Italian composer Armando Trovajoli, who wrote the scores for around 300 films, has died aged 95.
During a long career Armando Trovajoli worked with some of the world’s great jazz musicians, including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis.
Armando Trovajoli’s most famous song was a romantic serenade to Rome so popular with tourists that it was regarded as the city’s theme tune.
Mayor Gianni Alemanno paid tribute to Armando Trovajoli as “the voice of Rome”.
Armando Trovajoli’s death happened several days ago but has only just been announced by his widow Mariapaola.
His many film credits included the soundtracks for Italian classics such as Two Women, starring Sophia Loren, Scent of a Woman and Bitter Rice.
But it was his song Roma nun fa’ la stupida stasera – translated as “Rome don’t be stupid tonight” – that had most enduring popular success.
During a long career Armando Trovajoli worked with some of the world’s great jazz musicians, including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis
Anne Hathaway “threw a fit” when she saw a photo of the dress Amanda Seyfried would be wearing to this year Oscars.
Anne Hathaway, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, had planned to wear a gown by her good friend Valentino, but changed her mind after Amanda Seyfried shared an iPhone snap of her own Alexander McQueen creation – which was very similar – during a rehearsal.
“Anne was like, <<WTF?>>” a source told Us Weekly.
“She started throwing a fit!”
The scene left Amanda Seyfried, 27, “ruffled”, the source continued.
“Amanda didn’t want to deal with it and left,” they said.
Anne Hathaway, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, had planned to wear a gown by her good friend Valentino, but changed her mind after Amanda Seyfried shared an iPhone snap of her own Alexander McQueen creation
To her credit, Anne Hathaway, 30, did not try to persuade her fellow actress to change her dress, they added, instead taking it upon herself to address the situation.
The decision backfired on her though, with her stylists and beauty teams objecting to the wait as she agonized with stylist Rachel Zoe over the selection of a new gown, a second source told Us Weekly.
“Anne made the fashion, make-up, hair, and jewelry teams wait at her home for hours as she decided what to do about the dress debacle,” they said.
After trading her planned Valentino gown for a pale pink Prada creation, Anne Hathaway was forced to issue a public statement by way of apology to Valentino, whose press team had already sent out a press release announcing her choice, unaware of the last-minute switch.
After trading her planned Valentino gown for a pale pink Prada creation, Anne Hathaway was forced to issue a public statement by way of apology to Valentino
In a statement issued to People, Anne Hathaway explained: “It came to my attention late Saturday night that there would be a dress worn to the Oscars that is remarkably similar to the Valentino I had intended to wear, and so I decided it was best for all involved to change my plans.”
Anne Hathaway insisted that the trade was not intended as a snub to Valentino, who designed the wedding gown she wore to marry husband Adam Shulman last September.
“Though I love the dress I did wear, it was a difficult last minute decision as I had so looked forward to wearing Valentino in honor of the deep and meaningful relationship I have enjoyed with the house and with Valentino himself,” the actress continued.
“I deeply regret any disappointment caused.”
Anne Hathaway first made reference to the gown switch when interviewed by Ryan Seacrest on the red carpet on Sunday.
“I didn’t know what I was wearing until about three hours ago,” she told him.
“This was the one that spoke to me in the end.”
Her dress choice undoubtedly came as a surprise to Valentino, whose fashion house sent out a press release just before the awards show stating that it would be dressing Anne Hathaway, Sally Field and Jennifer Aniston.
Anne Hathaway certainly caused a stir in her backless pink satin Prada gown – complete with a very perky bust line – which she accessorized with a sparkling Tiffany necklace.
She has a long history of friendship with 80-year-old Valentino, who has said of the actress: “She’s a very good friend of mine. She’s like my daughter.”
Anne Hathaway has worn a number of Valentino creations to awards ceremonies – including the bold red strapless number she wore to host the Oscars in 2011.
Camille Grammer won’t be attending the upcoming reunion of The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills reality show, nor will she be appearing in season four of the hit series, reports People.
Her fellow castmember Adrienne Maloof, 51, also won’t appear in the reunion show and is also considering quitting the show, reports the publication.
Camille Grammer, 42, is said to have found the constant exposure “hard”.
“There were some good times and some not so good times, but it’s very hard to live your life out on the screen,” a source told People, referring to her divorce from Kelsey Grammer, which was portrayed in the first season of the show.
However, Camille Grammer has no regrets about doing the show, said the source.
“She is definitely a much stronger person now than when she started.”
Camille Grammer won’t be attending the upcoming reunion of The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills reality show, nor will she be appearing in season four of the hit series
Fans of the Bravo series will no doubt miss the constant fall outs between Camille Grammer and her castmate Kyle Richards. In true Hollywood style, they attempted to patch things up – but their precarious relationship was constantly rocked by back-stabbing and two-faced behavior.
Another member of the cast, Adrienne Maloof, is “also considering leaving the show”, said the source, ‘but she has not made a definitive decision as of yet”.
Adrienne Maloof, who joined the cast in season two, also did not appear for the taping of the reunion show on Friday, reports Life & Style.
“She doesn’t want to deal with the women. They are all going to just hash the same thing over and over again and she needs to be with her kids anyway,” a source told the publication.
“She’s headed to Mammoth Mountain in LA for a field trip with her children instead.
“She is always a mom first and foremost,’ added the source, ‘but she is also dodging the Housewives because she knows she’ll be attacked and doesn’t want to deal with it.”
Adrienne Maloof, who joined the cast in season two, has been caught in a bitter feud and legal battle with castmate Brandi Glanville after the blonde blurted out during a taping last spring that Adrienne had used a surrogate to have her twins Christian and Colin, 6.
She was furious when she discovered Glanville had divulged the information on camera as she had not yet told her children.
Al Pacino has been transformed into legendary music producer Phil Spector for his latest role in the HBO production.
Al Pacino, 72, stars in the controversial made-for-TV film Phil Spector, who was convicted of murder in 2009.
Pictured with Al Pacino is his co-star Helen Mirren.
Dame Helen Mirren portrays Phil Spector’s defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden.
Though the two are only five-years apart in age, Helen Mirren’s fresh-faced and pale complexion makes Al Pacino’s character look rather weather-beaten.
Al Pacino’s own persona could not be further from the convict he embodies in the upcoming film.
Phil Spector was not only famous for his Wall of Sound production technique, which scored him a slew of hits including The Beatles’ Let It Be, but also for his eccentric hairstyles.
Al Pacino donned a variety of wigs to play the notorious music producer.
But the transformation went deeper than mere head adornments.
Al Pacino recently said he didn’t try to perfectly mimic Phil Spector or meet with him. Instead he “would sit for hours just looking at Phil talking about things”, on videotape.
The actor tried to capture the essence of the man in order to develop a character who was a real human being in his own right – not just a cheap imitation of Phil Spector.
Al Pacino has been transformed into legendary music producer Phil Spector for his latest role in the HBO production
Helen Mirren admitted that working on the film was “like a strange dream you are having”.
She further explained: “The nature of Phil Spector and the life that he lived encouraged that. He seemed to live in a permanent dream.”
Phil Spector movie is closer to a dream than reality as it depicts writer-director David Mamet’s re-imagining of the events, rather than a retelling of the plain facts of the case.
The HBO film comes with a disclaimer explaining that it is a work of fiction, “inspired by actual persons in a trial, but it is neither an attempt to depict the actual persons, nor to comment upon the outcome”.
What is known to be true about the murder trial’s outcome is that Phil Spector will most likely spend the rest of his life in prison.
Phil Spector’s initial trial in 2007 for the murder of Lana Clarkson, who died from a gunshot wound to the head, ended in a deadlocked jury.
But a second jury in 2009 found him guilty of second degree murder with a sentence of 19 years hard time.
HBO’s Phil Spector is set for release on March 24.
After a failed attempt spanning several months to sell his bachelor pad via a pocket listing, meaning it doesn’t show up in real estate documents, Kanye West has officially put it on the market.
According to TMZ, Kanye West is selling his three bedroom, four bathroom home, located low in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles, for $3.3 million.
The house’s eye-popping décor is an homage to kitsch pop culture, with artworks of iconic American family The Jetsons adorning the walls, giant Toy Story figurines, Andy Warhol “Campbell’s Soup Can” paintings, and huge piles of stuffed animals.
Built on spec, the 4,200-square-foot, three-level house started out as a beige stucco monolith which the rapper transformed with the help of interior designer Don Stewart over three years “into a cross between a museum and a Louis Vuitton boutique”.
Kanye West bought it in 2003 for $1,750,000, and the house is decked out with a ceiling mural in the dining room and French walnut floors.
But it is not the first time Kanye West has attempted to sell the house, and he first listed the property in 2010 for $3.995 million.
After installing walnut flooring, and opening up the space for a loft-like feel, Kanye West commissioned a series of six Jetsons “portraits”, to accompany the game room’s chair of stuffed animals by Fernando and Humberto Campana and a Smurf-blue Igloo chair by Eero Koivisto.
The guest room has its own Jetsons-esque touch: a 1970’s desk in white acrylic, reflecting pink from a fuchsia silk-screen Marilyn behind.
Kanye West sells his toy story themed bachelor pad for $3.3 million
However, Kanye West saved the real glamour for his master bedroom. The suite features an Antonio Citterio bed draped with red-fox and chinchilla throws.
And as you would expect of self-professed fashionista, Kanye West’s closet could compete with Anna Wintour’s with 8-feet-high sliding racks for almost 200 pairs of trainers.
Burglars broke into the house in June of last year while Kanye West was in England performing with Jay-Z.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are currently renovating the $11 million Bel Air home they purchased earlier this year, which will be their first love nest together.
They have both quietly put their LA homes on the market amid speculation they are moving in together.
Kim Kardashian has pocket listed her $4.8 million Beverly Hills home – which she bought in 2010 – with an asking price of $5 million.
In a preview for an upcoming episode of Kourtney And Kim Take Miami, Kim Kardashian was giving relationship advice to her sister Kourtney.
Kim Kardashian, 32, can be seen telling her older sister that Scott Disick is going to cheat on her if she doesn’t show him more affection.
The reality star only adds insult to injury when she then claims that should this happen, it would be entirely 33-year-old Kourtney Kardashian’s fault.
Kim Kardashian gives the warning out of the blue after Kourtney unsuccessfully attempts to find Scott Disick and asks Kim if she knows his whereabouts.
“He took the boat out,” Kim Kardashian says while reclining on her bed and barely glancing up from her computer screen.
“I think he’s just kind of trying to, like, do his own thing.”
The reality star adds: “He just feels like you only care about the kids.”
Kourtney Kardashian unapologetically states that the couple’s two children, Mason and Penelope, are her first priority, but Kim is having none of it.
“You don’t want even alone time with Scott,” Kim Kardashian chides.
“It’s weird.”
Kim Kardashian warns sister Kourtney she will lose Scott Disick
Kourtney Kardashian continues to stand up for herself but it’s clear she is growing increasingly concerned.
“For me, I like doing stuff all together as a family,” she explains.
“He’s gonna cheat on you and it’ll be your fault,” Kim Kardashian hits back.
“You just don’t put in any effort. You’re going to lose him. No joke.”
In case she hadn’t drummed her point in enough, Kim Kardashian adds: “You’re literally going to end up, like, alone.”
After attempting to shrug off her sister’s cruel prophecy, Kourtney Kardashian later admitted her concerns to the camera.
“Just hearing Kim say those words really just freaks me out,” Kourtney Kardashian said.
“Not that Scott would ever cheat on me, but I just really don’t want this for my relationship.”
The new episode of Kourtney and Kim Take Miami airs on Sunday at 9 p.m. on E!.
British researchers have found that melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, is able to fend off the body’s immune system.
Analysis of tumor and blood samples shows that melanoma knocks out the body’s best immune defence.
A potential test could work out which patients are likely to respond to treatment, the Journal of Clinical Investigation reports.
Cancer Research UK said the body’s response was a “complex puzzle”.
Previous work from the team at King’s College London showed that while patients with melanoma produced antibodies that could attack tumor cells, the immune system often seemed powerless to stop the cancer progressing.
But in the latest research they discovered that the subtype of antibody attracted by the melanoma cells was the most ineffective at mounting the right sort of response.
In samples from 80 melanoma patients researchers say that the conditions created by the tumor attract IgG4 antibodies, which mount the weakest response and in turn interfere with any “strong” IgG1 antibodies that might be present.
By mimicking the conditions created by melanomas, they showed that in the presence of tumor cells, the immune system sent out IgG4 antibodies, but when faced with healthy cells it functioned as expected with IgG1 circulating.
They also confirmed that IgG4 was ineffective in launching an immune attack against cancer cells.
Melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, is able to fend off the body’s immune system
In additional tests in 33 patients, they found that those with higher levels of the weak antibody IgG4 had a less favorable prognosis compared with those with levels nearer to normal.
Study author Dr. Sophie Karagiannis said: “This work bears important implications for future therapies since not only are IgG4 antibodies ineffective in activating immune cells to kill tumors but they also work by blocking antibodies from killing tumor cells.”
She said not only was IgG4 stopping the patient’s more powerful antibodies from eradicating cancer, but it could also explain why some treatments based on boosting the immune response may be less effective in some patients.
Co-author Prof. Frank Nestle said more work was needed on developing IgG4 as a potential test to improve patient care by helping to identify patients most likely to respond to treatments.
“This study can also inform the rational design of novel strategies to counteract IgG4 actions,” he added.
Dr. Kat Arney, science communications manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “There’s a lot we don’t yet understand about how our immune system recognizes and responds to cancer, so we’re pleased to have supported this new research that’s helping to solve such a complex puzzle.
“This work is still at an early stage, but it’s a step towards developing more effective treatments for skin cancer and potentially other types of cancer in the future.”
Jeffrey Bush from Florida has disappeared into a 20 ft-deep (6 m) sinkhole that swallowed up a bedroom in his house.
Jeffrey Bush, 36, is presumed dead after rescue crews failed to make contact with him.
Officials in the town near Tampa have postponed further rescue efforts until they determine how much of the ground under the house is compromised.
Sinkholes are common in certain parts of Florida, Hillsborough County’s fire chief said.
“Florida essentially sits on a system of caverns,” Chief Ron Rogers said, saying water erosion in the caverns causes them to collapse and sinkholes to form on the surface.
The sinkhole is currently 30 ft wide and 20 ft deep, but officials have established a 100 ft-wide safety zone, fearing the top of the sinkhole is growing.
“We don’t know how stable the house is,” Chief Ron Rogers said, adding that additional parts of the home began to collapse into the ground while rescuers were inside.
Jeffrey Bush’s brother Jeremy told rescue crews he heard a loud crash near midnight on Thursday, then his brother screaming for help.
He said he jumped into the hole but couldn’t see his brother.
“The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn’t care. I wanted to save my brother,” he said, choking back tears outside a neighbor’s house.
“I could swear I heard him hollering my name to help him.”
Jeffrey Bush from Florida has disappeared into a 20 ft-deep sinkhole that swallowed up a bedroom in his house
One of the first responders to the house had to pull Jeremy Bush back from digging through the widening hole.
“All they could see was a part of a mattress sticking out of the hole,” Chief Ron Rogers said.
“Essentially the floor of that room had opened up.”
There has been no contact with Jeffrey Bush since then, although officials said they had inserted cameras and listening kit into the hole.
Neighbors on both sides of the home have been evacuated.
Four-legged robot BigDog now sports an arm powerful enough to lift and throw breeze blocks.
Made by US robotics company Boston Dynamics, BigDog is backed by the Pentagon.
BigDog was designed primarily for military use, and the arm could help soldiers pick up and carry heavy loads.
But one robotics expert said the technology’s potential was “enormous” for use in other areas, such as search and rescue.
BigDog is one of several robots created by the Massachusetts-based firm and funded by the US Army Research Laboratory.
It has been in development since 2005 and is the size of a large dog “or a small mule,” says the company.
BigDog’s legs mimic an animal’s legs, and are able to absorb shock and recycle energy as the machine moves around. It is powered by an engine which drives a hydraulic pump to send oil under high pressure around its plumbing in order to animate its limbs.
In a video created by Boston Dynamics, BigDog is seen lifting a breeze block with an arm attached to where the head would go on its animal equivalent, and then throwing it backwards.
“The goal is to develop techniques for using the strength of the legs and torso to help power motions of the arm,” posted the company underneath the video.
“This sort of dynamic approach is routinely used by human athletes and is now improving the performance of robots.”
Four-legged robot BigDog now sports an arm powerful enough to lift and throw breeze blocks
The mechanical “dog” is already able to move about a varied, rugged terrain while carrying a load. It can perform simple tasks and obey voice commands.
Chris Melhuish, director of Bristol Robotics Laboratory, told the BBC it was “a phenomenal piece of technology”.
“It’s cost a lot of money, but you tend to spend a lot of money on first prototypes, and later on as these things get rolled out, they get cheaper,” he said.
Chris Melhuish added that the robot’s ability to follow a person made it “an interesting navigation machine which might end up useful in other domain, such as search and rescue”.
“[Imagine] setting off these units across a rough terrain if they were looking for a lost child or a walker on a mountainside.
“I think the potential is enormous – from pets to robots that are going to help you move your shopping, to a robot on a building site that’s moving bricks from one place to another, following a bricklayer around.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they could even do sport one day – such as robot racing.”
BigDog is one of a range of robots developed by Boston Dynamics, among them the Cheetah – a headless machine that is able to reach 28.3 mph (45.5 km/h) on a treadmill, faster than the fastest human.
The death of Max Shatto, an adopted 3-year-old Russian boy in Texas, has been ruled an accident, amid ongoing tensions over the case between the US and Moscow.
Max Shatto, adopted from a Russian orphanage, died in Texas on January 21.
Russia’s children’s commissioner has questioned the findings of the US investigation, saying the boy has become a “victim of big politics”.
Pavel Astakhov sparked controversy last month, alleging he had been murdered by his adoptive mother.
Four doctors in Texas concluded that Max Shatto, born Maksim Kuzmin, had died accidentally from a torn artery in his abdomen and had bruises consistent with injuring himself, a statement said.
After reviewing the results of his post mortem examination, the doctors said the child’s adoptive parents had done nothing wrong.
Russian parliamentarians have called for Max Shatto’s brother to be returned to Russia, and have used the death to justify a ban on adoptions to America.
Pavel Astakhov had initially broken news of the death on Twitter, saying the child’s adoptive mother had killed him.
On Saturday, he returned to Twitter to say that Russian legal officials should seek access to all the documents surrounding Max Shatto’s death.
Max Shatto, adopted from a Russian orphanage, died in Texas on January 21
The medical examiner in Ector County, Texas, said Max Shatto’s death was not intentional, according to Sheriff Mark Donaldson and District Attorney Bobby Bland.
Autopsy results showed that bruises on several parts of Max Shatto’s body were self-inflicted and it was reported that the child had a mental disorder which had caused him to hurt himself.
“I had four doctors agree that this is the result of an accident,” Bobby Bland said.
“We have to take that as fact.”
However, the investigation over what happened was still continuing, officials added.
The prosecutor said that he would see whether to pursue charges such as negligent supervision or injury to a child by omission, after the full results of the investigation were available.
Max Shatto was reportedly found unresponsive outside the family home in Gardendale, Texas on January 21. He had been adopted, along with his half-brother Kristopher, last autumn.
The Russian consul general in Houston, Alexander Zakharov, said he wanted to see the official report from authorities before commenting on the announcement.
Max Shatto’s death came just three weeks after the Russian parliament, the Duma, enacted legislation ending all adoptions of Russian orphans by Americans – a move criticized by the US and by the opposition in Moscow.
The adoption ban has been viewed as retaliation for a law passed in the US that would stop Russian officials suspected of human right violations from coming to the US.
Russian authorities have said they are pursuing their own investigation into the death.
Rihanna has revealed her relationship with Chris Brown could go all the way, including having children together.
In a sultry shoot for ELLE UK,Rihanna has revealed plans to start a family with Chris Brown, why she feels compelled to share so much of her life through social media and her hopes for her future.
Divulging the secrets in her life is starting to become important to Rihanna, who was discovered in 2005 and has worked ever since, and the 25-year-old singer has explained this is why she shares so much of her personal life on Instagram.
Showing off her incredible figure and fierce attitude Rihanna wears kitten ears and a dark mask in the shoot by Mariano Vivacano while wearing designs by fashion houses Maison Martin Margiela, Louis Vuitton and Givenchy.
Speaking frankly about her relationship with Chris Brown, who assaulted her before the 2009 Grammy Awards, Rihanna said: “Stay [her new single] is a story about having love that close and wanting it to last forever. You don’t have that feeling with everybody so when you have it you don’t want to let go of it. I would definitely say that he [Chris Brown] is the one I have that kind of relationship with.”
On the subject of children Rihanna said: “I will probably have a kid. And I’m praying I can go on vacation for a good month. And I’ll have set some things up so I don’t have to tour for the rest of my life, even though I love touring. I want health and happiness in five years. I want to be healthy and happy.”
Despite critics branding Rihanna a bad influence on women of her generation for taking Chris Brown back the singer remains unapologetic, explaining: “Now that we’re adults we can do this right. We got a fresh start and I’m thankful for that. Right now that’s just what we want, a great friendship that’s unbreakable.”
And the social media savvy Rihanna is tired of lying to her fans about her life, explaining she uses Instagram to make it clear the type of person she is.
“Well I Instagram everything about my life, whether it’s smoking pot, in a strip club, reading a Bible verse – how crazy, I know! – or hanging out with my best friend, who happens to be Chris.
“Everybody wanted to know what was happening in my life. Is she a drug addict? No. Is she an alcoholic? No. Is she a victim? No. That’s when I got the gun [tattoo]. It was a symbol of strength. I’ll never be a victim.
“That’s why I’m posting pictures of myself smoking pot, to tell the truth about myself. I’ve got so much to think about, why bring all this extra s*** by being dishonest?”
Rihanna has revealed her relationship with Chris Brown could go all the way, including having children together
But Rihanna’s open attitude doesn’t swing with everyone.
“I’m not afraid of any person in this world but my mother. I’m terrified of her!
“She called me two days ago and reeled me in about two naked pictures Melissa [her best friend] put up on Instagram – a sneak-peek from a photo book she’s making about me. My mom, she went crazy on me.
“I was like embarrassed. I felt like I got my ass whupped in front of my class in school! She said, <<This was like a private moment and you’re just parading this around>>. She humbled the f*** out of me.”
Although she appears on the pages of Elle UK in a number of slick designer outfits, Rihanna is clearly a fan of the high street, designing a clothing range with River Island.
“High-street shops pay more attention to the kids on the street than to the runways, so in a way I like to mix both. I love a high-end bag or jacket with a simple dress.
“I just thought, I’m going to make something for everybody – every personality, every body type.”
President Hugo Chavez is receiving chemotherapy in a Caracas hospital after cancer surgery in Cuba, Venezuela’s Vice-President Nicolas Maduro has revealed.
Nicolas Maduro was speaking after a Mass at a military hospital in honor of Hugo Chavez.
On Thursday, he went on TV to say Hugo Chavez was battling for his life.
President Hugo Chavez, 58, re-elected in October last year, returned to Caracas last month, but little has been heard about his condition until now.
Photos of him in smiling in bed, with his daughters beside him, were released shortly before he was flown home.
Late on Friday, a Mass was held at a new chapel at the Caracas Military Hospital, where the authorities say he was taken for treatment last week. One of Hugo Chavez’s daughters, Maria Gabriela, and senior officials attended the Mass.
“The treatments Commander Chavez is receiving are tough, but he is stronger than them,” VP Nicolas Maduro told reporters as he left the chapel.
Nicolas Maduro was speaking after opposition leader Henrique Capriles accused him of lying repeatedly about the president’s “real situation”.
As speculation mounts about the president’s future, a number of students have chained themselves together in a street in the capital, insisting the government “tells the truth”.
The government says Hugo Chavez is breathing with the help of a tracheal tube and meeting senior ministers from his sickbed at the military hospital.
President Hugo Chavez is receiving chemotherapy in a Caracas hospital after cancer surgery in Cuba
Nicolas Maduro told reporters that after a “general improvement” in his condition, the doctors had decided to start “complementary treatments”.
“Do you know what complementary treatments are? They are chemotherapy that is applied to patients after operations.”
The vice-president added that Hugo Chavez was communicating with his aides “in writing and other ways he has come up with”.
“You know that President Chavez is very creative and his hands won’t be tied when it comes to communicating orders, guidelines and concerns.”
Hugo Chavez, who has been in office for 14 years, revealed he had cancer in June 2011 and has already had four operations, as well as chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
It is believed he has cancer in his pelvic area but his exact illness has never been disclosed.
Last seen in public late last year, Hugo Chavez was reported to have suffered a severe respiratory infection after treatment in Havana.
Hugo Chavez was re-elected for another six-year term in October 2012, but the Supreme Court ruled that his swearing-in could be delayed because of his illness.
It was reported that more than half of Venezuelans believe Hugo Chavez will recover from his illness, although almost a third do not believe he will return to power.
VP Nicolas Maduro has been named by Hugo Chavez as his successor.
If Hugo Chavez is unable to return to office, an election must be held within 30 days under the constitution.
Around 100 million sharks are being killed annually, the most accurate assessment to date of the impact of commercial fishing on sharks suggests.
The researchers say that this rate of exploitation is far too high, especially for a species which reproduces later in life.
The major factor driving the trade is the ongoing demand for shark fins for soup in Chinese communities.
The report has been published in the Journal Marine Policy.
Researchers admit that establishing the true level of global shark fishing is extremely difficult, as the quality of the data is poor. Many sharks that are caught have their fins removed at sea with the body dumped overboard. These fish are often not included in official reports.
However, the scientists estimate a mortality range of between 63 and 273 million sharks in 2010.
“There is a very large range and that speaks to the quality of data, which is not great,” said Dr. Demian Chapman from Stony Brook University in New York, US.
“Certainly 100 million is the median estimate and that’s the best estimate there is,” he added.
While the number of sharks being caught has not changed substantially between 2000 and 2010, the authors of the research argue that the commercial fishing fleets are simply changing location and the shark species they target in order to keep up with demand. The fear is that eventually these shark species will crash.
Fuelling the concern is the fact that many of the species that are most threatened are very slow to reproduce.
“A lot of the sharks that are prized in the trade take more than a decade to reach maturity,” said Dr. Demian Chapman.
“There is a really razor-thin level of mortality that sharks can experience before their population trajectory becomes negative – that is really what’s been happening.
“They are not reproducing fast enough to keep up with the rate we are pulling them out of the ocean,” he added.
Around 100 million sharks are being killed annually, the most accurate assessment to date of the impact of commercial fishing on sharks suggests
The biggest driver for shark fishing has been the demand for shark fin soup, a product that is seen as a luxury item among Chinese communities.
While fins are still being cut off sharks at sea, several countries including Canada, the US and the European Union have tried to restrict this by law.
But this has not had the desired effect, Dr. Demian Chapman explained.
“The problem is that the fins are so valuable that now people are not <<finning>> the sharks at sea – they’re keeping the whole thing. But it is still dead; the finning bans have not stopped the root problem.”
On Sunday, negotiators from 178 countries will gather in Bangkok for the meeting of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). There are proposals to regulate the trade in five of the most threatened species of shark.
At a previous meeting in 2010, similar restrictions fell just short of the required-two thirds majority. This time, campaigners say they have broad support among developed and developing countries and are optimistic they will be able to muster the required votes.
President Barack Obama has signed into effect a wave of steep spending cuts which he has warned could damage the US economy.
The cuts – known as the sequester and drawn up two years ago – will take $85 billion from the US federal budget this year.
Last-ditch talks at the White House to avert the reductions before Friday’s deadline broke up without agreement.
The IMF has warned the cuts could slow global economic growth.
The cuts were designed to be so brutally painful that politicians would be forced to agree on a better way of balancing the books.
However, as the midnight deadline loomed on Friday, Barack Obama and Republican congressional leaders still failed to agree on a way to avoid them.
The two sides are at odds over Barack Obama’s insistence on raising taxes as part of any plan for tackling the country’s $16.6 trillion debt.
After the White House talks broke up, Barack Obama blamed Republicans for the impasse.
“They’ve allowed these cuts to happen because they refuse to budge on closing a single wasteful loophole to help reduce the deficit,” he said.
Barack Obama warned the cuts – if fully realized – would slow US economic growth by half of 1% and cost 750,000 jobs.
“We shouldn’t be making a series of dumb, arbitrary cuts to things that businesses depend on and workers depend on,” he said.
The sequester was drawn up in mid-2011 as Congress and the White House feuded over raising the debt ceiling and how to slash the huge US deficit.
Republicans wanted deep cuts in spending while Democrats insisted on raising taxes.
At the end of 2012 Congress and the White House struck a dramatic deal to avoid what was dubbed the “fiscal cliff”, that included expiring tax breaks and the sequester.
Republicans agreed to Barack Obama’s demand to raise taxes for the rich and Congress postponed the deadline for the budget cuts until March 1.
President Barack Obama has signed into effect a wave of steep spending cuts which he has warned could damage the US economy
About half the cuts will come from the defence budget. Incoming defence secretary Chuck Hagel has warned of “significant impacts” on the military.
Chuck Hagel said the cuts “will cause pain, particularly among our civilian workforce and their families”.
“Let me make it clear that this uncertainty puts at risk our ability to effectively fulfill all of our missions,” Chuck Hagel said.
“Later this month, we intend to issue preliminary notifications to thousands of civilian employees who will be furloughed [put on unpaid leave].”
Defence officials say 800,000 civilian employees will have their working week reduced. They say they will also have to scale back flight hours for warplanes and postpone some equipment maintenance.
The deployment of a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf has also been cancelled.
On Friday, Republican House Speaker John Boehner reiterated his party’s refusal to allow taxes to rise and challenged the gridlocked US Senate to pass a bill first before the House acted on a plan.
“Let’s make it clear that the president got his tax hikes on 1 January,” he said as he left the White House.
“The discussion about revenue, in my view, is over. It’s about taking on the spending problem.”
Correspondents say attention will now turn to the next congressional challenge – a possible shutdown of the US government if no funding bill is passed in the next month.
On March 27 a temporary federal budget that has kept the federal government running since 2012 is due to expire.
House Republicans have said they will vote on a bill next week to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year, on September 30, but keep in place some automatic cuts taking effect on Friday.
Senior al-Qaeda militant Abdelhamid Abou Zeid has been killed in northern Mali, Chadian President Idriss Deby has announced.
Idriss Deby said Chadian forces killed Abdelhamid Abou Zeid during clashes in the remote region.
Abdelhamid Abou Zeid is said to be second-in-command of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which is fighting foreign forces in Mali.
The Algerian national is accused of killing two Western hostages – Briton Edwin Dyer in 2009 and Frenchman Michel Germaneau the following year.
His death will immediately raise questions over the state of several French hostages who are widely believed to have been in Abdelhamid Abou Zeid’s custody.
In January France sent some 3,500 troops to northern Mali to oust various Islamist militant groups who had seized a vast area of the Sahara desert.
Chad is one of several African countries to have supported the French operation.
After recapturing the region’s main towns, French and Chadian troops have been battling Islamist fighters in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains north of Kidal, where the militants had regrouped, in recent weeks.
Senior al-Qaeda militant Abdelhamid Abou Zeid has been killed in northern Mali, Chadian President Idriss Deby has announced
Algeria’s Ennahar TV reported earlier this week that Abdelhamid Abou Zeid was among 40 militants killed in the area near the Algerian border.
“Chadian forces killed two jihadi leaders, including Abou Zeid,” Idriss Deby said on Friday, without giving any further details.
President Idriss Deby was speaking after the funerals of Chadian soldiers killed in the fighting.
Algerian media have reported that security operatives have taken DNA samples from two of Abdelhamid Abou Zeid’s relatives to compare with the body which is reportedly his.
A US official – speaking on condition of anonymity – said Washington found reports that Abdelhamid Abou Zeid was killed “very credible”, according to the AFP news agency.
However, France reacted with caution to the reports, with government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem stressing that his death was so far unconfirmed.
Earlier unverified reports in the French media said that the militant was killed during fighting against French army units.
Abdelhamid Abou Zeid – believed to be in his 40s – was known as the most violent al-Qaeda commander in the region.
He was last seen in public in the Malian cities of Timbuktu and Gao seized by Islamist groups last year.
Queen Elizabeth II has been forced to cancel a Wales visit on Saturday to celebrate St David’s Day, after developing symptoms of a stomach bug.
Buckingham Palace said the 86-year-old monarch is suffering from gastroenteritis.
The Queen had been due to present members of 3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh in Swansea with leeks to mark St David’s Day.
The monarch will now spend the weekend at Windsor and will be “assessed in the coming days”.
It was due to be the first time that the Queen was to present leeks to 3 Royal Welsh, which is the reserve force of the regiment.
However, Saturday’s ceremonies, including a parade to Swansea’s Guildhall, will still take place – despite the Queen’s absence.
The Lord Lieutenant of West Glamorgan, Byron Lewis, will take over the ceremonial role.
Queen Elizabeth II has been forced to cancel a Wales visit on Saturday to celebrate St David’s Day, after developing symptoms of a stomach bug
Saturday’s celebrations were due to follow other royal events on St David’s Day itself on Friday in Cardiff.
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall attended a service at St John The Baptist City Parish Church, before visiting the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
On Thursday, Queen Elizabeth spent the day at Buckingham Palace where she presented honors to a number of Britain’s 2012 Olympic winners.
Olympians honored included heptathlon winner Jessica Ennis, who received the CBE and Team GB cycling boss Dave Brailsford who was knighted.
Rapper Diddy has admitted to wetting the bed as a child and blamed the issue on not drinking enough water, instead guzzling fizzy drinks and excessively consuming sugar.
Diddy revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show: “One thing I want to say is, I grew up as a Kool-Aid kid. I used to pour a half a pound of sugar into the Kool-Aid. Besides it having me bouncing off the walls, I used to be a bed wetter.
“OK, I guess I’m confessing that I used to be a bed wetter. So I went on this quest to stop wetting the bed, and the first day that I had a sleepover and I didn’t wet the bed, it was, like, one of the greatest days of my life.
“It gave me the swagger that I have today because I stopped wetting the bed.”
Diddy, 43, – who has launched his own water brand, AQUAhydrate, with actor Mark Wahlberg – also encouraged children to drink as much H2O as possible to avoid the same red-faced moments he had as a child.
The musician said: “There is something about sugar that makes you wet the bed. So to all you boys and girls out there, as Muhammad Ali used to tell you [to] brush your teeth, I’m telling you to drink water, OK?
“It will stop you from wetting the bed, and you won’t be embarrassed in front of the girls at sleepovers.”
Diddy has admitted to wetting the bed as a child and blamed the issue on not drinking enough water, instead guzzling fizzy drinks and excessively consuming sugar
David Beckham has been forced to deny recent reports that he used a bottom double in for his recent starring role in the H&M underwear campaign.
Answering critics who suggested he had used a lookalike for some of the scenes, David Beckham, 37, hit back at the speculation surrounding his nether regions and confirmed everything used in the advertisement is what nature gave him.
Asked directly about the “bum double” rumors on live French television show Grande Journal on Thursday night, he said: “No I can say the crotch is mine and the backside is mine as well.
“I heard this the other day. Someone said that I had a stand-in for my bum, but no, I can confirm that’s my bum.”
Last month, eagle-eyed fans took to Twitter to debate whether or not David Beckham had relied on a lookalike for some of the scenes in the H&M underwear commercial, after spotting a shirtless man who looked very similar to Beckham in the background of a handout shot.
David Beckham has been forced to deny recent reports that he used a bottom double in for his recent starring role in the H&M underwear campaign
The rumors were also fuelled by a back shot of “Beckham” running along in his pants.
While real David Beckham has sleeve tattoos on both his arms, and several inkings on his back, the etchings were noticeably absent from one shot of the man dashing along the street.
In fact, the man running along appeared to be virtually tattoo-free on his right arm, with only a few designs on his left.
David Beckham’s tattoo of son Brooklyn’s name on his lower back could also not be seen on the “double”, while the inking mid-way down his back also appeared to be significantly larger than the footballer’s.
However, in a recent interview, David Beckham said he completed his own stunts on the Guy Ritchie-directed advert, which sees him dash through Los Angeles in just his boxer shorts when his wife traps his dressing gown in the car door and drives off.
David Beckham is quoted as saying: “It was good fun playing an action hero for the day, getting to do all the stunts and ending up in unexpected situations.”
Kate Middleton dazzles on the red carpet in an array of glamorous designer dresses but she is also known to like a high street bargain or two.
The Duchess of Cambridge, 31, has long championed the likes of Zara and Reiss and her outfit choices have sparked multiple sales booms.
And now, Kate Middleton, who is expecting her first child with husband Prince William in July, has hit the high street once more – this time to dress the Royal bump.
Kate Middleton was spotted browsing the maternity racks at high street store Topshop during a shopping spree in London.
A fellow shopper tweeted: “Oh Just an average day, Kate Middleton smiled at me! 🙂 oh best bit… This was in Topshop! Truly Beautiful :).”
Layla Maan, a Business Development Manager, said: “She really is stunning up close.
“I am still in shock! I had to sit down after.
“She was just browsing next to me and then was shortly in personal shopping area which I usually am in but they had security there.”
Kate Middleton dazzles on the red carpet in an array of glamorous designer dresses but she is also known to like a high street bargain or two
Kate Middleton wore her hair in a bouncy ponytail, with her trademark pearl earrings and casual black leggings.
She swapped her court shoes for flat boots and wrapped up warm with a short fur trimmed brown jacket.
In January, Kate Middleton was spotted in another high street store, Gap, on the hunt for some maternity jeans.
Happy as Kate Middleton may be to shop on the high street, Alexander McQueen’s Sarah Burton – the designer behind the duchess’s wedding gown for her 2011 nuptials – recently revealed wants to design maternity wear for Kate.
When asked if she would be making any maternity clothes for Kate Middleton, the acclaimed designer said: “I hope I will be.”
According to a fashion and beauty website, adding coarse sea salt to shampoo is an easy way to get thicker and fuller hair.
In a new ModaMobvideo, host Marianna Hewitt explains that hair needs exfoliation just as much as skin.
Mixing three parts coarse sea salt with two parts shampoo apparently does the trick.
By using this “detoxifying blend”, hair will be stripped of dead skin cells, old product build-up and dirt.
And it won’t lose any of its natural, healthy oils.
Former Miss California Marianna Hewitt creates the blend using a $1 shampoo and a $2 tub of salt.
She gives a step-by-step explanation of how to create the hair treatment.
“Using lots of hair products every day can actually make your hair feel flatter and more weighed down,” Marianna Hewitt explains.
In a new ModaMob video, host Marianna Hewitt explains that hair needs exfoliation just as much as skin
To give your hair a “fresh start”, Marianna Hewitt says you could either buy a pre-made shampoo from beauty brand Lush for $27, or you could follow her simple steps to create your own DIY detoxifying blend that will only set you back $3.
Make sure the salt you use is coarse, so you can get its exfoliating benefits.
The sea salt will get all of the “gunk” out of your hair, she says.
“This is going to remove all the old product build-up in your hair from years of products which, in result, gives your hair a lift.”
The video shows Marianna Hewitt pouring two parts clarifying shampoo into a container of three parts sea salt. She then blends the mixture thoroughly.
Wash your hair with the mixture in the shower, then rinse with cold water to eliminate all residue.
And the host warns not to do the usual “lather, rinse repeat” with this treatment
“Do not wash your hair with this more than once a month because you’ll end up cleaning it TOO good,” Marianne Hewitt says.
US political leaders are meeting for last-ditch talks at the White House, amid the prospect of steep budget cuts.
Cuts worth $85 billion, originally passed in an effort to push Congress to strike a budget deal, are due to become law by the end of Friday.
President Barack Obama is hosting Democratic and Republican leaders, as a blame game rages in Washington. Congress has adjourned for the weekend.
The IMF has said the cuts could have an impact on global growth.
Analysis in the US suggests the nation’s GDP (economic output) could grow by just 1.4% in 2013 if the cuts are not delayed or replaced. US GDP grew by 2.2% in 2012.
The White House meeting comes as prospects for a deal to avert the cuts, known as the sequester, appear extremely slim.
Budget bills from both parties were defeated in the Senate on Thursday.
Although Republicans and Democrats both say they want to reduce the budget deficit, estimated at $845 billion this year, the president accused Senate Republicans of allowing the cuts to proceed.
Barack Obama favors what he calls a “balanced” approach to deficit reduction, mixing cuts with tax rises for some Americans.
“They voted to let the entire burden of deficit reduction fall squarely on the middle class,” he said of his rivals, in a statement on Thursday.
Barack Obama criticized Republicans for refusing to close “a single tax loophole that benefits the well-off and well-connected.”
The president said that by not doing a budget deal to avoid the cuts, Congress would impose a “self-inflicted wound” on America.
But Republicans contend that the president and his advisers created and proposed the idea of the cuts during budget negotiations in 2011.
House Speaker John Boehner has referred repeatedly to “the president’s sequester”, according to Politico.
John Boehner and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, as well as the Senate’s Democratic majority leader Harry Reid and Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell, arrived at the White House for talks that began at 10:18 EST, officials said.
Reports say Barack Obama is still hoping to push for a wider fiscal deal to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years.
But attention will also turn to the next congressional challenge – a possible shutdown of the US government if no funding bill is passed in the next month.
US political leaders are meeting for last-ditch talks at the White House, amid the prospect of steep budget cuts
The cuts are split roughly evenly between military and domestic programmes, but effects will be felt over time rather than immediately.
While hundreds of thousands of jobs are expected to be lost, no US government programmes will be closed down entirely. Cuts to healthcare provision for the elderly will be limited.
The scale of cuts will increase gradually over 10 years, totalling $1.1 trillion by 2023, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
If there is no agreement, they are scheduled to be signed into the federal budget by President Barack Obama by 23:59 local time on Friday.
When Barack Obama signs an order later on Friday, a process to cut the defence budget by 10% and other programmes by 8.5% will be set into motion.
Millions of federal workers could face up to 22 forced days off without pay this year.
The cuts will not happen overnight – they will be spread over the next seven months and many think Congress will agree to a deal sooner rather than later.
In the Senate on Thursday, a Democratic plan blocked by Republicans proposed nearly $30 billion in future cuts in defence spending and a minimum tax rate on incomes exceeding $1 million.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said there were “no preconditions” on what could be discussed in Friday’s meeting.
With Republicans refusing to allow tax rises and Democrats vowing to protect cherished social programmes, Congress is just weeks away from its next budget battle.
On March 27 a temporary federal budget that has kept the federal government running since 2012 is due to expire.
Failure by Congress to enact a new stop-gap budget could see parts of the federal government shut down.
House Republicans said they would vote on a bill next week to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year, on September 30, but keep in place some automatic cuts taking effect on Friday.
Meanwhile the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the global economic recovery could be harmed by the automatic spending cuts.
Andrew Mason, founder and chief executive of Groupon, has been ousted after the online voucher firm posted another quarterly loss, prompting a 24% slide in its share price on Thursday.
Groupon’s shares have lost 77% of their value since the firm was floated on the Nasdaq in November 2011, as investors fear its business model offering bulk discount deals may be unsustainable.
Andrew Mason, who set the firm up in 2008, told staff: “I will miss you terribly.”
In a note to employees, Andrew Mason said: “After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I’ve decided that I’d like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding – I was fired today. If you’re wondering why… you haven’t been paying attention.”
Groupon’s board said that executive chairman Eric Lefkofsky and vice chairman Ted Leonsis would step in as temporary joint chief executives until a replacement for Andrew Mason could be found.
Speculation has been rife since last year that Andrew Mason’s days were numbered, prompting him to state in November that: “If I ever thought I wasn’t the right guy for the job, I’d be the first person to fire myself.”
However, the timing of the move did catch some investors by surprise, who thought the boss would be given until the summer to try to turn things around.
“Groupon is a very large, very complex, multi-faceted global business,” said Tom White, of Macquarie Research.
“They are either going to have to find somebody who is a proven executer in handling complex businesses, or maybe this is a signal they are going to simplify.”
Andrew Mason, founder and chief executive of Groupon, has been ousted after the online voucher firm posted another quarterly loss
Sameet Sinha, of B Riley & Co, said: “Andrew Mason was a young guy. He had never run a company before, and all of a sudden he was running a company which was in almost 50 countries worldwide. It was definitely something that he couldn’t manage. So they had to make that change.”
Late on Thursday, the company revealed that it had made a bigger-than-expected loss for the last three months, and said that revenues during the current quarter would also undershoot expectations.
Many investors have been concerned for some time that Groupon’s customers are tiring of the deals it offers, and that it is facing more competition from other start-ups and from big firms such as Amazon and Google, who have been copying its strategy.
Cen Yingyuan from China hasn’t cut her hair for the past 11 years and her locks now hang at 6 ft 7 in long.
In comparison to her long hair, 44-year-old Cen Yingyuan only stands 5 ft feet in height, meaning that unless she ties up her tresses her hair trails on the floor as she walks.
Cen Yingyuan, who lives in Guigang, in the Guangxi Province, says: “I have saved the hair for 11 years, and I am quite addicted to it.”
Unsurprising every time Cen Yingyuan goes out she and her hair attract a lot of attention from passers by, but she is proud of her unusual “do”.
Cen Yingyuan treasures her hair so much she even collects any strands that drop out.
“Starting from 2005 I started to collect the dropped ones when combing. Usually I can collect around 50 g a year.”
Cen Yingyuan said many people have offered to buy her hair, and the highest amount she has ever been offered was 20,000 Yuan ($32,000).
She takes good care of her hair and is proud that there is no grey.
“If the hair started to turn grey, I’ll dye it all white, making myself have another look.”
Cen Yingyuan from China hasn’t cut her hair for the past 11 years and her locks now hang at 6 ft 7 in long
However, Cen Yingyuan’s long hair does come with disadvantages as it takes her over an hour to wash and then half a day to dry.
She is unable to wash it in a shower or bath due to its extreme length and is forced to bend over a bucket.
Cen Yingyuan washes her hair every four days and her secret to keeping it shiny is to use a bottle of beer.
And Cen Yingyuan is not alone in being obsessed with growing her hair.
The Red Yao women, a minority ethnic group from Huangluo Yao Village in China, have an average hair length of 5.5 feet with the longest locks measure more than 6.8 feet.
Incredibly, the women cut their hair only once in their lives, at 16 years old, before they start their search for a husband, as they believe a woman long hair brings longevity, wealth and good fortune
Eurozone unemployment rate rose to a new record high in January, official figures show.
The jobless rate in the 17 countries that use the euro rose to 11.9% in January from 11.8% in December, the statistics agency Eurostat said.
The highest rate was 27% in Greece, although the most recent figure there was from November, while the lowest rate was 4.9% in Austria.
Eurostat also said eurozone inflation had fallen to 1.8% in February.
The inflation figure was the lowest for two years, putting it in line with the European Central Bank’s (ECB) inflation target of below, but close to 2%.
The jobless rate in the 17 countries that use the euro rose to 11.9 percent in January 2013 from 11.8 percent in December 2012
Analysts said that the high unemployment and low figure for inflation would make it more likely that the ECB would cut its interest rates later in the year from the current rate of 0.75%.
“All the data is supporting a rate cut, which we see in the second quarter,” said Sarah Hewin from Standard Chartered.
“They could move as early as next week, but there’s an element of the ECB wanting to keep its powder dry as we enter an uncertain political situation with Italy and the Cypriot debt question has to be resolved.”
The highest unemployment rates among countries that have reported their January figures were 26.2% in Spain and 17.6% in Portugal.
Unemployment in the 27 countries that make up the European Union rose to 10.8% in January from 10.7% the previous month.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been heavily criticized by the US, Israel and the UN for branding Zionism a “crime against humanity”.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a UN forum this week: “As with Zionism, anti-Semitism and fascism, it is inevitable that Islamophobia be considered a crime against humanity.”
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu called the comments “dark and mendacious”.
New US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to raise the issue when he meets Turkey’s leaders on Friday.
John Kerry is in Ankara for talks on the crisis in Syria.
But his visit has been overshadowed by Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments, comparing Zionism with fascism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, at a meeting of the UN Alliance of Civilizations Forum in Vienna earlier this week.
His words drew strong condemnation from Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, which called them “a dark and mendacious statement the likes of which we thought had passed from the world”.
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been heavily criticized by the US, Israel and the UN for branding Zionism a crime against humanity
In the US, National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said “the characterization of Zionism as a crime against humanity… is offensive and wrong”.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s office said he heard Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s speech through an interpreter, and called it “unfortunate that such hurtful and divisive comments were uttered at a meeting being held under the theme of responsible leadership”.
Relations between Israel and Turkey have deteriorated since May 2010 when nine Turkish activists aboard a flotilla of aid ships trying to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza were killed in clashes with Israeli troops.
