Trending world news:
China to send peacekeeping battalion to S.Sudan
A soldier of the United Nations
Mission in South Sudan walks near armored vehicles in Bor on December
28, 2013 (AFP Photo/Samir Bol)
In December, the Security Council voted to send an extra 5,500 peacekeepers -- some re-assigned from other UN missions in Africa -- to the UN mission in the world's newest country, bringing the total deployment there to 12,500.
More than half of these reinforcements have arrived.
UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous confirmed Thursday that China had agreed to send a "battalion" of 850 soldiers within the next few months.
He told reporters the UN "was in the process of deploying a Rwandan battalion" re-assigned from the UN mission in Darfur, and was expecting "in the next two weeks Ethiopian troops, additional Kenyan troops, and later, Chinese."
UN officials said this was the first time China will send a combat unit to a UN peacekeeping operation. Beijing has participated in UN missions in Mali and Darfur, but only sent logistical and protection units.
The UN Security Council on Tuesday approved a resolution making defending civilians the highest priority task in the South Sudan mission.
The mission's other roles are to keep a close eye on the human rights situation, to help deliver humanitarian aid, and to watch over compliance of a truce signed by the rival sides but never respected.
The UN
says crimes against humanity may have been committed by both sides in
the conflict, supporters of President Salva Kiir and of his ex-vice
president Riek Machar, and fears a famine may set in.
South
Sudan only gained its independence from Sudan three years ago and has
been ravaged by a conflict between rebel groups and the government since
December 15, resulting in massacres and atrocities against thousands of
civilians from both sides.
Around a million people have been displaced and many are living in extremely cramped and precarious conditions.Ukraine army will push on with offensive against rebels: defense minister
Ukrainian acting Defence Minister Mykhailo Koval attends a parliament session in Kiev March 25, 2014
KIEV - Ukrainian forces will press ahead with a military offensive
against rebels in the east until peace and order have been restored
there, Ukraine's acting defense minister said on Friday.
Speaking after 14 servicemen, including a general, were killed on
Thursday when rebels shot down an army helicopter, the minister,
Mykhailo Koval, said: "Our given task is to bring peace and order to the
region."
Repeating charges
that Russia was carrying out "special operations" in the east of
Ukraine, Koval said Ukrainian forces would continue with military
operations in border areas "until these regions begin to live normally,
until there is peace."
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Writing By Richard Balmforth; Editing by Thomas Grove)
Trending entertainment news:
Angelina Jolie Meets Her Maleficent Match — in Drag
That Brad Pitt assailant wasn't the only one who upstaged Angelina Jolie on the Maleficent red carpet Wednesday night...
Ladies and gentlemen, we present Shokra!
The performance artist (whose real name is Russell Barslou), who went full Maleficent for the premiere at Hollywood's El Capitan Theatre, made a big impression on the titular villainess herself. Jolie paused from her autograph-signing, photo-posing, question-answering duties to mug for the camera with Shokra, who nailed the Oscar winner's fierce, pouty stare.
Disney executives invited Shokra to the premiere after seeing how good he looked as the horned fairy queen during a club performance a couple of weeks earlier. Luke Nero and Andrés Rigal, promoters at Eleven nightclub in West Hollywood, had rechristened their popular Saturday night party Plastic Fantastic the "Night of 1,000 Maleficents" — and Shokra stole the show in a costume of his own creation
Calling the Sleepy Beauty baddie character one of his "all-time favorites," Shokra came dressed in a skintight black dress, horns, collar, full makeup, and a scary set of eyebrows.
"What I do for a living is costume design and production," he explains. "I've been doing it for 17 years. I created the horns and the collar and the shrug myself and it came together super well. My whole aesthetic for the drag that I do is very theatrical and over the top. I'm not so much a female impersonator as I am a performer."
A group of Disney suits
attended the "Night of 1,000 Maleficents" party and posed with Shokra
for pics. Those pics then made it all the way back to Jolie, who loved
them. Then Shokra and Luke got the invite from Disney to come to the
premiere.
"I didn't know what to expect," Shokra adds. "I didn't know I was actually going to walk the red carpet. I was trying not to get my hopes up. I was hoping she'd see me and like it."
And like it she did. As soon as Jolie arrived on the red carpet she waved at Shokra.
"She was unbelievable," Shokra continues. "The first time she saw me, her face just sort of lit up and she smiled at me. And then she went to do her interview with Entertainment Tonight. When she was done she made a beeline right to me. And she told me that she thought I looked great, but all I could do was say how great that I thought she looked.
"I was overwhelmed because I wasn't used to the paparazzi and situations like that. She was just so professional. It also said a lot to me about her that she wanted to make sure that I got a great pic of us together with my phone. She knew exactly where to look to make sure I got a picture that I'd love."
Angelina lights up when she meets Shokra / Shokra with Sarah Hyland and friend (Giana Mucci, Yahoo / Facebook, …
When the carpet was over and Shokra had changed back into his regular outfit for the night, he caught an intimate moment between Jolie and her family.
"It was just after the carpet, before the movie had started," he says. "When everyone else was already in the theater. And we watched her and Brad and all of the kids walk by. She was holding one of the little ones, and she was absolutely beaming. You could tell that the night was just a huge moment for her."
Shokra also witnessed the attack by prankster Vitalii Sediuk against Brad Pitt. "While we were waiting for her on the carpet, and she was being interviewed, we were asking 'Where's Brad?' And I saw him signing autographs and it looked like a fight broke out. And there was a lot of commotion and I didn't know what happened. But even after that happened, we saw Brad still signing more autographs. I saw him walk by and he was smiling and seemed to have just brushed it off. It certainly didn't seem to faze him at all."
As for Maleficent
the film? Shokra gives it a big thumbs-up. "The movie is just
beautiful," he adds. "I'm just such a huge fan of hers. Like I said, I'm
all about horns and wings, so I knew that I was going to love it."
And if Disney does Maleficent 2, we know a certain person who would make the perfect stand-in for the title role.
—Additional reporting by Jenny DepperKate Middleton, Prince William Visit Scotland After Bare-Butt Picture Drama
Wills and Kate in Scotland
Kate Middleton and Prince William
are back to work after a month-long break following their three-week
tour of Australia and New Zealand—and this time they're visiting
Scotland.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge left Prince George,
10 months, at home with his nanny as they flew to Strathearn, Scotland
to visit a county very close to their hearts. Since their wedding in
2011 the couple have been given the Scottish title the Earl and Countess
of Strathearn, but this is the first time they have ever visited the
area.The outing comes just days after a German newspaper published pictures of Middleton's recent Marilyn Monroe moment, when she experienced a wardrobe malfunction and flashed her bare butt on an April 17 tour stop in Winmalee, Australia. With that embarrassment fresh in her mind, the Duchess was careful to get her fashion choices spot-on this time.
Wearing a stylish red coat designed by Scotsman Jonathan Saunders,
Middleton, 32, looked stunning and elegant as she arrived at Strathearn
Community campus with her husband Prince William, 31, at 10 a.m. local
time. The Celtic design brooch worn on her lapel was a private wedding
gift.
Prince William,
who once worked as a search and rescue pilot for the Royal Navy, spent
some time looking around an air ambulance. According to recent reports,
the keen pilot is eager to return to flying once his period of full-time
royal duties comes to an end in September. One option he's thought to
be considering is to enlist as a pilot for the East Anglian Air
Ambulance, which is based near his country home in Norfolk.
As
part of their duties today, the royal couple will visit the famous
Grouse Distillery, where they will get the chance to sample a shot of
their whiskey.Trending sport news:
Luis Suarez has injured his knee, and his World Cup appearance is doubtful
Luis Suarez, who has been in brilliant form this season, scoring a record-breaker 31-goals in 13/14 season of English Premier League. He played a key role to get Liverpool back in the Champions League. Luis Suarez, 28, was going to be the star player for the Uruguayan international team, and he was supposed to lead the team from the front in Brasil.
Along with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, the Uruguayan powerhouse was the man everyone was looking forward to, in the upcoming mega event, taking place in Brasil.
Luis Suarez has 77 caps for Uruguay. Uruguay will kick start there campaign on 14th June against Costa Rica, against England on 19th June and will play their final group game against the Italians on 24th June.
The news was broken by a renowned journalist, Martin
Charquero, who is a trusted source from Uruguay. Absence of Luis Suarez
would be a big blow for the Uruguayan world cup bid to advance as much
as possible. It will also hand over a big responsibility to Edinson
Cavani, who currently plays for PSG.
The journalist has informed that Luis Suarez will undergo knee
operation as soon as Thursday morning, and a minimum of 20 days will be
required for full recovery, which is not quite certain yet, ad his
comeback date will depend on the condition of the injury. He tweeted,Luis Suarez’s brother, Pablo Suarez has confirmed the news, but he also tweeted that ‘his brother will make it to the tournament’.“Luis Suarez felt discomfort in today’s training session. Later a scan was carried out, where a meniscus problem was detected.”
Is Real Madrid’s Di Maria eyeing a new contract?
Although Real Madrid ace has insisted that he wants to stay at Santiago Bernabeu, but indirectly a message might have been conveyed. Di Maria acknowledged the interest from a number of top level clubs, most particularly from England, and he says he will be staying at Real Madrid only if they want to keep him.
He also said Real Madrid’s manager Carlo Ancelotti played a key role in convincing him to stay at Real Madrid last season where he was on the verge of leaving the Spanish giants. Talking to Marca, he said:
Di Maria signed a five-year contract of €25 million, plus €11 million in incentives on 28 June, 2010, which was extended later and now his contract expires in the summer of 2018.“I am not going to lie, I know that there are clubs that want to sign me and can match Real Madrid’s demands. But that’s up to my representatives and the club. I will stay if the club wants me to stay.I am happy at Madrid. I had a great season and always had everybody’s support. But sometimes you don’t have a choice, even when you want to stay put yourself.”
Real Madrid career:
Appearances (189)
Assists (72)
Goals (36)
International career:
Appearances (43)
Goals (9)
Angel Di Maria’s stunning performances this season might have been the real cause to have an increase in wages, which he deserves to some extent.Di Maria, who played a key role in Real Madrid’s record 10th European Cup win, and won Man of the Match award for his remarkable performance, would be looking for an improved contract, or otherwise, a move to England’s big spenders could be very much on the cards.
YOUR OPINION:
Do you think Angel Di Maria should demand for an improved contract? Share your opinions in the comments section belowTrending technology news:
Five free vpn services for you to check out
Virtual private networks were conceived to connect computers in different geographic locations as if they were part of one same local network. They rely on encryption, tunnel protocols and masking mechanisms to fulfill their purpose in a reliable and secure fashion. These same attributes which are indispensable to create safe networks through the internet have made VPNs the go to technology for anyone looking to keep their location and online activities private.In general, totally free high quality VPN services are few and far between. The current business model being used by some is to offer a free basic application with the option to upgrade to a paid, more feature rich version. However, for users simply looking for some extra privacy or sporadically accessing a geo-restricted website these free versions get the job done.
CyberGhost
CyberGhost installs clean and the interface is very polished. There are no bandwidth limits but whenever you change a setting in the program you get a popup window that offers upgrading to their premiums plans. Speed is slightly higher than the other services we have listed here but they restrict P2P traffic. This doesn’t affect video and audio streaming services but if you want anonymity downloading torrents this one is not for you. They have the widest list of options when it comes to IP selection with virtual locations in Germany, Spain, Romania, Luxembourg, France, Italy, aside from the usual US and UK locales. CyberGhost is available for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS and Linux (with some work). Another plus, you do not need to register.
TunnelBear
TunnelBear is another strong offering in the world of free VPNs. The interface is quite polished and easy to use, installation is clean and quick, and it was able to get us into all the online streaming services we tried – Hulu, BBC iPlayer, and YouTube. Speed was a bit lacking and there is a 500MB per month limit, but you can increase that to 1.5GB with a tweet right from the get go. You can choose virtual locations in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, and Italy. TunnelBear is available for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS after you register an account.
SurfEasy
SurfEasy is one of the most solid free alternatives out there. Speed is decent, installation is straightforward, encryption is supposedly “bank grade” and they clearly state none of your online activities are logged. You can change regions on the fly with servers in Brazil, US, Singapore, UK, Germany and Canada. The biggest deal breaker is that apparently their IP addresses have been blacklisted by some streaming services. At the time of writing SurfEasy wasn’t able to get us into Hulu or the BBC iPlayer. There's also a monthly data transfer limit of 500MB for free accounts and BitTorrent traffic is not supported -- the company had to choose between keeping user logs or dropping torrent support to avoid being liable of copyright infringement. They chose the latter.Although free accounts are capped at 500MB per month of traffic you can extend that limit indefinitely through referrals and several other pretty effortless mechanisms. SurfEasy is available for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS after you register for an account.
Hotspot Shield
Hotspot Shield is probably the best-known free VPN out there. It does all the basics and while speed is just average, it's good enough for streaming Hulu videos at medium resolution. All communications are encrypted and there is no data transfer limit. However, you'll have to tolerate ads while surfing. Be sure to go with the "advanced installation" option during setup otherwise your browser will end up with a different homepage and default search engine. Finally, you can’t change your virtual location which limits your online selection to U.S based services. Hotspot Shield is available for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS with no registration necessary.
Spotflux
Spotflux is another free, ad-supported offering with no bandwidth limits. Speed is more or less on par with Hotspot Shield -- which is to say it's not the fastest of the bunch -- but besides encrypting your internet traffic they also promise protection online against malicious ads, cookies and malware. The client is quite simple with virtually no settings to deal with, which might a be a pro or con depending on your preferences. For the average user looking for an install and forget solution Spotflux does the trick. Their IP addresses seem to be U.S. based so it won't get you around blocks for services limited to other countries. It's also worth noting that at the time of writing they have been blacklisted from Hulu but had no issues with YouTube. Spotflux is available for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS. You don’t have to register for an account right away.
Apple buys Beats for $3 billion, co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre to work under Eddy Cue
By Shawn Knight
Following months of rumors and speculation,
Apple has officially purchased Beats Electronics for $3 billion. The
deal includes the company’s headphones, speakers and audio software
business as well as the recently-launched Beats Music subscription service according to a press release on the matter.Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement that music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within the hearts of those at Apple. Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine said he always knew in his heart that Beats belonged with Apple and his company was inspired by Apple’s unmatched ability to marry culture and technology.
Apple will operate the Beats brand separately from its own and will continue to sell the company’s headphones as well as keep the Beats streaming music service alive. iTunes and iTunes Radio will continue to be offered as well.
As per the agreement, both Iovine and fellow Beats co-founder Dr. Dre will join Apple to work under Eddy Cue who is in charge of the Cupertino-based company’s Internet services division. It’s unclear exactly what their roles will be with Apple, however.
Apple is paying $2.6 billion in cash for Beats as well as an additional $400 million in stock. It represents the largest acquisition yet for Apple, a company that traditionally prefers to buy out smaller startups for their talent or technology.
The deal is expected to close during the fiscal fourth quarter pending regulatory approval.
Trending health news:
Tai Chi Could Slow the Aging Process, Study Finds
Anti-wrinkle
creams, radical diets, plastic surgery — people will do just about
anything to stop (or at least pretend to stop) the aging process. Now, a
new report suggests that tai chi, the traditional Chinese martial art,
could help replenish stem cells and slow aging down.Dr. Shinn-Zong Lin and a team of researchers recently studied two groups of people over the course of a year, with just one group participating in tai chi classes. The other group was asked to engage in brisk walking exercises.
Interestingly, Lin’s team didn’t use middle aged or senior volunteers. “We used young volunteers because theey have better cell-renewing abilities than the old population and we also wanted to avoid having chronic diseases and medications as interfering factors,” Lin said.
Lin and his team found that the group which regularly participated in tai chi had a “significantly higher number of CD 34+ stem cells.” Lin’s report explains that CD 34+ cells are “cluster markers” for blood stem cells capable of self-renewal and growth. In other words, tai chi appears to increase blood flow, help in the regeneration of cells, and assist in slowing the aging process.
It’s also a more practical option when compared to brisk walking. “Considering that brisk walking may require a larger space or more equipment, tai chi seems to be an easier and more convenient choice of anti-aging exercise,” Lin’s team noted in their report, which has been published in the journal Cell Transplantation.
Dr. Paul Sandberg, a health expert and professor at the University of South Florida, says Lin’s study “provides the first step in providing scientific evidence for the possible health benefits of tai chi.” Sandberg suggests that new studies should seek to show “how tai chi can elicit benefit in different populations and on different parameters of aging”.
Health Experts Defend E-Cigarettes
E-cigarettes,
or electronic cigarettes, simulate tobacco smoking by producing a
smoke-like vapor. For some, it’s a dangerous idea that could lead kids
to become accustomed to the act of smoking. But a team of fifty
international health researchers says it’s critical that governing
bodies not consider e-cigarettes, which can help people ditch the
smoking habit, a tobacco product.The health researchers are responding to a leaked report from the World Health Organization (WHO) which suggests that e-cigarettes should be considered a “threat”. It’s true that not everyone likes the product, which mimics cigarette smoking. E-cigarettes have been particularly alluring for young people, who like that the devices can produce vapors of varying flavours, from mint to cherry.
But the benefits of e-cigarettes vastly outweigh the drawbacks, the health researchers say. They point to studies which have shown that electronic cigarettes are far more successful in helping people stop smoking than nicotine patches or gums. On that basis, the health researchers suggest that, properly distributed, e-cigarettes could save millions of lives.
That’s why the team is pressing WHO to avoid labeling e-cigarettes a tobacco product, which might make it more difficult for people to acquire them.
In a recent letter mailed to WHO Director General Margaret Chan, the researchers claim that e-cigarettes “could be among the most significant health innovations in the 21st century.” The letter goes on to insist that “if regulators treat low-risk nicotine products as traditional tobacco products … they are improperly defining them as part of the problem.”
One thing’s for certain: the e-cigarette industry is growing fast. Experts estimate that total sales in 2013 were in the neighborhood of $3 billion.
The World Health Organization continues to study e-cigarette usage and is expected to release a report on the matter later this year.
Trending news
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