Luke Bryan pulls off huge upset at ACM Awards

By Anna Chan, TODAY

Luke Bryan pulled off a shocking win on Sunday night when he beat out heavyweights Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift to win the Academy of Country Music Award's biggest prize of the evening: entertainer of the year. The winner is chosen by fan votes.

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Luke Bryan accepts the entertainer of the year award during the 48th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 7.

The musician, who co-hosted the show with Shelton, was stunned after his name was announced, and appeared to cry as he slowly walked out from backstage to accept the award from Shania Twain, who was making her first appearance at the ACMs in 10 years. Even with his trophy in hand, Bryan stood in silent shock at the microphone for a long while.

"This is ... I don't know what to say, you guys," he finally started. "Thank you guys so much, fans, for doing this to me, thank you so much for making my life what it is. What I always wanted to be was just a country singer that got to ride on a tour bus and show up on a new stage and play music every night. ? I just started headlining! ? Every time I step on stage, it is a blessing to me to play for fans. ... This is the defining moment of my life!"

Bryan, 36, been on the scene since his debut album was released in 2007, but wasn't a headlining act until his single "Country Girl (Shake It for Me)" exploded after he started delivering booty-shaking performances of the catchy tune at awards shows in 2011.

Al Powers / AP

The other big winner of the night was Shelton's wife, Miranda Lambert. She took home three of the four trophies she was nominated for: song and single record of the year for "Over You," and female vocalist for the fourth year in a row. Lambert shared the song of the year victory with her husband, who co-wrote the tune.

"Last time this happened, you didn't get a chance to talk, and you're not going to get a chance either this time," he joked as he and his wife accepted their trophies. "I'll?tell you all something: I?ve learned so much from this human being standing next to me ? she blows me away, but as far as standing here right now, I used to think I was a decent songwriter until I started hanging out with her."

Notable moments from the show included Garth Brooks and George Strait's performance together; Reba McIntire's announcement that the ACM was "renaming its most prestigious honor to the ACM Dick Clark Artist of the Decade Award"; and Stevie Wonder closing the show with "Signed, Sealed, Delivered."

The complete list of winners:

• Entertainer of the year: Luke Bryan
• Male vocalist: Jason Aldean
• Female vocalist: Miranda Lambert
• Vocal duo: Thompson Square
• Vocal group: Little Big Town
• New artist: Florida Georgia Line
• Album: Eric Church, "Chief"
• Single record of the year: Miranda Lambert, "Over You"
• Song: Miranda Lambert, "Over You"
• Video: Little Big Town, "Tornado"
• Vocal event: "The ?Only Way I Know," Jason Aldean with Luke Bryan and Eric Church
• New male vocalist: Brantley Gilbert
• New female vocalist: Jana Kramer
• New vocal duo or group: Florida Georgia Line

The 48th Annual ACM Awards was held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More in Entertainment:

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/04/07/17646647-luke-bryan-pulls-off-huge-upset-at-acm-awards?lite

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Church: Pastor Rick Warren's son commits suicide

LAKE FOREST, Calif. (AP) ? The 27-year-old son of popular evangelical Pastor Rick Warren has committed suicide at his Southern California home, Warren's church and authorities said on Saturday.

Matthew Warren struggled with mental illness, deep depression and suicidal thoughts throughout his life, Saddleback Valley Community Church said in a statement. His body was found in his Mission Viejo home Friday night, said Allison O'Neal, a supervising deputy coroner for Orange County. She declined to release the cause and manner of death pending an autopsy of the young man.

"Despite the best health care available, this was an illness that was never fully controlled and the emotional pain resulted in his decision to take his life," the church statement said.

Rick Warren, the author of the multimillion-selling book "The Purpose Driven Life," said in an email to church staff that he and his wife had enjoyed a fun Friday evening with their son. But their son then returned home to take his life in "a momentary wave of despair."

Over the years, Matthew Warren had been treated by America's best doctors, had received counseling and medication and been the recipient of numerous prayers from others, his father said.

"I'll never forget how, many years ago, after another approach had failed to give relief, Matthew said 'Dad, I know I'm going to heaven. Why can't I just die and end this pain?'" Warren recalled.

Despite that, he said, his son lived for another decade, during which he often reached out to help others.

"You who watched Matthew grow up knew he was an incredibly kind, gentle, and compassionate man," Warren wrote. "He had a brilliant intellect and a gift for sensing who was most in pain or most uncomfortable in a room. He'd then make a bee-line to that person to engage and encourage them."

The elder Warren founded Saddleback Church in 1980, according to his biography on the church website, and over the years watched it grow to 20,000 members. He and his wife, Kay, began by holding Bible studies for people who weren't regular churchgoers.

Matthew Warren was the youngest of their three children.

As Saddleback grew over the years, it spread out from its Lake Forest headquarters, 65 miles southeast of Los Angeles, adding several other campuses and ministries around Southern California.

The church says it now offers more than 200 community ministries and support groups for parents, families, children, couples, prisoners, addicts, and people living with HIV, depression and other illnesses.

In 2008, the church sponsored a presidential forum with Barack Obama and John McCain. Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney were invited to a similar forum last fall, but Warren canceled it several days beforehand, saying the campaign had become too uncivil.

Warren was named the top newsmaker of the year for 2009 by the Religion Newswriters Association. He gained attention that year with his invocation at Obama's inauguration, as well as with comments he made in the aftermath of California's Proposition 8, which overturned gay marriage.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/church-pastor-rick-warrens-son-commits-suicide-211206608.html

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Eldred G. Smith, ex-Mormon church patriarch, dies

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? Elder Eldred G. Smith, the oldest Mormon church general authority and oldest known Utahn, has died at the age of 106.

Smith, who was born in Lehi, died Thursday night.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement praising him as a "valued friend" and "respected leader."

During his 32 years as church patriarch, he traveled to every continent and gave more than 18,000 blessings. He had been an emeritus church patriarch since 1979.

Provo's Daily Herald reports he had five children, 24 grandchildren, 45 great-grandchildren and 19 great-great grandchildren as of a year ago.

KSL reports he was the most long-lived general authority in the church's history. Smith celebrated his 106th birthday on Jan. 9.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eldred-g-smith-ex-mormon-church-patriarch-dies-010548967.html

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Community Health Charities of California

Keywords / Charity Name Name Only EIN (Employer Identification Number) Select Category/Cause: Location: State and/or City:

Zip Code:?

? in this vicinity:? Additional Search Fields: (available to registered users) Log In or Register Now. It's Free! Overall Rating: Size (Total Expenses): CEO Salary Donor Privacy Policy Yes Scope of Work All Regional National International Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) Charity Receives $0 in government support

Source: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=7428

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6th Apr - Special: Bank of Japan

This is just a collection of all the links on the Bank of Japan's move that I've posted earlier - for your convenience.

Previously on MoreLiver?s:

Bank of Japan scraps overnight call rate, sets base money as new target ? Reuters

The BoJ decided on a radical overhaul of its policy framework on Thursday, shifting its target when setting monetary policy to base money from the current overnight call rate.

Bank of Japan Boosts Bond Purchases as Kuroda Takes Helm ? BB

With Kuroda presiding over his first meeting since taking the helm last month, the board today streamlined its asset purchase programs, temporarily suspended a cap on some bond holdings and dropped a limit on debt maturities. The BOJ will buy 7 trillion yen ($74 billion) of bonds a month, the central bank said in a statement.

This sort of initial euphoria has fizzled out before ? but the new Bank of Japan governors appear to have actually come through with the goods

Bank of Japan Launches Easing Campaign ? WSJ Bank of Japan Launches Strong Easing Campaign ? WSJ BoJ Unveils 'Shock-And-Awe' Quantitative-Qualitative Easing ? ZH Yen Falls Versus Peers as BOJ Purchases Exceed Forecasts ? BB Koo: Currency Markets Are Misinterpreting the Impact of QE ? PragCap

The new Bank of Japan (BoJ) governor Haruhiko Kuroda definitely left his mark in connection with today?s monetary meeting, at which BoJ announced easing measures that far exceeded market expectations. The main messages from the meeting are BoJ?s strong commitment to its 2% inflation target and that aggressive monetary easing will be continued next year. This suggests that JPY will continue to depreciate.

Kuroda's "Shock And Awe" Post-Mortem From Goldman And SocGen ? ZH

Stephen King: So far, so good. The commitment is most definitely there and the ambition has now been well-defined. Yet Japan is not yet out of deflationary trouble and, even in the event of the monetary equivalent of the Great Escape, it might still all end in disappointment.

Bank of Japan Getting Better at Playing With Markets ? WSJ

For those who need a rundown of what the BoJ actually did, here?s a summary from Nomura:

Make no mistake, the Bank of Japan just pulled out all the stops to boost its flailing economy.

Japan stimulus sends euro zone yields to record lows

With the announcement by Haruhiko Kuroda, the Bank of Japan?s new governor, of the doubling of the monetary base within the next two years at most, the Japanese authorities committed to do ?whatever it takes? to achieve their newly assigned objective ? an inflation rate of 2 per cent. Two questions should be raised. First, why such a drastic step up in monetary expansion? Second, will it work?

Generate inflation and consumers will start spending, business confidence will improve and growth will resume. This will reduce the government's annual deficit and reduce the real value of the debt over time. Problem solved. But what about investors?

Abenomics Takes Off: Can Japan Un-Doom Itself? ? The Atlantic

14 years later, Japan is finally taking Ben Bernanke's advice

Joseph E. Stiglitz: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is doing what many economists have been calling for in the US and Europe: a comprehensive program entailing monetary, fiscal, and structural policies. As many Japanese rightly sense, Abenomics, with its focus on monetary, fiscal, and structural policies, can only help the country?s recovery.

Abenomics is the only way to stop Japan's debt compound crisis ? The Telegraph

Those who say Japan has been muddling through just fine in permanent deflation with an overvalued yen are indeed "macro-tourists". No nation can allow itself to atrophy in this way. The surprise is that it took Japan so long to wake up.

Source: http://morelivers.blogspot.com/2013/04/6th-apr-special-bank-of-japan.html

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North Korea asks if UK will evacuate embassy

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Friday North Korea had asked it if it intended to evacuate its embassy in Pyongyang because of rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, but said it regarded the query as part of an anti-U.S. information campaign.

"We believe they have taken this step as part of their continuing rhetoric that the US poses a threat to them. We are considering next steps, including a change to our travel advice," Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement.

North Korea "has responsibilities under the Vienna convention to protect diplomatic missions," it said.

Britain has a full embassy in Pyongyang which a Foreign Office spokesman said included a small staff. He declined to elaborate.

North Korea has said nuclear conflict could break out at any time on the Korean peninsula, in a month-long war of words that has prompted the United States to move military assets into the region.

(Reporting By Andrew Osborn; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-says-north-korea-query-embassy-anti-u-121509494.html

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T-Mobile USA Opens Pre-Orders For iPhone 5 Starting At $99.99, Shipping April 12

T-Mobile USA has now started online pre-orders for the iPhone 5 -- the first time that the carrier will be offering the device. Prices start at $99.99 for the 16GB models if you opt for a subsequent monthly-payment plan of $20/month for 24 months; or $579 upfront.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/MCmzpuZj4s0/

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