Last Wednesday’s episode of Duck Dynasty reality show averaged only 4.7 million viewers, down from a high of 11.7 million viewers.
Last Wednesday’s episode of Duck Dynasty reality show averaged only 4.7 million viewers, down from a high of 11.7 million viewers
Duck Dynasty has lost 6.7 million viewers since the show’s season premiere, according to Hollywood Reporter.
The site’s analysts felt that Duck Dynasty‘s ever-lower ratings was as much due to the public’s burn-out on the show as much as to the anti-gay, pro-Jim Crow South and controversial comments about women made by patriarch Phil Robertson.
Paul McCartney has succeeded to ban the sale of mementos by the family of his former nanny, Rose Martin.
Rose Martin, who looked after Paul McCartney’s children, was reportedly gifted a number of collectable items by the Beatles star’s late wife Linda, including a suit, a cape and handwritten lyrics.
The late nanny’s family decided to put the collection up for auction following her death last year, but they have now been withdrawn from sale following a complaint from Paul McCartney’s attorneys.
Paul McCartney prevents the family of his late nanny selling off his old clothes in Liverpool amid a dispute over ownership (photo Getty Images)
Omega Auctions representative Paul Fairweather told Daily Telegraph: “Unfortunately, the lawyers have claimed that Paul would never have given any clothing away.”
“Rose always told the family that it was Linda that had given them to her but as both have unfortunately passed away, neither story can be corroborated … At the end of the day we’ve got to make sure that according to the law we give them back to their rightful owner, be that Rose’s family or Sir Paul McCartney and MPL Communications [McCartney Productions Ltd]. We can only apologize to any buyers who were hoping to bid on these items.”
The collection was expected to fetch as much as $48,000 at auction and Rose Martin’ family had hoped to distribute the cash to her grandchildren.
Paul McCartney previously paid tribute to Rose Martin following her death, calling her a “dear friend” and “fiercely loyal”.
JRR Tolkien’s translation of the Old English poem Beowulf is to be published for the first time, nearly nine decades after it was completed.
JRR Tolkien’s estate has signed a deal with HarperCollins to release it as a book in May.
JRR Tolkien’s translation of the Old English poem Beowulf is to be published for the first time, nearly nine decades after it was completed
The new work Beowulf: A Translation And Commentary has been edited by his son Christopher Tolkien.
It is the latest posthumous publication for the author, following his poem The Fall Of Arthur last year.
Beowulf is the longest epic poem in Old English, the language spoken in Anglo-Saxon England before the Norman Conquest.
It tells the story of a struggle between the hero, Beowulf, and a bloodthirsty monster called Grendel.
JRR Tolkien completed his translation in 1926 – and the new publication will be accompanied by further thoughts on the text, which Tolkien prepared for a series of lectures given at Oxford during his academic career.
The author died in 1973, having seen The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings achieve literary success, but leaving behind many unpublished works.
Christopher Tolkien said: “The translation of Beowulf by JRR Tolkien was an early work, very distinctive in its mode, completed in 1926.
“He returned to it later to make hasty corrections, but seems never to have considered its publication.
“This edition is twofold, for there exists an illuminating commentary on the text of the poem by the translator himself, in the written form of a series of lectures given at Oxford in the 1930s, and from these lectures a substantial selection has been made, to form also a commentary on the translation in this book.”
According to Malaysian officials, China is investigating new satellite images of debris in the southern Indian Ocean, potentially from missing flight MH370.
Malaysia’s Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein read out the news as he was handed it during at his daily briefing, saying one element of debris was 30m by 22m.
He said the Chinese government would give more details on Saturday.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 dropped out of contact an hour after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on March 8 carrying 239 people.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 dropped out of contact an hour after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on March 8 carrying 239 people
Hishammuddin Hussein broke off the question and answer segment of his briefing in Kuala Lumpur to say: “The news that I just received is that the Chinese ambassador received satellite image of floating objects in the southern corridor and they will be sending ships to verify.”
He added: “Beijing is expected to make an announcement in a few hours.”
China is one of 26 nations involved in the search for flight MH370. Most of those on board the plane were Chinese nationals.
Planes and vessels are already searching the southern Indian Ocean following earlier satellite images this week that detected possible debris 1,550 miles south-west of Perth in Australia.
One hundred international monitors will be sent to Ukraine, after Russian diplomats dropped their objections.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), will send advance teams within 24 hours to areas including the violence-hit south-eastern areas.
But the monitoring team is not expected to go to Crimea, which was taken over by Russia last month.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law formalizing Crimea’s annexation on Friday, despite EU and US sanctions.
The 57-member OSCE reached a deal on Friday evening.
The Vienna-based group said that initially 100 civilian observers would deploy for six months in nine regions of Ukraine.
Up to 400 extra personnel could be deployed if necessary.
The areas the monitors are due to visit include Odessa, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, and Luhansk, which have been recently rocked by clashes between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian activists.
The situation remains tense on the long Ukrainian-Russian border
“The decision itself calls for monitors to be deployed within 24 hours,” said Daniel Baer, the US ambassador to the OSCE.
The US said in a statement that “it is clear that with the adoption of this decision this mission has a mandate to work in Crimea and in all other parts of Ukraine”.
But Russian envoy Andrey Kelin responded by saying that Crimea had now become part of Russia and therefore the mission had “no mandate” to go there.
Western diplomats had blamed Russia for several failed attempts to agree such a mission in recent days.
Earlier this month OSCE monitors had to abandon their visit to Crimea after warning shots were fired at the border.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Friday’s deal was “not the end of the crisis”.
Earlier on Friday, the EU added 12 people to an existing list of 21 officials involved in Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
They include Deputy PM Dmitry Rogozin and two close aides of Vladimir Putin, Sergey Glazyev and Vladislav Surkov.
The speakers of Russia’s two houses of parliament, Valentina Matviyenko and Sergei Naryshkin – both at Vladimir Putin’s side as he signed the Crimea law – were also included.
While the list targets several figures close to Vladimir Putin, it does not hit his inner circle as hard as the sanctions announced by the US on Thursday.
In retaliation, Russia ordered travel bans and asset freezes for nine prominent US officials and lawmakers.
Senator John McCain, one of those targeted, joked in a tweet that he would have to cancel his spring break in Siberia.
Vladimir Putin said Moscow would not retaliate for the latest EU sanctions – although the Russian foreign ministry said there would be a response.
In Crimea itself, forces allied to Russia have been seizing Ukrainian ships and taking over military bases.
The new authorities in Crimea have invited those serving in the Ukrainian forces on the peninsula to switch sides and join Russian forces.
US scientists have discovered that the human nose can detect one trillion different odors, far more than we previously thought.
Until now, the long-held belief was that we can sniff out about 10,000 smells.
New estimates published in Science suggest the human nose outperforms the eye and the ear in terms of the number of stimuli it can distinguish between.
Researchers at the Rockefeller University say we use only a tiny part of our olfactory powers.
The human eye uses three light receptors that work together to see up to 10 million colors, while the ear can hear almost half a million tones.
Until now it was believed the nose, with its 400 olfactory receptors, could detect only about 10,000 different odors.
Scientists at the Rockefeller University in New York, set out to test the idea, which dates back to 1927 and was never scientifically investigated.
Human nose can detect one trillion different odors, far more than we previously thought (photo Thinkstock)
They devised experiments to see how good people are at distinguishing between cocktails of 128 different odor molecules, representing a large range of smells from grass to citrus.
The molecules were mixed randomly in groups of 10, 20 or 30 to create unfamiliar smells.
The 26 people were then asked to identify a scent from three samples – two that were the same and one that was different.
Based on these results, the researchers used theory to extrapolate how many different scents the average person would be able to discriminate if they were presented with all the possible mixtures that could be made from the 128 molecules.
They estimated that the average person can discriminate between at least one trillion different odors with the nose, far more than can be detected by the eye or ear.
This is probably an underestimate, they say.
The conventional wisdom on how well we can smell was based on little more than “urban legend”, said co-author Dr. Leslie Vosshall.
“It’s the first real test of how good humans are. People assume animals are much better smellers than us. Humans are remarkably good at smelling things,” Dr. Leslie Vosshall said in an interview with BBC.
She said animals remain two or three times better than us at smelling, as they devote more of their brain to the sense of smell.
However, the power of the human sense of smell should not be underestimated.
“You can push the sense of smell to work harder – you can get bigger and crazier, more intense perfumes,” Dr. Leslie Vosshall added.
“We are using a tiny part of our olfactory powers.”
Five skydivers have been killed after their light plane crashed at an airfield in Queensland, eastern Australia.
The Cessna 206 hit the ground and burst into flames shortly after take-off on Saturday at Caboolture Airport, north of Brisbane.
The Cessna 206 hit the ground and burst into flames shortly after take-off on Saturday at Caboolture Airport (photo Channel Nine News)
The pilot, two skydiving instructors and two skydiving customers were killed, police said.
Family members witnessed the crash from the ground, they said.
The flight was operated by Adrenalin Skydivers Bribie, also known as Skydive Bribie Island, a spokesman told the Sydney Morning Herald, which carried pictures of the crash site.
“We received a call from the airfield and sent three crews to a light plane that had crashed,” a Queensland Fire and Rescue Service official told Agence France-Presse.
Caboolture is about 31 miles north of Brisbane.
The airport was closed after the crash.
The Sydney Morning Herald says the airport has only grass strips and operates gliders, helicopters and light aircraft.
Xi Jinping will arrive in the Netherlands later today for his first trip to Europe as China’s president.
President Xi Jinping’s tour will include France, Germany and Belgium as well as the headquarters of the EU in Brussels.
A 200-strong business delegation will join him on a trip that is expected to be dominated by trade – possibly including an order for 150 Airbus jets.
Xi Jinping is also likely to face pressure from Western powers to be firmer with Russia over its actions in Ukraine.
China usually supports Russia in foreign-policy issues, but last week declined to fully back its ally over Ukraine.
Beijing abstained from a vote at the UN that would have condemned Russia’s takeover of Ukraine’s Crimea region.
Xi Jinping will arrive in the Netherlands later today for his first trip to Europe as China’s president (photo Reuters)
A tit-for-tat trade dispute, with China targeting French wine after the EU imposed tariffs on Chinese solar panels, was only resolved on Friday.
Xi Jinping will be welcomed by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima at the start of his state visit to the Netherlands.
He arrives in advance of a G7 meeting on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in The Hague next week.
Xi Jinping is expected to discuss the situation in Ukraine with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the summit.
Correspondents say the Chinese president is likely to repeat Beijing’s call for “calm and restraint” in the crisis.
The Chinese leader will also meet French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on his trip, which ends in Belgium on April 1.
One side issue of note from the visit comes from reports in the German press suggesting that the Chinese delegation had asked for an official visit, accompanied by Chancellor Angela Merkel, to a Holocaust memorial.
Berlin is said to have refused, fearing that it would be used by China as propaganda to highlight its complaint that Japan has not done enough to atone for its militaristic past.
Der Spiegel reports that the Chinese delegation has been told that President Xi Jinping is free to visit memorials in his own time.
Pope Francis warned gangsters that they will go to hell unless they repent and stop doing evil as he is launching a stinging attack on the mafia.
“Blood-stained money, blood-stained power, you can’t bring it with you to your next life. Repent,” the pontiff said.
Pope Francis was speaking at a prayer vigil for relatives of those killed by the mafia.
The Pope has spoken out frequently about the evils of corruption and wrote a booklet on the subject in 2005 when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires.
The meeting near Rome on Friday – organized by a citizens’ group called Libera – was aimed at demonstrating the Roman Catholic Church’s opposition to organized crime, rejecting historic ties with mafia bosses claiming to be good Catholics.
Pope Francis was speaking at a prayer vigil for relatives of those killed by the mafia
The vigil was filled with those who have suffered at the hands of the mafia, including people whose family members and loved ones had been killed.
As the names of those murdered were read out, the Pope listened, deep in somber thought.
After expressing solidarity with the 842 people at the vigil, he said that he could not leave the service without addressing those not present: The “protagonists” of mafia violence.
“This life that you live now won’t give you pleasure. It won’t give you joy or happiness,” he said.
“There’s still time to not end up in hell, which is what awaits you if you continue on this path.”
There is a long list of brave priests in Italy who have stood up to the mafia, and some have paid with lives.
Anti-mafia activists hope that Pope Francis’ words are a signal that he is on their side.
Roy Orbison’s sons have helped produce an unreleased song by their father.
The Way Is Love was pieced together by Wesley, Alex and Roy Orbison Jr. after finding an old vocal recording on a home tape machine.
They reclaimed it using technology which was specifically developed to accomplish the task.
The track will appear on the 25th anniversary edition of Roy Orbison’s final album, Mystery Girl.
Roy Orbison died of a heart attack in December 1988
Roy Orbison died of a heart attack in December 1988, aged 52, two months before the record was originally released.
A total of nine previously unheard songs will be added to the deluxe edition, which is due on May 20.
The Orbison brothers added new instrumental recordings to The Way Is Love with the help of another offspring of a music legend, co-producer John Carter Cash.
Mystery Girl included contributions from Tom Petty, Bono and the Edge of U2, and Elvis Costello.
Paris authorities are investigating an Indian couple for neglect after their three small children were found living in appalling conditions in their apartment.
An inquiry began after the mother’s indifferent attitude to the birth of her baby girl on New Year’s Day aroused suspicion among medical staff.
French social services found her brothers, aged 2, 5 and 6, living in the apartment in a suburb of northern Paris.
French social services found the children living in an apartment in a poor suburb of northern Paris
It seems the boys had never left the flat in all their lives.
The two eldest had developmental problems, could not speak properly and had difficulty walking, as well as being undernourished.
They had simple mattresses for beds and there was no furniture, let alone toys, a judicial source told French daily Liberation.
All four children were taken into care in February.
The father, 33, and the mother, aged 27, are in custody being investigated on suspicion of depriving their children of care – a charge which could see them jailed for seven years and fined 100,000 euros ($138,000).
News of the children being found has emerged in the French media only this week.
It appears that none of the boys attended school or received vaccinations or any other medical attention.
Neither parent worked but they received child benefit, Liberation newspaper reports.
It seems the family had been living in the seventh-floor flat in the deprived district of La Courneuve in the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb of Paris for six years.
Neighbors in the block of flats said they had never seen the elder boys.
Foster parents are now taking care of the two youngest children while the eldest are receiving specialist care.
New York City police have arrested a 14-year-old boy after allegedly firing a gun inside a bus in a suspected gang dispute, killing an innocent bystander.
Kahton Anderson, 14, charged with second degree murder for the shooting that tragically killed Angel Rojas, 39 — and may be tried as an adult, say sources.
Kahton Anderson was charged with second degree murder for the shooting that tragically killed Angel Rojas (photo New York Daily News)
The victim leaves behind a wife, two children and a grieving family.
Angel Rojas, reportedly a Dominican immigrant, was shot in the head.
Authorities have not located the intended target of the shooting, but have apprehended a teenager and the weapon he allegedly used.
New York City’s homicide rate fell to a record low last year.
The shooting occurred on a bus in Brooklyn on Thursday evening.
As passengers fled, the suspect got off the bus, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant district, and fired five more shots at a person running away.
Angel Rojas was rushed to a local hospital, but died a short time later.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law formalizing the takeover of Crimea from Ukraine, despite fresh sanctions from the EU and the US.
The EU’s latest measures target 12 people involved in Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Earlier, Ukraine and the EU signed an accord forging closer political ties.
Separately, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has agreed to send monitors to Ukraine, after Russia dropped objections.
The six-month mission will initially consist of 100 international civilian monitors, who will be employed in nine regions of Ukraine – including the south-eastern areas rocked by violence between pro-Ukraine and pro-Russian activists.
Vladimir Putin has signed a law formalizing the takeover of Crimea from Ukraine (photo Reuters)
The observers will not go to Crimea but German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the decision was “a step that helps to support our de-escalation efforts”.
Western diplomats had blamed Russia for several failed attempt to agree such a mission to help defuse the tense situation.
In Brussels, EU leaders also said they would step up efforts to reduce energy dependency on Russia.
The EU’s new sanctions add to an existing list of 21 officials affected by travel bans and asset freezes.
They include Deputy PM Dmitry Rogozin and two close aides of Vladimir Putin, Sergei Glazyev and Vladislav Surkov.
The speakers of Russia’s two houses of parliament, Valentina Matviyenko and Sergei Naryshkin – both at Vladimir Putin’s side as he signed the Crimea law – are also included.
While the list targets several figures close to the Russian president, it does not hit his inner circle as hard as the sanctions announced by the US on Thursday.
MasterCard and Visa have decided to block credit card services to some Russian bank customers as a result of US sanctions.
Four banks are so far affected, all of which have links to Russians blacklisted by the US.
Visa and MasterCard are forbidden from having any dealings with those targeted by the sanctions.
The banks, which said card services stopped without warning, have described the move as unlawful.
One of the banks affected, Bank Rossiya, is described by the US as Russia’s 15th largest, with assets of $12 billion.
Bank Rossiya has been singled out by Washington as the personal bank for senior Russian officials. US officials said it would be “frozen out” from the dollar.
MasterCard and Visa have decided to block credit card services to some Russian bank customers as a result of US sanctions (photo AFP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Bank Rossiya had nothing to do with events in Crimea and promised to transfer his wages there.
“I personally don’t have an account there, but I certainly will open one on Monday,” he told a meeting of Russia’s Security Council.
Vladimir Putin also instructed the Russian central bank to step in, if needed, but the latter said the sanctions on Bank Rossiya did “not have a serious bearing on the lender’s financial stability”.
Visa and MasterCard also confirmed they had stopped providing services to SMP Bank, which is controlled by US-blacklisted brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg.
The bank, which is Russia’s 39th biggest with $5 billion in assets, called the actions “illegitimate” because its owners, rather than the bank itself, were the subject of sanctions.
Bank Rossiya’s affiliate banks, Sobinbank and InvestKapitalBank, were also affected.
But Visa said more than 99% of its business in Russia was untouched by sanctions.
Russian shares fell sharply on Friday as investors weighed the impact of western sanctions over Ukraine.
The MICEX index, which is priced in roubles, fell as much as 3% and the RTS, which is priced in dollars fell 3.6%.
Stocks slumped after President Barack Obama said sanctions might be extended to key parts of the Russian economy if Russia took further action in Ukraine.
Lufthansa pilots have voted to strike in a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions.
The pilots’ union, Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), said more than 90% of its members voted in favor of the industrial action.
Vereinigung Cockpit, which represents more than 5,000 pilots, said it would give the public at least 48 hours notice before any strike.
Lufthansa pilots have voted to strike in a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions (photo Reuters)
The union says no walkouts are planned, as yet, for the Easter period.
The pilot’s chief negotiator, Thomas Sturm told journalists: “None of us really wants to strike and we’ve been negotiating very patiently, but our patience has run out.”
Lufthansa, which is under pressure to cut costs, has already agreed pay deals with ground staff and cabin crew.
Russian stock market fell sharply on Friday as investors weighed the impact of western sanctions over Ukraine.
The MICEX index, which is priced in roubles fell as much as 3% and the RTS, which is priced in dollars fell 3.6%
Shares slumped after President Barack Obama said sanctions might be extended to key parts of the Russian economy if Russia took further action in Ukraine.
Russia’s mining, defense and natural resources sectors could all be targets.
Stocks recovered some ground during the day after President Vladimir Putin moved to restore calm following the introduction of asset freezes and visa bans by the US against high ranking Russian officials.
The MICEX closed down 1% and the RTS index was down 1.45% at the end of the day.
Russia’s financial services industry found itself under the most pressure.
Visa and Mastercard said earlier on Friday they had stopped providing services to two Russian banks, Rossiya and SMP Bank.
Rossiya, described by the US as Russia’s 15th largest bank, has assets of $12 billion. It said card payment services for its clients had been stopped without notification.
US officials said Bank Rossiya, which is linked to a number of Russian businessmen, had been sanctioned, and would be “frozen out” from the dollar.
Russian stock market fell sharply as investors weighed the impact of western sanctions over Ukraine
They described Rossiya as a “personal bank for senior officials of the Russian Federation”.
Visa and Mastercard confirmed they had stopped providing services to SMP Bank without providing notification.
In a statement SMP, which is Russia’s 39th biggest bank with $5 billion in assets, called Visa and Mastercard’s actions “illegitimate” because its owners, rather than the bank itself, were the subject of sanctions.
The bank’s co-owners, billionaire brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, are childhood friends of Vladimir Putin and were hit with sanctions on Thursday.
Vladimir Putin said Bank Rossiya was “just an average bank” which had “nothing to do” with events in Crimea.
He added he did not hold an account with the bank, but promised to open one “first thing on Monday” and asked for his salary to be transferred there.
Vladimir Putin also ordered Russia’s central bank to “take the bank’s clients under protection and provide all possible assistance to them.”
Russia’s central bank said the blacklisting of Rossiya and its transactions by the US did “not have a serious bearing on the lender’s financial stability”.
Although only banks with connections to high ranking Russian officials have been targeted Russian bank shares were broadly lower.
Shares in Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, closed 1.17% lower – having fallen 2.9% earlier on Friday, while shares in VTB Bank were 2.61% lower after falling 4.3% earlier in the day.
Other sectors were also hit. Gas giant Gazprom was down 0.9%, oil firm Lukoil ended the day 1.36% higher. Russian steel company NLMK closed 1.94% lower.
Shares in gas producer Novatek closed down 9.63%. The company is part owned by Gennady Timchenko, a shareholder in Bank Rossiya and one of the wealthy Russian businessmen targeted by Western sanctions.
Ratings agencies S&P and Fitch warned they were changing their outlook for the Russian economy to “negative” from “stable” – the first stage before a possible downgrade in the country’s credit rating – because of the potential impact of sanctions.
President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticised the move, suggesting it was not an objective decision and that somebody “ordered” it.
Russia’s credit rating is currently BBB.
Meanwhile the rouble was stable on Friday having previously fallen sharply on Thursday evening in response to the announcement of further US sanctions.
Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul has challenged PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ban on Twitter.
Twitter users across the country reported that the site had been blocked on Thursday.
Like many others, President Abdullah Gul evaded the ban to tweet that the “shutdown was unacceptable.”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is angry that people used Twitter to spread allegations of corruption in his inner circle.
“I don’t care what the international community says at all. Everyone will see the power of the Turkish Republic,” the prime minister said in a speech on Thursday.
President Abdullah Gul took to the site on Friday to say that websites should only be blocked if courts found they had violated personal privacy.
He said it was not “technically possible to totally block access to platforms used all over the world” and added that he hoped the decision would “not last long”.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is angry that people used Twitter to spread allegations of corruption in his inner circle
The EU said it was worried about the move, with Stefan Fuele, the EU commissioner for enlargement, saying he was “gravely concerned” by PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s policy on free speech.
European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes described the blocking of the site as “groundless, pointless, cowardly”.
Turkey’s lawyers’ association asked a court to overturn the ban, arguing it was unconstitutional and violated Turkish and European human rights laws. Turkey’s main opposition party also said it would try to have the decision reversed.
Those Twitter users who managed to circumvent the ban took to the service to voice anger at the move.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan took action against Twitter after some users had posted documents reportedly showing evidence of corruption relating to his office – a claim he denies.
His spokesman said the prime minister had been forced to act after the social media company had failed to respond to a court ruling in Turkey to remove some links.
Some users trying to open twitter.com were redirected to a statement by Turkey’s telecommunications regulator citing a court order to apply “protection measures” on the website.
Twitter has so far made no public comment on the court order but a spokesman said it was looking into the outage. Twitter also posted a message in both English and Turkish telling users how to send tweets via text messages.
There are about 10 million Twitter users across Turkey.
The Vatican Library has begun digitizing its collection of ancient manuscripts dating from the origins of the Catholic Church.
The first stage of the project will cover some 3,000 handwritten documents over the next four years.
The cost – more than $20 million – will be borne by Japan’s NTT Data technology company.
The Vatican Library has begun digitizing its collection of ancient manuscripts dating from the origins of the Catholic Church
Eventually, the library says it hopes to make available online all its 82,000 manuscripts.
“The manuscripts that will be digitized extend from pre-Columbian America to China and Japan in the Far East, passing through all the languages and cultures that have marked the culture of Europe,” said Vatican’s librarian Monsignor Jean-Louis Brugues.
The 3,000 documents to be scanned digitally over the next four years include copies of works of classical Greek and Latin literature and mediaeval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts.
The library, founded by a 15th Century Pope, also contains important works of mathematics and science, law and medicine from earliest times up to the present day.
The long-term aim is to digitize 40 million pages of documents.
No debris of missing Malaysia Airlines jet have been found in the southern Indian Ocean as the second day of an international search ended.
The operation is due to resume on Saturday with extra vessels joining the search, Australian officials say.
Five aircraft took part in Friday’s search for flight MH370, which vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board.
Satellite images have revealed objects possibly related to the plane in waters far south-west of Western Australia.
Bad weather had initially hampered Thursday’s operation, but conditions improved on Friday.
Experts have warned that the searchers face extremely treacherous seas and that a recovery operation would be very dangerous.
Operations were halted on Friday at nightfall , the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) confirmed. It added that an Australian navy ship, the HMAS Success, was on its way to the search area.
In an earlier press conference, Malaysian authorities said the vessel was expected to “reach the vicinity of the objects tomorrow [Saturday]”.
Other countries deploying additional assets included China, Japan and the United Kingdom, Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said.
Five aircraft took part in Friday’s search for flight MH370
Hishammuddin Hussein added that a French delegation was also assisting “with their considerable experience and expertise”.
The team “includes a man who led the investigation into the Air France (Flight) 447 crash”, he said.
Australian PM Tony Abbott earlier described the search as “a gut-wrenching business for so many people, not least those who are charged with keeping their citizens safe”.
The prime minister said: “If there is anything down there, we will find it.”
“It’s about the most inaccessible spot that you can imagine on the face of the earth, but if there is anything down there, we will find it,” said Tony Abbott, who is currently visiting Papua New Guinea.
“We owe it to the families of those people (on board) to do no less.”
But he also cautioned that the objects spotted by the satellites could be unrelated to the plane.
Flight MH370 was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it lost contact with air traffic controllers and disappeared from radar.
Satellite data has led to a search in two corridors to the north and south of its last known location in the Malacca Straits – the opposite direction from its flight path.
Malaysian officials say they believe the plane was intentionally diverted. Authorities in many countries have scrutinized the backgrounds of both passengers and crew on board but say they have no substantive leads.
Other reports of debris to date have proved not to be linked to the missing plane.
Four military planes, including three Orions belonging to the Royal Australian Air Force, were taking part in the search, AMSA said. A civilian Bombardier Global Express is also involved.
George Harrison and Ringo Starr’s jackets worn in The Beatles’ 1965 film Help! have fetched £115,000 ($179,000) at a Liverpool auction.
Ringo Starr’s cape fetched £61,000 ($95,0000), while George Harrison’s sold for £54,000 ($84,000), including buyer’s premium. Both beat separate pre-sale valuations of £20,000-30,000.
Meanwhile, a piano used by Paul McCartney and John Lennon was bought by a South American collector for £57,500 ($90,000).
Jackets worn by George Harrison and Ringo Starr in The Beatles’ 1965 film Help! have fetched £115,000 at Liverpool auction (phot Getty Images)
The 1907 Bechstein grand piano was used to compose the tracks Help! and Yesterday, according to Omega Auctions.
The piano and jackets were sold by Richard Lester, now 82, who directed Help! and The Beatles’ first film A Hard Day’s Night.
The auction took place at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool.
A cape, suit and sheet of handwritten lyrics belonging to Paul McCartney were withdrawn from auction after the star made a late legal challenge.
The rest of the sale went ahead on Thursday to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles’ hit Can’t Buy Me Love.
The Rolling Stones’ Australia and New Zealand concerts, cancelled following the death of Mick Jagger’s girlfriend L’Wren Scott, are to be rescheduled for later in the year.
A statement from Frontier Touring said “every effort” was being made to move the concerts to October and November.
Fans have been told that if any new dates are not suitable, a full refund will be offered.
The Rolling Stones’ Australia and New Zealand concerts are to be rescheduled for later in the year
Mick Jagger is believed to have travelled to New York ahead of L’Wren Scott’s funeral.
L’Wren Scott’s death has been ruled as suicide by hanging, New York City authorities have said.
The fashion designer’s body was discovered in her flat by her assistant on Monday.
In a statement following the news, Mick Jagger said he failed “to understand how my lover and best friend could end her life in this tragic way”.
The Rolling Stones cancelled the tour on Wednesday, thanking fans for their support.
Prince George’s nanny is Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, Kensington Palace reveals.
The palace also asked for the nanny’s private life to be respected.
Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo has already started work as Prince George’s full-time nanny, the palace said.
The nanny will travel with the third in line to the throne and his parents, Prince William and Kate Middleton, to New Zealand and Australia in April.
Kensington Palace said the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were “delighted” Prince George’s nanny had joined them.
Prince George’s nanny is Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo (photo AFP)
Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, who is originally from Spain, trained at Norland College, a childcare training college in Bath, a palace spokesman said.
“As an employee of the Royal Household we would ask, please, that Maria’s privacy, and that of her family and friends, be respected,” said the spokesman.
“We will not be giving further details on Maria or her employment, except to say that the duke and duchess are of course delighted she has chosen to join them.”
The palace also said it was aware photographs had been taken of Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, and warned that these pictures were taken by a photographer who was not in possession of the correct permit.
It added that the pictures, which snapped Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo in Kensington Palace Gardens, consequently contravened the Royal Parks and Other Open Spaces Regulations 1997, and the issue was now “a matter for the Royal Parks Police”.
Prince George was born in London on July 22, 2013, and christened last October.
Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo is a full-time replacement of Prince William’s former nanny Jessie Webb, 71, who has looked after Prince George as and when the couple needed her.
Bitcoin exchange MtGox said in a filing that it has found 200,000 lost virtual coins.
MtGox said it found the Bitcoins – worth around $116 million – in an old digital wallet from 2011.
That brings the total number of Bitcoins the firm lost down to 650,000 from 850,000.
MtGox, formerly the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, filed for bankruptcy in February, after it said it lost thousands of Bitcoins to hackers.
MtGox said in a filing that it has found 200,000 lost Bitcoins (photo Reuters)
“MtGox had certain old-format wallets which were used in the past and which, MtGox thought, no longer held any Bitcoins,” said MtGox chief executive Mark Karpeles in the filing.
However, “on March 7, 2014, MtGox confirmed that an old-format wallet which was used prior to June 2011 held a balance of approximately 200,000 Bitcoins,” Mark Karpeles said.
Mark Karpeles said MtGox moved the found Bitcoins to offline wallets on March 14 and 15 so that they could not be targeted.
At the time of the MtGox theft, about 750,000 customer Bitcoins were stolen as well as close to 100,000 of MtGox’s own Bitcoins.
That amounts to about 7% of all the Bitcoins in existence.
MtGox recently won brief bankruptcy protection in the US as the firm’s case works its way through Japanese courts.
European Union leaders have signed an agreement on closer relations with Ukraine, in a show of support following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and the EU signed the deal in Brussels.
Pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych’s abandonment of the deal had led to deadly protests, his removal and Russia taking over Crimea.
On Friday, Russia’s upper house unanimously approved the treaty on Crimea joining the Russian Federation.
The EU Association Agreement is designed to give Ukraine’s interim leadership economic and political support.
EU President Herman Van Rompuy said in a statementthat the accord “recognizes the aspirations of the people of Ukraine to live in a country governed by values, by democracy and the rule of law”.
Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and the EU signed the deal in Brussels (photo AP)
The move comes hours after the EU broadened its sanctions over Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
It added 12 individuals to an earlier list of 21 who now face asset freezes and travel bans.
The US on Thursday added to its own list and also targeted Rossiya Bank.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday the international sanctions were “absolutely unlawful”.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after talks with officials in Moscow that Russia would not take an immediate reciprocal action.
“I think we should refrain from taking steps in response for now,” Interfax quoted Vladimir Putin as saying.
However, Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev said Ukraine should pay back $11 billion in gas discounts as an agreement linked to the lease of the Sevastopol naval base in Crimea was now invalid.
Two credit rating agencies have now downgraded Russia’s outlook to negative from stable.
In Moscow, all 155 senators present in the upper house of parliament voted to ratify the treaty incorporating Crimea into the Russian Federation.
President Vladimir Putin is expected to complete the process by signing the treaty at a ceremony later on Friday.
Thailand’s February 2 general election has been declared invalid by the country’s Constitutional Court.
The snap poll was called by PM Yingluck Shinawatra amid major anti-government protests in Bangkok.
The ruling party was expected to win, but the opposition boycotted it and protesters disrupted voting, meaning the election has not been completed.
The vote was unconstitutional because it did not take place on the same day across the country, the court said.
Polls were not held in a number of constituencies because protesters had blocked candidate registration.
Thailand’s February 2 general election has been declared invalid by the country’s Constitutional Court (photo AP)
Thailand’s Constitutional Court, which ruled to void the election by six votes to three, was responding to a motion by a law lecturer who had challenged the election on a number of points.
It is not clear when a new election will be held.
Thailand has been hit by anti-government protests since November 2013.
The protesters, who are mainly urban and middle class, want Yingluck Shinawatra’s government replaced by an unelected “people’s council”.
They allege her brother, ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra, controls her administration and say Shinawatra family money has corrupted Thai politics.
Yingluck Shinawatra and her ruling Pheu Thai party remain very popular in rural areas, however, leaving Thailand deeply polarized.
Duck Dynasty at lowest ratings since 2012
Last Wednesday’s episode of Duck Dynasty reality show averaged only 4.7 million viewers, down from a high of 11.7 million viewers.
Duck Dynasty has lost 6.7 million viewers since the show’s season premiere, according to Hollywood Reporter.
The site’s analysts felt that Duck Dynasty‘s ever-lower ratings was as much due to the public’s burn-out on the show as much as to the anti-gay, pro-Jim Crow South and controversial comments about women made by patriarch Phil Robertson.
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