International Observers Praise Georgia’s Election

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Գիորգի Մարգվելաշվիլի

 

International observers gave their stamp of approval to Georgia’s presidential election on Monday, characterizing it as “clean” and “transparent.”

Sunday’s election was won easily by Giorgi Margvelashvili, a 44-year-old former university rector with limited political experience.

“In a positive and transparent election, the Georgian people have confirmed last year’s historic transfer of power,” Joao Soares who lead the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe observer mission, said in a statement. “This clean election following a political cohabitation tells me that Georgia’s democracy is maturing.”

Margvelashvili won Sunday’s election with 62 percent of the vote.

The presidential candidate from Saakashvili’s party, former parliament speaker David Bakradze, finished second with 22 percent.

In third place among the 23 candidates with 10 percent was Nino Burdzhanadze, a veteran politician who has called for Saakashvili to be jailed.

 

Conrad Murray completes jail time for killing Michael Jackson

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Քոնրադ Մյուրեյը

 

Dr. Conrad Murray left the Los Angeles County jail under sheriff’s escort, avoiding reporters and Michael Jackson fans waiting for his release early Monday.

Murray, who served two years of a four-year sentence for causing Michael Jackson’s death, was driven away in a sheriff’s car for the “safety and security” of the jail, sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

The handful of Jackson fans gathered outside the jail accused the Los Angeles County sheriff of showing favoritism to Murray by slipping him out of the jail through a back exit, instead of the door where freed prisoners normally leave.

Murray, who the sheriff’s spokesman described as an exemplary inmate, was kept away from the general inmate population during his two years in the jail. He was also allowed to have liberal use of a telephone inside his cell during his last year.

Murray’s lawyer told reporters outside the jail that he would try to get his medical licenses reinstated in California, Texas and Nevada so he can resume the medical career interrupted by his conviction on the involuntary manslaughter in 2011.

 

Mount Etna Volcano Erupts; Airspace Briefly Closed

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Էթնա լեռան հրաբուխ

 

Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, has erupted, sending up a towering plume of ash visible in much of eastern Sicily.

Etna’s eruptions aren’t infrequent, although the last major one occurred in 1992.

Catania airport said the eruption Saturday forced the closure of nearby airspace before dawn, but authorities lifted the order in early morning.

Several inhabited villages dot the mountain’s slopes, but evacuations weren’t necessary despite the lava flow.

 

Washing your hands makes you HAPPIER: Cleaning boosts our confidence and washes away feelings of failure

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washing boost self esteem

 

It seems you really can wash away your pain, as the song lyrics go.

A new study has found that the ritual of cleaning makes us more optimistic after failure.

Dr Kai Kaspar, from the University of Cologne, examined how physical cleansing affects us after a bad event.

He found that people who washed their hands after failing a task were more confident they could complete it the next time.

Dr Kaspar divided 98 people into three groups. In the first part of the experiment, participants from two groups had to solve an impossible task.

When both the groups failed, one group then washed their hands.

Both groups were optimistic that they would better at the task next time but the ‘clean hands’ group were much more optimistic.

But there was a twist. While people who washed their hands felt better afterwards, they were also less likely to complete the task successfully next time.

Dr Kaspar explained: ‘While physical cleansing after failure may eliminate negative feelings, it reduces the motivation to try harder in a new test situation.’

Meanwhile, the non-hand washers performed better on the next occasion.

The study was published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.

Previous research from the University of Michigan found that handwashing is physically and emotionally cleansing.

A team of psychologists reported that the simple act of washing hands made people feel more comfortable about the decisions they had made.

 

Police smash high class prostitution ring that paid well-known Brazilian models £60,000 a WEEK to ‘service’ clients around the world

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photo of an unconnected dancerPolice in Brazil have smashed a high-end prostitution ring that delivered well-known Brazilian models and cover girls to businessmen and politicians in Europe and Africa, it was reported today.

The women, who according to police appeared regularly on Brazilian TV and in men’s magazines, are believed to have been paid as much as £60,000 a week, investigators said.

Police claim the gang transported as many as 90 women a year from Brazil to wealthy clients in Angola, South Africa, Portugal and Austria in a racket believed to have amassed them over £28 million since 2007.

Federal police officers moved in on the gang yesterday following a year-long investigation, arresting three men and two women in the state of Sao Paulo, southeast Brazil.

Eleven luxury cars, as well as 23 passports, 14 visa requests for travel to Angola, foreign money and drugs were also seized, police said.

Police chief Luiz Tempestini, who led the investigation, told Brazil’s O Globo newspaper that many of the women, who have not been named, worked as dancers, models or actresses on popular Brazilian TV shows.

The gang members who were arrested have been charged with participation in organised crime, international people trafficking, embezzlement, false imprisonment and endangering the health and life of others, and face a maximum jail term of 30 years.

Two other suspects wanted by Brazilian police and believed to be living outside the country were placed on Interpol’s red notice list.

 

More than 250 students sick after eating in school cafeteria in China

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school lunchAt least 253 students are undergoing treatment following suspected food poisoning this week in northern China, state media reported.

In addition to students, two teachers were also hospitalized, Xinhua news agency reported.

The incident occurred Thursday at a middle school in Baotou, which is in China’s inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Victims suffered various symptoms, including stomach ache and vomiting after eating at the same counter in the school dining hall, the news agency said Friday.

Employees who work at that counter are in police custody undergoing questioning, according to Xinhua.

 

The £40million pink sparkler: Enormous diamond set to become the world’s most expensive jewel

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Pink Star

 

The diamond is dazzling and so is the price. This flawless 59.60-carat gem, known as the Pink Star, is expected to go for more than £40million at auction next month.

That will make the huge diamond, one of the world’s rarest and with an extraordinary depth of colour, the most valuable jewel ever to be sold.

Discovered in South Africa in 1999 by mining giant De Beers, the pink gem was polished and cut over two years.

The oval-cut stone is more than twice the size of the Graff Pink diamond that was sold for a world record £29million in 2010.
Sotheby’s, which will auction the Pink Star in Geneva, described it as ‘exceptional’.

The gem belongs to small group of diamonds – known as type 11a – that are renowned for their transparency and chemical purity.

 

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Can a sex strike work? Women in small Colombian town launch ‘Crossed Leg Movement’ to demand dangerous road be repaved

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Barbacaos-Colombia-women- sex strikeWomen in the small town of Barbacaos, southwest Colombia, have reportedly gone on their second sex strike in two years, demanding that the roads to their remote region be repaved.

Dubbed the ‘crossed legs movement,’ the women in the town are refusing to have sex with their significant others until the road that connects their small, isolated town to the rest of the country is repaired, according to Colombia-based reporter John Otis.

And it might have actually worked. PRI reports that construction has resumed on the single road, which is in such poor condition that trips to the nearest hospital take up to 14 hours, and many people in need of care die along the way.

Women in the town first began withholding sex in 2011 to protest the poor condition of the road, where Judge Marybell Silva joined the strike after seeing a young woman die along with her unborn child because the ambulance got stuck on the road and failed to reach a hospital in time.

Strike leader Ruby Quinonez said at the time: ‘Why bring children into this world when they can just die without medical attention and we can’t even offer them the most basic rights? We decided to stop having sex and stop having children until the state fulfils its previous promises.’

After three months and 19 days of abstinence, town politicians promised the road would be repaired and the government pledged $21million to pave at least half of the 35-mile road.

But after two years and no change, women resumed the strike. Now it seems the Army Corps of Engineers have brought in bulldozers and ‘heavy machinery’ to prove  they will indeed rebuild the road.

 

Russian Parliament Passes New Anti-Terror Bill

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Ռուսաստան,Պետդումա,ահաբեկչություն

 

The lower house of Russian parliament has approved a new legislation that toughens punishment for terrorism and requires terrorists’ relatives to pay for the damages caused in attacks.

The bill, unanimously passed Friday by the State Duma, is expected to see a similarly swift approval in the upper house and be signed by President Vladimir Putin to become law.

The document says that training for terrorist activities is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. It also introduces a punishment of up to six years for those participating in a militant group abroad.

The measure appears to be a response to Russian nationals fighting alongside rebels in Syria. Russian officials have voiced concern that they may launch attacks at home when they return.

 

Lindsey Vonn puts comeback on ice for now

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Lindsey Vonn(CNN) — Ski queen Lindsey Vonn has put her return to racing on ice — for now.

The new World Cup ski season begins in the Austrian resort of Soelden this weekend but the Olympic downhill champion will not take part as she continues her comeback from a serious knee injury.

Vonn was airlifted to hospital February after she landed heavily on her right knee on the opening day of the Alpine Ski World Championships in Austria.

Less than seven months after her horror crash, the 29-year-old American returned to the slopes in Chile to test out her reconstructed knee.

 

Lindsey Vonn vows to take on the men

See skier’s downhill (careful at 1:21!)

Secret of U.S. ski team’s success

But Vonn, who is dating golfer Tiger Woods, says she is not yet ready to return to competitive action on the snow.

“My training camp in Soelden went very well and I made great progress, but I feel that I need more training before I start racing again,” Vonn explained on her personal website.

“The Soelden race is not in the cards this year. Patience is not my strong suit so not racing is very hard for me but it will only make me more excited for the next one.”

Vonn was crowned America’s snow queen when she became the first American woman to win the Olympic downhill title at the Vancouver Games in 2010.

She followed up her Vancouver victory with a stellar World Cup season in 2011-2012, winning 12 races and the overall title with a new record points haul.

A combination of illness and injury disrupted Vonn’s dominance on the slopes last season but she is confident she remains on course to defend her Olympic crown.

She plans to return at the World Cup event in Beaver Creek, Colorado on November 29.

“I will go home to Vail and continue my preparation for the Beaver Creek races and my ultimate goal in February!” she said.

There is an old face returning to the opening round of the new World Cup season in Soelden, however, as American Olympic super combined champion Bode Miller is back from his ski sabbatical.

It will be the 36-year-old’s first World Cup start since February of 2012.

Ted Ligety, Julia Mancuso and slalom world champion Mikeala Shiffrin are all included in the nine-strong U.S. team in Soelden.

 

Orlando Bloom and model Miranda Kerr confirm their three year marriage is over… after being ‘amicably separated for months’

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Օռլանդո Բլում,մոդել Միրանդա Քեր

 

Pirates Of The Caribbean star Orlando Bloom and model Miranda Kerr have announced they have split after three years of marriage.

A representative for the British actor confirmed the breakup to E! News.

The couple’s spokesperson said in a statement: ‘Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr have announced that they have been amicably separated for the past few months.

‘After six years together, they have recently decided to formalise their separation.’

The British actor and the Australian model began dating in late 2007 before tying the knot three years later.

Former Victoria’s Secret Angel Miranda, 30, gave birth to the couple’s son Flynn back in January 2011.

 

French soccer clubs to strike in protest at Francois Hollande’s ‘rich tax’

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ֆուտբոլային ակումբ

 

France’s controversial 75% tax for high earners drove award-winning actor Gerard Depardieu to take Russian citizenship.

Now, French football clubs are going on strike to protest the legislation’s planned implementation next year, claiming it will make them less competitive against European rivals and cause further financial hardship.

The Professional Union of Football Clubs (UCPF) announced Thursday that they will boycott all matches in the top two divisions scheduled between November 29-December 2.

It will be the first such strike in France since 1972, when players protested about their salaries, and will be the first in a major European league since the start of the 2010-11 Italian season was disrupted.

“This unprecedented day must be the occasion for the silent majority of French football to express its opposition,” UCPF president Jean-Pierre Louvel said in a statement Thursday.

The 75% tax will apply to players who earn more than €1 million ($1.38 million) a year. Under the law’s initial wording the earners themselves would have had to pay it, but after protests Francois Hollande’s Socialist Party government moved the responsibility to their employers.

The UCPF claims the tax will make French clubs less competitive against European rivals in countries which have lower taxes.

 

Boxer Klitschko to Run for Ukraine Presidency

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vitali klitschko,կլիչկո

Vitali Klitschko, a heavyweight boxing champion and top Ukrainian opposition leader, says he will run for the ex-Soviet nation’s presidency in 2015.

The 42-year-old was elected to parliament last fall as the head of his pro-Western party Udar (“Punch” in English). Since then, Klitschko, the reigning WBC heavyweight champion, has campaigned against what he calls authoritarian moves by President Viktor Yanukovych.

He particularly criticized the jailing of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, which was seen as politically motivated by the West.

Klitschko announced his widely expected presidential bid Thursday in response to efforts by pro-government forces to pass a bill that could prevent him from running because he has permanent residency status in Germany.

Klitschko vowed that he “will not be frightened or stopped by this.”

 

Sharon Stone Receives Peace Summit Award in Poland

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Շերոն Սթոուն, Լեհաստան,Խաղաղության գագաթնաժողովի մրցանակով

 

Sharon Stone was honored with 2013 Peace Summit Award on Wednesday, October 23. Wearing a camel-colored coat, Stone attended the official ceremony for the 13th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Warsaw, Poland.
The event, which was held at the Grand Theater and National Opera House, was also attended by Mikhail Gorbachev and Betty Williams. Stone bowed to Dalai Lama and made peace sign before receiving the award from the spiritual leader.
Stone is honored with the prize for her “activities that brought solidarity and new hope to the millions of people who have fought and are fighting against the tragedy of HIV/AIDS,” Daily Mail reports. The “Basic Instinct” actress has been working with U.S. charity amFAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, and has vowed to be their campaign chairman until a safe and effective vaccine is found.
A committee of Nobel Peace laureates names one person from the world of culture and entertainment who is actively involved in bringing awareness about peace and global issues to receive the award every year. Previous honorees include Cat Stevens, Bono, former soccer player Roberto Baggio and Sean Penn.

 

She just fell into television: Moment worker faceplants in background of live broadcast

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Ջեսիկա Գարեյթ,ԱՄՆ,KRQE

 

 

KRQE news anchor Jessica Garate says ‘I love how my days are unpredictable – that’s why I work in TV’.

 

In a recent show, while she was reporting on same-sex marriages, an unnamed person flew into shot and landed with a thud on the floor.

 

Ever the professional, Mrs Garate, who has been working for Albuquerque-based KRQE since 2004, maintained her composure throughout the incident and didn’t even flinch when the uninvited guest arrived at an alarming velocity.

 
This could be, of course, because she didn’t notice.

 

The person who made the unexpected appearance, a volunteer tasked with answering the phones at the station’s call center, didn’t appear to be hurt. She quickly got up and walked off.

 

Footage of the ‘faceplant’ has gone viral after being posted by Drew J. Lynch on YouTube, amassing over 13,000 views to date.

 

 

 

Are fish having sex keeping part of a city awake? Amorous animals could be behind mystery humming that starts at 10pm and goes on all night

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Amorous fish could be responsible for a mysterious humming noise keeping people awake at night.

Residents in a part of Southampton, Hamsphire, have been struggling to get to sleep because of the puzzling noise, which starts at 10pm and drones on all night.

Some people have even moved away from the affected area around Hythe and are sleeping on friends’ sofas to escape the nightmare.

Now scientists are studying whether the noise could be being caused by fish having sex in an estuary nearby.

Midshipman male fish let out a distinctive drone to let females know they are searching for a mate.

The noise can go on for hours and often increases in volume as competing males attempt to out-hum each other.

Incredibly, scientists say the sound can be amplified by bouncing off buildings and ships.

The National Oceanography Centre in Southampton was unable to shed any light on the mystery.

However, the Scottish Association for Marine Science claimed fish could be responsible for the bizarre buzzing sound.

The din has so far sparked dozens of complaints from residents suffering sleepless nights, who have come up with a number of other theories themselves.

New Forest District Council has now received more than 30 complaints about the irritating hum.

A spokesman said noise monitoring equipment had been installed in several properties in a bid to track down the origin of the sound.

 

 

North Korea to Return 6 Detained South Koreans

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North Korea plans to allow six detained South Koreans to return home, officials in Seoul said Thursday.

Pyongyang’s Red Cross sent a letter to the South saying the South Koreans will cross over the heavily armed border at the so-called truce village of Panmunjom on Friday, according to a short statement from the South’s Unification Ministry, which is responsible for cross-border ties.

The statement says Seoul plans to accept the South Koreans and investigate how they entered North Korea. Seoul provided only scant details, saying they were men ranging in age from 27 to 67.

North Korea said in 2010 that it was investigating four South Koreans for allegedly illegally entering the country; it wasn’t immediately clear whether any of them are among the six people being released Friday. Seoul says it has repeatedly asked Pyongyang to confirm the four citizens’ identities but has received no reply.

South Koreans visiting North Korea without government approval can be punished by up to 10 years in prison under South Korea’s National Security Law.

 

Large Oil Reserves Discovered in Brazil

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Oil Platforms Off The Coast of Brazil

 

Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency says large reserves of oil are located off the coast of the northeastern state of Sergipe, representing a new frontier in petroleum development in Latin America’s biggest country.

Agency director Magda Chambriard said Wednesday that numbers on how much oil is in the reserves would not be announced before 2016.

Most of the country’s oil production is concentrated in southeastern Brazil, where over the past several years billions of barrels of oil have been discovered in offshore reserves, mostly in deep, pre-salt fields.

On Monday, a consortium including Shell, Total, two Chinese firms and Brazil’s state-run petroleum company Petrobras won the right to develop a field off the cost of Rio de Janeiro that could hold up to 12 billion barrels of oil.

 

Farmer set to become a millionaire after two ‘very significant’ DINOSAUR skeletons discovered on his land go up for auction

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Տիրանոզավր

 

A farmer is set to become an overnight millionaire after stumbling across the 70-million-year-old bones of two dinosaurs on his land.

The enormous 38ft long Tyrannosaurus rex was discovered just a few miles from the 26ft Triceratops – and together they are set to fetch more than two million pounds.

Experts have described the incredible finds as ‘very significant, very impressive and very valuable’.

The T-rex skeleton is so significant that it is said to be among the top 20 ever found in the world, as it boasts around 40 per cent of its original bones.

The rest of the skeleton is made up of cast bones from other T-rex finds.

The Triceratops, a herbivore known for having two large horns on its head and a smaller one on its nose, is 70 per cent original.

The bones of the gigantic beasts were found on a 20 square mile ranch in Hell Creek in the U.S. state of Montana before being excavated by dinosaur fossil hunters.

They have since been prepared and mounted ready for sale.

T-rex is tipped to fetch £1.4 million, while the Triceratops could fetch £560,000.

The world record for the most expensive dinosaur fossil was set in 1997 when ‘Sue’, a Tyrannosaurus rex, sold for £5.4 million.

The auction will take place at Bonhams in New York on November 19.

 

Chinese man climbs high voltage pylon and spends five hours up there after being overwhelmed by pressure of debt

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չինացին սյան վրա

A Chinese man spent five hours on top of a high voltage pylon after the pressure of being in debt became too much.

Peng Hsieh, 21, had reportedly cracked after borrowing money from several local people including his family to fund his education and then finding he was unable to get a job and couldn’t pay it back.

The young man had climbed up 24-metre high voltage tower in Foshan, in Guangdong province, in southeast China.

He was spotted by a local who raised the alarm with the electricity officials who cut off the power supply.

In total he remained at the top of the pylon for five hours doing his gymnastic performances and singing popular Chinese songs, ignoring requests from family and friends to come down.

Only towards the end after having stripped off his shirt and his shoes did he finally agreed to come down when some of his creditors confirmed they would no longer pursue him so rigorously to get the money back.

His father Yang said: ‘If he kills himself nobody will get anything back, they just need to be patient.’

Peng Hsieh is likely to be fined though for the stunt so they may have to wait a while longer than was planned.

chinese man-high voltage pylon

չինացին բարձր լարման սյան վրա

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