Russian President Vladimir Putin turned 62 today and, as they do every year, many Russians organized over-the-top tributes in celebration.

In St. Petersburg, a children's choir recorded a highly produced music video, literally singing Putin's praises. "May you have many more years with the same strength in your heart," the children sang.


In Moscow, a pop-up art exhibit portrayed Putin as the Greek god Hercules. Just like Hercules slayed the multiheaded hydra and tamed the Cretan bull in Greek mythology, Putin is depicted defeating Western sanctions and annexing the Crimean peninsula.

In honor of Putin's bday, exhibit comparing his feats to Hercules. Here he tames the Cretan bull i.e. annexes Crimea pic.twitter.com/LqlPm5LflZ

- Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) October 6, 2014

A school is forced to cancel the visit of a charity worker and her son following opposition from 'ignorant' parents who feared their children would catch Ebola

A school in Stockport has cancelled the visit of a charity worker and her son after "ignorant" parents feared their children would be infected with Ebola.

Head teacher Elizabeth Inman wrote to parents on Tuesday to say that "with a very heavy heart" the school had taken "the pragmatic decision" to stop the visit, despite both mother and son having been screened and granted unrestricted movement in the UK.

Miriam Mason-Sesay, who is British but has lived in Sierra Leone since 2000, said her son has been treated like a "leper", adding that the school's decision was down to "ignorant" parents.

"Unfortunately, there was so much pressure from an ignorant parent body that the school had to act," she said.

Connecticut's governor declared a public health emergency in the Nutmeg State. The precautionary order, signed by Gov. Dannel Malloy, allows public health officials to coordinate a targeted quarantine in case Ebola arrives in the state.

The Democratic governor's order ‒ which is not in reaction to any specific case of the virus ‒ gives Department of Public Health Commissioner Jewel Mullen the power to quarantine any person or group who may be exposed to or infected with Ebola.

"We are taking this action today to ensure that we are prepared, in advance, to deal with any identified cases in which someone has been exposed to the virus or, worst case, infected," Malloy said in a statement.

"Our state's hospitals have been preparing for it, and public health officials from the state are working around the clock to monitor the situation. Right now, we have no reason to think that anyone in the state is infected or at risk of infection," he continued. "But it is essential to be prepared and we need to have the authorities in place that will allow us to move quickly to protect public health, if and when that becomes necessary. Signing this order will allow us to do that."

Without the declaration, there is no statewide ability to isolate or quarantine - instead, the authority rests with each individual local public health director, the governor's office said.

A European art group has selected a very unusual way to send birthday greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is 62 today, and at the same time to emphasize his outstanding role in peace-making efforts in the modern troubled world.

A group of Geneva peace activists made a three-metre tall statue of the Russian leader and used it to prop up the world-famous anti-war monument known as the Broken Chair - a symbol of protest against land mines and cluster bombs that leave millions of people limbless. Putin's figure took the place of the crippled left front leg of the huge monumental sculpture in wood by the Swiss artist, Daniel Beret, constructed by carpenter Louis Geneve.

In this way the peace activists wished to show that Putin incessantly supports all those who need help and does his utmost to prevent the loss of human life whenever possible.

The twelve-meter tall monument stands in Geneva's Square of Nations. The author of its concept is Paul Vermeulen, the director of a non-governmental organization extending assistance to refugees.

The monument is a reminder to all politicians visiting Geneva of the bitter price that has to be paid for military conflicts.

For the first time the Broken Chair monument was placed by Handicap International in front of the main entrance to the Palace of Nations in Geneva in August 1997, where it was intended to remain for three months, until the signing of the Ottawa Treaty in December 1997. However, the public at large liked the idea and its message so much that a decision was made to leave the sculpture in place.

The Broken Chair is associated with the work for peace and the cessation of all hostilities. These ideals are linked inseparably with Vladimir Putin's policies, who repeatedly managed to preserve peace in the countries that needed it the most. Putin was the one who helped negotiate the recent ceasefire in the southeast of Ukraine, warded off the looming threat of war between Armenia and Azerbaijan by bringing their presidents to the negotiating table and also saved Syria from external military aggression.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the biggest U.S. private sector employer, said on Tuesday that its 1.3 million workers would have to pay more for healthcare and it would end benefits for some part-time staff in a move that could prompt other companies to follow suit.

The world's largest retailer said it would raise health insurance premiums for its entire U.S. workforce beginning in January. In addition, Wal-Mart will end coverage for employees who work fewer than 30 hours a week, a change that will impact 2 percent of U.S. workers, or about 30,000 people.

The move comes as U.S. companies brace for a January 2015 deadline under the Affordable Care Act. Starting then, companies with 50 or more employees will have to offer health insurance to those working at least 30 hours a week, a mandate that has drawn criticism from some companies worried about higher costs.

Wal-Mart, which announced the change in a blogpost on Tuesday, had cited health care expenses as a problem in August, when it cut its 2014 profit forecast. It said more people than expected had enrolled in its plans and its annual forecast for health care costs had risen by 50 percent.

"Like every company, Wal-Mart continues to face rising health care costs," Sally Welborn, senior vice president of global benefits, wrote in the blogpost on the company's website. "This year, the expenses were significant and led us to make some tough decisions as we begin our annual enrollment."

Wal-Mart said the bi-weekly premiums for its most popular and lowest-cost employee-only plans will rise by $3.50 to $21.90, which represents a 19 percent increase. Wal-Mart workers earn on average $12.92 an hour.

The decision to reduce coverage came a week before the company's chief executive, Doug McMillion, is due to face fund managers and analysts at an annual meeting for the investment community. Wal-Mart has been struggling to boost profits, with U.S. same-store sales flat or declining for the last six quarters.

East Dublin - A drug task force gunned down a grandfather in his home during a botched late-night raid that was based on the word of a self-confessed meth addict and burglar who had robbed the property two nights prior. His grieving widow is disputing the official story regarding the no-knock raid that led to her husband's untimely death.

The devastating incident occurred the evening of September 24, 2014. David Hooks and his wife of 25 years, Teresa, had settled in for the evening; Mr. Hooks was asleep and his wife was upstairs in her craft room.

At approximately 11:00 p.m., she noticed a vehicle abruptly race down her driveway. She saw men jump out of the vehicle and approach her home, donning black and camouflage clothing, shrouded in hoods.

Mrs. Hooks bolted for the bedroom to alert her sleeping husband. "The burglars are back," she insisted. Earlier that week, the couple's home had been burglarized and an SUV stolen from the driveway.

Mr. Hooks, a 59-year-old businessman, sprang from his bed and picked up a firearm, then took a defensive stand to protect his wife and home from the intruders. As he exited his bedroom, the back door of the house was breached, and gun-wielding home invaders charged in.

What happened next was described as "chaos." The intruders used their weapons to send a hail of gunfire into the residence; a total of 16-18 shots from rifles and .40 caliber handguns.

When the gun smoke cleared, it became evident that the intruders were actually a Drug Task Force and members of the Laurens County Sheriff's Response Team (SRT). Mr. Hooks was killed without returning fire.

Police are calling this brutal and destructive reaction to a seat belt violation, justified.

A family from Hammond, Illinois was recently on their way to Stroger Hospital in Chicago, to visit a dying relative when they were attacked by police at a traffic stop.

Lisa Mahone was on the way to the hospital to visit her dying mother, her boyfriend Jamal Jones, and her two children were also in the car at the time.

The entire family was on their way to say their final goodbyes when they were pulled over by police because Lisa was not wearing a seat belt.

When police came to the window and asked Mahone for her license and registration, she gave that information to the officers and informed them that she was on her way to the hospital with her family to visit her dying mother.

Ignoring her request, the police became aggressive, demanding that the passenger of the vehicle, Jamal Jones, also provide officers with his ID. Jones was not carrying his ID at the time, because it was taken by police in a recent encounter when he was ticketed for a traffic violation.

Regardless of his reason, passengers of vehicles should not be expected to carry identification at all times. The idea of police being able to ask any person for identification without any reason is a tenant of fascism, which is becoming more and more prevalent in American by the day.

To appease the officers, Jones attempted to give them a recent ticket he received, to prove his identity. However, when he reached for his bag, multiple officers drew their guns on the car, with two young children inside.

A CN freight train carrying dangerous goods derailed in central Saskatchewan on Tuesday and caught fire.

The Saskatchewan government said the derailment happened near the small community of Clair, which was being evacuated. RCMP said people with farms in the area were also being told to leave.

CN spokesman Jim Feeny said the train was made up of three locomotives pulling 100 cars and that 26 of them derailed.

He said the fire came from petroleum distillate, which spilled from two of the derailed cars.

"They had fire and smoke," Feeny said. "The crew is not injured, but we have reports from the local authorities that some nearby residents in the rural area have been evacuated."

Highway 5 was closed in the area.

"Provincial emergency services are headed out there," said Karen Hill, a spokeswoman for Saskatchewan provincial emergency services. "The RCMP have closed the highway in both directions."

John Oliver enlisted the help of Jeff Goldblum to hilariously explain one of the least-funny law enforcement practices you've never heard of in Sunday night's episode of "Last Week Tonight."

The segment explains a disturbing and escalating trend in law enforcement known as "civil forfeiture" - a process by which police can seize items including cash, cars and even houses from civilians who haven't been charged with a crime. Police departments are frequently allowed to keep the items and often-large quantities of cash to purchase things for the department at their discretion and leisure.

During a 2012 citizen police review board hearing, Missouri Police Chief Ken Burton said police routinely decide to seize funds "based on a need" and that there were "not really" any limitations "on the forfeiture stuff."

Four men have been arrested in London on suspicion of terror offences as part of an investigation into Islamist-related terrorism, police have said.

Whitehall officials told the BBC the arrests "may have foiled the early stages" of a plan to attack the UK.

The four men, aged 20 and 21, were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism.

Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said it was a "quite serious case".

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said Whitehall officials were unable to comment on the nature of the potential plot they say may have been foiled.

Officials said the investigation was in its early stages and interviews and searches were ongoing, our correspondent added.

'Drumbeat around terrorism'

Those arrested were taken to police stations in central London and remain in custody. Officials said one individual had spent time in Syria.