European Leaders Express Somber New Year Messages
European leaders delivered somber New Year's messages to their citizens Saturday.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned that France's future will hang in the balance in 2012. He acknowledged that many people are starting the new year worried about the future of their children and that emerging from the crisis will remain a challenge for the continent.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the past year in Europe was marked by the financial crisis. But she reminded citizens that the peaceful continent is a historical gift and that lessons could be learned from past mistakes.
” One of these is that a common that a common currency can only be successful if we work together more than ever in Europe. Europe is growing closer in the crisis. The road to overcome it remains long and not without setbacks, but at the end of this path Europe will re-emerge stronger from the crisis than it was when it entered it.”
Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos also warned that the coming year will be difficult and urged Greeks to accept austerity.
“We have to continue our efforts with determination, so that the sacrifices we have made up to now won't be in vain, so that we prevent this crisis from developing into disorder, so that we can continue to use the euro as our currency, so that we return to the path of development and reduce unemployment.”
Athens has cut down its spending on holiday festivities and used the funds to help the needy.
Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev was somewhat more optimistic in his last televised message of the outgoing year. He said that 2011 was “not easy” but that it is ending well for the country as a result of people's joint efforts.
Pope Benedict marked the end of the year with prayers of thanks and said humanity awaits the new year with apprehension, but also with hope for a better future.
Nigeria Declares State of Emergency After Attacks
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in areas hard hit by violence blamed on the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram.
In an address on state television Saturday, Mr. Jonathan said the measure is in force in parts of Yobe and Borno states in the northeast, Plateau state in central Nigeria, and Niger state in the east.
He said a temporary closure of borders in those areas is needed to address security challenges and restore normalcy to the country.
“All Nigerians will collectively fight this terror. We will crush them. We know what happens in other countries that is why I always say 'yes, there has been a terrorist attack, but there is not a magic wand to wave it off' because we know it has been happening in other countries but collectively we'll bring it under control and finally crush it. We begin from tonight to take some different measures, different approach to fighting Boko Haram.”
The move came following a series of Christmas Day attacks in northeastern Nigeria, including four that killed about 40 people, most of them Christians.
The violence is blamed on Boko Haram, an Islamist sect that has claimed responsibility for multiple bombings and shootings in the north and in the capital, Abuja. The group's name means “western education is a sin.”
The violence is raising fears that the militants are trying to ignite sectarian strife.
The opposition has criticized the Jonathan administration for failing to control Boko Haram.
Nigeria is roughly divided into a mostly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south.
North Korea Vows to Defend Kim Jong Un “Unto Death”
North Korean officials have pledged in their annual New Year's message to make every effort to bring the country to prosperity and to defend its new leader Kim Jong Un.
The message published Sunday by the state-run new agency KCNA comes a day after Mr. Kim was named the supreme commander of North Korea's military following his father Kim Jong Il's death.
In April, North Korea will mark a crucial landmark in its history: the centenary of the birth of its founder Kim Il Sung, the new leader's grandfather.
The New Year's message urges North Koreans to glorify 2012 as a year of victory and prosperity. It also calls on the army and people to defend Kim Jong Un unto death.
After the death of Kim Jong Il, December 17, North Korean official media referred to his youngest son as the great successor.
Kim Jong Un, who is in his 20s, was given a prominent position during his father's funeral. Leaders of the ruling Workers' Party officially named him supreme commander over the 1.2 million-strong military at a meeting Friday.
Officials also have sent a message to the world not to expect any changes in the communist country's policies.
Afghan President Welcomes US Remarks on Taliban
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Saturday he welcomed U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's recent remarks that the Taliban in Afghanistan is not America's enemy.
During a speech in Kabul, Mr. Karzai said the Afghan people are very happy about the U.S. announcement, adding “such a message will help the Afghans reach peace and stability.”
In a December 19 interview with the U.S. magazine Newsweek, Biden said President Barack Obama has made no statement in any U.S. policy assertions that the Taliban is “our enemy.” The vice president said the insurgent group did not represent a threat to the United States, unless it continued to harbor al-Qaida.
On Tuesday, Mr. Karzai said his government would accept the Taliban establishing a liaison office in the Gulf state of Qatar for the purpose of holding peace talks.
U.S. officials have been quoted as saying that the United States is open to negotiating a peace agreement with the Taliban and that a possible deal could include the transfer of Taliban prisoners from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Meanwhile, NATO-led troops handed over responsibility for security to Afghan forces in three districts in southern Helmand province. The provincial governor's office said Afghan forces took control of Nad Ali, Nawa and Marja districts late Friday as part of the second wave of security transition.
And NATO said one of its service members died Saturday in a non-battle related incident in southern Afghanistan. No other details were immediately available.
Report: Iran to Propose New Nuclear Talks
Iran's ambassador to Germany says his country is ready for a new round of talks with major world powers about Iran's controversial nuclear program.
The semi-official Mehr news agency reported Saturday that Ambassador Ali Reza Sheikh Attar says Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, will propose the talks in a letter to the European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton.
The renewed dialogue would be between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France — as well as Germany.
The ambassador did not say how soon the letter would be sent.
The West fears Iran's nuclear program is geared toward making atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies.
Talks earlier this year between Iran and the six world powers did not make progress.
Lady Gaga to help drop New Year's ball
Lady Gaga has been inescapable for 2011, so it makes sense that she'll also be on hand to help us draw this year to a close.
The New Yorker will be back in town on New Year's Eve as Mayor Bloomberg's special guest, a spokesperson for the mayor tells CNN.
Although he's never met the "Born This Way" singer, Bloomberg said at a press conference Wednesday that he's seen Gaga in action and found her to be "a great entertainer," the New York Daily News reports.
Gaga is expected to perform, but she's also been tasked with another duty: Pushing the button to signal the ball drop in Times Square at 11:59 p.m. ET.
"I saw her once perform at the museum, the Metropolitan Museum, " Bloomberg said. "I do not know her personally, and I'm looking forward to it."
Ghost Rider writer loses legal bid
The rights to Marvel Comics hero Ghost Rider - played by Nicholas Cage in two films - belong to the firm and not the writer who conceived him in the 1970s, a New York judge has ruled.
Gary Friedrich launched a legal bid to cash in on film rights in 2007.
The judge ruled that, as he had cashed cheques from Marvel, he had no case.
Cage starred as stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze in 2007 film Ghost Rider. He also stars in 3D sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, out in February.
Mr Friedrich's lawyer, Charles Kramer, did not comment on the ruling but said his client would appeal against it.
Manhattan federal court judge Katherine Forrest agreed that Ghost Rider - a motorcycle-driving superhero with a skeletal head that is sometimes on fire - was conceived by Mr Friedrich.
The character's first appearance for Marvel Comics was in 1972.
When the first Ghost Rider film came out in 2007, Mr Friedrich sued Marvel claiming it had infringed his rights because he owned the character.
He sought compensation for its use in films, toys, video games and other merchandise.
"If Friedrich... had any rights to the character or the work at the time he endorsed the cheques... he relinquished those rights to Marvel," the judge said.
She said that, as creating comic books also involved so many different processes, Ghost Rider was undoubtedly owned by Marvel.
He had also signed an agreement with Marvel in 1978 relinquishing rights in exchange for more future freelance work, she said.
In an earlier court hearing, Mr Friedrich said he thought he had given Marvel the rights to use Ghost Rider in comic books but that he retained all other rights.
But such an understanding had never been put down in writing, he said when questioned by Marvel lawyers.
Jordan is engaged and so is Judd
Talk about a slam-dunk way to cap off the holiday season: Michael Jordan is engaged.
The former NBA pro, 48, popped the question over the Christmas weekend to his girlfriend of three years, Cuban-American model Yvette Prieto, rep Estee Portnoy confirms to the Associated Press.
The Charlotte Bobcats majority owner was previously married to Juanita Vanoy in 1989; they divorced in 2006. He has three children with Vanoy: Jeffrey Michael, 23, Marcus James, 21, and Jasmine, 19.
Also, Country music star Wynonna Judd is engaged to musician boyfriend Cactus Moser after he popped the question on Christmas Eve, PEOPLE has learned exclusively. The couple, who currently tour as Wynonna and the Big Noise, have been dating since late 2009.
The engagement is the latest chapter in a happy comeback for Judd, 47.
After suffering two health scares in March of 2010, and surviving a head-on car collision four months later, Judd turned her life around by losing 55 pounds. and reuniting with her mother, Naomi, for the first Judds tour in 10 years.
"I feel more alive," she told PEOPLE last year.
This will be the third marriage for Judd. She divorced her second husband, D.R. Roach, after four years in 2007. In 1998, she split from Nashville businessman Arch Kelly III, with whom she had two children, Elijah, now 17, and Grace, 15.
Fast Five is 'top pirated film of 2011'
Action movie Fast Five was the most pirated film of 2011, according to file-sharing blog, Torrent Freak.
The fifth instalment in the Fast and the Furious film series was downloaded 9.2 million times, figures have shown.
In second place was The Hangover II with 8.8 million downloads followed by Thor, thriller Source Code and I Am Number Four was in fifth place.
James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar was last year's top-pirated film, downloaded 16.6 million times.
Cameron had previously suggested that making movies in 3D would help put people off from downloading films illegally.
Only two of this year's top ten, Thor and Harry Potter, were released in 3D - which could be attributed as much to a decline in the popularity of the format as to the difficulty in pirating the material.
Figures for the entire top 10 this year have dropped in comparison with last year.
Torrent Freak said this might be explained by an increase in file sharing and streaming sites - which don't count towards download figures.
Thor, based on the comic book character of the same name, was downloaded 8.3 million times and Source Code, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, 7.9 million times.
Sucker Punch was at number six, followed by 127 Hours and Rango at number 7 and 8 respectively.
Top grossing Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Transformers: Dark of the Moon did not feature on the pirated film list.
And The King's Speech and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 were both hugely popular at the box office, but their downloading figures remained fairly modest, appearing in ninth and tenth place on the list.
The data for the list is collected from several sources, including reports from thousands of BitTorrent trackers.
Most downloaded films and worldwide box office takings
1. Fast Five - 9.2m downloads (£405m)
2. The Hangover II - 8.8m downloads (£376m)
3. Thor - 8.3m downloads (£291m)
4. Source Code - 7.9m downloads (£79m)
5. I Am Number Four - 7.6m downloads (£93m)
6. Sucker Punch - 7.2m downloads (£58m)
7. 127 Hours - 6.9m downloads (£39m)
8. Rango - 6.4m downloads (£158m)
9. The King's Speech - 6.2m downloads (£268m)
10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - 6m downloads (£860m)
US singer Kaye Stevens dies aged 79
Kaye Stevens, the US singer and actress known for her appearances with the Rat Pack and on Johnny Carson's chat show, has died in Florida.
The 79-year-old, who had breast cancer, died on Wednesday at a hospital north of Orlando, a close friend said.
Born Catherine Stevens in Pittsburgh in 1933, she started out as a drummer and singer before going on to act in movies and television shows.
In 1963 she was nominated for a Golden Globe for her film role in The Interns.
Stevens performed with Frank Sinatra and other members of the Rat Pack, including Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.
She also sang solo in Las Vegas and New York and performed for US soldiers during the Vietnam war.
In the 1970s she was a regular panellist on TV game shows and had a recurring role on the soap opera Days of Our Lives.
She later started her own ministry and helped to build a church in the Florida city of Margate, where a park was named in her honour.