Venus is set to move across the face of the Sun as viewed from Earth in a more than six-and-a-half-hour transit, which starts just after 22.00 GMT on Tuesday.
The transit is a very rare astronomical phenomenon that will not be witnessed again until 2117.
Observers will position themselves in northwest America, the Pacific, and East Asia to catch the whole event.
Venus is set to move across the face of the Sun as viewed from Earth in a more than six-and-a-half-hour transit, which starts just after 22.00 GMT on Tuesday
• Times for the start of Venus transit will vary by a few minutes depending on one’s location
• The timings given here are calculated for a viewing position at the Earth’s centre
• Venus is seen to first touch (1) the edge of the Sun’s disc at 22:09 GMT (23:09 BST)
• It is completely on the disc (2) by 22:27 GMT (23:27 BST). The transit lasts over six hours
• Come Wednesday by 04:31 GMT (05:31 BST), Venus is touching the disc’s far side (3)
• At 04:49 GMT (05:49 BST), Venus has left the disc (4). The next transit is on 11 December 2117
Venus is set to move across the face of the Sun as viewed from Earth in a more than six-and-a-half-hour transit, which starts just after 22.00 GMT on Tuesday.
The transit is a very rare astronomical phenomenon that will not be witnessed again until 2117.
Observers will position themselves in northwest America, the Pacific, and East Asia to catch the whole event.
METHOD 1: Cut two holes in card for binocular eye-pieces. Push card onto binoculars and fix with tape. Block one lens (with lens cap, for example). Holding binoculars at waist height, angle towards Sun – do not look through them. Move binoculars around until card shadow minimized on viewing surface (piece of white card best). During six-hour transit, move set-up to follow path of Sun across sky, for example by mounting it on tripod or chair.
Observing the Sun with the naked eye or telescope, camera or other optical device, will seriously damage eyesight and may lead to permanent blindness
METHOD 2: Take piece of stiff card and pierce with pin. Hold it up and, looking away from the Sun, adjust angle of card until shadow minimized. Pinhole will project image of Sun into middle of shadowed area. Place another piece of card under shadow and adjust distance to get best picture – more distance gives larger but fainter image. Hole must be clean and as small as possible.
WARNING: Never observe the Sun with the naked eye or telescope, camera or other optical device. Doing so will seriously damage eyesight and may lead to permanent blindness.
Venus is set to move across the face of the Sun as viewed from Earth in a more than six-and-a-half-hour transit, which starts just after 22.00 GMT on Tuesday.
The transit is a very rare astronomical phenomenon that will not be witnessed again until 2117.
Observers will position themselves in northwest America, the Pacific, and East Asia to catch the whole event.
But some part of the spectacle will be visible across a much broader swathe of Earth’s surface, weather permitting.
Venus will appear as a tiny black disc against our star, but no-one should look for it without the proper equipment.
Looking directly at the Sun with the naked eye, or worse still through an open telescope or binoculars, can result in serious injury and even blindness.
It is recommended people attend an organized viewing event where the transit will be projected on to a screen; or they can visit one of the many institutional internet sites planning to stream pictures.
Venus transits occur four times in approximately 243 years; more precisely, they appear in pairs of events separated by about eight years and these pairs are separated by about 105 or 121 years.
The reason for the long intervals lies in the fact that the orbits of Venus and Earth do not lie in the same plane and a transit can only occur if both planets and the Sun are situated exactly on one line.
This has happened only seven times in the telescopic age: in 1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, 1882 and 2004.
Venus is set to move across the face of the Sun as viewed from Earth in a more than six-and-a-half-hour transit, which starts just after 22.00 GMT on Tuesday
Once the latest transit has passed, the next pair will not occur until 2117 and 2125. Most people alive today will probably be dead by then.
The phenomenon has particular historical significance. The 17th- and 18th-Century transits were used by the astronomers of the day to work out fundamental facts about the Solar System.
Employing a method of triangulation (parallax), they were able to calculate the distance between the Earth and the Sun – the so-called astronomical unit (AU) – which we know today to be about 149.6 million km (or 93 million miles).
This allowed scientists to get their first real handle on the scale of things beyond Earth.
The first person to predict a transit of Venus – the 6 December, 1631, event – was Johannes Kepler, but he died before it occurred.
Jeremiah Horrocks, the young English astronomer, was probably the first to record the phenomenon when he and his friend, William Crabtree, made separate observations of the passage on 24 November, 1639.
By the time the transits of 1761 and 1769 came around, they had become major scientific events. Expeditions were despatched all over the globe to get the data necessary to calculate the AU.
One such expedition was undertaken by Captain James Cook, whose epic voyage in the Endeavour took in the “new lands” of New Zealand and Australia.
Modern instrumentation now gives us very precise numbers on planetary positions and masses, as well as the distance between the Earth and the Sun. But to the early astronomers, just getting good approximate values represented a huge challenge.
This is not to say the 2012 Venus transit will be regarded as just a pretty show with no interest for scientists.
Planetary transits have key significance today because they represent one of the best methods for finding worlds orbiting distant stars.
NASA’s Kepler telescope, for example, is identifying thousands of candidates by looking for the tell-tale dips in light that accompany a planet moving in front of its host sun.
These planets are too far away to ever be visited by spacecraft, but scientists can learn something about them from the way the background star’s light is affected as it passes through the planetary atmosphere.
And observing a transiting Venus, which has a known atmospheric composition, provides a kind of benchmark to support these far-flung investigations.
But Venus itself will come in for scrutiny. Scientists will be using the event to probe the middle layers of the Venusian atmosphere – its mesosphere.
They will be looking for a very thin arc of light, called the aureole, which can only be seen when Venus appears to just touch the edge of the Sun’s disc.
The brightness and thickness of the aureole depends on the density and temperature of the atmospheric layers above Venus’s cloud tops.
Observations of the aureole will be combined with data from Europe’s Venus Express spacecraft in orbit around the planet to provide information on high-altitude winds.
The Venusian atmosphere experiences super-rotation. That is – the whole atmosphere circles the planet in four Earth days, on a body that turns around just once in 243 Earth days.
The A-list concert for Queen’s Diamond Jubilee is taking place outside Buckingham Palace.
The event kicked off with the Massed Bands of the Household Division playing for the 12,000 ticket holders and the thousands more on The Mall in London.
Pop star Robbie Williams then took to the specially-constructed stage around the Queen Victoria Memorial.
Stevie Wonder and Sir Paul McCartney are among the stars who have yet to perform before the Queen and other members of the Royal Family.
The Queen was not present for the first 90 minutes of the concert, taking her seat in the Royal Box at 21:00 BST.
The evening will end with the Queen lighting one of 4,500 beacons across the world marking her 60-year reign.
The concert is being broadcast live on BBC One and BBC Radio 2 in the UK and to millions around the world.
It is a joint venture between the BBC and Gary Barlow, who co-wrote Sing, the official song for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Stevie Wonder and Sir Paul McCartney are among the stars who have yet to perform before the Queen and other members of the Royal Family
Robbie Williams was followed on stage by Black Eyed Peas star Will.i.am, his fellow Voice judge Jessie J and boy band JLS.
Gary Barlow then took to the stage himself to perform a surprise duet with Cheryl Cole.
Next on the bill was Sir Cliff Richard, who performed a decade-straddling medley of hits and his 1968 Eurovision track Congratulations.
Singer Grace Jones surely deserved some herself for performing Slave to the Rhythm while spinning a hula hoop around her midriff.
The world of classical music has been represented by Chinese pianist Lang Lang, US soprano Renee Fleming and English tenor Alfie Boe.
Other artists who have performed include Annie Lennox, Ed Sheeran and Sir Tom Jones.
Dame Shirley Bassey performed Diamonds are Forever, while Kylie Minogue – dressed as a pearly queen – was joined by street dance crew Flawless.
She was followed by Sir Elton John, who sang such tracks as Crocodile Rock and Our Song in a sparkly pink jacket.
Later pop veterans Madness will perform Our House from the roof of Buckingham Palace – the same place that Queen guitarist Brian May played the National Anthem during the Golden Jubilee concert in 2002.
Between the music acts, hosting duties are being handled by Rob Brydon, Miranda Hart, Lenny Henry and Lee Mack.
The Duke of Edinburgh is not attending the event after being taken to hospital with a bladder infection.
“We all wish him the best for a speedy recovery,” said Sir Paul McCartney.
“I hear it’s not too bad.”
Speaking backstage, Sir Cliff Richard said he had enjoyed a “fantastic” view while performing on the £200,000 ($320,000) stage, designed by world-renowned architect Mark Fisher.
“When I looked down The Mall, the crowd seemed to go all the way up to the Admiralty Arch,” he said.
Musician and presenter Jools Holland was similarly enthused following his appearance.
“The memory I’ll have was the feeling of love off all the people,” he said.
“It’s a great unifier for everybody all over the island.”
Scientist Fusa Miyake from Nagoya University, Japan, studied the growth rings of two trees dating back 1,200 years and discovered that an explosion of epic proportions occurred between 774 and 775AD.
However, there is no record of something happening in our skies in that period – except perhaps for one tiny, obscure account by a 13th-century historian.
The problem is that there should be a record.
If this was a supernova – a star exploding deep in space – we should either be able to spot the remains with modern telescopes, or find visual accounts in the written accounts of Chinese and European historians.
To get the technical details out of the way first: Trees capture particles from the atmosphere during photosynthesis, and one particle that gets buried within the annual growth rings is carbon-14.
Carbon-14 forms when cosmic rays – generally caused by massive solar flares, or by supernovae – interact with nitrogen and oxygen in our atmosphere.
Fusa Miyake studied the growth rings of two trees dating back 1,200 years and discovered that an explosion of epic proportions occurred between 774 and 775AD
In the two cedar trees – and doubtless many other tree records from the period – there was a giant increase of 1.2% of carbon-14.
In comparison, the annual variation of the captured isotope is just 0.05%, making this more than a 20-fold increase.
In recorded history, at least two supernovae have exploded in the skies visible from Earth, their light travelling across light-years to hit the eyes of humans.
In 1006 and 1056, two stars went nuclear – at least, the light from their deaths arrived on Earth in those years.
Both explosions resulted in “stars” that were visible in the daytime for weeks afterwards, and were recorded around the world.
Yet even such giant events, which impacted on those who saw them enough that the records survive to this day, were not powerful to result in much of a variation in the carbon-14 levels.
So the 774AD explosion must have been on a scale much bigger.
But if a supernova had exploded of a force even just equal to the other two witnessed supernovae, we should be able to witness gas remnants – the corpse of the star – in space. But there is nothing in the skies to suggest this.
The only contemporaneous record is from a 13th-century English chronicler, called Roger of Wendover, who, according to New Scientist, is quoted as saying: “In the Year of our Lord 776, fiery and fearful signs were seen in the heavens after sunset; and serpents appeared in Sussex, as if they were sprung out of the ground, to the astonishment of all.”
This lends itself to just one other possibility, that of a solar flare. But if that was the case, it would be the biggest solar flare ever recorded by our sun.
And if that had occurred, it would have seriously hurt or even entirely destroyed our ozone – and at the least leaving traces that we could identify more than 1,000 years later, let alone leading to reports from all the chroniclers of the age.
Researcher Igor Moskalenko, an astrophysicist at Stanford University, California, who has followed the case but is not involved in the original study, says: “I cannot imagine a single flare which would be so bright.”
Instead, he offers his own hypothesis: “It may be a series of weaker flares over the period of one to three years.”
Other tree rings have also implied something big happened in the mid-770s, this time in the UK.
Researchers from Queen’s University Belfast, UK, also found the carbon-14 increase – but they have yet to publish their work.
Daniel Baker, a space physicist at the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colorado also told New Scientist: “The work looks pretty solid – Some very energetic event occurred in about 775.”
Kris Humphries has been spotted on a lounger in Miami Beach with his rumored new flame, a woman who had long black hair and an hour-glass figure.
Kris Humphries, 26, and Kim Kardashian, now dating rapper/producer Kanye West, are in the middle of a contentious divorce after their blink-and-miss 72 days of marriage.
Although a bit heavier than the 31-year-old Kim Kardashian, the mystery brunette nonetheless looked very similar to her as she frolicked in a pink two-piece bikini.
The anonymous lady, who had a tattoo on her back, fussed with the bottom of her bathing suit after taking a dip in the Atlantic Ocean.
Kris Humphries has been spotted on a lounger in Miami Beach with his rumored new flame, a woman who had long black hair and an hour-glass figure
Like Kim Kardashian, the brunette knew how to accessorize. She carried a pricey Gucci hand bag and wore trendy white sandals.
Before the quickie wedding, Kris Humphries dated Bianka Kamber, a 28-year-old Canadian nurse, who was also full figured and dark haired and considered a “dead ringer” for Kim Kardashian.
Kris Humphries had met Bianka Kamber in a Toronto nightclub in 2008, but broke with her when he met and married Kim Kardashian last year.
There were rumors Kris Humphries had reconciled with Bianka Kamber after his divorce, but they seem unfounded.
Painted as a “husband from hell” by the Kardashians, Kris Humphries – unlike Kim – hasn’t been quick to join the dating pool again.
Aside from romp at the beach with the woman and some other friends, Kris Humphries has been keeping a low profile.
In fact, according to his Twitter page, he’s been home watching a lot of television.
“Watching Seinfeld until I pass out,” he tweeted on May 31.
Hours earlier, Kris Humphries wrote: “When does Season 2 of Homeland start?”
Prince Philip has been hospitalized with a bladder infection at King Edward VII hospital in London after paramedics were called to Windsor Castle this afternoon as a precautionary measure.
Prince Philip, who celebrates his 91st birthday this Sunday, is being treated and will remain in hospital for a few days.
Yesterday Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, stood for four hours in the freezing rain during the Queen’s Jubilee river pageant.
He appeared to be in good spirits when he joined the rest of his family on the royal barge for the Diamond Jubilee pageant.
Like the Queen, Prince Philip stood for most of the 80-minute journey down the Thames and did appear to be in discomfort.
The Duke of Edinburgh has previously suffered from a bladder infection in February 2002.
Today staff at ambulance control in Berkshire received a call from Windsor Castle shortly after 2:00 p.m. reporting that Prince Phillip was feeling unwell.
Prince Philip was reported to have been suffering from an infection and the medical crew used a chair to help him into the ambulance before he set off to a London hospital.
He had been due to attend a special concert at Buckingham Palace tonight organized by singer Gary Barlow with Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Tom Jones, Jessie J and others.
Queen Elizabeth II will continue with her engagements as planned as will the rest of the Royal family, despite the Duke’s health scare.
Tomorrow Prince Philip was also due to be at the Queen’s side during a service at St Paul’s Cathedral in the morning, followed by receptions at Mansion House and in the Guildhall, as well as lunch at Westminster Hall.
In the afternoon, a carriage procession in a State Landaus is due to take place with other members of the Royal family. However, the Queen will now attend the event without him at her side.
A Buckingham palace spokesman said: “The Duke of Edinburgh was this afternoon taken to the King Edward VII Hospital in London as a precautionary measure after developing a bladder infection. He is currently receiving treatment.
“He will remain in hospital under observation for a few days.
“He is understandably disappointed at missing this evening’s Diamond Jubilee concert and tomorrow’s engagement.”
Prince Philip has been hospitalized with a bladder infection at King Edward VII hospital in London after paramedics were called to Windsor Castle this afternoon as a precautionary measure
Prince Philip has remained remarkably active in recent weeks despite being treated for a blocked coronary artery just before Christmas.
Just three weeks ago he was pictured lugging a heavy car battery around at the Windsor Horse Show apparently with little difficulty.
On December 23 Prince Philip was rushed to hospital via helicopter for emergency treatment.
Buckingham Palace said at the time the Prince underwent a “minimally invasive procedure of coronary stenting” after he was taken to hospital suffering chest pains.
The Royal Family had been gathering at Sandringham, a traditional royal retreat in Norfolk, for Christmas, when he fell ill.
Prince Philip spent four days recovering from the procedure – including Christmas Day – before he was released on December 27.
The Duke of Edinburgh is an incredibly active man, who has enjoyed good health for much of his life.
He has shunned the pursuits of typical pensioners and even as an octogenarian continued to compete in demanding carriage driving competitions.
Before his heart scare last Christmas, Prince Philip’s most recent illness was an uncharacteristic cold in October that forced him to pull out of an overnight stay in Italy for the launch of the ARC Green Pilgrimage Network.
Prince Philip had just completed a busy 11-day official royal tour to Australia with Queen Elizabeth II, 85, that saw them visit Perth, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane.
Commentators billed the long haul trip as the couple’s last to the continent because of their age, but the Palace dismissed speculation it was a “farewell” visit.
In 2008 Prince Philip was treated for a serious chest infection. On that occasion he stayed at the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in London
However, most of Prince Philip’s ailments and injuries have been sports-related.
He suffered arthritis in his right wrist from playing polo and tried to dull the pain with Butazolodin, a drug more usually given to lame horses and recommended by his head groom.
It was reported he later stopped taking it because of the side effects.
In 1961, the Duke of Edinburgh broke a bone in his left ankle in a collision on the polo field and in 1963, again playing polo, he suffered a gash to his left arm which needed three stitches.
He was X-rayed in 1964 after a fall from his polo pony when he pulled a ligament in his left shoulder.
Prince Philip also developed synovitis, a rheumatoid condition of the tendon in the hand, after a polo fall.
Accidental mishaps sometimes left the Duke looking the worse for wear.
In 2005, Prince Philip was seen sporting dark glasses and a badly-bruised left eye after slipping in the bath and catching the side of his eye with his thumb.
In May 2006, the Duke pulled out of a royal engagement after suffering from a trapped nerve in his neck.
After a weekend recovering, Prince Philip attended the Chelsea Flower Show, appearing none the worse for wear.
A chest infection laid him low in April 2008 for a number of days and he was eventually admitted to hospital for treatment.
But even with the respiratory problem, he walked into hospital and walked out three days later and went on to make a full recovery.
In August 2008, Buckingham Palace took the unusual step of speaking out to deny a report that the Duke had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The newspaper involved later apologized, saying it accepted the story was untrue.
In January 2009, 87-year-old Prince Philip missed a string of engagements with a bad back after pulling a muscle while carriage driving.
Soon after, it emerged that the Queen had cancelled a state visit due to take place in spring 2009.
Buckingham Palace insisted this was due to “other commitments”, not the Queen’s age nor the Duke’s health.
In June 2010, the Duke had minor surgery on his left hand just before his 89th birthday to cure carpal tunnel syndrome – a common condition that causes pain, numbness and a burning sensation in the hand and fingers.
The hand operation forced Prince Philip to cancel an official trip with the Queen to Crewe.
The first public acknowledgement of his advancing years came as he was preparing to turn 90.
The Palace announced that Prince Philip planned to step down as president or patron of more than a dozen organizations.
Revitalift Laser Renew is not a laser treatment but it will give you intense action and target wrinkles, skin firmness and skin texture leaving your skin feeling smoother, plumper and looking more even.
Revitalift Laser Renew is an advanced anti-ageing care product with visible results in just 4 weeks.
Advanced science:
• Independently tested Hyaluronic Acid
• 3% Pro-Xylane: our highest concentration.
Revitalift Laser Renew is an advanced anti-ageing care product with visible results in just 4 weeks
Proven results:
REPLUMPS: Wrinkles appear reduced
REFIRMS: Skin feels firmer
REFINES: skin looks smoother.
How to Use:
Apply the cream every morning and/or evening to a thoroughly cleansed face and massage into the skin in circular motions.
To complete your regime use Revitalift Laser Renew Super Serum before using the cream and Laser Renew Precision Eye Cream around the eyes.
A clinical study has been carried out by cosmetic company L’Oréal in order to compare the efficacy of its new anti-ageing cream Revitalift Laser X3 to another dermatological laser built up from fragmented CO2.
Revitalift Laser X3 is claimed to induce collagen synthesis with the effect of increasing the density, firmness and tonicity of the skin.
L’Oréal undertook its study on 50 women aged between 45 and 55 and intends to make report the results in a scientific publication.
After 8 weeks of Revitalift Laser X3 treatment applied twice daily, the product reduced cutaneous micro-relief by 18 percent compared with 20 percent for the laser CO2
It was found that after eight weeks of Revitalift Laser X3 treatment applied twice daily, the product reduced cutaneous micro-relief by 18% compared with 20% for the laser CO2.
Revitalift Laser X3 is based on a patented molecule.
Luka Rocco Magnotta, the Canadian porn actor wanted for the murder and dismemberment of his lover, has been arrested Berlin, Germany.
Luka Rocco Magnotta, 29, was reportedly picked up in a cybercafe in Berlin’s Neukoelln district.
An Interpol notice says Luka Rocco Magnotta is suspected of killing Jun Lin, a 33-year-old Chinese student, in Montreal. Body parts were posted to political parties in Canada.
Earlier, French police said Luka Rocco Magnotta had flown to Paris from Montreal.
Luka Rocco Magnotta is suspected of killing Jun Lin, a 33-year-old Chinese student, in Montreal
A video posted online, in which a man apparently uses an ice pick to kill another man, is believed to show Jun Lin’s murder, investigators say.
The suspect had reportedly worked as a bisexual porn actor and model.
Luka Rocco Magnotta was spotted by someone travelling on a bus from France to Berlin, the German news website Spiegel reports.
According to Germany’s BZ website, the internet cafe owner in Berlin recognized Luka Rocco Magnotta and alerted police.
Earlier, police in Paris found items of his in a hotel room – pornographic magazines and airline sick bags, French media say.
The hotel is in Bagnolet, an eastern suburb of Paris near the peripherique ring road.
New research shows that bug bombs are ineffective against bed-bug pests. In a new study, the first of its kind to be published, etymologists at Ohio State University tested three commercially available foggers – sold under the Hot Shot, Spectracide, and Eliminator brands, respectively – and concluded that all three products were virtually useless at fighting bed bug infestations.
In “Ineffectiveness of Over-the-Counter Total-Release Foggers Against the Bed Bug (Heteroptera: Cimicidae),” an article appearing in the June issue of JEE, authors Susan C. Jones and Joshua L. Bryant provide the first scientific evidence that these products should not be recommended for control of this increasingly worrisome urban pest.
“There has always been this perception and feedback from the pest-management industry that over-the-counter foggers are not effective against bed bugs and might make matters worse,” said Susan Jones, an urban entomologist with the university’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) and a household and structural pest specialist with OSU Extension. “But up until now there has been no published data regarding the efficacy of foggers against bedbugs.”
Researchers exposed five different groups of live bedbugs to the products for two hours, and found few adverse effects on the bugs. When the bugs had a place to hide, as in real-world conditions, few died as a result of exposure to the foggers.
The only exception was one group of bedbugs that died in significant numbers five to seven days after being directly exposed to one of the foggers.
But the researchers say it’s very unlikely that bedbugs will be directly exposed to the mist from insect foggers because they can hide very easily in small spaces.
“These foggers don’t penetrate in cracks and crevices where most bed bugs are hiding, so most of them will survive,” Jones said. “If you use these products, you will not get the infestation under control, you will waste your money, and you will delay effective treatment of your infestation. Bed bugs are among the most difficult and expensive urban pests to control. It typically takes a professional to do it right. Also, the ineffective use of these products can lead to further resistance in insects.”
Bedbugs are hitchhikers, they get into your house by clinging on to clothing, shoes, handbags and upholstered furniture. Once they’re in our house, they can live up to eight months without “eating”. The tiny bugs breed quickly and if you don’t treat for bedbugs quickly, you’ll have a major infestation on your hands. Experts say 40 bed bugs today will be 6000 in 6 months! Bedbugs don’t have to live on mattresses, they can also live in furniture and in walls.
Bed bugs are a major nuisance but generally don’t pose a threat to health, as their bites rarely cause more than itching welts or the occasional allergic reaction. Foggers, on the other hand, can be hazardous if used incorrectly.
In a 2008 report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that at least 466 fogger-related injuries or illnesses were documented across eight states between 2001 and 2006. The most common ill effects—such as headaches, nausea, and coughing – tended to be minor and short-lived, although hospitalization was required in 21 cases.
“Bedbugs are among the most difficult and expensive urban pests to control. It typically takes a professional to do it right,” says Jones. “Also, the ineffective use of these products can lead to further resistance in insects.”
Additionally, the CDC says excessive use of bug bombs, foggers, and other insecticides against bedbugs can lead to human illness and possibly death.
Signs of economic weakness around the globe and Europe’s intensifying debt crisis are unnerving investors, who have been piling out of riskier investments like commodities and equities for the perceived safety of higher-rated government bonds.
U.S. banking stocks are heading into a bear market as Europe’s debt crisis pressures the sector. The KBW Bank index , which measures the performance of 24 U.S. banks, is down 16 percent from a peak in March. The index was down 1.2 percent just after the open on Monday.
Morgan Stanley has come under pressure as bond markets treat the bank as a junk-rated company, and the higher borrowing costs could already be putting it at a disadvantage even before an expected ratings downgrade. The bank’s stock is off 40 percent since late March.
“We may well have a snap back rally on the equity side but I don’t think it will be a big one, there is still a lot of caution out there,” said Frank Lesh, a futures analyst and broker at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago.
“All we’ve really done is seen some short covering here in the stock indexes and we are just stable, bonds are still very elevated.”
With little on the economic or corporate calendar Monday, investors are taking most of their cues from any comments out of Europe.
“Europe is front and center, back, left and right,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG.
Germany’s DAX lost 0.9% to 5,993 and Switzerland’s SMI shed 0.6% to 5,741, though France’s CAC-40 managed to rise 0.5% to 2,968.49. Markets in Britain were closed for a holiday.
Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York said he was watching 1,275 as a support level on the S&P 500 after the index broke through its 200-day moving average on Friday following the worst decline for the index in 7 months.
“If we close under that tonight, then the market is headed lower in the short-term, possibly by 3 or 4 percent,” he said.
In a potential boost for markets looking for measures to end the debt crisis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is pressing for much more ambitious measures, including a central authority to manage euro-area finances, and major new powers for the European Commission, European Parliament and European Court of Justice.
Three leading Portuguese banks said on Monday they would draw on funds provided under the country’s 78 billion-euro ($96-billion) international bailout to meet tough new capital requirements as they struggle with the country’s debt crisis.
Stock trends
Investors sold shares in Asia as well, including stock in Sony, which fell below 1,000 yen for the first time since 1980 — the year after it introduced the iconic Walkman portable cassette player.
Japan’s Nikkei 224 index dropped 1.7% to close at 8,295.63, its lowest finish since Nov. 28, 2011. The broader Topix index ended below the 700 mark for the first time since December 1983, Kyodo News Agency said.
Japan’s shares fell sharply on Monday, with the broader Topix index hitting a 28-year low as investors reacted to the disappointing Friday U.S. jobs data.
“While we are not down 20 percent and in official bear market territory, we believe that we have entered a bear market,” wrote Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at John Thomas Financial in a note on Monday.
“Equities have not responded to oversold conditions or to very attractive valuations versus bonds, and we must take that as a warning,” he said.
There are also worries about slowing growth in emerging markets such as China and India. Recent reports out of China last week showed the manufacturing sector contracted more than expected in May.
The S&P 500 (SPX) lost 3 points, or 0.1%. The Nasdaq (COMP) moved down 3 points, or 0.1%. The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) dropped 24 points, or 0.2%.
Facebook IPO aftermath
Companies: Shares of Facebook (FB), which have gotten hammered since the company’s IPO, edged slightly lower.
Groupon (GRPN) shares added 0.6% after dropping sharply Friday. The online discount service, which has been dogged with questions about its accounting practices since its initial public offering in November, ended its lock-up period Friday, meaning that insiders who own shares are now able to sell them.
Currencies and commodities
The dollar rose against the euro and Japanese yen, but fell versus the British pound.
Oil for July delivery lost 23 cents to $83.47 a barrel.
Gold futures for August delivery lost $2.60 to $1,614.60 an ounce.
Madonna was today threatened with legal action and accused of being an ageing self-publicist after she depicted Marine Le Pen, the head of France’s National Front, as a Nazi during a concert in Israel.
An image of Marine Le Pen with a swastika on her forehead appeared on a giant screen at the singer’s concert in Tel Aviv, Israel on Thursday.
Marine Le Pen has threatened to sue Madonna if she repeats the stunt when her tour reaches France in July.
The politician said: “We understand how old singers who need to get people talking about them go to such extremes.”
Asked if she was likely to sue, Marine Le Pen, 43, said: “If she does that in France, we’ll be waiting.”
Madonna, who will turn 54 in August, is due in France next month, when she will appear at the Stade de France in Paris and then in Nice on the Riviera.
Madonna was today threatened with legal action and accused of being an ageing self-publicist after she depicted Marine Le Pen, the head of France’s National Front, as a Nazi during a concert in Israel
Other sources in the National Front, which has frequently been linked with anti-Semitism and racism, said Madonna had offended all of its members.
“We are not a Nazi party, and object to being depicted as such,” said a source in the party, which won a fifth of the popular vote during the first round of presidential elections in April.
“If you accuse the National Front of being anti-Semitic and racist then you accuse a fifth of the French people of being anti-Semitic and racist.
“If Madonna repeats this slur in France then she will certainly be taken to court.”
Wallerand de Saint-Just, the National Front’s lawyer, confirmed he was looking into the possibility of legal action.
Marine Le Pen pledged to reform the party after taking over the leadership from her notorious father, Jean-Marie Le Pen last year.
He is a convicted racist and anti-Semite who has in the past denied that the Nazi Holocaust actually took place during World War II.
Despite this, Jean-Marie Le Pen came runner-up in the French presidential election in 2002, proving that he had widespread support.
Marine Le Pen has toned down the party’s extremist views, but regularly pledges to limit Muslim immigration, and to clamp down on Islamic culture in France.
Madonna’s depiction of Marine Le Pen appeared as she performed her song Nobody Knows Me in Tel Aviv last Thursday.
Madonna is well known for her provocative acts, and is currently dating a Frenchman called Brahim Zaibat who has a North African Muslim immigrant background.
Marine Le Pen won just under 18% of votes in the presidential election and is currently standing to become an MP in France’s National Assembly.
Chinese authorities have arrested activists and placed others under increased surveillance to stop them from marking the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Searches on social media sites have also been restricted to try to prevent any reference to the 1989 events.
The foreign ministry expressed “strong dissatisfaction” over a call from the US to free those still in prison for their involvement in the protests.
In 1989, the army shot dead hundreds of civilians rallying for democracy.
Beijing says the June 1989 events were a counter-revolutionary revolt and defends its response. The Communist Party still prevents any public remembrance of the event.
Chinese authorities have arrested activists and placed others under increased surveillance to stop them from marking the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown
On Sunday, the US government urged China to free all those still in prison after the crackdown on protesters.
It called China’s “violent suppression” of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations a “tragic loss of innocent lives”.
From the capital, Beijing, to Fuzhou on the east coast and Guiyang in the far south-west, Chinese police have moved to detain and pressure activists.
Hundreds have been rounded up in Beijing to prevent them from marking the anniversary, rights campaigners told AFP news agency.
A small group of elderly men who organized a protest in a park in Guizhou a week ago have been rounded up.
A human rights group, the Dui Hua Foundation, estimates that fewer than a dozen activists arrested in the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown remain in jail. Hundreds were rounded up at the time.
Those left in jail are not students who led the protests, but people who committed arson or attacked martial law troops, Dui Hua executive director John Kamm told the Associated Press news agency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to be pressed by EU officials to take a stronger line on the crisis in Syria during a summit in St Petersburg.
EU member states want Russia to put pressure on its ally to withdraw heavy weapons from cities and comply fully with UN envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan.
Russia and China are also resisting US and European calls to condemn President Bashar al-Assad and seek his removal.
On Sunday, Bashar al-Assad denied his forces had any role in the Houla massacre.
In a televised address, President Bashar al-Assad told parliament the killing of more than 108 people in their homes, including 49 children, was an “ugly crime” that even “monsters” would not carry out.
Witnesses have blamed pro-government militiamen for the massacre, which has triggered international condemnation and led to several countries expelling Syrian diplomats in protest.
Bashar al-Assad said the only way to resolve the crisis was through political dialogue, and that “foreign meddling” was to blame for Syria’s divisions.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton are among those attending Monday’s summit.
On Sunday, Vladimir Putin invited the EU leaders for dinner ahead of the talks at a lavish estate on the outskirts of the city.
Vladimir Putin will hold talks with Jose Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy
European diplomats regard the meeting as a chance to renew ties with Vladimir Putin since his return to the presidency earlier this month.
The leaders are also expected to discuss trade and Iran’s controversial nuclear programme. Russia will also be looking to speed up moves towards visa free travel in Europe.
“We need to make sure that Russia is using fully its leverage in convincing the [Assad] regime to implement [the peace plan],” an EU official quoted by the Reuters news agency said.
“The Russian side has certainly not been very helpful in finding solutions in terms of a political way out.”
Moscow insists it is not protecting Bashar al-Assad but says his removal cannot be a precondition for political dialogue.
Baroness Catherine Ashton, who met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov before Sunday’s dinner, said in a statement: “Russia’s role is crucial for the success of Annan’s plan.”
She said the EU wanted to “work closely with Russia to find a way to end the violence”.
The statement added that Baroness Catherine Ashton had spoken to Kofi Annan by telephone on Sunday and they had agreed that the crisis was at “a critical point”.
Analysts say pressure is growing on Moscow to concede that the initiative is stalled and to promote a compromise in which President Bashar al-Assad stands down to allow a transition of power.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday that she had “made it very clear” to Sergei Lavrov in a telephone conversation that the focus was shifting to a political transition.
“Assad’s departure does not have to be a precondition, but it should be an outcome so the people of Syria have a chance to express themselves,” she said during a visit to Stockholm.
Although the summit is not expected to produce any major breakthrough in relations between Russia and the EU, it is still important.
EU leaders will be able to reacquaint themselves with Vladimir Putin and it is also a chance to gauge what kind of relationship Moscow and Brussels are likely to have during his six-year presidency.
The big winner of this year MTV Movie Awards was the breakout hit The Hunger Games that swept the ceremony, taking home four gongs.
The film’s star Jennifer Lawrence won the prestigious Best Female Performance award – but unfortunately the 22-year-old wasn’t in Los Angeles to collect her trophy.
However, Jennifer Lawrence accepted her award via a pre-recorded video as she is currently filming in Prague, after her win was announced by Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth, the brother of her Hunger Games co-star Liam.
She said: “Thank you, MTV and all the fans, for this award. I want to thank Suzanne Collins for creating such an iconic, powerful character in Katniss Everdeen.
“It’s been such an honour to portray her and have audiences around the world embrace this movie.”
Looking at her golden popcorn trophy, Jennifer Lawrence humorously added: “I can’t eat this.”
Her co-star Josh Hutcherson also scooped a coveted award in the form of Best Male Performance, which was presented to him by Emma Watson and her Perks of Being a Wallflower co-stars Logan Lerman and Ezra Miller.
Josh Hutcherson said: “I’ve wanted to hold a Golden Popcorn since I was like four years old. This is incredible.
“It’s insane too, because every single one of those actors I admire and I want to be, so to even be up here is blowing my mind right now.”
He added to his many admirers: “You guys are the best fans in the world. You’re crazy and passionate and you make our job amazing.”
The Hunger Games’ star Josh Hutcherson scooped a coveted award at the MTV Movie Awards 2012 in the form of Best Male Performance
And Elizabeth Banks, who plays outlandish Effie Trinket in the movie, won Best On-screen Transformation.
Elizabeth Banks was presented the award by Magic Mike stars Matthew McConaughey, Channing Tatum and Joe Managaniello, who was dressed in a saucy fireman’s outfit.
The actress was carried out by the hunks after telling the audience: “I just want to thank MTV for this moment right here. This is just the best moment of my life.”
Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson also scooped Best Fight, alongside Alexander Ludwig. Josh and Alexander took to the stage to collect the award from Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender.
But before they announced the winner, the duo indulged in a play fight which saw Charlize Theron pretend to knee Michael Fassbender in the face.
While The Hunger Games was the clear winner, the missed out on the Best Movie award, which went to Twilight for the fourth year running.
Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner accepted the accolade.
And Kristen Stewart also received the award for Best Kiss for the fourth year in a row, alongside her on and off-screen beau Robert Pattinson, who wasn’t in attendance at the bash.
So Kristen Stewart was a good sport and turned around to pretend she was smooching up a storm when she collected her trophy alone from That’s My Boy stars Leighton Meester, Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg.
Harry Potter won two awards – one for Best Hero and one for Best Cast, the latter of which was accepted on behalf of everyone by Emma Watson.
The first award of the evening went to Jennifer Aniston, who scooped the Best On-screen Dirtbag title for Horrible Bosses.
The actress looked stunning in leather and was clearly tickled by the accolade as she said in her acceptance speech: “I mean, do you know how long I have tried to unleash my on-screen dirtbag?”
She added: “I would like to say thank you to the television show Friends for letting me unleash my inner sweetheart and [Horrible Bosses director] Seth Gordon for letting me channel my inner dirtbag.”
The Breakthrough Performance gong went to Shailene Woodley for her role in The Descendants and the 20-year-old was overwhelmed by her win.
After Shailene Woodley hugged happy couple Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield who handed her the trophy, she told the crowd: “Dude, this is nuts. I’m so nervous right now.”
Johnny Depp took part in a special performance alongside The Black Keys, after which he was presented with the special Generation Award by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith.
The Hollywood heavyweight was clearly touched by the accolade as he mouthed the word, “Wow”, but he quickly turned to humor and said: “This is like the <<get out of the business>> award.”
Emma Stone also won a special title – the True Trailblazer Award. After a hilarious video clip was aired which saw stars including Mila Kunis, Jim Carrey and Anna Faris talk about the star, she grew tearful while delivering her acceptance speech, stating she is “a cryer”.
Bridesmaids won two awards, for Best Gut-Wrenching Performance and Best Comedic Performance by Melissa McCarthy, although their wins were not televised.
And an excited LMFAO took home the prize for Best Music.
The audience saw Christian Bale grow emotional when seeing Heath Ledger as The Joker as part of a preview clip for The Dark Knight Rises, and Wiz Khalifa performed during the show.
Russell Brand hosted the event and used the opportunity to say he was on the hunt for his “next wife” after splitting from Katy Perry, also making fun of old pal Michael Fassbender.
A rare 1932 cover drawing of a Tintin comic book has fetched a record 1.3 million Euros ($1.6 million) at auction in Paris.
The Tintin in America cover, hand-drawn by Belgian writer and illustrator Herge, broke the record – set by the same item in 2008, when it sold for 764,000 euros.
It shows the young adventurer Tintin, dressed as a cowboy and sitting with his dog, Snowy, as axe-wielding American Indians creep up on them.
It was bought by a private collector.
The Indian ink and gouache drawing work is one of only five remaining such works by Herge – real name Georges Remi – who died in 1983. Only two of those are in private hands.
A rare 1932 cover drawing of a Tintin comic book has fetched a record 1.3 million Euros ($1.6 million) at auction in Paris
The buyer is anonymous but he was represented at the auction by a friend identified only as Didier.
“If he’d have been able to get it for less I think he would have been happy,” Didier said after the sale, according to news agency Reuters.
“The aim was not to beat a record; the aim was to obtain the work, before anything else… You don’t come here to beat the world record, to spend money, that doesn’t make any sense.”
Saturday’s sale was part of a rare larger sale of Tintin memorabilia, reportedly including draft sketches of Tintin and a copy of Explorers on the Moon, signed by the first men to walk on the Moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, and fellow astronaut Michael Collins.
L’Oreal Paris launched Revitalift Laser X3, a new anti-ageing range with prices starting from just $31.99.
The products claim to smooth fine lines and wrinkles as effectively as a $5,000 clinical laser treatment.
An independent study backed up this claim.
Testing Revitalift Laser X3’s Daily Rejuvenating Moisturiser, $31.99, Super Serum, $39.99, and Precision Eye Cream, $31.99, for two weeks, the effects could be seen almost immediately.
The fine lines at the side of the eyes were instantly softened thanks to the eye cream. After just 24 hours, the serum and moisturizer appeared to have worked together to create smoother skin.
L’Oreal Paris launched Revitalift Laser X3, a new anti-ageing range with prices starting from just $31.99
The skin cycle – the length of time it takes for our skin to make new proteins such as collagen – is four weeks, so it is remarkable to get such rapid results. What’s more, the products absorb easily and feel light on the skin – no greasiness or oily residue. The star ingredient is Pro-Xylane, derived from plant sugars.
It mimics the effects of a laser treatment and stimulates collagen, helps promote skin regeneration, reduces the appearance of fine lines and smooths wrinkles. In lab tests, it has been shown to increase skin plumpness because it retains large amounts of moisture.
It works alongside a special form of hyaluronic acid, a potent moisturizer that is absorbed easily by the skin, and lipohydroxy acid, a gentle exfoliating ingredient that refines the skin surface and stimulates new cell growth.
Researchers warn that extreme exercise, such as marathons, may permanently damage the heart and trigger rhythm abnormalities.
They say the safe “upper limit” for heart health is a maximum of an hour a day – after which there is little benefit to the individual.
A review of research evidence by US physicians says intensive training schedules and extreme endurance competitions can cause long-term harm to people’s hearts.
Activities such as marathons, iron man distance triathlons, and very long distance bicycle races may cause structural changes to the heart and large arteries, leading to lasting injury.
Lead author Dr. James O’Keefe, of Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City, said exercise was generally beneficial for health but could tip into becoming harmful when taken to excessive lengths.
Dr. James O’Keefe said: “Physical exercise, though not a drug, possesses many traits of a powerful pharmacologic agent.
“A routine of daily physical activity can be highly effective for prevention and treatment of many diseases, including coronary heart disease, hypertension, heart failure, and obesity.
“However, as with any pharmacologic agent, a safe upper dose limit potentially exists, beyond which the adverse effects of physical exercise, such as musculoskeletal trauma and cardiovascular stress, may outweigh its benefits.”
A review of research evidence by US physicians says intensive training schedules and extreme endurance competitions can cause long-term harm to people’s hearts
A review published in the medical journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings (must credit) looked at studies detailing the mechanisms, pathophysiology, and clinical manifestations of cardiovascular injury from excessive endurance exercise.
Dr. James O’Keefe and colleagues said research suggests that extreme endurance training can cause transient structural cardiovascular changes and elevations of cardiac biomarkers, all of which return to normal within one week.
But for some individuals, over months and years of repetitive injury, this process can lead to the development of patchy scarring of certain areas of the heart, and abnormal heart rhythms.
In one study, approximately 12% of apparently healthy marathon runners showed evidence for patchy myocardial scarring, and the coronary heart disease event rate during a two-year follow up was significantly higher in marathon runners than in runners not doing marathons.
The review said it had been known that elite-level athletes commonly develop abnormal electrocardiogram readings.
However, studies now show that changes to the heart triggered by excessive exercise can lead to rhythm abnormalities.
Endurance sports such as ultramarathon running or professional cycling have been associated with as much as a five-fold increase in the prevalence of atrial fibrillation, or abnormal heart rhythms.
Chronic excessive sustained exercise may also be associated with other heart problems including artery wall stiffening.
Dr. James O’Keefe said lifelong vigorous exercisers generally have lower death and disability rates compared with non-exercisers, but it was becoming important to detect intense exercisers whose regime might put them at risk.
The phenomenon has been dubbed Phidippides cardiomyopathy – after the fatal heart damage suffered by the original marathon runner.
The young Greek messenger in 490BC died suddenly after running 175 miles in two days, with the last leg of 26.2 miles from Marathon to Athens.
His death was the first report of a sudden cardiac death of a long distance runner.
Dr. James O’Keefe stressed the review findings should not undermine the message that physical exercise was good for most people.
He said: “Physically active people are much healthier than their sedentary counterparts. Exercise is one of the most important things you need to do on a daily basis.
“But what this paper points out is that a lot of people do not understand that the lion’s share of health benefits accrue at a relatively modest level.
“Extreme exercise is not really conducive to great cardiovascular health. Beyond 30-60 minutes per day, you reach a point of diminishing returns.”
Government guidelines recommend adults take aerobic exercise five times a week for 30 minutes or more for maximum health benefits.
Children should have at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a day, including taking part in sports, brisk walking and running.
Aerobic exercise is achieved through sports such as jogging, running, cycling, tennis and swimming.
The level of aerobic exertion should be enough to raise the heart rate to 120 beats a minute or higher, which includes a brisk walk and swimming. But taking a stroll or even gardening is also regarded as healthy activity.
George Soros warns European leaders they have a “three-month window” to save the euro.
The billionaire investor said he believed Greece would elect a government willing to abide by loan conditions imposed by the EU in this month’s elections.
But George Soros said the German economy would begin in weaken in the autumn, making it much harder for Chancellor Angela Merkel to provide further support.
He said leaders did not understand “the nature of the crisis”.
George Soros also said that while European leaders were focusing on debt levels, the crisis was “more of a banking problem and a problem of competitiveness”.
George Soros warns European leaders they have a "three-month window" to save the euro
For this reason, he said they had “applied the wrong remedy”.
“You cannot reduce the debt burden by shrinking the economy, only by growing your way out of it,” George Soros added.
George Soros, speaking at a conference in Italy, was referring to the drastic austerity measures that have been implemented across Europe, measures that are now being questioned by a growing number of politicians and commentators.
Without policies to boost growth, which would enable governments to raise revenue to pay down debt, George Soros said time was running out for the euro.
“I expect the Greek public will be sufficiently frightened by the prospect of expulsion from the EU that it will give a narrow majority of seats to a coalition that is ready to abide by the current [bailout] agreement,” he said.
However, this would provide only temporary respite, he warned, as the German public becomes less willing to continue bailing out its weaker European neighbors.
“The crisis is likely to come to a climax in the [autumn]. By that time, the German economy will also be weakening, so that Chancellor Merkel will find it even more difficult than today to persuade the German public to accept any additional European responsibilities.
An A-list concert, which will be held in front of Buckingham Palace later today, will mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Sir Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Sir Elton John are among the artists, and Madness will perform on the roof.
The audience will comprise of people who got tickets in a public ballot and those from charities with royal links.
At the end of the show, Queen Elizabeth II will light one of the last of around 4,500 beacons across the globe – in celebration of her 60-year reign.
In the afternoon, prior to the Jubilee concert, 10,000 ballot winners and VIPs will have a picnic in the gardens of Buckingham Palace.
The concert follows Sunday’s spectacular River Thames pageant which attracted hundreds of thousands of rain-soaked people to watch the flotilla of 1,000 vessels.
Queen Elizabeth II travelled in a barge alongside senior members of the Royal Family as street parties were held around the country.
Buckingham Palace said the Royal Family were “touched” at the turnout, despite the weather.
The A-list concert, which starts at 19:30 BST (18:30 GMT) and will be broadcast by the BBC, also includes Robbie Williams, Ed Sheeran, JLS, Kylie Minogue, Sir Tom Jones, Jessie J, Dame Shirley Bassey and Annie Lennox.
And it will feature a special song – sung by 200 people from around the Commonwealth – co-written for the occasion by Gary Barlow and Lord Lloyd Webber.
An A-list concert, which will be held in front of Buckingham Palace later today, will mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
Motown legend Stevie Wonder has said: “It’s an honour to celebrate The Queen. It’s an honour to celebrate Great Britain. The time is overdue that I meet Her Majesty.”
The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry will join the Queen at the concert.
Pop veterans Madness will play their hit Our House on the roof of Buckingham Palace – echoing Queen guitarist Brian May’s performance of the National Anthem in 2002 for the Golden Jubilee.
After the musical tribute, the Queen will greet the crowds and set the national beacon ablaze.
At 22:30 BST (21:30 GMT), Queen Elizabeth II is scheduled to place a crystal glass diamond into a special pod, triggering the lighting of the last beacon in The Mall.
Beacons will be lit throughout the evening in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, the Commonwealth and other overseas territories.
Bruno Peek, pageantmaster of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee beacons, said: “We set out to have 2,012 beacons, which would have been the most ever for this type of occasion.
“To have reached double that figure reflects the national and worldwide respect and affection for the Queen and the desire to celebrate her 60-year reign.”
The network of beacons across the UK will be placed on historic landmarks, hill-top vantage points and famous mountains.
Beacons will also be placed on the battlements of the Tower of London, and at St James’s Palace, Lambeth Palace, Windsor Castle, Sandringham, Balmoral and Holyroodhouse.
Sixty will be lit in sequence on Hadrian’s Wall – one for each year of the Monarch’s reign.
And the highest peaks of the UK’s four nations will be lit up by teams from four charities.
Help for Heroes will conquer Ben Nevis in Scotland, Walking With The Wounded will climb Snowdon in Wales, Cancer Research UK will scale England’s Scafell Pike and in Northern Ireland, Field of Life will go up Slieve Donard in County Down.
The hotel in Kenya where the Queen was told in 1952 of her father George VI’s death – which meant she would become the monarch – will also light a beacon.
The first of the beacons will be lit on the south Pacific island of Tonga, while Tristan da Cunha, a British territory in the South Atlantic, is the location for the most remote lighting.
Like the conclusion of the Thames pageant, the evening will end with a firework display.
Diamond Jubilee beacons:
• About 4,500 beacons will be lit in the UK, Commonwealth and overseas territories
• Beacons in the UK and British dependencies will be lit in stages between 22:00 and 22:30 BST
• The Queen will light the National Beacon near Buckingham Palace at 22:30 BST
• Overseas beacons will be lit at 22:00 local time in countries including Canada, Australia and Kenya
• Two types of Beacons are used: Bonfires and the church tower beacon fuelled by bottled gas
• Beacons were lit on Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and for 1977’s Silver Jubilee
A video presentation released ahead of the E3 video games conference has showed that Nintendo’s new Wii U console will embrace social networking.
Wii U console will promote the Miiverse in which users can see what others are playing, share self-created game content and swap gaming tips.
Nintendo said members would eventually be able to connect to the network via its 3DS handheld, PCs and smartphones.
The Japanese firm posted its first annual loss in April.
Its share price has nearly halved since it first announced the Wii U last year after investors expressed doubts about the potential of the next-generation device.
The revelations, ahead of the Los Angeles trade show, may be designed to create a new buzz about the product ahead of a more detailed press conference on Tuesday.
The presentation, by the firm’s global president Satoru Iwata, said that when users turned on their console it would show animated avatars on the television screen flocking towards the most popular games at that time.
However, the focus of the network is on a smaller touchscreen on the Wii U Game Pad.
This can be used to send typed or handwritten messages to other Miiverse members as well as drawings.
Wii U console will promote the Miiverse in which users can see what others are playing, share self-created game content and swap gaming tips
A video trailer showed one player using the device to quiz other gamers about how to kill a zombie. The actor then placed the handset next to his television to launch a video chat with another user.
“We believe it can solve the issue of ‘alone together’,” said Satoru Iwata.
“We believe it enables the sharing of more smiles, more laughs and more empathy.”
However, Patrick Garratt, founder of gaming website VG247, expressed reservations.
“The social aspects in the presentation show Nintendo realizes people now need to be constantly connected through their digital devices, but my concern is that the entire system appears to be closed,” he said.
“Without a wholesale embrace of Twitter and Facebook I think you have to ask serious questions about how well Nintendo understands the social networking space.”
The presentation also showed changes made to the game pad from the version displayed last year including redesigned thumbsitck controllers, extra buttons and a card slot to add data to the device.
Video games publisher Konami also opted to release a pre-show announcement video.
It included trailers for the firm’s upcoming Metal Gear Rising Revengeance – an action title featuring a cyborg ninja due out “early 2013” – and the latest in its vampire series, Castlevania: Lord of Shadows 2.
The coming days will bring a plethora of announcements from other firms at the trade show. Close to 200 are hosting exhibits.
Keynote presentations from Microsoft and Sony will be the focus of the event’s first day.
Both companies have said they would not debut their next-generation consoles at this year’s event. So the focus will instead be on how they will attempt to maintain interest in the seven-year-old Xbox 360 and six-year-old Playstation 3.
News site Examiner.com has reported that Microsoft’s announcement might include a new service called Xbox Smart Glass.
It said the product would allow users to control their console remotely via devices running Windows, Windows Phone, Android and iOS systems.
It added that the software would also work the other way, allowing consoles to screen content streamed to them by third-party devices.
Microsoft’s presentation is also likely to focus on its Kinect motion and voice recognition sensor, possibly including footage from a recently announced Harry Potter title.
There has been speculation that Sony will announce a tie-up or even a takeover of a cloud gaming company. This could allow Playstation owners to continue playing games when they do not have access to their consoles by streaming titles off remote servers to other types of devices.
Trade magazine MCV has reported a deal could involve one of two California-based companies: OnLive or Gaikai.
It noted that Gaikai had sent out a press release promising news that had “the potential to change the future of video games, game consoles and how we play”.
Cloud-based gaming services have had limited appeal to date because of issues including compromised picture quality and lag – delayed responses to button presses or joystick moves caused by the fact that commands have to be sent to a remote server.
However, one analyst noted that new technology might be about to solve these problems.
“A few weeks ago we saw Nvidia come out with a cloud GPU [graphics processing unit] product,” said Brian Blau, research director at Gartner’s consumer services group.
“Up until now cloud gaming vendors had to cobble together their own servers and graphics solutions and you can’t build those in a way that is easily maintainable and extendable over a long period of time.
“Now all of a sudden you can have standard Nvidia graphics with the same drivers you use on your desktop in a virtualized environment, and it provides a really great production environment for someone who wants to deliver cloud games.”
Tech site Engadget has also reported that Sony is expected to cut the price of its Vita handheld console. A similar move helped boost sales of Nintendo’s rival 3DS last year.
Away from the hardware manufacturers, extensions of existing gaming franchises are likely to dominate this year’s show with a raft of sequels, prequels and reboots set to be shown off.
Titles including Halo 4; Assassin’s Creed 3; Tomb Raider: Crossroads; Hitman: Absolution; Gears of War: Judgement; Dead Space 3; New Mario Super Bros 2; Disney Epic Mickey 2; God of War: Ascension and Star Wars 1313 are all set to be teased at the event.
However, hopes that the much anticipated Half Life 3 would be finally unveiled have been confounded by PC-developer Valve’s announcement that it would not announce any new products despite hosting a booth at the show.
Social games specialist Zynga is also exhibiting at the event – its first appearance. However, it has also signalled it would not launch any new products.
“We don’t have a big flashy show presence – it’s all business,” said the firm’s head of partner publishing Rob Dyer.
“We are focused on finding and signing partners to publish on our platform.”
Princess Maha Al-Sudairi of Saudi tried to dodge paying an $8 million bill from a five-star establishment in Paris, leaving the hotel with her retinue of 60 servants in tow and a mountain of suitcases.
Princess Maha Al-Sudairi’s planned escape was always destined to end in farce and fiasco.
She and her entourage were instantly spotted by staff when filing out of the exclusive Shangri-La hotel at 3:30 a.m. last Friday.
They called the police and the wayward ex-wife of Saudi Crown Prince and deputy prime minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz – who is second-in-line to the Saudi throne – was stopped as her extensive luggage was being bundled into a fleet of limousines.
Most offenders in her position would have been arrested on the spot, charged and perhaps would already be behind bars.
But because the princess is protected by diplomatic immunity, police were unable to arrest or even charge her with an offence.
Instead the French authorities can only approach the Saudi Embassy in a bid to get them to help.
Princess Maha Al-Sudairi of Saudi tried to dodge paying an $8 million bill from a five-star establishment in Paris, leaving the hotel with her retinue of 60 servants in tow and a mountain of suitcases
In the meantime the princess and her small army of servants have been offered refuge from their troubles – at another luxury hotel, the Royal Monceau, near the Champs-Elysees.
The five-star hotel is owned by “family friend”, the Emir of Qatar, who has offered to put her up while the matter is resolved. Princess Maha Al-Sudairi arrived in Paris with her entourage on December 23 last year and booked out an entire 41-room floor of the Shangri-La.
Up until then Princess Maha Al-Sudairi had been confined to a palace in the middle eastern state by Saudi King Abdullah after leaving behind a trail of unpaid bills with luxury firms across Europe, reportedly including Dior, jewellery outlets Chaumet and Victoria Casal, and at least one hotel.
Princess Maha Al-Sudairi repeatedly dodged demands from the hotel to settle her ballooning bill, the newspaper Le Parisien reported.
Matters finally came to a head last week when police found her and her servants attempting to leave the hotel. This is not the first time the royal has found herself in hot water.
Her global over-spending has been well-documented in the past.
Princess Maha Al-Sudairi was originally “cut off” by a furious King Abdullah after racking up massive debts all over the world during the last few years.
In June 2009, Princess Maha Al-Sudairi claimed diplomatic immunity in France after amassing $24 million in unpaid shopping bills, including $100,000 on designer lingerie alone.
The following year, she was once again bailed out by her oil-rich government after she ordered $30,000 worth of glassware and silverware from a Paris store.
Despite this, her fabulously wealthy credentials meant the “IOU” notes handed to shopkeepers which read “payment to follow” were usually accepted.
Over the years, up to 30 of Paris’s most exclusive retailers have fallen foul of her bouncing credit notes, French newspapers reported.
Shop owner Jacky Giami, who owns Paris’s Key Largo leisure wear store, said the princess and her relatives had more than $160,000 worth of his stock.
Last night, police in Paris said they were unable to arrest or charge Princess Maha Al-Sudairi because she was claiming diplomatic immunity. They said they would be asking the Saudi embassy to help settle her accounts.
Bruce Campbell reveals his future home is a 727-200 aircraft tucked away in the woods of Oregon.
Describing the plane as a “bird that’s meant to fly”, Bruce Campbell proudly gave CNN reporters a grand tour around his unusual choice of home.
Entering and exiting through stairs lowered down from the plane, Bruce Campbell explains that he tries to keep his new home clean and tidy as he wipes his feet and clambers through the latch-operated door.
With the passenger chairs ripped out of the main cabin there is plenty of room for Bruce Campbell’s possessions – cardboard boxes waiting to be unpacked are stacked throughout the room.
Bruce Campbell reveals his future home is a 727-200 aircraft tucked away in the woods of Oregon
Clearly excited to be showing visitors around, Bruce Campbell says the prospect of living in the plane full-time “exhilarates” him.
With electricity already functioning, one of the first tasks in transforming the jumbo jet into a hospitable living space was, of course, getting a working plumbing system.
Bruce Campbell is still tinkering with it but one of the aircraft’s three toilets is already up and running.
“It’s small but I’m small”, he says, peeking into the functioning restroom.
Furthermore, he has installed a temporary shower within the main cabin of the plane.
Bruce Campbell concedes the shower doesn’t afford much privacy but points out that if you live in the middle of the woods that isn’t a pressing concern.
Describing the venture as an “experiment”, Bruce Campbell hopes that others will follow his lead: “It is a good experiment in a living environment that, I hope, will prove to be something that mankind will embrace with vigor at a later time.”
Lighting up with glee, Bruce Campbell ushers his guests into the space he describes as his “favorite playroom”: the cockpit.
And in warmer weather, the aircraft’s wings make for great decks – easily accessed through the emergency exits.
Bruce Campbell has had some visitors to his bizarre bolthole and, he says, some have fallen in love with it.
There is no radio or TV in the plane but an iPod touch provides music as Campbell potters away creating his new home.
“It’s not for everybody. But I think it is for a lot of people and it is definitely for me. I absolutely love it,” says Bruce Campbell as he concludes his tour.
