11-18-13 Toronto Mayor Rob Ford would have admitted to smoking crack c**aine long before his eventual admission. After more than five months of denials, Ford admitted that he had indeed smoked crack in a about a year ago. The admission came amid a drug investigation that has led to charges against a friend and occasional driver, though not so far against Ford himself. In a weekend interview with CNN, the leader of Canada's largest city repeated his insistence that he would remain in office and let voters decide his fate next year. The Toronto Star has reported that Ford was asked "countless times" whether he had used d** while mayor, without an answer. Ford accused the newspaper of mounting a vendetta against him on behalf of his "rich and elitist" political opponents. 11-19-13 Miley Cyrus is an addict to fame. Miely is only 20 years old but she has mastered the game of manipulating the media to follow her every move. She did it in August at the MTV Music Awards when she dry-humped singer Robin Thicke. She followed it up in September with the release of her music video, "Wrecking Ball," in which she appeared naked while swinging on a wrecking ball. And just this past weekend she lit up a marijuana joint and smoked it during MTV's European Awards telecast. Granted, the awards show was held in Amsterdam, where marijuana is legal. In fact, there's even a Museum of Marijuana over there.
11-20-13 It may be mid-November but in Hong Kong and other parts of the world, Christmas decorations are disturbingly already up. Beautifully packaged gift goodies are rolled out in stores. Snow scenes and reindeer take up residence in shopping malls even in the southern hemisphere. The organized cross off items on shopping lists. The unorganized try to remember to remember to buy presents for loved ones. From a shopper's perspective, frequent traveling can be crippling. It can get worse in the holiday season where Christmas dominates many people's calendars. To pinpoint which cities around the world deliver the most gratifying, enjoyable shopping experiences, we consulted global experts, such as fashion merchandising firm Donegar Creative Services and Marie Bergfelt, senior spokesperson for Global Blue, which publishes the Globe Shopper City Index.