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Li Keqiang confirmed as China’s new prime minister

Diane A. Wade
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Li Keqiang confirmed as China’s new prime minister

Li Keqiang has been named as China’s new prime minister, placing him at the helm of the world’s second-largest economy.

Li Keqiang, who already holds the number two spot in the Communist Party, takes over from Wen Jiabao.

He was elected for a five-year term but, like his predecessor, would be expected to spend a decade in office.

On Thursday, Xi Jinping was confirmed by legislators as the new president, completing the transition of power from Hu Jintao.

Li Keqiang’s widely-signalled elevation was confirmed by 3,000 legislators at the National People’s Congress, the annual parliament session, in Beijing. He received 2,940 votes to three, with six abstentions.

As premier, Li Keqiang will oversee a large portfolio of domestic affairs, managing economic challenges, environmental woes and China’s urbanization drive.

The appointments seal the shift from one generation of leaders to the next. A raft of vice-premiers and state councillors will be named on Saturday, before the NPC closes on Sunday.

Li Keqiang has been named as China’s new prime minister, placing him at the helm of the world's second-largest economy
Li Keqiang has been named as China’s new prime minister, placing him at the helm of the world’s second-largest economy

Li Keqiang, 57, who is seen as close to outgoing leader Hu Jintao, speaks fluent English and has a PhD in economics.He has called for a more streamlined government, eliminating some ministries while boosting the size of others.

The son of a local official in Anhui province, Li Keqiang became China’s youngest provincial governor when he was tasked to run Henan.

But his time there was marked by a scandal involving the spread of HIV through contaminated blood.

Li Keqiang is expected to end the NPC with a press conference on Sunday, given by Wen Jiabao in the past.

On Thursday, Xi Jinping’s move was approved by 2,952 votes to one, with three abstentions.

Hours later, President Barack Obama called both to congratulate him and raise concerns over ongoing issues, including cyber hacking and North Korea.

“Both leaders agreed on the value of regular high-level engagement to expand co-operation and co-ordination,” a White House statement said.

Barack Obama is sending both Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Secretary of State John Kerry to Beijing in coming days, in an apparent bid to reach out to the new administration.

In an editorial, state-run Global Times said Xi Jinping and his colleagues needed to show powerful leadership to unite society.

“China cannot stop developing or fighting corruption. Social unity is the key to how China can stand against complex international affairs,” it said.

Meanwhile, prominent dissident Hu Jia said he was detained and beaten by police on Thursday after he criticized the election of Xi Jinping as fake.

The well-known AIDS activist said police also refused him treatment for injuries to his head and ribs.

He said authorities were also angry because he had arranged meetings with Liu Xia, wife of jailed Chinese Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, who is under house arrest.

Li Keqiang:

  • Seen as one of the more reform-minded members of the new leadership
  • Started out as a manual laborer on a rural commune
  • Studied law at Peking University, where he became involved in student politics
  • Widely speculated that Li Keqiang was former President Hu Jintao’s preferred successor, but lost the top job to Xi Jinping

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New Zealand hit by worst drought in 30 years

Diane A. Wade
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New Zealand hit by worst drought in 30 years

New Zealand has declared drought emergency on the entire North Island in what the government describes as the worst dry spell in 30 years.

Farmers are especially hard hit, with losses in agriculture expected to shave about 1% off economic growth.

New Zeland’s capital Wellington is said to have just 18 days of water left, and parts of the South Island could soon be hit.

But there is likely to be some relief over the weekend when the first decent rainfall in two months is forecast.

The scale of the drought can be seen from space: satellite images show how parts of New Zealand have turned from lush green to parched brown.

Farmers, who traditionally drive the nation’s economy, estimate that the drought has already cost them about NZ$1 billion ($820 million) in lost earnings.

They are now being offered financial assistance by the government to deal with the crisis.

New Zealand has declared drought emergency on the entire North Island in what the government describes as the worst dry spell in 30 years
New Zealand has declared drought emergency on the entire North Island in what the government describes as the worst dry spell in 30 years

“What we are telling our farmers is forget about this season, start concentrating on next season,” said Derek Spratt, the chairman of New Zealand’s Rural Support Trust.

Some scientists say the unusually dry weather could be a harbinger of climate change.

At the same time, many city residents are enjoying sun soaked days as they go eating lunch outdoors or spend evening on the beach.

And winemakers describe the current conditions as perfect.

North Korea accuses US and South Korea of cyber attacks

Diane A. Wade
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North Korea accuses US and South Korea of cyber attacks

North Korea has accused the United States and its allies of attacks on its internet servers, amid tension on Korean peninsula.

KCNA news agency said the “intensive and persistent” attacks coincided with US-South Korea military drills.

Official sites such as KCNA, Air Koryo and Rodong Sinmun, the party newspaper, are reported to have been inaccessible on some occasions in recent days.

Tension has escalated in the wake of North Korea’s third nuclear test last month.

The test led to fresh UN sanctions being imposed on Pyongyang, which has responded with strong rhetoric – both to the UN move and the annual joint drills, which it bitterly opposes.

It says it has scrapped the Korean War armistice and ended non-aggression pacts with Seoul. It has also cut off a hotline that connects the two countries.

The two Koreas remain technically at war because the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a treaty. South Korea says North Korea cannot unilaterally dissolve the armistice and has called on Pyongyang to tone down its language.

North Korea called the cyber attack a “cowardly and despicable act”.

“It is nobody’s secret that the US and South Korean puppet regime are massively bolstering up cyber forces in a bid to intensify the subversive activities and sabotages against the DPRK [North Korea],” KCNA said.

North Korea has accused the US and South Korea of attacks on its internet servers
North Korea has accused the US and South Korea of attacks on its internet servers

However, accusations of cyber attacks on the peninsula usually flow in the opposite direction.South Korean intelligence sources say North Korea routinely attempts to access the network here, and Pyongyang is believed to have broken into Defence Ministry data at least once in the past few years, our correspondent adds.

Current internet access in North Korea is extremely limited for locals, with most people only having access to a small number of state-run pages. The wider internet is available only to the government and the military.

HIV infection cured in up to 15% of cases after very early treatment

Kathryn R. Bown
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HIV infection cured in up to 15% of cases after very early treatment

An immediate treatment after HIV infection may be enough to “functionally cure” about a 10th of those diagnosed early, say researchers in France.

The researchers have been analyzing 14 people who stopped therapy, but have since shown no signs of the virus resurging.

It follows reports of a baby girl being effectively cured after very early treatment in the US.

However, most people infected with HIV do not find out until the virus has fully infiltrated the body.

The group of patients, known as the Visconti cohort, all started treatment within 10 weeks of being infected.

They stuck to a course of antiretroviral drugs for three years, on average, but then stopped.

The drugs keep the virus only in check, they cannot eradicate it from its hiding places inside the immune system.

Normally, when the drugs stop, the virus bounces back.

This has not happened in the Visconti patients. Some have been able to control HIV levels for a decade.

An immediate treatment after HIV infection may be enough to functionally cure about a 10th of those diagnosed early
An immediate treatment after HIV infection may be enough to functionally cure about a 10th of those diagnosed early

Dr. Asier Saez-Cirion, from the Institute Pasteur in Paris, said: “Most individuals who follow the same treatment will not control the infection, but there are a few of them who will.”He said 5-15% of patients may be functionally cured, meaning they no longer needed drugs, by attacking the virus soon after infection.

“They still have HIV, it is not eradication of HIV, it is a kind of remission of the infection.”

Their latest study, in the journal PLoS Pathogens, analyzed what happened to the immune system of the patients.

Early treatment may limit the number of unassailable HIV hideouts that are formed. However, the researchers said it was “unclear” why only some patients were functionally cured.

However, he cautioned that many patients would be diagnosed much later than in this study.

Samsung Galaxy S4 can be controlled without touching and translates 9 languages using audio speakers

Nancy Clayson
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Samsung Galaxy S4 can be controlled without touching and translates 9 languages using audio speakers

Samsung Galaxy S4 has been launched last night revealing a last generation smart phone complete with a gallery of never-before-seen technology.

In a much-hyped public event, Samsung introduced the Galaxy S4 with an array of new features, including a few triggered with simply a wave of the hand.

The event at New York’s Radio City Music Hall – which featured a live orchestra, bubbly master of ceremonies and even a tap dance number – was streamed on Samsung’s YouTube channel.

Samsung Galaxy S4, which crams a 5-inch 1080p screen into body slightly smaller than the S III’s, will go sale globally in the April to June period.

Skinny but durable, the S4 is 69 mm wide, and 7.9 mm thick. It weighs just 130 grams, and is encased in polycarbonate.

The newest features involve different options for navigation. If the phone senses someone is looking at the screen, the user can tilt it forward or backwards to scroll up and down a Web page.

That feature falls slightly short of what some consumers may have expected after the New York Times reported that the phone would be able to scroll automatically by tracking readers’ eyes.

But what it can do is sense when it has someone’s attention. When a video is playing the stream will automatically pause if the person looks away from the device and it will restart when the eyes come back to the screen.

Texting while driving will be a thing of the past, as the smart phone’s voice recognition feature has the capability to dictate, reply, forward and save messages using only verbal commands.

The same voice recognition can be seen in the translator feature, which can understand nine languages.

Samsung has also made efforts to combat the issue of messy fingerprints, with a screen that now senses fingers hovering just above the screen, and applications that react.

The Mail application shows the first few lines of an email when a finger hovers above it in the list, and the Gallery application shows an expanded thumbnail.

Users can control some other applications by making gestures in the air above the phone.

In the browser, you can command the screen to scroll up by swiping from top to bottom a few inches from the phone.

The Camera application can now use both the front and rear cameras simultaneously, and can insert a picture of the photographer even as he or she is capturing the scene in front of them.

Samsung Galaxy S4 also has an erase feature, which allows the phone to take several pictures of a subject, then create a composite of the images to remove an unwanted photobomber.

In the US, Galaxy S4 will be sold by all four national carriers – Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA – as well as by smaller ones US Cellular and Cricket.

Samsung did not say what the phone will cost, but it can be expected to start at $200 with a two-year contract in the US.

JK Shin, the executive in charge of Samsung’s mobile communications division, promised the money would be well spent for a “life companion” that will “improve the way most people live every day”.

Samsung Galaxy S4, which crams a 5-inch 1080p screen into body slightly smaller than the S III's, will go sale globally in the April to June period
Samsung Galaxy S4, which crams a 5-inch 1080p screen into body slightly smaller than the S III’s, will go sale globally in the April to June period

Slightly thinner than its predecessor, the Galaxy S4 will go on sale next month.

The skinny but durable handset includes such special features as voice-recognition text messaging, translator software that can recognize 9 languages and an incredible touchscreen technology that toggles some features just by waving your finger.

It uses apps like Samsung’s WatchOn to bring on-demand video straight to the phone.

The cameras on each side of Galaxy S4 can be used in sync with each other, planting the photographer inside the photo he or she is taking. It also has an erase feature.

The phone also utilizes HomeSync, a way to store data on a cloud – and beam a photo across the world to be viewed on the home TV. Speaking of television, the smart phone can double as the remote

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4

Height: 136.6 mm (5.38 inches)

Width: 69 mm (2.72 inches)

Depth: 7.9 mm (0.31 inches)

Weight: 130 grams (4.59 ounces)

Touchscreen: 5in

Pixel density: 441 per inch

Display: 1920-by-1080 pixels

Network speeds: 3G and 4G LTE Lite

Camera: 13 megapixel in back-facing camera, 2 megapixel in front-facing

Voice recognition: Can translate 9 languages and utilizes voice-activated tools that can dictate, reply, forward or save text messages

Built-in apps: Video chat; internet browser; Gmail; Google Talk, Google Play Store; infrared LED; Google Maps; YouTube

Processor: 1.9GHz quad-core processor or 1.6GHz octa-core processor

Internal memory: 16GB; 32GB; or 64GB

Other memory: Data stored in Samsung’s HomeSync – a household cloud service

Battery: 2,600 mAh

Operating system: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean

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What Is A Jesuit?

James J. Williams
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What Is A Jesuit?

The Jesuits (The Society of Jesus) represent a Catholic order that founded Holy Cross.

They are known throughout the world as educators dedicated to “finding God in all things,” exploring wide-ranging cultures and academic fields.

There are 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States.

Holy Cross is the only one that is exclusively devoted to undergraduates.

Jesuit education takes the whole person into account and fosters not only intellectual development, but also moral and spiritual growth.

Intellect and faith are seen as complementary, not contradictory.

The Jesuit tradition values the richness and variety of human experience and is therefore dedicated to helping all students discover the deeper meaning and purpose in their lives while also finding their individual places in the larger society.

With a strong commitment to service and social justice, Jesuits educate “men and women for others” who develop their gifts and achieve at the highest possible level.

True to Jesuit ideals, Holy Cross enables students to cultivate inquiring minds and ethical values for engaged, fulfilling lives.

The Society of Jesus has always been known for practicality and unflappability in the service of its motto: Ad Maiorem Dei gloriam (for the greater glory of God).

Equally well known is the Jesuits’ reputation as educators – giving rise to the adage: “Give me a child of seven, and I will show you the man.”

The Society of Jesus was founded by the Basque nobleman, soldier and future saint, Ignatius of Loyola, who turned to religion after a French cannonball mangled his leg in Pamplona in 1521. Despite attracting the interest of the inquisition, the Company of Jesus, as it was known at first, secured papal approval in 1540.

Francis I is the first Jesuit to be elected Pope
Francis I is the first Jesuit to be elected Pope

The term Jesuit – originally used pejoratively to describe someone who was too ready to use or appropriate the name of Jesus – was never employed by Ignatius of Loyola himself and was adopted only later. Nor were the Jesuits the initial agents of the Spanish Inquisition, which was run by the Dominicans when it was established in 1480.Central to the order’s philosophy are the spiritual exercises set down by Ignatius of Loyola, which offer a means for the individual to learn more about themselves and God through prayer and guidance from a director.

Such fortitude and focus was needed by the Jesuits, whose early missionary work took them through Protestant Europe and as far afield as the New World, Japan, Tibet and Goa. Although the 20,000-strong society is mainly comprised of priests, there are also 2,000 Jesuit brothers, and almost 4,000 scholastics – or men studying for the priesthood.

Members of the society undertake a variety of roles: some work as parish priests; others as teachers, doctors, lawyers, artists and astronomers.

They are organized into 91 geographical “provinces”, which are each overseen by a provincial superior, who answers to the head of the society, the superior general.

But despite their numbers and global presence – the society is the largest male order in the world, with members at work in more than a 100 countries around the world – Jesuits have had to wait almost five centuries to see one of their number elevated to the highest post in the Catholic Church.

Although they take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, Jesuits have historically been viewed with suspicion in Rome and elsewhere, and seen as a group that is a little too practical, a little too independent, and a little too powerful for its own good.

In Elizabethan England, Jesuits were reviled as the embodiment of the Catholic threat-from-within, ruthlessly persecuted and even dragged into the gunpowder plot.

In the new world, their defence of the indigenous peoples they had converted to Catholicism put them at odds with the Spanish and Portuguese governments, who saw their behavior as a hindrance to their economic interests in the area.

By the mid to late 18th century, the order had become so feared and despised that it was suppressed in many parts of the world, only to be re-established by Pope Pius VII in 1814.

In the late 20th century some Latin American Jesuits echoed their predecessors by angering Rome through their embrace of liberation theology, in which Christ’s teachings are interpreted in relation to the politics and economics of poverty. Among those who rejected the movement, which was later fiercely condemned by the Vatican under Pope John Paul II, was an Argentine Jesuit priest named Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He is now Pope Francisc.

Pope Francis warns over Catholic Church need for spiritual renewal

Diane A. Wade
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Pope Francis warns over Catholic Church need for spiritual renewal

Newly-elected Pope Francis has warned the Catholic Church would become “a compassionate NGO” without spiritual renewal.

In a Sistine Chapel Mass with cardinals on his first day as Church leader, Pope Francis said: “If we do not confess to Christ, what would we be?

“We would end up a compassionate NGO. What would happen would be like when children make sand castles and then it all falls down.”

Francis is the first Latin American – and the first Jesuit – Pope.

The 76-year-old has already been swift to stamp his style on the papacy.

Pope Francis is regarded as a doctrinal conservative, but he is also seen as a potential force for reform of the Vatican bureaucracy, analysts say.

On Wednesday night, Pope Francis endeared himself to the crowds in St Peter’s Square – and underlined his reputation for humility – when he asked them to bless him before blessing them in return from the balcony of the basilica.

The Vatican’s account of his first hours in the top job on Thursday also emphasized Pope Francis’s humility, describing how he shunned a special car and security detail provided to take him to the Vatican, travelling instead on a bus with the other cardinals.

Pope Francis has warned the Catholic Church would become a compassionate NGO without spiritual renewal
Pope Francis has warned the Catholic Church would become a compassionate NGO without spiritual renewal

Following his first outing as pope to the Rome basilica on Thursday, Francis went back to the clergy house in a city centre side street where he had been staying ahead of the conclave that elected him on Wednesday.

“He packed his bags and then he went to pay the bill for his room so as to set a good example,” said Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi.

Pope Francis also broke tradition by remaining standing to receive cardinals’ acts of homage after his election, instead of sitting in the papal throne, Father Federico Lombardi said.

On Friday, Pope Francis will meet all the cardinals, including those aged over 80 who did not take part in the conclave.

On Saturday he will meet the world’s media at a special papal audience, an opportunity perhaps to set out some of his global vision.

A visit to his predecessor Benedict XVI at his retreat at Castel Gandolfo outside Rome is also planned, but will not take place in the next couple of days, Father Federico Lombardi said.

The visit to Benedict is important, correspondents say, as the existence of a living retired pope has prompted fears of a possible rival power.

Pope Francis will be installed officially in an inauguration Mass on Tuesday, March 19, the Vatican added.

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Chelsea Clinton buys new apartment for $10.5 million

Nancy Clayson
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Chelsea Clinton buys new apartment for $10.5 million

Chelsea Clinton and husband Marc Mezvinsky are about to swap their $4 million pad for a new $10.5 million luxury four-bedroom apartment in the centre of Manhattan.

Chelsea Clinton, 33, and Marc Mezvinksy, 35, who married in 2010, are believed to have spotted the 5,000 sq ft property while out walking in the area.

The apartment is located in The Whitman building next to Madison Square Park, one of the most desirable corners of Manhattan’s Flatiron District.

They signed a contract for the property, which has stunning views of the park, last month, the New York Post reports.

Former US President Bill Clinton and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton are understood to have run their eyes over the couple’s home during a visit last week.

Chelsea Clinton’s famous parents even agreed to pose for photographs with tradesmen who were carrying out work there, the New York Post reports.

The building, which is being marketed by Douglas Elliman Real Estate, has one apartment on each floor and boasts various security features, including a key operated lift.

Chelsea Clinton and husband Marc Mezvinsky are about to swap their $4 million pad for a new $10.5 million luxury four-bedroom apartment in the centre of Manhattan
Chelsea Clinton and husband Marc Mezvinsky are about to swap their $4 million pad for a new $10.5 million luxury four-bedroom apartment in the centre of Manhattan

Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky’s floor has four bedrooms, six and a half bathrooms, a home office and a den. It also has a 252 sq ft planting terrace and a private storage unit is included with the property.The five-story building also boasts “top-of-the-line” amenities including a full time doorman, residents’ only gym and a refrigerated package room.

The couple’s apartment has a massive living area with timber floors and is flooded with natural light thanks to floor to ceiling windows.

The property’s kitchen would be any amateur cook’s dream, with a glass splash-back, a large marble worktop and state-of-the-art appliances.

The spacious bedrooms in the decadent Manhattan home are equally doused in natural light with large windows overlooking the street. And the bathrooms, covered in grey marble tiles, are roomy and modern.

Chelsea Clinton married Marc Mezvinsky in Rhinebeck, New York at a ceremony attended by many of America’s most powerful figures.

The couple’s current flat on Fifth Avenue is far from shabby either – boasting three bedrooms, two bathrooms as well as a gym and doorman.

The apartment, based in the historic Grand Madison building also features views over downtown Manhattan and Madison Square Park.

South Africa alarm over girls high HIV rate

Kathryn R. Bown
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South Africa alarm over girls high HIV rate

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi is raising the alarm as at least 28% of schoolgirls in South Africa are HIV positive compared with 4% of boys because “sugar daddies” are exploiting them.

Aaron Motsoaledi said 94,000 schoolgirls also fell pregnant in 2011, and 77,000 had abortions at state facilities, The Sowetan newspaper reports.

About 10% of South Africans are living with HIV, official statistics show.

Aaron Motsoaledi has been widely praised for his efforts to curb the disease.

South Africa has run the world’s largest anti-retroviral (ARV) programme since President Jacob Zuma appointed Aaron Motsoaledi as health minister in 2009.

The number of HIV-positive people receiving life-saving ARV drugs more than doubled from 678,500 to 1.5 million after he took office, according to official statistics.

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi is raising the alarm as at least 28 percent of schoolgirls in South Africa are HIV positive
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi is raising the alarm as at least 28 percent of schoolgirls in South Africa are HIV positive

The government of former President Thabo Mbeki, who questioned the link between HIV and AIDS, had argued it could not afford to roll out this treatment to all the South Africans who needed it.

Speaking at a public meeting in the town of Carolina in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province, Aaron Motsoaledi said the large number of young girls who were HIV-positive “destroyed my soul”.

“It is clear that it is not young boys who are sleeping with these girls. It is old men,” The Sowetan quotes him as saying.

“We must take a stand against sugar daddies because they are destroying our children.”

Aaron Motsoaledi said some pregnant girls – aged between 10 and 14 years of age – also tested positive for HIV.

“[About] 77 000 girls had abortions at public facilities. We can no longer live like that. We want to put an end to it,” he said.

More than 5 million people in South Africa are HIV-positive – about 10% of the total population.

Last year more than 260,000 people with AIDS died – almost half the figure of all those who died in South Africa.

Tamar Braxton pregnant: singer makes announcement on Good Morning America

Lisa.Felice
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Tamar Braxton pregnant: singer makes announcement on Good Morning America

Tamar Braxton has confirmed she is pregnant on a Wednesday appearance on Good Morning America.

Tamar Braxton, 35, is expecting her first child with husband Vince Herbert, 43.

The singer glowed in a tight white dress as she announced her news.

“I feel great and greedy at the same time. This is the most I’ve eaten ever,” Tamar Braxton said.

Despite her confession, Tamar Braxton still flaunted her healthy and curvaceous figure with pride.

She shared a picture of her and husband Vince Herbert on Instagram boasting smiles after stating: “I have a love on top! I am pregnant!”

Tamar Braxton has confirmed she is pregnant on a Wednesday appearance on Good Morning America
Tamar Braxton has confirmed she is pregnant on a Wednesday appearance on Good Morning America

Tamar Braxton will be joining the mommy ranks of her sisters.

Traci Braxton, Toni Braxton, Trina Braxton and Towanda Braxton all have children, leaving Tamar as the last of the sisters to have a child of her own.

Though Tamar hasn’t revealed her due date, she did divulge that she doesn’t have “that many months to go”.

Perhaps her baby will make an appearance in time for the second season of her Braxton Family Values spin-off, Tamar & Vince.

The first season of Tamar & Vince wrapped in December of 2012, but Tamar Braxton confirmed on her Twitter that they will be back for a second season.

Tamar Braxton can be seen in the upcoming season of Braxton Family Values, which premieres Thursday, March 14 on WE TV.

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Pi Day: March 14th (3-14)

James J. Williams
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Pi Day: March 14th (3-14)

For math enthusiasts around the world, March 14 (3-14) is Pi Day, honoring the number pi, which is the ratio of circumference to diameter of a circle.

Pi number (3.14159265358979323846264338327950288…) has captivated imaginations for thousands of years.

Approximately 3.14, pi number has its own holiday on March 14, which also happens to be Albert Einstein’s birthday.

You won’t get off school for Pi Day, but you might be doing something special in school on Friday (the last weekday before Pi Day).

Mathematicians, teachers, museum directors, math students of all ages and other aficionados celebrate the number with pi recitations, pie-baking, pie-eating contests and math-related activities.

March 14 is Pi Day, honoring the number pi
March 14 is Pi Day, honoring the number pi

Pi Day has gained popularity worldwide every year during the last decade as enthusiasm has spread on the Web, said David Blatner, author of The Joy of Pi.

One of the oldest, if not the first, established Pi Day celebrations is at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, California, which boasts 22 years of pi mayhem. The day is even recognized by the U.S. government: Last March, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution supporting Pi Day and encouraging schools to teach children about the number.

Veronica Mars movie to become reality as fans raise $2 million in less than 24 hours

Sonia Pantiss
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Veronica Mars movie to become reality as fans raise $2 million in less than 24 hours

Fans of cancelled TV series Veronica Mars have raised $2 million to help bring the show about a young private investigator to the big screen.

More than 30,000 people donated money within 24 hours of a “crowd-sourcing” campaign being launched.

“The more money we raise, the cooler movie we can make,” series creator Rob Thomas wrote in his appeal to fans.

Veronica Mars show, starring Kristen Bell as a young sleuth, ended its three-season run in 2007.

The movie project is the fastest to reach $1 million on the Kickstarter site, reaching the figure in four hours and 24 minutes.

According to a spokesman for the website, the project is the most successful so far to have obtained funding through via crowd-sourcing – the practice of raising ideas, services or money via the internet.

Others to have benefited from similar campaigns include animated films The Goon, which raised $442,000, and Charlie Kaufman’s Anomalisa, for which $406,000 was pledged by fans.

Rob Thomas said he had struck a deal with Warner Bros to make a movie, provided he could raise $2 million by April 12 through the online campaign.

He said the studio had given the project its blessing, having previously declined to fund it after the original TV show was cancelled.

“Their reaction was, if you can show there’s enough fan interest to warrant a movie, we’re on board,” Rob Thomas wrote on the film’s donation page.

Fans of cancelled TV series Veronica Mars have raised $2 million to help bring the show to the big screen
Fans of cancelled TV series Veronica Mars have raised $2 million to help bring the show to the big screen

Kristen Bell and other cast members will begin production in the summer ahead of a likely limited release in 2014.

“You have banded together like the sassy little honey badgers you are and made this possibility happen,” said Kristen Bell in her own online message, promising fans the “sleuthiest, snarkiest” movie possible.

First broadcast in 2004, Veronica Mars told of a high-school student who moves on to college while moonlighting as a private investigator.

The show averaged between 2.2 million and 2.5 million viewers when it aired on the UPN channel, now defunct, and the CW network.

Backers of the film will receive a variety of rewards for pledging cash, including a copy of the script, to be sent on the day the film is released, and naming rights to a character.

A contributor who donated $10,000 snapped up the opportunity to appear in the film.

Crowd-sourcing has become a way for film-makers, video-game developers and other “creatives” to get funding for projects that can be hard to obtain.

At last month’s Academy Awards, documentary short Inocente, which received $52,000 from 300 contributors, became the first Kickstarter-funded film to win an Oscar.

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Last non-European Pope: Gregory III (731 – 741)

James J. Williams
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Last non-European Pope: Gregory III (731 – 741)

Pope Francis I is the first non-European Catholic Church leader for over 1,200 years.

The last non-European Pope before Francis I was Gregory III.

Pope Saint Gregory III led the Catholic Church from 11 February 731 to 28 November 741, when he died.

He was the last Pope to be born outside Europe until the election of Pope Francis I on 13 March 2013.

Gregory, the son of a Syrian named John, was elected pope by popular acclamation on 11 February 731, but was not formally consecrated as Bishop of Rome until 18 March, after having received the approval of the Byzantine exarch in Ravenna.

Pope Gregory III was the last pope to seek the exarch’s ratification of a papal election.

Gregory III was the last Pope to be born outside Europe until the election of Pope Francis I on 13 March 2013
Gregory III was the last Pope to be born outside Europe until the election of Pope Francis I on 13 March 2013

Pope Francis I, like most of his countrymen, is of Italian descent, so he bridges the Italian-dominated Church administration with Latin America, which accounts for 40% of all the world’s Catholics. Culturally always part of Western Europe, Argentina is also rather secular, with over 11% of people “indifferent towards religion”, compared to figures of under 2% in predominantly non-European Peru, Paraguay and Colombia.

Several of the early popes were Syrian, and just as the centre of Christianity in its early years shifted from the Middle East to Europe, so now it is moving across the seas. The twilight of Middle Eastern Christianity is the great tragedy of our times, Syria also being the birthplace of Christian music, among other things. But the decline of European Catholicism is also sad, because what makes Catholicism so beautiful, aesthetically, it is Italian-ness, which during that country’s long cultural dominance of Europe inspired such art and devotion.

EU Summit 2013: Focus on eurozone recession and unemployment

Clyde K. Valle
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EU Summit 2013: Focus on eurozone recession and unemployment

A new EU summit is getting under way in Brussels with issues of jobs and growth expected to dominate its agenda.

The eurozone as a whole has been in recession for more than a year and unemployment is now just under 12%.

France and some other countries want more flexibility in the budget targets set by the EU Commission, as austerity has provoked widespread protests.

France and Spain, hit hard by the debt crisis, expect to miss their budget deficit targets this year.

But Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel remains determined to keep Europe focused on budget discipline, to prevent any resurgence of market jitters about eurozone stability.

Cyprus, whose major banks are crippled by debts, wants to secure an international bailout of up to 17 billion euros ($22 billion). There is unlikely to be a deal on that at the Brussels summit, as EU finance ministers are still working on the details.

A eurozone summit will follow the main EU summit late on Thursday. Foreign policy issues, including relations with Russia, will be the focus on Friday.

Proposals to deepen eurozone integration will dominate an EU summit in June. The first “building block” of that will be a banking union, which will give the European Central Bank (ECB) far-reaching supervisory powers.

A new EU summit is getting under way in Brussels with issues of jobs and growth expected to dominate its agenda
A new EU summit is getting under way in Brussels with issues of jobs and growth expected to dominate its agenda

There is a big debate in the EU about whether austerity is making the prospects for recovery worse.

The debate has been given new impetus by last month’s Italian election, where an anti-austerity protest movement led by the comedian Beppe Grillo performed very strongly.

This is expected to be the last EU summit for outgoing Italian PM Mario Monti, an unelected technocrat who had firm backing from Brussels but got just 10% in the election.

Some economists argue that in current circumstances austerity can actually make government borrowing rise, partly because of the impact that declining production has on tax revenue and welfare spending.

There is a drive in the EU to pursue tax evaders, including some big corporations who exploit the complexity of commercial law to reduce their tax bill.

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Google Reader to be shut down in July as usage declines

Nancy Clayson
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Google Reader to be shut down in July as usage declines

Google has decided to shut down its Reader service starting from July 2013, as usage has declined.

A petition to save the service, which aggregates news content from web feeds, had 25,000 signatures in a few hours.

Experts say shutting Reader is part of Google’s plan to migrate more people to its social media service, Google+.

Google said in its official blog: “There are two simple reasons for this – usage of Google Reader has declined, and as a company we are pouring all of our energy into fewer products.”

It added users and developers who wanted to use alternatives could export their data, including their subscriptions over the next four months, using its Google Takeout service.

Google Reader was launched in 2005, when Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds were a new way to keep tabs on favorite websites and blogs.

The news of its demise has led to a debate about the service on Twitter. Some said its launch had effectively destroyed other RSS competitors.

Security consultant @cortesi tweeted: “Google – a destroyer of ecosystems.”

In his blog, he added: “Google destroyed the RSS feed-reader ecosystem with a subsidised product, stifling its competitors and killing innovation.

“It then neglected Google Reader itself for years, after it had effectively become the only player.”

Google has decided to shut down its Reader service starting from July 2013, as usage has declined
Google has decided to shut down its Reader service starting from July 2013, as usage has declined

Adam Leach, a principal analyst at research firm Ovum, said Google’s business model was to offer free services in order to draw people into its other offerings.

Now, he said, Google wanted people to experience their favorite websites in a more social way and was seeking to migrate its aggregation platforms to its social media service.

“This has been on the cards for a while. It is part of Google’s strategy to shift people to Google + and other social tools,” he said.

Adam Leach added he would personally miss the service.

“I use Google Reader every day,” he said.

“It is one of those tools that sits in the background and allows you to keep pace with what is going on.”

But Chris Wetherell, one of Reader’s chief engineers, told tech news site GigaOm it had been “doomed to fail from the very beginning” because Google “never really believed in the project”.

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Peter Banks found dead at his London home

Sonia Pantiss
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Peter Banks found dead at his London home

British musician Peter Banks, who was the original guitarist of progressive rock band Yes, has died aged 65.

Peter Banks played on two albums with the group before pursuing his own band Flash, and a solo career which included a guest spot on Lionel Richie’s hit Hello.

Peter Banks was found dead at his London home on March 8 after not turning up to a recording studio.

He died from heart failure.

Peter was working on a live Flash album called Flash – In Public.

A post on his official website read: “It’s with great sadness to have to report the death of Peter Banks. He died in his London home on March 8, 2013. Thanks for all the music Peter!”

Peter Banks was in Yes for just a couple of years.

Peter Banks was found dead at his London home on March 8 after not turning up to a recording studio
Peter Banks was found dead at his London home on March 8 after not turning up to a recording studio

In 1969, Yes recorded their eponymous debut album, to be followed by Time And A Word, on which his band mates Jon Anderson and Chris Squire wanted the backing of an orchestra.

It caused some eruptions within the group and after the record came out, he was asked to leave, along with keyboardist Tony Kaye, while there was less for them to do.

During his career, Peter Banks released three albums with Flash between 1972-73, recorded with Empire, contributed to all star tributes to Supertramp and The Who and worked with later Yes member Rick Wakeman’s son Oliver.

Former Yes member Billy Sherwood has paid tribute.

“I loved working with Peter on the many records I have produced over the years,” he said.

“He always delivered amazing stuff, creative, inspired and always with that classic original Yes flavor that came with his playing. He will be missed by me and many, many other fans of his music and playing.”

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Isabella Barrett earned $1 million from her Glitzy Girl collection in 2012

Lisa.Felice
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Isabella Barrett earned $1 million from her Glitzy Girl collection in 2012

Toddlers and Tiaras star Isabella Barrett has earned more than $1 million from her jewellery and make-up line in 2012.

Isabella Barrett, 6, chooses and test out items for the Glitzy Girl collection, which features lip glosses, charm bracelets and velour hoodies.

“It’s a lot of fun,” the little girl told In Touch magazine.

“I’m the boss!”

The idea for Glitzy Girl came about during Isabella Barrett’s pageant days.

Every time she won a beauty contest, Isabella Barrett and her mother would get the title printed on a charm bracelet, “so she could brag about her accomplishments”, as explained her mother.

Since fans loved the look of her charms, Isabella Barrett and her mother took advantage of her popularity and launched the line.

To manage her daughter’s huge earnings, the mother has set up a trust fund that Isabella Barrett won’t be able to access until she turns 18.

“I’m just trying to raise a happy, healthy little girl,” the mother said.

Toddlers and Tiaras star Isabella Barrett has earned more than $1 million from her jewellery and make-up line in 2012
Toddlers and Tiaras star Isabella Barrett has earned more than $1 million from her jewellery and make-up line in 2012

However, she seems to have no qualms about cashing in on her daughter’s fame.

She even told In Touch that she thinks Honey Boo Boo, Isabella’s former Toddlers and Tiaras co-star, should take advantage of her stardom, too.

“I know her mom, June, wants to keep her grounded,” she said.

“But… it’s time to jump on the money train.”

Isabella Barrett’s mother explained that she and her daughter have always planned to use beauty pageants as a stepping stone for other projects.

“It helped us pave the path to where we are now,” she explained.

During an appearance on The View last June, Isabella Barrett’s mother controversially slammed Toddlers and Tiaras for bringing “nothing but negativity to Isabella”, who was in just one episode of the TLC series.

Though the show was no doubt the catalyst of her newfound fame, the mother criticized it for its “completely wrong” portrayal of child beauty stars.

Casey Anthony is pregnant, claims National Enquirer

Nancy Clayson
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Casey Anthony is pregnant, claims National Enquirer

The US most hated mother, Casey Anthony, is allegedly telling close friends that she is expecting again.

Casey Anthony is pregnant with another child and is thrilled at the chance to “prove” that she is a good mother even after she was acquitted of killing her first daughter Caylee.

According to the National Enquirer, which published a story based on the claims of multiple unidentified sources, the infamous mother is pregnant.

“She just said that she fell in love with a very wealthy man while she’s been in hiding. Casey said he’s taking care of her financially and he’s so obsessed with her that he’ll do anything for her,” an unnamed insider told the tabloid.

Casey Anthony, a former murder suspect, was in hiding since the July 2011 trial when she was found not guilty of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, only appearing in public last week to declare bankruptcy.

According to the National Enquirer, however, claims that her rock bottom finances are not the only news of note in the 26-year-old’s life at the moment.

They allege that Casey Anthony is bragging to close friends that she is more than a month pregnant.

Her loose-fitting clothing at the March 4 court appearance gave nothing away about her condition, so the rumor mill is left to run rampant about the state of her would-be pregnancy.

“Her eyes lit up when she told me that she was expecting, but she wouldn’t tell me who the baby’s father is,” the source told The Enquirer.

The National Enquirer also claims that there is a group of concerned citizens who have created a petition to force Casey Anthony to be sterilized, and should she have another baby, they will apparently argue that the child should be turned over to social services. Neither the name of the group- nor the names of any participants- were not listed in the article.

Casey Anthony is allegedly telling close friends that she is expecting again
Casey Anthony is allegedly telling close friends that she is expecting again

If Casey Anthony continues to keep the identity of her partner a secret, it will be the second time that the identity of her child’s father is kept a secret, though she apparently does know the man in this case.

One of the many shocking revelations related to her first daughter Caylee’s murder trial was that a psychiatrist reported that Casey Anthony was impregnated when she was passed out at a party at the age of 18-years-old and discovered a while later that she was with child.

Though there is no hint as to who is the mystery man who apparently impregnated Casey Anthony recently, her supposed claims that he is wealthy will undoubtedly come in handy.

Casey Anthony is not receiving any money in book and TV deals, and is living on the kindness of her former lawyer and strangers.

She bemoaned the fact that she’s unemployed and has not received any income in the months since her acquittal in the murder of her daughter Caylee, who was found dead in 2008.

Instead, she’s been getting by on unsolicited gift cards and donations, and funds given to her by her former attorney, Jose Baez.

After the meeting, Casey Anthony was escorted out of the courthouse by a U.S. Marshal.

Upon her arrival on March 4, Casey Anthony was joined by attorney Cheney Mason, who shielded her from the crowd of reporters and photographers that swarmed her as she emerged from an SUV.

Casey Anthony filed for bankruptcy in January, claiming she was $792,000 in debt and had assets of just $1,000.

Court documents show that Casey Anthony is currently unemployed and has no income to speak of.

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Samsung Galaxy S4 launch in New York

Nancy Clayson
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Samsung Galaxy S4 launch in New York

Samsung is set to launch Galaxy S4, a device included its flagship premium smartphone range.

Galaxy S4 follows the S3, a handset that has sold more than 40 million units. The Galaxy handsets are seen as the closest competitor to Apple’s iPhone.

Analysts predict software that tracks where users are looking and automatically scrolls down the page as it is read, without it being touched.

There is also expected to be a souped-up camera and processor.

But crucial to Samsung’s future success, analysts say, is how the South Korean company plans to turn its strong position in the smartphone market into greater success with other devices such as tablets.

Prior to Thursday’s launch in New York, Samsung has unleashed a huge advertising campaign, including a series of videos involving a small boy tasked with looking after a “top secret” box.

Like the S3, Galaxy S4 is expected to run on Google’s Android operating system – but analysts are predicting some heavy customization from Samsung in order to give the device a more distinctive feel and, crucially, set it apart from its competitors’ Android-based handsets.

This is important, says Gartner analyst Roberta Cozza, if Samsung is to gain a higher level of loyalty to its device range.

Unlike with Apple, where a large number of iPhone owners gravitate towards the iPad when they decide to purchase a tablet, the same cannot be said of other brands, where customers more likely to mix and match.

“We will see more of a step towards more ‘stickiness’ towards the brand,” Roberta Cozza says.

“Already the Galaxy S3 can be seen as an alternative to the iPhone, [but] the integration that Apple offers with iPad is still not matched. Samsung is not there.”

The expectation Galaxy S4 will feature eye-tracking capability has been heightened by existing technology in the Galaxy S3 – the phone’s Smart Stay function stops the screen from dimming when somebody is looking at it.

Samsung is set to launch Galaxy S4, a device included its flagship premium smartphone range
Samsung is set to launch Galaxy S4, a device included its flagship premium smartphone range

Furthermore, the New York Times notes that Samsung filed for a couple of trademarks this year named “Eye Scroll” and “Eye Pause”.

Analysts also predict the standard array of upgrades – faster processor, better camera – and Roberta Cozza predicts we will see something of a small leap in a major area of Samsung’s expertise.

“I would think they will leverage some strength in display,” she says.

“Providing something on the display side that is different.”

Supposed leaked images of the phone show a device that is slightly bigger than Galaxy S3, but largely the same in appearance.

Another company relying on Galaxy S4 to follow successfully in the S3’s footsteps is Google.

Its Android software is used by more smartphone users than Apple’s iOS – but makes less money from apps and other related products.

Of the Android crowd, Samsung is streets ahead in market share, making more than 60% of all Android smartphones sold.

Some analysts believe this dominance could lead to Samsung looking at how it can assert far more control over the operating system – perhaps in a way similar to Amazon which, with its Kindle tablets, launched its own curated app store for its users to buy from instead of Google’s default shop.

As well as cutting out Google’s share of the app sale – a curated store also allows for applications designed specifically for a certain device, rather than the largely one-size-fits-all situation in the Google Play store.

Ovum’s principal device analyst, Tony Cripps, says Samsung needs to take these steps if it is to fend off the threat from other hardware manufacturers such as Chinese firm Huawei.

“While Samsung continues to grow its shipments impressively, the company undermines its own position in the broader ecosystem by providing Google a huge mobile platform from which to influence consumers, application developers and advertisers,” he says.

“It is very difficult for Samsung to achieve that level of influence itself while it depends on Google to supply device software and key applications and services through Android.

“Lacking a powerful ecosystem of its own clearly positions the company lower down in the value chain than either Google or Apple.”

With Apple suffering from a dipped share price, and a few recent missteps with product launches, the time is perhaps ripe for Samsung to pile pressure on the iPhone-maker.

“It is an important device for them because they have got to a point where they are competing head-to-head with Apple, creating a lot of expectation,” says Roberta Cozza.

“All eyes are on this device now.”

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Higgs boson identification close

James J. Williams
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Higgs boson identification close

Large Hadron Collider (LHC) scientists have announced that the particle outlined in July 2012 looks increasingly to be a Higgs boson.

Higgs boson, long theorized as the means by which particles get their mass, had been the subject of a decades-long hunt at the world’s particle accelerators.

Yet there is still some uncertainty as to whether the particle is indeed a Higgs boson, and if so, what type it is.

Results at the Moriond meeting in Italy suggest strongly that the particle’s “spin” is consistent with a Higgs.

Teams from the two Higgs-hunting experiments, Atlas and CMS, analyzed two-and-a-half times more data than were available in July in an effort to pin down not only the particle’s existence, but also something about its character.

All that is conclusively established is that the particle is in the family of bosons, but researchers had been careful since July to describe it as “Higgs-like”.

The zoo of subatomic particles are characterized by properties including their “spin” and “parity” – and the precise establishment of these properties for the new particle will determine if it is beyond doubt the long-sought Higgs.

What is more, theories predict that a number of different types of Higgs may exist.

The simplest form – that which fits neatly into the existing Standard Model of particle physics – would surely shore up the theory, but the possible existence of more “exotic” versions of the particle would open exciting new vistas in science.

LHC scientists have announced that the particle outlined in July 2012 looks increasingly to be a Higgs boson
LHC scientists have announced that the particle outlined in July 2012 looks increasingly to be a Higgs boson

“This is the start of a new story of physics,” said Tony Weidberg, Oxford University physicist and a collaborator on the Atlas experiment.

“Physics has changed since July the 4th – the vague question we had before was to see if there was anything there,” he said.

“Now we’ve got more precise questions: is this particle a Higgs boson, and if so, is it one compatible with the Standard Model?”

The results reported at the conference – based on the entire data sets from 2011 and 2012 – much more strongly suggest that the new particle’s “spin” is zero – consistent with any of the theoretical varieties of Higgs boson.

“The preliminary results with the full 2012 data set are magnificent and to me it is clear that we are dealing with a Higgs boson, though we still have a long way to go to know what kind of Higgs boson it is,” said CMS spokesperson Joe Incandela.

As is often the case in particle physics, a fuller analysis of data will be required to establish beyond doubt that the particle is a Higgs of any kind.

However, Dr. Tony Weidberg said that even these early hints were compelling.

“This is very exciting because if the spin-zero determination is confirmed, it would be the first elementary particle to have zero spin,” he said.

“So this is really different to anything we have seen before.”

Even more data will be required to explore the question of more “exotic” Higgs particles.

A popular but as-yet unsubstantiated theory called supersymmetry suggests there should be as many as five Higgs particles – a notion that will have to remain speculative at least until new data are acquired after the LHC’s two-year shutdown for refurbishment.

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Italian Ambassador Daniele Mancini ordered not to leave India over marines row

Roy Siemens
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Italian Ambassador Daniele Mancini ordered not to leave India over marines row

Daniele Mancini, Italy’s ambassador to India, has been ordered not to leave the country after Rome’s refusal to return two marines charged with the murder of two fishermen in Kerala last year.

The Indian court had allowed the marines to go home to vote in last month’s elections.

Ambassador Daniele Mancini had personally assured the court the marines would return by March 22.

On Wednesday, Indian PM Manmohan Singh warned that “there will be consequences” unless Italy returned the marines.

In unusually strong language, Manmohan Singh said that Italy’s refusal to send back the marines was “unacceptable”.

Rome’s decision has come as a major embarrassment for the Indian government and opposition parties have been demanding their immediate return.

On Thursday morning, the court headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir issued a notice to the Italian ambassador, restraining him from leaving without its permission.

Daniele Mancini has been asked to respond to the notice by March 18.

Daniele Mancini, Italy’s ambassador to India, has been ordered not to leave the country after Rome's refusal to return two marines charged with the murder of two fishermen in Kerala last year
Daniele Mancini, Italy’s ambassador to India, has been ordered not to leave the country after Rome’s refusal to return two marines charged with the murder of two fishermen in Kerala last year

India’s Attorney General GE Vahanvati told the judges that Rome’s failure to return the two marines “is a breach of undertaking given to the highest court of the land and the government is extremely concerned about it”.

In February, the Supreme Court allowed Massimilian Latorre and Salvatore Girone to go home to vote in the Italian elections. They were ordered to return within four weeks.

But on Monday, Italy informed India that the marines would not be coming back, prompting a diplomatic row.

The marines are accused of shooting the fishermen in February 2012. They said they mistook them for pirates.

Italy argues that because the case is now the subject of international maritime law, it has been decided that the pair will not return to India “on the expiration of the permission granted to them”.

Rome says that it wants its nationals to be tried in Italy. Because the incident took place in international waters, Italy believes India has no jurisdiction in the case.

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Pope Francis I first day of papacy

Diane A. Wade
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Pope Francis I first day of papacy

Pope Francis I has begun his first day at the helm of the Catholic Church, attempting to set out his vision for his papacy amid a testing schedule.

The Pope will lead cardinals in his first Mass, begin appointing senior Vatican staff and may visit his predecessor, Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus.

Pope Francis I is the first Latin American and Jesuit pope and has received a flood of goodwill messages from around the world.

He also faces a series of tough challenges.

The Church has been dogged by infighting and scandals over clerical sex abuse and alleged corruption.

Thursday morning saw Pope Francis I beginning the day with a visit to Rome’s main basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Santa Maria Maggiore, for a private prayer.

“He spoke to us cordially like a father,” Reuters news agency quoted Father Ludovico Melo, a priest who prayed with the Pope, as saying.

“We were given 10 minutes’ advance notice that the Pope was coming.”

The election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires shocked many onlookers when it was revealed on Wednesday.

Although he reportedly came second to Pope Benedict XVI during the 2005 conclave, few had predicted the election of the first pope from outside Europe in 1,300 years.

Pope Francis I will return to the Sistine Chapel on Thursday afternoon, scene of his election, to celebrate Mass with the cardinals.

Over the weekend, he will meet the world’s media at a special papal audience, an opportunity perhaps to set out some of his global vision.

Pope Francis I has begun his first day at the helm of the Catholic Church, attempting to set out his vision for his papacy amid a testing schedule
Pope Francis I has begun his first day at the helm of the Catholic Church, attempting to set out his vision for his papacy amid a testing schedule

Pope Francis I had been greeted by crowds roaring their approval when he appeared at the balcony overlooking St Peter’s Square on Wednesday evening, about an hour after white smoke rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel to announce to the world that a new pontiff had been elected.

“It seems that my brother cardinals have gone to the ends of the earth [to find a pope],” Francis said wryly, referring to his native Argentina.

“Now, we take up this journey… A journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among us,” he said.

Pope Francis I endeared himself to the crowds – and underlined his reputation for humility – when he asked them to bless him before blessing them in return.

Later, according to the New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Pope Francis I shunned a special car and security detail provided to take him to the Vatican – “I’ll just go with the guys [cardinals] on the bus,” Cardinal Dolan quoted him as saying.

At the dinner itself, Cardinal Timothy Dolan said the Pope had made the cardinals laugh when he referred to the seven days of meetings that led to his election, saying: “I am going to sleep well tonight and something tells me you are too.”

The 76-year-old from Buenos Aires is the first pope to take the name of Francis – reminiscent of Francis of Assisi, the 13th Century Italian reformer and patron saint of animals, who lived in poverty.

He faces a gruelling schedule over coming days, with a visit to his predecessor Benedict XVI at his retreat at Castel Gandolfo outside Rome reportedly planned, as well as audiences with his cardinals, the media and the faithful.

The visit to Benedict is important, correspondents say, as the existence of a living retired pope has prompted fears of a possible rival power.

The Pope will be installed officially in an inauguration Mass on Tuesday, March 19, the Vatican said.

His election was met with thunderous applause at the cathedral in Buenos Aires and with delight and surprise elsewhere in Latin America – home to 40% of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.

Guillermo Lopez Mirau from Salta, Argentina, said he was delighted with Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s election.

“People here are overjoyed. You can hear sirens and church bells ringing in the air.”

President Barack Obama sent “warm wishes” on behalf of the American people to the newly elected pontiff, hailing the Argentine as “the first pope from the Americas”.

The new leader of the world’s Anglicans, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, said he was looking forward to “walking and working together”.

And Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner – who is said to have clashed with the Argentine archbishop in the past over issues including gay marriage – wished the pontiff a “fruitful pastoral mission”.

Pope Francis I takes the helm at a difficult time for the Catholic Church, facing an array of challenges which include the role of women, interfaith tensions and dwindling congregations in some parts of the world.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who was not among the frontrunners before the election, is regarded as a doctrinal conservative.

But he is also seen as a potential force for reform of the Vatican bureaucracy, which may have won the support of reforming cardinals.

Pope Francis I will come under strong pressure to reform the Curia, the governing body of the Church.

Pope Francis I’s next schedule:

  • Thursday, March 14: Pope celebrates Mass with cardinals in Sistine Chapel – closed to public but televised
  • Friday, March 15: Pope meets all cardinals, including those over 80 who did not take part in conclave
  • Saturday, March 16: Papal audience with media
  • Sunday, March 17: Pope recites Angelus with faithful in St Peter’s Square
  • Tuesday, March 19: Pope formally installed at Mass in St Peter’s Square

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Kris Humphries’ proposal to Kim Kardashian was reshot for her reality show

Lisa.Felice
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Kris Humphries’ proposal to Kim Kardashian was reshot for her reality show

New court documents have emerged revealing Kris Humphries proposal to Kim Kardashian was reshot for her reality show and conversations about her marriage concerns were filmed after she’d already filed for divorce.

Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries are currently embroiled in a bitter divorce battle as Kris attempts to prove that Kim married him for publicity.

Keeping Up With The Kardashians executive producer Russell Jay took part in a deposition last month and a transcript of his testimony has emerged.

In the exchange, Russell Jay also suggested Kim Kardashian has used a tear stick in crying scenes filmed for the show.

Life & Style obtained court documents from the deposition as part of Kris Humphries’ fraud case against Kim Kardashian.

Russell Jay revealed Kim Kardashian didn’t like her reaction during Kris Humphries’ proposal so asked for the scene to be reshot.

“I remember, like, Kim – she didn’t know he was going to propose at that moment,” he said.

“And she came in and she was completely surprised, and I think she had a bad reaction or something and she was embarrassed.

“So she said can we just, like, have me come back in one more time and be, like, really surprised. Because she had no idea it was going to happen. It was in her bedroom.”

New court documents have emerged revealing Kris Humphries proposal to Kim Kardashian was reshot for her reality show
New court documents have emerged revealing Kris Humphries proposal to Kim Kardashian was reshot for her reality show

In addition, Russell Jay revealed that some scenes on the show were created entirely for entertainment purposes.

Russell Jay admitted that the scene in which Kim Kardashian confessed to mother Kris Jenner that she was struggling to make her marriage work was in fact filmed after Kim filed for divorce.

Life&Style reports that Kris Humphries “feels vindicated” by the revelations, quoting as source as saying: “It’s obvious they were trying to tarnish his reputation. This will prove how fake Kim and the show are.”

However, according to TMZ, Kim Kardashian was “completely surprised” by his proposal, which wouldn’t help Kris Humphries prove she fraudulently induced him to marry her.

Kim Kardashian is currently pregnant with Kanye West’s baby and had been hoping to have her divorce finalized before her early July due date.

On May 6 Kim Kardashian will appear in court to defend herself as the feud continues.

It comes after it was revealed that Kris Humphries’ lawyer Marshall Waller quit, blaming an “irremediable breakdown of the attorney-client relationship”.

Kris Humphries still has an out-of-state lawyer – Lee Hutton – but needs another California lawyer for the divorce case reports TMZ.

Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from Kris Humphries on October 21, 2011, after just 72 days of marriage.

Clive Burr dies from multiple sclerosis at the age of 56

Sonia Pantiss
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Clive Burr dies from multiple sclerosis at the age of 56

Former Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr has died at the age of 56 after suffering from multiple sclerosis.

Steve Harris, Iron Maiden’s founder and bass player, said it was “terribly sad news” in an announcement on the group’s website.

“He was a wonderful person and an amazing drummer who made a valuable contribution to Maiden in the early days when we were starting out.”

Clive Burr joined Iron Maiden in 1979 and played on their first three albums.

Lead singer Bruce Dickinson also paid tribute, saying: “Even during the darkest days of his MS, Clive never lost his sense of humor or irreverence.”

Clive Burr played on the band’s debut album Iron Maiden (1980), Killers (1981) and their number one 1982 album The Number of the Beast.

Megadeath bassist David Ellefson, who left his tribute on Facebook, said: “He was one of my all time favourite Metal drummers.”

“So sad,” said Brian Slagal, CEO of Metal Blade Records, on Twitter.

“Clive was a great guy.”

“Always remember CLIVE for eternity,” said Iron Maiden tribute band Coverslave in their own Twitter tribute.

Former Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr has died at the age of 56 after suffering from multiple sclerosis
Former Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr has died at the age of 56 after suffering from multiple sclerosis

Born in 1957 in east London, Clive Burr was a member of British metal band Samson before joining Iron Maiden.

“I first met Clive when he was leaving Samson and joining Iron Maiden,” said Bruce Dickinson.

“He was a great guy and a man who really lived his life to the full.”

Clive Burr left the band in December 1982, just as they were about to become a global stadium headliner.

When he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2001, his former Maiden bandmates formed the Clive Burr MS Trust Fund to help raise money for his living costs.

They performed a number of concerts in his honor when he struggled to keep up payments on his house.

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Pope Francis I: Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?

Diane A. Wade
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Pope Francis I: Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?

Pope Francis I, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on 17 December 1936, is the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic Church, elected on 13 March 2013.

He is the first Pope born in the Americas, and the first Pope from the Southern Hemisphere.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires has been mooted as a possible successor ever since John Paul II died.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, a trained chemist and son of a railway worker, has been a cardinal since 2001 and is widely seen as being open and compassionate.

He stands out for his humility, living in a modest apartment, rather than his luxury official residence.

“In favor of Bergoglio is his pastoral attitude, as they say in the Church – his relationship with the people,” said in 2005 Leandro Pastor, a philosophy professor at the University of Buenos Aires, who has known Cardinal Bergoglio for more than 30 years.

“He’s a very simple man. He’s very austere. And also, I think he’s an intelligent man and someone who is very good at communicating.”

Pope Francis I, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic Church
Pope Francis I, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic Church

Jorge Mario Bergoglio impressed fellow prelates in 2001 when he skilfully helped to manage a synod of bishops in Rome.

Buenos Aires’ cardinal is also a strong advocate for the poor. And, as a Latin American, he comes from a region which is home to around half the world’s billion or so Catholics.

He speaks Italian – the official language of the Church – and that he traces his ancestry back to Italy.

In the event that cardinals struggle to decide whether to maintain a non-Italian papacy or to return to its traditional roots, Jorge Mario Bergoglio could emerge as a choice of compromise.

For the past 28 years, Jorge Mario Bergoglio has lived with only one functioning lung, although he is said to be in good shape.

And then there is the fact that he is a Jesuit.

This order of the Church has never produced a Pope before.

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