Michael Sam, who made history by being the first openly gay man drafted by the NFL in 2014, announced his engagement to long-time boyfriend Vito Cammissano this week in an Instagram photo.

Sam then tweeted the photo. 

@Vitcamm Thank you for saying yes 💍💍💍 pic.twitter.com/kcqVCH6DnZ

— Michael Sam (@MichaelSamNFL) January 16, 2015

Sam and his now-fiance made headlines last year when the two shared a loving kiss during the news of the NFL draft.

The kiss was nationally broadcast on ESPN and was met with both criticism and support.

Sam proposed in Vatican City, a move that TMZ calls "an act of defiance" given the Catholic Church's views on same-sex marriage.

Cammissano soon sent out a tweet of his own:

😍👬💍🙀 pic.twitter.com/qXLktdF9l5

— Vito (@Vitcamm) January 16, 2015

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The Laser Weapon System, or LaWS, is the first weaponized laser on a US warship.

The 100 kilowatt turret was installed aboard the USS Ponce this summer as part of a $40 million R&D project to explore the potential of a weapon system that doesn't require expensive traditional projectiles.

Missiles, along with the military systems and vehicles they are launched from, come at an exorbitant price.

This is what the laser system operator views when selecting the target:

As the graphic from Stratfor below shows, a single SM-2 missile costs $400,000.

That's an awful lot of taxpayer money to spend on destroying modest targets like small enemy vessels or drones, which LaWS successfully brought down in tests done in November.

Projectiles used in missile defense are costly. Israel's Iron Dome rocket defense system, for instance, can reliably shoot down cheap ($750) incoming rockets, but it does so with a $40,000 interceptor of its own.

In contrast, the energy for a single laser shot from the LaWS comes at the much more sensible pricetag of $1.

The graphic also shows that the LaWS technology only culminates in the turret visible on the ship's deck. The beam director is linked to the lasers' power source via fiber optic cables.

US Central Command has given the USS Ponce's commander clearance to use the LaWS in a defensive capacity.

Here is a video of the LaWS system in action:

SEE ALSO: Check out this laser cannon that blows up drones

SEE ALSO: The US Navy successfully tested a $40 million laser weapon in the Persian Gulf

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The most advanced missile system on the planet can hunt and blast incoming missiles right out of the sky with 100% success rate — from a truck. 

The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), with the utmost and unmatched precision, can equalize tensions around the world with its mobility and strategic battery unit placement: In April 2013, the Pentagon deployed a THAAD battery to Guam in order to deter North Korean provocations and to further defend the Pacific region. 

Impressively, the THAAD missile does not carry a warhead, it uses pure kinetic energy to deliver "hit-to-kill" lethality to ballistic missiles inside or outside of the atmosphere. Each launcher carries up to eight missiles and can send multiples kill vehicles out depending on the severity of the threat.

Lockheed's THAAD launcher is one element of this highly integral anti-missile system. The graphic from Raytheon shows the rest of the equipment needed for each enemy target interception.

How THAAD works

First, an incoming target missile is first launched from another location. Five minutes later a truck-mounted THAAD interceptor missile launches in pursuit of the target. 

This is a close shot of what the THAAD missile looks like when launched:

 And here's what the launch looks like from far away:

The following color infrared imagery shows the THAAD missile demolishing the target:

According to the US Missile Defense Agency, there are more than 6,300 ballistic missiles outside of US, NATO, Russian, and Chinese control and other US partners around the globe are looking to broker a deal to purchase THAAD. 

The United Arab Emirates have become the first foreign buyer after signing a deal with the Department of Defense for $3.4 billion. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have "expressed interest," according to Richard McDaniel, vice president of Patriot Advanced Capability programs at Lockheed Martin. "We expect deals," he added.

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Winter break is over, and students are heading back to school for their second semesters.

And for the most famous students, a new semester brings more than just schoolwork as they balance Olympic training, political careers, and TV show filming.

Here's what celebrities and famous offspring are up to this semester, both inside the classroom and out.

Melia Robinson, Melissa Stanger, and Sara Bower contributed to this article.

Alexander Ludwig is a member of one of USC's most sought-after fraternities.

Canadian actor Alexander Ludwig played the ruthless District 2 tribute Cato in the first "Hunger Games" movie — he's the one who fights Peeta and Katniss on top of the cornucopia in the final fight scene.

A senior, the Phi Kappa Psi brother and theater major belongs to one of USC's most exclusive fraternities, which has a reputation for throwing the year’s wildest parties.

Angus T. Jones left "Two and a Half Men" to pursue religion and his education at UC Boulder.

After starring on hit sitcom "Two and a Half Men" for 10 seasons — as the highest paid child actor at the time no less, making $350,000 an episode — Angus T. Jones left the show in order to fully dedicate himself to Christianity. 

Now a sophomore at the University of Colorado at Boulder, he also tours the country speaking at churches.

Chiara de Blasio still keeps up with her father's career in New York — even from school in California at Santa Clara University.

During her father Bill de Blasio's New York City mayoral campaign, Chiara starred in an advertisement and made a dramatic, surprise return from college to cast a vote for him.

The Santa Clara University senior and floral-headband-wearing hipster made headlines of her own with a powerfully candid video about her struggles with depression and history of drug and alcohol abuse.

In this excerpt from The Russia-China Axis: The New Cold War And America's Crisis Of Leadership authors Douglas E. Schoen and Melik Kaylan argue that only a rebirth of American global leadership can combat the growing threat from the Russian-Chinese axis. 

It was a dramatic, even spellbinding, scene. A Russian honor guard stood at attention and martial music played as the jetliner taxied into Moscow's Vnukovo Airport.

As millions of Russians watched live on television or at their computers, seemingly every cameraman and print reporter in the country jostled for position—something like when the Beatles arrived at Idelwild Airport.

And then, finally, the sighting: Xi Jinping, China's new president, touched Russian soil for the first time. 

The hype didn't end at his arrival. Those millions of Russians continued to watch live as Xi went directly to the Grand Kremlin Palace, where, for the first time in memory, Russian cavalry units greeted a visiting dignitary. They watched as Russian president Vladimir Putin greeted Xi warmly.

They watched as Xi's glamorous wife, a renowned singer and actress, carried herself with poise and elegance. The day played out on television almost like a royal wedding. And in many ways, it was. The pomp reflected reality: China and Russia have increasingly become devoted to each other."

Said Putin: "Russian-Chinese relations are a crucial factor of international politics. Our trade is growing, both countries are involved in large humanitarian projects, and all of that serves the interests of the Chinese and Russian people."

"The fact that I will visit Russia, our friendly neighbor, shortly after assuming presidency is a testimony to the great importance China places on its relations with Russia," Xi told Chinese journalists before departing. "The two sides have had closer strategic coordination on the world stage." Putin agreed: "The strategic partnership between us is of great importance on both a bilateral and global scale."

The Russian-Chinese partnership, Putin added, was "characterized by a high degree of mutual trust, respect for each other's interests, support in vital issues." It was "a true partnership," and Russian-Chinese relations were "the best in their centuries-long history." Xi spoke of the two nations as close friends who treat each other with "open souls." He even expressed his love of Russian literature and culture.

What's happening here?

Russia and China, suspicious neighbors for centuries and fellow Communist antagonists during the Cold War, have been drawing closer and closer together because of a confluence of geostrategic, political, and economic interests. The overwhelming evidence suggests that an unprecedented partnership has developed.

The world is seeing the formalization and strengthening of a historic new alliance—a Russia-China Axis that presents the leading national-security threat to the United States in this young century, against which we seem almost willfully unprepared. Few appreciate the full nature of the threat; far fewer are even aware of it.

Some who are, such as journalist Joshua Kurlantzick, see the Russia-China cooperation as part of an adverse trend for democratic governance, which is losing ground around the world to autocracy. But the significance of the Russia-China Axis is even broader.

Russia and China now cooperate and coordinate to an unprecedented degree—politically, militarily, economically—and their cooperation, almost without deviation, carries anti-American and anti-Western ramifications. Russia, China, and a constellation of satellite states seek to undermine American power, dislodge America from its leading position in the world, and establish a new, anti-Western global power structure.

And both Russia in Eastern and Central Europe and China throughout Asia are becoming increasingly aggressive and assertive, even hegemonic, in the absence of a systematic US response—not withstanding the Obama administration's "strategic pivot to Asia."

For now, the most obvious example of American impotence is the Russian repossession of Crimea in March 2014 and the seemingly inexorable preparation for further territorial claims in Ukraine. Here as elsewhere, Russia, with the quiet but clear backing of China, has called America's—and the West's—bluff, with little consequence. 

In short, there is a new Cold War in progress, with our old adversaries back in the game, more powerful than they have been for decades, and with America more confused and tentative than it has been since the Carter years.

Excerpted with permission from The Russia-China Axis: The New Cold War And America's Crisis Of Leadership by Douglas Schoen and Melik Kaylan. Excerpted with permission by Encounter Books. Copyright © 2014. All rights reserved.

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In this excerpt from National Insecurity: American Leadership In An Age Of Fear, David Rothkopf, CEO of the FP Group and National Security Council expert, compiles candid interviews with more than a hundred key players to reveal the hidden struggles and shocking failures of Obama's administration.

Whereas it was the vice president and the secretary of defense with the back channel under Bush, it was Obama's closest political advisors and former campaign aides who enjoyed an insider track that some of their cabinet colleagues (and even their national security advisor) did not. 

A hint as to how that emerged is suggested by  [former National Security Advisor in the Obama administration Tom] Donilon's comments about the regular internal White House meetings, which ultimately were more influential in driving the policy process than were the formal National Security Council (NSC) structures: "perhaps most importantly we have had a daily discussion each morning around the president's daily briefing. Again we've done this quite consciously. It's thirty to forty minutes. We have the intelligence briefing at the top of the meeting."

"And then, every morning since January 20, 2009, we have made a presentation either commenting on the stuff that's in the intelligence or moving around the world to key things that are happening or saying 'we have a couple decisions we have to make today' or 'Hillary Clinton really needs a decision on this and she has asked me to bring this to you today' or 'we have a personnel issue that we really need to work through."

"Alternatively, he might say, 'I read X, Y, or Z overnight and I want to have a conversation about that now.' And you know, these conversations have built upon one another. We also would try to take, every Thursday afternoon, ninety minutes or two hours with the president for something we would call 'national security staff time.' And in those sessions we would concentrate on one or two issues where he can have a detailed discussion."

Although Donilon argues that this approach has resulted in a great deal of comity among the principals in the administration, others including even senior officals, very early on began to sense that the daily inner circle meetings with the president left some NSC principals out of the loop.

Attending these daily meetings from the outset were the president, James Jones, Tom Donilon, John Brennan, Rahm Emanuel, and, depending on their role in the administration at that time, Denis McDonough and others.

Donilon asserts that political advisors like Axelrod and Jarrett never participated in these meetings, although administration insiders with whom I spoke felt they regularly influenced outcomes via the parallel formal and informal political advisory process that took place.

Bill Burns thought the Obama team had started well but he recognized an early sign of a flaw that would grow: "I think part of a bigger structural problem that I've seen over the past thirty years is that too much gets pushed up too high in the system ... Much of what gets talked about in deputies and principals meetings now, compared to what I remember as a note-taker on the NSC staff in the late '80s, can or should be handled at the assistant secretary level.

"This is a challenge that has been building for a number of years, and it's not unique to the current administration. But what it does, I think, is squeeze time and attention out of some of the bigger strategic issues that ought to be discussed."

One other senior Obama official said of the inner-circle-dominated process: "the trouble with this is that it excluded a lot of people and ideas that should have been at the table. And it was terrible for morale in the agencies. Policymaking by small groups is sometimes needed, but the key is to have the right people in these groups and those in the Obama inner circle were not always the right ones.

"And often it took a long time for those in these small meetings to communicate with others in the administration, so much time was wasted in people doing work that they need not have done because they were going in a different direction from the president. Few people in the administration felt they were on the Obama Team."

David Rothkopf is the CEO and editor of the FP Group. The FP Group publishes Foreign Policy magazine, ForeignPolicy.com, and presents FP Events. 

Excerpted with permission from National Insecurity: American Leadership In An Age Of Fear. Copyright © 2014 by David Rothkopf. All rights reserved.

SEE ALSO: There Was Never Any Room For Hillary In Obama's Inner Circle

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Thursday was a big day for Benedict Cumberbatch.

The "Sherlock" star received his first Oscar nomination for his role as mathematician Alan Turing in "The Imitation Game."

The son of two actors, Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton, Cumberbatch said he was especially proud to be able to tell his actor parents of his nod.

Via ABC News:

"So excited and honoured to receive this recognition. It's wonderful to be included by the Academy in this exceptional year of performances. To ring my parents who are both actors and tell them that their only son has been nominated for an Oscar is one of the proudest moments of my life.”

Cumberbatch previously received a Best Actor nod at the Golden Globes for his role in the film, but lost out to fellow British actor Eddie Redmayne for his performance in "The Theory of Everything."

The actor has been on a roll in the past year in the awards circuit. Cumberbatch won his first Emmy for his role on BBC's miniseries "Sherlock" last August.

Naturally, Cumberbatch's fans, who refer to themselves as Cumberbitches, are thrilled.

SEE ALSO: All the Oscar nomination surprises and snubs

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Washington (AFP) - US President Barack Obama proposed closing tax loopholes for the wealthiest Americans as part of the new economic strategy he plans to unveil in this year's State of the Union address.

However, the plan, which includes raising the top tax rate on capital gains, charging financial firms a fee for heavy borrowing, and changing the tax rules for trust funds, is unlikely to pass in its current form in Congress, where, as of this month, Republicans control both houses.

In a fact sheet, the White House argued the US "tax code is unfair, allowing the rich to play by different rules."

Contending that "the 400 richest taxpayers paid an average tax rate below 17 percent in 2012, lower than many middle class families," the White House said Obama's proposals aim to "help level the playing field for the middle class."

Republicans and the White House have both said tax reform could be one area of agreement this year -- but the two sides disagree fundamentally about what shape the reforms should take.

Republicans want the changes to balance each other out, without a net increase in tax revenue. Obama and the Democrats prefer a plan that would increase tax revenues to fund extra social spending.

This note was evident in the proposal Saturday, where the White House argued that "by ensuring those at the top pay their fair share in taxes, the President’s plan responsibly pays for investments we need to help middle class families get ahead."

The increased taxes on the wealthiest and on big businesses would also help fund tax cuts the White House says will help tens of millions of people in the middle class.

The proposed cuts include a new $500 credit for two-income families and an expansion of child care and education tax benefits.

The proposal also includes a plan to require more employers to automatically enrol their employees in tax-preferred savings accounts, called IRAs, and to offer retirement savings plans to part-time employees.

Meanwhile, the White House plan would increase the maximum tax on capital gains to 28 percent, the level it was under former Republican president Ronald Reagan.

And a new fee would hit the 100 biggest US banks -- with assets over $50 billion -- increasing their borrowing costs.

Obama will deliver his annual State of the Union address Tuesday before the Republican-led congress, with a speech expected to focus on the them that it's time for Americans to benefit from the country's economic growth after years of recession. 

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Milan (AFP) - He's wowing fashionistas at Milan Men's Fashion Week, and rising star designer Andrea Pompilio says this is just the beginning, with a host of young labels like his ready to revitalise the menswear industry.

Italian-born Pompilio, who showed off a Fall-Winter 2015 runway collection on Saturday inspired by his grandfather's military uniforms, is one of the "new generation" of designers admitted to the prestigious week of catwalk shows.

"I've probably been lucky, I ended up here automatically. It's true I've worked 20 years for big fashion houses, so I know exactly how to move and how to approach the world of fashion," he told AFP in an interview.

After experience at houses including Calvin Klein and Yves Saint Laurent, and with a master's degree from Italy's fashion and design school Istituto Marangoni under his belt, Pompilio launched his first men's collection in 2010.

With the help of the National Chamber of Italian Fashion, increasing numbers of young designers like him are breaking into Milan's famously exclusive inner circle.

The chamber has "done very good things for the young (designers) in Italy recently. There are lots of new brands emerging, on both the feminine and masculine side," he said.

Pompilio has seen the industry evolve, and says a lot more men are interested in fashion -- a trend which he says could see the menswear shows rival its much bigger sister, Women's Fashion Week, before too long.

"It's a big business which is growing season by season. Men are beginning to buy magazines and understand how the world of fashion works. They keep up to date," he said.

"I think this is only the start."

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Melbourne (AFP) - Grand Slam winner Juan Martin del Potro on Sunday pulled out of the Australian Open after a recurrence of his troublesome wrist injury.

The giant Argentine spent almost a year on the sidelines before making his return at the Sydney International last week.

"It's been hurting the last couple of days and weeks," said Del Potro, who memorably won the US Open in 2009 at the age of 20 when he defeated Roger Federer.

"Nothing new, nothing dangerous. But I think my wrist is not ready for play in this important tournament."

The former world number four, whose ranking has sunk to 276 due to his inactivity, said he did not want to put the rest of his season at risk.

"I'm looking forward for the whole season. It's tough to say this, but I'm still positive and I want to play tennis as I did last week. That's why I decided to withdraw here."

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Beijing (AFP) - China's annual GDP growth slowed to its weakest rate in more than two decades in 2014, according to an AFP survey, projecting further deceleration in the world's second-largest economy this year.

The median forecast in a poll of 15 economists saw the Asian giant's gross domestic product (GDP) expanding 7.3 percent last year, down from 7.7 percent in 2013.

That would be the worst full-year result since the 3.8 percent recorded in 1990 -- the year after the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) releases the official GDP figures for the fourth quarter and the whole of 2014 on Tuesday.

For this year, the economists see growth slowing further to a median 7.0 percent, as Chinese leaders proclaim a "new normal" of slower expansion and emphasise economic reforms.

"China may introduce many restructuring and reform measures this year and this may have some negative impact on economic growth," ANZ economist Liu Li-Gang told AFP.

He said that they might include changes to state-owned enterprises, financial reforms such as interest rate liberalisation and looser restrictions on private banks.

China, a main driver of global growth, was beset last year by problems ranging from weakness in manufacturing and trade to financial worries over rising debt levels and falling real estate prices, which have sent shockwaves through the key property sector.

For October to December 2014, the survey saw GDP as having risen a median 7.2 percent year-on-year.

That would be marginally weaker than the third quarter's 7.3 percent, and the worst quarterly result since the first three months of 2009, when growth logged a 6.6 percent expansion during the global financial crisis.

Authorities appeared to take last year's performance largely in their stride, sticking to a scenario whereby the country's consumers take the lead in underpinning expansion in coming years, emphasising in public statements the quality of growth rather than its size.

"China has entered a new normal of economic growth," Li Baodong, a vice foreign minister, told reporters on Friday, repeating a newly favoured phrase of the country's leaders. 

"That is to say we are going through structural adjustment and the structural adjustment is progressing steadily."

Purveyors of high-quality consumer goods such as neighbours Japan and South Korea, as well as Europe and the United States, could stand to benefit from the remodelling of the economy.

But the implications of slowing Chinese growth for the rest of the world are already visible.

Commodity exporters such as Australia have suffered, after profiting immensely from China's boom years when expansion averaged 10 percent, hitting 14.2 percent as recently as 2007.

- Growth target -

There were limits to official nonchalance in Beijing, however, as a series of measures dubbed "mini-stimulus" by economists were put in place from April, while in November the central People's Bank of China cut interest rates for the first time in more than two years to try to put a floor on the slowdown.

Economists are broadly expecting further monetary policy tinkering this year, but say the focus will be on structural reforms over the temptation of stimulus.

"This would be similar to economic policy making in the late 1990s, which resulted in a decade-long reform dividend," Brian Jackson, Beijing-based economist with IHS Economics, said in a research note.

"Put together, that points to weakening growth in 2015."

An official expansion target of "about" 7.5 percent was set for last year. The goal is traditionally pegged at a level that is easily achieved, and is usually approximated to provide wiggle room for positive spin just in case.

It has not missed its mark since 1998 and the Asian economic crisis, but Premier Li Keqiang, who oversees the economy and is the country's second most senior official, has repeatedly dismissed concerns about undershooting the benchmark, emphasising instead the importance of indicators such as job creation -- a key factor in supporting consumer confidence.

"Slower growth is not a problem as long as the quality is high, which means for the same growth rate, more jobs are created while income distribution imbalances are reduced," Shen Jianguang, economist at Mizuho in Hong Kong, told AFP.

But ANZ's Liu said that 2014 had shown it was now "relatively difficult" for China to achieve 7.5 percent growth.

"Premier Li will likely lower the growth target to 7.0 percent in March," he said. "Seven percent is a fairly good growth target, given China's huge economic base and scale."

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Frankfurt (AFP) - The stage is set this week for the European Central Bank to unleash its biggest weapon yet in the battle against deflation in the eurozone, analysts said.

Financial markets and ECB watchers are betting that central bank chief Mario Draghi will unveil a programme of sovereign bond purchases known as quantitative easing (QE) at the first policy meeting of this year on Thursday.

With area-wide inflation turning negative in December -- consumer prices fell by 0.2 percent across the single currency region -- the alarm bells have been ringing, and Draghi and other top ECB officials have been busy priming the markets for action. 

Draghi said the bank had few other options at its disposal to counter the risk of deflation, a dangerous downward spiral of falling prices.

And ECB executive board member Benoit Coeure said in multiple interviews that the central bank's governing council would debate the size of such a programme this week.

"The ECB will no doubt make good its promises and announce broad-based government bond purchases," said Commerzbank economist Michael Schubert.

IHS Global Insight analyst Howard Archer agreed.

The inflation numbers "sustain the massive pressure on the ECB to pull the QE trigger" on January 22, he said, even if it was "not 100-percent certain" that it would do so just yet.

- Biggest weapon yet -

QE is the biggest gun yet in the ECB's anti-deflation arsenal. 

The central bank has already cut its interest rates to new all-time lows, made unprecedented amounts of cheap loans available to banks via its LTRO and TLTRO programmes, and embarked on asset purchase programmes (ABSs and covered bonds) to pump liquidity into the financial system.

But QE -- a policy used by other central banks to stimulate their sluggish economies -- has many critics in Europe, not least the German central bank, or Bundesbank.

Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann believes such a programme takes the ECB outside its remit and is effectively a licence to print money to get governments out of debt.

Nevertheless, such objections received a setback last week when the top lawyer of the European Court of Justice said that the ECB's previous bond-buying programme, Outright Monetary Transactions or OMTs, was in line with European treaties.

For many, that was effectively a green light for a programme of QE as well.

Berenberg Bank economist Rob Wood said the experience of quantitative easing in the United States and Britain showed that such a programme could work.

"Central bank bond-buying can aid confidence, depress yields and spreads, boost asset prices, and lift growth," he said.

- No cure-all -

Nevertheless, the eurozone was a more bank-based economy than the United States, and QE does not actually boost bank lending much, the analyst warned.

"That, as well as distrust of the tool in core Europe, could cut the effectiveness of asset purchases in the eurozone relative to the US and UK," he said. 

The real risk was not that QE failed to work, "but rather that the ECB does not do enough of it in deference to the hawks," Wood said. 

However, many observers, including Draghi himself, insist that QE is not the be-all and end-all. 

"On its own, it (QE) can help correct only a near-term lack of demand," Wood said.

UniCredit economist Marco Valli said that with tumbling oil prices putting significant downward pressure on headline inflation, a programme of sovereign bond purchases "appears unavoidable, if only for a credibility reason". 

He suggested the programme would include "at least 500 billion euros of government debt" and up to 250 billion euros of other non-financial corporate debt. 

"The timing of the announcement is a close call, but ECB rhetoric of the last few days suggests that the plan could be ready on January 22," Valli concluded. 

Carsten Brzeski at ING DiBa said the ECB would "at least present a first outline of a QE programme next week, even if it might save some details for the March meeting."

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Moscow (AFP) - For shoppers like pensioner Tatiana Ivanovna buying their weekly groceries in a Moscow supermarket, these are increasingly tough times.

Fuelled by a double whammy of a plummeting ruble and the embargoes Russia slapped on many Western products in retaliation for sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, inflation is soaring. 

Prices on meat, fish and vegetables rose by some 20 percent last year, according to official figures, and Russian staples like cabbage have gone up in recent weeks.

But, despite the steep hikes, the rising cost of living is not yet translating into panic for consumers.

"Prices are going up, but just a bit at a time and that helps us to accept it," Ivanovna told AFP

"We have survived so much before, we know all will turn out fine," she said.

"We are strong and we understand how to cope with difficulties -- it is in our blood."

Muscovite Natalia says she does not miss the French cheeses or Italian salads that are now banned from stores in Russia.

"There is still bread and butter and that is what is important!" she said.

"Average people never had much money and they won't have it now. With or without inflation we manage to get by."

She admits, however, that the price of sugar -- set to be raised steeply by major stores soon after already climbing 40 percent last year -- is starting to cause her some concern. 

- Putin's popularity -

For now, the growing pain for average Russians does not seem to be turning into the anger at authorities that many in the West had hoped would be the result of the tough sanctions imposed for Moscow's meddling in Ukraine.

A poll released Friday said more than 70 percent of those surveyed would vote for leader Vladimir Putin if presidential polls were held now, local media reported.

"The majority of the population has realised that the situation is deteriorating and that the confrontation with the West is costing them dear," said Nikolai Petrov, a professor at Moscow's Higher School of Economics.

"But this is not translating yet into discontent with those in power."

That, however, may just be a matter of time as the surge in patriotism generated from Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in March could wane.

"We are only just at the start of the process -- the growth in prices, utility prices and public transport," Petrov said.

"But it will take some three to four months before this starts to tell on public opinion."

The economic crisis in Russia looks set to last for a while.

Although the government's official forecast has the economy shrinking by 0.8 percent in 2015, those in power admit that tumbling oil prices could see the country's resource-dependent economy contract by some five percent in reality. 

Overall inflation should hit some 17 percent by spring, officials say. 

And authorities seem to be relying on the natural stoicism of their countrymen to try to get through the turmoil.

"In times of a crisis, it is important not to lose your calm," Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said this week.

"The price of oil, the sanctions -- all that is just temporary."

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London (AFP) - Arsenal will look to in-form Alexis Sanchez when they attempt to repair a sequence of diminishing returns at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday.

Sanchez scored two goals and made another in Arsenal's 3-0 home win over Stoke City last weekend, taking him to 12 goals and eight assists for the campaign and moving City manager Manuel Pellegrini to describe him as "the best player in England".

The Chilean's unerring finishing and exemplary work ethic will be central to Arsenal's hopes of success at the Etihad, where fortune has deserted them ever since City were taken over by Sheikh Mansour in 2008.

In the years since the Emirati billionaire's acquisition of City, Arsenal have won one, drawn one and lost five of the seven matches they have played at the Etihad in all competitions.

Before that, they had won six of their seven previous trips to City.

Their most recent visit, in December 2013, was infamous, as the title aspirations of a team who went into the match top of the table were ruthlessly torn apart in a humbling 6-3 defeat.

Arsene Wenger's side ultimately finished seven points off the pace as City were crowned champions. Ahead of Sunday's game they are 11 points behind City, and 13 shy of leaders Chelsea.

Arsenal's fans have learnt to associate Sheikh Mansour with the sight of departing stars, as Samir Nasri, Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna have all left the Emirates Stadium for City in recent years.

But now that Wenger no longer has to weigh the need for new recruits against the cost of building the Emirates, the long-held dream of attracting superstars such as Sanchez to the club has become reality.

Only Sergio Aguero, with 19, has scored more goals this season than the 18 Sanchez has mustered in all competitions and with the City striker in line to make his first start since December 3 after a knee injury, the stage is set for a showdown between the two 26-year-old South Americans.

- 'World-class' -

"There are some other great players, but Sanchez and Aguero are two of the best performing since the start of the season," said Wenger.

"Aguero has been less consistent because he's been injured more -- in the last year he has suffered from being a bit in and out -- but of course he is a world-class player."

If there is one area where Aguero has the edge over Sanchez, it is his record against the big clubs.

Since joining City from Atletico Madrid in July 2011, the Argentina striker has scored six times against Manchester United, three times against Chelsea, three times against Liverpool and three times against Arsenal, including in the 2-2 draw between the sides last September.

It is too early to compare Sanchez's record to Aguero's, but in the five matches he has played against last season's top six, he has found the net only once.

It is an unwelcome echo of Arsenal's record against the top sides, for since the 2012-13 season, they have won only one of the 12 league games they have played against teams who went on to finish in the top four.

With a trip to Chelsea awaiting in two weeks, Aguero may not start, but he is certain to feature at some point after Pellegrini revealed he was "100 percent fit".

City midfielder Nasri will be unable to face his former club after sustaining a calf injury, while Yaya Toure and new signing Wilfried Bony are both at the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast.

Left-back Kieran Gibbs has been passed fit for Arsenal after a heel problem while Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil are also in contention.

But Arsenal remained beset by injury problems, with Danny Welbeck, Jack Wilshere, Mathieu Debuchy, Mikel Arterta and Abou Diaby all currently sidelined.

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Jakarta (AFP) - Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their ambassadors from Indonesia and expressed fury on Sunday after Jakarta defied their pleas and executed six convicted drugs offenders by firing squad, including two of their citizens.

Convicts from Vietnam, Malawi and Nigeria, and one Indonesian, were also among those put to death just after midnight, the first executions carried out under new President Joko Widodo.

Indonesia has tough anti-drugs laws and Widodo, who took office in October, has disappointed rights activists by voicing support for capital punishment despite his image as a reformist.

A spokesman for Brazilian President Dilma Roussef said she was "distressed and outraged" after Indonesia ignored her last-ditch pleas and put to death Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, who was convicted of smuggling cocaine into Indonesia in 2004.

"Using the death penalty, which is increasingly rejected by the international community, seriously affects relations between our countries," the spokesman said in a statement.

The Brazilian ambassador to Jakarta was being recalled for consultations, the spokesman added. 

Meanwhile Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said the Netherlands had also recalled its ambassador over the execution of Dutchman Ang Kiem Soei, and described all six deaths as "terribly sad" in a statement.

"My heart goes out to their families, for whom this marks a dramatic end to years of uncertainty," Koenders said. "The Netherlands remains opposed to the death penalty."

Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Prime Minister Mark Rutte had been in contact with the Indonesian president about the matter, he said, and the government had done "all in its power" to attempt to halt the execution.

- In line with law -

However a spokesman for the office of Indonesia's attorney general, Tony Spontana, insisted the executions were in line with Indonesian law. 

"We carried this out in accordance with our laws," he told AFP. "We have been given the authority to carry out the court's verdict and it is wrong if we fail to do so."

All the prisoners, who had been sentenced to death between 2000 and 2011, were executed around the same time shortly after midnight, Spontana said.

The 53-year-old Brazilian, who was caught with drugs stashed in the frame of his paraglider at Jakarta airport, and Dutchman, 62, were executed on Nusakambangan Island, home to a high-security prison, off the coast of the main island of Java.

A Nigerian, Daniel Enemuo; Namaona Denis, from Malawi; and an Indonesian woman, Rani Andriani, were executed at the same location. 

The sixth convict, Vietnamese woman Tran Thi Bich Hanh, was executed in Boyolali district in central Java.

They were all caught attempting to smuggle drugs apart from the Dutchman, who was sentenced to death for operating a huge factory producing ecstasy. 

All of them had their appeals for clemency to the president -- their last chance to avoid the firing squad -- rejected last month.

Jakarta had an unofficial moratorium on executions for several years from 2008 but resumed capital punishment again in 2013. There were no executions last year.

Widodo, known as Jokowi, has taken a particularly hard line towards people on death row for narcotics offences, insisting they will not receive a presidential pardon as Indonesia is facing an "emergency" due to high levels of drug use.

Following Sunday's executions, the number of people on death row in Indonesia for drugs-related offences stood at 60, around half of whom are foreigners, said a spokesman for the national narcotics agency.

Widodo's tough stance has sparked concern for other foreigners sentenced to death, particularly two Australians who were part of the "Bali Nine" group caught trying to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia in 2005.

One of the pair, Myuran Sukumaran, also had his clemency appeal rejected last month but authorities say he will be executed with fellow Australian Andrew Chan as they committed their crime together. 

Chan is still awaiting the outcome of his clemency appeal.

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Lille (France) (AFP) - Trains through the Channel Tunnel between France and Britain resumed early Sunday, a day after a lorry fire forced its closure and the suspension of rail services, operator Eurotunnel said.

"Our passenger service is currently operating to schedule with up to one departure per hour," the firm said on its website.

Services resumed from Britain at 2:45 am local time and from France at 4:30 am (0330 GMT), it said on Twitter.

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Paris (AFP) - Historically neutral Switzerland's foray into the global currency war ended in defeat this past week after its central bank left markets shell-shocked by abandoning the franc's exchange rate floor, analysts said.

But with major shifts in monetary policy under way, the currency war is hardly over and the front lines will move to other countries.

"The Swiss central bank was the first to throw itself into the currency war, (and) it is the first to capitulate," said Christopher Dembik, an economist at Saxo Bank.

The capitulation amounted to abandoning the Swiss franc's exchange rate floor of 1.20 francs to the euro, which the Swiss National Bank had imposed more than three years ago to stop the franc from appreciating too much against the European single currency.

But on Thursday the SNB raised the white flag and surrendered, letting the franc float.

The shock announcement was felt across the globe as the franc immediately strengthened by 30 percent against the euro. It has since settled at around parity with the euro, which is a 15 percent gain in value since the floor was removed. 

The move caused plenty of collateral damage: stocks in Swiss companies heavily dependent on exports were devastated. It engulfed eastern European neighbours whose mortgage debt is denominated in the franc, and wiped out at least two international foreign exchange brokers.

Dembik said Switzerland beat a retreat on the currency battlefield before the European Central Bank at its meeting Thursday comes out "with a major weapon" --- namely a massive sovereign bond-buying programme that would flood the market with euros and raise demand for the Swiss franc, a top safe haven currency.

"The central banks talk among themselves and the Swiss know that in the case of 'quantitative easing' (QE) by the ECB the floor is no longer tenable," said Philippe Waechter, economist at Natixis AM. 

For Daragh Maher, a strategist at HSBC, "by removing the floor, the SNB is no longer compelled to intervene, a tactic which had become politically contentious."

The tactic was controversial because it was costly. The SNB had to buy massive amounts of foreign currencies to contain its own money, an astronomical cost equivalent to 85 percent of the country's gross domestic product, according to Simon Ward, economist at Henderson Global Investors.

The SNB however did not totally desert the field: it dropped its key interest rate to below zero at -0.75 percent in the hope that it would discourage investing in the Swiss franc.

- Asia, emerging countries next? -

Switzerland may be a sign of currency battles to come.

"Given the general gloom over growth, the exchange rate is one of the last levers" that can be used to bolster the economic situation a country faces, said Dembik.

"The Asian countries will be on the frontline, for example, South Korea, Taiwan," he said. These countries suffer from a strong fall in the yen, which in turn benefits their Japanese competitors.

"The big emerging economies, like Brazil, will certainly also need to play with the exchange rate," he added.

The intensity of the global currency battles will depend a lot on the US Federal Reserve. The Fed has signalled a cycle of rising rates, while the ECB has been pursuing a policy exactly opposite to expansion, which has strengthened the dollar against the euro.

Until now Washington has been hands off the greenback but the Fed could, according to some experts, put the brakes on the US currency by delaying for several months its first rate rise, which the markets expect in early summer.

"The monstrous adjustment of the euro", which just on Friday fell under $1.15 for the first time since November 2003, "forces one and the other to revise their positions," said Waechter.

Some economists however don't see the world's currencies in conflict.

Agnes Benassy-Quere, a professor at the Paris School of Economics, said "it seems an exaggeration to talk about a currency war when one sees in the world floating exchange rates and the free movement of capital."

She thinks the adjustments in the exchange rates of currencies often reflect a "good functioning" of the system in which Switzerland was an anomaly with its rate floor.

The Swiss "had taken a course that's used infrequently" and "weren't playing the game of financial globalisation," she said.

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Manila (AFP) -

06:30 GMT - WELCOME TO AFP'S LIVE REPORT - WELCOME TO AFP'S LIVE REPORT on Pope Francis's mass in the Philippines, the highlight of his five-day visit to the Catholic Church's passionate and chaotic Asian heartland where he is expected to address a world-record papal crowd.

Huge crowds of the faithful are pouring into Rizal Park in Manila for the open-air service, which organisers expect will attract up to six million people despite rain and concerns about security.

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Manila (AFP) - A weeping 12-year-old Philippine girl, asking how God could allow children to become prostitutes, moved Pope Francis on Sunday to hug her and appeal for everyone to show more compassion.

Glyzelle Palomar, a one-time homeless child taken in by a church charity, made her emotional plea during ceremonies at a Catholic university in Manila, ahead of a mass by the pope to millions of faithful.

"Many children are abandoned by their parents. Many children get involved in drugs and prostitution," Palomar told the pope as she stood on stage alongside a 14-year-old boy who also used to be homeless.

"Why does God allow these things to happen to us? The children are not guilty of anything."

Palomar broke down and wept profusely, prompting the 78-year-old pontiff with a man-of-the-people reputation to take her into his arms and hug her for a few seconds.

The pope later discarded most of his prepared speech that he was due to give in English, reverting back to his native Spanish to deliver an impromptu and heartfelt response.

"She is the only one who has put a question for which there is no answer and she wasn't even able to express it in words but in tears," the pope told a crowd that organisers said reached 30,000.

"The nucleus of your question... almost doesn't have a reply."

- Empty pockets, full heart -

The pope, who is in the Philippines for a five-day visit, told those in the crowd that they first had to learn to cry with other marginalised and suffering people.

He said superficial compassion, which resulted in just giving alms, shown by many in the world was not enough.

"If Christ had that kind of compassion, he would have just walked by, greeted three people, given them something and moved on," he said, with his response echoed in English by an official translator.

The pope called on them to show tangible, genuine concern for the poor and marginalised.

"(There are) certain realities in life, we only see through eyes that are cleansed with our tears," the pope said.

He urged them "to think, to feel and to do," asking them to repeat these words in a chorus.

The pope also asked the crowd to emulate his namesake, Saint Francis.

"He died with empty hands, with empty pockets but a very full heart," he said.

The pope also said the topic of Palomar's question showed women were not adequately represented in society.

"Women have much to tell us in today's society. Sometimes, we are too 'machista' and we don't allow room for the woman," he said.

"Women are capable of seeing things with a different angle from us. Women are able to pose questions that we men cannot understand."

The pope has made compassion for the poor a central theme of his trip to the Philippines, the Catholic Church's Asian bastion but where tens of millions endure brutal poverty.

In his first major speech of his trip on Friday, the pope took aim at the nation's elite who have for decades enjoyed the spoils of poverty while the vast majority of Filipinos have suffered.

In a speech at the presidential palace, the pope spoke out about the "scandalous social inequalities" in the Philippines.

"It is now, more than ever, necessary that political leaders be outstanding for honesty, integrity and commitment to the common good," the pope said in the speech.

He challenged "everyone, at all levels of society, to reject every form of corruption, which diverts resources from the poor".

About 25 million Filipinos, or one quarter of the population, live on the equivalent of 60 cents a day or less, according to government data.

The highlight of the pope's trip is set to be an open-air mass at Manila's central park on Sunday afternoon, with up six million people expected to attend. 

About 80 percent of the Philippines' 100 million people are Catholics.

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It is a long time since the groves of academe were paced only by men, but even now some of them are more populated by women than others are. Why, is a mystery. Though the phenomenon is most discussed in scientific and technological disciplines (new PhDs in maths and physics are earned mostly by men, while--in America at least--half of those in molecular biology and neuroscience are awarded to women), it is equally true in the social sciences and humanities, where art history and psychology are dominated by women, and economics and philosophy by men.

Various explanations have been advanced, beyond differential prejudice in different fields. That the long hours required for laboratory work are unconducive to child-rearing is one. A second is that those subjects in which women are rarest require habits of systematic thought found (it is claimed by some) more often in men. A third is that, though men and women have the same relevant abilities on average, the statistical distribution of these may be wider in men than women. Since academics are people who have these abilities most abundantly, the tail of male geniuses in the bell curve would, if this were true (the evidence is equivocal) be longer than that of female ones.

Suggesting this latter possibility in 2005 helped cost Larry Summers, then president of Harvard, his job, for the subject is political dynamite. A paper just published in Science, though, suggests all these explanations are wrong. What is happening, its authors say, really is just a species of prejudice. Moreover, it is a prejudice which, they think, also explains why some ethnic minorities, black people in particular, are under-represented in a similar way.

The paper's authors, led by Sarah-Jane Leslie of Princeton university and Andrei Cimpian of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, hypothesise that the crucial variable is something they call field-specific ability (basically, innate talent)--or, rather, a belief in this quality by those already entrenched in a discipline. They have found that the more existing professors think some special talent, beyond intelligence and hard work, is required to do their subject well, the lower will be the percentage of PhD students in that subject who are women.

Dr Leslie and Dr Cimpian established this by sending questionnaires to more than 1,800 academics working in 30 fields, from astronomy to sociology, at American universities. They asked questions intended to test all four hypotheses, converted the responses into numbers, and then plotted those numbers against the fraction of female PhD students enrolled in the disciplines concerned, looking for correlations.

In the cases of long hours, they asked what a normal working week was. In the case of systematic thought, they asked how important participants believed it was in their own particular disciplines. In the case of the "long tail" they asked how selective the discipline was (that is, what fraction of graduate applicants were admitted), on the presumption that more selective fields would show a stronger long-tail effect, if one exists at all. Finally, on the question of innate talent, they asked questions such as, "Being a top scholar of [discipline] requires a special aptitude that just can't be taught", designed to elucidate how important respondents thought it was in their own, particular fields. Only in the case of academics' assessments of the need for innate talent was there a correlation--and, as the first two charts show, it was strong.

The results on race, illustrated in the third and fourth charts, are also intriguing. Black PhD students show the same types of correlation as women. Americans of Asian descent do not.

Systems of belief

All this raises interesting and awkward questions. It may be unpalatable to some, but the idea that males and females have evolved cognitive differences over the course of many millions of years, because of the different interests of the sexes, is plausible. That people of different races have evolved such differences is far less likely, given the youth of Homo sapiens as a species. Prejudice thus seems a more plausible explanation for what Dr Leslie and Dr Cimpian have observed. But prejudice can work in subtle ways.

It could indeed be that recruiters from disciplines which think innate talent important are prejudiced about who they select for their PhD programmes. It could instead, though, be that women and black people themselves, through exposure to a culture that constantly tells them (which research suggests it does) that they do not have an aptitude for things like maths and physics, have come to believe this is true.

If that is the case (and Dr Leslie and Dr Cimpian suspect it is), it suggests that a cultural shift in schools and universities, playing down talent and emphasising hard work, might serve to broaden the intake of currently male-dominated and black-deficient fields, to the benefit of all.

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