objection from the American authorities to their plans to merge, thus bringing closer the creation of the world's biggest advertising agency.
The merger brings together the world's second largest agency, Omnicom, and the third largest, Publicis.
"The Omnicom Group and Publicis Group today announced the expiry of the period of investigation into the previously announced merger of the Publicis Group and Omnicom, under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended," the two groups announced in a press release.
They specified that they had also received the necessary authorisations from Canada, India and Turkey, in addition to those from South Africa and South Korea.
The expiry of the period of investigation provided for by the HSR in the United States and the authorisation decisions issued in the other jurisdictions satisfy many of the conditions necessary for the move to take place.
"The merger is also conditional upon obtaining other regulatory authorisations and the approval of the two groups' shareholders," they add.
Congolese Army Hunts Down M23 Rebels
The Congolese army (FARDC) announced on Thursday that its units would be hunting down M23 rebels right up to their bases located in the forests and mountains of North Kivu, which borders Rwanda and Uganda.
The M23 appears to be on the verge of defeat, having been driven out of the towns in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC), which it had been in control of since the start of the uprising 20 months ago.
"We will pursue the M23 and drive it out of wherever it is hiding because they are criminals," Colonel Olivier Hamuli, spokesman for the FARDC, declared to Reuters.
"We must not allow them to regroup because they have been making the Congolese people suffer for too long.
The time has come for peace to be restored."
Leaders of the M23 say they evacuated the towns under diplomatic pressure and Bertrand Bisimwa, political leader of the rebellion, asserted on RFI that these military setbacks would not change its demands at the peace talks in any way.
According to the Ugandan mediators,talks between the government in Kinshasa and the M23 resumed in Kampala on Wednesday,.
Skirmishes were reported in the hills above Bunagana, the last town in the hands of the rebels to fall this week, and around Runyoni, a hill where the M23 rebellion started in 2012.
At their peak in November, the insurgents occupied Goma, the capital of the province of North Kivu, taking advantage of the retreat of the government garrison and the inaction of the Monusco blue berets.
The fall of Goma led the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the largest in the world in terms of numbers, to reinforce its mandate and form a rapid intervention force consisting of soldiers from South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania.
Meanwhile, FARDC staff has been reshuffled and the army has gone on the offensive against the M23, changing the course of the war.
The rate of progress of the government troops today is unprecedented.
"The M23 seems to be nearing its end," predicted an expert in Congolese affairs, Jason Stearns, on his blog Congo Siasa.
This would be historic - it would be the first time that the government in Kinshasa has succeeded in quashing a major insurrection.
And it would also be the first time since 1996 that there is no armed group allied to Rwanda present in the east of the RDC.
United Nations experts accuse Rwanda of providing military support to the M23, which has initially made up of mutinous former Congolese soldiers. Rwanda vehemently denies this.
The British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, called on the Rwandan President Paul Kagame to show restraint, a Foreign Office spokesman announced.
Last week, Kigali raised the possibility of military retaliation after shells landed in Rwandan territory.
On Wednesday, the inhabitants of Bunagana took to the streets of the town to welcome the entry of the FARDC troops.
"We have been living with the M23 for a year and it seemed unimaginable that we would one day be freed by the army," said an inhabitant of the town on the border with Uganda.
"We have been living in terror [of the M23], we are traumatised," the man added.
Tests carried out by the Pasteur Institute on a patient suspected of being infected by the coronavirus turned out negative, the Ministry of Health has announced.
It specified that "the two cases identified in May 2013 remain the only confirmed cases in France to date."
The 43-year-old patient had been suspected of being infected on Tuesday, after returning from a trip to Saudi Arabia, where the disease has already killed about fifty people.
Chevron, the second largest oil company in America, announced a drop in quarterly profits on Friday, as a result of a reduction in its refining margins, although its production of oil and gas increased while still being below the group's target.
Its net profit for the third quarter went down to $4,950 million, or $2.57 per share, as opposed to $5,250 million, or $2.69 per share, the previous year.
Analysts questioned by Reuters were counting on an average profit of $2.71 per share.
The group produced 2.59 million oil-equivalent barrels per day during the course of the quarter, an increase compared to the 2.52 million barrels per day produced a year before.
The company is targeting 2.65 million barrels per day for this year, with an increase of 25% in production planned by 2017.
The majority of the growth in the years to come will come from its liquefied natural gas schemes in Australia.
Because of the cost of these schemes, annual investment costs have gone up by seven thousand million dollars in two years and are expected to reach 36,700 million dollars in 2013.
The profits from production activities went down slightly in the third quarter, while profits from downstream activities (including refining and chemical production) fell 45% to 380 million dollars.
The reduction in refining margins is affecting the entire sector.
Chevron's main competitor, Exxon, also announced a drop in net profits on Thursday, despite an increase in its gas and oil production.
School Transport: Complaint Judged Admissible
Since the beginning of the academic year, the Sherbrooke Region School Board (CSRS) has been demanding a $150 fee per student (to a maximum of $300 per family) for students using school transport to get to two addresses, a service that the organisation offers when it is able to.
No financial contribution had been demanded prior to the changes made to the last budget.
"The Board proposed a mediation service and I was interested," says Mrs Lefevre.
According to her, the CSRS was invited to a mediation and she asked for an additional period for consideration.
"It is always better to discuss, consult and find solutions such issues," Mrs Lefevre believes.
The Sherbrooke Region School Board (CSRS) did not wish to comment on the issue.
The organisation merely indicated that the mediation was part of a process arising from a complaint.
Row Over Closure of Emergency Unit at Hôtel-Dieu
In light of the rebellion that has been running for several months involving a section of the staff and several unions, including the CGT, the Minister of Health, Marisol Touraine, decided on July 10 to "put back the schedule for implementing the project and, in particular, the date for closing the emergency unit which cannot take place on November 4".
This was an official request made so as "not to run any risks when dealing with emergency services in Paris at the start of winter", but also aimed at avoiding to hinder the Socialist Party's campaign a few months before local elections.
Despite the minister's instructions, the closure is nevertheless expected to take effect on this date.
At the APHP, officials prefer the term "transformation" or "change in continuity" to closure.
From November 4, the units of the fire brigade, which accounted for a quarter of the 40,000 cases brought to the emergency unit of the Hôtel-Dieu each year, will all have received instructions to take their about thirty serious cases per day to the emergency units of other hospitals in Paris.
November 4 is also the day on which hospital training resumes.
At the Hôtel-Dieu, interns specialising in emergencies will make way for five general medicine interns on Monday.
The transfer of internal medicine beds is scheduled for some point during the month.
"The Hôtel-Dieu emergency service has to close as soon as possible, and for us, that's November 4," Loïc Capron, the chairperson of the medical committee (CME) at the APHP which supports the management project, says straightforwardly.
"On November 4, patients will no longer be brought by the fire brigade, there will only be people arriving by their own means," confirms Professor Jean-Yves Fagon, chief medical officer at the new Hôtel-Dieu.
"However, we will continue accepting emergency cases," he tempers, emphasising the permanent presence of emergency medical service vehicles on site to move critical cases.
"Senior emergency doctors will remain on site," he also assures.
But the decision to close the emergency service resides with the regional health agency (ARS).
"Things are moving gradually," says Nicolas Péju, spokesman for the ARS, for whom "there will be no change in terms of the service offered", come November 4.
"The minister has either lied to us or has been lied to," laments emergency medical officer, Gérald Kierzek.
Dismissed from his position as head of emergency services in early July for taking a stand against the reorganisation project, he defines himself as a "whistle-blower" in the face of a "cynical" decision taken by the "technical medical administration body".
"They are in the process of abandoning and killing off emergency units that were reformed less than five years ago," he believes.
For him, "if the other emergency services in Paris were able to absorb the surplus, there wouldn't be a problem."
But they are regularly saturated.
For example, there is sometimes a nine hour wait at the emergency unit at Lariboisière.
The ARS stresses that thirty patients "despatched" to several locations does not run the risk of becoming an "avalanche" for the other emergency services, where human resources would have been reinforced anyway.
The ARS, like the APHP, is defending the "new hospital model" which started being implemented on October 7 and is expected to continue taking 30,000 to 35,000 patients a year.
By the end of the year, self-employed GPs are also expected to participate in the implementation of an "ambulatory care service".
"Where are we heading if we start asking people to self-diagnose?" asks Gérald Kierzek, for whom "the concept of a non-major emergency" is "dangerous" and marks a "medical step backwards".
"The same thing will happen as with level 3 maternity units.
People are not stupid, they will go wherever the best care is offered."
"If the minister does not take a step by Monday, we will take a different approach," warns Christophe Prudhomme, emergency medical officer and member of the healthcare CGT.
"We will have a greater presence in the local election campaigns and we will think about putting up a list."
In Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet's team, Vincent Roger, a UMP councillor in Paris and MP of the 4th arrondissement, states clearly that "even if the UMP in Paris supports the continuation of emergency services at Hôtel-Dieu, it would be technically and financially impossible to reopen them if you look at the duties."
Ann Hidalgo, the Socialist Party's candidate, repeated on Monday morning on France Inter that she was in favour of a moratorium to prevent the closure on November 4.
If it went ahead, she would register her clear disagreement, stresses Bruno Juillard, her spokesman.
"Even though the reorganisation of the Hôtel-Dieu has an underlying justification, we cannot let this happen without an acceptable plan for the transfer of patients to other hospitals."
Obama Ends Spying on IMF and World Bank
Barack Obama has ordered the National Security Agency (NSA) to stop tapping the lines of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as part of its intelligence activities, said an American official on Thursday.
This decision is part of attempts by the White House to resume control of the NSA phone-tapping affair following revelations by the former analyst, Edward Snowden, who has taken refuge in Russia.
This is the first time that surveillance of the IMF and World Bank by the intelligence agency has been mentioned since the start of the scandal.
When asked about this, an official of the American administration replied: "The United States is not conducting electronic surveillance aimed at offices of the World Bank and IMF in Washington."
Talking under the cloak of anonymity, the official did not specify whether such surveillance had taken place in the past.
Another official indicated that Barack Obama had given the order to stop these practices during recent weeks.
The instruction was given at almost the same time as that putting an end to phone-tapping of the UN headquarters in New York.
In this regard, the Senate Intelligence Committee approved strengthening of the controls on government surveillance programmes on Thursday, but still authorised them to proceed.
The committee introduced new restrictions on the data that the intelligence services were authorised to collect and imposed a limit of five years on the length of time they could hold such data.
UN hails new goals to tackle poverty
The United Nations is to start work immediately on a new set of goals to replace the millennium development goals, which were put place 12 years ago to tackle global poverty.
Australian diplomats played a key role in pushing for "sustainable development goals" to replace the MDGs, which expire in 2015, ahead of the UN sustainable development summit that began in Rio de Janeiro overnight.
They were included in the final draft of the document, which will be endorsed by world leaders including Ms Gillard during the summit.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the summit overnight that now is the time to "rise above national interests."
"I am pleased that member states have agreed to launch and take ownership of a process to establish universal sustainable development goals - SDGs," he said.
These SDGs will build on our advances under the millennium development goals, and they will be an integral part of the post-2015 development framework.
I will spare no effort to implement the mandate given to me by member states to realise our vision of sustainable development goals that build on the success of the MDGs.
Mozambique security concerns mount as powerful personalities clash
With a statue of Samora Machel, Mozambique's founding president, staring down on them, thousands of people gathered in central Maputo to chant peace slogans in a rare public demonstration.
"We want peace back; we want stability," said Vanessa de Sousa, chief executive of an investment company.
Fearful about the future of her country, she swapped her corporate attire for a T-shirt emblazoned with "we demand security" in Portuguese as she joined the crowds in the capital's Independence Square on Thursday.
For two weeks, there have been almost daily reports of clashes between government forces and Renamo, some of the worst skirmishes since a peace deal more than 20 years ago.
Renamo was once a notorious rebel movement, initially backed by white-ruled Rhodesia and then South Africa's apartheid government as part of efforts to destabilise the country's independent government.
After a 1992 peace deal, it became an opposition party.
Analysts believe the country is unlikely to slide back into full-blown conflict, but recent events have unnerved foreign investors and locals.
The stakes are high for the fast-growing economy as the discovery of huge offshore gas reserves and coal deposits in the northwest could bring in more than $50bn of investment over the next few next years from companies including Rio Tinto, Vale of Brazil, Eni of Italy and Anadarko of the US.
The ruling Frelimo party, the dominant political force since 1975, and Renamo blame each other for the tension.
Renamo says the government initiated the latest clashes by launching an attack on its members in Sofala province, traditionally a Renamo stronghold, on October 17.
Assaults on the former rebels then escalated as government forces attacked Renamo bases and attempted to kill Afonso Dhlakama, the group's leader, Fernando Mazanga, Renamo's spokesman, told the Financial Times.
The government blames Renamo for triggering the clashes, accusing it of attacking soldiers.
President Armando Guebuza has sought to play down concerns about instability.
Mr Guebuza told AFP, the French news agency, on Wednesday that Mr Dhlakama saw himself as a "loser" who wanted to use "whatever remains of his forces to try to prove that he can impose on the government his own decisions."
Both Frelimo and Renamo insist they want to avoid war.
But concerns have grown after Mr Mazanga was quoted as saying Renamo was abandoning the 1992 peace accord.
He told the FT that he meant the agreement was no longer being respected by Frelimo.
"Our vision is to come back to negotiations, but with seriousness," Mr Mazanga said.
Previous talks between the parties have done little to ease tensions fuelled by a series of clashes this year.
"It's two big men (Guebuza and Dhlakama) butting heads together," said Joseph Hanlon, a lecturer at the Open University and Mozambique expert.
Neither of them are good negotiators and neither of them are prepared to make the kind of concessions that are necessary.
Renamo, which has been pushing for electoral reforms, had already said that it would boycott municipal elections due in November.
Presidential and parliamentary polls are scheduled for next year.
Some commentators have interpreted its use of force as the attempt of an ailing movement to win concessions and financial spoils from the government.
Renamo's share of the vote has been declining since 1992, while a newer party, the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) which was formed by a former Renamo member, is expected to improve its showing at the elections.
Mr Mazanga says Mr Guebuza - who is due to step down when his second term ends next year - wants to destroy the country's democracy.
"He does not want multi-party democracy, he does not want transparent elections he does not want peace because he does not want to leave the presidency," Mr Mazanga said.
It is unclear how much capacity Renamo has, but it has carried out disruptive hit-and-run attacks on police stations and vehicles on a key north-south highway.
Most of the skirmishes have taken place in Sofala province, which is several hundred kilometres north of Maputo, but hosts Beira, the port that miners, including Rio Tinto and Vale, rely on to export coal.
In June, Rio suspended its use of the railway for about a week after Renamo threatened to attack the line.
Mr Mazanga was coy when asked about whether Renamo would repeat this threat.
Renamo wanted to "warn the international community that things were not going well in Mozambique," Mr Mazanga said.
The instability has added to frustrations with the government, says Fernando Lima, head of Mediacoop, an independent media company, with many people also concerned about corruption, the slow pace of development and a recent spate of kidnappings.
"People think the ones responsible for the future of the country are the government and the president, and he should be the one to find solutions for the problems," he says.
Omar Sultuane, a demonstrator, said people just wanted stability.
"No one cares about Renamo and Frelimo, they just want peace again, they want free access to the roads," he said.
Children should be taught myths and legends as "models for a way of life", author says.
Tales of Thor could show "brute strength is no match for subtle trickery," while the Arthurian legends reveal the importance of having a dream.
Saying many of the myths would be "far too wild, far too scandalous and in some cases far too filthy to be taught in schools," Crossley-Holland advocated a "careful selection" of age-appropriate works.
"I find it wonderful that in America, myth and folklore already has a part in education," he said.
I have been advocating it as a plan for twenty years.
He added authors and teachers being "overtly didactic" is a "total switch-off" for children, with messages being "subliminated" in enjoyable stories.
Crossley-Holland, who has translated Beowulf from Anglo-Saxon as well as writing the Penguin Book of Norse Myths and British Folk Tales, said: "You may well have intentions but you do better to keep them well out of sight."
Perhaps the big difference between an adult author writing for an adult and an adult author writing for a child is the necessity for some sense of hope.
Not that everything has to be simplified or come to a happy ending, but that there is an innate sense of good and evil.
And that must be subliminated; revealed through a story rather than stated.
The old basis of showing not telling.
A fighter of Hamas' armed wing was killed this evening and another wounded by Israeli tank fire in the Gaza Strip, medical and security sources in Gaza report.
According to these sources, the activists were conducting a surveillance operation in the border area between the Palestinian territory and Israel, when they were shelled by an Israeli tank.
NSA Spying: The United States "went too far," Kerry admits
The United States sometimes went "too far" with its espionage activities, Secretary of State John Kerry recognised in the first admission from Washington, which is deep in controversy with Europe over the massive collection of data by the National Security Agency (NSA).
After ten days of scandal, revelations and denials between the United States and its European allies, this is the first time that an official of the American government has explicitly admitted controversial activities in the NSA's interception of communications and data in Europe.
"In certain cases, I acknowledge, as does the President, that some of these activities went too far and we guarantee that this will not happen in the future," declared John Kerry at a conference in London that he was participating in from Washington via a video link on Thursday October 31.
In his relayed speech, and in the presence of his British counterpart, William Hague, the head of the American diplomatic service justified at length the intelligence practices and collection of data as part of the necessary fight against terrorism and the prevention of possible attacks.
Citing the attacks of 11 September 2001, the attacks in Madrid in March 2004 and those in London in July 2005, John Kerry assured that the American authorities had since thwarted numerous planned attacks thanks to the interception of communications and the collection of data.
"We have prevented planes being brought down, buildings being blown up and people being murdered, because we have been able to stay informed prior to these attacks," the head of the American diplomatic service argued.
Furthermore, John Kerry stated in his address to the Europeans, "I assure you that no innocent person has been misled during this process."
Yet America strives to collate data.
"Yes, in certain cases, this went too far in an inappropriate manner," the Secretary of State again admitted, having already had to make a statement on the international scandal during a tour in Paris, London and Rome last week.
On Thursday evening, he asserted that President Obama had "resolved to try to clarify the matter and had initiated a re-examination of these practices to ensure that no-one felt misled".
But the controversy between the Americans and Europeans continued to grow this week with new revelations in the press.
According to the Washington Post, the NSA has been intercepting data of hundreds of millions of Google and Yahoo users.
The newspaper, which quotes documents obtained by the former NSA consultant, Edward Snowden, stated that the programme dubbed "MUSCULAR" and conducted in conjunction with the British counterpart of the NSA, the GCHQ, enabled the two agencies to gather data from the fibre-optic cables used by Internet giants.
According to one of the documents, some 181 million items were collected during the month of January alone - ranging from meta data on emails to text elements or audio and video files.
These interceptions apparently took place outside the USA.
However, Yahoo and Google have denied any involvement in these practices.
For ten days now, a number of major newspapers in France, Germany, Spain and Italy have been revealing that the NSA had intercepted massive quantities of data and communications emanating from allies of the United States and their leaders, in particular the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Following the outrage of the European states, and even though leaks to the American press stated that the American President was not up-to-date with these spying activities, Barack Obama has refused to comment on the matter, citing national security.
On the other hand, the head of the powerful NSA, General Keith Alexander, denied that his intelligence agency had captured tens of millions of communications from European citizens.
He even pointed the finger back at the European intelligence services who allegedly got hold of these communications before passing them on to the NSA.
This concerned "military operations" in countries where the NATO allies are cooperating with the United States and this absolutely did not target Europe, according to General Alexander.
The discord spread to Asia on Friday.
Indonesia summoned the Australian ambassador, whose mission is accused of being used by the Americans as part of a vast international espionage network, which has also aroused the ire of China.
Paris Saint-Germain will face Lorient on Friday without its trump card, the Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is suffering from an injury, the Ligue 1 club announced in a press release.
PSG, who are top of the league ahead of Monaco on goal difference, issued the team sheet for the match, which is the 12th of the season, on which the 32-year-old striker did not appear.
The press release said only that he is "injured", without saying what the injury was.
However, he was suffering from an inflammation on the left knee following his return from international duty this month.
Ceremony in Memory of the Cremated
The Père Lachaise crematorium is organizing a lay ceremony at 11am in memory of all those cremated at the establishment this year.
Anne Hidalgo, socialist candidate for Paris mayorship, is expected to attend and will later explain her proposals on funerary matters at a press conference.
Click above to watch the ceremony.
More and more French people are choosing cremation for their own funerals rather than inhumation - 53% against 47%, according to an Ipsos survey carried out on September 6 and 7 among 1,009 people.
It is the opposite for the funeral of a loved one - the French prefer inhumation (53% against 47%).
Only 15% of those who lose a child choose cremation.
In his book, La Mort en Cendres, Damien Le Guay, philosopher and vice-chairperson of the Comité National d'Ethique du Funéraire emphasises the "violence" that cremation represents for those left behind.
With cremation, there is a sense of "violence committed against the body of a loved one", which will be "reduced to a pile of ashes" in a very short time instead of after a process of decomposition that "would accompany the stages of grief".
There is also a "symbolic violence" that relates to the "obliteration of the person's singularity and of distinctive symbols", which are reduced to the "anonymity" of ashes.
Why is this accepted without difficulty in certain Nordic and protestant countries, but is still taken badly in France?
"Because cremation is a recent development," says Marie-Frédérique Bacqué, president of the Thanatological Society and author of the book Apprivoiser la Mort.
The Catholic Church only started tolerating it in 1963, a fact that has restricted efforts at getting to grips with it.
For François Michaud-Nérard, director general of Funerary Services for the City of Paris, getting to grips with cremation is about giving the deceased a ceremony as dignified as it would have been with an inhumation.
The annual Ipsos survey shows the strength of attachment to the arrangement of the ceremony.
77% of French want one for their loved ones, be it religious (53%) or civil (24%).
Nowadays, 73% of people choosing cremation want a ceremony to be arranged.
66% of atheists or non-believers also want one.
Crematoria have adapted to this change in society.
"For a decade or so, they have been trying hard to spare families from the feeling of violence in waiting for an hour and a half, doing nothing, followed immediately by their being handed the ashes," observes Michaud-Nérard.
70% of establishments now offer a master of ceremonies to conduct the following ritual in the presence of the body: greet the congregation, mention the deceased by name, connect the deceased to those present, evoke who the person was, give sense to their death, organise a farewell.
This is what has been happening at the Père Lachaise crematorium since 1998.
The masters of ceremonies are often people who have moved into this new type of employment.
There are also former Catholic priests.
It is in this context that, since 2010, the Père Lachaise crematorium has been organising a number of memorial ceremonies, lay and non-religious, on All Saints Day, to which it invites the families of all those who have been cremated during the course of the year.
For the second consecutive year, one of these ceremonies has been relayed online, for those could not attend.
The crematorium has authorised us to broadcast it.
Rehousing Due to Rats Causes Strife in La Seyne
At the start of this week, a family abandoned its ground floor apartment in building Fructidor D2 because of the presence of rats.
In view of the urgency of the situation, the director of the Terres du Sud Habitat office offered to provide exceptional, provisional rehousing for the couple and their three children in a new four-room house.
However, the family refused "for financial reasons" and the situation is at stalemate.
"The matter has become exaggerated," thinks Joël Canapa, office director.
"There have always been rats in towns.
The rat extermination company conducts two operations per year. Furthermore, we intervene at our own cost whenever there is a complaint from residents.
Hence we have carried out 64 operations since last winter.
The area has not been abandoned and rats are not swarming into the town.
Due to environmental protection and public health concerns, rat extermination products are four times less efficient than in the past, but we are not going to kill a kid for the sake of two rats."
"We didn't invite the rats in," counters the father of the family, which left its home and moved into a hotel.
"We will soon be penniless and we are waiting for a new house at the same rate as the old one."
News: Tokyo Stock Exchange Closes 0.88% Down
The Tokyo stock exchange was down at closing time on Friday, in spite of good manufacturing figures from China.
The list suffered as a result of the decline of the dollar against the yen, which is harmful to export values, and of the annual profit warning issued by Sony on Thursday.
The Nikkei index dropped 126.37 points (0.88%) to 14,201.57 and the Topix was 11.23 points (0.94%) down, at 1,183.03.
Sony dropped more than 11% to 1,668 yen.
House Engulfed in Flames in Old Quebec
A fire that started at midday on Friday in Old Quebec was quickly brought under control.
More than thirty firemen rushed to 9 Rue Hébert.
The fire started in a three-apartment house on four floors, situated behind the yard of the Quebec Seminary.
All the tenants were out when the fire started.
The fire was brought under control an hour after the firemen who arrived in their numbers to intervene.
As soon as the first firemen arrived, they could clearly see the smoke.
"The alarms went off one after the other as it took reinforcements to deal with the building, because the buildings here are close together," explained France Loiselle, spokesperson for the Quebec fire service.
An investigation is under way to find the cause of the fire.
Ben Greenman: The Tenth Anniversary of the New York Comedy Festival: The New Yorker
One could argue that New York City is the birthplace of standup comedy in America: nearly a hundred years ago, the vaudevillian Frank Fay, who served as the master of ceremonies at the Palace Theatre, on Broadway, started telling jokes directly to the crowd, in a conversational manner.
Fay's innovation has been extended through the years, most recently by the New York Comedy Festival.
Created and overseen by Caroline Hirsch, the founder of the standup institution Carolines, the festival celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, with more than sixty shows at small clubs and large theatres.
"Most of these headliners appeared at Carolines, and went on to greater success, to the point where they're too big to play a club," Hirsch said.
We built this festival as a way of continuing to work with them.
This year's event includes appearances by Wanda Sykes, Kathy Griffin, and Bill Maher, as well as "Stand Up for Heroes," an annual music-and-comedy benefit for military veterans, at Madison Square Garden, featuring, among others, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Stewart, Roger Waters, and Bill Cosby.
As the festival has expanded, so has the world of comedy.
Several of the comedians participating in this year's festival came up through nontraditional channels, such as shows on smaller networks, like Comedy Central, FX, and Spike.
Nick Kroll rose to prominence on a deep-cable sitcom (FXX's gleefully raunchy fantasy-football-themed "The League") and now has his own Comedy Central sketch show.
Jenny Slate has been a cast member on both "Saturday Night Live" and "Parks and Recreation," though she is best known for her viral video series "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On."
Both Kroll and Slate, as well as other young comedians with distinctive voices (the surreally pessimistic Anthony Jeselnik, the wry, racially focussed W. Kamau Bell), are products of the decentralized world of American comedy.
One of the festival's biggest draws will be an interview: David Steinberg talking to Larry David.
Steinberg started as a standup comedian but has become an accomplished television and film director, as well as an unofficial comedy historian.
From 2005 to 2007, he hosted a show on TV Land called "Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg."
The meeting takes place at Town Hall, in the center of Manhattan.
"The city is definitely in the comedy DNA of all of Larry's work," Steinberg said.
He was telling me that, when he's here, sometimes he'll walk down an alley between two buildings and think to himself, Hey, if I lose all my money, maybe I'll live here.
Oil extends drop toward $96 a barrel
The price of oil continued to fall on Friday as concerns over high supplies offset a report showing China's power-hungry manufacturing sector is strengthening.
Benchmark U.S. crude for December delivery was down 14 cents at $96.24 a barrel by late morning in Europe in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract fell 39 cents on Thursday, leaving it down 5.8 percent for the month of October.
Ample supplies of crude have weighed on the price in recent weeks.
The Energy Department said Wednesday that U.S. supplies increased 4.1 million barrels last week.
Over five weeks, supplies have risen by more than 25 million barrels.
But a suggestion of stronger demand came Friday from two reports on Chinese manufacturing that showed an uptick in activity.
That suggests China's economic recovery could continue to strengthen after growth rebounded to 7.8 percent in the third quarter from a two-decade low in the previous quarter.
Brent crude, a benchmark for international crude also used by U.S. refineries, fell 26 cents to $108.58 a barrel on the ICE exchange in London.
Abortion Law in Texas Challenged
A federal appeal court in Texas has reintroduced certain restrictions on the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy, which had been blocked by a trial judge this week.
The decision means that a legal text adopted in the state in July generally challenging the right to abortion will be able to come into force.
The decision by the court of appeal means that doctors who practise abortion will need to have an "admitting privilege" with local hospitals.
An admitting privilege is the right of a doctor to admit a patient to a hospital or a medical centre to carry out a diagnosis or a procedure, based on his status as a health care worker at a hospital.
Defenders of abortion stress that the content of the law may lead to the immediate closure of a third of clinics in the state, as these clinics have failed to obtain the admitting privilege for their practitioners.
In all, nearly 22,000 women will be deprived of access to such establishments.
On Monday, the day before the law was due to come into force, a trial judge considered that the provisions pertaining to admitting privileges were unconstitutional.
But the Attorney General for Texas, Republican Greg Abbott, who is canvassing for the role of governor, asked the court of appeal to overturn the judgement from the trial court blocking the application of the law.
A plenary hearing on the matter is scheduled to take place in January.
"La Nouvelle Star" made a big comeback in terms of audiences, with 1.3 million TV viewers, that is a 5.6% share of the viewing audience.
But was the show up to expectations?
Some 10,000 candidates turned up at the auditions to face the jury for this 10th season: Maurane, the naughty Sinclair, the high-pitched André Manoukian and Olivier Bas.
The viewers shared their thoughts on Twitter.
The excitement of finding their favorite programme having subsided, many are disappointed.
But why where they so disappointed?
None of the contestants seem to have really stood out at first glance.
As every year, the first audition shows threw in a wide variety of budding singers into the mix, sometimes for the best and sometimes not.
But, on Twitter, people want a spectacle, emotion, originality, music...
Fortunately, a few got just that.
Many people have tried "La Nouvelle Star", and some have even gotten through.
Behind the television screens, there are always those cut out to be successful singers, season after season.
Others are just out to make you laugh.
Court blocks ruling on NYPD stop-and-frisk policy
A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked a judge's order requiring changes to the New York Police Department's stop-and-frisk program and removed the judge from the case.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the decisions of Judge Shira Scheindlin will be stayed pending the outcome of an appeal by the city.
The judge had ruled in August the city violated the Constitution in the way it carried out its program of stopping and questioning people.
The city appealed her findings and her remedial orders, including a decision to assign a monitor to help the police department changes its policy and training program associated with it.
The appeals court heard arguments Tuesday on the requested stay.
The appeals court said the judge needed to be removed from the case because she ran afoul of the code of conduct for U.S. judges by compromising the necessity for a judge to avoid the appearance of partiality in part because of a series of media interviews and public statements responding publicly to criticism of the court.
The judge had ruled that police officers violated the civil rights of tens of thousands of people by wrongly targeting black and Hispanic men with its stop-and-frisk program.
She appointed an outside monitor to oversee major changes, including reforms in policies, training and supervision, and she ordered a pilot program to test body-worn cameras in some precincts where most stops occur.
In August, New York City agreed to end the practice of storing the names and addresses of people whose cases are dismissed after a police stop.
An oral argument on the city's appeal is scheduled for sometime after March 14, 2014.
The stop-and-frisk tactic has been criticized by a number of civil rights advocates.
Stop-and-frisk has been around for decades in some form, but recorded stops increased dramatically under the administration of independent Mayor Michael Bloomberg to an all-time high in 2011 of 684,330, mostly of black and Hispanic men.
A lawsuit was filed in 2004 by four men, all minorities, and became a class action case.
Supporters of changes to the NYPD's stop-and-frisk program say the changes will end unfair practices, will mold a more trusted and effective police force and can affect how other police departments use the policy.
Opponents say the changes would lower police morale but not crime, waste money and not solve a broader problem of a police force under pressure after shrinking by thousands of officers during the last decade.
The judge noted she wasn't putting an end to the stop-and-frisk practice, which is constitutional, but was reforming the way the NYPD implemented its stops.
Tenants have to go and vote, as each of them pays an average of $100 a month in the cost of their accommodation that goes to the City in taxes.
If the owner pays $5000 in municipal taxes, he divides this figure between each house.
We are forced to increase the rent to help us pay the new taxes.
By going to vote, we are sending a clear message.
We need to change things in the city.
All the candidates have told us that they would tackle this scandalous debt.
We no longer have the means to pay $100,000 for fireworks, $4-5 million for land just in case...
Go and vote, that is the best way to express yourself and say enough is enough.
End of the Road for Elysée Head Chef
Having entered the 500m2-space of the kitchens at the Elysée Palace as an assistant after working in embassies, the cook climbed up the ladder to become head chef nine years ago.
He has served six French presidents, from Georges Pompidou to Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, including at their holiday homes, and fed an uncountable number of world figures, surrounded by a cloud of anonymity that he has only emerged from today, as he retires at 60.
Born on 24 October 1953 in La Ferté-Saint-Aubin, the man with an open face, a balding head and the glasses of an intellectual is the holder of a certificate of professional competence in confectionery.
His mother was a cook in a château in Sologne.
"I've moved from one château to another!" says Bernard Vaussion ironically. He is familiar, not only with the habits of the six presidents for whom he has cooked, but also with those of their wives and some of their illustrious guests.
"It's always the Head of State or his partner or wife who chooses the menu," he recalls.
"Madame Chirac was a little more involved and would come right into the kitchen," to the point where she forbade women to enter the kitchens in the Elysée Palace!
With all due respect to heads of state who appeared relatively indifferent to fruits of the earth, "they are all fond of food" Bernard Vaussion reveals graciously.
Jacques Chirac certainly had a "more refined palate".
But with Nicolas Sarkozy, who forbade cheese, the plates always came back empty!
François Hollande, who reintroduced cheese, is "a man who likes to eat" and "he is not very choosy".
The current Head of State, who has put back on the pounds he lost during the presidential campaign, does "not have a specific diet requirement".
Bernard Vaussion also recalls the pressure that would rest on his shoulders, especially during state dinners at the Elysée, where one had to serve "between 200 and 250 people in around an hour".
The night before would be practically sleepless.
Such people would not understand if something went wrong.
The now former head chef at the Elysée, who shared a drink on Tuesday evening with his team, his family and friends, is leaving with a twinge of sorrow. "François Hollande came to say goodbye."
He was full of praise.
"His human side came out," he recalls.
The chef will be replaced by his assistant, 35-year-old Guillaume Gomez, who has been at the Elysée for seventeen years himself.
Fire in 1850 Quebec House
A historic house built in 1850 in Old Quebec was engulfed in flames on Friday at lunchtime.
The four-apartment building located at 15 Rue Hébert set off three alarms at the fire department.
The fire started at the front, but spread to all three floors of the building.
France Voiselle, spokesperson for the Quebec Fire Protection Service, said that the quick intervention of the fire brigade prevented the fire spreading to adjacent buildings, a major challenge in this part of town where the buildings are very close together.
The building damaged by the fire contained four apartments, but there was nobody at home when the fire started.
The damage was fairly limited all in all, although the water caused some harm.
An investigation will be conducted to determine the cause, although the fire brigade has ruled out the possibility of it being a criminal act.
The Wolf of Wall Street: Second Trailer Released
Martin Scorsese has released footage from his next film in which the title role, an ambitious New York broker, is played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
Forget being sensible and grab your ticket.
Leonardo DiCaprio will take your breath away in his role as a crazy trader.
Martin Scorsese tells us a true story about a "Long Island stockbroker who refuses to collaborate with the authorities over a massive corruption scheme on Wall Street".
In the 1980s, Jordan Belfort embarks on a scam that would make him a very rich man.
We see his meteoric rise, but also the vertiginous fall that follows.
Out of control, he indulges in parties, women and drugs.
Decadence and excesses of all sorts are the key words in this crazy story.
The Scorsese-DiCaprio duo seems to have rediscovered the magic that brought them together in Shutter Island.
The new Scorsese release is late because the editing has taken longer than planned.
Apparently, the final version of the film will last 2 hours 45 minutes.
Due in theatres December 25, its release will come just right in time for the Oscars.
Coulson used phone hacking to verify tip
Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson allegedly used "phone hacking, surveillance and confrontation" in an attempt to confirm a bogus tip about an affair involving then-home secretary Charles Clarke.
Prosecutor Andrew Edis QC told the Old Bailey that the News of the World heard a false rumour in May 2005 that Clarke was seeing his "attractive special adviser," Hannah Pawlby.
The newspaper tasked private investigator Glenn Mulcaire with hacking Pawlby's voicemails and "door-stepped" her, but Coulson also called and left her voicemails, the court heard.
"The prosecution suggests that Mr Coulson, who is now the editor of the NotW, he is not the man who stands outside people's houses hoping to catch them out, he is the man who likes to put the story to people to see what they will say," Mr Edis said.
He said the NotW used three ways to investigate stories: phone hacking, surveillance, and confrontation.
The editor is personally involved in the third.
Obviously he knows about the second, surveillance, he must do.
What about the first?
Does he know about phone hacking?
He says he doesn't, we say "Oh yes, he did".
Rumours about an affair involving Clarke were first picked up by the NotW's features desk when a source who was sexually interested in Ms Pawlby was told: "Don't bother wasting your time, she's with Charles."
A tape of voicemails taken from her phone on at least three occasions was seized from Mulcaire's home in August 2006.
Investigators also found entries on the private investigator's computer which had Ms Pawlby and her sister as "Projects."
During the period she was being investigated, Ms Pawlby's grandparents received anonymous calls asking for information about her, Mr Edis said.
Meanwhile, former chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck and former reporter James Weatherup oversaw surveillance of Ms Pawlby's movements.
Leaving her a voicemail on June 18 2005, Coulson told her: "I've got a story that we're planning to run tomorrow that I really would like to speak to Charles about."
Mr Edis said Coulson's involvement in the story followed the same pattern as with other important men, such as former home secretary David Blunkett.
The jury heard on Thursday that Coulson confronted Mr Blunkett over an affair with a married woman while he was himself seeing co-defendant Rebekah Brooks, who was married at the time.
Coulson and Brooks deny conspiring with others to hack phones between October 3 2000 and August 9 2006.
Mulcaire, Thurlbeck and Weatherup have admitted phone hacking.
Barack Obama to Meet Iraqi Prime Minister as Violence Rages
The American President will receive the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Al Maliki, who is seeking the United States' help in the struggle against the strongest wave of violence in five years, on 1 November 2013, .
October was the bloodiest month in Iraq in five and a half years, according to figures published by the Iraqi authorities on Friday, 01 November.
964 people (of which 855 civilians, 65 policemen and 44 soldiers) were killed in acts of violence during October and 1,600 people were injured.
The UN has reported even higher numbers with 979 dead and 1,902 injured.
The violence is becoming more and more deadly in spite of reinforced security measures and large-scale military operations undertaken in recent months by Nouri Al Maliki's government, which is dominated by Shiites.
The total number of deaths in October is the highest since April 2008, when 1,073 people were killed.
About two years after the withdrawal of American troops, the level of violence brings renewed fears of unrest while the country's neighbor, Syria, is in the grip of civil war.
Bombs strike markets, mosques, weddings and funeral ceremonies.
People are attacked in the street and even at home, and the security forces are also frequent targets of the attacks.
The growing discontent among the Sunni minority, which held power under Saddam Hussein and is now complaining of being politically marginalized and being the target of unjust arrests, has favored this outburst of violence.
On Friday, the latest acts of violence left four people dead in the north of Iraq, a day after at least 26 people were killed in a series of attacks, which included five booby-trapped cars being blown up in the north of Baghdad.
The majority of the violence is attributed to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (EIIL), a group affiliated with Al-Qaida (Sunni extremists), which is also involved in the civil war in Syria.
Nouri Al Maliki wants a "global war" against Al-Qaida.
The violence is at the centre of the talks in the United States with Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, who will be received by President Barack Obama on Friday, two years after their last meeting on 12 December 2011.
At that time, the American President, who was elected on the promise of bringing to an end the US' military involvement in the country, painted an optimistic picture of the situation.
Since arriving in Washington on Wednesday, Nouri Al Maliki has met several government officials and members of Congress.
On Thursday, he pleaded that the international community should conduct a "third world war" against Al-Qaida.
The principle of security aid for Iraq is supported by influential Republican and Democratic senators.
However, they have also criticized Shiite Nouri Al Maliki, saying he is partly responsible for the resumption of violence because of his "sectarian and authoritarian policies".
They have also demanded that Barack Obama make Nouri Al Maliki understand that "the pernicious influence of Iran within the Iraqi government constitutes a serious problem in the relationship between our two countries".
Beijing Accuses Uighur Group of Tiananmen Attack
The head of internal security in China accused a group of Uighur separatists from Xinjiang on Friday of being behind the car bomb attack in Tiananmen Square in the centre of Beijing on Monday, which left five people dead.
The vehicle, an SUV, raced towards the crowd in the famous square in the Chinese capital, the symbol of the bloody 1989 suppression, before catching fire, killing its three occupants and two passers-by.
Meng Jianzhu, a member of the politburo in charge of internal security issues, accused the East Turkestan Islamic Movement of instigating the attack.
Numerous Uighurs, a Turkish-speaking minority in Xinjiang, call this Chinese province East Turkestan.
The Chinese government believes the movement is responsible for the frequent outbreaks of violence in the province, sparked by demands for independence.
"The violent terrorist incident that occurred in Beijing was organized and premeditated," said Meng on Hong Kong television channel Phoenix TV.
"The group hiding behind the scenes was the East Turkestan Islamic Movement," he added, his words being relayed by the Xinhua News Agency.
The Chinese police have identified the driver of the vehicle, whose name suggests he is of Uighur origin, and stated that his wife and mother were with him in the car.
The vehicle also held containers full of petrol and a flag with orthodox religious writing on it.
The incident left 42 people injured.
The East Turkestan Islamic Movement is considered by the United States and the United Nations to be a terrorist organization.
Vatican Poll on Contraception, Divorce and Homosexuality
The Vatican is to carry out a large-scale poll across the world on the way in which parishes handle sensitive issues such as contraception, divorces and same-sex couples.
The poll will ask participants how priests deal with gay couples and their children, and how they treat men and women who live together without being united by marriage bonds.
The poll was sent out to every national conference of bishops in mid-October, with instructions to secure as many responses as possible.
The information will be used at a major assembly on the family that Pope Francis is planning to organize next year.
The news was reported on Thursday by the National Catholic Reporter, an independent Catholic newspaper in the United States.
A spokesperson for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops confirmed that the document was authentic and that each bishop would decide on the appropriate way in which to approach parishioners.
In the United Kingdom, bishops have published the poll on the Internet and asked Catholics to participate.
DRC: Army Attacks Last Rebel Stronghold
The diehards of the M23, who are several hundreds in number, had entrenched themselves at an altitude of almost 2,000 metres in the farmland hills of Chanzu, Runyonyi and Mbuzi, close to Bunagana and Jomba, two towns located around 80km north of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.
"The fighting has not stopped since morning and is continuing despite the darkness," a resident of Jomba, according to whom a little girl had been injured by gunfire in the morning, told the AFP by telephone at around 12.30pm.
"The fighting has slightly reduced in intensity. It appears that the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) have pushed the rebels back a bit," he added.
According to this witness, who chose to remain anonymous, the soldiers had "spent the night" in Jomba, before going into action for a "combing operation".
The rattle of gunfire from light arms could clearly be heard in the background.
From Bunagana, a political stronghold and last preserve of the rebellion to fall on Wednesday, an AFP journalist could hear the detonation of heavy arms.
According to a source at the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), the fighting has entered "the final phase": the FARDC has "surrounded the remaining M23 positions to flush them out".
Since the resumption on Friday of confrontations between the March 23 Movement (M23) and the army, MONUSCO has not been participating directly in the fighting, but it is providing government's troops with critical support in terms of intelligence, observation and planning.
At the end of the afternoon, several dozen well-equipped soldiers headed off towards the front.
They were armed with Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers.
A little earlier, on the road to Bunagana, the frontier post with Uganda, soldiers assisted by civilians loaded up a multiple rocket launcher mounted on a brand new truck belonging to the FARDC, intended to take over from another device pounding the positions of the M23 in the hills.
The Congolese President, Joseph Kabila, called on the rebels once again on Wednesday to "stand down voluntarily" or be disarmed "by force", while leaving open the Kampala process, where Kinshasa and the M23 have been in discussions since December with no outcome as yet.
The political leaders of the M23 are hoping to reach an agreement there.
"We have finished the talks. The Ugandan mediators just need to organize the signing," asserted Roger Lumbala, vice-president of the M23 delegation, although this information could not be confirmed immediately with the government.
The M23 was born of an April 2012 mutiny by former rebels, principally Tutsis who were integrated into the army in 2009 following a peace agreement.
The UN and Kinshasa regularly accuse Uganda and Rwanda of supporting the M23. Kigali and Kampala have denied the accusations.
North Kivu is one of the most densely populated areas of the DRC, and its land abounds in coveted mineral resources.
At Bunagana, on the Ugandan side of the border, to which around 5,000 people fled between Monday and Wednesday according to the UN, the process of returning which started in the morning was reversed at midday.
"This morning we went back across the border to go back to our fields, but the soldiers told us to go back," the AFP was told by Imelda Nyirankusi, surrounded by her nine children, including an infant on her back.
The gunfire seems to be getting closer to the population.
Early that evening, dozens of residents were crossing the border, some with mattresses on their heads, to spend the night in Uganda.
Musicals, the Great Performances
Classical, sophisticated, popular, in English or in French, song and dance productions are starting to take off.
After Broadway and London, Paris is finally finding its voice.
It's a revolution: the French musical is establishing itself as a successful genre.
For a long time, the majority of attempts, from 'Notre-Dame de Paris' to 'Mozart, l'Opéra Rock', have been embroiled in ridicule.
And successful acts such as 'Cabaret' or 'Les Misérables' have had an air of mystery about them.
The arrival of Jean-Luc Choplin at the Châtelet and Stage Entertainment at the Mogador has changed all that.
Today, these two stages are churning out performances like hits.
The former is reprising its excellent 'My Fair Lady' this Christmas and has announced the worldwide production of 'Un Américain à Paris' as a follow-up.
At the Mogador, 'La Belle et la Bête' could well be one of the successes of the season.
On other stages, musicals such as '1789: les Amants de la Bastille' and small productions such as 'Disco' or 'Life and Times' are falling in step with the success and quality recorded so far.
Patrick Niedo, author of the reference book 'Histoires de comédies musicales' and speaker at the Théâtre du Châtelet, analyses the reasons for the hard-won success.
How are French musicals evolving?
The choice is growing.
Firstly there are the "musical shows" that evolve according to the will of the producers...
Some use lovely projections of images and a true story, such as '1789: les Amants de la Bastille'.
Others leap backwards fifteen years, under the pretext that you can put on pretty much whatever you want when you have Matt Pokora heading the bill.
Then there are the musicals with the sumptuous productions of the Châtelet, which allow us to bring the golden age of Broadway back to life and rediscover the universe of Stephen Sondheim, the greatest composer alive.
Stage Entertainment popularizes variety English musicals by adapting them into French.
Independent French producers are trying to make a breakthrough.
But projects under way such as 'Rent', 'Le Baiser de la Femme Araignée' or 'L'Éveil du Printemps' are having trouble finding finances.
Do we have enough artists capable of singing, acting and dancing, as on Broadway?
In Paris, when there are eight musicals in a season, then it's a good year.
We have 200 talented artists who move from project to project.
In the United States, the cradle of the musical, it is very different.
Young actors are trained in these skills in numerous schools.
There are numerous jobs in regional theatres, touring companies, Broadway, off Broadway etc.
The breeding ground for talent is as sizable as the number of roles available.
Why are provincial tours so successful?
With the exception of opera, the provinces remain the poor relative of culture in France.
Few theatrical productions go on tour and most of them are usually "boulevard theatre", intended for adults, not adolescents.
Musicals fill that gap.
These are the same young people that love reality television and the ephemeral stars it produces...
Offering good-looking (often talented) young men a leading role in a musical guarantees the adoration of young girls and often their entire family.
Facebook pages for these shows are skillfully managed by professionals who answer questions.
The shows are eagerly expected by the time they reach a provincial Zénith (theatre).
The musicals are prepared in Paris and enjoyed in the provinces.
The show is designed to be staged in any major theatre in France in the same format as in Paris.
One Seriously Injured in Accident with Wrong Way Driver on Brussels Ring Road
A road accident on the Brussels inner ring road near Hoeilaart in the direction of Waterloo at 5.30am on Friday morning left one person seriously injured.
The car driven by the injured woman was hit by a driver who was travelling in the wrong direction and came out unhurt.
The section of the ring road where the accident occurred was closed to traffic until 9am for the road to be cleared and for an expert to establish the circumstances of the accident.
This situation, however, did not create traffic jam as the accident happened at the exit of Hoeilaart.
Traffic was therefore diverted via the exit/entrance to the ring road.
Child Seriously Injured on Ride at Disneyland Paris
A child aged five has been seriously injured following an accident on a ride at Disneyland Paris.
His life is not in danger but he is still in hospital.
The boy was with his father on the "Pirates of the Caribbeans" boat ride when he fell.
The ride has been closed till further notice.
DRC: Army Prepares New Assault
Children play on a charred tank that belonged to M23 rebels, at Kibumba in the east of the DRC on 31 October 2013.
On Friday the Congolese army was preparing a new assault on the final bastions of the M23 rebels close to Bunagana in the east of the DRC.
The aim of the assault is to flush the M23 out of the hills overlooking Bunagana.
Yesterday, we took Bugina hill, which overlooks Mbuzi hill.
Today, Mbuzi is expected to fall as well.
Then only Rumyoni hill will be left.
"Chanzu hill is not strategic," the governor of North Kivu, Julien Paluku, told the AFP.
Mr Paluku hopes to be in Bunagana on Saturday.
The town, which is a political stronghold and the final bastion of the rebellion, lies on the border with Uganda, around 80km north of Goma.
It was recaptured by the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) on Wednesday.
Since then, several hundred M23 diehards have been cut off in the farmland hills of Chanzu, Runyonyi and Mbuzi, close to Bunagana and the neighbouring town of Jomba, at an altitude of almost 2,000 metres.
In Jomba, a local contact who had reported fighting at close quarters throughout Thursday said that the situation had been "calm since this morning".
He also said that a woman and child had been killed in fighting the previous evening and had been buried.
A little girl sustained injuries from gunfire, and three other people had been wounded. One of them was seriously hit and had been evacuated by the FARDC, the witness quoted by the AFP added.
Since the resumption of hostilities between the FARDC and the rebels on 25 October, the two sides have given no indication of the casualties.
NSA revelations boost corporate paranoia about state surveillance
On a mild day in late August a German police helicopter buzzed low over the US consulate in Frankfurt, the financial capital of Germany.
On the instruction of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany's domestic intelligence agency, its mission was to photograph the rooftop of the US outpost, which is located less than 5km from the European Central Bank and Bundesbank.
German media say the BfV hoped to identify the presence of listening antennas and the action prompted an exchange between the US and the German foreign ministry in Berlin.
James Clapper, US Director of National Intelligence, insisted again in September that the US does not use foreign intelligence capabilities "to steal the trade secrets of foreign companies on behalf of US companies to enhance their international competitiveness or increase their bottom line."
But ever since Edward Snowden, the contractor turned whistleblower, began releasing his treasure trove of US surveillance secrets, European governments and business leaders are no longer sure whether to take the director at his word.
Reports that the US National Security Agency spied on Brazilian oil company Petrobras and gained access to data held by US cloud providers including Google and Yahoo have ratcheted corporate paranoia about state surveillance to new highs.
The final straw came when it was revealed that Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone had been bugged, possibly for about a decade.
If Europe's most powerful person can be targeted, then surely business leaders are also potential targets.
Snowden has made transparent the intensive collaboration between US intelligence services and companies.
I think it's conceivable that these data are used for mutual benefit.
"Germany must wake up," says Oliver Grün, president of BITMi, which represents small and medium sized German IT companies.
German companies believe the US now poses almost as big a risk as China when it comes to industrial espionage and data theft, according to a survey published in July by EY, the consultancy.
In all the documentation leaked by Mr Snowden, there has, however, been no evidence to date that the US has passed on foreign companies' trade secrets to its own companies.
Politicians have expressed concern that the EU lacks certain IT and internet capabilities and should strive to reduce its dependence on the US.
Business leaders are sceptical about this.
Someone in the German parliament says we should build a German Google.
I can only shut my eyes and slowly open them again...
"That's not the way," Hasso Plattner, chairman of German business software company SAP, says.
If one wanted a strong European IT industry, then one shouldn't have let it die out 20 years ago.
Everything is subsidised in Germany, from coal, to cars and farmers.
Everything but the IT industry.
Still, the reach and technical sophistication of US spy agencies exposed by the Snowden revelations have come as a shock to some companies who previously thought the biggest surveillance risk was posed by China.
A big shift is occurring in cloud computing where European executives have become more aware that data stored in the US is subject to that jurisdiction and therefore potentially vulnerable.
According to a survey carried out by the Cloud Security Alliance, a trade body, some 10 per cent of non-US members cancelled plans to use a US-based cloud provider after revelations about the US Prism data mining programme.
Jim Snabe, co-chief executive at SAP, says: "We see a new question from customers that didn't come up a year ago - which is where is my data stored and can you guarantee that it stays physically in that jurisdiction."
Many German executives argue that the latest reports are simply confirmation of what they already knew: that powerful states want to steal their most prized secrets and these data must therefore be guarded at all costs.
That economic spying takes place is not a surprise.
It has always taken place.
"This has been a topic for many years and hasn't fundamentally changed through the current discussion," says Kurt Bock, chief executive of chemical maker BASF.
The Americans spy on us on the commercial and industrial level as we spy on them too, because it is in the national interest to defend our businesses.
Corporate leaders are not generally keen to boast about the countermeasures they have taken, in case this hands an advantage to an attacker.
For large companies, the message has long since been drummed home that picking up a free USB stick at a trade fair, or leaving a laptop unguarded in a hotel room are unwise, to say the least.
Ulrich Hackenberg, board member at carmaker Audi, says it has been standard practice for years for mobile phones to be collected before board meetings so they cannot be used as remote listening devices.
Germany's BfV advises executives to consider using simple prepaid mobiles when on foreign trips because of the risk that smart phones are compromised.
The prepaid mobiles are then thrown away afterwards.
However, there is concern that small and medium-sized companies remain vulnerable to hacking and surveillance.
In Germany, many of these companies are global market leaders in their particular niche.
"Small and medium sized companies often lack the experience, personnel and financial resources to protect corporate secrets effectively against unauthorised access," the BfV warns in a report.
The US warns its own companies about economic espionage by other countries.
The US National Intelligence Estimate in February named France alongside Russia and Israel in a second tier of offenders who engage in hacking for economic intelligence, behind China, according to The Washington Post.
A board member at a German blue-chip company concurred that when it comes to economic espionage, "the French are the worst."
Bernard Squarcini, former head of the French internal intelligence agency DCRI, was quoted in an interview this month as saying: "The services know perfectly well that all countries, even as they co-operate in the antiterrorist fight, spy on their allies."
Parents of Georgia teen who died in 'freak accident' believe son was murdered
The parents of a Georgia teenager, whose body was found inside a rolled-up wrestling mat in his high school gym, believe their son was murdered, the family's attorney said Thursday.
Kendrick Johnson, of Valdosta, Ga., was found Jan. 11 stuck in an upright mat propped behind the bleachers inside his high school gym.
Lowndes County sheriff's investigators concluded Johnson died in a freak accident, but the 17-year-old's family disputes that.
"They absolutely think their son was murdered," Benjamin Crump, an attorney representing Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson, told FoxNews.com.
They never believed he died the way the sheriff concluded.
"They believe that it defies logic, the laws of physics as well as common sense," Crump said.
They think this is a cover-up to protect the person or people responsible for their son's death.
"They sent their son to school with a book-bag and he was returned to them in a body bag," he said.
U.S. Attorney Michael Moore said Thursday he is conducting a formal investigation into Johnson's death, noting that several key questions remain unanswered.
What was the cause of death?
Was his death the result of a crime?
Moore said at a press conference Thursday afternoon.
I will follow the facts wherever they lead.
My objective is to discovery the truth.
"I am of the opinion that a sufficient basis exists" for a formal investigation, he said.
Moore told reporters that the initial autopsy indicated Johnson died as a result of "positional asphyxia."
A second autopsy, however, listed a different cause of death, according to Moore.
"There are several questions that must be answered or confirmed," he said.
Moore added that if he uncovers sufficient evidence to warrant a criminal or civil rights investigation into the death of Johnson he will ask the FBI to conduct it.
A representative from the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office was not immediately available for comment when contacted Thursday.
A southern Georgia judge on Wednesday ordered authorities to release all surveillance video that investigators reviewed.
The teenager's parents said they hope the video footage will contain clues to how he died.
CDC issues children's allergy guidelines for schools
On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a set of guidelines to manage children's food allergies at school.
This is the first set of such guidelines the U.S. government has put out, as the number of school-age children suffering from food allergies climbs.
One in 20 children in the United States now have food allergies.
The CDC found the prevalence of food allergies among children increased 18 percent between 1997 and 2007.
The guide contains information for schools on how to make faculty and staff aware of children's food allergies, and how to handle them should an allergic reaction occur.
It also recommends schools have epinephrine stocked -- the EpiPen brand auto-injector being most commonly used -- to respond to potentially fatal anaphylaxis.
State legislatures have recently been updating rules to allow schools to stock epinephrine more easily.
The report also includes a list of typical symptoms communicated by children who are having an allergic reaction.
Kids may say, "It feels like something is poking my tongue," "My tongue feels like there is hair on it," or "My tongue is tingling."
NSA Affair Emphasizes Complete Lack of Debate on Intelligence
Why the contradictory attitude of the French government? On the one hand, it publicly takes offence and summons the Ambassador of the United States on October 21 and, on the other, it forbids the Bolivian president's plane to enter its air space on the basis of a rumor that Edward Snowden was on board?
In my opinion, there are two levels of response from the French government.
When François Hollande telephones Barack Obama, or when Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius summons the Ambassador of the United States, they are responding to a real discovery, that of the scale of America's surveillance of communications within France generally.
And is it not surprising to read in the pages of Le Monde, on the one hand, a reproduction of diplomatic correspondence with the US and, on the other, condemnation of the NSA's spying on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Quai d'Orsay, within a matter of weeks?
Is there not an element of hypocrisy on your part?
The journalistic method is not to adopt a moral position, but to investigate the significance and relevance of information and enable every citizen to form an opinion.
When WikiLeaks reveals the American administration's monitoring of political and other matters somewhere in the world, we consider this to be significant enlightenment with regard to the American government.
In describing the American methods of data interception in relation to the French diplomatic representation in the United States, we do not aim at expressing indignation about this practice, but rather at describing the world as it is.
Has France benefited from the intelligence supplied by the NSA concerning terrorist operations against our interests?
Can we do without collaboration with the Americans?
The setting up of high-performance interception technology over practically the past ten years by the United States - and by France - has been officially justified by the fight against terrorism.
Furthermore, in this regard, France and the United States in particular have implemented procedures, sometimes described as essential, for cooperating and exchanging information on an almost daily basis.
For example, France was informed of the presence of Mohammed Merah in the tribal areas of Miranshah through the NSA's resources.
Also France may, for example, have to transmit entire blocks of data on the Sahel region to the Americans and, in return - as already briefly mentioned - the Americans may provide information to the French about other parts of the world.
Hence the question at the heart of the NSA affair is not so much the capacity or the right of a country to use interception tools, as the issue of the complete lack of prior debate - especially within parliaments - on the justification of such systems, the extent to which they should be used and, ultimately, the issue of the infringement of freedoms.
What risk does the United States actually run? Ruining its image?
However much we denounce the US, I see no way in which it can be punished.
The risk run by the Americans could be twofold.
The first is when their allies - as has been the case recently - learn that their governments have been spied on, sometimes at the highest level.
This is the case in Brazil and Germany, two countries where diplomatic relations with the United States are strained.
Another effect could be more commercial: in the light of the revelations, more and more European and South American countries are balking at the idea of entrusting their confidential data to American providers that are subject to American law and hence to the grips of the NSA.
Finally, the widespread exercise in revelations conducted by the media across the world, which is contributing to the establishment of a debate on surveillance practices by intelligence services that have been almost invisible until now, could force legislators - including those of America - to reconsider the powers they have granted their intelligence agencies.
Parents of Intersex Kids Can Pick 'Gender Undetermined'
Germany became the first European nation to recognize a third gender for babies born with ambiguous genitalia.
No longer will newborns be rigidly assigned to male or female.
The new law doesn't require parents to declare any gender for such children, allowing parents to declare gender "undetermined" or "unspecified" on their birth certificates.
The aim of the law was to take the pressure off parents who might make hasty decisions on sex-assignment surgery for newborns, and to fight discrimination against those who are intersex.
One intersex person, according to the BBC, said years later, "I am neither a man nor a woman."
I will remain the patchwork created by doctors, bruised and scarred.
An estimated one in 2,000 children born each year is neither boy nor girl.
They are intersex, part of a group of about 60 conditions that fall under the diagnosis of disorders of sexual development, an umbrella term for those with atypical chromosomes, gonads (ovaries or testes), or unusually developed genitalia.
Wallis Simpson may have been intersex.
Gender identification is still not well understood, but most experts in the United States say that when sex cannot be determined, it's better to use the best available information to assign it then to wait and monitor the child's psychological and physical development before undertaking surgery, if at all.
New York City psychiatrist Dr. Jack Drescher, who specializes in issues of gender identification, said the new German law "sounds like a good thing."
Intersex children pose ethical dilemma.
"Some people have life-endangering conditions that require surgery, but most kids do not," he said.
You can make a gender assignment without surgery, and then see how identity develops.
The science of knowing how a child will develop any gender identity is not very accurate.
Nobody can answer the questions about why this happens.
It's like the mystery of why people are gay.
A report filed to the European Commission in 2011 described intersex people as different from transsexual or transgender people, as their status is not gender related but instead relates to their biological makeup, which is neither exclusively male nor exclusively female, but is typical of both at once or not clearly defined as either.
These features can manifest themselves in secondary sexual characteristics, such as muscle mass, hair distribution, breasts and stature; primary sexual characteristics such as reproductive organs and genitalia; or in chromosomal structures and hormones.
The report also gives an overview of the discrimination faced by intersex and transgender people in the realm of employment, as well as levels of harassment, violence and bias crimes.
Gender nonconforming boys now have special camp.
Already, Australia and Nepal allow adults to mark male, female or a "third gender" on their official documents.
In June, a 52-year-old Australian, Norrie May-Welby, became the world's first recognized "genderless" person after winning a legal appeal to keep an "unspecified" gender status for life.
German passports will have a third designation other than M or F -- X, for intersex, according to the Interior Ministry.
In neighboring France, gender issues are still controversial, according to a news report on France 24.
In 2011, dozens of French lawmakers from that strongly Catholic country signed a petition for "gender theory" to be withdrawn from school textbooks.
The U.S. website Catholic Online has also opposed the German law, writing that "as the world is being dragged into a new state, where gender is a choice, but sexual activity is not, we reverse two more pillars of civilization."
One Maryland mother of a newborn also told the Baby Zone that she would rather see babies assigned gender at birth.
"Parenting is stressful enough without extra limitations, especially if you don't know the gender of your child," she told the parenting website.
Children need stability and certainty.
Historically, children born with both male and female genitalia were called hermaphrodites, named for the handsome Greek god who had dual sexuality.
And as little as a decade ago, the medical community thought of gender as a slate that could be erased and then redrawn.
But now, many are challenging the ethical basis of surgery, knowing that gender identity is complex, and doctors can sometimes get it wrong, not knowing how a child will feel about their gender assignment when they grow up.
"Back in the middle of the 20th century, it was called a 'psychiatric emergency,'" said Drescher.
When these kids were born, you didn't call the psychiatrist, you called a surgeon.
The prevailing theory on how to treat children with ambiguous genitalia was put forward by Dr. John Money at Johns Hopkins University, who held that gender was malleable.
He coined the term "gender identity" and argued that social and environmental cues -- how parents raised a child -- interacted with a child's genes and hormones to shape whether the person identified as male or female.
But in one 1966 case, known as "John/Joan," his theories became controversial.
He advised the parents of a boy whose penis had been severed in a botched circumcision to have the child fully castrated, removing his testicles, as well, and to raise him as a girl.
"Money presented the case as a successful case of transition, but it was not," said Drescher.
When the boy was around 15, he transitioned back to a boy and married a woman.
But at 38, he committed suicide.
Drescher said that now some doctors are still "practicing that model."
But in the 1990s, with the advent of the Internet, survivors of these gender surgeries have come forward "not happy with the outcome."
Such was the case with Jim Bruce, a 36-year-old writer from Montana, who was born with XY male chromosomes but ambiguous genitals.
Doctors couldn't be sure if he had a large clitoris or a small penis and were convinced he could never live a "satisfactory life" as a man.
So shortly after his birth in 1976, Bruce's external organ and testes were surgically removed and he was raised as a girl.
He was given female hormones at age 12.
"I knew that I wasn't a girl," he told ABCNews.com.
I was unhappy, but it was really difficult to ask questions.
At 18, he was set for a vaginoplasty.
But depressed and knowing something was wrong, he demanded medical records.
What he found out was horrifying.
I was sterilized at birth -- and no one ever told me.
Bruce was born with a DSD that prevented his body from producing enough testosterone to properly develop his genitals.
After learning the truth, he changed back to a man, taking testosterone shots and having his breasts removed.
Surgery rendered him infertile.
Today, he advocates for others in an organization called the Interface Project, trying to normalize perceptions of those who are intersex.
But Anne Tamar-Mattis, executive director for California-based legal group Advocates for Informed Choice, worries that the German law "invites labeling and stigma."
"A lot of activists are concerned that what the German rule will do is encourage parents to make quick decisions and give the child an 'undetermined,'" she said.
We are afraid it will encourage intervention.
We think a better process is assigning male or female sex, then waiting.
But we haven't seen how the law will play out, so all we can do is speculate.
Tamar-Mattis said that her organization supports the Australian law because "it allows adults to choose to be recognized in a third gender."
"Adults should be able to make their own decisions about legal gender," she said.
German law is about assigning it at birth.
That is not a battle young children should have to take up at this point.
When they are grown, they can make decisions about their own bodies.
But Dr. Arlene Baratz, a Pittsburgh breast radiologist who has a daughter with a disorder of sexual development and helps hundreds of others in a support group, said the German law will "empower" both parents and children.
Baratz's daughter Katie was born with male chromosomes, but has a DSD called complete androgen insensitivity syndrome.
Because her androgen receptors are faulty, Katie developed female characteristics.
She has a vagina, but no uterus or ovaries.
Now at 29, Katie is married and at the University of Pennsylvania, a resident in child psychiatry.
Though she is infertile, she hopes to become a parent through adoption or gestational surrogacy.
"The law gives parents some space not to have to rush into making decisions themselves," said Baratz.
It gives them the time to do some tests and figure it out and a period of time before they write 'male' or 'female.'
This way, you are OK -- raise the child, love the child.
You have a wonderful baby and enjoy the fun.
We don't have to rush into surgery that is irreversible.
"It brings the children into the decision and takes away the anxiety that motivates parents because they don't feel they are doing the right thing," she said.
Ultimately, the child will decide which sex he or she feels more comfortable with -- and that's a wonderful thing.
It empowers children to make the decision for themselves.
Letta Confident of Government's Survival
The President of the Italian Council, Enrico Letta, believes his government will last until 2015, despite strong tension between the left and right wings within the ruling coalition in the run-up to the Senate's vote on stripping Silvio Berlusconi of his mandate.
In an interview with daily newspaper La Stampa, the leader of the centre left said he had "every intention" of continuing to govern with his coalition until the next parliamentary elections in 2015.
The Upper House of the Italian parliament will meet this month to decide on the fate of the former president, who was found guilty of tax evasion in August.
Silvio Berlusconi is threatening to withdraw his support to the government if the Senate, in which he has more opponents than supporters, decides to relieve him of his duties.
But one section of his camp, centered around the national secretary of the People of Freedom (PDL) party, Angelino Alfano, is continuing to support the government, as it demonstrated on October 2 when it refused to follow Berlusconi's orders on a previous attempt to bring down the cabinet.
The L.A. Times reports that an agent of the United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and a suspect have been wounded during an exchange of gunfire.
Firemen called to the scene of the drama confirmed that they had responded to a call reporting "multiple injuries".
"Law enforcement agents are at the scene," the airport stated on its Twitter account, while television pictures were showing people being evacuated in ambulances.
"There was a shoot-out," a spokesman for the United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) told the AFP.
Local channel ABC showed one person being evacuated on a stretcher and a second in a wheelchair.
The airport also stated that the incident took place at around 9.30am local time (12.30pm Montreal time) in Terminal 3 of the airport.
The Los Angeles Times stated that terminals 2 and 3 are being evacuated.
The TSA spokesman was unable to confirm on the spot whether one of its staff had been injured.
All flights arriving at and leaving the airport have been suspended.
Israeli Army Kills Hamas Member in Gaza
Israeli tank fire killed a Hamas Palestinian Islamic militant and left another seriously wounded south of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, according to healthcare sources.
A Hamas source explained that fighting broke out in the region after Israeli tanks crossed the border and were targeted by Palestinian mortar fire.
The Israeli army simply mentioned carrying out "targeted action" in the area close to what the Jewish state calls a "terrorist" tunnel dug at the border, the discovery of which was reported in mid-October.
Report: Obama campaign considered dumping Biden for Hillary Clinton
President Barack Obama's closest advisers secretly considered replacing Vice President Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton on the 2012 ticket, according to the New York Times.
The revelation is the most notable bombshell from Mark Halperin and John Heilemann's heavily anticipated 2012 campaign tome, "Double Down: Game Change 2012."
The Times obtained a copy of the forthcoming book and reported Thursday evening that the President's top aides conducted "extensive group-sessions and polling in late 2011" to gauge whether the dumping Biden could help bolster Obama's waning re-election hopes.
According to the Times' national political correspondent Jonathan Martin, the book provides a thorough account of the effort by senior officials inside the campaign and the White House, namely former White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, to measure what effect swapping former Secretary of State Clinton for the Vice President would have in the polls.
The potential switch was a closely guarded secret within the Chicago campaign infrastructure and inside the Oval Office.
Only half a dozen of the President's closest advisers -- including Daley, former Obama campaign chief Jim Messina, and former White House senior advisers David Axelrod and David Plouffe -- knew the change was under consideration.
"Double Down" claims Daley spearheaded the effort to replace Biden, despite their "close personal rapport," before ultimately deciding against the move when their data showed adding Clinton to the ticket wouldn't "materially improve Obama's odds."
In an interview with Martin, Daley confirmed that the administration did in fact consider replacing Biden with Clinton.
"I was vocal about looking into a whole bunch of things, and this was one of them," Daley told the paper.
You have to remember, at that point the President was in awful shape, so we were like, "Holy Christ, what do we do?"
While Daley characterized the research as "due diligence," Martin told CNN's Anderson Cooper that the re-election campaign made a significant investment in finding out whether the move would pay dividends at the polls.
"Campaigns don't spend the kind of money on polling and focus groups unless they're seriously considering something," Martin said on AC360.
It's unclear, however, whether Obama knew his team was exploring the swap.
Martin told CNN that he asked Daley whether his then-boss knew about the potential shuffle.
While Daley said he doesn't think the President "was aware" of the potential change, the former chief of staff admitted that it's "possible" Obama knew.
Martin added that "Double Down" does not definitively answer whether the political probing reached Obama's desk.
Cooper asked Martin whether he seriously thought Obama did not know about the research into dumping Biden from the ticket.
"Possibly," Martin replied.
Fancy a glow-in-the-dark ice cream?
A British entrepreneur has created the world's first glow-in-the-dark ice cream - using jellyfish.
Charlie Francis has harnessed the fluorescent properties of the marine animal to develop the luminescent snack.
He came up with the idea after reading a research paper on jellyfish and convinced scientists in China to chemically recreate the glowing protein.
The ice cream reacts with the eater's tongue - raising the pH level in the protein and making it glow.
Chris says because the ice cream lights up when it reacts with the heat of the mouth it means the more you lick, the brighter it becomes.
Charlie, founder of the "Lick Me I'm Delicious" ice cream company, said: "It is incredible stuff but still at very early days in terms of production, so £200 gets you about 2g of the stuff."
The protein we are using in the ice cream reacts with your tongue at neutral pH.
So as your mouth warms up the protein it will raise the pH level and the ice cream will glow.
We have been testing it out over the past few months and it seemed perfect to share it over Halloween because it gives that wonderful glow effect.
It is probably the most expensive ice cream I have made because the jellyfish luminescence is four times more expensive than gold.
So each scoop costs me around £140.
It tastes pretty good though.
Charlie's experimental company, based in Bristol, is famed for its unusual flavours including beer, cheese, beef and gold leaf.
But his next creation is set to be even more ambitious.
He said: "I really want to develop an invisible ice cream."
It is inherently impossible because of the refraction caused by the ice crystals which make up the ice cream, but I reckon we will find a way of doing it.
The ice cream harnesses the fluorescent properties of a jellyfish, synthesized by Chinese scientists
Lou Reed Dies During Tai Chi Session
Singer Lou Reed died while doing tai chi exercises, his wife, Laurie Anderson, announced in a letter published by the regional newspaper, East Hampton Star, which is meant for residents of Springs, the town where the couple had a home.
The artist died last Sunday at the age of 71.
"He died on Sunday morning while looking at the trees and doing the famous 21st form of tai chi, with his musician hands striking the air," wrote Laurie Anderson.
Lou Reed was a master of the Chinese martial art known as tai chi.
The singer's wife also said that, a week before his death, she had promised her husband she would get him out of hospital and take him back to their home in Springs (Long Island).
"Lou and I have spent a lot of time here in recent years.
Even though we are city dwellers, this is our spiritual home.
Lou was a prince and a fighter, and I know his songs on pain and beauty in the world will fill many people with the incredible joy of life which he felt," she added.
Lou Reed had undergone a liver transplant last May.
Halloween 2013: By the Numbers
When I was little, Halloween was magical.
My sister and I were allowed to eat candy, stay up late and play dress-up for the neighborhood.
Nowadays, I've become more of a scrooge.
I haven't signed up for the past two years to give out candy in my apartment and probably won't this year.
But stats show that I'm a black sheep when it comes to Halloween.
The majority of Americans - 158 million of them in fact - will be celebrating Halloween this year, spending a total of $6.9 billion on candy, costumes and decorations, according to the National Retail Federation.
One thing I do look forward to every Halloween are the trends.
Costumes are expected to account for $1.2 billion dollars out of the $6.9 billion spent, according to the NRF.
This year, sexy inanimate objects are all the rage.
Women don't have to be sexy professionals anymore; they can also be sexy foods like pizza, hamburgers and carrots.
As for men, I expect we will be seeing a lot of zombies, thanks to The Walking Dead and I'll bet the Daft Punk space men will make it into our Instagram feeds this year.
According to Google, the highest searched costumes are zombies, Batman, pirates and witches.
I guess there's nothing wrong with going traditional.
We dressed our dogs up last year and to my amazement we were not alone.
In fact, Americans will spend $330 million on pet costumes this year, according to the NRF.
That's a lot of ironic hotdog dogs.
When it comes to candy, we don't screw around.
Americans will spend $1.9 billion on it this year, according to The Nielsen Company.
That's around 600 million pounds worth of Hershey bars, lollipops, Milk Duds, Twizzlers and Clark Bars.
That's great news for the 41 million trick-or-treaters set to take over our neighborhoods, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
In fact, we will buy and, who are we kidding, consume 90 million pounds of chocolate during Halloween.
The one thing we don't want to consume, candy corn; and yet nearly 35 million pounds of it are sold around Halloween, according to the National Confectioners Association.
That's about 9 billion individual kernels of corn.
It's a mystery I have yet to solve.
Nothing is more quintessentially Halloween than haunted houses.
They have the best names, like "Terror Behind the Walls" (which, by the way is in an actual prison), "Howl-O-Scream" and "The House of Shock."
In fact, there are 1,200 officially sanctioned haunted houses in the United States generating about $500 million in revenue, according to America Haunts, and that includes those awesome photos of you mid-peeing your pants that your friend puts on Facebook and you can't take down and then that guy you like sees the photo and leaves a comment like "nice face."
Finally, let's talk pumpkins.
Charlie Brown introduced us to The Great Pumpkin when we were kids, and carving a jack-o-lantern is like decorating a Christmas tree - it's something we've done since we were little.
Lucky for us, the "baby in a pumpkin trend" started only last year thanks to Pinterest, so most of us grew up carving these gourds not sitting in them.
This year, Americans will spend around $106 million on pumpkins, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The jack-o-lantern slowly withering on your front porch probably came from Illinois, which grew 542 million pounds of pumpkin this year.
If you're looking for extra credit, call Tim and Susan Mathisdon in Napa, Calif., and try to carve up their 2,032 pound pumpkin.
The Royal Bank of Scotland will create an internal bad bank structure to cover £38 billion (€45,000 million) of its highest risk assets, a step designed to improve its relations with the City and accelerate its re-privatisation.
The bank wants to reduce the proportion of toxic assets on its books from 55% to 70% over the next two years and hopes to clean them up completely in three years.
RBS has also said that it will be writing down a provision of £4 500 million for the depreciation of additional bad debts for the quarter, an entry related to the setting up of the hive-off structure.
RBS has also specified that this internal restructuring would release £10-11 000 million in capital, thus strengthening its lending ability.
The bank and the City have stressed that the "bad bank" would enable a break-off from the past, government in particular having been accused of interfering in the management of RBS.
"We can now move forwards and focus on the future and on the 90% of assets that make up a really good bank, and on building a great bank for our clients and the United Kingdom," new director general, Ross McEwan, said to the press.
Land Rover rally series announced
The interior has racing seats and six-point harness belts, as well as an intercom system.
Options include upgraded brakes, a service package providing access to Bowler Works mechanics, logistic support, and vehicle storage between events.
Drew Bowler, the managing director of Bowler Motorsport, said: "Rally customers coming to Bowler have changed."
They're not all experienced racers, but people looking for excitement and adventure, and an achievable path towards world-class events.
We're delighted to be offering this path in partnership with Land Rover and the MSA, and believe the format offers a new way to experience different rally disciplines in the UK and overseas, and prepare entrants for the rigours and realities of Rally Raid.
We've really enjoyed developing the Defender Challenge car - it'll be a really fun championship.
Additionally, the Defender Challenge will provide a training and test day in February, as well as the option to compete in desert events in North Africa and the Middle East.
Fire crews called to rescue lost puppy after she got stuck 50ft above the ground on precarious ledge in a quarry
Cocker spaniel Ruby had run off after she was in a minor road crash
She was spotted three days later by a dog walker trapped in the quarry
Firefighters abseil down cliff face to pluck the dog from certain death
A puppy had a lucky escape after fire crews were called to lift her to safety when she somehow got herself stuck 50ft up on a precarious cliff ledge.
Nine month-old cocker spaniel Ruby had run off after being involved in a road crash on Sunday afternoon and survived three days alone before being rescued from a quarry on Wednesday.
Her owners Scott Alderson, 25, and his girlfriend Becky Hall, 20, were at Flappit Quarry in Denholme, West Yorkshire, to be reunited with Ruby and have thanked West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.
They had searched frantically for their missing dog and posted appeals on social networking sites after she had ran into the quarry following the minor accident.
At around 2.15pm on Wednesday, an eagle-eyed dog walker spotted Ruby on the ledge in the quarry, stranded 50ft up.
A Technical Rescue Team from Cleckheaton Fire Station rushed to the scene and abseiled down to rescue Ruby and used a pet tube to transport her up the cliff.
Specialist Technical Rescue Officer Andy Clayton said: 'She was in a precarious situation.
She was right in the middle of the cliff face - 50ft from the top and bottom.
She did not move a muscle during the rescue - she was frozen solid.
But she is fine now.
She was eating biscuits afterwards.
This was a very unusual call-out.
The fact that the dog was spotted is unbelievable.
Specialist Technical Rescue Officer Peter Lau said: "Ruby had a very lucky escape."
The potential was there that she could have been very seriously injured or worse.
Ruby was taken to the vets for a check-up and was found to be fine other than exhaustion and dehydration.
Miss Hall, from Halifax, West Yorkshire, said: "Watching the rescue was terrifying."
I could not believe that she was up there in the first place.
It was amazing to get her back in our arms.
The vet said that if she became too exhausted and collapsed she would probably have fallen.
The firefighters were amazing.
It was really daring what they did.
We are just so grateful and every single one of them was absolutely tremendous.
Mr Alderson, from Keighley, added: "We were scared that she might fall but she stayed there."
The firefighters were brilliant.
I just can't believe where she was.
Mick Jagger says he never hit on Katy Perry when she was 18.
During an interview with an Australian radio show this week, the pop star said she sang backing vocals for Jagger's 2004 song "Old Habits Die Hard."
Perry said she had dinner with the veteran rocker and that "he hit on me when I was 18."
She added, "That was a long time ago, and he's been very kind."
In a statement Thursday, a representative for Jagger, 70, says he "categorically denies that he has ever made a pass at Katy Perry."
The rep adds: "Perhaps she is confusing him with someone else."
Perry was one of the singers to make a guest appearance on the Rolling Stones' tour this year.
Her new album, "Prism," debuted at No. 1 this week.
Beijing Blames Turkoman Islamic Movement
"Behind-the-scenes support for the attack came from the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) based in central and western Asia," declared the head of the Chinese security services to a Hong Kong television channel, according to a video posted online on Thursday evening.
Meng Jianzhu, a member of the Policy Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) made the statement in Tashkent while on an official visit to Uzbekistan.
This is the first time that a senior Chinese official has named a specific organisation following the attack on Monday.
According to Chinese police, three members of one Uighur family from the predominantly Muslim region of Xinjiang, which shares borders with a number of central Asian countries, drove a car loaded with cans of petrol against the entrance of the Forbidden City in Beijing, in a suicide attack that left two dead and 40 injured.
The driver of the vehicle, his wife and his mother all died in the fire in the car.
ETIM, which is fighting for independence for East Turkestan - the former name of Chinese Xinjiang - was classified by the UNO in 2002 as one of the organisations affiliated with Al-Qaida.
The movement is often blamed by Chinese authorities for sporadic trouble in Xinjiang, although many experts cast doubt on its true influence.
George Kerevan: Europe break-up gives Scots choice
Another day, another independence scare story.
This time we are warned that an independent Scotland would be required to join the Europe-wide free-travel zone as a condition of EU membership.
Cue stories about passport controls at Berwick and a barbed wire border along Hadrian's Wall.
True, the Strathclyde paper pointed out the possible economic benefits of freer movement with the rest of Europe, though - predictably - that did not figure in the headlines.
Nor did anyone point out that the EU member states spend much of their time bending their formal rules if it suits them.
Since Scotland isn't in the Schengen area now, continued non-compliance would be a cheap concession for Brussels to offer up in return for whatever it really wanted out of the Scots.
So, a non-story, then.
And one that is so long in the tooth it has become fossilised: I first heard the "independence means passport controls" canard at least 40 years ago.
Yet there is an interesting point lost in this retelling of a whiskery old tale.
Why should an independent Scotland be expected to do Europe's bidding, anyway?
Why trade London's yoke for that of Brussels, especially now?
Here is the real European news: the great, post-war plan to unite Europe has finally stalled.
With the euro crisis, Project Europe is officially dead.
Across the EU, parties which are dedicated to opposing the EU, or to scrapping the euro as a common currency, are gaining ground.
Even in Germany, the Eurosceptic Alternative for Germany Party - founded only this year - came from nowhere to grab nearly five million votes in September's federal elections, thus effectively knocking the Free Democrats (equivalent to our own Lib Dems) out of the Bundestag.
There has always been domestic opposition to the plan to create a federal Europe.
However, the current economic crisis has proved a watershed.
The austerity imposed by Berlin and the European Central Bank, coupled with the straitjacket imposed on national economies through adherence to the common currency, has led many people to think Project Europe has gone too far.
The crisis of the euro has little to do with national governments running excessive budget deficits - that was true only of Greece.
Rather, the euro system locked in its members at exchange rates favourable to German exporters - something German politicians want to keep.
Without the possibility of domestic currency devaluation, southern Europe finds itself with a built-in productivity disadvantage vis-à-vis Germany.
The only recourse is to slash wages and public spending - spurred on by Berlin.
Beyond the current budget and currency problems lies a deeper European productivity malaise.
As a result of "green" energy policies imposed by Brussels - code for subsidising French and German energy firms at the consumer's expense - European industry pays twice as much for electricity, and four times as much for gas, as in the United States.
That is a crippling cost disadvantage, as we've already seen at Grangemouth.
All the wage freezes in the world won't stop the European petrochemicals industry being hammered by cheap US shale gas.
As a result, revolt is brewing, especially in France, once the EU's main cheerleader.
After the war, the French political elite saw the EU as a vehicle to keep Germany in check, and to give Paris equal billing in the world with Washington.
But Berlin no longer needs Paris as a passport to political legitimacy and has imposed its own economic policy on Europe, leaving the battered French economy struggling.
Result: Marine Le Pen's right-wing, anti-EU National Front has just won a crucial by-election, knocking the ruling Socialists into third place.
The Front is now the most popular party in France with 24 per cent of the vote - a timely warning to British Labour that they can't assume a split on the right will automatically favour the left.
What is Le Pen doing with her newfound popularity among the French white, working class?
She wants to use next year's EU elections to create an anti-EU, anti-common currency bloc across the European Parliament.
If, as is very possible, anti-EU parties do well in these elections, such a bloc could dominate the European Parliament for the first time.
Here's my point: sometime soon growing anti-EU and anti-common currency feeling in Europe will coalesce to kill the euro.
The EU won't disappear, but it will revert to something more like the loose "Europe of the (Sovereign) Nations" favoured by General de Gaulle.
Germany and a few of its satellite economies might keep the euro but France and southern Europe will revive their own currencies.
I expect the UK will distance itself from this project, hoping to cosy up to the US.
However, Washington's growing interest in the Pacific suggests Britain will be left out in the Atlantic cold.
Where does this leave Scotland?
We can choose to be a region of (essentially) Little England.
Or we can defend our own economic interests - which includes telling Berlin and Brussels where to get off.
I suspect that Scotland could do well inside a looser European arrangement provided we kept our own currency.
Co-operation with other like-minded countries will be easier in a non-federal Europe of the Nations.
Otherwise we should consider emulating Norway and retaining our economic independence.
The SNP government in Scotland is - remarkably-- the most successful anti-austerity political movement in Europe, having won a spectacular majority in 2011 on the basis of opposing the cuts proposed (and implemented) by Labour's chancellor Alistair Darling and the subsequent Tory-Lib Dem coalition.
It would be ridiculous now for Scotland to vote for independence only to accept austerity imposed by Berlin and Brussels.
Early puberty: Growing older sooner
African-American and Hispanic girls tend to reach puberty earlier than their white counterparts, research shows.
Physical changes don't mean puberty is imminent
There's no evidence that hormones or other chemicals are to blame
Experts think the obesity epidemic might be one trigger of early puberty
The trend toward early puberty is not as pronounced with boys
Former CNN correspondent Pat Etheridge is a journalist specializing in children's health and family issues.
Should a mother be alarmed if her daughter begins to sprout breast buds and pubic hair at 7 or 8?
At the annual conference of the American Academy of Pediatrics this week in Orlando, Florida, pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Paul Kaplowitz explained that these early physical changes are quite common among American girls and represent a new norm.
"I spend a lot of time reassuring parents -- usually, this does not signal a rapid progression into full puberty," said Kaplowitz.
Obvious signs of development, such as budding breasts, pubic and underarm hair and body odor are appearing sooner in girls.
But there has been only a slight shift in the age of menarche (the first period) over the past four decades.
In the United States, the average age is 12.5 years, down from 12.75 in 1970.
"Once breasts begin to develop, it takes at least two to three years before menarche," said Kaplowitz, also author of "Early Puberty in Girls: The Essential Guide to Coping with This Common Problem."
Time is the most accurate test of how puberty is going to progress.
There is debate about what constitutes the actual onset of puberty, but it is considered "precocious" when breast enlargement is accompanied by a growth spurt before age 8.
In most cases, the process will slow down or stall -- something a pediatrician can monitor closely.
A more rapid progression may warrant tests by an endocrinologist to rule out serious problems such as tumors or cysts.
There are treatments to delay early menses and ward off another consequence: premature aging of the bones that ultimately can lead to stunted growth and being short as an adult.
Recommendations for drug or hormone therapy are based on the child's age, rate of development, growth rate and emotional maturity.
Psychosocial aspects are important, too.
Kaplowitz is cautious with medication but acknowledges, "suppressing puberty may alleviate behavioral issues and girls' feelings of being different from peers."
The other big issue is understandable: Parents simply don't want their very young daughters having periods.
"They worry about the risk of pregnancy or even how they will handle hygiene," said Kaplowitz.
"It was a shock," recalls one woman whose daughter started her period at 10.
Even though there were signs and we had talked about menstruation, she was not emotionally prepared.
She came home from school scared and upset to be the first among her friends.
There are lots of well-publicized theories about the causes of precocious puberty.
Yet, there's no consistent body of evidence that hormones in milk or other foods, chemicals in the environment or sexual messages in the media are to blame.
Boys - like girls - are hitting puberty earlier.
Kaplowitz contends the premise that holds the most weight is the epidemic of obesity.
He helped conduct a 2001 study of 6- to 9-year-old girls that links body fat to the timing of puberty.
Other findings support this conclusion, but there are many other contributing factors.
In this country, African-American and Hispanic girls tend to reach puberty earlier than their white counterparts.
There are varying explanations.
Globally, patterns of early puberty appear to be influenced by everything from economic conditions to climate to genes.
Another conundrum: Although boys are getting facial and pubic hair at younger ages, the trend toward full-blown early puberty is not as pronounced as it is with girls.
Other doctors attending the AAP conference reinforced the complexities of the topic.
The appearance of acne and pubic hair is common even in infants and toddlers.
"We need to be careful about how we identify the true onset of puberty," said Dr. Lawrence Silverman, a pediatric endocrinologist at Goryeb Children's Hospital in Morristown, New Jersey.
Parents should not hesitate to get guidance from their pediatrician about how to talk with their child.
"It may mean having a sooner-than-expected conversation," Kaplowitz advised.
If you remain calm, your child usually will respond well.
Girls who blossom early need reassurance that, even when it happens ahead of schedule, the process is a normal part of life.
Coen Brothers' Homage to Folk Music
"Inside Llewyn Davis" by the Coen brothers, winners of the Grand Prix at the last Cannes Film Festival, is a nostalgic comedy set in Greenwich Village in 1961 and based on folk music, which was just budding there prior to the arrival of Bob Dylan.
Joel and Ethan Coen, whose filmography has recently been the subject of a review at the "Cinémathèque française", scooped the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1991 with Barton Fink.
Since they could not hire Dylan or the Peter, Paul and Mary trio, Joel and Ethan Coen opted for a rising American movie star, Oscar Isaac, aged 33, and global pop star Justin Timberlake.
In this film bursting with humour, where the music is a central character and the songs are performed live, Oscar Isaac proved himself to be an accomplished folk musician and singer, while Timberlake, his friend in the film, abandons pop for folk music with contagious glee.
Carey Mulligan, in turn, abandons the wealthy trappings of Daisy Buchanan in "The Great Gatsby" for less glitzy clothes; her singing voice is soft, but her language very coarse when she speaks.
"Inside Llewyn Davis" tells the story of a week of tribulations for a folk singer who has failed to get a break and is angry with the whole world.
He reluctantly accepts last minute stand-in roles at studios.
With nowhere to live, he sleeps on the couches of friends who will still have him.
Documentary-style
"His relationship with success is tortured, and that's what interested us: a mix of bad luck and a guy who's never in the right place at the right time, not career-orientated, but honest, with a tendency towards self-destruction," Ethan Coen, who, with his brother Joel, has won several Oscars and Cannes prizes, told the press.
Even though Llewyn Davis never existed, the two directors, who are folk music fans, based their story on real people of the time, such as folk musician Dave Van Ronk.
The idea was to portray the moment preceding the advent of Greenwich Village, the New York district destined to become "the epicentre of the folk music boom that created international stars", according to the journalist Elijah Wald, a friend of Van Ronk.
The film has the feel of a documentary, from the fusty record label overrun with unsold LPs and inhabited by a priceless old secretary, to the musical choices of the studios of the day and the cafés where the singers performed.
The Coen brothers' magic continues to work by integrating a comical character who is permanently on screen: a magnificent, cute ginger cat who is Llewyn Davis' companion in fate.
Asked how he had developed his character, the actor and singer Justin Timberlake recalled how he "grew up in Tennessee, bathed in the blues and country music".
"My first music lessons were given to me by my grandfather. He taught me to play the guitar," he added.
Timberlake says that although you have to work "to be considered good...luck can also launch your career...more and more so today".
Like Llewyn Davis, who refuses to compromise on his music, the pop star says that in a career, "the most important thing is to avoid getting trapped by things that prevent us from expressing ourselves".
Gerard de Villiers, "SAS" Series Author, Dies.
He never got to know the meaning of the word "retirement".
Gerard de Villiers, a phenomenon of the French writing world, who died on Thursday at 83, had just published his 200th "SAS" book, "La Vengeance du Kremlin".
In February, the New York Times dubbed him "the spy novelist who knew too much".
He had just spent ten days in Afghanistan, the setting of numbers 198 and 199 of his celebrated spy novel series.
He had been in poor health since having a major heart attack in December 2010, and, on this trip, he had been using a walking frame.
Prior to Afghanistan, he had also been to Libya, Russia, Lebanon and Mali.
Gerard Villiers, who was born on 8 December 1929 in Paris, published four SAS books every year, and said he did not know how many books he had sold since the publication of "SAS à Istanbul", the first in the series, almost half a century ago in 1965.
"Probably between 120 and 150 million, if you include every country," he conjectured last March.
In the living room of his huge apartment in a building on Avenue Foch, just a short distance from the Arc de Triomphe, with his Burmese cat on his knee and a mischievous twinkle in his eye under the white hair, he listed some of the languages the adventures of SAS had been translated into: Italian, German, Russian, Greek, Japanese and Korean.
"That's not counting the pirate publications," he added, pointing to a pile of books on the low table, between the bronze and ivory artefacts collected from the 130 countries he had surveyed for the settings of his novels.
At the price of a packet of cigarettes, the reader gets a book bearing the traditional cover, featuring a photo of a young woman with an ample bosom, carrying a pistol or an assault rifle.
Inside, His Serene Highness (SAS) Prince Malko Linge, a penniless Austrian aristocrat and contract agent for the CIA (to pay the bills for repairing the family mansion), is hot on the heels of all the world's evil-doers - communists in the 70s and 80s, then jihadists since the 90s.
Each book follows the same formula: a large dose of geopolitics and the exotic, several racy sex scenes, a touch of violence and torture.
"I never made any claim to being an author of great literature," explained Gerard de Villiers.
"I think of myself as a storyteller who writes to entertain people, not send them a message."
He worked "like the great pre-war reporters, in the likes of Albert Londres, who went on location and came back with proper, lengthy investigations."
The creator of SAS said he was "making a sort of geopolitical soap opera".
"I follow up my files (on Afghanistan, Syria etc) constantly before setting off," added de Villiers.
On location, I meet journalists, including those of the AFP, diplomats, and services staff, some of whom I have known for twenty or thirty years.
As a result, some of his SAS novels have been premonitory: a month before an attack on a command centre of the Syrian government, in which several senior officials were killed, he had already told the story in "Le Chemin de Damas".
In "Les Fous de Benghazi", he was the first to reveal the existence of a secret CIA command centre in the city, the cradle of the Libyan revolt.
In 1980, he described the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in "Le complot du Caire" a year before the attack.
In October 2012, in "Panique à Bamako", he mentioned columns of 4x4s of jihadists sweeping towards the Malian capital.
"I'm no seer," Gerard de Villiers would say in his defence. "I simply make conjectures based on countries that I know well and, occasionally, some of my conjectures come true."
After travelling to - often troubled - zones, he would spend a month at his 1976 IBM daisy wheel typewriter, "every part of which has been replaced".
300 pages later, he would write the words "The End" and correct each page by hand.
On the walls of his office hang AK-47 assault rifles, erotic photos and photos of the author with African war lords.
De Villiers was regularly criticised by feminist groups for male chauvinism and by human rights organisations for racism - accusations he would dismiss in two sentences:
"Some women in my books are sex objects, others are beautiful, intelligent, brave women.
I have always been well-received in Africa, where I have a very large number of readers."
Gerard de Villiers said it himself: "Like all heroes, Malko Linge is ageless.
He will not die and will not retire.
Any more than I will."
Jet makers feud over seat width with big orders at stake
A row has flared up between leading plane makers over the width of tourist-class seats on long-distance flights, setting the tone for a bitter confrontation at this month's Dubai Airshow.
The dispute focuses on the width of seats provided on long-haul flights for economy passengers - not always the ones most courted by airlines, but whose allocated space holds the key to efficiency claims for the latest jets offered by Airbus SAS and Boeing Co.
Airbus this week called for an industry standard that would provide for a seat at least 18 inches (46 cm) wide in economy cabins, but its U.S. arch-rival Boeing says it should be for airlines to decide.
The dispute comes as plane makers vie to sell ever-larger versions of their twin-engined long-distance aircraft, with potentially record orders expected at the November 17-21 event.
How the back of the plane is laid out - particularly whether seating is 9 or 10 abreast - is central to the economic performance claims being made for new "mini-jumbo" jet designs.
Boeing says its revamped "777X" will hold 406 people based on economy seats more than 17 inches wide and set out 10 in each row.
Airbus says the competing version of its A350 will carry 350 people in 18-inch-wide economy seat laid out 9 abreast.
Plane giants often trade blows on technical matters through advertising in the trade press.
Now, Airbus is appealing directly to the public ahead of the Dubai Airshow, where the 777X is expected to dominate with more than 100 orders.
It recently previewed what may be the start of a new ad war by showing financiers a slide illustrating three people squashed together at a restaurant, titled "Would You Accept This?"
"Boeing is proposing long-distance flying in seats narrower than regional turbo-props," said Airbus sales chief John Leahy.
As diets change, people get bigger but plane seating has not radically changed.
Between the early 1970s, when the Boeing 747 jumbo defined modern long-haul travel, and the turn of the century, the weight of the average American 40- to 49-year-old male increased by 10 per cent, according to U.S. Health Department Data.
The waist of the average 21st-century American male is 39.7 inches, according to U.S. health statistics.
Airbus says its rival is sticking to a seat concept from the 1950s, when the average girth of the newly christened "jet set" was narrower.
Airbus says it has commissioned research suggesting an extra inch in seat width improves sleep quality by 53 per cent.
Boeing disputes Airbus's figures on seat measurements and says it is not up to manufacturers to step into decisions on how airlines balance fares and facilities.
It also says research shows cabin experience depends on more than the width of a seat.
"It really comes down to providing flexibility to airlines and allowing them to do the things that they believe they need to do to be successful," said Boeing cabins expert Kent Craver.
They don't want us to dictate to them what makes them profitable.
They know their business better than anyone else.
For flyers it is about more elbow room, but for suppliers it is increasingly an issue that could affect earnings.
Behind the dispute is a race for plane orders with at least $700-billion of estimated business at list prices in coming decades, enough to tip the scales of U.S. and European exports.
As Reuters first reported in July, seat layout is exactly what drives the battle between the latest jets.
Both Airbus and Boeing claim 20 per cent better efficiency per seat in their latest twin-engined long-haul designs than the market leader in that segment, the 365-seat Boeing 777-300ER.
Boeing's performance claims depend in part on comparing the 10-abreast 777X with an original 9-abreast 777 design.
The gain in unit costs is blunted compared with 10-abreast now in use.
"The reason Boeing are doing this is to cram more seats in to make their plane more competitive with our products," said Kevin Keniston, head of passenger comfort at Europe's Airbus.
On the other hand, analysts say full 10-seat-per-row cabins for existing 777s suggest many passengers are voting for the denser layout, which may go hand in hand with cheaper fares.
"Eighteen inches in seat width would be great for passengers, but the reality is that from a business point of the Airbus proposal is driven by the threat of the 777," said cabin interiors expert Mary Kirby, founder and editor of the Runway Girl Network.
Airbus and Boeing do not supply seats but offer a catalogue of suppliers for airlines to choose from.
Globe-trotting jet sellers even carry tape measures to check on competing layouts.
While boasting comfort, all builders also offer jets with high-density layouts for low-cost airlines and regional travel.
Airbus offers a 10-abreast A350 but says it has not yet sold it.
Until recently, Airbus was stressing the need for more cabin customization by offering wider aisle seats on some of its jets.
Without the support of the only other maker of large modern jets, experts say its call for a new industry standard is unlikely to fly, but could distract from a wave of 777X sales.
Oracle Shareholders Angry at Ellison Salary
A majority of shareholders at Oracle voted against the proposed remuneration package for founder and managing director Larry Ellison on Thursday in view of his group's financial performance.
The vote is not binding, but it does tarnish the image of Ellison, the third richest man in the world, who is still revelling in his boat's victory in the Americas Cup.
The multimillionaire still holds 25% of the capital in the software group he co-founded 40 years ago.
Just last year, Ellison got a negative vote on his remuneration package.
The Oracle boss relinquished a $1.2 million bonus for the 2013 financial year, which ended in May, because of the group's poor performances. The group had failed to meet its growth targets, but he did pick up around $77 million linked to stock options.
His fixed salary is a nominal $1.
Throughout the non-calendar 2013 fiscal year, Oracle's net profit grew by 3.5%, while its share price rose 27.5%, outperforming the S&P-500 index which grew 24% in the same period.
New anti-nicotine vaccine could take the pleasure out of smoking
Scientists have developed an anti-nicotine vaccine that could take the pleasure out of smoking a cigarette.
A single dose of the vaccine was able to protect mice against nicotine addiction for life.
Further tests are needed before starting human trials, which would take several years, but Professor Ronald Crystal of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York said the early signs are good.
"We are very hopeful that this kind of vaccine strategy can finally help the millions of smokers who have tried to stop, exhausting all the methods on the market today, but find their nicotine addiction to be strong enough to overcome these current approaches," Prof Cornell said.
The new vaccine contains a harmless virus that has been engineered to carry the genetic information to make anti-nicotine antibodies.
The virus selectively infects liver cells, which then start to make a steady stream of the antibodies.
The antibodies hunt down any nicotine molecules in the bloodstream, neutralising them before they reached the brain, preventing a smoker from getting a nicotine hit.
In tests, vaccinated mice who were subsequently given nicotine continued with their normal activity.
But mice who had not been given the vaccine "chilled out," say the researchers, a sign that the nicotine had reached their brains.
The experiments are described in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Previous tobacco vaccines failed because they contained antibodies.
The jabs had to be given so frequently to keep antibody levels topped up that they proved expensive and impractical.
But the cost of the new vaccine is likely to be far lower, because it turns liver cells into antibody factories.
Prof Crystal said that if a future human vaccine was completely safe it could be given to children before they were tempted to try a cigarette, preventing nicotine addiction.
But more likely it would be used by smokers to quit.
"They will know if they start smoking again, they will receive no pleasure from it due to the nicotine vaccine, and that can help them kick the habit," he said.
British scientists said the results were interesting but warned far more research was needed.
Drone Kills Pakistani Taliban Leader
The leader of the Pakistani Taliban movement, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed in an American drone strike in Pakistan on Friday, according to security services.
Hakimullah Mehsud's death has been announced several times before in the past.
However, intelligence personnel, army staff and political activists have confirmed this time that he has lost his life in the strike, which was carried out in the region of North Waziristan.
"We can confirm that Hakimullah Mehsud has been killed in a drone strike," said a senior security services official.
The previous day, the Pakistani Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, informed the British government on a trip to London that discussions had been initiated with Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistani Taliban movement.
Tripodi denies being influenced by Obeid
Former NSW Labor minister Joe Tripodi will be investigated by the state's corruption watchdog.
Former NSW minister Joe Tripodi has denied changing maritime leases policy at the request of his political mentor Eddie Obeid, who had hidden interests in three properties on government-controlled land.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Friday widened its inquiry into whether Mr Obeid lobbied several state ministers to have leases at Circular Quay, where the Obeids owned two restaurants and a cafe, renewed without going to tender after their expiration in August 2005.
It's now investigating allegations Mr Tripodi knew of Mr Obeid's secret interest in the properties, after evidence given by Mr Tripodi's former deputy chief of staff, Lynne Ashpole, on Thursday.
During years of discussions starting in 2005 the government had been pushing for the leases to go to public tender.
The lessees were against this and also wanted longer terms.
In 2009 leases for the Circular Quay enterprises, which earned the Obeids about $2.5 million annually, were renewed without going to public tender.
Mr Tripodi, who was ports minister from February 2006 until November 2009, was initially in favour of public tenders.
But he denied the changes were made at the request of Mr Obeid, who Mr Tripodi acknowledged was urging a shift in government lease policy.
A phone transcript tabled in ICAC showed calls in August and September 2007 between Mr Obeid, Mr Tripodi and Steve Dunn, a senior bureaucrat who had come into the ports ministry after working under Mr Obeid in the fisheries department.
"Was the matter being discussed in the course of these telephone conversations the development of the commercial lease policy," Assistant Commissioner Anthony Whealy asked Mr Tripodi.
"No," Mr Tripodi replied.
I can't remember what was discussed but it definitely wasn't that.
Definitely not between myself and Mr Obeid.
Israeli warplanes attack target inside Syria, official says
Israeli warplanes struck a target inside the Syrian port city of Latakia Thursday night, a senior administration official confirms to Fox News.
The official did not specify what the target was, but said there was at least one.
The Associated Press reports the target was Russian-made SA-125 missiles.
At least twice earlier this year Israel launched airstrikes on shipments of missiles inside Syria.
Foreign workers on 457 visas could undergo "genuineness" test
A "genuineness" test for foreign workers on 457 visas is being considered by the government as it contemplates expanding a crackdown.
The test, if adopted, would be applied through a criteria aimed at preventing 457s being used to fill unskilled positions or as a back door way to move family and friends to Australia.
A government discussion paper was released today as former Labor MP Maxine McKew slammed the government's rhetoric about foreign workers, saying it could offend Australia's neighbours.
"Loud declarations about 'foreigners getting to the back of the queue' and 'Aussie jobs first' are a very unpleasant throwback to a time when unions demanded a protected labor market," she told the Australia India Institute today.
Historically, that meant it was white labour that had to be protected - and if some in the region saw echoes of that historic artifact, I wouldn't be surprised.
The discussion paper outlines 12 measures that were previously considered by former Immigration Minister Chris Bowen.
Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor, who was yesterday in Sri Lanka where he is meeting officials about people smuggling, has implemented five of the recommended changes with the remainder under consideration.
If the "genuineness" criteria was adopted a visa applicant could be scrutinised about "whether the nomination is genuine in circumstances where the nominee is a relation or personal associate of an owner or relevant person of the sponsoring business."
Businesses could also be required to account for the number of 457 visa holders after previously businesses who had intended to sponsor a small number of workers then employed hundreds.
Meanwhile, a 35-year-old Sri Lankan asylum seeker died of a suspected heart attack after arriving on an asylum boat at Christmas Island this week.
The man's distraught nine-year-old son travelled to Australia with him and has been comforted since the death of his father on Wednesday by an adult cousin who was also on the vessel.
Australian authorities rushed the man to Christmas Island Hospital, where he died.
A study aiming to increase the benefits to Scotland of the HS2 rail project has been announced by the UK government.
The work by HS2 Ltd suggests high-speed services to Scotland and the north of England will start as soon as Phase One opens in 2026.
Transport minister Baroness Kramer said the project would "bring the UK together."
Scottish transport minister Keith Brown said he was "excited" to work with the UK government on the plan.
Phase One will consist of a new high speed rail line between London and the West Midlands.
When Phase Two is completed, lines will run to Manchester and Leeds.
In June the government revised the estimated cost of building the high-speed link between London and the North of England from £32.7bn to £42.6bn.
The UK government, which has been holding talks with Transport Scotland, has instructed HS2 Ltd to look at further rail capacity and journey time improvements for northern England and Scotland.
This is to include the possibility of eventual journey times from Glasgow and Edinburgh to London of three hours or less.
Baroness Kramer said: "Our goal for HS2 is for a truly national network that will bring the UK and its cities closer together."
We are driving forward HS2 because the benefits it will bring are huge.
Without it we face a crisis in capacity on our rail network.
But it is also about connectivity, across the UK 18 cities including Glasgow and Edinburgh will be better connected because of HS2.
Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael added: "Today's announcement is good news for Scotland."
For the Scottish government, Keith Brown called on Mr Carmichael to "unequivocally" back Scotland's inclusion in the HS2 network.
Mr Brown said: "High speed rail has the potential to bring huge economic benefits to Scotland, but also adds Scotland's economic weight to the overall case for high speed rail across Britain."
So we are excited to work in partnership with the UK Government to examine options for bringing high speed rail to Scotland, creating benefit for all and complementing the Glasgow-Edinburgh line which the Scottish Government is already planning.
I look forward to reviewing the report of the investigation with UK ministers next year and together decide on the next steps.
Aircraft electronic device rules to stay in force in Australia for now
Australian airline passengers will need to continue turning off their tablets and smart phones during take-off and landing despite moves in the US to loosen regulations covering the devices.
The US Federal Aviation Administration has left the way open for American carriers to change their procedures so that passengers will be able to read e-books, watch videos or play games on their devices during critical phases of flight provided they remain in "airplane" mode.
Passengers can already do this during the bulk of a flight but many people find it annoying to be unable to access their e-books during take-offs and landings.
Australian carriers are looking at the decision, which requires US carriers to undertake a massive amount of work to meet the requirements, but have indicated they have no immediate plans to change their procedures.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority also said it was looking at the announcement but emphasised that restrictions on the use of electronic devices in critical phases of flight were still in place in Australia.
"CASA currently has no specific regulations governing the use of electronic devices in aircraft," it said.
The issue is covered by regulations which require aircraft operators to ensure safety is maintained at all times and passengers to comply with the safety instructions given by crew members.
Virgin, which has already been talking to CASA about extending the use its in-flight wi-fi entertainment system, was amenable to a change but said it would take its lead from the regulator.
"We would welcome a review by CASA into allowing the use of electronic devices because we really do think it will improve the customer experience now that we have (wireless in-flight entertainment) on our planes," a spokesman said.
Qantas said it would stick with the current rules for now.
"Our current policy is that electronic devices cannot be used during take-off and landing and we have no immediate plans to change that," it said.
The FAA ruling applies to American airlines.
However, we are always interested in regulatory developments that could benefit passengers and we will certainly be taking a close look at the FAA's decision and the reasons behind it.
For US carriers, the impact of the ruling will vary from airline to airline and will depend on the age of their fleet.
Carriers will need to prove their planes can tolerate radio interference from mobile devices as well as revise manuals, training materials, carry-on baggage programs and passenger briefings.
"Once an airline verifies the tolerance of its fleet, it can allow passengers to use handheld, lightweight electronic devices such as tablets, e-readers, and smartphones-at all altitudes," the FAA said.
In rare instances of low visibility, the crew will instruct passengers to turn off their devices during landing.
The group also recommended that heavier devices should be safely stowed under seats or in overhead bins during take-off and landing.
Pia: At Least Four Injured in Violent Skirmish
The small town of Pia experienced an unusual height of fever on Thursday evening.
This involved three police vehicles, two ambulances and a group of about thirty people, according to reports.
This day of Halloween, Pia had a troubled evening marked by the outbreak of a brawl involving a number of people around the post office.
Reports say at least four people were slightly injured.
The police, who had been alerted, stepped in to separate the belligerents and make sure that the injured received medical attention.
Pawnbrokers shine in Singapore as middle class feel the pinch
At a pawnshop in Bendemeer shopping centre in Singapore, Janani Amirthalinga is swapping a gold bangle, ring and pair of earrings to pay her daughters" school fees.
"My husband and I have just bought a house so all my money's stuck there," Mrs Amirthalinga says.
Even though she earns S$3,000 ($2,400) a month as an administrator and her husband works as well, the monthly family income is insufficient, she says.
Indeed, such is demand across parts of southeast Asia - where household debt is rising - that ValueMax, where she is carrying out her transaction, this week became the third pawnshop to list on the Singapore stock exchange.
Pawning jewellery is not merely a fast way to land cash - S$1,300 in Ms Amirthalinga's case - but almost as cheap as unsecured bank loans.
Typically pawnbrokers in Singapore charge an effective annual percentage rate of 17 per cent, just above the 15.4 per cent offered at United Overseas Bank, a local lender with a branch in the same shopping centre.
However, pawnbrokers have the advantage of not requiring credit checks or proof of salary, and can arrange loans faster than banks.
Hence millions of people across the region are turning to pawnshops as families feel the squeeze from rising living costs and ballooning household and consumer debt.
After five years of robust growth since the global financial crisis, and cheap credit fuelled by loose monetary policy in advanced economies, lower- and middle-income families are turning to pawn shops to make up the difference as their economies slow.
This week Standard & Poor's, the rating agency, cited increasing household leverage, mainly from rising mortgages, as a risk factor for Asian banks" creditworthiness.
It said that Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore had the highest household debt to gross domestic product ratios in Asia.
Malaysia topped the list at 80 per cent of GDP, up from 60 per cent in 2008.
Economists are also worried about high levels of consumer debt in Thailand, which this week narrowly emerged from technical recession.
On Thursday, data showed continued export weakness, and a softening in consumer demand.
"Bottom line is that with costs rising, people in the middle to lower end [of the income scale] will be looking to supplement their income wherever they can," says Song Seng Wun, economist at CIMB, a Malaysian bank.
Historically high prices for gold in the past two years have added to the rush to pawn personal belongings, as people take the opportunity to cash in the value of their family jewellery.
In Singapore, about 70 per cent of items pawned at the city-state's 200 pawn outlets are gold.
People are saying "the gold price looks good, let's pawn grandma's gold chain and get it back next month.
In Thailand the largest pawnshop operator, EasyMoney, has seen an up to 20 per cent rise in the number of customers using its outlets in recent months.
Such is the growth in the pawn business that ValueMax, operator of the outlet at Bendemeer and of 15 others like it in Singapore, plans to expand not only in neighbouring Malaysia - where it has four shops - but outside Asia too, says Yeah Lee Ching, ValueMax's executive director.
The company will fund that by using 60 per cent of S$66m it raised this week in a listing on the Singapore stock exchange.
While some discount lenders have come under fire for high interest rates, Ms Yeah says that not only does pawning offer cheaper rates than other lenders, it also does not add directly to debt.
"Customers are mortgaging items that they already own, and monetising personal assets does not increase household debt," she says.
There's an increased social acceptance of pawnbroking as a means to secure short term, secured financing.
Nor are the types of people who use pawnbrokers only the financially stretched.
Wealthy people in Singapore also use ValueMax outlets, pawning gold bars or Rolex watches, which can command up to 60 per cent of their purchase price in cash.
We see customers from all walks of life.
"They include wealthy individuals who need to borrow short term for business ventures or investments, or small businesses with a need to tide over their cash flow needs," says Ms Yeah.
Sometimes they just need the money very quickly.
Minister Accused of Child Pornography in Nova Scotia
A minister who was in charge of children in the area of Halifax, Nova Scotia, has been accused of child pornography.
Aaron Hudgins, aged 30, was arrested on Friday morning following a search at his home and at the National Research Council office where he works.
Timberlay Baptist Church, where he officiated as minister, said it was deeply saddened by the news.
In a statement, church officials said that Mr Hudgins had resigned from his post.
The minister has been conditionally released.
To be specific, he is not allowed to communicate with anyone under 18 or to access the Internet.
He shall appear before the provincial court in Halifax in December.
Man Wearing Nazi Uniform Chased Away from Supermarket
A man dressed in a Nazi uniform with a swastika armband was asked to leave a British supermarket following complaints by customers to the manager of the shop, who called the police, according to the shop on Friday.
"We received a number of complaints from customers, so we asked him to leave the shop," explained a spokesperson for the Asda chain of supermarkets.
The shop called the police for assistance, but "by the time they arrived he had already left without making a scene," she added.
"I was queuing when I saw a woman who seemed very upset.
People were flabbergasted.
You don't go out in public dressed like that unless you want to attract attention," said one customer, Rosina Rusin, 60, to the Cambridge News.
The incident occurred on Thursday - Halloween - when it is customary to dress up as a monster, but it is hard to believe that this was a hoax.
A man from Cambridge claimed responsibility for the act on his Twitter account, where he posted pictures of Adolf Hitler.
"I have been wearing a black SS armband in Asda twice a week for three years," claimed Paul Dutton, explaining that he was suffering from "mental problems".
$325m rescue package for Tassie health
The Federal Government insists a $325 million rescue package for Tasmania's ailing health system has tough conditions attached that will ensure the State Government can't waste the funds.
Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek has announced the Commonwealth is taking "urgent action" to head off a crisis caused by the island state's aging population, higher rates of chronic disease and system constraints.
The funding, over four years, was decided after government consultations with Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie.
"The Government has come up with an emergency rescue package we believe will address the unique challenges faced by the state," Ms Plibersek said today.
The $325 million package includes a $31 million elective surgery blitz.
An additional 2600 operations including orthopedic and cataract surgery will help clear a backlog.
There's also money for walk-in clinics in Hobart and Launceston, better after-hospital care, medical specialist training, mental health services and the rollout of personal electronic health record systems in local hospitals.
"These investments respond to the ideas that front-line clinicians have told me will be the best ways to tend to Tasmania's health system," Ms Plibersek said.
The minister insisted the Tasmanian Government would face a strict reporting and accountability regime.
The state would have to maintain current funding levels in order to receive Commonwealth cash and report monthly on where it was spending the extra funds.
A three-person commission will be set up to ensure the state is delivering services as effectively and efficiently as possible.
Mr Wilkie today said the $325 million would count for little "unless it's followed by genuine reform to put Tasmania's public health system on a more sustainable footing."
He nevertheless praised the Government for responding to his request for urgent assistance which he first raised with the Prime Minister at the beginning of May.
"I'm hopeful the federal assistance package will go a long way towards taking the state's public health system off the critical list," Mr Wilkie said.
According to the State Government these additional elective procedures will largely reverse the recent cuts.
But federal Opposition health spokesman Peter Dutton believes today's announcement is a "band-aid solution."
"The reason we are here is that the Labor State Government ripped $430 million out of its health system," he told ABC TV.
You can't have a state government ripping out almost half-a-billion dollars and the Commonwealth put in $300 million and pretend it's a good news day.
Mr Dutton called on Ms Plibersek to guarantee that not one dollar out of the rescue package would be spent on additional bureaucracy.
Guillaume Nicloux's adaptation of Denis Diderot's novel boasts exceptional production design and period detail but is also heavier going than it should be.
Unfolding in 1760s France, it tells the grim story of Suzanne, a young aristocrat sent to a convent by her family.
When she rebels, she experiences extreme cruelty at the hands of a wantonly sadistic Mother Superior and becomes an object of erotic fascination for another.
The film never slips into prurience or sensationalism - and that's the problem.
The earnest solemnity of the storytelling risks making it a hair shirt-like ordeal for audiences, too.
Syria has destroyed its chemical weapons making ability, watchdog group says
Syria has destroyed critical equipment for producing chemical weapons and poison gas munitions, the global chemical weapons watchdog said Thursday as fierce clashes raged in the country's north, close to one of the sites where toxic agents are believed to be stored.
Also Thursday, a Syrian activist group said more than 120,000 people have been killed since the start of the country's civil war nearly three years ago.
The announcement by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons came one day ahead of the Nov.
1 deadline set by The Hague-based organization for Damascus to destroy or "render inoperable" all chemical weapon production facilities and machinery for mixing chemicals into poison gas and filling munitions.
The completion of what is essentially the initial stage of destruction is a significant milestone in an ambitious timeline that aims to destroy all of Damascus' chemical weapons by mid-2014.
Destruction of the equipment means that Syria can no longer produce new chemical weapons.
However, Damascus still has to start destroying existing weapons and stockpiles.
The country is believed to have around 1,000 metric tons of chemicals and weapons including mustard gas and the nerve agent sarin.
The announcement came as fighting raged Thursday in the town of Safira, which experts say is home to a chemical weapons production facility as well as storage sites, reported the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The activist group, which has been tracking the death toll through a network of activists in Syria, said Thursday that 120,296 people have died.
Of those, it said 61,067 are civilians, including 6,365 children.
On the government side, it said 29,954 are members of President Bashar Assad's armed forces, 18,678 are pro-government fighters and 187 are Lebanese Hezbollah militants.
Also among the dead it said were 2,202 army defectors and some 5,375 opposition fighters, many of them foreigners.
On July 25, the U.N. estimated 100,000 have died in the conflict since March 2011.
It has not updated that figure since.
The conflict has forced some 2 million people to flee the country.
Assad's troops have been battling rebels, many of them linked to al-Qaida groups, in Safira for weeks.
The Observatory said there were casualties on both sides Thursday but had no specifics.
The fighting underscored the dangers the chemical weapons' inspectors face as they race against tight deadlines in their mission to rid Syria of the toxic arsenal in the midst of an ongoing civil war.
A statement from the OPCW, which works closely with the United Nations, said its team was "now satisfied that it has verified - and seen destroyed - all of Syria's declared critical production and mixing/filling equipment."
It added that, "no further inspection activities are currently planned."
Earlier this week, the inspectors said they had completed their first round of verification work, visiting 21 of 23 sites declared by Damascus.
They were unable to visit two sites because of security concerns, the inspectors said.
On Thursday, OPCW said the two locations were, according to Syria, "abandoned and ... the chemical weapons program items they contained were moved to other declared sites, which were inspected."
It was not immediately clear if the facility in Safira was one of the two sites that OPCW inspectors were not able to visit.
Syria has submitted a plan for the total destruction of its chemical weapons that has to be approved next month by the OPCW's executive committee.
"I salute the fortitude and courage you've all demonstrated in fulfilling the most challenging mission ever undertaken by this organization," the watchdog's director-general, Ahmet Uzumcu, said in comments released by the OPCW.
Now in its third year, the civil war pits the primarily Sunni Muslim rebels against Assad's government and its security forces, which are stacked with members of his Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
In other developments, the Observatory's chief Rami Abdurrahman said there had been a strong explosion Wednesday inside an air defense facility in Syria's coastal province of Latakia.
The cause of the blast was not known, he said.
Anger over Bali bomb plotter's sentence
Survivors and relatives of the 202 people killed in the 2002 Bali bombing have reacted with anger over the sentence given to the last of the plotters to face justice, saying Umar Patek should face a firing squad.
Patek, who spent almost 10 years on the run as one of South-East Asia's most wanted, was yesterday sentenced to 20 years in jail for his role in building the explosive devices used in the bombing.
He could be released within 15 years if granted parole.
The 45-year-old was found guilty of mass murder for the attack on two nightclubs in the popular tourist area of Kuta which left 202 people dead, including 88 Australians, and injured scores more.
He was also found guilty of a number of other terrorism-related charges, including a wave of bombings of churches across Indonesia on Christmas Eve in 2000.
Prosecutors had demanded a life sentence, although they could have pushed that the man dubbed the "Demolition Man" for his reputation as a master bomb-maker be sentenced to death.
The decision has reignited painful memories for Perth mother June Corteen, who lost her 39-year-old twin daughters Jane and Jenny in the destruction unleashed by Patek and his co-conspirators almost a decade ago.
Fighting back tears, she said Patek should have been sentenced to death.
I really feel that he should follow in the footsteps of the other guys.
"He should be put in front of the firing squad," Ms Corteen told AAP.
I have to live every day without seeing more grandchildren, and my daughters.
The Sari Club was levelled when a massive bomb loaded into a van parked outside was detonated just after 11pm on October 12, 2002.
Peter Hughes was in Paddy's Bar where a suicide bomber detonated a backpack loaded with explosives just 20 seconds earlier.
He lapsed into a month-long coma in the wake of the bombing, and "died" three times while on life support.
Mr Hughes said Patek should have shared the same fate as three other members of the Jemaah Islamiah terror cell responsible for the carnage - Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra - who were executed four years ago.
Really, this guy should get the death penalty before anybody.
To keep him alive, well, there's no reason to keep him alive.
To get 20 years, after killing 202 people and injuring many hundreds, it's not much.
Patek is the last of the Bali bombers to face justice.
He had avoided capture for almost a decade but was eventually apprehended in January 2011 in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad, where US forces killed former al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden less than four months later.
During the trial, an FBI agent testified that intelligence reports had revealed Patek was in Pakistan to meet with bin Laden in an effort to re-establish links between South-East Asian terrorist groups and al-Qaeda.
"He didn't give himself up," Ms Corteen said.
Until just recently, he really didn't feel sorry for how much grief he caused other people.
The verdict comes ahead of the 10th anniversary of the attack later this year, which will be marked by ceremonies in Bali and Australia.
"There will be a lot of tears this year," Ms Corteen said.
Patek may yet appeal his sentence.
FAA: Air passengers can now use gadgets on planes (but not make cell phone calls)
Airline passengers will be able to use their electronic devices gate-to-gate to read, work, play games, watch movies and listen to music - but not talk on their cellphones - under much-anticipated new guidelines issued Thursday by the Federal Aviation Administration.
But passengers shouldn't expect changes to happen immediately.
How fast the change is implemented will vary by the airline, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said at a news conference.
Airlines will have to show the FAA how their airplanes meet the new guidelines and that they've updating their flight crew training manuals and rules for stowing devices to reflect the new guidelines.
The FAA said it has already received plans from some airlines to expand the use of portable electronic devices on planes.
Delta and JetBlue were among the airliners who have already submitted plans.
"Depending on the condition of the plan, we could approve expanded use of electronic devices very soon," the FAA said in a statement.
Currently, passengers are required to turn off their smartphones, tablets and other devices once a plane's door closes.
They're not supposed to restart them until the planes reach 10,000 feet and the captain gives the go-ahead.
Passengers are supposed to turn their devices off again as the plane descends to land and not restart them until the plane is on the ground.
Under the new guidelines, airlines whose planes are properly protected from electronic interference may allow passengers to use the devices during takeoffs, landings and taxiing, the FAA said.
Most new airliners and other planes that have been modified so that passengers can use Wifi at higher altitudes are expected to meet the criteria.
Laura Glading, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, welcomed the changes.
"Once the new policy is safely implemented - and we're going to work closely with the carrier to do that - it will be a win-win," Glading said in a statement.
We're frankly tired of feeling like 'hall monitors' when it comes to this issue.
But connecting to the Internet to surf, exchange emails, text or download data will still be prohibited below 10,000 feet, the agency said.
Passengers will be told to switch their smartphones, tablets and other devices to airplane mode.
So, still no Words With Friends, the online Scrabble-type game that actor Alec Baldwin was playing on his smartphone in 2011 when he was famously booted off an American Airlines jet for refusing to turn off the device while the plane was parked at the gate.
And heavier devices such as laptops will continue to have to be stowed because of concern they might injure someone if they go flying around the cabin.
In-flight cellphone calls also will continue to be prohibited.
Regulatory authority over phone calls belongs to the Federal Communications Commission, not the FAA.
FAA may lift ban on some electronic devices during takeoff and landing
Last month, National Transportation Safety Board Mark Rosenker, a CBS News national transportation safety expert, said that cell phones are still considered a risk.
"Cell phones, that really is an issue, not just because potentially it could create interference with navigational devices, but we do know, according to the FCC, that it could interfere with cell phone towers when they're in the air," Rosenker said.
An industry advisory committee created by the FAA to examine the issue recommended last month that the government permit greater use of personal electronic devices.
Pressure has been building on the FAA in recent years to ease restrictions on their use.
Critics such as Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., contend there is no valid safety reason for the prohibitions.
The restrictions have also become increasingly difficult to enforce as use of the devices has become ubiquitous.
Some studies indicate as many as a third of passengers forget or ignore directions to turn off their devices.
The FAA began restricting passengers' use of electronic devices in 1966 in response to reports of interference with navigation and communications equipment when passengers began carrying FM radios, the high-tech gadgets of their day.
New airliners are far more reliant on electrical systems than previous generations of aircraft, but they are also designed and approved by the FAA to be resistant to electronic interference.
Airlines have been offering Wi-Fi use at cruising altitudes to passengers for several years.
Planes modified for Wi-Fi systems are also more resistant to interference.
The vast majority of airliners should qualify for greater electronic device use under the new guidelines, Huerta said.
Today's electronic devices generally emit much lower power radio transmissions than previous generations of devices.
E-readers, for example, emit only minimal transmissions when turning a page.
But transmissions are stronger when devices are downloading or sending data.
Among those pressing for a relaxation of restrictions on passengers' use of the devices has been Amazon.com.
In 2011, company officials loaded an airliner full of their Kindle e-readers and flew it around to test for problems but found none.
FAA advisory committee members expressed mixed feelings about whether use of the devices presents any risk.
Douglas Kidd of the National Association of Airline Passengers said he believes interference from the devices is genuine even if the risk is minimal.
Other committee members said there are only anecdotal reports from pilots to support that the devices can interfere with aircraft systems, and most of those reports are very old.
However, the committee recommended the FAA allow pilots to order passengers to shut off devices during instrument landings in low visibility.
A travel industry group welcomed the changes, calling them common-sense accommodations for a traveling public now bristling with technology.
"We're pleased the FAA recognizes that an enjoyable passenger experience is not incompatible with safety and security," said Roger Dow, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.
Bird airlifted to safety from North Sea rig released back into wild
A bird airlifted ashore after being found exhausted on a North Sea oil rig has been released back into the wild.
The water rail was put on a helicopter to Aberdeen last month before being nursed back to health by the Scottish SPCA at its rescue centre in Alloa.
Centre manager Colin Seddon said: "This water rail was likely a winter migrant from Northern Europe who got caught up in strong winds over the North Sea."
It seems the bird became exhausted and managed to find refuge on the oil rig.
He added: "It was unable to fly off again so we were contacted for help."
The water rail was fit and well by the time it was released.
Is Europe's elite ready to do business with Britain?
Business for Britain launched in April with a pledge to bring business together and define what the UK's wealth and job creators want to see changed in our relationship with the EU.
To that end, we commissioned the largest and most comprehensive poll of British business leaders asking them for their thoughts on Britain, business and the EU.
YouGov polled over 1,000 business leaders, broadly representative of Britain's business sizes, sectors and regions.
The conclusions of the poll will come as a surprise to many.
We found that the vast majority of businesses are now looking to export outside of Europe, focusing on countries that are modernising and growing while the EU states stagnate.
They want to see the Government prioritise new trading links with the likes of China, India and Brazil, rather than getting bogged down in the long and arduous process of reforming the EU's arcane institutions.
When asked their views on specific policy areas - ranging from monopoly regulation to product laws - the majority of business leaders thought that control of these key competences should be returned to Westminster.
There was general discontent with the Single Market, with businesses saying that the costs of Brussels regulation now outweighed the benefits of being part of Europe's trading area - even 40 per cent of large businesses, traditionally the most pro-European of companies, agreed.
Finally, and most tellingly of all, our poll of business leaders found a clear majority wanted to see Britain pursue a course of treaty change and a relationship with the EU that is based on trade, not politics.
This finding, which was reflected across the sizes and major business groups, shows that business is pushing for a "meaningful change" that brings powers back to the UK.
The stakes are high - achieving treaty change and a better deal for Britain sees a 16 per cent swing towards voting to stay in the EU in a referendum.
The Prime Minister should be in no doubt: this poll shows that British business backs his plan for renegotiating the terms of Britain's membership of the EU.
It also shows that business expects that renegotiation to make a significant shift in the current balance of power back towards the UK.
A better deal for British business is possible, and increasingly necessary as the eurozone embarks on the road to closer economic and fiscal union.
The priority must be jobs and growth in Britain and, as the findings of our poll show, for business this means a renewed focus on trade and a fundamental change in Brussels" regulatory approach.
United States Dressed for Halloween
US President Obama celebrated the tradition of Halloween.
Yesterday evening, he and his wife handed out sweets to hundreds of children invited to the gardens of the White House in Washington.
Last year, Halloween festivities on the east coast of the USA were cancelled because Hurricane Sandy was on its way.
So this year, the merrymakers made up for it.
In New York, thousands of people in costumes took part in the parade organised in the Greenwich Village district.
"Everyone is super-excited," said Andrea, one of the participants.
"I was able to wear the costume I had planned for last year."
"Everyone is having a wild time," added Rhonda.
"People are happy.
It's relaxed, it's cool.
We really need this."
Halloween is a pagan festival celebrated the day before All Saints' Day, principally in English-speaking countries.
Gazprom's Alexei Miller says pipeline in Bulgaria starts new gas era
The start of construction of the South Stream gas pipeline in Bulgaria marks the launch of one of Europe's largest energy projects, Gazprom's chief said.
"A landmark event has taken place today: Construction started on the Bulgarian section of the South Stream gas pipeline, the most large-scale and important project in Europe," Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller said in a statement Thursday.
This project is a key element of energy security of the whole European continent.
South Stream is meant to add diversity to Russia's export routes through Europe.
A contractual dispute between Gazprom and its counterparts in Ukraine, which hosts most of Russia's gas for Europe, adds a layer of risk to conventional routes, officials say.
Miller said the direct connection to Bulgaria, a member of the European Union, means geopolitical risks associated with transit countries are eliminated "forever."
Bulgarian consumers will receive gas from South Stream at a discounted rate once the entire project starts operating in 2015.
Gazprom said construction should begin in other downstream countries by year's end.
The pipeline is designed for an annual capacity of 2.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Pitcairn to Create World's Largest Marine Reserve
Pitcairn Island is aiming to create the largest marine reserve in the world, daily newspaper Les Nouvelles de Tahiti announced on Thursday, following up on news from Radio Australia.
The island, which lies to the east of the Gambier archipelago (French Polynesia), is the last British territory in the South Pacific, halfway between New Zealand and Chile.
The territory measures 47km2, including three other small islands nearby.
It has been British since its occupation by the Bounty mutineers, an episode in British maritime history that has been turned into three Hollywood films.
Several dozen inhabitants, the majority of them descendants of the Bounty mutineers, still live on Pitcairn, with 95% of their income depending on the generosity of London.
The island's Council voted unanimously in favour of the creation of a marine reserve around the tiny archipelago. It will be 836,000km2, corresponding to its exclusive economic zone.
An assistant to the mayor went to London to ask Great Britain to endorse this request.
Mike Warren, the mayor of Pitcairn, believes that the creation of such a protected zone would be the first step towards greater financial autonomy for the island.
The project will need to be ratified by the British governor of Pitcairn, who is based in New Zealand, and the British government.
Creating such a reserve would permit the United Kingdom to protect the 836,000km2, provided it has the means to ensure it is policed - which it does not.
There is no airport on Pitcairn, making it impossible to base one or more aircrafts there to monitor the zone, and there is no port where military surveillance crafts can be placed.
France, on her part, already has to carry out the highly expensive aerial and maritime surveillance of 5 million km2 of the EEZ of French Polynesia, adjacent to Pitcairn.
The FAA is easing restrictions on the use of electronic gadgets on airplanes - though chatting on cellphones will still be prohibited.
Warplanes attack a store of Russian missiles in the port city of Latakia, an official says.
It's an apparent continuation of Israel's campaign to keep arms from proliferating in the Mideast.
A federal appeals court blocks a judge's ruling that the NYPD's controversial tactic discriminates against minorities.
Nearly 100 African migrants hoping to travel to Algeria die of thirst after their two trucks break down in the middle of the Sahara.
Experts say violence that left 14 adults and seven children dead is nothing more than random chance, not a sign of growing violence in America.
Rather than being rattled by the U.S. government shutdown, investors kept their focus on what probably matters more: the Federal Reserve.
The California woman plans to challenge what may be a first-of-its-kind citation, saying the Internet-connected eyewear makes navigation easier.
Police say they have a video that appears to show Mayor Rob Ford smoking a crack pipe.
Even close allies keep things from one another - and work every angle to find out what's being held back.
The Vatican wants to know how Catholic parishes around the globe handle sensitive issues like contraception, divorce and gay couples.
Life Sentence for Former Chinese Vice-Governor
A former vice-governor of the province of Jilin, in the northeast of China, sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption on Friday.
Having been expelled from the Communist Party in July 2012, Tian Xueren was accused of receiving 19 million yuan in bribes, according to media officials in China.
Between 1995 and 2001, the vice-governor, who was also president of the Bank of Jilin, a public institution, helped businesses and managers win contracts, loans and promotions in exchange for money or gifts, the Primary Intermediate Court in Beijing declared on its microblog.
President Xi Jinping, who took office last March, has made the fight against corruption a national priority, believing that the phenomenon is a threat to the very existence of the Communist Party.
The head of state has promised that justice would be just as inflexible with the powerful "tigers" as with the "flies" - the lesser officials - although just a handful of high-ranking officials has been sentenced, including former executives of oil giant PetroChina.
The most recent high-profile case has been that of the former head of the CCP in Chongqing, Bo Xilai, who was sentenced to life in prison in September for corruption and power abuse. Previously his sights were set on the highest offices in the state.
Nevertheless, the government has not declared any intention of reforming its anti-corruption system, for example by creating a body independent of the Party.
Two YMCA employees charged with sex offences before allegations against Jonathan Lord, Royal Commission hears
Two YMCA NSW employees had been charged with child sex offences before allegations were raised against Caringbah child care worker Jonathan Lord in 2011, the child sexual abuse Royal Commission has heard.
But in its opening statement to the Commission it said it had "never dealt with an incident of child sexual assault within its organisation," the Commission was told.
Chief executive officer Phillip Hare was asked about one case where a YMCA employee was charged child pornography offences, and another when a gym instructor at the YMCA Caringbah Hall was convicted of child sexual offences against children in his care in 1991.
Mr Hare told Gail Furness, counsel assisting the Commission, he knew about the first case but did not know about the second one.
He conceded the YMCA's opening statement to the commission was also inaccurate in claiming "there have been external audits of the YMCA that have recognised the YMCA as being at the forefront of child safety."
Evidence before the commission is that YMCA was notified that it received the second lowest of four possible ratings in a Department of Education and Communities quality audit in August this year.
Mr Hare, who started with the YMCA when he was 21, conceded management "from myself down" failed by recruiting Lord and failed to make sure staff were clear about their obligations to report child safe policy breaches.
Earlier this year Lord was convicted for sexual offences against 12 boys during the two years he worked at the YMCA.
He was jailed for a minimum of six years.
But Mr Hare rejected the suggestion the YMCA had a cultural problem which prevented staff from reporting Lord's breaches of child safety.
Staff gave evidence they observed breaches including Lord being alone with children, babysitting them privately, having them sit on his lap, saying he loved one and letting them play with his mobile phone.
Danielle Ockwell, who was supervised by Lord and asked for child protection training because she was concerned about his behaviour, testified she found the YMCA Caringbah children's services manager Jacqui Barnat who supervised Lord "very intimidating and hard to approach a lot of the time."
The CEO said he did not accept staff's evidence that they were uncomfortable with reporting upwards to their managers.
Rather, he said, their friendships with Lord clouded their judgements about reporting him.
Mr Hare said he had provided his view to the YMCA NSW board that the lesson for the organisation from the "Jonathan Lord incident" was "not about reporting" by staff, and the board agreed with him.
Mr Hare said the decision to get staff to sign confidentiality agreements soon after the allegations emerged was made by YMCA general manager of children's services Liam Whitley.
He said it was intended to avoid contamination of evidence but was "overzealous" and poorly executed.
YMCA NSW was not a child safe organisation at the time Jonathan Lord was employed between 2009 and 2011, child sex abuse expert Professor Stephen Smallbone of Griffith University told the commission.
He said there were "serious problems" in recruitment, screening, induction, training and supervision of staff.
The hearing adjourned until December 20.
Tony Blair said he'd seize the chance to return as Britain's prime minister - but acknowledges a comeback is unlikely.
In an interview overnight to mark the fifth anniversary of his departure from office, the 59-year-old aired his views on various domestic policies.
Since he stood down in June 2007 after a decade as leader, Mr Blair has largely avoided discussing British politics, confining most of his comments to foreign affairs and his role as envoy to the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers.
Asked if he would return to the post of prime minister, Mr Blair was quoted by London's Evening Standard as saying: "Yes, sure, but it's not likely to happen is it, so..."
As crowds of horse-showing experts gathered in Cardiff to battle it out for Horse of the Year, they knew the competition would be tough.
But nobody was quite ready for three-year-old Fenton Kirkland.
Not yet in school and just months on from taking his first steps, the toddler and his pet Shetland pony Toffee trotted through the three rounds with ease to take the top prize - leaving their 30 adult opponents trailing behind.
The inseparable pair - who are the same height - were commended for appearance, behaviour and style at the annual contest run by Sunnybank Equestrian Centre, in Rudry near Cardiff.
Taking to the stage against men and women in smart bowler hats, he tipped his flat cap at a jaunty angle and paraded two-year-old Toffee around the ring.
Fenton was lauded by judges for natural handling skills well beyond his years.
And Toffee received top marks for his appearance and personality.
Fenton was given Toffee as a third birthday present last March and has practised with the Shetland pony every day since.
His mother Donna, 30, said: "Fenton and Toffee are a great double act."
They were up against all comers but the two of them walked off with the gold cup and rosette.
It was only the second time he had competed with Toffee and we were all ecstatic when he won.
Complete strangers in the arena all thought he was so phenomenal they wanted photos taken with him.
The youngster, from the village of Nantyglo, near Ebbw Vale, South Wales, is following in the footsteps of his aunt Sharon Howells, who has been showing horses for more than 10 years.
Mrs Howells said: "The whole place was electric and everybody was cheering and clapping."
He was running on sand down the full length of the arena and even though he looked so tiny he did a marvellous job.
Fenton is animal mad - he loves horses, tractors and farms and has got two chickens which he looks after.
The way he has started he'll be at the Horse of the Year show before long - and I'm sure he'll do well.
A spokesman for the annual horse show said: "Fenton is only three but he knows how to handle his pony."
They are a great team together.
The judges marked Fenton and Toffee on how well they were turned out and the way they presented in the show ring.
They look for good teamwork between the pony and the handler - Fenton and Toffee were the best in the ring.
I'm sure Fenton was helped by his cute clothes, he really looked the part.
China plea paper 'to be overhauled'
A Chinese newspaper that made a front-page appeal for the release of a reporter accused of defamation is to be overhauled, a press regulator says.
The Guangzhou-based New Express made a rare public plea for the release of journalist Chen Yongzhou.
But Mr Chen subsequently admitted on television that he had taken bribes to fabricate stories about a part state-owned company.
Now the New Express is to undergo "full rectification," the regulator said.
The "rectification" order came from the Guangdong Administration of Press and Publication, Radio, Film and Television.
A preliminary investigation showed that Yangcheng Evening News Group's New Express had published several untrue reports about listed company Zoomlion in the period of September 2012 to August 2013.
"New Express's editorial management was disordered," the regulator said in a statement.
It said it had decided to "impose an administrative penalty on Chen Yongzhou by revoking his reporter's license."
It had also "instructed Yangcheng Evening News Group to undertake a complete rectification of New Express, and recommended they investigate the relevant responsible persons at New Express and immediately revise New Express's leadership team."
Mr Chen wrote several articles for the New Express alleging financial irregularities at a construction-equipment company called Zoomlion.
After he was detained, his newspaper published two front-page appeals for his release, saying it backed his journalism.
But Mr Chen then appeared on state television admitting he had published false stories for money.
"In this case I've caused damages to Zoomlion and also the whole news media industry and its ability to earn the public's trust," he told state broadcaster CCTV.
I did this mainly because I hankered after money and fame.
I've realised my wrongdoing.
Following Mr Chen's apology, New Express issued a front-page apology, saying it had failed to properly check his reports.
Several high-profile suspects have made televised confessions recently.
Experts say confessions are still routinely coerced, despite a change in the law earlier this year banning the authorities from forcing anyone to incriminate themselves.
Charles-de-Gaulle Aircraft Carrier "Unavailable"
The aircraft carrier has been left high and dry in Toulon.
A leak of radioactive steam, detected on one of the two nuclear stokeholds on the Charles-de-Gaulle in mid-October when the ship was at sea, "posed no threat to the sailors", but is no small matter for the Navy.
"La Royale" - the French Navy - has just conformed that the ship will be "unavailable until mid-November" to allow "time to carry out the corrective measures required" on the reactor.
Specialist naval defence company DCNS has confirmed that its teams, along with Areva's, have been dispatched to the department of Var and are "currently working on aircraft carrier".
Their tasks include changing a pump on the faulty stokehold.
"Everything has been put in place to enable the Charles-de-Gaulle to be deployed as planned at the end of 2013," explains DCNS.
And the Navy assures that "this has in no way delayed the [nuclear-powered] ship's activity schedule".
It should be recalled that the Charles-de-Gaulle had just returned from a six-month period of interim maintenance.
It had cast off from Toulon in mid-October for a training exercise,
principally for the qualification of new fighter pilots.
A "small amount of damage", confined to the area of the reactor chamber, then occurred on the French fleet's flagship.
According to the Navy, the crew was not exposed to any radioactive contamination.
For more than a year, I have been noticing the strong dissatisfaction of people I meet everywhere: the horrendous revaluation of their properties, a deluge of taxes, the costs of all sorts of permits, endless administrative fees, etc.
In short, the limitless siphoning of money from our pockets.
Millions of squandered dollars could be saved by introducing a tax system that is much more respectful of the taxpayers.
Money forcibly raised from taxpayers reduces their disposable income and contributes to their impoverishment.
In Shawinigan, despite the closure of every major business, there is no embarrassment about the extravagant expenditure and the maintenance of white elephants, such as the unprofitable cultural centre, the huge subsidies for the Cité de l'Énergie, etc.
These facilities are not profitable, so they should be sold to private businesses or demolished.
It is also distressing to note the compulsory purchase of numerous properties to make way for a major industrial complex which never arrived.
However, I do make honourable mention of the transformation of the former Wabasso into a sort of industrial incubator, but at what cost to the taxpayers?
It is not up to the public purse to invest in such projects, but to the private sector based on consumer demand.
The townsfolk have been pleased to learn that Lac à la Pêche and Lac des Piles will continue to supply the town with potable water.
Following the departure of all the industries (major consumers of water) and the big decline in the population, the use of water throughout the district has considerably reduced.
While this does not call for wastage, the town will never be short of water, and the severe regulation of its use may be toned down significantly.
In a nutshell, it is easy to do great things with other people's money.
I would be ashamed to defend such a balance sheet.
With a gross debt of over $200 million, this town is no longer even capable of buying a pen without passing a loan bye-law.
For over 40 years we have been run largely by suits with marvellous qualifications. I do not believe that a sheep farmer would do any worse.
US-Mexico drug tunnel with its own railway found
One of the most sophisticated drug smuggling tunnels between the USA and Mexico has been found, complete with its own lighting, ventilation and electric rail systems.
US authorities described the four foot by three foot tunnel as one of the most sophisticated secret passages they have ever discovered.
The tunnel, which zigzags the length of nearly six football pitches, links warehouses near Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego, USA.
The area is filled with nondescript warehouses, making it easier to conceal trucks being loaded with drugs.
The tunnel was shut down before any drugs made it through undetected, authorities said.
Authorities seized eight-and-a-half tons of marijuana and 327 pounds of cocaine in connection with the tunnel's discovery, according to court records.
Three men who authorities say worked as drivers were charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine with intent to distribute.
They face prison sentences between 10 years and life imprisonment if convicted.
In Nogales, Arizona, smugglers tap into vast underground drainage canals.
The tunnel is the eighth major passage discovered in San Diego since 2006.
Some of the largest tunnels have been discovered after central Mexico's marijuana harvest in October, which presents drug cartels with a challenge of how to quickly get their product to consumers.
In 2010, authorities found a roughly 700-yard passage equipped with rail tracks that extended from the kitchen of a Tijuana home to two San Diego warehouses.
British police serve Assange with extradition notice
Btitish police served an extradition notice today on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has taken refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London and requested asylum.
Scotland Yard said they had served a "surrender notice" on the 40-year-old Australian requiring him to appear at a police station, adding that failure to do so would make him further liable to arrest.
Assange faces extradition to Sweden over sex crime allegations, having exhausted his options under British law when the Supreme Court overturned his appeal against extradition earlier this month.
Fearing Stockholm would pass him on to the US, he sought refuge at Ecuador's embassy in London on June 19, asking the South American country for political asylum.
Scotland Yard has "served a surrender notice upon a 40-year-old man that requires him to attend a police station at date and time of our choosing," a spokesman said.
He remains in breach of his bail conditions.
The embassy declined to comment on the serving of the police notice.
Assange fears he will be extradited from Sweden to the United States to face possible espionage charges, after releasing more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables on the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website.
How Biometrics Will Invade Our Lives
Is it the end of passwords to access a smartphone or pay for purchases?
US, French and Japanese researchers are predicting a future where we will be recognised by biometric sensors on telephones and computers.
Bernard Didier, vice-president of Morpho, believes this will be the "century of biometrics".
Biometrics will be the only way of guaranteeing the identity of an individual carrying out transactions in a world as transverse and transnational as the Internet.
Organisations devoted to privacy protection note this fascination for biometrics, but are concerned.
In France alone in 2011, the National Commission for Information Technology and Civil Liberties authorised 774 imprint recognition systems, for recognising fingerprints, the shape of the hand or networks of veins in the hand, for businesses, institutions, cafeterias, etc.
"Everyone will soon be identifiable, anywhere and any time," says a concerned Justin Brookman, consumer privacy director for the CDT (Center for Democracy and Technology) in Washington.
But why such optimism for some and pessimism for others?
Biometrics will rely on new technologies that will enable new services to be provided to citizens and consumers.
In France today, the most commonly used biometric data are fingerprints, hand geometry and the network of veins in the palm or fingers.
But each of these techniques has its limitations.
"For example, people who work with cement have damage to their fingers that renders their fingerprints unreadable," notes Philippe Robin, technical director for identification at Thales Communications & Security.
Furthermore, the detection and verification of a network of veins or of hand geometry require a voluntary and specific gesture on the part of individuals.
It is both a security mechanism - this data cannot be captured without people knowing - and an inconvenience - the procedure sometimes has to be repeated and so takes time.
As a consequence, research has been conducted over the past twenty years into other methods, such as face or iris recognition (the coloured part of the eye).
Thanks to the improved precision of the sensors and the calculating capacity of the computers used to analyse this data, these techniques are becoming practical.
The accuracy of face recognition has improved tenfold over the past five years, considers Cyrille Bataller, R&D laboratory director at Accenture in Europe.
With our help, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands have deployed automated passport gates that use face recognition.
It is now possible to identify a moving face or iris.
"Today we are carrying out research into voice and gait recognition using sonic sensors, but it requires a silent environment," says Sridhar Lyengar, director of security research at Intel Labs.
DNA, a unique and unfalsifiable marker, also arouses hope and concern.
"With the current state of knowledge, it could be considered the ultimate in biometric data," confirms Sophie Vulliet-Tavernier, director of research, innovation and forecasting at the CNIL.
But DNA analysis still takes a long time and is expensive.
NEC is offering the judicial police a portable pack costing 90,000 euros that can analyse DNA samples on a crime scene within an hour.
The uses of biometrics fall into two groups: identification (recognition of one person amongst others) and authentication (confirmation that a person is who they say they are).
Until now, identification has consisted of the provision of identity papers: biometric systems (fingerprints, photos, iris, etc.) will have to be given access to information that the state holds on every citizen already on file.
This will provide assurance that someone is not trying to usurp the identity of another.
This principle of comparison can be used for other purposes.
NEC is therefore proposing VIP recognition at the entrance of a hotel or store.
"We are gathering images from surveillance cameras and comparing them with photos of celebrities that are freely available on the Internet," explains Dany Nassif, business development director for biometric identification solutions at NEC France.
Another use is to take a photo of someone queuing in a shop, follow his progress using face recognition and work out the waiting time.
Authentication initially concerned physical (at borders, in protected locations, in a cafeteria etc.) or digital presence (logging on to a computer).
Added to this, more recently, are presence checks.
"A biometric timekeeper prevents the situation where one colleague clocks in on behalf of another," asserts Cyrille Bataller from Accenture.
But, more and more, authentication will also involve transactions, in particular those carried out using devices connected to the Internet.
In Japan, it is already possible to withdraw money from some cash machines by inserting your card and placing your hand on a biometric reader: this gesture replaces the use of a PIN.
A similar technique is being tested at Villeneuve-d'Ascq and in Angoulême by the company Natural Security, in partnership with banks and major retailers: at the point of paying with a card in a shop, the customer does not enter a code - they place a finger in a reader, which scans the veins.
The experiment is expected to last six months.
If it is conclusive, biometric readers could soon be seen in shops in France.
Ways to reassure users
There are three ways to make biometrics appealing to the general public.
The first is to explain how it can save time.
"If a customer spends thirty seconds less at a till thanks to biometrics, it would be nice," says the manager of a major store.
The second is to offer personalised services: in a few years a voice server will be able to recognise your voice and offer you customised options.
Finally, the public can be reassured by highlighting the measures implemented to protect databases.
"Digital fingerprints are stored in a primary server; the identities of individuals are in a second database. The correlation between the two sets of information is encrypted and stored in a highly secure box, which locks up if anyone tries to move it," specifies Philippe Robin from Thales.
However, given the lack of in-depth studies, it is impossible to know if this line will really convince users.
Privacy protection specialists continue to be concerned.
"The advances in face recognition, the increase in the number of surveillance cameras and the huge number of photos available on Facebook, Flickr or Picasa make me fear the worst: widespread surveillance," predicts Andrew Patrick from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in Canada.
Driver speeding at 130mph with hot drink between legs fined £1,000
A motorist has been fined £1,000 for driving at up to 130mph (210km/h) with a hot drink balanced between his legs.
Andrew Howie, 35, of Tiptree, Essex, was spotted driving his Mercedes Benz on the A120 at Braintree on 27 May.
When police stopped him they discovered the takeaway drink between his legs.
At Colchester Magistrates' Court Howie admitted a charge of driving without due care and attention.
Seven points added to his licence resulted in him receiving a six-month driving ban.
Howie was also ordered to pay costs of £90 and a victim surcharge of £100.
Tax on foreign property owners to burst London's bubble
The Treasury have provisionally costed out the CGT measure but are awaiting a final decision from Mr Osborne, who, in the 2012 Budget, introduced a 7% rate of stamp duty for homes costing more than £2m and annual charges for buyers who choose to hold homes in a company rather than as individuals.
Already the stamp duty take for residential property in the boroughs of Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea, which stood at £708 million in the 2012/13 tax year, exceeds the combined total for Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber put together.
Mr Cook said: "Following increases in stamp duty of high value homes and the introduction of associated anti-avoidance legislation, it is very difficult to argue that high value property is under-taxed irrespective of the effect of the out-dated council tax system."
"But this move could make some foreign investors reticent to buy property in London or current owners reluctant to sell," he added.
Prime property - the top 5% to 10% of the housing market by price - in the affluent south-west London belt, which stretches from Fulham to Wimbledon, has increased by a record 11.8% over the past year.
Prices in central London continued to show steady year-on-year growth of 5.6% but were overshadowed by a burgeoning "domestic market" with the city's south west, north (7.4%) and east (6.5%) all experiencing an uptick, according to research from Savills.
Scientists have shed more light on how the movements of a dog's tail are linked to its mood.
Earlier research had revealed that happy dogs wag their tails more to the right (from the dog's point of view), while nervous dogs have a left-dominated swish.
But now scientists say that fellow canines can spot and respond to these subtle tail differences.
Prof Georgio Vallortigara, a neuroscientist from the University of Trento, said: "It is very well known in humans that the left and right side of the brain are differently involved in stimuli that invokes positive or negative emotions."
Here we attempted to look at it in other species.
He added that just as in humans, for dogs the right side of the brain was responsible for left-handed movement and vice versa, and the two hemispheres played different roles in emotions.
To find out more about how dogs react to the lop-sided tail wags of other dogs, the researchers monitored the animals as they watched films of other dogs.
They measured the pets' heart rates and analysed their behaviour.
It will probably not be long before we understand why their tails sometimes go one way, sometimes the other
Prof Vallortigara said: "We presented dogs with movies of dogs - either a naturalistic version or a silhouette to get rid of any other confounding issues, and we could doctor the movement of the tail and present the tail more to the left or right."
When the animals saw an otherwise expressionless dog move its tail to the right (from the tail-wagging dog's point of view), they stayed perfectly relaxed.
But when they spotted a tail veer predominantly to the left (again from the tail-swishing dog's point of view), their heart rates picked up and they looked anxious.
Prof Vallortigara said he didn't think that the dogs were intentionally communicating with each other through these movements.
Instead, he believes that they dogs have learned from experience what moves they should and shouldn't feel worried about.
He said: "If you have several meetings with other dogs, and frequently their tail wagging one way is associated with a more friendly behaviour, and the right side is producing a less friendly behaviour, you respond on the basis of that experience."
The researchers say the findings could give owners, vets and trainers a better insight into their animal's emotions.
Dog behaviour expert John Bradshaw, a visiting fellow at the University of Bristol's school of veterinary science, said this was not the first study to examine whether left and right were important to canines.
Last year a team from the University of Lincoln found that dogs turn their heads to the left when looking at an aggressive dog and to the right when looking at a happy dog.
And in another research paper from the University of Victoria in Canada, he said: "Dogs were more likely to approach a robot dog when its 'tail' was made to wag left rather than right, rather than becoming anxious - the opposite way around to the Italian study."
He said the differences could be because the dogs in the different studies were not fully interpreting the animals in the films or robo-dogs as canines.
A study of how dogs responded to real dogs could help, he explained.
"While there is considerable evidence from many different mammals that the two sides of the brain are used for different purposes, much of the detail still has to be hammered out - and dogs are no exception," he said.
However, given the ease with which their behaviour can be recorded, it will probably not be long before we understand why their tails sometimes go one way, sometimes the other.
Arctic Monkeys postpone Glasgow gig due to Alex Turner's illness
Rock band the Arctic Monkeys have postponed a gig in Glasgow after their lead singer was diagnosed with laryngitis.
The Sheffield group were scheduled to perform at the Hydro venue in the city on Friday.
However, lead singer Alex Turner's illness has forced them to reschedule the show.
The band's announcement came after they were forced to similarly postpone a gig at the LG Arena in Birmingham on Thursday.
In a statement on their official website, the Arctic Monkeys said: "Following the decision to postpone the show at the Birmingham LG Arena tonight and after seeking medical advice, Arctic Monkeys must also postpone the show at the Glasgow Hydro on Friday, November 1."
"Alex Turner has been diagnosed with laryngitis and is regrettably not able to perform."
The show at the LG Arena in Birmingham will now take place on November 20 and the show at the Glasgow Hydro will now take place on November 21.
All tickets remain valid for these shows.
We wish to apologise to all ticket holders for any inconvenience this has caused.
Please contact the customer services at the box office you purchased your tickets from for any further assistance.
Pope Francis to name first cardinals in February
Pope Francis will create new cardinals of the Catholic Church for his first time on February 22, the Vatican announced Thursday.
Cardinals are the highest-ranking clergy in the Catholic Church below the pope, and they're the ones who elect popes, so Francis will be appointing his first group of men who will ultimately help choose his successor.
There are now 201 cardinals.
However, once a cardinal reaches 80 he is no longer permitted to participate in the election of a pope -- this falls to a group of 120 "cardinal electors."
In a statement announcing the news, Father Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said a meeting of all the existing cardinals would be held before the ceremony to elevate the new cardinals, known as a consistory.
"Pope Francis has decided to communicate his decision to convoke February's consistory in advance in order to facilitate the planning of other meetings involving the participation of cardinals from different parts of the world," Lombardi said.
Jack Valero of Catholic Voices said that by February, the number of cardinal electors was likely to have dropped.
He said usually a pope would name as many cardinals as was needed to raise the number of cardinal electors back to 120 and as many cardinals aged over 80 as he wanted.
Next year's consistory would be significant because it would be the first since Francis was elected in March this year, Valero said.
At the moment there is a sort of bias towards Europe and especially towards Italy.
"It will be interesting to see whether the new Pope will nominate cardinals from the rest of the world to restore the balance," he said.
Forty percent of Roman Catholics are in South America, but they have a tiny number of cardinals.
The cardinals will also be the first to be chosen since Francis formed the Council of Cardinals, a group of eight cardinals from around the world tasked with looking into ways to reform the church.
In the past the Pope decided everything on his own.
"Now Francis has selected these eight cardinals to help him," Valero said.
He said it was "quite possible" that Francis would ask the cardinals for advice.
But we've not been in that situation before -- it's all completely new.
Valero said popes typically elevated bishops from large places to the position of cardinal but that Francis was "full of surprises -- so we don't know who he'll name."
GM recalls some new pickup trucks in U.S. to fix seatbacks
General Motors Co is recalling nearly 19,000 of its all-new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks to repair a problem with the manual reclining seatback, according to a notice from U.S. auto safety regulators on Friday.
On some of the trucks, the front seats may have a defect in the reclining mechanism.
As a result, the seatbacks fail to comply with federal auto safety standards on head restraints.
"If the vehicle is struck from behind, the head restraint may not properly protect occupants, increasing the risk of injury," according to the notice posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.
The recalled models were built between August 1 and September 10.
GM's truck roll-out began in June and represents the most important vehicle launch for the No. 1 U.S. automaker since its 2009 bankruptcy restructuring.
GM told truck owners about the defect in the first half of October.
NHTSA could not review the owner notification letter due to the 16-day government shutdown, which tempered auto sales growth in October.
Sales of the Silverado and Sierra trucks, which were redesigned for the 2014 model year, were up about 20 percent during the first 10 months of the year, GM said on Friday.
In October, GM sold 42,660 Silverado and 16,503 Sierra pickup trucks.
GM shares were up 1.4 percent at $37.47 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday afternoon.
Worker Dies Buried Under Concrete Blocks
A construction worker died after being buried under dozens of concrete blocks in Montreal on Thursday afternoon.
The tragedy occurred at around 11am on Rue Marquette, near the junction with Rue Beaubien, in the district of Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie.
By all accounts, foundation work had been going on at the site for some time.
A shared foundation wall had just been erected in the past few days.
The accident occurred just after the victim had arrived on site to collect his tools.
"I was going past in my car when I saw the wall collapse, creating a huge cloud of dust," said Sylvain Jean, who lives near the site.
"I got out and went to remove the large blocks that were covering him.
Only part of his back was visible, it's really sad."
According to the authorities, the victim is a man in his fifties, who worked for a formwork company.
Attempts at resuscitation were made by the emergency services, but without success.
The man succumbed to his serious injuries.
An inspector from the Occupational Health and Safety Commission was dispatched to the site to investigate the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.
An Obama voter's cry of despair
I voted for President Obama twice, sharing hope in possibility of change
He says Obama has had worthy efforts thwarted by GOP obstructionism
Obstructionism can't excuse Obamacare website woes, drone attacks
Obama's 2008 campaign memoir is a sad reminder of what might have been
Nathaniel P. Morris is a second-year student at Harvard Medical School.
I'm reading a terribly sad book these days.
It's a book that I thought would uplift me during the doldrums of second-year medical school, and renew in me a sense of hope.
It's called "The Audacity to Win," and it's a memoir of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.
When I'm finished with my patient write-ups at night and get into bed, the book returns me to a time when politics inspired millions and speeches could take your breath away.
The election turned out to be a landslide, and news anchors paused to reflect on the historic nature of the hour.
My classmates cried with joy, and my parents saved every newspaper they could find.
A young team of visionaries was headed for the White House, and the nation was ready for change.
During Obama's transition to office in 2008, he had an 82% approval rating.
And then I close the book.
Cutting to the present is a rude awakening, like snapping out of a dream.
It's hard to remember those days of optimism -- they seem a distant memory, a sad reminder of opportunities gone by.
Change indeed happened, in the years since I cast my first ballot.
It was simply nothing I could have imagined.
I credit Obama with great and varied accomplishments, from the passage of the Affordable Care Act to our military exit from Iraq, the end of "don't ask don't tell," to the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Moreover, I believe that partisan obstructionism has upended too many efforts to push our nation forward: immigration reform, a public option for health care, and closing the base at Guantanamo Bay, among others.
But, after the countless times in which I have found myself defending the Obama administration to colleagues and peers, I've reached a limit to the explanations that I can provide.
I've reached a point of political despair.
Republican obstructionism cannot explain allowing the bugging of foreign leaders, nor having drones strike innocent children overseas.
It cannot explain having the National Security Agency collect data on the private lives of Americans, nor prosecuting whistle-blowers who reveal government wrongdoing.
It cannot account for assassinating Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen, without a trial, nor shirking public funding and spending limits during presidential campaigns.
It cannot justify the findings of a report that says the White House's efforts to silence the media are the "most aggressive ... since the Nixon Administration."
And, most recently, it cannot excuse the failure to design a simple website more than three years since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law.
I don't know if this is what I should have expected.
If, at 18 years old, I was supposed to figure out that governance may contradict the political campaigns that precede it.
Obviously, elective office isn't a predictable course, as the opposing political party and random events, such as the Newtown massacre, will shape our public conversation.
Yet, of all of the examples that I have listed above, they largely seem to be of the administration's own choosing.
That is what troubles me most of all.
I voted for Obama again in 2012, but not because I was excited by his candidacy.
Mitt Romney presented a confusing and unrefined alternative who could not seem to lock down his policies or his positions.
I felt that a second term for Obama, free from the pressures of future elections, would fulfill the hope that we had heard of for so long.
Still, as Obama's approval rating sank below 45% this week, returning to 2008 through that book has become that much harder.
It makes me yearn for the many promises that disappeared.
This week I was reading the portion of the book describing how Obama suffered a huge loss to Clinton in the Pennsylvania primary.
At a post-mortem campaign meeting, he told his staff that they needed to get back on track and stay true to the purpose of their cause.
"I want us to get our mojo back," he said.
We've got to remember who we are.'
It's five years later, Mr. President, and I couldn't agree with you more.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Nathaniel Morris.
A serious accident occurred between a motorbike and a car on Rue Retinne in Fleron at around 3 pm on Friday.
The motorcyclist, Jonathan, aged 26, from Fléron, was not wearing a helmet.
Despite the quick intervention of the emergency services, he died as a result of the head-on collision.
Clive Palmer claims PM Tony Abbott has conflict of interest over parental leave scheme
Billionaire MP Clive Palmer says Prime Minister Tony Abbott has a conflict of interest over his parental leave scheme because his daughters might get pregnant and benefit from it.
The mining magnate, who is in a dispute about paying a $6 million carbon tax bill, made the claim as he tried to brush off questions about whether he had a conflict.
The Palmer United Party could control up to four votes in the Senate that may be crucial in deciding if the carbon and mining taxes are axed.
But Mr Palmer claimed it was only ministers who could have a conflict of interest and said Mr Abbott's daughters stood to personally benefit from policies.
"He's got a major conflict of interest when it comes to paid parental leave because if any of those daughters get pregnant, he'll have a direct interest whether they get leave or not," Mr Palmer said.
Two months after the election, the electoral commission officially declared Mr Palmer the winner of the Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax by 53 votes, after a recount.
Mr Palmer called for overhaul of election counting to speed up the process.
Tony Abbott's daughters Frances and Bridget.
Should this election be decided two months after we stopped voting?
"We need to have a better system," he said.
Why is it that we shouldn't have a system where you can walk in, punch your details into a computer, vote immediately and have a result at 6.30 that night?
Mr Palmer also criticised the use of pencils to mark ballots.
Is it because they can rub out the result if someone doesn't like it?
In this day and age having a pencil seems extraordinary.
The Electoral Commission has been studying options for electronic voting and recently released a joint discussion paper with New Zealand.
Mr Palmer, 59, said his policies included an international airport for the Sunshine Coast and he would take "very seriously" his new job.
Public office is about public service.
"We seek no reward, except the reward of history that we can at a critical time serve this community," he said.
A team of biologists working for the Wildlife Conservation Society of New York has identified a new humpback dolphin species living off the northern coast of Australia.
Thibaut Bouveroux, in charge of the scientific mission at the Observatoire pour la Conservation et l'Etude des Animaux et Milieux Marins (OCEAMM), discussed this discovery with L'Express and explains the long process of identifying new species.
Did the discovery of this new humpback dolphin species surprise you?
It's good news, but it didn't surprise me especially.
In the past, species have been described and identified on the basis of morphology, anatomy and geography. Today, the development of new tools such as genetics enables us to improve our knowledge of the science of the classification of species.
Moreover, there is a possibility that these advances in genetics and molecular biology may call into question the classification or belonging of a species to a particular genus, family or even order.
In the early 19th century, morphologists classified animals on the basis of the morphological differences between species.
Today, some of these classifications have been questioned as a result of advances in genetics.
Likewise, two species that are very similar in morphology were distinguished using genetics.
This is the case with the new species that has just been identified.
About a decade ago, scientists recognised two species that belonged to this sub-family: Pacific humpback dolphins and Atlantic humpback whales.
Recent analyses have enabled four species to be distinguished.
Why is this a significant discovery as the Wildlife Conservation Society says?
From the point of view of conservation, it is essential to be aware of genetic differences so a species and, thus, its genetic variability can be protected.
Researchers have known about this population for a long time, but they did not know that it was part of a new species that only lives in this location.
Hence, in the event of large-scale mortality in the region, caused by a viral epidemic or accidental capture, we would know that we are dealing with the extinction of a species rather than the local disappearance of a population belonging to a much more widespread species.
Such loss of genetic heritage would be much more problematic.
A species is considered to be threatened or endangered based on the number of its members alive on the planet, known as the stock, and of the possibility of the species restoring itself using neighbouring stocks.
The stock of the Sousa Chinensis species, from which the newly discovered population derives, has automatically grown weaker, making it more vulnerable.
Why is it rare to discover new marine mammal species?
Marine mammals are located at the top of the food chain.
They live in homogeneous, open habitats, in which there are numerous genetic exchanges between populations and individuals.
This blending of genes limits the creation of new species.
On the other hand, more enclosed ecosystems favour genetic isolation, which can ultimately lead to the creation of new species.
It should be noted that the marine environment is the least known of environments.
We prefer sending robots to Mars rather than knowing what is living in the Mariana Trench, just 11 kilometres below the surface of the ocean.
More money is spent on the search for life on other planets than on marine research, and it is high time things changed.
RBS suspends two forex traders
Royal Bank of Scotland has suspended two traders in its foreign exchange division according to two people familiar with the situation, in another sign that the global probe by regulators into the suspected manipulation of the currency market is rapidly gaining traction.
Some of the world's largest banks, including UBS, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and RBS, have confirmed they are co-operating with regulators in investigations into the world's largest financial market, where $5.3tn changes hands each day.
The two traders would be the first RBS employees to be suspended in the widening probe that echoes the Libor interbank lending manipulation scandal.
The bank, which declined to comment on the suspensions, confirmed this month that it has received requests for information from regulators.
"Our ongoing inquiry into this matter continues and we are co-operating fully with the FCA and our other regulators," the bank said two weeks ago.
Last month, people close to the situation said that RBS had turned over records of emails and instant messages to the UK regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, sent to and from a former trader.
This trader, Richard Usher, left RBS in 2010 and is understand to have be given leave from his current position as European head of forex spot trading at JPMorgan.
Rohan Ramchandani, head of European spot trading at Citi, went on leave this week, while Matt Gardiner, a former senior currencies trader at Barclays and UBS, was suspended by Standard Chartered this week.
None of these traders have been accused of any wrongdoing.
Mr Usher's instant message group included bankers at Barclays and Citigroup, people close to the situation said.
UBS said this week it had taken action against some of its employees after the Swiss regulator, Finma, said it was investigating suspected manipulation of the foreign exchange market at a number of Swiss banks.
At least six authorities globally - the European Commission, Finma, Switzerland's competition authority Weko, the FCA, the Department of Justice in the US and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority - are looking at allegations that bankers colluded to move the currencies market.
HSBC, Citigroup, JPMorgan and Credit Suisse have also launched internal probes or received requests for information from regulators, said people familiar with the situation.
Banks are scouring through years" worth of instant messages and emails to search for instances of wrongdoing.
News about the probes has rattled traders in an area that has been one of the bigger profit drivers of investment banks' trading units in past years but which has been challenged this year as low volatility in currencies cuts opportunities for speculators.
Some bankers have tried to play down the affair by saying the vast and highly liquid foreign exchange market is almost impossible to manipulate, but senior traders are saying this is not necessarily true.
A senior trader said that despite the huge volume of daily foreign exchange trading, the fragmentation of liquidity between different trading platforms and banks" increasing use of their own internal platforms meant that "you can start to get an impact on the market at quite small ticket prices."
The news came on the same day as Credit Suisse announced it had dismissed a trader at its London exchange traded funds desk this week after he had caused a nearly $6m loss late last year.
The bank promptly notified the relevant authorities and has been co-operating with its regulators.
"We are confident the trader acted alone and that the matter has been contained," Credit Suisse said.
Investigation on Mayor Rob Ford Botched, Lawyer Maintains
After the police confirmed that they laid hands on a copy of a video allegedly showing Rob Ford smoking crack, Barrister Clayton Ruby maintained that he has never seen an investigation "so botched".
The barrister said to the Canadian Press that he believes the police had "ignored or downplayed" evidence against the mayor.
This Thursday, police arrested Rob Ford's friend and occasional chauffeur, Alexander Lisi, aged 35, and charged him with extortion in relation with the video.
Lisi, who has previously been accused of drug trafficking, was frequently in contact with the mayor.
The police said they have also observed him delivering parcels to Rob Ford, according to new court documents.
Ruby says it is "inexplicable" that the police have never searched Rob Ford's vehicle or home, or tapped his telephone, saying that chief of police Bill Blair knowingly decided not to act against the mayor.
In accordance with the law, the police, having themselves witnessed suspicious transactions, could have intercepted Ford's vehicle, arrested the mayor and carried out a search - even without a warrant.
They could also have requested an immediate search warrant, if this was considered necessary.
The chief of police has not commented. However, his spokesman, Mark Pugash, has described Ruby's statements as "an obvious and desperate attempt" to sell himself to the media in a matter that does not concern him at all.
In a press conference on Thursday, Mr Blair stated that there was nothing in this video that might constitute a "reasonable motive" that could lead to criminal charges being brought against the mayor.
European Markets, Except London, Fall in Mid-session
The major European stock markets, except London, are on a down trend in mid-session this Friday. They are being dragged down by disappointing news from businesses, while Wall Street is expected to experience a rise.
Also, investors are still treading with caution, as they believe that the American Federal Reserve might end its quantitative easing policy earlier than expected.
On the other hand, following the announcement of a 0.7% inflation throughout the eurozone, the idea that the European Central Bank (ECB) might relax its monetary policy has been spreading amongst actors in the market .
Futures on Wall Street are suggesting that opening price of US shares will rise, following two consecutive sessions marked by a downward trend.
On the securities market, Renault (-4.63%) recorded the greatest drop with the CAC 40, weighed down by the profit warning issued by its partner, Nissan Motor, on Friday.
The Royal Bank of Scotland (-6.26%) recorded the worst performance in the EuroFirst300, after also reporting a decline in earnings this morning and announcing the creation of an internal bad bank structure covering £38 000 million of its highest risk assets.
On its part, Vodafone (+2.45%) is still leading the upward trend in the EuroFirst300 in response to a press release indicating that AT&T was looking at a possible takeover bid.
On the exchange market, speculation regarding a change in the ECB's monetary policy are rife, as testified by John Hardy, a strategist at Saxo Bank.
The ECB's sole mandate has always revolved around inflation, therefore Mario Draghi and his team have all the more reason to take action at their meeting next week.
We are forecasting a highly likely drop in the Euro.
In this context, the Euro continues to drop as compared to the US dollar and, during the session, reached a record two-week low at $1.3517.
Conversely, these very speculations are boosting the bond market in the eurozone.
Supreme Court upholds Obama health care law
In a major victory for the Obama administration, the US Supreme Court today ruled Barack Obama's signature health care law is constitutional.
By a 5-4 vote, the justices ruled the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's individual mandate - which requires citizens to buy health insurance by 2014 or else pay a penalty - was constitutional under the taxing power of the government.
Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the four more liberal members of the court while Justices Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Kennedy dissented.
The court also upheld the remaining sections of the 2700 page law, and further held that the health care law's requirement that states increase Medicaid eligibility or else lose all federal Medicaid funding is not unconstitutionally coercive.
The suit to block the law was brought by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business.
The law was vigorously opposed by each of the major Republican presidential candidates during the 2012 primary season, including presumptive nominee Mitt Romney.
Moving Tribute to War Veterans in Menton
In the heart of the Trabuquet cemetery, civilian, religious and military officials, plus numerous patriotic organisations, paid tribute to all soldiers and victims of every war on Friday afternoon.
Flowers were laid on two of the three military burial plots in the cemetery by Mayor Jean-Claude Guibal and various other personalities.
Palestinians and Israelis Clash on Gaza border
Four Hamas fighters were killed and five Israeli soldiers injured on the evening of 31 October 2013 during a violent clash on the border between Gaza and Israel, the most serious incident in the Palestinian territory for a year.
The only power plant in the Gaza Strip stopped working on Friday 1 November, following exhaustion of its fuel reserve, the Energy Authority for the Palestinian enclave announced.
A local commander of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Khaled Abou Bakr, and another officer of the armed wing of Hamas, Rabieh Barikeh, were killed by a tank shell during an incursion by the Israeli army east of Khan Younes, in the south of the Gaza Strip, according to local medical sources.
Two other local officers of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Mohammed al-Qassas and Mohammed Daoud, were killed when an Israeli helicopter opened fire in the same area.
Their bodies were discovered later.
According to Palestinian security sources, the four fighters were conducting a surveillance operation in the border area between the Palestinian enclave and Israel.
Attack on tunnel dug by Palestinians
According to the same sources and witnesses, an Israeli tank and an armoured bulldozer made an incursion a hundred metres or so into the territory before retreating.
The confrontation lasted half an hour, according to witnesses.
In a statement, a Hamas spokesperson, Sami Abou Zouhri, paid tribute to the four "heroes" and stated that Israeli soldiers had died in the confrontation.
Hamas praised the "Al-Qassam heroes who died defending the territory against an incursion at Khan Younes by the Zionist occupier.
Many enemies were killed or injured during the operation.
Hamas guarantees that Gaza will be hell for the occupier," the spokesperson threatened.
The Israeli army, on the other hand, stated that the target of its operation was initially a section of a wide tunnel dug into Israeli territory from the Palestinian enclave, which was discovered on 7 October and, according to the army, was intended for "terrorist activities".
Hamas has defended its use of tunnels in the fight against Israel, stating that the aim was to capture Israeli soldiers so they could be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.
The operation was intended to prevent future terrorist attacks using this tunnel, explained an Israeli military statement.
During the operation, Hamas triggered an explosive device targeting the "Tsahal forces" (the Israeli army) and injured five soldiers.
Israeli attack in northern Syria
"This mission was essential because of the risk of the terrorist tunnel being used for attacks against Israeli civilians," said army spokesperson, Peter Lerner.
Furthermore, Israel attacked a military airbase in the northwest of Syria, targeting a shipment of missiles destined for the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, satellite channel Al-Arabiya reported on Thursday 31 October.
A US official confirmed that there had been an "Israeli strike", but did not give details of the target.
"In the past, the targets have been missiles being transferred to Hezbollah," he merely added.
Israeli government officials refused to confirm any information relating to the attack.
Citing "exclusive sources" that it did not name, the Saudi-owned channel stated that "the bombing targeted a shipment of ground-to-air missiles intended for Hezbollah in Lebanon," referring to the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement that is fighting the rebels alongside the Syrian forces.
Earlier, a Syrian NGO, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported several explosions being heard at dawn on Wednesday in a defence airbase at Sonar Jable, near Lattaquie, on the Syrian coast.
This organisation, which relies on a network of militants and medical sources, was unable to identify the origin of the explosions.
It's a comeback in black and white for Marie Chouinard, who is staging "A Danse Danse", her two new group choreographies: the first inspired by the ink drawings and poems of Henri Michaux, the second inspired by the famous piano solos of Gymnopédies de Satie.
This is an evening that showcases Chouinard's entire spectrum, from art to mannerisms and from the blackness of ink to whiteness.
The background is a white screen.
On the carpet, which is also white, in the immense space of the Théâtre Maisonneuve, a body appears, in profile, as thin as a line and dressed in black.
An Henri Michaux ink drawing is projected onto the screen.
The body, a simple stroke, takes its shape.
And this shape is definitive of the entire piece: it is a series of physical representations of drawings.
The dancers, all dressed in black, with only their hands and faces uncovered, wait on each side of the stage; they hurry on when the next graphic appears, incarnate it, then run off again.
This Henri Michaux play with black and white is performed as a series of solos, in a group in unison (a mass acting as a solo), a large group of twelve solos, in which each individual makes a representation of their own sign.
It is reminiscent of "Gloire du matin", wherein, in the form of solos, Chouinard delivers a series of choreographic tasks drawn on cartels and lined up at the front of the stage.
It is the same principle in a giant PowerPoint version.
In this performance, the music is loud,accompanied by percussion and electric guitars.
The energy is great, and the rhythm fast.
There is a break when Carol Prieur takes refuge under the dance mat, microphone in hand, to deliver, with no sobriety or reserve, part of a Michaux poem, in the flat monotonous voice of an auction, then continues to dance.
The music starts again, and the sequence continues.
This sustained (if that is possible) discharge of sound and energy ends up being deafening and numbing,
as does the regularity of the visual rhythm.
There are several beautiful flashes - the creation of images has always been one of Chouinard's strong points - like the hair that is ruffled or the black fabric that extends the lines.
But the choreographic approach lacks composition.
One gets the impression that, instead of going in search of Michaux's work, the choreographer has imposed herself on it with using her mannerisms.
The result is bodies that seem flat in front of the drawings.
The Michaux inks, like Gestalt shapes, provide a level of imagination broader and richer than dance, more porous.
Only at the end, which is in negative, with the dancers broken up a strobe lights and becoming white symbols in a suddenly dark theatre, does it touch on magic.
The audience liked it, the reception was warm.
After the interval, the Gymnopédies is richer.
The stage is partly draped in grey, the dancers and a piano are covered in fabric, like furniture in an abandoned house.
At the piano, dancers take turns to play the scores.
Their touching musical awkwardness shows real fragility.
Couples cross the stage as pairs of lovers, very sensual, even erotic.
Group work, small transiting solos, moving as a group, a chorus, makes the depiction less binary.
Clowns appear, another regular feature of Chouinard's work, wearing red noses, in very polarised parades of male/female lovers.
Their loves are toothy, evasive or playful.
The body movements, the laughter, the small cries beautifully translate the archaicness, the gracefulness and the absurdity of bodies in coitus, of beings melting into each other.
But the piece really takes off after the bow.
A clown comes back on stage as the audience is leaving.
At that point, anything goes: the fourth wall comes down, the explored universes are superimposed, the dancers ham it up, come down among the spectators, talk, smoke, pass through, play with the etiquette of applause, build up the hype amid a consciously calculated disorder that remains sensual.
They exude joy and madness, and that is Chouinard's art; contaminating the audience.
Google, Samsung, Huawei sued over Nortel patents
The group that owns thousands of former Nortel patents filed a barrage of patent lawsuits on Thursday against cell phone manufacturers including Google, the company it outbid in the Nortel bankruptcy auction.
Rockstar, the consortium that bought the Nortel patents for $4.5 billion, sued Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, HTC Corp, Huawei and four other companies for patent infringement in U.S. District Court in Texas.
Rockstar is jointly owned by Apple, Microsoft, Blackberry, Ericsson and Sony.
Google is accused of infringing seven patents.
The patents cover technology that helps match Internet search terms with relevant advertising, the lawsuit said, which is the core of Google's search business.
Representatives for Samsung, Huawei, HTC and Rockstar could not immediately be reached.
Samsung, Huawei and HTC all manufacture phones that operate on Google's Android operating system, which competes fiercely with Apple and Microsoft mobile products.
In 2011 Google placed an initial $900 million bid for Nortel's patents.
Google increased its bid several times, ultimately offering as much as $4.4 billion.
After losing out to Rockstar on the Nortel patents, Google went on to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, a deal driven partly by Motorola's library of patents.
"Despite losing in its attempt to acquire the patents-in-suit at auction, Google has infringed and continues to infringe," the lawsuit said.
Rockstar is seeking increased damages against Google, as it claims Google's patent infringement is willful, according to the complaint.
Gesves: Faulty Water Heater Causes Explosion of House
The grandmother apparently lit a cigarette while there was a gas leak,
leading to an explosion in a house in Gesves that left two people seriously injured on Friday morning - the 52-year-old grandmother and her 5-year-old grandson. The explosion was caused by a gas leak in a faulty water heater, the assistant public prosecutor said on Friday evening.
The expert, who was dispatched to the scene by the public prosecutor's office, stated that the cause of the explosion was purely accidental.
The grandmother lit a cigarette when there was a gas leak and a build-up of gas.
The condition of the two victims remains critical.
The grandmother was thrown across the room by the explosion and seriously burnt.
The little boy, who was staying with his grandfather and partner, was by her side and suffered less serious burns.
"The two victims were intubated and treated for some time at the site, before being taken to the CHU in Liège, by helicopter and by ambulance for the grandmother and her grandson respectively," said Mayor José Paulet on visiting the site.
The traumatised grandfather was upstairs at the time of the explosion.
He was unhurt and, thus, able to go downstairs using the staircase which had remained intact, though the rear wall of the house was completely destroyed.
The grandfather and the tenant of the house next door, which was weakened by the explosion, have been accommodated elsewhere by the head of the social services.
The Andenne and Namur fire departments and the police from Arches intervened.
The Crisnée civil protection services has stabilised the two buildings.
Egypt swears in first freely elected president
Mohamed Morsi takes the oath of office but his day of triumph is unlikely to mark end of political strife in Egypt.
ISLAMIST Mohamed Morsi promised a "new Egypt" as he took the oath of office to become the country's first freely elected president, succeeding Hosni Mubarak who was ousted 16 months ago.
At his inauguration before the Supreme Constitutional Court, Morsi also became the Arab world's first freely elected Islamist president and Egypt's fifth head of state since the overthrow of the monarchy some 60 years ago.
He took the oath before the court's 18 black-robed judges in its Nile-side seat built to resemble an ancient Egyptian temple.
"We aspire to a better tomorrow, a new Egypt and a second republic," Morsi said during a solemn ceremony shown live on state television.
"Today, the Egyptian people laid the foundation of a new life - absolute freedom, a genuine democracy and stability," said Morsi, a 60-year-old US-trained engineer from the Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamentalist group that has spent most of the 84 years since its inception as an outlawed organisation harshly targeted by successive governments.
Hundreds of soldiers and policemen guarded the building as Morsi arrived shortly after 11am local time in a small motorcade.
Only several hundred supporters gathered outside the court to cheer the new president and, in a departure from the presidential pomp of the Mubarak years, traffic was only briefly halted to allow his motorcade through on the usually busy road linking the city centre with its southern suburbs.
Derided as the Brotherhood's uncharismatic "spare tyre," his personal prestige has surged since his victory and his delivery of a Friday speech that tried to present him as a candidate not just of Islamists but of all those who want to complete the work of the 2011 uprising against the authoritarian Mubarak.
"Egypt today is a civil, national, constitutional and modern state," Morsi, wearing a blue business suit and a red tie, told the judges in the wood-panelled chamber where he took the oath of office.
Morsi later travelled to Cairo University where he was to make his inauguration address.
He was given an official welcome by an army band that played the national anthem as he stood to attention.
Military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi was in attendance.
His arrival was greeted with chants of, "The army and the people are one hand," from the hundreds gathered in the university's main lecture room.
Established in 1908 as a bastion of secular education, Cairo University later became a stronghold of Islamist student groups in the 1970s.
Morsi took a symbolic oath on Friday in Tahrir Square, birthplace of the uprising that ended Mubarak's authoritarian rule last year, and vowed to reclaim presidential powers stripped from his office by the military council that took over from the ousted leader.
But by agreeing to take the official oath before the court, rather than before parliament as is customary, he is bowing to the military's will in an indication that the contest for power will continue.
Morsi's speech in Tahrir Square was filled with dramatic populist gestures.
The shutdown in the USA has slowed down the automotive market.
According to figures published on Friday by manufacturers, five of the top six of which have recorded results below expectations, the 16-day shutdown of most federal administration services suppressed growth in car sales in the USA in October.
The three major manufacturers in Detroit realised double-digit growth as compared to October 2012, but only General Motors performed better than expected.
Analysts had forecast average sales of 15.4 million units (annualised rate, adjusted with seasonal variations), but the market settled at 15.3 million, according to estimates by Adam Jonas, an analyst at Morgan Stanley.
In a note to the bank's clients, he states that this slight slow-down can principally be explained by "the government shutdown and its impact on consumers' feelings in the first half of the month."
Nevertheless, GM has reported an increase of about 16% in sales last month with 226,402 vehicles, as compared to 211,563 expected by consensus.
The four brands of the group saw an improvement in their commercial performance over October 2012.
Ford, which is still reaping benefits from the success of its pick-up trucks amongst other things, saw sales increase by 14% over a year to 191,985 vehicles, against an expectation of 194,301.
On its part, Chrysler, which is controlled by Fiat, announced an 11% increase in sales with 140,083 vehicles, against an expected 143,536.
Toyota and Nissan also reported sales below expectations, despite increases of 8.8% and 14.2% respectively over a year.
On the New York Stock Exchange, GM shares gained 1.4% at 16:35 GMT, while Ford lost 1.1%.
Renault Share Price Plummets Following Nissan Warning
Renault recorded the biggest drop on the SBF 120 index in Paris on Friday after its partner, Nissan Motors, announced that it had reduced its net annual profit forecast by almost 20%, traders report.
Nissan, which was forced to make the revision, also announced a management restructuring.
Several traders reported that Renault shares had been affected by the warning this morning.
"It's clearly because of the Nissan profit warning," said a trading representative from a Paris broker.
Under the Renault-Nissan alliance, Renault holds 43.4% of Nissan's capital and the Japanese manufacturer 15% of the French company's, according to data on the Nissan website.
Greece: Two Dead in Shooting Near Neo-Nazi Party Office
Two people were killed and another seriously injured on Friday evening by gunshots fired by two people on a motorbike that was passing an office used by neo-Nazi party, Golden Dawn, in the western suburbs of Athens, a police source has said.
The police are currently unable to give any information on the identity of the victims or any political affiliations they had.
According to reports from some Greek media, members of Golden Dawn said the victims were guarding the party's premises.
The injured person was immediately taken to hospital, the same source said.
Anti-terrorist service police rushed to the main avenue in the suburb of Neo Iraklio, where the incident took place, and sealed off the area.
The incident comes a few weeks after six Golden Dawn members, including the leader and founder of the party, were charged with being part of a "criminal organisation", within the framework of an operation aimed at the party following the murder of an anti-fascist musician by one of its members.
Scott Brown Appeal Rejected
Scott Brown, Glasgow Celtic captain, has had his appeal rejected and will miss his club's next two Champion's League matches, against Ajax and AC Milan.
The Scotland midfielder was sent off for a foul against Neymar in the match against FC Barcelona. UEFA has now extended his suspension to three matches.
In a press release, the club said it was "very disappointed" and that the appeal was entirely justified.
Close to 50,000 homes throughout the province were left without power shortly after midday on Friday, due to violent winds hitting numerous regions along the St Lawrence River.
The sectors worst affected are the Laurentides, Montérégie, and Outaouais, with 15,042, 13,464 and 8,642 customers respectively plunged into darkness.
The metropolitan region of Montreal is also experiencing its share of breakdowns, with close to 7,000 homes in the city and in Laval left without power.
Thought travel agents were a thing of the past thanks to the internet?
Flight Centre seem to be bucking the trend.
The company has upgraded its full year profit forecast and is looking to record earnings from holidaymakers in Australia and the United Kingdom.
The travel company now expects its full year underlying profit before tax to be between $325 million and $340 million, compared with the $305 million to $315 million it previously forecast.
If the current guidance is achieved it will represent a 12 to 17 per cent growth on the record $290.4 million profit it achieved in 2011/12.
Managing director Graham Turner said Flight Centre had made 8 per cent profit in the first half and had started the second half strongly especially in Australian and UK non-business travel.
"Year-to-date, our 10 countries are profitable and several are on track for record full-year earnings before interest and tax contributions," he said.
This includes Australia and the United Kingdom, which are typically our largest profit generators.
In Australia the leisure business rebounded during the second half which offset a slightly weaker domestic corporate travel market.
Similarly in the UK, Flight Centre's leisure business performed well while corporate clients were spending less.
Its US business had recovered its losses during its seasonally weaker first half and was expected to deliver its third consecutive full year profit.
Flight Centre shares were up 3c at $38.20 yesterday.
Unknown Persons Open Fire on Hotel Near Pyramids in Cairo
Unknown persons wearing hoods opened fire on a hotel close to the pyramids in Cairo, Egypt this Friday. Nobody was hurt in the incident which apparently resulted from an argument involving workers who had been made redundant.
The attackers fled, according to the spokesperson of the Ministry of the Interior, Police General Abdel Latif.
The attack took place at a time when Egypt is hardly receiving any tourists since the army deposed the Islamic President, Mohamed Morsi, in early July and bloodily suppresses demonstrations by his supporters.
Schools urged to focus more on maths, spelling and grammar
English literature courses will require pupils to study at least one Shakespeare play, a 19th century novel, Romantic poetry and contemporary British fiction from 1914 onwards.
The exam will also feature "unseen texts" to encourage wider reading;
A combined English literature and language course will be scrapped.
From 2015, pupils will be required to take a standalone GCSE in language, with strong incentives to choose English literature as a separate qualification.
The Department for Education is due to release the new syllabuses in English and maths tomorrow - the first subjects to undergo a radical overhaul.
It will make changes in other core subjects next year.
In a separate move, Ofqual, the exams regulator, will unveil a shake-up of the structure of GCSEs, with a new grading system and less coursework.
Speaking in the summer, Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, said there was a "widespread consensus that we need to reform our examination system to restore public confidence," insisting GCSEs would be "more challenging, more ambitious and more rigorous."
Studies show that English schools devote less time to maths - 116 hours a year or three hours a week during term time - than in most countries.
By comparison, Australian schools provide an average of 143 hours a year and pupils do around 138 hours in Singapore.
While there will be no formal requirement to devote more of the timetable to maths, Coalition sources said the extensive maths GCSE - combined with more weighting for the subject in league tables - was likely to encourage schools to provide extra teaching.
The syllabus will place a greater focus on "real world problems," including financial mathematics.
This judgement means that it will be possible to enforce a law which was adopted in this state in July and widely brings the issue of the right to abortion into question.
Octogenarian in Le Muy Greets Children with Gun on Halloween
The minors, aged between 9 and 13, were going from door to door asking for sweets on Halloween evening when
one of the riverside residents the children called on in the district of Le Muy opened the door holding his hunting rifle.
The 86-year-old man told police he was afraid.
His weapon was seized.
Former Gestapo Chief Buried in Jewish Cemetery
Heinrich Muller, who was never found after disappearing at the end of the Second World War, was actually buried in a common grave in a Jewish cemetery in Berlin, the head of the German Resistance Memorial, Professor Johannes Tuchel, confirmed to Bild.
Muller did not survive the war.
"His body was buried in a common grave in the Jewish cemetery in Berlin Mitte in 1945," he confirmed in the popular daily newspaper, basing his statement on archives.
This revelation comes 68 years after the fall of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime and solves one of the big post-War mysteries.
The German Secret Service, the BND, declared in summer 1949 that Muller was in Karlovy Vary, then in Czechoslovakia, according to a document obtained by Bild.
But the secret services were completely wrong.
"Muller's body was found in August 1945 by a commando in a temporary grave near the former Ministry of Aviation of the Reich," says Mr. Tuchel.
He was wearing "a general's uniform".
"His service papers and photo, amongst other things, were found in the inside left pocket," he continued.
Bild also published a document from the borough hall of the Mitte district in Berlin, indicating that he had been buried in the district's Jewish cemetery.
The president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dieter Graumann, said he was shocked by the revelation.
Finding that one of the most brutal Nazi sadists was buried in a Jewish cemetery is an abhorrent enormity, he said.
"The memory of the victims is being trampled underfoot in the worst manner," he said disgustedly in the paper.
Heinrich Muller was one of the major figures in the Third Reich never to be captured.
He took part in the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, where the "final solution" was decided upon, and notably was in command of Adolf Eichmann, who was responsible for the "logistics" of the extermination of the Jews and who was sentenced to death and executed in Israel in 1962.
Pamela Anderson chops off those iconic blonde locks, debuts dramatic new pixie cut.
Pam's blonde locks were made famous by her role in sexy TV show Baywatch.
Pamela Anderson is the latest celebrity to shock fans with a dramatic new hairdo.
The ex-Baywatch babe has ditched her long blonde locks in favour of a platinum pixie crop.
The 46-year-old actress revealed her latest look while out and about in LA on Wednesday and shared a snap on her Twitter page.
It's the first time in 20 years that the blonde beauty has had short hair, and we're loving the demure change.
What do you think about Pammy's hair?
Share with us your thoughts in the comments below.
Trekking through mud, rivers and jungle to provide free medical care
Dr. Georges Bwelle is bringing free health care to rural villages in Cameroon
Bwelle and his team spend almost every weekend seeing hundreds of patients
There aren't many doctors in the west African country; just one for every 5,000 people
Cast your vote here or through your mobile device
Dr. Georges Bwelle is one of the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2013.
You can vote for him, or any of the other top 10 Heroes, to be CNN Hero of the Year.
That person will receive $250,000 to continue their extraordinary work.
For 21 years, Georges Bwelle watched his ill father slip in and out of consciousness, traveling to hospitals that weren't equipped to help him.
Jamef Bwelle was injured in a 1981 car accident near Yaounde, Cameroon's capital.
He suffered only a broken arm at first, but an infection developed and spread to his brain, creating a hematoma that would affect him for the rest of his life.
"There were no neurosurgeons in Cameroon," Georges Bwelle said.
We would have taken him out of Cameroon if we had the money.
Instead, Bwelle spent years escorting his father to overcrowded clinics and hospitals, getting whatever treatment they could get.
"It's not easy," Bwelle said.
You can leave home at 5 a.m., running to the hospital to be the first, and you are not the first.
There are a lot of patients.
Some people can die because they are waiting.
The situation hasn't changed much since Bwelle's father passed away in 2002.
In Cameroon, there is only one doctor for every 5,000 people, according to the World Health Organization.
For comparison's sake, the ratio in the United States is one doctor for every 413 people.
And even if they could see a physician, many Cameroonians couldn't afford it.
Two out of five people in the country live below the poverty line, and nearly three-quarters of the country's health-care spending is private.
"The only problem they have is poverty," Bwelle said.
And with poverty, they cannot enjoy their life.
Seeing his father and so many of his countrymen suffer, Bwelle was determined to do something about it.
Dr. Georges Bwelle and his team of volunteers have performed 700 free surgeries in the past year.
He became a doctor himself, working as a vascular surgeon in Yaounde's Central Hospital.
And he started a nonprofit, ASCOVIME, that travels into rural areas on weekends to provide free medical care.
Since 2008, he and his group of volunteers have helped nearly 32,000 people.
Almost every Friday, he and up to 30 people jam into vans, tie medical supplies to the roofs and travel across rough terrain to visit villages in need.
Their luck doesn't always hold out.
They've had to push vehicles through rivers and mud more than once.
But when they arrive, they receive a true heroes' welcome: a feast, singing and dancing, and the best accommodations the community can offer.
In these villages, free medical care is truly a cause for celebration, and Bwelle -- with his big smile and boundless energy -- is more than happy to join in the fun.
The next morning, the team begins meeting with hundreds of patients.
"We are receiving 500 people in each trip," Bwelle said.
They are coming from 60 kilometers around the village, and they're coming on foot.
Each of these weekend clinics provides a variety of medical care.
Many people are treated for malaria, tuberculosis, malnutrition, diabetes, parasites and sexually transmitted diseases.
Others might receive crutches, a pair of donated eyeglasses or free birth certificates -- documentation that's required for school but that many impoverished families simply can't afford.
In the evenings, the team will do simple surgeries with local anesthesia.
Operations are usually done in a schoolhouse, town hall or home; after the procedure, patients get up and walk to the recovery area to make way for the next person.
With the group's generator lighting the operating room and sanitizing equipment, Bwelle and his volunteers work into the early hours of Sunday morning.
It's a backbreaking pace, but village musicians usually help keep the team motivated.
"They are beating drums all night to keep us awake and continue our work," Bwelle said.
On Sunday, the team heads back to the city, tired but proud of their work.
The group -- a mix of Cameroonian doctors and foreign medical students -- has performed 700 free surgeries in the past year, and they know that their help can make a world of difference to those they help.
One man explained that the free hernia surgery he'd received will allow him to work again.
"This will change my future with my family," the man said.
In addition to holding these weekend clinics and working as a hospital surgeon, Bwelle also works nights at private medical clinics around Yaounde.
It's this second job, he said, that funds about 60% of his nonprofit; the rest is covered by private donations.
"I'm not sure when he sleeps," said Katie O'Malley, a second-year medical student from Drexel University in Philadelphia and volunteer with Bwelle's group.
He is always either at the hospital or trying to make money for the organization so he can go on these campaigns.
For medical and nursing students such as O'Malley, who come from the United States and Europe to join Bwelle on his missions, it's a hands-on opportunity they'd never get at home.
"We've been able to scrub in on surgeries where we help blot blood away or hold tools for Dr. Bwelle," O'Malley said.
That's not something you'd ever get to do in America as a second-year medical student.
The student volunteers usually pay their own way to Cameroon, often arriving with donated medical supplies.
But once they arrive in Yaounde, their board, transportation and instruction are covered by Bwelle.
"He's a hero, without a doubt," O'Malley said.
He gives his life to this organization, and his desire to help the Cameroon people is everlasting.
For Bwelle, the near-constant workload isn't a hardship.
Helping others live happier lives, fulfilling a promise he made to his father, is something that brings him great joy.
"I am so happy when I am doing this work," Bwelle said.
And I think about my father.
I hope he sees what I am doing.
To make people laugh, to reduce the pain, that's why I'm doing this.
Check out the ASCOVIME website and see how to help.
Pierre Nora's Two Frances
Perplexed by his work, academics have long struggled to define and place Pierre Nora.
Is he a professor in lecture halls and classrooms?
Of course, but with emphasis on his fondness for byroads, at Sciences-Po (French Institute of Political Sciences), and Hautes Etudes (School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences).
Does he play an arbiter of the work of others from his office in Rue Gaston-Gallimard?
Yes, but while ignoring his lesser known work and underground writing as an editor.
Is he the heir to Fontenelle's chair at the Académie Française?
Yes again, but he knows that such an honour cannot replace the real holy oil, the philosophical work, which he has foregone.
They have gladly acknowledged him as a great awakener, a driving force, a unifier of their work, but observed that he seemed disinclined to produce such work himself.
The monumental "Lieux de mémoire" (places of memory), to which his name is attached, has also contributed to this unclear image.
Scandal-mongers have regarded this work as a gigantic "flea market", presented by an intelligent and very learned commentator with a keen eye, but who is an incurable "dabbler".
The two works published by Nora almost two years ago have already proven that though he appeared not to write, he had written - plentifully and well.
This book should definitively do him justice.
However, once again, there is a tendency towards ubiquity, intellectual roaming, jubilation in jumping, as if with both feet tied,from one subject to another.
Nevertheless, one quickly understands that the disparate objects gathered together in this beautifully titled book lead the "second-hand goods dealer" to a constant passion, that of discovering the core that makes up the French identity.
Why these dramatic appeals for national unity?
Identity is a contemporary preoccupation.
Not long ago, we were asked to collectively define it.
But, in the peremptory minds of our former leaders, French identity was a timeless essence.
All it took was to highlight its mistakes and, in keeping with Jacobinism, the issue would be entrusted to prefects and sub-prefects - the authorised interpreters.
What Pierre Nora is searching for is something else.
He does not position himself as an heir to an eternal Frenchness; he rejects the definition.
As an analyst anxious about a familiar strangeness, he wanders in a forest of symbols, stops after each step to examine an object in the form of a puzzle, tormented by irritating questions,
such as this, which arises from the undertaking itself: why, in a country so permanently established within its frontiers, with such an ancient structure and that is so solidly built, do we hear these dramatic calls for unity?
The calls are pressing only because of the need to ward off the trouble caused by discord in French history, says Nora.
Franks and Gauls, Armagnacs and Burgundians, Catholics and Protestants: the forces of division in this country are very ancient.
And the most emblematic is clearly that which split national history in two:
since the upheaval of the Revolution, the French have had two histories and two nations - one monarchic, the other revolutionary.
The second tried to kill off the first, but failed to wipe it out; on the contrary, it was wary of letting it rediscover its sacredness and was so eager for unity and indivisibility that it cut off the head of the person who was the evident and powerful incarnation of the two.
And from there was born an invincibly bipartite nation, split into left and right, lay and Catholic, adoration and hatred for the Revolution.
To understand this unique aspect of the French identity, there is nothing better than taking a short trip outside of metropolitan France, so much so that Pierre Nora's American venture could be the heart of his book.
This is because America and France have both had a revolution, drawn up a declaration of rights, and tried to found a new society.
However, our familiarity with America only emphasises even more something that is particular to us.
Over there, people abandoned their former rulers in England and did not have to bother about them any more.
Here, people were bothered by a native old power, and were all the more radical for it.
Over there, the revolution was consensual, whereas here it engendered tragedy and conflict.
There, the founding fathers are still honoured, but here, our revolutionary ancestors are hardly used as role models, besides, they killed each other.
There, there has been institutional consistency; here there has been a torrent of constitutions, so many mistakes to correct and tests to repeat:
the France on the way out, the France in the making.
However, there has been a time when the French believed they could repair the damage done to their history and overcome the curse of the number two.
Pierre Nora has shown has shown great interest and even tenderness for this Third Republic: he salutes those who tried at the time to repair the divide created by the Revolution by teaching students about everything in the former France that obscurely paved the way for the modern France, and by offering them a unified version of their history.
Yet, this pacified identity has had its day.
Here we are in debate once again, shaken by a new type of immigration, threatened by the inflow of protesting minorities, absorbed into the European framework.
The book thus offers both a fascinating portrait of the France on the way out, and a circumspect outline of the France in the making.
And, on top of that, there is the portrait of the historian, which should hold some surprises.
It reveals that the wanderer liked to stay at home.
The man of many curiosities is - slightly obsessively - focused on a single idea.
The one who prowled at the edges was standing in the heart of the centre.
And the man who rejected a notion of a nation over half a century ago, but who escaped from the initiatory exercise of the philosophical work, confides in us, cum grano salis, that he has ended up doing it after all.
And so he has, but in a less formal, and more exploded and subtle form.
A form, which - make no mistake - is just as restrictive,
because, over and above the format imposed in the university course, this philosophical work speaks of the inner necessity of a life.
Former Hostage in Lebanon Says "Coming Back is Difficult to Handle"
Journalist Jean-Louis Normandin was kidnapped on 08 March 1986, along with three members of his Antenne 2 team who had come to film a Hezbollah demonstration, and was set free almost 21 months later, on 27 November 1987.
He retired in 2008, but in 2004 he helped set up a hostage defence association, "Otages du Monde" ("Hostages of the World"), which he has been running for several years.
The main objective of the association is to make it possible for hostages to press charges and bring their kidnappers before the International Criminal Court.
Four AQMI (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) hostages, Daniel Larribe, Thierry Dol, Pierre Legrand and Marc Feret, were freed on Tuesday after being held for over 1,000 days.
Following medical examinations at the military hospital in Val-de-Grâce on Wednesday afternoon, they have now been reunited with their families.
Now they can gradually try to resume their lives.
"Le Nouvel Observateur" interviewed 62-year-old Jean-Louis Normandin, a former senior reporter who retired in 2008 and is president of the association "Otages du Monde".
On the evening you were set free, you appeared on the mid-evening news on Antenne 2.
What are your memories of being set free today?
On the ground specifically, in Beirut?
The day I was set free, I was in the boot of a car where I met Roger Auque - although I couldn't see him as it was dark.
He said "We're free," but I wasn't sure and thought we might still be killed.
We were very excited, but also very tense.
It was in the middle of a war and the people driving us too were very tense.
They dropped us off on a pavement.
There were Syrian soldiers there.
We were then taken to the Hotel Summerland where the press had gathered.
Some Frenchmen took us to the French Embassy.
That was when I made my first call to my parents, my family, my friends, the press and so on.
I remember taking a one-hour bath,
and having dinner in a T-shirt at the French Embassy.
I also remember a short night spent talking to Roger and Marchiani.
It was still tense as there was no way of evacuating us to Larnaca airport in Cyprus.
We got there by helicopter and took a private plane to France via Corfu and Solenzara, where Pasqua got on board.
How were you received when you got to French soil?
We landed at Orly.
Chirac, the Prime Minister, was there.
It was a bit rough,
the jostling was unbelievable.
And there was a lot of media.
When I left the country, there were three television channels -
when I got back there were loads of them.
Coming down the steps of the aeroplane, being reunited with my son and parents, my friends, that was all very emotional.
Numerous motorbikes followed our car, which was driven by Roussin, from the airport to my home.
The bikes were jostling to get in front and take photos. They followed me all the way home, where I had to do some policing to stop some of them climbing up.
The media pressure was huge.
It wouldn't stop and we were well placed to know that...
Yet, the level of emotion and fatigue made it difficult to think clearly.
You come out of a hole and are suddenly in the spotlight of the media.
It's a bit complicated, a bit of a shock, quite difficult to handle.
But we'd been through the hardest part.
I was on the mid-evening news that same evening, and on TV the following day as well.
Then a very gentle sort of readjustment to life started, lasting one or two months that were a bit like a holiday.
How did the medical examinations and the debriefing with the DGSE (Directorate General for External Security) go?
I had to undergo an initial medical check in Corsica.
The other tests were carried out in Val-de-Grâce in the days after my return: X-rays, examinations of every type, and an appointment with a psychiatrist.
Everything can't be sorted out in one appointment, but you know you can count on the psychiatrist, call on him if needed, that you have not been abandoned to yourself.
It is all part of the process.
I also met with the intelligence services.
They asked me a lot of questions about the hostage-takers.
It was normal.
It didn't bother me.
How do you react today to the liberation of the four hostages in Niger?
I'm listening to what's being said.
Especially the debate about ransoms.
Some things annoy me, others less so.
I try to distinguish between the questions about my past as a hostage and my role as president of the association "Otages du Monde", which enables me to keep a distance and seems to me more interesting to deal with.
For example, I think about the definition of resilience.
And, I fight, alongside other people, for the recognition of the legal status of hostages.
I think there is a problem of semantics.
We need to qualify hostage-taking as "political" hostage-taking - that's what it is for the most part - and enable the hostages to have access to justice, to press charges and to bring their kidnappers before the International Criminal Court.
Today, once again, everyone is wrapped up in compassion, emotion and is rejoicing that the hostages are free.
But who is saying that the hostages may also have access to justice?
The court in The Hague has been set up for that purpose.
Why should we not say to the hostage-takers: "You have flouted the rules of war and those of all the Geneva Conventions, we're going to bring you to justice"?
I think that is justified, legitimate, plain common sense.
People hear the message, but do not listen, and that shocks me.
That's my main struggle.
Egyptian Islamists Take to Streets to Denounce Morsi Trial
Anger is brewing in the ranks of Egypt's Islamists.
Two days before the start of the trial of deposed President Mohamed Morsi, they took to the streets.
There have been demonstrations throughout Egypt to demand the reinstatement of the country's first democratically-elected president.
"It's not a trial," says one Muslim Brotherhood activist.
"He has still not been able to see a lawyer and no volunteer has been able to get a copy of the case documents.
It's not a trial, it's a farce."
"The trial of President Morsi is a fake trial," says an angry Morsi supporter. "He should be having Sisi tried, not the other way round.
Morsi should try Sisi for the massacres of Rabaa, the massacres of Nahda and the massacre by the Republican Guard.
Sisi is a liar and a traitor."
Confrontations broke out in Alexandria, where the police used tear gas and 60 demonstrators were arrested.
On Monday, 20,000 policemen were deployed in front of the Police Academy in Cairo, where Mohamed Morsi will be tried.
Hagel Accuses 9 US States of Violating Homosexual Rights
Since the Federal government recognised same-sex marriage, "all spouses of military officers have a right to an identity card from the Department of Defense and to the associated benefits," said the Secretary of Defense in New York, in a speech to the Anti-Defamation League for the fight against anti-Semitism.
"However, some states have refused to issue these cards to same sex spouses in facilities of the National Guard" set up in their region, he criticised, accusing these states of violating federal law and the principle of equality.
Without these cards, such individuals cannot take advantage of numerous social or healthcare services in these bases, or access the shops of the latter.
The Secretary of Defense said he had ordered the Chief of the National Guard, General Frank Grass, to ensure that federal law was implemented.
The refusal by the nine states started with Texas, which refused to implement these measures in Texan National Guard facilities due to a conflict between Texan law and the federal law on same-sex marriage.
Indiana, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia, followed in refusal, according to a senior Defense official.
The Pentagon estimates that the population concerned by the recognition of same-sex marriage involves about 5,600 active individuals, or 17,000 if the National Guard, the reserve and retired people are included.
Hyeres Hosts Sixth Edition of Play Skateboard on Saturday
The sixth edition of Play Skateboard will be held at the skate park in Hyeres this Saturday, 02 November.
Organised by section SK8 Unity of the Bump association, the competition is expected to bring together the best skaters in the region.
Registrations will be conducted on-site on Saturday morning from 9am, and the qualification stages will follow shortly after at 10am. The final is scheduled for 3pm and the prize-award ceremony for 4pm.
The public will be able to enjoy the technical prowess of young skaters, some of whom, like Hyeres' young star, Lorenzo Palumbo, have already taken part in top-notch competitions.
Just 10 years old, he has already won his place in this year's European Championships in Copenhagen, and he enjoys nothing more than beating competitors almost twice his size!
Toronto Mayor Chases Off Journalists Seeking to Interview Him on Drug Affair
In Canada, the Mayor of Toronto is suspected of using drugs, according to several media sources.
A video sent to the authorities seems to support these suspicions.
The man concerned, Rob Ford, has always denied having taken crack, but has admitted being partial to cannabis.
This Thursday he drove a number of journalists off his property when they came to interview him.
We also think that sometimes pictures need no explanation or comment.
Rabies Detected in Cat in Val-d'Oise
Officials announced on Thursday 31 October that a case of rabies had been detected in a kitten in Val-d'Oise. The kitten must have come from abroad as France has not had any native cases of the disease since 2001.
The kitten was found in Argenteuil on 25 October and died on 28 October.
The diagnosis of rabies was confirmed by the Pasteur Institute.
"An epidemiological inquiry was initiated to identify and treat any individuals who may have come into contact with the kitten between 08 to 28 October inclusive," say the Ministries of Health and Agriculture.
"Five people who had been in contact with the kitten have already been identified," and have received preventive treatment.
"Preventive treatment for human rabies administered after contact with the carrier animal but before symptoms appear is very effective," the press release specifies.
The ministries are currently asking anyone who might have been bitten, clawed, scratched or licked on a mucous membrane or on damaged skin by the kitten, or who own an animal that may have been in contact with the kitten between 08 to 28 October, to contact them on 08 11 00 06 95 between 10am and 6pm from 01 November.
"France has been clear of rabies since 2001. This kitten or the mother were imported from another country where it is still present," says the press release.
The Ministry of Agriculture states that the last recorded 'native' case of rabies was in December 1998 in a fox and that "France was officially declared free of this disease by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in November 2001."
A case of rabies in a bitch illegally imported from the Gambia was recorded in 2008.
"Rabies is a fatal disease if not treated promptly," the ministries reminded, and it can be transmitted during the fortnight or so before the first symptoms of the disease appear.
Obama's Health Care Walk Back
Amid a firestorm of criticism, President Obama yesterday walked back his oft-repeated, unambiguous promise that "if you like your health plan, you can keep it."
With hundreds of thousands receiving cancellation notices from their providers, Republicans have slammed the president in recent days for misleading the American public.
Yesterday, Obama tweaked his original pledge.
"For the vast majority of people who have health insurance that works, you can keep it," he said in a speech in Boston.
Addressing what he called the "flurry in the news" about the cancellations, Obama urged Americans receiving these notices to shop for new coverage in the marketplace.
Most people are going to be able to get better, comprehensive health care plans for the same price or even cheaper than projected.
"You're going to get a better deal," he said.
The administration has said it should come as no surprise that the 5 percent of the population who purchase insurance on their own may be forced to switch plans because their coverage doesn't meet the new standards required under the Affordable Care Act.
"Let me say directly to these Americans: you deserve better," Sebelius said in testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in Washington.
Sebelius, who is overseeing implementation of the Affordable Care Act, said the launch of the online marketplace has gone "miserably" since October.
"I am as frustrated and angry as anyone," she said.
I am eager to earn your confidence back.
An exasperated Sebelius uttered that phrase, caught by a hot mic, to an aide seated behind her at yesterday's House hearing following a contentious exchange with Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo., over whether she should be required to enroll in Obamacare.
More than three hours into the hearing, Long repeatedly pressed Sebelius on why the "architect" of the Affordable Care Act has not voluntarily forgone government-sponsored insurance to purchase a plan through HealthCare.gov, which she is now pitching to millions of Americans.
Vettel Uses New Special Helmet in Abu Dhabi
Lucky winner Jake Vite Prekop combined the colours of the car brand and the German flag, while integrating the notions of speed and heat on the track.
German driver, Sebastian Vettel, quadruple Formula 1 World Champion, wore a special new helmet designed by a 21-year-old Mexican fan during the free practice sessions for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Friday.
Vettel chose the winning entry from 1,500 designs sent in from all over the world as part of a competition run by one of the sponsors, a car brand in his stable.
The winner was invited to the Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi with a friend and was able to get up close to the German champion, both on the track and in the pits.
Vettel was expected to wear the helmet in the practice sessions on Friday and Saturday.
He will probably have another special helmet for the race on Sunday designed to mark his fourth consecutive world title.
Aubervilliers Resident Launches "Parti de la Banlieue"
Make no mistake,
in the mind of its founder, Abdel-Malik Djermoune, the "Parti de la Banlieue" does not only target suburban residents.
"I chose a map of France as the logo," he asserts.
"When I talk about suburbs, I'm referring to all those who feel excluded from the larger national family."
Be that as it may, his project, which was presented during a press conference in his home town of Aubervilliers on Thursday, was born from a desire to better defend multiculturalism - the great cultural melting pot that, above everything else, characterises these districts.
"My primary proposal is to create a Ministry of Multiculturalism," he says.
Abdel-Malik Djermoune, a 50-year-old regional attaché, today claims to be "100% apolitical", although he has not always been neutral.
An activist supporter of Jean-Pierre Chevénement in 2002, he later supported Dominique de Villepin in the district from 2010 to 2011.
"I know that the values of equality that I advocate in my manifesto are associated with the Left, but if people on the Right are prepared to support me, I will listen to them too," he continues.
"It is only extremist parties that I will not talk to."
Besides multiculturalism, Abdel-Malik Djermoune has built his manifesto - which can be read on the Internet - around various subjects intended to appeal to suburban residents, especially the young: the right to vote for foreigners, the legalisation of cannabis, lowering the voting age to 16, restoration of the function of caretaker, etc.
He still needs to find candidates to form lists and defend his ideas in the political arena. "It is likely that may be done just in time for the 2014 municipal elections," he acknowledges.
"The problem is time and money.
However, the 'Parti de la Banlieue' should at least be represented in Aubervilliers through my candidacy and in other towns too I hope," he adds.
Abdel-Malik Djermoune claims there are already seven names on the candidate list in mainland France and in Martinique.
"And the mail expressing support that I have been receiving since yesterday are not all coming from the suburbs," he says with delight.
John Kerry says US spying has "reached too far inappropriately" in unprecedented admission
John Kerry has indicated a softening of the U.S's defensive stance on its surveillance programmes with an unprecedented admission that on occasions its spying has "reached too far inappropriately."
The Secretary of State also admitted that he'd been guilty, along with Barack Obama, of being on "automatic pilot" as incendiary revelations from whistleblower Edward Snowden about the NSA's spying activities emerged.
The leaks have put the US government at the centre of a diplomatic storm with its allies.
Speaking to an open government conference in London via video link, Mr Kerry said: "There is no question that the President and I and others in government have actually learned of some things that had been happening on an automatic pilot because the ability has been there, going back to World War Two and to the very difficult years of the Cold War, and then, of course, 9/11."
He then became the first high-ranking member of the U.S government to admit that US spying had crossed the line, but emphasised that no one's rights had been abused.
He said: "In some cases, it has reached too far inappropriately."
And the President is determined to try to clarify and make clear for people and is now doing a thorough review in order that nobody will have the sense of abuse.
I assure you innocent people are not being abused in this process.
Mr Kerry insisted, however, that the NSA was a force for good and that its surveillance operations had saved many lives.
He added: "We're dealing in a new world where people are willing to blow themselves up."
There is radical extremism in the world that is hell-bent and determined to try to kill people and blow people up and attack governments.
So what if you were able to intercept that and stop it before it happens?
We have actually prevented airplanes from going down, buildings from being blown up, and people from being assassinated because we've been able to learn ahead of time of the plans.
Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers will head to Europe to help address concerns abroad about alleged U.S. spying and convince the Europeans of the need to continue joint anti-terrorism efforts with the U.S., the chairman of a Senate subcommittee on European affairs said on Thursday.
Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said he spoke with European Parliament members and others this week and is concerned about their threats to stop participating in anti-terrorist organizations because of frustration over surveillance by the National Security Agency.
"It's really important for U.S. national security interests for Europeans to stay on board with us with respect to our mutual anti-terrorism endeavors," Murphy, a first-term Democrat and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs, said in an interview from Washington.
And I'm going to Europe to make it clear to them that we need to continue to work together in combatting terrorism, notwithstanding their anger over these NSA programs.
News reports that the NSA swept up millions of phone records in Europe have frayed relations with some U.S. allies, though the agency's chief said this week that they were inaccurate and reflected a misunderstanding of metadata that Nato allies collected and shared with the United States.
Other revelations cited documents leaked by Snowden that the NSA monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone and those of up to 34 other world leaders.
The national intelligence director, James Clapper, defended spying on allies as necessary and said it's commonplace on both sides.
Amid the uproar, Murphy said his office is arranging the congressional trip, expected to take place this year, and hopes the delegation will include members of both parties and both chambers.
Names of other participating lawmakers were to be released in coming days.
He said the itinerary is still being worked out.
While Murphy said the purpose of the trip is to help improve relationships, he said some "tough love" will also be dispensed.
He said European leaders need to be honest with their own people about the kind of espionage programs they've used for years themselves.
"While we can amend our surveillance programs to better protect the rights of Europeans, they also need to come to terms with the fact that we're not the only ones that are out there spying," Murphy said.
Meanwhile, Mr Kerry is scheduled to head this weekend to the Middle East and Poland to address rancor over U.S. strategies in the Syria, Egypt and Iran as well as U.S. surveillance activities.
The London Stock Exchange closed down on Thursday, with prices brought down by poor results from Shell the day after an announcement by the Fed that it would be maintaining its support for the economy, as planned.
Australian woman appeals Thai jail time
A 21-year-old Sydney woman sentenced to 15 days jail in Phuket for falsely claiming she was assaulted by a taxi driver is appealing the verdict and has been granted bail.
Stevie Rochelle Bamford was initially found guilty by a Phuket provincial court on June 15 of making false claims after telling Thai police a local taxi driver, with two other men restraining her, carried out the assault in the early hours of Sunday June 10.
However, CCTV footage later revealed she had returned to her hotel safely after becoming separated from her Australian boyfriend.
Phuket police interviewed Bamford for two days before she confessed to fabricating the story.
She was held in local police cells before the court hearing.
Bamford was sentenced to serve the 15-day prison term at a low security detention centre on the outskirts of Phuket rather than in an adult women's jail.
She is the daughter of former Australian league player Peter Tunks, who has appealed to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Canberra to assist his daughter.
Tunks told Sydney's Sunday Telegraph the whole family was "extremely concerned" about his daughter's welfare and wanted her back in Australia.
"It's obviously been a worrying time but we're hopeful to have her back home safely as soon as possible," Tunks said.
Bamford is appealing the sentence and has been granted bail of 50,000 baht.
Reports in Australia said that in the meantime, she was holidaying at the resort area of Krabi in Southern Thailand.
Thai-based legal sources said Bamford was being represented by a local lawyer in Phuket but warned that the appeal may lead to the court increasing her sentence by up to two years and forcing her to serve it in an adult prison.
However, following the recent murder of Australian travel agent Michelle Smith in Phuket, Thailand may also be looking to repair its battered tourist image, leading to an acquittal.
French Police to Arrest Anderlecht Supporters Not Travelling in RSCA Buses
The French police have decided to impose strict rules ahead of the match between Royal Sporting Club of Anderlecht and Paris Saint-Germain, set for Thursday, Marie Verbeke, spokesperson for the Brussels-South police district, said on Friday.
Belgian supporters of RSCA who want to travel to the Champions League match will have to use the transportation system provided by RSCA.
"The convoy of buses will be escorted by the police from a former frontier post at Rekem to the PSG stadium," said the spokesperson.
The arrangement will be the same on the way back.
"If other supporters are intending to travel to Paris by other means, the French Police Department has said that steps have been taken to permit arrests to be made and people to be taken into custody," Marie Verbeke also announced.
Living together in French is the challenge facing the Commission Scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys (Marguerite Bourgeoys School Board).
At the Marguerite-Bourgeoys School Board, 62% of students have a mother tongue other than French.
This is what inspired a consultation exercise between parents, students, teachers and staff of the education department a year ago to reflect on ways to improve the integration of students who have roots in several cultures.
The School Board has just unveiled its vision of "Living Together in French".
The organisation, called Vision Diversité, has been visiting schools for the past year to help students of every origin find common reference points that are not limited to the French language.
Discovering neighbourhoods, our architecture, our environment are reference points,
as are the names of great writers and artists, whether they are of French origin or come from elsewhere.
Who are our builders?
"Hence, we are developing projects such that they can identify with all of that," explains the president of Vision Diversité, Aïda Kamar.
Michel Venne, from the Institut du Nouveau Monde (New World Institute) has identified a number of challenges for the School Board.
"Sharing what Quebec culture is, for example, the sense of belonging, support for people going through the changes we are experiencing within the student body," he lists.
The Marguerite-Bourgeoys School Board has created a research centre that will provide tools for teachers, who, themselves, sometimes come from elsewhere.
Rachida Azdouz from the University of Montreal will be the scientific director.
Preparation to manage a class in a North-American and Quebec context.
"The real need is for different educational strategies," she summarises.
The research will address inclusion from every angle: linguistic, educational, social and cultural.
