- Statue of
Liberty reopens, The statue of Liberty has reopened for the public viewing after a
year-long 30 million-dollar interior makeover. The mostly federally funded
renovation to the 126 year old statue of Liberty includes fire safety and
ventilations improvement, better bathrooms, a third elevator and
remodelled staircase with 39 extra steps to make it easier to climb from
pedestal to crown.
And for the first time ever, there is wheelchair access to the top of the pedestal. With the structural improvements, 26,000 more visitors will be able to visit the crown every year, the New York Post reports.
"All that makes me confident I can bring my grandparents," Jean-Pascal Mill, 38, a tourist from Lyon, France, who visited the Liberty Island said.
- Opposition
rejects Prachanda's proposals Any hope that the
festive mood in Nepal could help end the ongoing political crisis seems
unlikely for the time being with the opposition parties rejecting a fresh
move by the ruling Maoists.
After a 'Dashain' hiatus of nearly 10 days, talks have resumed among the ruling parties and those in opposition, but there is no sign yet of resolving the impasse soon. Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxists Leninist) rejected two proposals forwarded by Unified Communists Party of Nepal (Maoists) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'.
The Maoists chief had discussed the proposals in separate talks with NC president Shushil Koirala, CPN (UML) chairman Jhalanath Khanal and former prime minister and CPN (UML) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal.
Prachanda expressed his party's willingness to support a new government headed by NC if the latter agree on reviving the dissolved constituent assembly to promulgate the new constution.
- Wen
Jiabao's family denies NYT report on wealth Lawyers
hired by Premier Wen Jiabao's family have issued an unprecedented rebuttal
to the New York Times story denying that his close relatives including his
mother have amassed assets worth more than $2.7 billion in the last
decade.
The lawyers have denied that the "hidden riches" as described by the US newspaper does not exist and that his mother who according to the report had accrued millions- only received her salary and pension.
They have added that they reserved the right to hold the newspaper responsible legally. The denial issued is being considered unusual as it's possible for the first time that a top Chinese politician has issued a denial against a foreign newspaper's report.
Earlier this year when a similar story was done by Bloomberg on senior leader Xi Jinping, he had not responded.
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