Liberty Reserve Founder Arrested for money laundering , Site Shuttered

The owner of Liberty Reserve Arthur Budovsky Belanchuk, 39, as part of a money laundering investigation jointly run by authorities in New York and Costa Rica. Libirty Reserve's main domain libertyreserve.com is not showing the original site, its pointing to a sinkhole . As you can see the domain was transferred on May 24,2013 to point to shadowserver.org's name server - a server used by the US Governments to seize a website that has did an online fraud. The papers cited Costa Rican prosecutor José Pablo González saying that Budovsky, a Costa Rican citizen of Ukrainian origin, has been under investigation since 2011 for money laundering using Liberty Reserve, a company he created in Costa Rica. “Local investigations began after a request from a prosecutor’s office in New York,” Tico Times reporter L. Arias wrote. “On Friday, San José prosecutors conducted raids in Budovsky’s house and offices in Escazá, Santa Ana, southwest of San José, and in the province of Heredia, north of the capital. Budovsky’s businesses in Costa Rica apparently were financed by using money from child pornography websites and drug trafficking.” For those Spanish-speaking readers out there, Gonzalez can be seen announcing the raids in a news conference documented in this youtube.com video (the subtitles option for English do a decent job of translation as well). One of the EHN's reader, Jonathan Capistrano who contacted LR about the status of peoples funds was told that they will not be closing down but are taking a break and that LR will be back "new and better" and finally said that funds will stay there , with no reduction or increase in value. I will update if I get more information. Subcribe to our RSS feed

Nick Cannon Kidney Failure: Nick Cannon moved from Aspen to LA hospital

Nick Cannon, still ailing from kidney failure, will continue to receive medical care in Los Angeles. Carey tweeted this morning: "Please pray for Nick as he's fighting to recover from a mild kidney failure. #mybraveman". The shocking news was broken by Cannon's wife Mariah Carey on her Twitter account.

Mariah Carey told her followers that her husband is in hospital and he is suffering from “mild kidney failure.” A large number of people are clicking in the Web to confirm the news even most of the fans have already visited Aspen hospital after listen the news.

However, the term "mild kidney failure" doesn't exist in medical terminology; rather, Carey might have meant to say Cannon has a condition called acute kidney injury (also known as acute kidney failure), said Dr. Bryan Becker, the National Kidney Foundation's immediate past president and assistant vice president of health affairs at the University of Illinois, who has no connection to Cannon's case.

What causes it?

The decrease in kidney function could have been due to an illness of some sort or taking an over-the-counter medication like Motrin or Advil. It could also be due to dehydration.

Causes of Cannon's condition, Becker added, could include an illness, dehydration, or taking an over-the-counter medication such as Motrin or Advil. "For someone to have it and to be hospitalized raises an extra level of concern," he said....CONTINUE READING Mild kidney failure: Nick Cannon hospitalized; what is this disease?

Philippines Storm And Floods in Kill Nearly 200

MANILA, Philippines, Dec 15: A typhoon has hit the southern Philippines, triggering flash floods and landslides that killed nearly 180 people and forced about 100,000 from their homes, government and army officials said on Saturday.

Some of the dead were swept out at sea in the worst-hit coastal cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in the Mindanao region, which is unaccustomed to the cyclones that are common elsewhere in the archipelago nation. Many of the victims were asleep when it struck Mindanao island, killing many in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro.

Residents are rescued by volunteers Saturday following a flash flood that inundated Cagayan de Oro city, Philippines.

Tens of thousands of people have fled to higher ground, the authorities say. The provinces of Compostela Valley and Zamboanga del Norte were also hit, said Benito Ramos, chairman of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Army spokesman Colonel Leopoldo Galon said emergency workers had recovered 97 bodies, most of them children, who drowned in floods in Cagayan de Oro City. Large areas were left without power and some domestic flights were cancelled as winds of up to 90 km/h (55mph) swept across the island.

About 400 people are missing after the storm, which is called Sendong locally. More than 2,000 have been rescued, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines. In Iligan, Lawrence Cruz, the city's mayor, described rampaging floodwaters from swollen rivers that swamped at least 10 villages on the city's outskirts.
Ayi Hernandez, a former congressman, said he and his family were resting in their home late Friday when they heard a loud "swooshing sound" and water quickly rose ankle deep inside his home. He decided to evacuate to a neighbor's two-story house.

The floodwaters were waist-high in some neighborhoods that do not usually experience flooding. Scores of residents escaped the floods by climbing onto the roofs of their homes, Cruz said. The national disaster agency said five miners were also buried in a landslide.

Christopher Hitchens dies at 62 after suffering cancer

Christopher Hitchens, who died yesterday from cancer at 62, was a proud bad boy who ignored Vancouver’s smoking bylaws, promoted the war against Iraq and branded religion the root of all evil during his 2007 speaking visit to the city.

Tony Blair described him as "a complete one-off, an amazing mixture of writer, journalist, polemicist, and unique character". The author Salman Rushdie, a friend, paid tribute to him on Twitter after the announcement of his death.

"Goodbye, my beloved friend. A great voice falls silent. A great heart stops," he wrote. Mr Blair, the former Labour prime minister, publicly debated religion with Hitchens in November 2010. He said Hitchens "was fearless in the pursuit of truth and any cause in which he believed.

"And there was no belief he held that he did not advocate with passion, commitment and brilliance. "He was an extraordinary, compelling and colourful human being whom it was a privilege to know."

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who once worked as an intern for Hitchens, said: "Christopher Hitchens was everything a great essayist should be: infuriating, brilliant, highly provocative and yet intensely serious.

Facebook Timeline: Everything You Need To Know

Social networking site Facebook's latest service Timeline has been globally rolled out. It's been talked about for what feels like ages, but as of Thursday (Dec. 15) any Facebook user can switch his or her profile page to the fancy new Timeline layout.

There's a new place to put a banner image that stretches nicely across the top of your profile, replacing the often awkward vertical spot where most people used to put a photo of themselves. Timeline was announced by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the f8 conference in September.

Facebook's latest service Timeline has been globally rolled out which was announced by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the f8 conference in September.

"Timeline gives you an easy way to rediscover the things you shared, and collect your most important moments," Facebook's Paul McDonald wrote on the company blog today. "It also lets you share new experiences, like the music you listen to or the miles you run."

Users can also add a snazzy "cover" photo that serves as a banner at the top of the page. Facebook also warns against using the space for advertisements or any other kind of commercial activity.

1. Cover photo

The first thing Facebook users should do when they open Timeline is to upload a large cover photo. It is the first thing people see when they get to a user’s page.

2. Activity Log

The ‘Activity Log’ lets Facebook users review all of the stuff they have posted on the site – such as photos or status updates. Only the user can see their ‘Activity Log’ and from this the user can decide what stuff to show and hide on their Timeline.

3. Sharing life stories

Users can fill out the Timeline with special moments from their lives. They need to click on ‘life event’ and then can add their baby photos, first car, graduation, engagement, wedding, new house, baby being born – or anything else.

4. Highlighting special moments and hiding the ones people would rather forget:

For extra special moments, Facebook users can highlight them on their timeline by clicking on the star to make them extra big. Or they can remove anything they don't want to appear on their Timeline by clicking the pencil icon and selecting hide or delete.

5. Control privacy post by post

Change the privacy of anything on the Timeline by clicking on the dropdown next to any post. Members can choose the audience they want to see anything - ¬some things they can share publicly while other things they may only want to share with close friends.

6. Add apps to your Timeline

Facebook users can now tell a more complete story of who they are by adding new experiences to the Timeline profile – such as music they are listening to or films they are watching via applications.

'The Protestor' is Time Magazine’s 2011 'Person of the Year'

"The Protester" has been named Time's "Person of the Year" for 2011. 

From the Arab Spring to the Occupy Wall Street movement, "The Protester" was named Time magazine's 2011 Person of the Year on Wednesday. The magazine annually honors the individual or group it deems the most influential that year, and thanks to protests that spread across Europe, the Middle East and the US in 2011, it chose the anonymous "Protester" for the coveted title.

Time's "Person of the Year" is the person or thing that the magazine feels has most influenced the culture and the news during the past year, for good or for ill. Last year, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg got the honour. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke received the honor in 2009. The 2008 winner was then-President-elect Barack Obama.

Time said it is recognizing protesters because they are "redefining people power" around the world. "Is there a global tipping point for frustration? Everywhere, it seems, people said they'd had enough," Time Editor Rick Stengel said in a statement.

"From the Arab Spring to Athens, from Occupy Wall Street to Moscow...," the magazine's "Person of the Year" cover stated, alongside a drawing of a determined-looking face that is partially obscured by a scarf and hat. On almost every continent, 2011 has seen an almost unprecedented rise in both peaceful and sometimes violent unrest and dissent.

Elizabeth Taylor Auction Breaks Record At $116M VIDEO

Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry collection fetched a record-setting $115 million — including more than $11.8 million for a pearl necklace and more than $8.8 million for a diamond ring given to her by Richard Burton — at an auction of gems and other memorabilia amassed by the late actress.

Christie's sale of 80 items had been estimated to raise about $20m (£13m), but took more than double the record for a single collection. The highlight was a necklace featuring a 16th Century pearl which sold for $11.8m (£7.6m), a record for the gem. The actress' famous 33.19-carat diamond ring, given to her by Richard Burton, also sold for $8.8m (£5.7m).

Burton, who married Taylor twice, had bought the pearl in 1969 at auction for $37,000, and Taylor, who died in March at age 79, commissioned Cartier to design a ruby-and-diamond necklace mount. It had been estimated to sell for $2 million to $3 million.

The ring, estimated to sell for $2.5 million to $3.5 million, was included in a collection of Taylor's necklaces, earrings, pendants and rings and other gems that went on sale Tuesday night at Christie's in New York. Other highlights included the Taj Mahal diamond, another gift from Burton marking Dame Elizabeth's 40th birthday, which sold for $8.8m (£5.7m), a record for an Indian jewel.

The four-hour sale broke the record for a single-owner jewelry collection before the halfway mark. The previous record was set in 1987, when the Duchess of Windsor's jewels sold for just over $50 million. A total six world records for jewellery at auction were broken, including that for pearl jewellery, price per carat of a D colour diamond and for the price achieved for Indian jewellery. Only two items are said to have sold within their estimates.

WATCH Elizabeth Taylor Auction Breaks Record At $116M VIDEO