Newly released Batman film The Dark Knight Rises made an estimated $160 million at US and Canadian box offices in its opening weekend, a record for a non 3-D film.
But the blockbuster’s takings were below industry forecasts made before the mass shooting at a midnight showing of the film in Colorado on Friday.
Projected figures suggested the film would make an estimated $173 million, based on Friday receipts.
Twelve people were killed and 58 hurt in the attack at a cinema in Aurora.
The Dark Knight Rises made an estimated $160 million at US and Canadian box offices in its opening weekend
The top two highest-ever openings were both 3-D films – The Avengers with $207 million and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with $169 million.
“For this film (Dark Knight) to still be in the rarefied air of the top-three openings of all time is phenomenal, given the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the release of this film,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a box office analyst for Hollywood.com.
Following the shooting, US cinemas tightened security and Warner Bros scaled down its promotional plans.
A movie premiere in Paris was cancelled, along with personal appearances by the cast and crew in Japan and Mexico.
“My heart aches and breaks for the lives taken and altered by this unfathomably senseless act,” Anne Hathaway said in a statement.
“I am at a loss for words how to express my sorrow. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.”
The third and final film in director Christopher Nolan’s Batman series stars Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway. It cost Warner Bros $250 million to make.
Studios including Sony, Fox, Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros publicly withdrew their usual official revenue reports out of respect for the victims and their families, but sources gave details of the takings to media outlets.
Last week’s number one, Ice Age: Continental Drift, dropped to second place, with The Amazing Spider-Man in third.
Seth MacFarlane’s R-rated comedy Ted, starring Mark Wahlberg opposite a foul-mouthed CGI teddy bear, is in fourth spot, while Disney animation Brave is at number five.
Scientists in the US have created a free swimming artificial jellyfish using silicone as a base on which to grow heart muscle cells that were harvested from rats.
They used an electric current to shock the Medusoid into swimming with synchronized contractions that mimic those of real jellyfish.
The advance, by researchers at Caltech and Harvard University, is reported in the journal Nature Biotechnology.
The finding serves as a proof of concept for reverse engineering a variety of muscular organs and simple life forms.
Because jellyfish use a muscle to pump their way through the water, the way they function – on a very basic level – is similar to that of a human heart.
“I started looking at marine organisms that pump to survive,” said Kevin Kit Parker, a professor of bioengineering and applied physics at Harvard.
“Then I saw a jellyfish at the New England Aquarium, and I immediately noted both similarities and differences between how the jellyfish pumps and the human heart.
“The similarities help reveal what you need to do to design a bio-inspired pump.”
Scientists used an electric current to shock the Medusoid into swimming with synchronized contractions that mimic those of real jellyfish
The work also points to a broader definition of “synthetic life” in an emerging field of science that has until now focused on replicating life’s building blocks, say the researchers.
Prof. Kevin Kit Parker said he wanted to challenge the traditional view of synthetic biology which is “focused on genetic manipulations of cells”. Instead of building just a cell, he sought to “build a beast”.
The two groups at Caltech and Harvard worked for years to understand the key factors that contribute to jellyfish propulsion, including the arrangement of their muscles, how their bodies contract and recoil, and how fluid dynamics helps or hinders their movements.
Once these functions were well understood, the researchers began to reverse engineer them.
They used silicone to fashion a jellyfish-shaped body with eight arm-like appendages.
Next, they printed a pattern made of protein onto the “body” that resembled the muscle architecture of the real animal.
They grew the heart muscle cells on top, with the protein pattern serving as a road map for the growth and organization of the rat tissue. This allowed them to turn the cells into a coherent swimming muscle.
When the researchers set the Medusoid free in a container of electrically conducting fluid, they shocked the Medusoid into swimming with synchronized contractions. The muscle cells even started to contract a bit on their own before the electrical current was applied.
“I was surprised that with relatively few components – a silicone base and cells that we arranged – we were able to reproduce some pretty complex swimming and feeding behaviors that you see in biological jellyfish,” said John Dabiri, professor of aeronautics and bioengineering at Caltech.
“I’m pleasantly surprised at how close we are getting to matching the natural biological performance, but also that we’re seeing ways in which we can probably improve on that natural performance. The process of evolution missed a lot of good solutions.”
Lead author Janna Nawroth from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena commented that the field of tissue engineering was “still a very qualitative art”.
She said researchers tried to copy a tissue or organ “based on what they think is important or what they see as the major components without necessarily understanding if those components are relevant to the desired function or without analyzing first how different materials could be used”.
The team aims to carry out further work on the artificial jellyfish. They want to make adjustments that will allow it to turn and move in a particular direction.
They also plan to incorporate a simple “brain” so it can respond to its environment and replicate more advanced behaviors like moving towards a light source and seeking energy or food.
When it comes to keeping it clean, most will testify to having an array of expensive products and potions stored under the kitchen sink.
However, Wimex claims that could all be a thing of the past thanks to the launch of a new one-stop, recession-busting “wonder cleaner” – which claims to save cash by doing the job of the lot.
They say Bio-mex is an organic, chemical-free product which can get rid of grease and dirt not only from kitchens and bathrooms, but also be used to keep bicycles and car engines shiny and clean.
Costing $16 for a 300g pot, the cleaner was created by German company Wimex.
Unlike most cleaning products, which contain powerful bleach and other harmful chemicals, Bio-mex is made with only natural ingredients, such as vegetable soap, white clay, vegetable fats, glycerine and lemon.
Bio-mex is an organic, chemical-free product which can get rid of grease and dirt not only from kitchens and bathrooms, but also be used to keep bicycles and car engines shiny and clean
The ingredients are “fired” together to create a hardened cream or “cake” which is removed using a damp sponge from the pot lid.
Because it is made from organic ingredients it is also kind to skin and is free from the overpowering chemical odors present in regular products.
One user said: “I used to buy many different cleaning products, now I just use Bio-mex. My bathroom and kitchen stay beautifully white and shining clean. On top of everything, Bio-mex is organic – no more dry hands.”
Another added: “I never realized that cleaning a shower could be so complicated! I have a tiled shower, with a glass door. I used to use one product to clean the door, another for the grouting, one for the soap area, Jif for the darker floor area and a spray on one for the white walls.
“Now Bio-mex does everything, and it does it superbly. I also love the fact that I don’t get asphyxiated by fumes, as well as the pleasant smell left on my hands afterwards. I can also use it on the rest of the bathroom fixtures. Bio-mex is virtually the only cleaning product I use now.”
Bio-mex has been a closely guarded secret of the hotel and restaurant trade for years, but this is the first time it has been available for sale to the general public.
Super-Spanx Objective 1 Size Down, the latest shapewear from Playtex, not only promises to clinch you in and smooth you out, but its makers claim it will zap your cellulite and make you drop a dress size, too.
Objective 1 Size Down pants contain mysterious-sounding “acti-mineral ceramic crystals”, which are woven into the fabric and apparently improve microciculation by giving your thighs and bottom a continuous massage as you walk around.
But do these new wonder pants work? Could they help us to drop a dress size by wearing them every day for a month?
Objective 1 Size Down pants contain mysterious-sounding “acti-mineral ceramic crystals”, which are woven into the fabric and apparently improve microciculation by giving your thighs and bottom a continuous massage as you walk around
For a start, these are no ordinary knickers to look at or wear. They certainly make their presence felt.
Objective 1 Size Down pants cost $60, which seems a small price to pay for dimple-free thighs and a svelte waist. But having to wear them for 28 days (this is how long the makers claim it takes to notice the effects) means quite a few pairs are required. Luckily, their mighty flab-holding power withstands the rigors of the washing machine.
It seems the hottest new healthy food fad is “eating alkaline”as the actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Kirsten Dunst have recently revealed they “eat alkaline”.
Jennifer Aniston drinks an alkaline smoothie every day and supermodel Miranda Kerr recently revealed that instead of drinking normal pH neutral water, she drinks only water alkalized by a special filter.
Our bodies are naturally alkaline, but its functions produce acid. This stresses out your digestive system, causing you to gain weight and feel lethargic. In short, health fanatics claim “going alkaline” is the fastest route to having more energy, a flat stomach and glowing skin.
“I’ve been a fan of eating alkaline for years,” says nutritionist Vicki Edgson.
“It’s basically about getting the balance right between alkaline and acidic foods. We can eat both types, but we need to ensure we eat more alkaline foods than acidic ones.”
“Acidic foods are, as the name suggests, acid-forming in the body,” explains Vicki Edgson.
“They can cause weight gain, a bloated stomach, tiredness and other health problems. Whereas alkaline foods help you stay in shape and feel and look younger.
“The other good thing about this way of eating is that it’s entirely un-faddy: it doesn’t cut out food groups or involve counting calories.”
So, could you be acidic? Signs include weight gain, poor digestion, bloating, tiredness and skin problems (dryness or spots). If so, it may be time to give alkaline eating a go.
The alkaline diet first came to prominence in America when Robert Young wrote the New York Times bestselling The pH Miracle. In it, he explains how he discovered that the pH of foods (i.e. whether they’re alkaline or acidic) affects our weight and health.
“Eating alkaline foods acts as a buffer for the stresses and strains of life, which are acid-forming,” says Robert Young.
He goes on to explain how the more alkaline you are, the healthier you’ll feel. You’ll be able to lose excess weight more quickly, you won’t feel bloated or tired and your skin will look better. In other words, your body will function more efficiently, he claims.
A typical diet of coffee, processed food, too much meat, alcohol, sugar, salt and stress can quickly cause us to become acidic – and poor health, weight gain and tiredness will follow.
Honestly Healthy. Eat With Your Body In Mind, The Alkaline Way, by Natasha Corrett and Vicki Edgson
So stress causes us to become acidic too?
“Yes”, says Vicki Edgson who has recently co-written a book on alkaline eating.
“Our long-hours culture is causing many of us to become acidic. Tiredness and stress are very acid-forming. However, what is even more so is anger and bitterness.
“It’s one thing to get a little stressed about daily chores, but if you hold on to feelings of anger and resentment for many months or years, you run the risk of becoming incredibly acidic, which can be detrimental to your health.”
The good news is, Vicki Edgson says, if you manage your stress and include plenty of alkalizing foods in your diet, you can tip yourself back into an alkaline state.
Organic chef, Natasha Corrett, who with Vicki Edgson co-wrote Honestly Healthy: Eat With Your Body In Mind, The Alkaline Way, discovered the benefits of this diet first-hand.
“My weight yo-yo’d for years and I tried lots of different diets,” she explains.
“Then, in 2009, I hurt my back. So my mum sent me to an ayurvedic acupuncturist who took one look at me and said: <<You’re completely acidic>>. He then asked me if I struggled to lose weight, felt bloated, stressed, heavy, tired and struggled to wake up in the mornings and concentrate during the day. He basically described how I felt most of the time.
“He put me on a three-week alkaline diet and within days I felt amazing. I’d never really heard of alkaline eating before but it seemed incredibly simple and I never felt hungry so it didn’t feel like a diet. My energy levels improved, my skin glowed, the weight fell off – and, crucially, it’s stayed off – and my sugar cravings vanished.”
Natasha Corrett continued on the alkaline diet after the 21 days were up and lost 28 lbs in a few months, taking her from a size 12 to a size 8.
“I love food and I hate to deprive myself, so I created alkaline recipes of my favorite foods. I love really succulent chocolate brownies so I made them without sugar, salt, wheat or gluten.”
All the alkaline recipes are in her new book. Vicki Edgson says that acidic foods aren’t necessarily a bad thing – if you look at the list of foods, you’ll see plenty of acidic ones that can be part of a healthy diet. It’s the ratio you need to get right.
She recommends 70% of what you eat should be alkaline and 30% acidic to help tip your body into an alkaline state. She also advises having plenty of fibre from fruit and vegetables, plus wholegrains, to help sweep out your digestive tract and reduce your acidity, as well as lots of water and sleep.
The way you cook your vegetables also has an impact. For example, raw spinach is alkaline, but when you cook it, it becomes acidic. For this reason you should try to eat your vegetables raw or just lightly steam them.
Kris Jenner met up with ex-lover Todd Waterman, the man who broke up her first marriage to Robert Kardashian Senior.
Long suffering Bruce Jenner, 62, for his part, had been enjoying winding his wife up about his golfing sessions with red-headed supermodel Angie Everhart, 42.
Kris Jenner, 56, had pushed him there, of course, by inviting her friend Lance Bass from NSync to dinner.
But after running into gorgeous Angie Everhart, who Kim Kardashian described as looking like the titular character Ariel from Disney’s Little Mermaid, he was soon setting up a golf date.
When he returned from the course, Bruce Jenner told a clearly rattled Kris that Angie Everhart is a “great golfer” and adds that “she got me on the last hole”.
Livid Kris Jenner snapped that she doesn’t know what that means then asked for her dry cleaning, which Bruce realized he forgot.
As he ran out of the door to get it, a furious Kris Jenner yells: “You f****** forgot my dry cleaning, thanks for thinking of me today.”
Kris Jenner met up with ex-lover Todd Waterman, the man who broke up her first marriage to Robert Kardashian Senior
Meanwhile, Rob Kardashian is moving back into Khloe and Lamar Odom’s home after deciding he can’t buy the home he wants at the moment.
He immediately annoys Khloe by filling her garage with his belongings after insisting he would only bring clothes to the home she shares with husband Lamar Odom.
Lamar Odom is keen to have Rob Kardashian back at the crib but notes: “Sometimes Rob can be a little disrespectful without even knowing it.”
Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian has been summoned to see her mother, who announces that: “Bruce has a major mad crush on Angie Everhart.”
Kris Jenner tells her daughter that her husband’s golf partner is hot and that it’s “really starting to bug her”.
It appears she wants to enlist her daughter to do some sleuthing and Kim Kardashian is keen but tells her mother that she must: “Buy some lingerie, do what you got to do.”
Kim Kardashian then remarks to camera: “I don’t think Bruce would cheat on my mom is so crazy she’s probably not giving it up so we need to do something.”
Thus Operation Angie Everhart is born, and the mother and daughter spy team hurtle around Calabasas Country Club trying to catch a glimpse of Bruce and Angie.
When they find them, Kris Jenner is devastated that Bruce looks so happy with Angie Everhart and loses it when she sees him slip an arm around the younger woman.
When Kris Jenner says: “He never looks that happy with me,” Kim Kardashian offers the comforting words: “It’s because you’re so boring and you’ve been married for 21 years.”
Then Kris Jenner exclaims: “Mother*****, that’s not playing golf!”
The action cuts to a charity fundraiser where Kris Jenner says tells her friends she will meet Todd Waterman if Bruce is going to foster this friendship.
She tells her friends: “You don’t know whether to hang on anymore, maybe there is another chapter for me.”
They gasp and attempt to clarify: “Without Bruce?” and she replies with a resounding “yes”.
Kris Jenner meets Todd Waterman as Bruce blithely plays golf.
Both Kris Jenner and Todd Waterman blame the other for seeking them out but when he whispers in her ear that he’s been waiting for her for 23 years, her emotions seem to race out of control.
Arab League foreign ministers have called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, as rebels are encouraged by last week’s assassinations in Damascus.
The rebels said the deaths of four top officials were a severe blow to the government.
Islamist rebels where he is are receiving weapons and money from outside.
Fighting continued overnight.
Government forces recaptured parts of Damascus, the suburbs of Barzeh and Mezzeh, which had fallen into rebel hands.
There and in other quarters, activists said a number of suspected rebels or sympathisers were summarily executed.
Syrian state TV on Monday showed images of Syrian forces going house to house and kicking down doors in Damascus, searching for any remaining rebel fighters.
Fighting was also reported in Syria’s second city, Aleppo.
Arab League foreign ministers have called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down
After an emergency meeting in Qatar, Arab League foreign ministers called on President Bashar al-Assad to resign rapidly, and offered his family safe passage out of Syria.
They also called on the Syrian opposition to form a transitional government.
The call appears to have fallen on deaf ears.
Bashar al-Assad held a meeting with his new army chief of staff and gave him instructions, reportedly including a drive to crush armed rebels.
The meeting followed last week’s attack in Damascus, in which four senior officials were killed in what the Syrian government described as a suicide blast.
Rebels outside Damascus say the assassinations were a blow to the government.
They said the once-feared secret police were now a spent force, and the government was relying entirely on a weakened military.
However, the rebels are divided, between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Salafists (hardline Islamists).
The Salafists are better armed, he says, because they are receiving weapons and money from outside.
Meanwhile, the EU is to tighten sanctions and an arms embargo against President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
EU foreign ministers agreed to freeze the assets of 26 individuals and three firms close to the Syrian government.
They will be added to a blacklist which already contains the names of 129 people and 49 entities.
EU member states will also be required to send inspectors to board planes and ships believed to be carrying weapons or suspicious supplies to Damascus.
The inspections will only take place on the territory or in the territorial waters of EU states.
Britain and France are calling for more EU aid to refugees from Syria.
On Sunday, the US signed an agreement to give Jordan an additional $100 million to help refugees fleeing from Syria.
The elite fourth division of the Syrian army, commanded by President Bashar al-Assad’s brother Maher, led the attack on the Barzeh area of Damascus, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
In Mezzeh, government forces “executed” at least 20 men in the area, some activists told the Reuters news agency by telephone.
The battle for control of Aleppo is still going on.
State TV played down the scale of the violence, saying troops were merely hunting down “terrorists”.
Rebel commanders have vowed to take it over completely and use it as a base for liberating the whole country, but state TV said many armed rebels had fled across the border to Turkey.
Rebels were now in control of the Bab al-Salam border crossing with Turkey. Turkey is not allowing non-Syrian nationals through so the border remains effectively closed.
There were also reports of violence in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour on Sunday. Witnesses told Reuters that it was being attacked with artillery and rockets from helicopter gunships.
Waves of bomb attacks and shootings in north of Baghdad have killed at least 82 people, say security and medical officials.
Many of those killed were security forces – who appear to have been a prime target.
One of the worst-hit places was Taji, a Sunni neighbourhood some 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, where at least 18 people were killed.
At least 112 people were wounded on one of the bloodiest days of the year.
Deadly car bombings hit Baghdad, and a government building in Sadr city was attacked. At least seven car bombs hit the northern oil city of Kirkuk.
Waves of bomb attacks and shootings in north of Baghdad have killed at least 82 people
Dhuluiya, Saadiya, Khan Beni-Saad, Tuz Khurmatu and Dibis were also said to have suffered attacks.
The security forces suffered badly in Monday’s attacks, with at least 15 Iraqi soldiers killed in a single attack on a base in Salaheddin province.
Police checkpoints were hit by car bombs, army bases were struck by mortar fire, and one policeman was even attacked in his home.
Those in Taji died in a string of explosions.
“What is the guilt of these poor people?” asked resident Ali Hussein.
“They are working to earn a living. It is a poor market and people were here to shop in this market when the blast happened. Why did this happen?”
It is the deadliest day in Iraq since 13 June, when another wave of bombings killed 84 people and injured nearly 300.
On Sunday bombings south of the capital killed at least 17.
Violence dipped in Iraq following the insurgency in 2006 and 2007, but sectarian violence has returned across the country in recent months amid worsening political tensions.
At least 237 people were killed during June, making it one of the bloodiest months since US troops withdrew in December.
Deadliest attacks in 2012:
• 3 July: At least 40 killed and many more wounded in series of attacks across Iraq
• 13 June: Wave of bombings kills 84 and injures nearly 300 in deadliest day since US troops withdrew last December
• 4 June: More than 20 people killed in bomb attack in Baghdad
• 20 March: At least 45 people die in series of co-ordinated attacks including car bombs in Kerbala city that kill at least 13
• 23 February: At least 55 people killed and hundreds injured in wave of bombings and shootings across the country
• 27 January: A suicide car bomb kills at least 32 and injures about 60 in predominantly Shia Muslim district of Baghdad
Fears that other Spanish regions may follow Valencia in seeking a bailout from Madrid have rattled markets.
A local newspaper in Murcia, one of Spain’s smallest regions, quoted the regional government’s head as saying it would ask for funding help of up to 300 million Euros.
On Friday Valencia asked the central government for a financial lifeline.
The yield on Spain’s 10-year bond jumped to 7.4%, while the euro fell to an 11-year low against the yen.
On Friday the bond yield – which implies the interest rate the government would have to pay to borrow new money, and acts as a measure of investor confidence in Spain’s creditworthiness – was at 7.28%.
Fears that other Spanish regions may follow Valencia in seeking a bailout from Madrid have rattled markets
Many of Spain’s regions have high borrowing needs, and speculation is growing that a number of them will follow Valencia and ask formally money from Madrid at a time when the central government itself is having trouble borrowing money.
In Asian trading overnight, the euro fell to an 11-year low against the Japanese yen – which has acted as a safe haven currency since the 2008 financial crisis – amid fears that debt problems in Spain are worsening.
The euro fell to 94.37 yen, its lowest level since November 2000.
Analysts said the developments in Spain had raised fears that the eurozone debt crisis was worsening and spreading to the region’s biggest economies.
Asian stock markets also fell on Monday amid fears that the ongoing debt problems in eurozone will hurt the region’s growth.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 1.9%, South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.8% and Australia’s ASX 200 index shed 1.7%.
The eurozone is a key market for Asian exports and there are concerns that demand from the region may decline in the near term.
At the same time, a weaker euro has also added to the woes of Asian exporters, as it makes their goods more expensive for buyers from the region.
Experts writing in the Lancet have explained that drug-resistant HIV has been increasing in parts of sub-Saharan Africa over the last decade.
Studies on 26,000 untreated HIV-positive people in developing countries were reviewed by the team.
They said resistance could build up if people fail to stick to drug regimes, and because monitoring could be poor.
The researchers, from the World Health Organization (WHO) and University College London (UCL) found the most rapid increase in drug resistance occurred in East Africa, at 29% per year. In Southern Africa, it was 14% per year.
Drug-resistant HIV has been increasing in parts of sub-Saharan Africa over the last decade
There was no change in resistance over time in Latin America and in West and Central Africa.
Writing in the Lancet, authors Dr. Silvia Bertagnolio from the WHO and Dr. Ravindra Gupta at UCL said: “Without continued and increased national and international efforts, rising HIV drug resistance could jeopardize a decade-long trend of decreasing HIV/Aids-related illness and death in low- and middle-income countries.”
Dr. Ravindra Gupta said: “Drug resistance is a consequence of people not taking their medication properly.
“We do expect to see drug resistance, and it’s at around 10% in the UK and US. But here, we monitor people regularly and switch people to different drugs if they develop resistance.”
He said that quite basic measures could help people to better adhere to drug regimes in developing countries, such as access to food and clean water so they can take their drugs, and monitoring patients as effectively as possible.
The researchers said no changes were needed to the drug regimes, but Dr. Ravindra Gupta said: “This work gives us an early-warning that things could get worse.”
Chirp, a new app that transmits data via a burst of “digital birdsong”, aims to simplify the way users share images and other files between smartphones.
Chirp plays a two-second long noise that sounds as if it was made by a robotic bird. When heard by other devices it triggers a download.
The software was developed by Animal Systems, a spin-off business from University College London (UCL).
It is free to use, but companies will be charged a fee for add-on services.
At the moment users are limited to sending pictures, website links or 140-character text messages. These appear in a feed similar to Facebook’s timeline.
Other applications such as Android Beam, Bump, Datasync and Dropbox allow users to swap material via bluetooth, wi-fi or links to cloud-based storage.
But Chirp has the advantage that it can quickly send data to multiple devices at once without them needing to be either paired or have a wireless connection.
If recipients are offline their devices will remember the “chirp” and download associated content later.
Chirp transmits data via a burst of "digital birdsong" and aims to simplify the way users share images and other files between smartphones
“We are pretty sure this is unique,” said Patrick Bergel, the firm’s chief executive.
“We solve the problem of having to pair devices to move data. It’s fairly novel to be able to transmit information to anyone who is in earshot – a large number of devices can share the same information at the same time using sound.
“You can also use it as a device shifting mechanism. In the future you will be able chirp yourself a link to a map from your laptop.”
Patrick Bergel says Chirp’s distinctive sound allows it to work at low volumes in relatively noisy locations such as pubs, clubs or busy streets.
It can also work over public address systems or radio transmissions – potentially allowing broadcasters a way to send up-to-date pictures or links to background information; or an advertiser to send coupons or snippets of a song or promotional video.
Animal Systems subscribes to a “blacklist” service to prevent users transmitting known pornographic or illegal-content website links. However, it does not plan to moderate other material.
The application works by uploading a user’s material to the firm’s servers. The data is then identified with a 50-bit address space: one of trillions of available identifiers.
This location is then sent to the sender’s device. When the user presses a button in the app it plays an audio-encoded version of the address.
Data has long been passed between machines in the form of sound, including recordings on tapes used to load programs into 1980s home computers and early modems dialling into networks.
Even so, Patrick Bergel said he had taken steps to prevent others copying his product.
“We have a systems patent on moving short codes over the air,” he said.
“We have [also] solved a lot of difficult problems. There’s a lot of technical issues around moving data and making it robust against noise and echoes.”
Having launched the app the five-man team behind it will now focus on offering premium services to marketers and other businesses.
Patrick Bergel said these could include:
• A guarantee that uploaded content would be permanently kept on the firm’s servers.
• Access to analytical data letting firms track whose devices have “listened” to their chirp.
• The ability to send video messages that play within the Chirp app.
Patrick Bergel said the ultimate goals was to see manufacturers pre-install Chirp on handsets.
However, he must first convince users that they need the service at a time when wi-fi, 4G data and advanced bluetooth connectivity are becoming increasingly common.
For now Chirp is only available as an iPhone app. An Android version is promised “soon”.
World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has advised that cutting back on salty foods such as bacon, bread and breakfast cereals may reduce people’s risk of developing stomach cancer.
It wants people to eat less salt and for the content of food to be labelled more clearly.
Too much salt is bad for blood pressure and can lead to heart disease and stroke, but it can also cause cancer.
The recommended daily limit is 6 g, about a level teaspoonful, but the World Cancer Research Fund said people were eating 8.6 g a day.
WCRF estimated that 14% of cases, around 800, could be avoided if everyone stuck to their 6 g a day.
Too much salt is bad for blood pressure and can lead to heart disease and stroke, but it can also cause cancer
Kate Mendoza, head of health information at WCRF, said: “Stomach cancer is difficult to treat successfully because most cases are not caught until the disease is well-established.
“This places even greater emphasis on making lifestyle choices to prevent the disease occurring in the first place – such as cutting down on salt intake and eating more fruit and vegetables.”
Eating too much salt is not all about sprinkling it over fish and chips or Sunday lunch, the vast majority is already inside food.
It is why the WCRF has called for a “traffic-light” system for food labelling – red for high, amber for medium and green for low.
However, this has proved controversial with many food manufacturers and supermarkets preferring other ways of labelling food.
Top Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya has died in a car crash, according to fellow activists.
Oswaldo Paya, 60, was travelling near the city of Bayamo, in the eastern province of Granma, when the accident happened, they said.
He is known as the founder of the Varela Project – a campaign to gather signatures in support of a referendum on laws guaranteeing civil rights.
Oswaldo Paya was seen as a key spokesman for Cuba’s small opposition.
A Catholic church official in Bayamo told AFP that a local hospital had told him and other activists that Oswaldo Paya was dead, and had shown them identification.
His death was reported on Twitter by prominent dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez, who described him as “irreproachable” and his death as a great loss to Cuba.
Top Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya has died in a car crash
The circumstances of the accident are still unclear. A usually well-informed pro-government blogger says Oswaldo Paya’s car crashed into a tree.
A state media website said there had been a “regrettable traffic accident” that killed two Cubans, while two other people, one Swiss and one Spanish, were injured.
Oswaldo Paya’s death comes after another prominent Cuban dissident, Laura Pollan, founder of the protest group Ladies in White, died last October.
In 2002, Oswaldo Paya won the Sakharov Prize – the European Union’s human rights award – for his work with the Varela Project, which was created in 1998.
In May 2002, he presented Cuba’s National Assembly with a petition of more than 10,000 signatures calling for an end to four decades of one-party rule.
He has since repeatedly delivered petitions to the body, including one in 2007 calling for an amnesty for non-violent political prisoners.
The Cuban government described him as an agent of the United States who was working to undermine the country’s revolution.
A devout Christian, Oswaldo Paya was also the founder of the Christian Liberation Movement, which campaigns for political change, civil rights and the release of political prisoners.
His influence is seen has having waned recently, with a new generation of internet-based activists, such as Yoani Sanchez, coming to the fore.
Born in 1952, Oswaldo Paya became a critic of the communist government as a teenager. In 1969, he was sent to a work camp as punishment.
It is well known that many men nod off straight after sex and now scientists conducted research which involved scanning the brains of men during and after orgasm.
In the case of the latter, they found that the cerebral cortex – which plays a vital role in attention, consciousness and perceptual awareness – shut down almost immediately after orgasm.
Serge Stoleru, a French government scientist, said that the research offers the “first hints” of what happens in the brain during sex.
He told the Sunday Times: “For women, it seems to be different.
“They don’t seem to have such a strong refractory period and may be asking for more when their partners just want a rest.”
Scientists have found that man’s cerebral cortex shut down almost immediately after orgasm
The study also showed that the brain switched off almost all sexual desire after orgasm.
And as well as this, men have a further reason for feeling drowsy: their brains become flooded with sleep-inducing chemicals such as serotonin after they have had sex.
Earlier studies have also suggested that men aren’t to blame for wanting to take a well-earned break after sex.
In 2005, research found the blood rush after climax depletes the muscles of energy-producing glycogen.
And because men typically have higher muscle density than women, they become more tired after sex.
The survey showed the majority of men did feel more relaxed straight after sex.
80% of men said they felt able to drift off without any problems after making love, compared with just 46% of women.
They were amongst 10,000 adults surveyed by organizers of The Vitality Show, Europe’s largest health and beauty exhibition.
The survey also found 48% of men had actually fallen asleep during the act itself.
And whilst scientists might have rescued men from a telling off for sleeping straight after orgasm, it seems perhaps understandable that the latest research won’t do the same for those who doze before reaching climax.
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis were spotted openly kissing and cuddling yesterday as Mila joined the actor at the wrap party for his Steve Jobs biopic.
Despite being surrounded by a host of fellow attendees at the Hollywood venue, Demi Moore’s estranged husband Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis only had eyes for each other.
They were seen sharing a kiss and put on a tactile show, with Mila Kunis caressing Ashton Kutcher’s face and putting her arm around him.
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis were spotted openly kissing and cuddling
The pair is yet to confirm their relationship status, but it looks now like the cat is well and truly out of the bag.
Only last week they went on a romantic motorcycle ride in Hollywood.
Ashton Kutcher, 34, met up with Mila Kunis, 28, after she’d worked out at the gym.
They headed to the Hollywood Forever cemetery along with her family on what is understood to have been the anniversary of her grandmother’s death.
They have been increasingly inseparable in recent times, making it clear that the pair’s relationship is no longer platonic.
The pair also celebrated the Fourth Of July together at his family’s house last week, where they were seen kissing and cuddling during the day.
New fighting is reported in Syria’s two biggest cities – Damascus and Aleppo – as government forces seek to regain control of rebel-held areas.
The army’s elite fourth division, backed by helicopters, has reportedly launched an assault on the capital’s north-eastern suburb of Barzeh.
Troops were also said to have deployed in the western suburb of Mezzeh.
Fighting also continued for a third day in Aleppo, where activists said a building had collapsed under tankfire.
The violence follows a week in which rebels made major advances, taking control of several parts of Damascus, seizing border crossings and claiming an attack that killed four top security officials, including the defence minister and President Bashar al-Assad’s brother-in-law.
Meanwhile, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported that at least 19,106 people had been killed since March 2011.
They included 13,296 civilians, including those who had taken up arms, as well as 4,861 security personnel and 949 army defectors, it said.
The UN said in May that at least 10,000 people had been killed, while in June the Syrian government reported that 6,947 Syrians had died, including at least 3,211 civilians and 2,566 security forces personnel.
New fighting is reported in Syria's two biggest cities, Damascus and Aleppo, as government forces seek to regain control of rebel-held areas
The government forces seem determined to drive the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) completely out of Damascus and are setting about it quite systematically.
Having regained one district close to the centre of the capital and another on its north-eastern edge, troops are now focusing on Mezzeh and Barzeh.
The attack on Barzeh by the army’s fourth division, which is commanded by the president’s brother Maher, had sent residents fleeing from the area, the Syrian Observatory reported.
Helicopter gunships were firing rockets and snipers were deployed on rooftops, the group’s director, Rami Abdul Rahman, told the AFP news agency.
State television later denied reports that helicopter gunships were being used in the assault. But pictures it broadcast of captured districts showed huge destruction, which activists say was cause by massive bombardments.
State TV also showed pictures of many bodies of what it called “terrorists” killed in the counter-attacks, as well as quantities of weapons and ammunition it said were seized.
Clearly, our correspondent says, in a straight fight, the lightly armed rebels are no match for the massive firepower and greater manpower of the state’s forces.
Reports from activists in Aleppo said there had been more clashes during the night and on Sunday morning between the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) and security forces.
They said a building in the Seif al-Dawla district collapsed under tank fire.
Residents also told the Reuters news agency that rebels were fighting government forces near the headquarters of an intelligence agency in the city centre.
An Aleppo-based activist, Mohammed Saeed, said rebels were still in control of the central Salah al-Din district and nearby Sakhour.
“Aleppo is witnessing serious street battles,” he told the Associated Press.
Mohammed Saeed also said there had been clashes on the road leading to the city’s international airport, as rebels tried to prevent military reinforcements being flown in.
State TV played down the scale of the violence, saying troops were merely hunting down “terrorists”.
The commander of FSA forces in Aleppo province has vowed to “liberate” the whole city.
In a video posted online, Col. Abdul Jabbar Mohammed Aqidi also called on government troops to defect to the opposition, and said the FSA would protect members of the president’s minority Alawite sect, saying: “Our war is not with you but with the Assad family.”
There were also reports of violence in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour on Sunday. Witnesses told Reuters that it was being attacked with artillery and rockets from helicopter gunships.
Rebels were now in control of the Bab al-Salam border crossing with Turkey. Turkey is not allowing non-Syrian nationals through so the border remains effectively closed.
President Bashar al-Assad was meanwhile shown on state TV receiving his new armed forces chief-of-staff, Gen Ali Abdullah Ayub, giving him his instructions, and wishing him success in his mission.
Katherine Jackson, Michael Jackson’s mother, was reported missing late Saturday night after her grandchildren have been unable to contact her for a week, according to reports.
Katherine Jackson’s nephew, Trent Jackson, filed the missing persons report for the 82-year-old with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office, according to police.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says Katherine Jackson may be with family members but have reached out to her to contact them.
Michael Jackson’s three children have lived with their grandmother since their father died in 2009. She has not spoken to them for a week which is unheard of, according to Katherine Jackson’s lawyer, Sandra Ribera.
The Jackson matriarch has gone missing in the middle of a family dispute between several Michael Jackson’s children and the executors of the megastar’s estate.
Katherine Jackson was reported missing late Saturday night after her grandchildren have been unable to contact her for a week
The siblings claim Michael Jackson’s will, which stated that his assets be placed in a family trust and that Katherine Jackson was guardian of her grandchildren, was forged and have demanded that the executors of his estate are fired.
A letter to executors, made public on Wednesday, from two of Katherine Jackson’s daughters, Rebbie and Janet, and three sons, Jermaine, Randy and Tito, also states that their mother had a “mini-stroke”, reported CNN.
However, Paris Jackson, Michael’s 14-year-old daughter, initially disputed the claims about the stroke and tweeted that “nothing had happened to her”. The tweet was later deleted.
According to Sandra Ribera, on July 15 Katherine Jackson left her Calabasas, California, home with her daughter Rebbie to attend a Jackson brothers concert in Albuquerque, New Mexico a few days later.
However, when Paris has called her grandmother she has been told she cannot speak to her, Sandra Ribera said.
Paris tweeted Sunday morning: “yes, my grandmother is missing. i haven’t spoken with her in a week i want her home now.”
She also tweeted that anyone who sees her grandmother to call the authorities and gave out a security number to call.
Paris later posted: “the same doctor that testified on behalf of dr murray saying my father was a drug addict (a lie) is caring for my grandmother… just saying.”
Sandra Ribera said that Katherine Jackson “has never gone 24 hours without talking to her kids”, and added that she was concerned the 82-year-old was not safe.
The sheriff’s homicide-missing persons unit has been asked to investigate, Sandra Ribera confirmed.
Jermaine Jackson tweeted on Friday: “I want to reassure everyone (inc all sudden medical experts) that Mother is fine but is resting up in AZ on the orders of a doctor, not us.”
A second tweet read: “This is our mother and her health is paramount. We are not inventing or plotting anything. We are following doctor’s advice. Period.”
Lindsay Lohan revealed blotchy fake tan and bruised legs as she spent a night off at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood.
Lindsay Lohan, 25, who is currently shooting The Canyons, then went off to a house party in Loz Feliz where she stayed until 2:30 a.m.
The actress rounded off her night with a fast food fix, stopping by a nearby Jack In The Box with some friends.
Lindsay Lohan recently finished shooting her Elizabeth Taylor biopic, Liz&Dick, before going straight into work for Paul Schrader-directed film, The Canyons.
Lindsay Lohan revealed blotchy fake tan and bruised legs as she spent a night off at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood
Earlier this week the director shared a picture of Lindsay Lohan filming a love scene with porn star James Deen, who is the male lead in the movie.
Lindsay Lohan as apparently agreed to appear fully nude in the movie, which has been written by controversial American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis.
The film is described as a LA noir, and will explore the seedy underbelly of LA life not seen in glossy shows such as MTV reality show The Hills.
It appears Lindsay Lohan and James Deen are finding the necessary chemistry, with the porn star sharing details of his rehearsals with the Mean Girls star on his blog.
Writing about his last rehearsal with the actress earlier this week, James Deen recalled: “My favourite part of the day was sitting with Lindsay Lohan (who is amazing) and our director Paul Schrader (who is also amazing) and planning out how we would shoot our love scenes in the movie.”
A major study has found that global super-rich elite had at least $21 trillion hidden in secret tax havens by the end of 2010.
The figure is equivalent to the size of the US and Japanese economies combined.
The Price of Offshore Revisited was written by James Henry, a former chief economist at the consultancy McKinsey, for by the Tax Justice Network.
James Henry said his $21trillion is actually a conservative figure and the true scale could be $32 trillion. A trillion is 1,000 billion.
He used data from the Bank of International Settlements, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and national governments.
James Henry’s study deals only with financial wealth deposited in bank and investment accounts, and not other assets such as property and yachts.
A major study has found that global super-rich elite had at least $21 trillion hidden in secret tax havens by the end of 2010
The report comes amid growing public and political concern about tax avoidance and evasion. Some authorities, including in Germany, have even paid for information on alleged tax evaders stolen from banks.
The group that commissioned the report, Tax Justice Network, campaigns against tax havens.
James Henry said that the super-rich move money around the globe through an “industrious bevy of professional enablers in private banking, legal, accounting and investment industries.
“The lost tax revenues implied by our estimates is huge. It is large enough to make a significant difference to the finances of many countries.
“From another angle, this study is really good news. The world has just located a huge pile of financial wealth that might be called upon to contribute to the solution of our most pressing global problems,” he said.
The report highlights the impact on the balance sheets of 139 developing countries of money held in tax havens that is put beyond the reach of local tax authorities.
James Henry estimates that since the 1970s, the richest citizens of these 139 countries had amassed $7.3 trillion to $9.3 trillion of “unrecorded offshore wealth” by 2010.
Private wealth held offshore represents “a huge black hole in the world economy,” James Henry said.
Other findings in James Henry’s report include:
• At the end of 2010, the 50 leading private banks alone collectively managed more than $12.1 trillion in cross-border invested assets for private clients
• The three private banks handling the most assets offshore are UBS, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs
• Less than 100,000 people worldwide own about $9.8 trillion of the wealth held offshore.
James Henry said it was difficult to detail hidden assets in some individual countries because of restrictions on getting access to data.
Clueful, an app that told iPhone users whether their other apps were breaching data privacy, has been removed from Apple’s store in mysterious circumstances.
Clueful would say if your other programmes were accessing your address book, tracking your GPS co-ordinates or farming information from social networking accounts.
Neither Apple nor the app’s developers, Romanian-based Bitdefender, have revealed why, after just two months, the program has been pulled.
The app was approved by Apple on May 22, but the company has now reversed its decision, it was reported by Security Week.
Clueful app has been removed from Apple's store in mysterious circumstances
In a statement on Wednesday, Bitdefender said: “Apple informed Bitdefender’s product development team of the removal – for reasons we are studying – after it was approved under the same rules. iPhone owners who already use Clueful privacy may continue to do so.”
Apple has been even more tight-lipped and have not responded to requests for an explanation.
Digital commentators have been left speculating that Apple may have been concerned that Clueful was putting users off purchasing apps or perhaps that the tech giant found a technicality that violated its terms of service.
Speaking at the launch of Clueful, Bitdefender’s chief security researcher Catalin Cosoi highlighted the vast amount of data that other apps can harvest.
Catalin Cosoi said: “App developers can ask for, and receive, access to your precise location, your contact list and more information about you when you install their products on your iPhone.
“Your iPhone is probably the most personal device you own, holding vast amounts of information about what you do, who you are and where you go.
“While most app developers use this information for legitimate purposes, others might not.”
It is well known that Earth is unique as the only planet in the solar system which can sustain life.
However, in other respects, Earth may not be quite as unusually as is often thought.
Astronomers studying Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, have described it as “a weirdly Earth-like place” when it comes to geology.
Titan boasts landscapes shaped by the flow of rivers – though they are rivers of liquid methane, not of water.
And, like Earth, the surface of Titan is surprisingly free of craters, implying that geological activity is constantly reshaping the moon, as also happens here.
The icy landscape of Titan was first discovered by Earth-bound researchers in 2004, when the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft which orbits Saturn first broke through the moon’s atmosphere.
Astronomers studying Titan, Saturn's largest moon, have described it as "a weirdly Earth-like place" when it comes to geology
Scientists had previously been unable to see the amazing rivers which carve out channels in the moon’s surface, as its atmosphere is so thick with methane and nitrogen that the landscape is not visible from Earth.
Intrigued by the discovery of the methane rivers, researchers from MIT and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville wanted to investigate the history of Titan’s geology.
However, despite the visible river networks, the astronomers found less erosion than they had expected, given that Titan has been orbiting Saturn for four billion years.
Similarly, when they looked for craters which could have been caused by meteorites, there were far fewer than on most other moons in the solar system.
In fact, the number of craters was more reminiscent to the situation on Earth, where plate tectonics and volcanic explosions have covered up much of the impact of foreign bodies on the planet.
“Earth’s continents are always eroding or being covered with sediment,” said Taylor Perron, assistant professor of geology at MIT.
“That may be the case on Titan, too.”
Discovering which factors were responsible for shaping Titan’s landscape could be a challenge, as the satellite images do not give a good impression of the ups and downs of the moon’s terrain.
“It’s almost like we were thrown back a few centuries, before there were many topographic maps, and we only had maps showing where the rivers are,” Taylor Perron added.
Despite the challenges, Taylor Perron said he expected the similarities between Titan and Earth would give scientists an ongoing insight into how the moon’s surface has changed over millennia.
“It’s a weirdly Earth-like place, even with this exotic combination of materials and temperatures.
“And so you can still say something definitive about the erosion. It’s the same physics.”
Johnny Depp has flown to his home in the South of France for a family holiday with Vanessa Paradis and their two children, Lily-Rose and Jack.
While the couple had agreed to keep a cordial relationship for the sake of their kids, it appears as if Johnny Depp has now decided he wants more.
Instead of spending his break from filming The Lone Ranger in New Mexico with rumored new girlfriend Amber Heard, Johnny Depp rushed to see Vanessa Paradis and presented her with an antique gold pendant inscribed with a message about how he will always love her.
A friend told The Sun: “They are having a family holiday to show the kids they are still a strong family even if those two are split or not.
“But the fact he presented her with such a touching gift, it’s almost as if they could make another go of things.
“Johnny wants to be with his family, he’s a very family oriented man, his kids mean everything to him.”
Johnny Depp has flown to his home in the South of France for a family holiday with Vanessa Paradis and their two children
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis need to spend time together with their kids away from the distractions of Hollywood, according to the friend and they decided on France where they have spent some of their happiest times.
Johnny Depp, 48, and Vanessa Paradis, 39, got together in 1998 when they met in the Costes Hotel in Paris while he was filming the Roman Polanski film The Ninth Gate.
The actor previously had a high-profile engagement to Winona Ryder and a long-term relationship with Kate Moss and Vanessa Paradis had just come out of a relationship with French-Slovenian actor Stanislas Merhar, having been reportedly engaged to singer Lenny Kravitz before that.
A year after they got together, Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis’ first child, daughter Lily-Rose, now 13, was born, followed by their son Jack in 2002.
They never married but Johnny Depp has stated that having children cemented roots for him and added that they gave him “real foundation, a real strong place to stand in life, in work, in everything”.
Johnny Depp added: “You can’t plan the kind of deep love that results in children. Fatherhood was not a conscious decision. It was part of the wonderful ride I was on. It was destiny; kismet. All the math finally worked.”
Russian opera singer Yevgeny Nikitin has pulled out of a star role at this year’s Bayreuth Festival in Germany following publicity about a swastika tattoo.
Yevgeny Nikitin was to have debuted in the lead role of a new production of the Flying Dutchman opera on Wednesday.
He said the tattoos were a mistake of his youth, but had to quit because the German media drew attention to them.
The Nazi past is a sensitive issue for the festival, which only shows operas by composer Richard Wagner.
Baritone Yevgeny Nikitin has pulled out of this year's Bayreuth Festival in Germany following publicity about a swastika tattoo
Richard Wagner’s daughter-in-law, Winifred Wagner, who headed the festival under Nazi rule, was a strong admirer of Adolf Hitler. Richard Wagner himself often expressed anti-Semitic views in his writings.
An avid Richard Wagner fan, Adolf Hitler was a frequent guest at the festival and helped fund it during his dictatorship.
“I was not aware of the extent of the irritation and offence these signs and symbols would cause, particularly in Bayreuth given the context of the festival’s history,” Yevgeny Nikitin was quoted as saying by the DPA news agency.
“I had them done in my youth. It was a big mistake and I wish I’d never done it,” he added.
The tattoo shows a swastika, with another image superimposed, according to German media reports.
The controversy was sparked when a culture programme on German ZDF television mentioned the tattoos in a report on baritone Yevgeny Nikitin, 38, on Friday.
“They were just part of our underground culture,” he told the programme.
The singer decided to resign after organizers confronted him about the images, a statement on the festival’s website said.
Norway is today commemorating one year since 77 people were killed and 242 hurt in gun and bomb attacks in Oslo and on the island of Utoeya.
Church services, a concert and other events are being held around Norway.
PM Jens Stoltenberg will lay wreaths and is expected to be joined by hundreds of people on Utoeya, including the families of those who were killed.
Anders Behring Breivik, who has admitted carrying out the two attacks, remains on trial.
Most of the dead were young activists with the Labour Party who had been staying on Utoeya as part of a summer camp.
Thousands of people are expected to gather in Oslo for a day of events, including a memorial service at the city’s cathedral.
Norway is commemorating one year since 77 people were killed and 242 hurt in gun and bomb attacks in Oslo and on the island of Utoeya
Jens Stoltenberg will lay a wreath at the site of the Oslo bombing at 09:30 and then travel to Utoeya to give a speech to Labour Party youth, before laying a wreath there at 18:45 – the time Anders Breivik was arrested a year ago.
In the evening there will be a national memorial concert with mainly Norwegian musicians.
Many of the buildings that were damaged in the bomb attack have not yet been fully repaired.
The prime minister’s office and the ministry of health buildings are still covered in plastic.
The attacks, regarded as the worst act of violence in Norway since World War II, sparked a national debate about the nature of tolerance and democracy in the country.
Anders Breivik, who has been on trial for three months, has tried to justify the attacks by claiming he was trying to stop Muslims from taking over Norway.
But the government, and much of the population, have actively promoted tolerance and openness to counter Anders Breivik’s views.
“I think that people thought it a bit naive to cling to these values of openness in a situation like that,” said Vegard Groeslie Wennesland, a Labour Party activist who survived the attack.
“But I think it’s more naive to think that brutal police, or more restrictive policies will bring you a safer society.”
Judges are to announce next month whether Anders Breivik is sane or insane, and therefore whether he will be given a long prison sentence or be sent to a secure psychiatric ward.
The apartment of James Holmes, the man suspected of killing 12 people at a Batman movie screening in the US state of Colorado, has now been cleared of explosives, police say.
Robots were initially used at James Holmes’ home in Aurora, but agents still had to enter without setting off any remaining devices.
Police said the suspect had acted with “calculation and deliberation”, taking ammunition deliveries for months.
The Arapahoe county coroner has now released the names of the dead.
Michael Dobersen said all the victims’ deaths were related to gunshot wounds.
In addition to those killed, 58 people were also hurt in the attack at a Century 16 cinema in Aurora, a suburb of Denver.
The apartment of James Holmes, the man suspected of killing 12 people at a Batman movie screening in Colorado, has been cleared of explosives
A man in a gas mask and body armor threw tear gas canisters at a midnight screening, then fired on the crowd in the cinema.
James Holmes, 24, was arrested outside the cinema, police said.
President Barack Obama is to visit Aurora on Sunday to honor the victims, the White House said. He will visit bereaved families and meet local officials.
FBI agents and police discovered the home was booby-trapped when they used a camera at the end of a 12-foot pole to look inside.
Aurora police chief Dan Oates said: “I’ve personally never seen anything like what we’ve found in there.”
Early on Sunday the bomb squad staged a small controlled explosion in the building and officers disarmed trip-wires and an incendiary device.
The first trip wire was strung across the doorway of the flat, and inside were reported to be jars filled with accelerants, chemicals that would explode when mixed together and more than 30 improvised grenades.
Dan Oates said: “This apartment was designed to kill whoever entered it,” adding that would most probably have been a police officer.
“If you think we are angry, we sure as hell are angry about what has happened to our city, to the wonderful people who live here and what he threatened to do to one of our police officers,” he said.
In terms of laying charges, Dan Oates said: “Everything is pointing to a state prosecution on all charges.”
Residents were evacuated from the building and four other premises nearby.
Hundreds of mourners joined a vigil near the cinema in Aurora on Friday night, leaving candles and flowers outside.
James Holmes was said to be armed with a rifle, a shotgun and two pistols when he launched his assault on the midnight screening of the new Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises.
He also bought 6,000 rounds of ammunition over the internet, Dan Oates said.
The police chief said that all weapons and ammunition were purchased legally within the past few months, and that the suspect had received a high volume of packages to his home and work place.
In a statement released late on Saturday, British actor Christian Bale, who plays Batman in the film, said: “Words cannot express the horror that I feel. I cannot begin to truly understand the pain and grief of the victims and their loved ones, but my heart goes out to them.”
Among the dead listed by the coroner were a six-year-old girl whose mother was injured and two US servicemen.
The University of Colorado Hospital said it was still treating five patients in critical condition.
The Medical Center of Aurora said four of its patients remained in intensive care.
Authorities have established no terrorism link, nor any motive, and James Holmes had no criminal record other than a speeding fine.
Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson told Reuters news agency that James Holmes was being held in solitary confinement for his own protection.
“We typically do this in high-profile cases. It has nothing to do with any specific threat,” he said.
James Holmes will appear at Arapahoe County District Court, in nearby Centennial, Colorado, on Monday at 09:30 local time.
