Former prime minister and centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi says he is against the idea of a new technocratic government for Italy like that led by Mario Monti.
Instead, Silvio Berlusconi said he was ready to back a coalition with centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, to end the deadlock since the February election.
However, Pier Luigi Bersani, whose bloc won a narrow lead in the polls, has ruled out a coalition with the right.
If no government is formed, new elections may be called.
The stalemate is delaying reforms which could help revive Italy’s recession-hit, debt-laden economy, which is the third-biggest in the eurozone.
Italy’s political establishment was rocked by the electoral success of a protest movement, Five Star, which won a quarter of the vote on a platform attacking the parties of both right and left.
Mario Monti’s technocratic government, formed in November 2011, remains in office until a new elected government is formed. He has said he “can’t wait” to leave office.
Speaking after talks with President Giorgio Napolitano, Silvio Berlusconi said he believed there was scope for agreement on action to address the economic crisis.
Silvio Berlusconi said he would back a coalition made up of the left, right and centre.
Any new government must be made up of political parties, “given the tragic experience” of the Monti government, the People of Freedom party leader said.
Silvio Berlusconi’s ally Roberto Maroni, leader of the right-wing Northern League, also rejected another technocratic government, saying it would be better to hold another election.
Recent opinion polls suggest Silvio Berlusconi and Roberto Maroni have, between them, a narrow lead over the centre-left.
Pier Luigi Bersani has already tried and failed to form a new government, whether as a coalition or as a minority government.
“Only a mentally ill person could have a burning desire to govern right now,” he said on Wednesday at a meeting with Five Star politicians.
Five Star, led by former comedian Beppe Grillo, has made clear it will not back any government led by either the centre-left or centre-right.
Beppe Grillo posted an entry on his blog this week in which he called mainstream politicians including Silvio Berlusconi and Pier Luigi Bersani “old whoremongers”.
Abba The Museum, the first permanent exhibition to celebrate Sweden’s most successful band, will open to the public in May.
The museum site is located 25 miles from Arlanda airport on the island of Djurgarden in eastern Stockholm.
Each fan will be able to view Abba performance online and upload it to social networking sites to share with friends and family.
They will also have the chance to virtually try on Abba’s trademark sparkly dresses and flared trousers with the help of green screen technology.
Abba The Museum, the first permanent exhibition to celebrate Sweden’s most successful band, will open to the public in May
Abba has sold almost 400 million albums around the world and a film featuring their hits, Mamma Mia!, is the most successful musical movie of all time.
Almost 50 million people have seen the stage version of the production.
Stockholm has long considered building a museum to celebrate Abba, its most popular music export, but the band was initially hesitant about the idea, with Bjorn Ulvaeus saying he did not want to become “a museum artefact before I’m dead”.
Previous plans for a permanent exhibition in a disused customs warehouse in Stockholm harbor collapsed in 2008.
The new museum has Abba’s full support, with Bjorn Ulvaeus offering daily direction to some of the 50 staff involved with the final preparations. He is busy promoting the project in Germany, where Abba has a loyal fan base.
The museum’s curator, Ingmarie Halling, is the band’s former stylist and says her work remains an emotional experience.
“It is a scary feeling because it feels like I am doing a giant loop. In the 80s and 90s I had my children and worked in the film industry. So it is a bit strange to be back working with Abba, but at the same it is really fun to do this job and tell this story.”
Ingmarie Halling says she did not just want to “put labels on glass cabinets” and instead has combined her favorite Abba memorabilia to create sets where visitors can follow in the band’s footsteps.
These include Abba’s song-writing cottage on the island of Viggso, where the group were inspired to write many of their hits, surrounded by seagulls and boats.
“Bjorn told me that when he heard Benny playing the piano in the morning, he knew that they would be composing that day!” Ingmarie Halling said.
The hut is her favourite section of the museum, both because she has fond memories of midsummer parties with the band there and as a lifelong fan of Sweden’s archipelagos.
Her other sets include the legendary Polar Music Studio, where Abba recorded some of their biggest hits, and Edmonton Ice Hockey Arena, where they performed in 1979 as part of their final world tour.
“Visitors will come into the dressing room there and Abba have just left, so there are empty champagne glasses and you can hear that they are on stage,” Ingmarie Halling explained.
Some of the exhibits were included in the Abbaworld show that toured Australia and parts of Europe between 2009 and 2011.
The band members have also donated clothes and memorabilia from their private collections.
Ring Ring, the group’s first major hit in 1973, will be celebrated with the red telephone Agnetha Faltskog posed with in publicity shots. It has been connected to an outside line and only four people in the entire world know the phone number.
A sister exhibition, The Swedish Music Hall of Fame, is also being built on the same site.
There, visitors will be able to learn about the country’s more recent global success stories including Roxette, Europe and Swedish House Mafia.
Abba museum is hoping to attract several hundred-thousand visitors in its first year, half of them foreigners.
Eva Camel from Visit Stockholm, the city’s tourist board, believes the museum will become its most popular tourist destination.
By 2020 she hopes there will be 15 million commercial overnight stays a year in Stockholm – compared with around 11 million in 2012 – with the Abba museum “a very important piece in the plan to help reach that goal”.
The Polar Music Studio was turned into a gym in 2006.
The Hotel Rival, which is owned by Benny Andersson from Abba, is said to attract some so-called “Abba tourists”, although on our visit its red-cushioned chairs appear to be full of Swedes holding business meetings.
Abba have not performed together in public since 1986, and last appeared as a group in 2008 to attend the Swedish premiere of the Mamma Mia! film.
Organizers say they are unsure whether the band will reunite again to attend the museum’s official opening in May.
Agnetha Faltskog is busy promoting her first album in nine years around Europe, and Frida Lyngstad now lives in Mallorca.
Abba:
Formed in 1972 and broke up in 1982
Won the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton in 1974 with Waterloo
378 million global album sales
Gold: Greatest Hits is the third biggest selling album of all time in the UK
Almost 50 million people have seen the stage version of Mamma Mia!
The movie, Mamma Mia!, is the highest grossing musical film worldwide
Richard Griffiths, who starred in the Harry Potter films and Withnail and I, has died at the age of 65 after complications following heart surgery.
Richard Griffiths enjoyed a long career of success on film and on TV, but also on the stage where he was a Tony-winning character actor.
TV roles included a cookery-loving detective in Pie in the Sky.
Richard Griffiths was best known for playing Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter films and Uncle Monty in Withnail and I.
On stage, Richard Griffiths’ most acclaimed performance was as the charismatic teacher Hector in Alan Bennett’s The History Boys.
After achieving a rare double of winning a Tony Award in New York and an Olivier Award in London, he recreated the role in a 2006 film version.
But it was his role as the predatory Uncle Monty in Withnail And I – which has become of one of the biggest cult classics in British cinema history – that made him a fan favorite.
Richard Griffiths was born in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, UK, and left school at 15 but later returned to education to study drama, before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The actor married Heather Gibson in 1980 after they met during a production of Lady Windermere’s Fan in 1973.
Richard Griffiths’ TV career saw him land bit parts in series such as Minder, The Sweeney and Bergerac, while he also played small parts in major movies such as Chariots of Fire, Superman II and Gandhi.
Well respected by his peers, Richard Griffiths was appointed an OBE in the 2008 New Year Honours for his services to drama.
In 2012 Richard Griffiths appeared alongside Danny Devito in Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys at London’s Savoy Theatre.
One of his most recent roles was in the drama Private Peaceful where he played The Colonel alongside Frances de la Tour and Maxine Peake.
An “intelligent” microchip which can suppress appetite has been designed by a group of British scientists.
Animal trials of the electronic implant are about to begin and its makers say it could provide a more effective alternative to weight-loss surgery.
The chip is attached to the vagus nerve which plays a role in appetite as well as a host of other functions within the body.
Human trials of the implant could begin within three years, say its makers.
The work is being led by Prof. Chris Toumazou and Prof. Sir Stephen Bloom of Imperial College London.
Animal trials of the electronic implant are about to begin and its makers say it could provide a more effective alternative to weight-loss surgery
It involves an “intelligent implantable modulator”, just a few millimetres across, which is attached using cuff electrodes to the vagus nerve within the peritoneal cavity found in the abdomen.
The chip and cuffs are designed to read and process electrical and chemical signatures of appetite within the nerve. The chip can then act upon these readings and send electrical signals to the brain reducing or stopping the urge to eat.
The researchers say identifying chemicals rather than electrical impulses will make for a more selective, precise instrument.
The project has just received over 7 million euros ($9 million) in funding from the European Research Council.
A similar device designed by the Imperial team has already been developed to reduce epileptic seizures by targeting the same vagus nerve.
“This is a really small microchip and on this chip we’ve got the intelligence which can actually model the neural signals responsible for appetite control,” Prof. Chris Toumazou said.
“And as a result of monitoring these signals we can stimulate the brain to counter whatever we monitor.
“It will be control of appetite rather than saying don’t eat completely. So maybe instead of eating fast you’ll eat a lot slower.”
Prof. Chris Toumazou said initial laboratory trials had already demonstrated proof of concept.
Prof. Stephen Bloom, who heads Imperial’s diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism division, said the chip could provide an alternative to “gross surgery”.
After Michael Girgenti’s explosive claims suggesting that Scott Disick may not be the biological father of Kourtney Kardashian’s son, Mason, the reality star told her Twitter followers that she has been “spring cleaning” her emotions.
Kourtney Kardashian wrote: “Every day for me in the past week or so has been like a therapy session. Feels good to get it out baby! Spring cleaning those emotions.”
In addition to son Mason, Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick – who have been dating on and off for 7 years – have a 9-month-old baby daughter, Penelope Scotland, together.
Kourtney Kardashian met Michael Girgenti in 2008 on a photo shoot while the reality star was reportedly in a break from Scott Disick
Kourtney Kardashian, 33, is said to be “furious” over Michael Girgenti’s claims, after he suggested the pair slept together back in March 2008 – nine months before Mason was born – after meeting on a photo shoot while the reality star was reportedly in a break from Scott Disick.
A legal representative for the Kourtney & Kim Take Miami star has branded the Chicago native’s allegations “preposterous and an outrageous lie”.
The legal rep insisted Kourtney Kardashian never gave Michael Girgenti her contact details after they briefly met, and never came into contact with him again.
Michael Girgenti, 26, told In Touch magazine: “After [Mason] was born, and I saw photos of him, I began to wonder. I would definitely want to acknowledge Mason if he’s my kid – he deserves to know his real father.”
Ouya games console, which industry experts say could disrupt the industry, has begun shipping to customers.
The Ouya costs $99 and runs on Google’s Android operating system.
Games on the system will be a fraction of the cost of traditional console games, more comparable to those found on mobiles and tablets.
However, Ouya may struggle to muscle in on a market dominated by big players such as PlayStation and Xbox, one analyst predicted.
Ouya games console costs $99 and runs on Google’s Android operating system
The Ouya was financed using crowdfunding website Kickstarter, where it attracted over $8 million in funding from 63,416 backers.
The company has begun sending out consoles to the first supporters of the project – while other interested gamers can pre-order the device.
The Ouya will look to capitalize on a growing popularity for cheap, often independently produced games.
Mobile devices have eaten into the handheld gaming market, attracting millions of casual gamers who are not prepared to invest in bespoke gaming devices, but are still keen to dabble in gaming.
While traditional platforms, such as Nintendo’s DS or Sony’s PlayStation Vita, have titles costing of $50-$60, games downloaded from app stores are considerably cheaper, and often free.
Developers on these newer platforms are instead looking to other monetization methods, such as in-game upgrades.
The Ouya is the first major attempt to bring that same kind of disruption to the home gaming industry, says gaming analyst Piers Harding-Rolls, from IHS.
While Ouya is the first major launch of this style of gaming device – it will soon have plenty of company.
Gamestick, a UK-based firm, is also developing its own Android-based console.
Nvidia, traditionally a manufacturer of high-end graphical hardware, announced its Project Shield console at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.
Perhaps an even greater threat comes from Valve, the PC gaming giant which confirmed it was to make its own “Steambox” – a console utilizing the already massively popular Steam network to deliver games.
But Ouya is the first, and likely to be the cheapest.
Ouya console, a small cuboid, can be opened up and upgraded if users wish. It uses off-the-shelf components, minimizing manufacturing costs.
Russia has warned of tensions in North Korea slipping out of control, after Pyongyang announced it was placing its rockets on stand-by.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the situation could slip “toward the spiral of a vicious circle”.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made the missile order after talks responding to US stealth bomber flights over the Korean peninsula, state news agency KCNA said.
The time had come to “settle accounts” with the US, KCNA quoted him as saying.
Annual military drills and fresh UN sanctions have angered North Korea.
Russia has warned of tensions in North Korea slipping out of control, after Pyongyang announced it was placing its rockets on stand-by
After a late-night meeting with the army’s strategic rocket force, Kim Jong-un “judged the time has come to settle accounts with the US imperialists”, KCNA reported.
Kim Jong-un was said to have condemned US B-2 bomber sorties over South Korea as a “reckless phase” that represented an “ultimatum that they will ignite a nuclear war at any cost on the Korean Peninsula”.
US mainland and bases in Hawaii, Guam and South Korea were all named as potential targets.
The US – which flew two stealth bombers over the peninsula on Thursday as part of the ongoing annual US-South Korea military drills – has said it is ready for “any eventuality” on the peninsula.
Thousands of North Korean soldiers and students later took part in a mass rally in the centre of Pyongyang in support of Kim Jong-un’s announcement, beneath large portraits of his father Kim Jong-il and grandfather Kim Il-sung.
A South Korean defence ministry spokesman described the North Korean decision as a “continuing measure”, after its announcement to adopt “combat posture”.
China, North Korea’s biggest trading partner, immediately reiterated its call for all sides to ease tensions.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov went further, voicing concern that “we may simply let the situation slip out of our control and it will slide into a spiral of a vicious circle”.
While condemning Pyongyang’s actions as “unacceptable”, Sergei Lavrov gave a more general warning that “unilateral steps being taken around North Korea that manifest themselves in a build-up of military activity”.
Sergei Lavrov added what was needed was not a build-up of military muscle and a pretext for using military means to achieve “geopolitical objectives”, in remarks seen as an implicit criticism of US bomber flights.
At least three people have been killed and dozens more are trapped in the centre of the main Tanzanian city, Dar es Salaam, after a multi-storey building collapsed, rescue workers say.
Thirteen people have been pulled out of the ruins alive, officials say.
Some 45 people, including construction workers, residents and children from a Koranic school, are missing.
At least three people have been killed and dozens more are trapped after a multi-storey building collapsed in Dar es Salaam
The 12-floor building under construction is now a “huge pile of chaos”.
“I thought there was an earthquake and then I heard screaming. The whole building fell on itself,” eyewitness Musa Mohamed told the AFP news agency.
Ahuge crane is pulling out a mass of iron bars to get access to the centre of the building, where some people are thought to be still alive.
Trapped victims are said to have been making phone calls to friends and relatives.
Bulldozers are also being used to move the rubble.
The collapsed building was near a mosque, as well as other residential and commercial properties in central Dar es Salaam.
North Korea announces it has put missile units on stand-by to attack US targets in response to US stealth bomber flights over the Korean peninsula.
State news agency KCNA said leader Kim Jong-un signed off on the order at a late-night meeting of top generals.
The time had come to “settle accounts” with the US, KCNA quoted him as saying, with the B-2 flights an “ultimatum”.
Pyongyang has been angered by fresh UN sanctions and annual US-South Korea military drills.
China, North Korea’s biggest trading partner, has called on all sides to ease tensions.
North Korea announces it has put missile units on stand-by to attack US targets in response to US stealth bomber flights over the Korean peninsula
Kim Jong-un “finally signed the plan on technical preparations of strategic rockets of the KPA, ordering them to be stand-by for fire so that they may strike any time”, the KCNA report said.
“If they make a reckless provocation with huge strategic forces, the Korean People’s Army (KPA) should mercilessly strike the US mainland, their stronghold, their military bases in the operational theatres in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in South Korea,” the agency quoted him as saying.
Thousands of North Koreans later took part in a march in Pyongyang in support of Kim Jong-un’s announcement, the Associated Press news agency reported.
A Yonhap news agency report citing an unidentified military official said increased activity had been noted at North Korea’s missile sites, but this remains unconfirmed.
The US – which flew two stealth bombers over the peninsula on Thursday as part of the ongoing military drills – has said it is ready for “any eventuality” on the peninsula.
In a statement, it said that the B-2 planes demonstrated America’s ability to “provide extended deterrence” to its allies and conduct “long-range, precision strikes quickly and at will”.
“The North Koreans have to understand that what they’re doing is very dangerous,” US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters on Thursday.
“We must make clear that these provocations by the North are taken by us very seriously and we’ll respond to that.”
The US flew nuclear-capable B-52 bombers over South Korea earlier this month, in what it called a response to escalating North Korean threats.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei reiterated a call for calm on all sides.
Hong Lei told a daily news briefing that “joint efforts” should be made to turn around a “tense situation”. He made similar remarks on Tuesday.
Tensions in the Korean peninsula are high following North Korea’s third nuclear test on February 12, which led to the imposition of a fresh raft of sanctions.
North Korea has made multiple threats against both the US and South Korea in recent weeks, including warning of a “pre-emptive nuclear strike” on the US and the scrapping of the Korean War armistice.
North Korea is not thought to have the technology to strike the US mainland with either a nuclear weapon or a ballistic missile, but it is capable of targeting some US military bases in Asia with its mid-range missiles.
While North Korea has issued many threats against the US and South Korea in the past, this level of sustained rhetoric is rare, observers say.
On March 16, North Korea warned of attacks against South Korea’s border islands, and advised residents to leave the islands. In 2010 it shelled South Korea’s Yeonpyeong island, causing four deaths.
On Wednesday, Pyongyang also cut a military hotline with the South – the last direct official link between the two nations.
A Red Cross hotline and another line used to communicate with the UN Command at Panmunjom have already been cut, although an inter-Korean air-traffic hotline still exists.
The jointly-run Kaesong industrial park is still in operation, however, and over 160 South Korean commuters entered North Korea yesterday to work in its factories.
Kaesong Industrial Complex employs an estimated 50,000 North Korean workers and is a source of badly-needed hard currency for the North.
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades says his country has no intention of the leaving the European single currency.
Nicos Anastasiades said: “In no way will we experiment with the future of our country.”
The president said the financial situation was “contained” following the 10 billion euro bailout deal with the EU and IMF.
Cypriot banks opened on Thursday, March 28, for the first time in nearly two weeks amid severe new rules imposed as part of the bailout deal
Cypriot banks opened on Thursday, March 28, for the first time in nearly two weeks amid severe new rules imposed as part of the bailout deal.
Queues formed of people trying to access their money, but the mood was generally calm.
By Friday, banks had returned to their normal working hours and there were no longer reports of big queues.
“We have averted the risk of bankruptcy,” Nicos Anastasiades said on Friday.
“The situation, despite the tragedy of it all, is contained.”
The president told a meeting of civil servants: “We have no intention of leaving the euro.”
However, Nicos Anastasiades accused other members of the eurozone of making “unprecedented demands that forced Cyprus to become an experiment”.
Cyprus needs to raise 5.8 billion euros ($7.4 billion) to qualify for the bailout, and has become the first eurozone member country to bring in capital controls to prevent a torrent of money leaving the island and credit institutions collapsing.
As well as a daily withdrawal limit of 300 euros, Cypriots may not cash cheques and those leaving the country will only be allowed to take 1,000 euros with them.
Payments and/or transfers outside Cyprus via debit and or credit cards are allowed up to 5,000 euros per person per month.
Depositors with more than 100,000 euros will see some of their savings exchanged for bank shares.
Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said on Thursday that such controls could gradually be lifted over the course of the month.
But many economists predict the controls could be in place for much longer.
Cyprus capital controls
Daily withdrawals limited to 300 euros
Cashing of cheques banned
Those travelling abroad can take no more than 1,000 euros out of the country
Payments and/or transfers outside Cyprus via debit and or credit cards permitted up to 5,000 euros per month
Businesses able to carry out transactions up to 5,000 euros per day
Special committee to review commercial transactions between 5,000 and 200,000 euros and approve all those over 200,000 euros on a case-by-case basis
No termination of fixed-term deposit accounts before maturity
Soyuz spacecraft has docked at the International Space Station (ISS) after a journey of less than six hours.
The three-man crew is the first to take the quicker route, involving just four orbits.
The journey normally takes two days for a Russian spacecraft.
The arrival of Russians Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin and Chris Cassidy of the US brings the number of crew at the ISS to six.
Soyuz spacecraft has docked at the ISS after a journey of less than six hours
The crew launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
After lift-off at 20:43 GMT, the Soyuz capsule then entered orbit and, using intricate ballistics manoeuvres, succeeded in cutting out around 30 orbits and 45 hours from the flight time to the ISS.
Prior to the flight, the shortened route had been successfully tested three times by Russian Progress cargo ships, which are unmanned versions of the Soyuz that transport supplies to the ISS.
The three new arrivals are due to return to Earth in September. The other three members of the ISS crew arrived in December and will leave in May.
Over the next six months the crew will perform 137 investigations on the US operating segment of the station, and 44 on the Russian segment, according to a statement from the US space agency, NASA.
NASA said that the investigations will cover human research, biological and physical sciences, technology development, Earth observation, and education.
Kim Kardashian has denied Kanye West planned to name their first child North but she confessed to Jay Leno on Thursday night her affection for the name Easton West.
Kim Kardashian, 32, appeared on The Tonight Show, where she was grilled by longtime friend Jay Leno about the ups and downs of her first pregnancy and what kind of dreams she has for her unborn baby.
Jay Leno asked mid-way through the interview about the many rumors circling over what she and Kanye West will call their first born.
Kim Kardashian appeared on The Tonight Show, where she was grilled by Jay Leno about the ups and downs of her first pregnancy and what kind of dreams she has for her unborn baby
“We have a list,” Kim Kardashian said, adding of her family’s own tradition, “And some of them are <<K>> names some of them aren’t.”
“[North] is not on our list,” Kim Kardashian said, adding with a shy shrug: “But you know what name I do like – but it probably won’t be on [our list]… I like Easton – Easton West – I think that’s cute.”
Kim Kardashian declined to say if her suggestion meant she was having a baby boy. The couple have yet to confirm the sex although it’s been reported they’re in fact expecting a girl.
The reality star admitted to feeling “hormonal” and also took the opportunity to address fashion critics and “bullies” who’ve taken to critiquing her every wardrobe choice since she began to show.
“I think it’s a little bully-ish to call a pregnant woman fat,” Kim Kardashian said.
“I mean what do you expect? I hope I gain weight. I’m a little heavy.”
Kim Kardashian guessed she’s gained about 25 lbs over the course of the last few months (She’s due this summer).
And she said despite the criticism she’s embracing her curves, adding: “There’s just more to love right now.”
“I have the rest of my life to be skinny and to lose weight and I’m not really worrying about it. If I have a craving I’ll go for it,” the reality star acknowledged.
Kim Kardashian noted her health and the health of the baby are paramount she she’s not “overdoing it” with junk food.
But she wishes critics would quiet down with remarks about the height of her shoes and girth of her waist – at least while she’s expecting – because she feels like no matter what she does she “just can’t win”.
“I think it’s kind of mean just all the comments that I see, whether it’s, <<She’s wearing heels!>>… That makes me feel good and sexy at least being heavier so if that makes me feel good my baby will feel good,” Kim Kardashian explained.
Kim Kardashian also denied reports her manager and mother, Kris Jenner, is orchestrating any kind of deal on behalf of the baby – whom she hopes won’t grow up to follow in her footsteps chasing fame.
“My momager will not be handling anything for the baby because the baby is not hopefully not going to do anything to be in the business or have a show or do anything like that,” Kim Kardashian said, noting that she would still support her child should he or she chose to pursue a high-profile career.
Asked by Jay Leno if she planned to have any cameras documenting the private moment, Kim Kardashian admitted she’s not sure it’s something she would want captured on video and aired for millions to gawk at (She said doing just that was a “beautiful experience” for her sister Kourtney Kardashian, and the reason her sister decided to share it).
“I don’t even think will have a camcorder… I don’t even know if I would want that as a memory,” Kim Kardashian said, earning a laugh from the studio audience.
South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius might consider competing at this year’s World Athletics Championships in Moscow, his agent has told the Associated Press.
Oscar Pistorius, who has run at both the Olympics and Paralympics, is charged with murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp but will be allowed to travel abroad after challenging his bail terms.
“If he is up for it and qualifies, the World Championships will definitely be on the radar,” Peet van Zyl told AP.
The 14th World Athletics Championships will be held in Moscow from August 10 to August 18.
Oscar Pistorius might consider competing at this year’s World Athletics Championships in Moscow
Oscar Pistorius, 26, nicknamed the Blade Runner because of his prosthetic legs, is accused of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, who was shot and killed at his home in Pretoria on February 14.
The athlete denies murdering the 29-year-old, saying he mistook her for an intruder.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which is the body responsible for the World Championships, said Oscar Pistorius would be “free to run” in Moscow in August on the “basis of the<<innocent until proven guilty>> principle”.
“He’s going to be the one that determines running and training,” Oscar Pistorius’s agent added.
“It’s his call. He’s the one under all the pressure for the court case and grieving for Reeva.’’
Oscar Pistorius must meet certain conditions to be allowed to travel abroad. They include providing an itinerary of his plans at least a week before he is due to leave the country.
The South African was one of the star attractions at the 2012 Olympics in London, becoming the first double amputee to run at an Olympics by taking part in both the 400m and 4x100m.
Oscar Pistorius then won gold medals in the T44 400m and T42-46 4x100m at the Paralympics, as well as silver in the T44 200m.
The International Paralympic Committee said it would discuss the matter of Oscar Pistorius competing again following the Easter break.
Amazon has announced it will buy Goodreads, a book discovery and recommendation website.
San Francisco-based Goodreads was founded in 2007, has 16 million members and is one of the most prominent online communities for readers.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, and it is expected to be completed in the next quarter.
Amazon has announced it will buy Goodreads, a book discovery and recommendation website
Amazon’s electronic book service competes against a number of rivals including Google and Apple.
Goodreads is a social network for readers, where they can recommend, review and discover books. Users can also buy books from online retailers, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
“Amazon and Goodreads share a passion for reinventing reading,” Russ Grandinetti, vice-president for Kindle content at Amazon, said in a statement.
Goodreads co-founder, Otis Chandler, said the deal would allow the company to move faster in bringing its user experience to more people around the world.
Police have arrested and charged a man over the assault on cricketer Jesse Ryder outside a bar in Christchurch, New Zealand.
According to officials, the 20-year-old suspect is due to appear in the Christchurch District Court on April 4.
Police said they were also following a line of inquiry in relation to another person.
Jesse Ryder is in a medically induced coma after being attacked twice in quick succession as he left the bar.
Police have arrested and charged a man over the assault on cricketer Jesse Ryder outside a bar in Christchurch
The cricketer is believed to have suffered serious head injuries after the assaults and is now in intensive care.
At least 10 or more people are thought to have witnessed the incident, a police spokesman said earlier.
Jesse Ryder, 28, has a history of disciplinary lapses and alcohol-related incidents. Although he had been drinking before the assault on Thursday morning, police said alcohol was not a factor.
He was in Christchurch playing for Wellington against Canterbury in the domestic one-day competition.
Jesse Ryder had been due to fly to Delhi to start his $300,000 contract in the Indian Premier League.
The cricketer had chosen not to play for New Zealand since the Napier ODI against South Africa in February 2012 after he was disciplined by team management for being out drinking while carrying an injury.
Police believe two or three men attacked Jesse Ryder outside the bar, before following him to a car park and launching a second, more serious assault on the cricketer.
A witness told New Zealand’s One News that she could hear the impact of the blows from inside the bar.
“As soon as the fight started there were probably four or five guys that ran out to pull them off him and hold them back while he stumbled off over the road,” the witness said.
Jesse Ryder’s friends and domestic and international cricketers have sent messages of support via social media.
New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White said he was “extremely concerned” for Jesse Ryder.
Meanwhile, the head of the country’s Cricket Players’ Association, Heath Mills, has flown to Christchurch to be with Jesse Ryder.
“The cricket community’s very shocked at what’s happened to Jesse. It’s a sad day for us,” he said.
The attack has also been condemned by New Zealand’s PM John Key, who expressed his shock over the “sinister” and “vicious” incident.
The S&P 500 index closed on March 28 at a record high of 1,569, up 6 points or 0.4%.
The last time the S&P 500 index broke into new territory was on October 9, 2007, when it closed at 1,565.
The Dow Jones index was also up 0.4%, with a rise of 52 points taking it to a record 14,578.
The S&P 500 index closed on March 28 at a record high of 1,569
The Nasdaq joined in the upbeat mood created by the smooth reopening of banks in Cyprus and generally positive economic news. It rose 11 points, or 0.3%, to close at 3,268.
The S&P has been near its record high for several weeks, despite the still sluggish performance of the US economy. This means it finishes the quarter 10% higher than its level at the beginning of the year and more than double its low point during the financial crisis.
In relatively light trading, the biggest gainers in the Dow Jones were two IT companies – IBM and Hewlett-Packard, both up over 1%. The biggest falls were by Chevron and JP Morgan Chase.
On the currency markets, the euro rose 0.4 cents to $1.282.
US markets will be shut for the Good Friday holiday.
President Barack Obama has signed the so-called Monsanto Protection Act bill into law.
The bill, the HR 933 continuing resolution, was written in part by the very billion-dollar corporation that will benefit directly from the legislation.
President Barack Obama has signed the so-called Monsanto Protection Act bill into law
Buried 78 pages within the bill exists a provision that grossly protects biotech corporations such as the California-based Monsanto Company from litigation.
With Barack Obama’s signature, agriculture giants that deal with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and genetically engineered (GE) seeds are given the go-ahead to continue to plant and sell man-made crops, even as questions remain largely unanswered about the health risks these types of products pose to consumers.
In light of approval from the House and Senate, more than 250,000 people signed a petition asking President Barack Obama to veto the spending bill over the biotech rider tacked on, an item that has since been widely referred to as the Monsanto Protection Act.
President Barack Obama has announced he will nominate US Air Force General Philip Breedlove as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
Gen. Philip Breedlove, whose nomination was endorsed by ambassadors from the 28 NATO allies, is expected to succeed Admiral James Stavridis.
He is currently the commander of US Air Force units in Europe and Africa.
President Barack Obama has announced he will nominate US Air Force General Philip Breedlove as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe
US Marine General John Allen, who led NATO forces in Afghanistan, was originally nominated for the job.
But John Allen’s nomination was put on hold as he was embroiled in a scandal that led to the resignation of CIA director and former general David Petraeus.
A Pentagon investigation cleared Gen. John Allen. Last month, he said he was retiring, forgoing the nomination to the top US military post in Europe because of his wife’s health.
The post requires US Senate confirmation, but Gen. Philip Breedlove is expected to take over the post this spring.
Kirsten Dunst has branded her onscreen kiss with Brad Pitt as “disgusting”.
Kirsten Dunst and Brad Pitt starred together in 1994’s Interview with the Vampire when the actress was just 11, but she doesn’t have particularly fond memories of their encounter.
Kirsten Dunst transformed her look for Bullett Magazine shoot
“I remember Brad would watch lots of Real World episodes,” she says of his affinity for the MTV reality series.
“He had this long hair. He was just a hippie-ish cool dude. Everyone at the time was like, <<You’re so lucky you kissed Brad Pitt>>, but I thought it was disgusting.
“I didn’t kiss anyone else until I was 16, I think. I was a late bloomer.”
Kirsten Dunst, 30, transformed her look for the accompanying digitalized, avant-garde magazine shoot, trading her blonde locks into silver strands.
Louvre has topped the list of the most visited art museums of 2012, according to the Art Newspaper.
The publication’s annual survey found 9.7 million people visited the Louvre in Paris – one million more than 2011.
New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art was the second most-visited venue, with three London museums taking the third, fourth and fifth spots.
The most popular exhibition of 2012 was a show of Dutch Old Masters at Tokyo’s Metropolitan Art Museum.
Louvre has topped the list of the most visited art museums of 2012
Masterpieces from the Mauritshuis, which included Vermeer’s 1665 painting Girl with a Pearl Earring, brought 10,500 visitors a day to the Tokyo gallery between June and September 2012.
The paintings had been on loan from The Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis in the Hague, which is closed for refurbishment until mid-2014.
The collection will tour the US and Italy before returning to the Netherlands next year.
Visitor numbers at the Louvre, which has topped the annual list of most popular venues since it began in 2007, were boosted by the museum’s new wing of Islamic art.
While the position of the top 10 venues showed little change on the previous year, British museums had an “excellent” 2012 according to the survey, boosted by increased visitors to London for the summer Olympics.
Tate Modern, which attracted a large number visitors thanks to a Damien Hirst retrospective and the Tanks installation, moved up a place to fourth on the list with 5.3 million visitors – up from 4.8 million in 2011.
It pushed the National Gallery down to fifth place.
Alex Beard, deputy director at the Tate said its versatile offering helped bring more people to gallery.
“It has been an extraordinary year at Tate Modern, opening the world’s first museum galleries permanently dedicated to exhibiting live art, performance, installation and film works alongside an outstanding exhibition programme which has undoubtedly fuelled the increase in visitors,” he said.
Surprisingly, none of the 20 most popular exhibitions were held at any of the top five most visited galleries.
Tokyo featured a second time on the list with an exhibition of European art at the National Museum.
While Rio’s Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil appeared three times with The Amazon: Cycles of Modernity in second place with 7,928 daily visitors, Antony Gormley’s Still Being, at seven with 6,909 daily visitors and India at 11 with 6,347 daily visitors.
An exhibition of 19th Century Italian paintings at the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg was the third most-visited show with 7,747 visitors a day.
And in London, David Hockney’s A Bigger Picture – which featured large-scale works on canvas and an iPad – attracted 7,512 daily visitors to the Royal Academy of Arts to become the fifth most-visited.
Due to its popularity, the gallery extended its opening hours for the show’s final week, opening until midnight on weekdays.
Meanwhile, in the Art Newspaper’s list of top 10 London venues, Leonardo at the National Gallery was the highest ranking show to feature pre-20th Century works, with 3,985 visitors a day.
The Cypriot banks offered depositors really good rates of interest – as high as 4.75% for long-term accounts – which attracted not only local people, but also hordes of foreigners.
How could the banks afford to pay such great rates? By investing the money from those “savers” in something that itself paid really great rates of interest: Greek government bonds.
When Greece got bailed out, the value of the bonds was cut in half.
But that wasn’t all. The fat interest rate that those bonds were paying was also cut – to just 3.5%.
The Cypriot banks offered depositors really good rates of interest which attracted not only local people, but also hordes of foreigners
That meant Cyprus’ banks had a lot less money coming in the door. But they still had to pay their depositors – and in some cases they’re paying depositors more than they’re getting from the bonds.
In other words, the Cypriot banks are deep in debt, and they’re not making enough money to make their interest payments. They’re on the verge of going bust.
For help, the banks turned first to their European neighbors, who agreed to lend them some cash. They’ve now got more money coming in the door, but it’s not enough. Now they need to attack the problem at the other end, by reducing the amount they owe.
Who do they owe money to? The depositors.
Now, some of those depositors are protected – accounts under 100,000 euros are insured.
Cyprus is taking a big chunk of the money in those accounts – around 40%.
The 40% “tax” on those big accounts does two things. First, it brings money into the door of the banks, giving them more money to operate with. Second, it reduces the amount of interest they have to pay to those account holders each month.
Pedro Quezada, the New Jersey father of five who won a $338 million Powerball jackpot, owes $29,000 in back child support and could be arrested until he pays up, authorities have revealed.
Authorities in Passaic County, New Jersey, where Pedro Quezada lives and owns a bodega, say they paid a visit to the 44-year-old to inform him that he needed to pay up “in a timely manner”.
On Tuesday, Pedro Quezada claimed his winnings in Tenton – a $152 million lump sum after taxes.
Pedro Quezada, the New Jersey father of five who won a $338 million Powerball jackpot, owes $29,000 in back child support and could be arrested until he pays up
Passaic County Sheriff Richard Berdnik told the North Jersey Record that the New Jersey Lottery Division generally pays out a winner’s back taxes and child support before cutting a check.
However, Richard Berdnik said Pedro Quezada still owes money to the mother of his children.
“Like everyone else, until this warrant is satisfied, Mr. Quezada is subject to potential arrest,” the sheriff warned.
Pedro Quezada has five children who range in age from 5 to 23.
During his short public appearance earlier this week, Pedro Quezada said some of his children live with their mother in North Carolina.
Pedro Quezada, who immigrated from the Dominican Republic 26 years ago, said his family was poor, but he did not speak about the financial troubles he had had.
The Record reports that in 2009 Pedro Quezada’s bodega burned down.
That same year, the bank foreclosed on a property he had purchased three years earlier.
Pedro Quezada said he planned to buy himself a new car and get his wife “whatever she wants”.
Neighbors say they saw the family moving out of their apartment in Passaic earlier this week.
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who survived being shot in the head by the Taliban in October 2012, has signed a book deal worth about $3 million.
Malala Yousafzai, 15, who campaigns for girls’ education, says the memoir is her own story and that of millions of others denied the chance to go to school.
She was shot by a Taliban gunman in her home region of Swat.
Malala Yousafzai and her family now live in the British city of Birmingham where she has been receiving treatment.
The book, titled I am Malala, is scheduled for publication in the autumn.
Malala Yousafzai has signed a book deal worth about $3 million
“I hope the book will reach people around the world, so they realize how difficult it is for some children to get access to education,” she said.
“I want to tell my story, but it will also be the story of 61 million children who can’t get education.
“I want it to be part of the campaign to give every boy and girl the right to go to school. It is their basic right.”
Publishers Weidenfeld and Nicolson say that her memoir will tell what happened on the day she was shot “and the inspiring story of her determination not be intimidated by extremists”.
The book will also be about the schoolgirl’s family, who “gave her remarkable courage”.
Malala Yousafzai writes in the memoir that Tuesday 9 October 2012 was “not the best of days as it was the middle of school exams – though as a bookish girl I don’t mind them as much as my friends do”.
At the time of the attack she was “squashed between friends and teachers on the benches of the open-back truck used as a school bus”.
The gunman walked onto the vehicle and shot her in the face at point-blank range.
Since the shooting and her recovery after treatment in Pakistan and the UK, Malala Yousafzai has received numerous peace awards around the world.
Her father has been appointed a UN educational advisor, and 12 July has been designated by the UN as Malala Day.
The Malala Fund, set up on behalf of her and her family, is dedicated to the education and empowerment of girls in Pakistan and around the world.
Pope Francis has washed and kissed the feet of 12 detainees in a youth detention centre near Rome as part of the Maundy Thursday service.
The Christian ritual takes place on the Thursday before Easter to commemorate Christ’s Last Supper.
Thousands of pilgrims and tourists are arriving in Rome to attend ceremonies during the holy week ahead of Easter.
In a homily, Pope Francis earlier urged priests to do less “soul-searching” and engage more with parishioners.
“It is not in soul-searching… that we encounter the Lord,” the Pope told hundreds of cardinals, priests and bishops in St Peter’s Basilica.
“We need to go out… to the outskirts where there is suffering, bloodshed, blindness that longs for sight and prisoners in thrall to many evil masters.”
Worshippers should “leave Mass looking as if they had heard good news”, he added.
Foot washing replicates the Bible’s account of Jesus Christ’s gesture of humility towards his 12 apostles on the night before he was crucified
During Thursday’s intimate service, Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of 12 young detainees to replicate the Bible’s account of Jesus Christ’s gesture of humility towards his 12 apostles on the night before he was crucified.
The 12 prisoners included two girls, one Italian Catholic and one of Serbian Muslim origin, local prison ombudsman Angiolo Marroni said ahead of the ceremony.
Some of the prisoners volunteered to have their feet washed, while others were given an invitation to help them overcome their embarrassment, the Catholic News Agency quoted the prison chaplain as saying.
In total, around 10 girls and 40 boys from different nationalities and diverse religious confessions were taking part in Thursday’s Mass at Casal del Marmo on the outskirts of Rome.
The newly-elected Pope has brought a new sense of simplicity to the Vatican.
He has broken with tradition for the foot-washing ceremony, which is normally performed on lay people in one of Rome’s basilicas.
Pope Benedict XVI visited the centre in 2007, but not for the Holy Thursday Mass. Only for the first two years of his pontificate did he perform the feet-washing himself, after which the task was delegated to priests.
Easter is the most important festival in the calendar of the Catholic Church.
On Good Friday evening the Pope will carry a wooden cross and pray at a ceremony at Rome’s ancient amphitheatre, the Colosseum, commemorating Jesus’ crucifixion.
On Saturday evening Pope Francis will celebrate the main Easter Vigil Mass in St Peter’s Basilica.
And on Easter Sunday morning, Pope Francis will deliver his first “Urbi et Orbi” message to the city of Rome and to the world.
During his inaugural general audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis called for an immediate political solution to the conflict in the Central African Republic after last weekend’s coup.
Researchers have found that weight loss after gastric band surgery may be partly caused by changes to micro-organisms that live in the gut.
A study in mice has shown that surgery causes different types of bacteria to colonize the gut.
Transferring samples of those bacteria into healthy mice caused them to rapidly lose weight without surgery.
However, the Harvard University researchers said they could not yet explain the mechanism behind their results.
Researchers have found that weight loss after gastric band surgery may be partly caused by changes to micro-organisms that live in the gut
There are differences in the bacteria in the stomachs and intestines of obese people compared with those who are of a normal weight.
And in people who have had gastric bypass operations to help them lose weight, the types of microbes that are found in the gut change.
In the latest study, researchers compared three groups of obese mice on a high-calorie diet.
One group was given a gastric bypass
One was given a sham operation, and the high-calorie diet continued
One was given the same fake operation but then fed a low-calorie diet to promote weight loss
A week later the mice who had undergone the real obesity surgery had different bacteria in their guts, with an increase in types usually seen in lean individuals and a drop in types associated with obesity.
Three weeks after surgery they had lost about 30% of their bodyweight, the researchers reported in Science Translational Medicine.
There was little change in micro-organisms present in the mice who had had sham operations, even though the group on the low-calorie diet lost just as much weight as the mice who had had the bypass surgery.
Researchers then transferred samples from the guts of the three groups of mice into other germ-free mice.
Those who received bacteria from the bypass mice, lost a significant amount of weight in two weeks but the others saw no change.
It is not yet clear how the microbes influence weight loss, but one theory is that they have an impact on metabolism.
“We need to learn a good deal more about the mechanism by which a microbial population changed by gastric bypass exerts its effects,” said study author Dr. Lee Kaplan, an associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
“The ability to achieve even some of these effects without surgery would give us an entirely new way to treat the critical problem of obesity, one that could help patients unable or unwilling to have surgery.”
Co-author Peter Turnbaugh added: “It may not be that we will have a magic pill that will work for everyone who’s slightly overweight.
“But if we can, at a minimum, provide some alternative to gastric bypass surgery that produces similar effects, it would be a major advance.”
