German GDP presents mixed picture
Private consumption and trade fuelled a 1.5 percent expansion of the German economy in 2014. It was its best performance in three years but as David Pollard reports it wasn't all good news.
Private consumption and trade fuelled a 1.5 percent expansion of the German economy in 2014. It was its best performance in three years but as David Pollard reports it wasn't all good news.
Putin, in a dark suit, white shirt and a dark red tie, stood in the capital's main church, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, together with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, each holding a lit red candle, video of the service showed. The Russian leader crossed himself several times during the traditionally sung service that begun late on Saturday and lasted into the early Sunday hours.
Armed with gardening hoes while others cradled bamboo seedlings, students gathered outside their school in Kenya's capital. More than 100 bamboo plantings dot the ground around Dandora secondary school, which shares a name with the dumpsite that was declared full 23 years ago. Allan Sila, 17, said sitting in his classroom is like studying in a smelly latrine.
High waters flooded neighborhoods around Houston on Saturday following heavy rains that resulted in crews rescuing more than 400 people from homes, rooftops and roads engulfed in murky water. A flood watch remained in effect through Sunday afternoon as forecasters predicted additional rainfall Saturday night and the likelihood of major flooding in Harris County, the nation’s third-largest county which includes Houston, and nearby areas. “A lull in heavy rain is expected through (Saturday) evening,” the National Weather Service reported.
Republican National Committee chief counsel Charlie Spies is parting ways with the party apparatus just months after stepping into the role.
Three bodies recovered from a cliff-top shaft in Mexico's crime-hit Baja California state are very likely those of two Australian brothers and an American who disappeared on a surfing trip, local investigators said Saturday.The bodies were in an "advanced state of decomposition" when they were hoisted out of a shaft a few steps from the edge of the Pacific Ocean cliff, said state prosecutor Maria Elena Andrade.
Talks to strike a Gaza truce were expected to resume Sunday after Hamas rejected any deal that failed to end the war in the Palestinian territory and accused Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu of "personally hindering" an agreement.He accused Netanyahu of "personally hindering" efforts to reach a truce due to "personal interests".
Frank Stella, the American artist renowned for his abstract works, died on Saturday at the age of 87, his longtime representative said in a statement.
In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, restaurants and brands are serving up deals for the popular Mexican holiday.
Juro Kara, who helped shape Japan’s postwar avant-garde theater, defiantly yet playfully transforming the essence of Kabuki aesthetics into modern storytelling, has died. The playwright, director and troupe leader died late Saturday from a blood clot in the brain after he collapsed at home and was rushed to a Tokyo hospital on May 1, his theater group Karagumi said in a statement on Sunday. Kara, whose real name was Yoshihide Otsuru, rose to stardom in the so-called Japanese underground movement of the 1960s known as “un-gura,” characterized by a kitsch rebellious style also found in his contemporaries Shuji Terayama and Tadashi Suzuki.
Taiwan’s leaders are working on an ambitious new satellite system to keep the island online in case of disaster, as it deals with the constant threat of hostilities with China.
The University of Mississippi has opened a student conduct investigation after actions of “hostility and racist overtones” were portrayed during a demonstration on campus.
When Mohamed Lafi vanished at sea one fateful night, it marked yet another tragedy for a Tunisian town struggling with the exodus of its youth.The families have urged Tunisian authorities to bolster economic conditions, educational programmes and cultural activities in the town of around 6,000 people to encourage youths to stay.
Panamanians vote in presidential elections Sunday from a crowded field of eight candidates, with the protege of a graft-convicted ex-head of state in the lead.On Friday, Panamanian salsa legend and activist Ruben Blades called his compatriots not to vote for a man he described as "a frontman for a confirmed crook."
Mark Hamill is bringing the force to the White House and discussed meeting the president at a press briefing.
SEOUL (Reuters) -Efforts led by the U.S. and other Western countries to form new groups to monitor sanctions on North Korea will fail, the country's U.N. envoy said on Sunday, according to state media KCNA. Ambassador Kim Song made the comment in response to a joint statement the U.S. and its allies issued this week calling to continue the work of a U.N. panel of experts monitoring longstanding sanctions against Pyongyang for its nuclear weapons and missile programs.
Police say multiple bomb threats were reported at synagogues across New York City on Saturday.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's election campaign and the Republican National Committee said on Saturday that they raised more than $76 million in April, over half of it from small donors. The monthly fundraising haul exceeded the $65.6 million raised in March by Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, and the RNC.
(Reuters) -Members of the United Auto Workers on Saturday ratified a new labor contract with Daimler Truck that includes at least a 25% general wage increase over the four-year deal. The vote was 94.5% in favor of the new contract, which covers more than 7,300 hourly UAW workers after a tentative agreement was reached in late April, averting a strike at the 11th hour. The contract covers hourly workers at six facilities in southern states where unionization has traditionally been low, including four factories in North Carolina and parts warehouses in Georgia and Tennessee.
Frank Stella, a painter, sculptor and printmaker whose constantly evolving works are hailed as landmarks of the minimalist and post-painterly abstraction art movements, died Saturday at his home in Manhattan. Gallery owner Jeffrey Deitch, who spoke with Stella's family, confirmed his death to The Associated Press. Stella’s wife, Harriet McGurk, told the New York Times that he died of lymphoma.
Attorneys for a New Hampshire man who prevailed in a landmark lawsuit over abuse at a state-run youth detention center are asking for a hearing after the jury foreperson expressed dismay that the $38 million award could be slashed to $475,000. Jurors on Friday awarded $18 million in compensatory damages and $20 million in enhanced damages to David Meehan, who alleged that the state’s negligence allowed him to be repeatedly raped, beaten and held in solitary confinement as a teenager at the Youth Development Center in Manchester. Jurors were not told of the cap, but they were asked how many incidents it found Meehan had proven.