Friday, 31 October 2014

One Dead As Virgin Galactic Spaceship Crashes


One pilot was killed and another seriously injured after a Virgin Galactic suborbital rocket plane crashed on a powered test flight over California.
The tragedy occurred after SpaceShipTwo fired its rocket motor following a high-altitude drop from Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo mothership.
California Highway Patrol said the injured pilot was taken to hospital.
Virgin Galactic, part of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, was aiming to begin tourist flights to the edge of space next year.
The company said in a statement to Sky News: "Virgin Galactic's partner Scaled Composites conducted a powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo earlier today.
"During the test, the vehicle suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of the vehicle.
"The WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft landed safely. Our first concern is the status of the pilots, which is unknown at this time.
"We will work closely with relevant authorities to determine the cause of this accident and provide updates as soon as we are able to do so."
It is the second disaster involving a US spacecraft this week, following the explosion of another private company's unmanned rocket on Tuesday six seconds after launch on a resupply mission to the International Space Station.
TV pictures on Friday showed wreckage from the crashed Virgin Galactic aircraft in the Mojave Desert.
Parachutes were reportedly spotted in the air. SpaceShipTwo is usually flown by two pilots.
The craft was testing a redesigned rocket motor as it made its first powered flight since January.
The company live-tweeted the test flight, posting: "Ignition! #SpaceShipTwo is flying under rocket power again. Stay tuned for updates."
The next tweet said: "#SpaceShipTwo has experienced an in-flight anomaly. Additional info and statement forthcoming."
The rocket plane, which was attached to the underside of WhiteKnightTwo, took off at 9:19am local time (4:19pm GMT) from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
It is the commercial version of SpaceShipOne, the first private spacecraft to reach the edge of space in 2004, now on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.
Virgin Galactic aims to become the world's first commercial "spaceline", sending customers willing to pay $250,000 (£156,000) for a short journey into zero gravity and a glimpse of the planet from the edge of space.
The company previously said it has accepted more than $80m in deposits from about 680 people who hope to be among the first space tourists.
Actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Ashton Kutcher and singer Justin Bieber are said to have signed up.
After launching from New Mexico, it is envisaged that each spaceship will take six passengers on a journey of between two and three hours just over 62 miles (100km) from Earth.
Eventually, Branson hopes to build a hotel in space.

One Dead As Virgin Galactic Spaceship Crashes


One pilot was killed and another seriously injured after a Virgin Galactic suborbital rocket plane crashed on a powered test flight over California.
The tragedy occurred after SpaceShipTwo fired its rocket motor following a high-altitude drop from Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo mothership.
California Highway Patrol said the injured pilot was taken to hospital.
Virgin Galactic, part of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, was aiming to begin tourist flights to the edge of space next year.
The company said in a statement to Sky News: "Virgin Galactic's partner Scaled Composites conducted a powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo earlier today.
"During the test, the vehicle suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of the vehicle.
"The WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft landed safely. Our first concern is the status of the pilots, which is unknown at this time.
"We will work closely with relevant authorities to determine the cause of this accident and provide updates as soon as we are able to do so."
It is the second disaster involving a US spacecraft this week, following the explosion of another private company's unmanned rocket on Tuesday six seconds after launch on a resupply mission to the International Space Station.
TV pictures on Friday showed wreckage from the crashed Virgin Galactic aircraft in the Mojave Desert.
Parachutes were reportedly spotted in the air. SpaceShipTwo is usually flown by two pilots.
The craft was testing a redesigned rocket motor as it made its first powered flight since January.
The company live-tweeted the test flight, posting: "Ignition! #SpaceShipTwo is flying under rocket power again. Stay tuned for updates."
The next tweet said: "#SpaceShipTwo has experienced an in-flight anomaly. Additional info and statement forthcoming."
The rocket plane, which was attached to the underside of WhiteKnightTwo, took off at 9:19am local time (4:19pm GMT) from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
It is the commercial version of SpaceShipOne, the first private spacecraft to reach the edge of space in 2004, now on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.
Virgin Galactic aims to become the world's first commercial "spaceline", sending customers willing to pay $250,000 (£156,000) for a short journey into zero gravity and a glimpse of the planet from the edge of space.
The company previously said it has accepted more than $80m in deposits from about 680 people who hope to be among the first space tourists.
Actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Ashton Kutcher and singer Justin Bieber are said to have signed up.
After launching from New Mexico, it is envisaged that each spaceship will take six passengers on a journey of between two and three hours just over 62 miles (100km) from Earth.
Eventually, Branson hopes to build a hotel in space.

Burkina Faso's President Resigns After Riots


Burkina Faso's embattled president Blaise Compaore has been ousted, following days of protests against efforts to extend his rule.
In a statement read on the country's news and television stations, Mr Compaore said: "I declare a vacancy of power with a view to allowing a transition that should finish with free and transparent elections in a maximum period of 90 days."
He did not say who would take power until then but military chief General Honore Traore announced he has taken over as head of state.
Burkina Faso's parliament was dissolved on Thursday, however, and the military has been very visible during the recent crisis.
The official statement came just minutes after the army's Colonel Boureima Farta addressed thousands of protesters in front of the army headquarters saying: "As of today, Compaore is no longer in power."
He was greeted with an outburst of cheering from the crowd in the former French colony.
Mr Compaore has been in power 27 years and had been seeking a change in the law to allow him to rule for longer.
The bid prompted rioting, with protesters taking over the national television station, setting the parliament building on fire and storming various other official buildings in the capital Ouagadougou.
Mr Compaore had on Thursday rejected calls for him to stand down, instead saying he would no longer seek another term but would stay in power until a transitional government had completed its work in 2015.
The European Union said the people of Burkina Faso must be able to decide their future.
A spokesman said the EU was "working with all actors on the ground to find a solution" and consulting with international partners over the crisis.
"We are ready to work with the people of Burkina Faso to ensure a return to normality, including the organisation of elections."

The top 10 rags to riches UK entrepreneurs

Think you can’t make a fortune unless you already have deep pockets?  Think again. As many as 25 of the UK’s top entrepreneurs started their businesses with less than £25,000 in the bank, according to research by Start Up Loans, a Government-funded small business loans provider. What’s more, some famous names, such as Sir Richard Branson, started out with much less than that.

Researchers looked at Britain’s biggest firms, how much capital the business founders started out with and what the companies are worth today.

Top of the list is Sir Philip Green, who started out with just £20,000 of start-up capital. Sir Philip later took over Arcadia Group, behind Top Shop and BHS, and is now worth £3.9bn.

Leisure wear mogul Mike Ashley started Sports Direct with just £10,000 and has built up a £3.8bn fortune, while Sir Richard Branson started Virgin Records with only £300 and Sir Alan Sugar, now worth £900m, began with only £100 of start-up capital.

[How to make £40,000 in six months]

Here are the top 10 rags to riches entrepreneurs:

1.    Sir Philip Green - turned £20,000 into £3.9bn
Sir Philip Green used his £20,000 of start-up capital to import jeans from the Far East to sell to British retailers. Worth £3.9bn, the Croydon-born entrepreneur took over Arcadia Group, which owns high street retailing brands such as Dorothy Perkins, Top Shop, BHS and Wallis and once tried to buy out Marks and Spencer’s.
2.    Mike Ashley - turned £10,000 into £3.8bn

(Cityam) Billionaire Mike Ashley offloads a £218m stake in Sports Direct

(Cityam) Billionaire Mike Ashley offloads a £218m stake in Sports Direct


It may be hard to believe now, but sportswear entrepreneur Mike Ashley started out as a squash coach. At school the owner of Newcastle United played squash at county level but left school at 16 and started coaching after he suffered an injury.
He opened his first shop, a skiwear outlet, in Maidenhead in the 1980s before launching Sports Direct with a £10,000 loan.

3.    Sir Richard Branson - turned £300 into £3.6bn

Yahoo Finance - Richard Branson was voted Britain's most admired business leader in a 2014 Sunday Times poll

Yahoo Finance - Richard Branson was voted Britain's most admired business leader in a 2014 Sunday Times poll
Arguably Britain’s best-loved entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson started his career at the age of 16 by launching a student magazine. In the 1970s he started up Virgin Records and within a year had opened his first shop on Oxford Street.
Now the brand provides everything from flights, bank accounts and makeup to forthcoming intergalactic flights and Branson even owns his own island.


4.    Peter Hargreaves -  turned £500m into £2.4bn
Peter Hargreaves is a well-known figure in the City community. With his business partner, he started investment broking firm Hargreaves Lansdown from a spare room with just £500 and their cars as company assets. The investment provider floated on the stock exchange in 2007 worth £800m.
5.    John Caudwell - turned £25,000 into £1.5bn

Image: David Jones/PA John Caudwell in 2003 as announces a huge package of staff bonuses funded from a £ 35 million loyalty pot. Image: David Jones/PA John Caudwell in 2003 as announces a huge package of staff bonuses funded from a £ …
The mobile telecoms mogul, who also founded Phones4U, started his working life as an apprentice at Michelin in Stoke, while also running a corner shop and selling clothing to motorcycle enthusiasts.
But after realising the potential of mobile phones, he started up a mail order company selling them and eventually sold Caudwell – once the UK’s fastest growing company - in 2006 for £1bn.
6.    Charles Dunstone - turned £6,000 into £1.5bn

(Press Association) Charles Dunstone has become the UK's first digital billionaire, according to new figures

(Press Association) Charles Dunstone has become the UK's first digital billionaire, according to new figures

  
Starting out with just £6,000 in his pocket, the founder of Carphone Warehouse gave up studying a business degree at Liverpool University and began his business by selling mobile phones from his flat.
Back in the heady dotcom era of 2000, the company which merged with Dixons this year, had a stock market valuation of £1.7bn.

7.    Sir Anwar Pervez and family – turned £2,200 into £1.3bn
The founder of Bestway Cash and Carry Sir Anwar Pervez grew up in Pakistan, the son of a poor farmer.  Each day he had to walk eight miles to get to school.  The former bus conductor moved to London and started a convenience store in Earls Court in the 1960s. By the 1970s, he had ten other stores in West London and Bestway is now the UK’s biggest cash and carry group.


8.    Chris Dawson - turned £5,000 into £1.3bn
Plymouth-based ‘Del-Boy’ Chris Dawson founded The Range homeware chain in 1988. He was once a market trader, selling cutlery and watches, and was nicknamed ‘Dunce’ at school. Dawson, who left school unable to write, used his profits from his market stall to found The Range and now has 88 stores across the UK.

9.    Bernard Lewis – turned under £25,000 into £1.3bn
The entrepreneur behind the River Island chain began his career at the age of 20 selling fruit and veg from a shop on the Holloway Road in North London, which is thought to have made from corrugated iron and on a former bomb site. Despite being aged 84, the billionaire is still involved in the day-to-day running of the River Island chain.
10.    Lord Ashcroft - turned £15,00 into £1.2bn
(Press Association) New poll findings by Lord Ashcroft showed Labour and the Tories on level pegging

(Press Association) New poll findings by Lord Ashcroft showed Labour and the Tories on level pegging
Tory donor and business mogul Lord Ashcroft spent some time on the dole before joining a cleaning and business services company where he worked his way up and became an assistant in the accounts department.
Starting his own company with a £15,000 loan, he bought a loss-making cleaning firm for just £1 and later sold it for £1.3m. He has numerous business interests and once owned security firm ADT and the Priory Clinic, which he sold for £925m.

Terrorists Threaten to Release Ebola in Czech Republic Unless They Get €1m in Bitcoin Ransom


Terrorists have threatened to use the deadly Ebola virus as a biological weapon unless the Czech Republic pays a ransom of €1m (£788,000, $1.26m) in bitcoins, according to the Daily Mail.
The terrorists warned the Czech authorities that failing to comply with their demands would lead to the release of the disease in Prague as well as other cities.
They also threatened to hold a 'viral' social media smear campaign.
"If you don't answer this letter, we will send press releases to media and inform people on social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Youtube to let them know how negligent the Czech offices are," they said.
The terrorists wanted Czech officials to pay the money in three parts. The first was supposed to be paid on 3 November, a second on 5 November, and a third after they handed over the infected material.
The warning was sent in anonymous emails to the cabinet offices of the Czech government.
The government would require about 4,000 bitcoins to pay the ransom at current prices. It is not known whether the government possesses that number of digital currency.
The Czech Republic's interior ministry issued a public statement saying that "the culprit or culprits are using very sophisticated communication methods".
Czech police say they are not taking the letters and blackmailing seriously.
"The only intention of the blackmailers is to cause a panic," a statement from the police said.
There have been concerns that bitcoin, an electronic currency, is aiding terrorists and blackmailers, as it enables them to receive funds anywhere in the world almost anonymously and immediately. Once bitcoin is sent to another person, the transaction cannot be frozen or reversed.

5 Premier League bets for you to consider this weekend


5 Premier League bets for you to consider this weekend

5 Premier League bets for you to consider this weekend
 
Congratulations! you have made it all the way to Friday, which means the Premier League is tantalisingly close to returning for another weekend. We have spent the last seven days mapping out scenarios using our state of the art supercomputer to bring you five bets to ponder before the games kick-off tomorrow.
Last week, we did pretty well… so that probably means we are due for a fall but regardless, these bets are absolutely guaranteed to come through provided a large number of variables fall into place.
Two good teams at home to two bottom-feeders. I don’t think this one requires much of an explanation.
Both teams to score in Newcastle vs Liverpool and game to be a draw – 10/3
Liverpool would have been targeting this game as an easy win a few weeks ago but Newcastle have gone on a nice run over the last few weeks and have won three in a row. Both teams have only kept two clean sheets each this season and given Newcastle’s recent renaissance, they could take points off Liverpool.
 
West Brom HT/FT away to Leicester – 4/1
Since their epic win against Man United, Leicester haven’t gotten another league victory in their last four games. West Brom come into the game in pretty good form – they were clinical against Man United and showed great spirit to battle back against Crystal Palace last weekend. The Baggies have only lost one of their last five – a close defeat at Anfield – and at 4/1, you are getting good odds for them against a struggling Leicester side.
Under 1.5 goals in Stoke vs West Ham – 11/5
West Ham have had some epic results recently but Stoke is a tough place to travel to and there have been under 1.5 goals in three of their four home games so far. We think the Potters could frustrate the visitors this weekend.
Man City (at home to Man United), Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool to win/draw and Everton (home to Swansea) to win/draw – 3/1
 
3/1 is pretty poor odds on a fivefold… but this one looks pretty solid, right?
It’s the 50th birthday of the man who scored the greatest final goal of all-time
Wenger: Too early to compare Chelsea to Arsenal Invincibles

More than 100,000 will turn up at water charge protests tomorrow, predicts TD


 
Tomorrow’s nationwide water charge protests will ”far exceed” the 100,000 people that turned about at similar protests in Dublin earlier this month, according to Richard Boyd Barrett TD.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, the People Before Profit representative said that the scale of the public objection to the charges is unprecedented.
“These are the most nationwide protests that we have seen in the recent history of the State,” he said.
His claim about tomorrow’s marches came as former minister Pat Rabbitte TD claimed that the public mood is being exploited by those opposed to water charges.
Speaking on the same programme, Rabbitte said that claims about the privatisation of the water supply are a “red herring” from those opposed to Irish Water.
Rabbitte compared the objections to the utility to the objections to bin charges, something he says was detrimental to the service in the long run.
“People are very apprehensive after six years of hardship. They are tired of charges and that mood is being exploited by the same people who gave you the anti-bin charges protests,” Rabbitte said. “And remember where the anti-bin charges protests led to –  it led the privatisation of the bin services and it led to people not being able to pay.
“So, there is no danger, it’s an entire red herring about privatisation of water services. There won’t be any privatisation of water services. No government with its head screwed on would seek to privatise something as critical as the water supply.”
Rabbitte said that in some parts of the country water services are “derelict” and that the water is “not fit to drink”. These issues, he said, need up to €1 billion a year for the next ten years to fix.
“The State doesn’t have the €1 billion, so the reason it set up a new company in public ownership to treat and supply water is that that new company will be able to go the markets to borrow the investment that is necessary to give us a water system that’s fit for purpose,” he argued.
Asked what mistakes have been made in the establishment of Irish Water, Rabbitte said that the Government had been under constant pressure from the Troika to set up the utility in two years while similar systems in Europe took three to five years to establish.
But Boyd Barrett said that Rabbitte was “being entirely disingenuous”.
“I met the Troika, I’m on the the finance committee, the Troika made it absolutely clear that we could switch one measure for another as long as it brought it the same money so they’d have no problem if we’d brought in a wealth tax and not water charges,” he said.
He gave the example of a Financial Transaction Tax in Ireland which could raise up to €100m asking: “Which is fairer, a 0.1% tax on financial speculation or hundreds and hundreds of euro on the backs of ordinary people?”
First published at 8.48am

Ukraine, France, Germany urge Putin not to recognise rebel polls: Kiev


 Ukraine's Poroshenko condemns
Kiev  – The leaders of Ukraine, Germany and France on Friday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to not recognise leadership polls that pro-Russian separatists are planning to hold at the weekend in eastern Ukraine.
“Ukraine, Germany and France expressed a common and clear position that they do not recognise the polls planned by separatists… and urged Russia not to recognise these elections,” a statement by the Ukrainian presidency said.
The statement came after Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had a four-way telephone conversation.
The four leaders had the conversation shortly after Kiev and Moscow reached an EU-brokered gas accord late Thursday settling their months-long dispute.
Separatists who control eastern Ukraine’s Lugansk and Donetsk are due to hold a controversial leadership vote on Sunday.
Moscow has already welcomed the polls but Poroshenko said they would hurt the shaky peace process in the six-and-a-half month conflict that has killed over 3,700 people.
The EU and the US have both spoken out against Russia’s plan to recognise the vote, arguing that the election would go against the September 5 truce agreement between Kiev and the rebels overseen by Moscow in the Belarussian capital Minsk.
The Kremlin said in a statement that the four leaders agreed in the call that the ceasefire deal should be observed while Moscow called for “dialogue” between Kiev and the separatists in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

Turkey in the crosshairs: The U.S. must mobilize and strike regardless of Turkey's stance


U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan at a meeting in Ankara.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan at a meeting in Ankara.
It is time to talk turkey about Turkey.
Ankara, Turkey's capital, has been the proverbial elephant in the Middle East annex for years – particularly since the struggle to replace Syria’s president-dictator Bashar Assad began in 2011. Ostensibly, Turkey seeks to depose Assad for a range of political and religious reasons. Its president, Recep Erdogan, reportedly deeply dislikes Assad. But he declined to take direct action to impose Ankara’s will on Syria early in the fighting, eliminating Assad and installing the more moderate range of rebels in control of the country. And, not incidentally, this reinforced Erdogan’s position as the strongest Muslim leader in the region.
But his decision not to decide remains puzzling.
There is little question that the Turkish armed force, which is the strongest Islamic-Muslim military in the region, had the capability to destroy the Syrian military. To be sure, the Syrian army has proved to be tough, loyal, and effective in its own right, essentially winning the war against the eclectic groups of “moderate” rebels – and now is contending more-or-less successfully against ISIS. Nevertheless, after more than 50 years as a NATO member, the Turks are equipped and trained to NATO standards, and the Turkish army has a long-standing reputation for being tough, proficient fighters.
[ David Kilgour: Kurds should unite to fight ISIS on the ground ]
The Kurds. The answer to the Turkish conundrum is multifaceted. Erdogan’s grip on the military is not as ironclad as was his predecessors’. His effort to nudge Turkey toward becoming a religious state and away from its century-long, Ataturk-directed secular status continues to meet resistance. And addressing the Kurds’ status in Turkey has bedeviled him as much as it frustrated other Turkish leaders.
Essentially, the Kurds are a people without a country. And they want, indeed demand, one: a “Kurdistan” assembling all of their people. The key difficulty is that the Kurds are all over the map: elements in Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey where, for over a generation, Kurdish groups (and they certainly qualify also as terrorists in the sense that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”) have fought for independence. Attempting to square the circle of providing Kurds something equivalent to local autonomy within a Turkish socio-political framework has proved feckless. There is a long history of heavy-handed Turkish action (and when are Turks light-handed?) suppressing Kurdish language, culture, and political activity. And Turkish Kurds, estimated at 16-23 million (upwards of 25 percent of the population), are the largest Kurdish contingent in the region and hardly a trivial minority.

And ISIS. The failure to act expeditiously in Syria (by the entire non-Syrian community) resulted in a maelstrom of mutual slaughter and atrocity. Currently, there are two essential actors: the Assad government and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). One must discount the “moderate” Islamics, who proved fecklessly disorganized. ISIS, a terrorist movement that swept away the Iraqi army and now stands outside Baghdad, has also seized much of eastern Syria.
The most effective opponents to ISIS have been Kurds, and the proximate battle at the Turkish-Syria border town Kobani, brought all of these factors into play. We had the vision of a mini-World War II Warsaw with Kurds desperately attempting to hold the city with Turkish armor sitting as smug observers outside the city. After all, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Finally, at Kobani at least, the tide has turned. Steady streams of U.S. combat sorties has disrupted ISIS attacks and C-130 airdrops have somewhat replenished the Kurdish defenders. Erdogan has been infuriatingly ambivalent about permitting Kurdish forces to transit Turkey to reinforce Kobani, but lately has made nice-nice noises about co-operating with the U.S. government against ISIS.
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys Are Marching. The stand at Kobani ultimately may prove, to recall a phrase, “the end of the beginning.” But elsewhere, notably in Iraq, ISIS surges. The shattered Iraqi army is proving as difficult to reconstitute as a porcelain figurine dropped from a 10-storey building. ISIS is learning also – its forces are no longer spread across the desert like target practice models but now snuggle into civilian buildings to disperse. Smart bombs kill them, but civilian casualties also rise.
Still the whisper stream suggests more help is on the way: Apache helicopter gunships more adroit at winkling out such targets. And elements of the lst Infantry Division headquarters are on their way to Baghdad – perhaps a precursor for combat battalions.
History has shown we can rebuild an army – we did so with the Korean War ROK army – but we must stand with them.

Slow-flowing lava threatens to destroy Hawaiian town of Pahoa



The lava flow from Mt. Kilauea inches closer to the village of Pahoa, Hawaii.
Lava that has been flowing from a Hawaiian volcano for the past week is about to swallow its first houses in a town that is being threatened with destruction.
Mount Kilauea, on eastern side of the Big Island of Hawaii, began spewing a river of molten lava back in June when a new vent opened up, sending a fresh flow of molten rock directly towards the town.
Initially there wasn’t much concern in the nearby town of Pahoa, because for decades whenever the volcano had erupted, its lava always headed south, directly into the ocean. At the same time, a series of eruptions in early 1990 destroyed over 180 homes, highways and historical sites, burying the town of Kalapana with lava as much as 10 meters thick.
This time, however, when the new volcanic crater opened up, fresh lava flow bubbled to the surface and unexpectedly headed northeast, clearly aimed directly at the town of Pahoa, which has a population of about 800.
With temperatures on the south side of 900 Celcius, the lava has continued to creep forward, burning everything it touches, from vegetation to tires and a garden shed so far. But now the town itself is in danger.
Today the National Guard has been sent in to patrol blocked streets and neighbourhoods, and more than a dozen families have already been evacuated. As the unrelenting lava flow advances at speeds of 10 meters per hour, it is now poised to devour Pahoa’s main street and currently has 20 homes in its path.
Scientists are also monitoring for toxic sulfur dioxide gases. The lava flow is unpredictable and no one knows when it will stop.
Mount Kilauea is considered one of the world’s most active volcanoes, having erupted 62 times in the 250 years that it has been monitored – about one eruption every four years. However, it is only one of five currently active volcanoes in Hawaii and it really isn’t the one that has scientists worried.
Mauna Loa, the largest volcano on Earth, is due for an eruption many experts believe – and soon.
It last erupted in 1984, for three weeks. Mauna Loa is so massive that it equals about half of the Big Island’s mass. In the past year, it has been showing signs of awakening with rumblings, and the nearly 14,000-foot-high mountain is going through the same geologic motions it went through the last two times it erupted.
Seismologists say faint, shallow earthquakes along the flanks of the summit indicate that fresh magma maybe entering the underground system, following the same patterns seen before the last eruptions.
The potential for destruction would be on a much bigger scale with Mauna Loa – with as much as half of the Big Island covered with past flows from the volcano.
The lava flow we are now seeing from Mount Kilauea has already been going on and off for nearly three decades, but if Mauna Loa is any indication, it could get a lot worse.
Frank Trusdell, a geologist with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said a Mauna Loa blast may last a long time.
“On Mauna Loa, there was a period where lava flows lasted five centuries.” he said.
While researchers say there is no need to worried just yet, looking at geological records, Mauna Loa in the past three millennia has on average erupted every six years or so. With a 30 year dry spell, it may mean that it’s overdue to blow its top again.

Samsung Just Announced Two New Galaxy Phones, And They Kinda Look Like The iPhone


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GalaxyA5
Samsung
Samsung just unveiled two new Galaxy smartphones that come with a metal edges just like its recently released Galaxy Alpha.
The Galaxy A3 will be the lower-end model of the two, while the Galaxy A5 will come with slightly better hardware.
Like the Alpha, the edges of each phone are made of metal — a similar look to the design Apple implemented in the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s.
Samsung is marketing these phones toward the younger crowd, advertising the devices as ideal for "selfies" and "social networking."
Both phones come with a 5-megapixel front camera, which is a better than what you'd get with your average high-end smartphone. Most phones come with a 1 or 2-megapixel front camera, such as the iPhone 6 and Galaxy S5.
The main cameras are slightly different, though: the Galaxy A5 comes with a 13-megapixel camera while the Galaxy A3 has an 8-megpaixel camera.
View gallery
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GalaxyA3
Samsung
The screen on the A5 is also sharper than that of the A3.
It's unclear whether the phones will ever come to the US, but it doesn't seem likely. Samsung says both phones will launch in November in markets such as China.

Woman Wakes From Coma, Gives Birth to Healthy Girl


Woman Wakes From Coma, Gives Birth to Healthy Girl
Angel and his daughter, Angel. Photo by Angel Quiles/Facebook.
Jenny Quiles, a pregnant Florida woman who fell into a coma after being hit by a tow truck earlier this month, awoke on Wednesday to gave birth to a healthy baby girl via Caesarean section.
“The baby is great, she’s alert, she weighs six pounds,” Jenny’s husband, Angel, tells Yahoo Parenting of his new daughter, Angel Noemi, who is in the neonatal intensive care unit because she was born a month and a half premature. While Jenny, 36, remains awake and alert, she’s still in critical condition. “We don’t know yet how bad the damage is,” explains Angel, 35. “It’s going to be a slow process. Right now it’s like she’s an innocent child who doesn’t really know what’s going on.”
Jenny, an accountant, was crossing a street in St. Petersburg on her way to a doctor’s appointment on October 15 when she was hit by the tow truck. She was taken to the local Bayfront Hospital, where she has remained in intensive care.
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Angel and Jenny in the hospital. Photo courtesy of Angel Quiles/Go Fund Me.
Physician Jennifer Gilby, the Quiles’ obstetrician, told the St. Petersburg Tribune that the last two weeks have been very emotional. “Fortunately there have been no major complications in [the mother’s] health that have put the baby at risk,” she said. ”It’s a beautiful success story that we can bring this baby into the world, and hopefully help mom improve and get better.”
STORY: Why I Only Have One Kid, If You Insist on Asking
Angel, a certified medical assistant, says he worked with hospital staff to gain permission for Jenny to hold her new infant for the first time on Friday night. “I want to see if it will snap her out of it, mentally,” he says. “I think it’s worth a shot.” Although he’s been dealing with the worry of his wife’s touch-and-go situation, the high emotional state of becoming a first-time father, and the piling-up medical bills, Angel says he’s doing well. “I’m just tired, very tired. But I’m in good spirits,” he says, owing it to the birth of his daughter. “How can I not be in good spirits with this new blessing in my life?”
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Jenny and Angel in happier times. Photo by Angel Quiles/Facebook.

Wolf-like animal seen roaming in northern Arizona


a Mexican gray wolf

File-This undated file image provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a Mexican gray wolf leaving cover at the Seviellta National Wildlife Refuge, north of Soccorro, N. M. An animal resembling a gray wolf has been spotted roaming the far reaches of northern Arizona, officials said Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014, and tests are planned to determine exactly what it is. (AP Photo/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jim Clark, File)
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.  — An animal resembling a gray wolf has been spotted roaming the far reaches of northern Arizona, officials said Thursday, and tests are planned to determine exactly what it is.
 
The animal has been seen and photographed in Kaibab National Forest north of Grand Canyon National Park with a collar similar to those used in a wolf recovery effort in the Northern Rockies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.
The animal could be from that population of about 1,700 or a wolf-dog hybrid, said agency spokesman Jeff Humphrey. Officials will test its feces to determine further details.
Humphrey said the animal should be treated as endangered until more is known about it.
"Our immediate concern is the welfare of this animal," he said.
A group of fewer than 100 endangered Mexican gray wolves lives in portions of eastern Arizona and western New Mexico, but Humphrey said the animal does not appear to be from the Southwest population. Wolves in the Northern Rockies have fuller bodies and less pointed ears than Mexican gray wolves.
Wolves largely were exterminated early last century across the lower 48 states, except in the western Great Lakes area. They've been absent from the Grand Canyon region since the 1940s.
The Fish and Wildlife Service in recent years lifted protections for the animals in the western Great Lakes and the Northern Rockies. A federal judge recently ordered the protections re-instated in Wyoming after wildlife advocates sued.
Grand Canyon Superintendent Dave Uberuaga said the park has received a couple of reports about an animal that resembles a wolf at the North Rim. He said park officials will be on the lookout for it.
Wolves often roam vast distances in search of food and mates. Packs from the Northern Rockies have been found as far south as Wyoming.
Environmentalists said the confirmed presence of a gray wolf around the Grand Canyon would be welcome news but remain concerned about a proposal to remove them from a list of protected species.
"There's an increasing number of people who have learned about the pivotal role wolves play in natural ecosystems, know they have been persecuted relentlessly over decades and cheer the return of wolves," said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity. "And there are people who are fearful, concerned and opposed."
Nancy Gloman of Defenders of Wildlife said the group would like to see wolves in suitable habitat from Canada to Mexico.

My investor husband pushed me into sex swaps for biz deals



Christina Kelly says her investment-banker husband made her go the extra mile to help him land a client — pushing her into a partner-swap with the business honcho and his wild girlfriend.
The mom of two revealed details of the kinky alleged hookup — and every drug binge, extramarital pool fling and sex encounter in between — in salacious Manhattan court papers targeting her husband, Jefferies & Co. wunderkind Sage Kelly.
And now, she and her reputed real-life “Wolf of Wall Street’’ hubby are “the talk of the town,’’ a Wall Street source said.
“All the top Wall Street and hedge-fund guys are talking about it. They are all ­e-mailing it to each other,’’ the source said of Christina’s 26-page affidavit.
“It is a complete bombshell and a shocking and wild read. It’s just irresistible.
“The most astonishing thing is that the complaint says Ben Lorello, who is head of investment banking at Jefferies — a top health-care banker and very powerful guy on Wall Street — was part of a cadre of guys who do cocaine all of the time,” the source noted.
Another source added, “We know what this is all about — this is revenge.”
Christina Kelly alleges in nearly every page that her $7-million-a-year hubby is nothing but a coke- and Ecstasy-loving, booze-swilling, abusive spouse and dad who lives for seamy sex romps.
Christina, 39, said her husband, 42, was trying to woo Aegerion Pharmaceuticals honcho Marc Beer the night she wound up having sex with Beer — and “sexual contact’’ with his prancing, big-breasted girlfriend, according to the papers.
The former Ralph Lauren event planner said the sex jaunt occurred in a hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston in 2012 after a booze- and cocaine-fueled evening.
“Soon, Sage and I were having sex with each other on one bed, and Marc and his girlfriend were having sex on the other bed,’’ Christina says in her affidavit.
We know what this is all about — this is revenge.

“Then, Marc said, ‘Let’s switch,’ ” she claims in the papers. “Marc suggested that his girlfriend and I have sex with each other.
“Mindful of [Sage’s] goal of securing business from Marc, I felt responsible not to disappoint Marc. So, his girlfriend and I had sexual contact for a few minutes, while Marc and Sage watched.
“Then, Marc’s girlfriend joined Sage on our bed, and Sage and she started to have sexual relations.
“Then, I joined Marc on his bed, and he and I engaged in sexual relations,’’ Christina said in the sworn affidavit.
“Following that evening, Marc Beer has been an important client of Sage and, presumably, a substantial reason for Sage’s enormously successful career at his current investment bank, Jefferies and Company Inc.,’’ she said.
Christina, a graduate of the tony Horace Mann school in Riverdale, said her husband of 12 years routinely pestered her into engaging in threesomes.
She also alleged his sexual conquests outside their marriage included a romp with the wife of co-worker Dung Nguyen in the swimming pool at the Kellys’ family vacation home in Sag Harbor, LI.
A few months after Boston, during a visit from Nguyen and his wife, “I noticed Sage sitting on the stairs in the shallow end of the pool,’’ Christina said in the court papers.
“I heard Jessica moaning, ‘Oh, Sage.’ ’’
Christina and Sage Kelly have two daughters, ages 10 and 6.
Christina noted that at least one of their kids’ bedrooms overlooked the pool.
I felt responsible not to disappoint Marc. So, his girlfriend and I had sexual contact for a few minutes.
 - Christina Kelly
She also said Nguyen and a slew of other business associates of her husband did drugs with Sage — and she included names in her affidavit.
The list also included Myriad Solutions CFO Mark Hosny, UBS’s Bjorn Koch, Sage’s boss Ben Lorello, and the head of Seattle Genetics, Clay Siegall, the filing claims.
Beer said through a spokeswoman, “Ms. Kelly’s accusations as to me are categorically false and baseless. I do not use ­cocaine or any other illegal substance.
“All of the allegations which Ms. Kelly has made regarding me and my girlfriend are ridiculous, baseless and grossly irresponsible.”
Lorello said through a Jefferies rep that he also “categorically denies all the allegations regarding him raised by Ms. Kelly in her matrimonial case.”
Nguyen said through the rep that he, too, “categorically denied the allegations made about him by Ms. Kelly.”
Siegall said in a statement, “Ms. Kelly’s accusations as to me are baseless and absurd. I have never used cocaine in my life. The allegations as to me are completely and unequivocally false.”
Messages to Hosny and Koch weren’t ­returned. Sage Kelly hung up on a Post ­reporter Tuesday. He has said in previous court filings that his wife’s claims are an “outrageous lie.”
“While [she] and I used recreational drugs on occasion at certain social events in the past, the ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ tale she tells this court is a work of fiction,” he said in an August filing.
The tall, handsome Boston College grad won temporary custody of their kids after he secretly installed cameras in the couple’s Fifth Avenue apartment that caught Christina drinking and snorting coke, ­according to her suit.
Besides her admitted cocaine use, the ­petite blonde drunkenly drove her Range Rover into a utility pole in the Hamptons in 2010 with her two kids in the car, Sage says in court papers. She is currently on a conditional probation, he adds.
In a bid to get the girls back, Christina filed a countersuit claiming it’s Sage who is the real danger to the kids.
She said he once slapped one of the little girls across the face for saying she was afraid she might pee herself — and routinely calls the kids “f–k­ing retard’’ and “f–k­ing idiot.’’
“Mommy, can you please tell Daddy to stop calling me a f–k­ing retard?’’ one of the little girls asked her, the filing says.
And Christina said one of her husband’s pals also “inadvertently left a bag of cocaine on a pool table’’ at the family’s Sag Harbor home — and one of the kids stuck her finger in it. Christina says she stopped the child before she could ingest it.
Christina said Sage was so into drugs that he once hosted “Mushroom Day” in the Hamptons where “he continually ­ingested [psychedelic] mushrooms throughout the day . . . while the children were present.”
He also urinated and defecated on himself in bed, she said in the papers.

Man found dead in bathtub at hotel mogul’s home



A 23-year-old man was found dead Wednesday in the bathtub of the posh Central Park South home of a trendy ­hotel developer, sources said.
Sean Verdi died of an apparent drug overdose at the home of Ian Reisner, 45, who’s known for developing the gay-friendly Out NYC hotel in Hell’s Kitchen, according to law-enforcement sources.
Verdi was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital at 8:30 a.m., where he was pronounced dead.
The young man’s stepfather was heartbroken.
“I cried all day,” said the step­father, Steven Colandrea. “All I know is that he was at a party and OD’d. That’s not like Sean. He never had any problems.”
Reisner called 911 and reported the tragic incident to the cops, according to Verdi’s parents.
Police said initially they do not believe criminality was involved.
Colandrea said he was shocked to learn that his step-son died in the bathtub on an older man’s apartment.
“I thought it was a stupid accident,” he said. “So now I’m getting upset finding out about Ian Reisner and how old he was.”
Verdi met Reisner at Bartini in Hell’s Kitchen, where he worked, his parents said.
The enterprising young man was looking to open his own business and recently received a degree in bioengineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ.
Reisner’s digs at the building at 230 Central Park South include a 4,000-square-foot combination of five apartments, according to the real-estate blog The Real Deal.
In 2008, a banking executive offered Reis­ner and his business partner, Mati Weiderpass, $15.5 million for the pad but they turned it down.
The developer made news last May 25 when he was busted in East Hampton for driving while ability impaired.
The developer then pulled into a nearby parking lot where he struck a sign, and was found by police allegedly “unsteady and slurring his speech.”
He was charged with driving while ability impaired and released on $500 bail.
Reisner co-founded Parkview Developers with Weiderpass in 2003. The company focuses on trendy apartment and hotel development.
He had a 15-year career on Wall Street with Salomon Brothers and Bank of America, according to his Web site.
Reisner founded Out NYC, the city’s first gay hotel, in 2012.
“Everything from the ground up had the gay consumer in mind,” Reisner said at the time.

Woman charged with sexually assaulting husband’s friend


Megan Davis Hoelting has been arrested and charged after allegedly breaking into the home of her husband’s friend and sexually assaulting him while he was asleep.
Hoelting, who has been arrested four times this month, told Williamson County Sheriff’s Office that she broke into the home of her husband’s friend and, just wearing a nightgown, snuck into his bedroom and found him asleep on Monday, The Smoking Gun reported.











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The 31-year-old then told a deputy that she took off her nightgown and climbed into the man’s bed wearing only her panties.
She then said she wrapped her legs around the man’s waist and kissed him.
The victim told Sheriff’s deputies that he awoke to the feeling that someone was “on top of him, fondling his genitals and attempting to perform fellatio upon him.”
The victim said that he looked for a flashlight to try and see who was sexually assaulting him, and eventually used a flashlight application on his smartphone.
He saw the woman’s breasts exposed and recognised her as his friend’s wife.
He then alleges he told the woman to get off him and go home. When she refused, he called Williamson County Sheriff’s Office.
Hoelting was arrested and allegedly admitted entering the man’s back yard through an unlocked gate, entering his home through the back door and that she got into bed with the man.
Hoelting, who has been held in Williamson County Jail since the offence, was charged with burglary with the intent of sexual offence.
Jail records show that Hoelting has been arrested on October 14 for theft, October 16 for assault and October 21 for public intoxication.

Congo crowd kills man, eats him after militant massacres: witnesses


Congo Crowd Kills Man, Eats Him After Militant Massacres: Witnesses

 Congo Crowd Kills Man, Eats Him After Militant Massacres: Witnesses
 
BENI Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - A crowd stoned to death a young man in northeast Congo on Friday before burning and eating his corpse, witnesses said, in apparent revenge for a series of attacks by Ugandan rebels.

The incident in the town of Beni followed a number of overnight raids in the area blamed on the Islamist group ADF-NAUL, who are thought to have massacred more than 100 people this month, using hatchets and machetes to kill their victims.
Witnesses said the man, who has not been identified, aroused suspicion on a bus when passengers discovered he could not speak the local Swahili language and that he was carrying a machete.
Speaking from the town of Beni, Congo's President Joseph Kabila said the ADF-NALU militants would face the same fate as the rebel movement M23, which was defeated by a U.N.-backed government offensive last year.
"There is no question of negotiation with the terrorists," Kabila said in a speech at a local hotel. "They will be defeated as was the case with the M23. And it will be very soon."
ADF-NALU is an alliance of groups opposed to the Ugandan government that has operated from bases in neighboring Congo since the mid-2000s, undermining Kinshasa's grip on the area.
The movement was blamed for the deaths of 14 people, killed early on Thursday in the village of Kampi ya Chui, bringing the total death toll this month to at least 107, said Teddy Kataliko, president of the Civil Society of Beni.
Tensions ran high in the town on Friday morning with around 100 demonstrators blocking the road from the airport into town, throwing stones and waving machetes to demand greater government protection against the rebels.
Local government officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Earlier in the week, the government sought to downplay the threat posed by the group, which it had previously said was defeated in an operation earlier this year.
Estimates of its strength vary greatly, but the website of the U.N.'s peacekeeping mission in Congo estimates it has around 500 fighters.
The Ugandan government has said ADF-NALU is allied with Somalia's al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab movement, but analysts say the nature of these ties is not clear, despite the ADF-NALU's clear Islamist ideology.
In his speech on Friday, Kabila appealed for public support for a ramping up of its offensive against the group, but did not specify what that would entail.
"I call on the population to support the army because the victory against the M23 was because the population was behind the army," he said. "I call on young people to join the army in great numbers."
Kabila also defended the U.N. peacekeeping mission known as MONUSCO following criticism from locals that it had failed to defend them and had even collaborated with ADF-NALU.
Crowds of mainly young men attacked several peacekeeping facilities with stones and bows and arrows last week, forcing the evacuation of some staff.
The U.N. mission says it has stepped up patrols in the area in the wake of the massacres.
(Reporting by Aaron Ross; Editing by Emma Farge and Crispian Balmer)

Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan's 2014 Halloween Costumes: Kimye, Peter Pan, Zombies, and More!


Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan's 2014 Halloween Costumes: Kimye, Peter Pan, Zombies, and More!
Within minutes of the episode, Ripa and Strahan were bitten by the undead creatures. But, as fate would have it, they had more than a few famous faces willing to save them (presumably from the series' latest nemeses, cannibals—ah!). Sofia Vergara, Kerry Washington, Hugh Jackman, Emma Stone, and more celebs came to their rescue, which lead to more costume changes!
In addition to zombies, Ripa and Strahan spoofed plenty more of 2014's biggest pop culture mainstays, including Kim Kardashian and Kanye West (at their wedding, natch), Lord and Lady Grantham from Downton Abbey, and Peter Pan and Captain Hook (watch out Allison Williams!).

And there were more quick changes! The Live! With Kelly and Michael stars also sent up Piper Chapman and Crazy Eyes from Orange Is the New Black, as well as Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow from Game of Thrones.
And this isn't the first time the pair have done a popapalooza for their big episode! In years past, Ripa and Strahan have dressed up (and wigged out!) as Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke at the VMAs, Christina Aguilera and CeeLo Green as judges on The Voice, and Walter White and Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad.

Burkina Faso President Defies Violent 'Coup'


The president is refusing to loosen his 27-year grip on power after protesters storm government buildings, setting them ablaze.

People load goods looted from a building, which according to locals, belongs to Francois Compaore,?the younger brother of Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore, in Ouagadougou
The violence has seen tens of thousands of people take to the streets
Burkina Faso's long-time leader has refused to step down despite violent unrest which saw anti-government protesters set the country's parliament building ablaze.
President Blaise Compaore has appeared on television to confirm he will stay in power as the head of a transitional government until elections are held, defying opposition calls for his immediate resignation.
Opposition leader Benewende Sankara said the president's departure was "non-negotiable" following what he said had amounted to a "coup".
Burkina Faso protests
Burkina Faso's parliament was stormed, ransacked and set ablaze
The head of the country's armed forces, General Honore Traore, intervened to dissolve parliament on Thursday after violent protests spread across the country.
Hundreds of people stormed the National Assembly building in the capital Ouagadougou, setting it ablaze, in protest against plans to allow the president to run for a fifth term in office.
 
Video: Thousands Riot In Burkina Faso
Three people were reportedly killed and scores injured in the ensuing chaos, in which tens of thousands of people were reported to have taken to the streets.
Government offices were ransacked, cars set alight and Ouagadougou's national television headquarters attacked.
The city hall and ruling party headquarters were in flames and the city's airport was closed.
Crowds at the presidential palace have been held back by troops from the presidential guard, who fired warning shots into the air.
Protests have been reported in a number of towns across the country, including Burkina Faso's second-largest city Bobo Dioulasso.
News agency AFP put the death toll as high as 30 people nationwide.
The riots took place just before the country's politicians were due to vote on a law that would allow President Compaore, who took power in the coup of 1987, to run for election next year.
With a very young population - 60% are aged under 25 - many of the country's 17 million citizens have spent their entire lives under the rule of Mr Compaore.
Constitutional limits were brought in during 2005 and Mr Compaore, who has already been re-elected four times, is coming to the end of his second five-year term. The other two terms were for seven years.
The vote, which has since been scrapped, could have allowed him to stay in power for another 15 years.
President Compaore said elections would now be held within 12 months and he was open to discussions with other parties over forming a unity transitional government.