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Bernanke fears of high unemployment for years to come

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Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke.(AFP Photo / Saul LOEB)

During the Fed’s annual address from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said current economic conditions are setting America up for “daunting” challenges and continued grim employment numbers.

Friday morning, the overseer of America’s central bank said during the Fed’s annual symposium that “we must not lose sight of the daunting economic challenges that confront our nation,” suggesting that as the country assesses the benefits and costs of alternative policies, the outcome might worsen nevertheless.

Mr. Bernanke also insisted that the current unemployment epidemic that has haunted the length of much of President Barack Obama’s administration may extend into the unforeseeable future if changes for the better aren’t implemented soon.

“The stagnation of the labor market in particular is a grave concern not only because of the enormous suffering and waste of human talent it entails, but also because persistently high levels of unemployment will wreak structural damage on our economy that could last for many years,” Bernanke said.

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Unclean affair: Scientologists forced Tom Cruise’s ex to scrub toilets?

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Tom Cruise and Nazanin Boniadi.(AFP Photo / Larry Busacca / Valerie Macon)

Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology still have secrets to keep. The actress, who was selected as a new wife for Tom Cruise, revealed in Vanity Fair magazine that the Church forced her to clean toilets after she made her love affair public.

According to the actress the Church punished her in a humiliating way. Vanity Fair says the girl was forced to

“scrub toilets with a toothbrush, clean bathroom tiles with acid, dig ditches in the middle of the night and sell Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s Dianetics on street corners.”

The church has a controversial reputation and according to the magazine launched a major campaign on finding Tom Cruise a suitable partner after he split from his wife Nicole Kidman in 2001.

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Temporary tunes: Bruce Willis to sue Apple over music ownership

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Bruce Willis (AFP Photo / Stephen Lovekin)

Action movie legend Bruce Willis is taking Apple to court over his music collection. The actor wants his daughters to inherit several gigabytes of downloaded music after his death.

The actor wants to ensure that Rumer, Scout and Tallulah Willis become the next owners of their father’s music collection after he passes away.

But according to the tech giant’s rules, ownership of his tunes will return to Apple, as they are in fact borrowed, not than owned.

Downloading music through iTunes doesn’t actually buy the music, which means it can’t be given to someone else or resold.

“Lots of people will be surprised on learning all those tracks and books they have bought over the years don’t actually belong to them,” solicitor Chris Walton told the Daily Mail. “It’s only natural you would want to pass them on to a loved one. The law will catch up, but ideally Apple and the like will update their policies and work out the best solution for their customers.”

The 57-years old actor spent a significant amount of money on his collection, including classics the likes of Led Zeppelin.

If the issue reaches court, other users of Apple’s music services could also benefit.

Disabled Pakistani girl framed in Koran-burning case? Imam arrested for falsifying evidence

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Pakistani police arrested an Imam on Sunday over accusations he had planted evidence on a Christian girl accused of burning a Koran, allegedly to frame her. Witnesses say the cleric tore pages from the Koran and planted them in the girl’s bag.

Imam Khalid Chishti had previously presented police with evidence that Rimsha Masih – a Christian girl believed to be 11 to 14 years old who may also be mentally disabled – had committed blasphemy by burning pages of the Koran. He was arrested on Sunday after witnesses claimed he had falsified the evidence.

Members of the International Christian Alliance chant slogans in support of a Christian girl who was accused of burning papers containing verses from the Koran, at a protest in Karachi on August 27, 2012. (AFP Photo/zwan Tabassum)

“The imam was arrested after his deputy Maulvi Zubair and two others told a magistrate he added pages from the Koran to the burnt pages brought to him by a witness,” AFP quoted police official Munir Hussain Jafri as saying.

“They protested that he should not add something to the evidence and he should give the evidence to the police as he got it and should not do this,” Jaffri said.

Chishti allegedly responded by saying, “You know this is the only way to expel the Christians from this area.”

Masih’s arrest in August on blasphemy charges prompted international concern. Masih was accused by Chishti and others of burning pages of the Koran, an offense punishable by death under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. Masih’s age is unknown, but she is believed to be around 14. A government-appointed medical board concluded that she is developmentally disabled, the BBC reported.

The controversy deepened amid reports that the girl was not actually seen burning the pages, but was rather found with pages torn from the Koran in her bag.

Paul Bhatti, Pakistani Minister for National Harmony, said that the girl was known to have a mental disability – supposedly Down syndrome – and that it seemed “unlikely she purposefully desecrated the Koran.”

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OWS march rolls through Charlotte ahead of Democratic convention (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

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Hundreds of people have taken part in the March on Wall Street South event in Charlotte, carrying banners, banging drums and chanting slogans against corporate greed. The protest ahead of the Democratic National Convention proceeded peacefully.

The turnout at the event was lower than organizers had expected, with only about 1,000 activists from dozens of groups marching through the city center on Sunday.

Small groups of protesters made stops along their way to stage sit-ins in front of Bank of America headquarters and power utility Duke Energy.

The march drew people protesting against a variety of causes in addition to corporate collusion with the US government. Along with slogans like “Capitalism is holding back the human race,” and “Bail out people, not banks,”  protesters were bearing signs saying “No war on Iran” and “Obama murders children with drones.”

About 100 police officers walked alongside the protesters, with a helicopter hovering above the crowd. They carried wooden batons, plastic hand ties and gas masks, but did not use them as the event went smoothly.

Only one person was arrested during the march, for intoxication, police said.

The parade route and “free speech” areas were designated by the authorities well in advance. The city also assigned time slots for speaking and marches.

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Netanyahu urges international community to set nuclear ‘red line’ for Iran

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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on September 2, 2012. (AFP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Israel is once again stirring the pot with harsh rhetoric regarding Iran, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing world powers of failing to draw a “clear red line” to curb Tehran’s alleged nuclear weapons program.

“I believe the truth must be stated: the international community is not placing a clear, red line for Iran,” Netanyahu said at his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.

The Israeli PM added that since Tehran “does not see international resolve to stop” what the US and Israel speculate without evidence to be a nuclear weapons program, all efforts to halt it are in vain.

“Until Iran sees this clear red line and this determination, it won’t stop advancing its nuclear program. Iran must never be allowed to acquire nuclear arms,” he declared.

Some speculate that Netanyahu’s accusatory comments were primarily targeting the US over its reluctance to back Israel in a military attack on Iran.

The remarks come after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published its new report on Iran’s use of nuclear power, saying Tehran had doubled its uranium enrichment capacity at the underground Fordo facility despite UN Security Council resolutions and international pressure.

The UN nuclear watchdog’s report, made public on Thursday, demonstrated that Iran currently has around 2,000 uranium-enrichment centrifuges installed at the Fordo facility, compared with around 1,000 in May.

“The report confirms what I have been saying for a long time – the international sanctions may be weighing heavily on Iran’s economy but are not hindering the advancement of Iran’s nuclear program,” Netanyahu announced, adding that Tehran is using talks to buy time to develop an atomic bomb.