Abu Sayyaf Islamist militants in the Philippines have released two Filipino members of a TV crew, who were kidnapped last June.
Ramel Vela and Roland Letriro have been taken to a hospital in the southern Sulu province after their release. It is unclear why the Jordanian reporter they were working with was not freed.
The men were captured as they set out to interview Abu Sayyaf militants, a group linked to al-Qaeda.
A number of foreigners are being held for ransom in the southern Philippines.
Areas within Sulu province, whose capital is Jolo, and the wider region are used as bases by Islamist militants and rebel groups.
Ramel Vela, a cameraman, and Roland Letriro, an audio technician, were taken hostage as they set out to interview Abu Sayyaf militants in their jungle lair in the autonomous Sulu island province.
“They really lost weight because they were constantly under stress each day,” provincial police chief Antonio Freyra told the Associated Press.
Ramel Vela and Roland Letriro have been taken to a hospital in the southern Sulu province after their release
A Jordanian reporter, Abdulla Atyani, captured along with Ramel Vela and Roland Letriro, is believed to still be in captivity, Antonio Freya said.
Meanwhile, Warren Rodwell, an Australian kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militants in 2011, was shown alive in a video posted on social media last December.
Looking thin and haggard in the video, Warren Rodwell said: “I personally hold no hope at all for being released.”
The Abu Sayyaf is on the US list of terrorist organizations.
It is considered the smallest and most radical of the extremist movements in the southern Philippines.
The group remains a security threat in the impoverished region where minority Muslims have been fighting for self-rule for decades.
The main Muslim separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, recently signed a peace accord with the government in exchange for broad autonomy.
But the Abu Sayyaf were among the rebel groups who refused to sign up to the peace deal.
Jennifer O’Neill, Lady Gaga’s former personal assistant, who is currently suing the singer for unpaid overtime, has revealed in court depositions that she shared the same bed as Gaga during her Monster’s Ball tour in 2010.
“I was by her side virtually 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Jennifer O’Neill said in her deposition.
“That includes sleeping in the same bed with her. Because she did not sleep alone.”
When asked if it was requirement for Jennifer O’Neill to share the same sleeping quarters with Lady Gaga, she responded: “I felt it was.”
Jennifer O’Neill said that she was the only member of Lady Gaga’s entourage that didn’t have her own hotel room.
“Unlike anybody else on that tour, I did not have my own hotel room. I was not asked if I wanted my own hotel room,” she said.
“I had no privacy, no chance to talk to any family, no chance to talk to any friends, no chance to have sex if I wanted to have sex. There was no chance to do anything.”
In the deposition documents, obtained by the New York Post, Jennifer O’Neill does not make any suggestion that she and Lady Gaga had any kind of sexual relationship.
But she claims that Lady Gaga was incredibly demanding, not giving her anytime to do anything for herself.
“And she was quite irate that she couldn’t reach me on my phone a couple of times, and was quite angry and asked me why she was paying for this hotel room if I was unreachable,” Jennifer O’Neill said in the deposition.
Jennifer O’Neill, Lady Gaga’s former personal assistant, has revealed she shared the same bed as Gaga during her Monster’s Ball tour in 2010
Jennifer O’Neill also describes one time that Lady Gaga made several demands whist O’Neill was trying to get her hair cut.
“She might have said <<I need some tea, I need – can you get my computer for me, can you get my phone, my battery is dead, I need a tampon, the toilet doesn’t flush>>,” Jennifer O’Neill said.
“Another thing she would do in the middle of the night, would be wake me up to have me change the DVD in the DVD player because she didn’t want to watch that DVD anymore and she couldn’t get up to walk across the room to change the DVD herself.”
Lady Gaga tweeted somewhat of a response to the new emerging details on her Twitter account on Saturday, claiming that Jennifer O’Neill had, as well as being her personal assistant, been one of her good friends.
“Everyone’s headlines need an updating. <<former assistant>> is actually <<my best friend from NY since I was 19>>. Painful stuff,” she wrote.
Jennifer O’Neill, from Long Island, launched her legal action against Lady Gaga, claiming she was overworked and underpaid, at the end of last year.
She was employed by the star for 13 months, accompanying her on her Monster Ball world tour in 2011.
Jennifer O’Neill, 41, alleges that she put in 7,168 hours of unpaid overtime and is now owed more than $380,000, according to the report in the New York Post.
The former personal assistant claims she had to cater to Lady Gaga’s at times unreasonable demands around the clock.
Jennifer O’Neill insists she had to ensure “the promptness of a towel following a shower and serving as a personal alarm clock to keep [Gaga] on schedule”.
She was not given breaks for meals “or, at times, even sleep”, and needed to be available at the star’s “earliest waking hour” or for “spontaneous, random matters in the middle of the night”, according to the court papers.
Jennifer O’Neill, who was paid $75,000-a-year, also had to ensue “the availability of chosen outfits”. Lady Gaga is, of course, famous for her eccentric wardrobe and once wore a meat dress to MTV Video Music Awards.
She filed the lawsuit in Manhattan federal court in December against Lady Gaga’s Mermaid Touring company for unpaid overtime.
Lady Gaga dismissed Jennifer O’Neill’s lawsuit in a video-taped deposition from August last year in New York, saying: “[Jennifer is a] f***ing hood rat who is suing me for money that she didn’t earn.
“She thinks she’s just like the queen of the universe. And, you know what, she didn’t want to be a slave to one, because in my work and what I do, I’m the queen of the universe every day.
“She knew there was no overtime, and I never paid her overtime the first time I hired her, so why would she be paid overtime the second time? This whole case is b******* and you know it.”
Jennifer O’Neill is not the first personal assistant to complain about working for Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta.
Former employee Angela Ciemny also claimed she was required to sleep with Lady Gaga most nights because she refused to be alone, according to the book Poker Face: The Rise and Rise of Lady Gaga.
Ben and Jerry’s has unveiled a new ice cream dedicated to 30 Rock series, aptly called Liz Lemon.
Ben and Jerry’s launched its new lemon and blueberry fro-yo to coincide with the airing of the show’s final episode.
“It’s as sweet and tart as Liz Lemon herself,” said Jerry Greenfield, Ben & Jerry’s co-founder and apparent 30 Rock fan, at the flavor’s unveiling event on Thursday night.
The popular NBC comedy starring Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan was in its seventh season when it wrapped up last night.
30 Rock – written by Tina Fey, 42, who plays the goofy but loveable main character Liz Lemon – is loosely based on her own experiences as head writer on Saturday Night Live, which is filmed at the NBC studios headquarters, 30 Rockefeller Center.
Tina Fey – who hosted the Golden Globes this year alongside fellow comedian and friend Amy Poehler – has enjoyed tremendous success for her award-winning sitcom.
Funnily enough, the writer and actress who inspired the new Greek fro-yo flavor is herself of Greek descent.
Ben and Jerry’s are known for their celebrity- and pop culture-inspired ice creams, with notable flavors including Cherry Garcia, Phish Food and Monty Python’s Vermonty Python.
This is not the first time that 30 Rock’s cast members have inspired the ice cream producer.
Ben and Jerry’s has unveiled a new ice cream dedicated to 30 Rock series, aptly called Liz Lemon
Last year the company brought out an ice cream called Schweddy Balls, named for a Saturday Night Live skit featuring Tina Fey’s co-star, Alec Baldwin.
Ben and Jerry’s has also named ice creams after other comedians in the past, with flavors like Stephen Colbert’s American Dream and Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night Snack.
Liz Lemon will hit Ben and Jerry’s stores and frozen food aisles in the next few weeks.
Other celebrity Ben & Jerry’s flavors
Cherry Garcia. Inspired by: Grateful Dead lead guitarist, Jerry Garcia. Ingredients: Cherry ice cream, cherries, fudge flakes
Google is offering $3.14159 million in cash rewards for successful hacks of its Chrome operating system at this year’s Pwnium hacking contest.
The figure is a nod to pi, an irrational number that has intrigued mathematicians for thousands of years.
Previously Google has offered reward of $1 million and $2 million to crack its systems.
The most likely outcome is that multiple hacks momentarily compromise the system with several contestants earning up to $100,000 each, or $150,000 should their hack survive a system reboot.
For a hack to count, it must be delivered via webpages on a basic-model Samsung 550 Chromebook over a Wi-Fi connection.
“We believe these larger rewards reflect the additional challenge involved with tackling the security defenses of Chrome OS, compared to traditional operating systems,” Google Chrome developer Chris Evans wrote.
Google is offering $3.14159 million in cash rewards for successful hacks of its Chrome operating system at this year’s Pwnium hacking contest
Google’s previous contests – CanSecWest 2012 and Hack in the Box – focused on compromising the Chrome browser but not the same-named OS.
Pwnium was started last year as an alternative to the Pwn2Own contest after the latter temporarily changed its rules so that successful hackers didn’t have to show their methods.
For some commercial hackers who only sell their secrets to the highest bidder the change was welcome.
For Pwnium, contests can keep their true identities a secret. A teenager only identified as Pinkie Pie – a name shared by a My Little Pony character – has won $60,000 at each Pwnium.
While Google calls Chrome OS its most secure operating system its market share is so small it hasn’t yet faced a real world field-test.
However, the Pwn2Own prize for cracking the Chrome browser is $100,000 but only $60,000 for Firefox and $65,000 for Safari. Internet Explorer running on Windows 8 wins $100,000 and IE 9 on Windows 7 nets $75,000.
Pwn2Own winners also get to keep the contest provided laptops.
Pwnium hasn’t said whether winners will be able to leave with their Chromebooks but as they only run $450 is likely the company won’t lose sleep over the losses.
Google has never once paid out the full amount offered for a Chrome browser crack.
Turkish Marxist group Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) has claimed it carried a suicide attack on the US embassy in Ankara on Friday.
DHKP-C said the “act of self-sacrifice” had targeted the US, which the group called “murderer of the people of the world”.
The bomber and a guard were killed in the attack at a side entrance of the heavily guarded compound.
The US has warned its citizens not to visit diplomatic missions in Turkey until further notice.
In an online statement the DHKP-C said: “Our warrior Alisan Sanli carried out an act of self-sacrifice on 1 February 2013, by entering the Ankara embassy of the United States, murderer of the people of the world.”
Turkey and the US have denounced the incident as terrorism.
A number of illegal groups ranging from Kurdish separatists to leftist and Islamist militants have launched attacks in Turkey in recent years.
Turkish Marxist group Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) has claimed it carried a suicide attack on the US embassy in Ankara on Friday
The US state department said a Turkish woman visiting the embassy had been seriously hurt and several staff members had suffered minor injuries.
The DHKP-C is designated a terrorist organization in the US and Europe.
The extreme-left group has been blamed for a number of attacks since the 1970s, including some on US diplomatic missions.
Turkish police carried out a series of raids on suspected members in January.
The embassy building is heavily protected but the US has had long-standing plans to move its compound elsewhere for security reasons.
It was recently reported to be in the final stages of a deal to choose an alternative location.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has strongly denied Spanish media claims that he and other members of the governing Popular Party received secret payments.
“I have never received nor distributed undeclared money,” Mariano Rajoy said, stressing that he would not resign.
El Pais newspaper published photographs of ledgers showing payments to Popular Party figures on Thursday.
It said Mariano Rajoy had collected 25,200 euros ($34,000) a year between 1997 and 2008.
Mariano Rajoy and his party were elected by a landslide in November 2011 on a promise to reduce the high public deficit.
Addressing the PP national executive meeting in an extraordinary session to discuss the El Pais allegations in Madrid, Mariano Rajoy said: “It is not true that we received cash that we hid from tax officials.”
He added he would publish on the party’s website full details of his income and assets.
PM Mariano Rajoy has strongly denied Spanish media claims that he and other members of the governing Popular Party received secret payments
As Mariano Rajoy spoke, several hundred demonstrators gathered outside the party headquarters shouting “thieves” and “resign”.
El Pais said the photographs it had published were of ledgers kept by former treasurers Luis Barcenas and Alvaro Lapuerta between 1990 and 2009.
Money was allegedly paid by firms via Luis Barcenas, who stepped down in 2009 and is currently under investigation for money-laundering.
Investigators recently revealed that Luis Barcenas held a Swiss bank account which at one point held as much as 22 million euros ($30 million).
Until 2007, Spanish political parties were allowed to receive anonymous donations.
Spaniards have been asked to accept painful austerity measures as the government battles to avoid an international bailout. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate has reached a record 26%.
The allegations raise ethical questions about the Popular Party’s dealings during the period of Spain’s building boom, when politicians granted large numbers of development contracts.
The party has denied making any “systematic payment to certain people of money other than their monthly wages”.
Pennsylvania’s famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil gave his annual prediction of how long winter will last.
Phil emerged from his lair for Groundhog Day in front of a crowd of thousands but didn’t see his shadow. According to legend, that’s a sign spring will come early this year.
If the groundhog sees his shadow on February 2 on Gobbler’s Knob, winter will allegedly last six more weeks.
The prediction is made during a ceremony overseen by a group called the Inner Circle. Members don top hats and tuxedos for the ceremony on Groundhog Day each year.
Bill Deeley, president of the Inner Circle, says that after “consulting” with Phil, he makes the call in deciphering what the world’s Punxsutawney Phil has to say about the weather.
Phil is known as the “seer of seers” and “sage of sages”. Organizers predicted about 20,000 people this weekend, a larger-than-normal crowd because Groundhog Day fell on a weekend.
Phil’s got company in the forecasting department. There’s Staten Island Chuck, in New York; General Beauregard Lee, in Atlanta; and Wiarton Willie, in Wiarton, Ontario, among others noted by the National Climactic Data Center “Groundhog Day” Web page.
“Punxsutawney can’t keep something this big to itself,” the Data Center said. “Other prognosticating rodents are popping up to claim a piece of the action.”
Pennsylvania’s famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil gave his annual prediction of how long winter will last
Phil is the original – and the best, Punxsutawney partisans insist.
The 1993 movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray brought even more notoriety to the Pennsylvania party. The record attendance was about 30,000 the year after the movie’s release, said Katie Donald, executive director of the Groundhog Club. About 13,000 attend if February 2 falls on a weekday.
Phil’s predictions, of course, are not always right on. Last year, for example, he told people to prepare for six more weeks of winter, a minority opinion among his groundhog brethren. The Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University later listed that January to June as the warmest seven-month period since systematic records began being kept in 1895.
France’s President Francois Hollande is visiting Mali, three weeks after French-led troops launched an offensive to oust Islamist rebels from the country’s north.
Francois Hollande was welcomed by dignitaries and residents in Timbuktu, six days after the city was recaptured.
He is expected to thank the French soldiers and stress the need for an African force to replace them swiftly.
Meanwhile, the UN has warned of the risk of reprisal attacks against Tuareg and Arab communities in northern Mali.
The UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide, Adama Dieng, said there had been serious allegations of human rights violations committed by the Malian army, including summary executions and disappearances.
There had also been reports of incidents of mob lynching and looting of properties belonging to Arab and Tuareg communities, which had been accused of supporting armed Islamist groups, Adama Dieng added.
“I call on the Malian army to discharge its responsibility to protect all populations, irrespective of their race or ethnicity,” he said.
The allegations came as heavily-armored columns of French and Malian troops continued their advance in northern Mali.
They are attempting to secure the north-eastern city of Kidal, the militants’ last stronghold, having captured the airport on Wednesday.
France’s President Francois Hollande is visiting Mali, three weeks after French-led troops launched an offensive to oust Islamist rebels from the country’s north
Francois Hollande flew into the central town of Sevare on Saturday morning, accompanied by his ministers of defence, foreign affairs and development. Mali’s interim President, Dioncounda Traore, met them at the airport.
They then flew to Timbuktu’s airport before being driven to the 700-year-old mud mosque of Djingareyber and the Ahmed Baba Institute, where fleeing militants set fire to about 2,000 priceless manuscripts.
Thousands of locals gathered in the city’s main square to welcome Francois Hollande. Many changed “Vive la France” and praised the president for ordering the military intervention in France’s former colony.
“The women of Timbuktu will thank Francois Hollande forever,” 53-year-old Fanta Diarra Toure told the AFP news agency.
“We must tell him that he has cut down the tree but still has to tear up its roots,” she added, referring to the Islamist militants.
Speaking on Friday before he flew to Mali, Francois Hollande said he wanted “to express to our soldiers all our support, encouragement and pride”.
“I’m also going to ensure that African forces come and join us as quickly as possible and to tell them we need them for this international force,” he added.
He said he wanted Mali’s transitional government to restore democracy soon and begin a political dialogue with opposition groups in the north.
However, this is not quite a “mission accomplished” moment for Francois Hollande, because the Islamist militants remain a threat.
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said on Friday that the French-led forces had recaptured the major population centres “must faster” than he had expected, but warned that they now had to ensure long-term security.
“They have made tremendous progress, I give them a lot of credit,” he told the AFP news agency.
“But the challenge now is to make sure that you can maintain that security and that you are not overstretched and that, ultimately, as you begin to pull back, that the other African nations are prepared to move in and fill the gap of providing security.”
Pakistani Talibans have attacked an army checkpoint, killing 13 soldiers and 10 civilians, officials say.
The raid took place in the town of Serai Naurang in north-west Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province early on Saturday, and lasted several hours.
Twelve militants were killed in the attack, some of them suicide bombers, the officials said.
Pakistan Taliban says the attack was in response to the death of two commanders in a drone strike last month.
“Pakistan has been co-operating with the US in its drone strikes that killed our two senior commanders, Faisal Khan and Toofani, and the attack on military camp was the revenge of their killing,” a Taliban spokesman said, quoted by Reuters news agency.
Pakistani officials have often been critical of drone strikes, but analysts say that on some occasions it has privately sanctioned such actions.
Pakistani Talibans have attacked an army checkpoint, killing 13 soldiers and 10 civilians
Police officer Arif Khan said between 25 to 30 militants were involved in the attack.
The Taliban said four of the attackers were suicide bombers.
Security sources said the militants were armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, and said they included suicide bombers.
At least eight soldiers were wounded, the sources said.
The 10 civilians, including three women and three children, were killed in a nearby house.
There are conflicting reports about whether the house was hit by a rocket or the militants broke into it.
UK ticketing giant Live Nation’s site put up a promotional poster for Beyonce’s not-yet-announced world tour dubbed “The Mrs. Carter Show”.
In the promotional image published Friday, Beyonce Knowles looks every bit the queen of pop with a billowing Victorian updo topped with a crown and golden royal-looking garb.
“I may have an announcement after the performance,” Beyonce said regarding touring plans at Thursday’s Super Bowl press conference.
“Fans should just stay tuned to see.”
The tour’s name is a direct reference to Beyonce’s husband Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, and it fuels speculation that the couple might perform together.
There were already rumors the 43-year-old rap star would join Beyonce onstage when she performs during this Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVII half-time show.
In the past, the music power couple have collaborated on several tracks, including 03 Bonnie & Clyde, Crazy In Love, and Déjà Vu.
An estimated 111.3 million people tuned into last year’s Super Bowl, which featured a Cleopatra-style Madonna Voguing her way through a medley of hits.
Live Nation’s site put up a promotional poster for Beyonce’s not-yet-announced world tour dubbed “The Mrs. Carter Show”
The last time Beyonce hit the road was her I Am… Tour, which grossed $119.5 million in 2009.
Beyonce’s Destiny’s Child bandmates, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, are also rumored to be joining her onstage.
The girl-group trio just released their first single in eight years, Nuclear, on their compilation Love Songs.
Speaking of album releases, Beyonce is said to have already recorded 50 songs while working on her follow-up album to 4.
Up to 250,000 Twitter users have had their accounts hacked in the latest of a string of high-profile internet security breaches.
Twitter’s information security director Bob Lord said users’ passwords had been stolen, as well as usernames, emails and other data.
Affected users have had passwords invalidated and have been sent emails informing them.
Bob Lord said the attack “was not the work of amateurs”.
He said it appeared similar to recent attacks on the New York Times and others.
The newspaper reported this week that their computer systems had been breached by China-based hackers
Bob Lord said in a blog post Twitter had discovered unauthorized attempts to access data held by the website, including one attack that was identified and stopped moments after it was detected.
“This attack was not the work of amateurs, and we do not believe it was an isolated incident,” he wrote.
Bob Lord did not say who had carried out the attack, but added: “The attackers were extremely sophisticated, and we believe other companies and organizations have also been recently similarly attacked.”
“For that reason we felt that it was important to publicize this attack while we still gather information, and we are helping government and federal law enforcement in their effort to find and prosecute these attackers to make the internet safer for all users.”
Up to 250,000 Twitter users have had their accounts hacked in the latest of a string of high-profile internet security breaches
Internet security specialist Graham Cluley warned Twitter’s announcement that emails would be sent to users may prompt a spate of spam emails “phishing” for sensitive information.
He says people should be cautious about opening emails which appear to be from Twitter.
“You have to be careful if you get hold of one of these emails because, of course, it could equally be a phishing attack – it could be someone pretending to be Twitter.
“So, log into the Twitter site as normal and try and log in to your account and, if there’s a problem, that’s when you actually have to try and reset your password.”
On Thursday the New York Times linked the attack to a story it published alleging relatives of former Premier Wen Jiabao controlled assets worth billions of dollars.
China’s foreign ministry dismissed the New York Times’ accusations as “groundless” and “totally irresponsible”.
Japanese pop star Minami Minegishi has shaved her head and offered a filmed apology after breaking her management firm’s rules by spending a night with her boyfriend.
A sobbing Minami Minegishi apologized to her fans and said she did not want to leave the band AKB48, in the video seen by millions on YouTube.
The production company behind AKB48 said Minami Minegishi, 20, had failed to abide by its cardinal rule – no dating.
But fans have defended her, saying she is entitled to a normal life.
Head shaving is a traditional form of showing contrition in Japan.
Minami Minegishi’s apology came hours after a tabloid newspaper published photographs of her leaving the apartment of her boyfriend, Alan Shirahama, a dancer in a boy band.
In the video posted on AKB48’s official website, Minami Minegishi said she had made the decision to shave off her long hair to show contrition for her “thoughtless and immature” actions.
“I don’t believe just doing this means I can be forgiven for what I did, but the first thing I thought was that I don’t want to quit AKB48,” she said.
At times sobbing and bowing her head during the nearly four-minute-long video, Minami Minegishi also said: “If it is possible, I wish from the bottom of my heart to stay in the band. Everything I did is entirely my fault. I am so sorry.”
Minami Minegishi has shaved her head and offered a filmed apology after breaking her management firm’s rules by spending a night with her boyfriend
Minami Minegishi was one of the original members of AKB48 when it was launched by producer Yasushi Akimoto in 2005. The band is made up of some 90 girls – whose ages range from mid teens to early 20s – who, in teams, appear daily in their own theatre and regularly on television, in adverts, and in magazines.
They portray an image of cuteness known as “kawaii”, and have become a huge phenomenon both in Japan and increasingly in other Asian countries, correspondents say.
The condition for being part of such a successful act is that the girls must not date boys, so as not to shatter their fans’ illusions.
AKB48’s management office said Minami Minegishi had been demoted to a trainee team as punishment “for causing a nuisance to the fans”.
But author and critic Hiroki Azuma said it was “disgusting” that the star felt she should resort to a traditional act of contrition when the only rules she had broken were those of her band’s.
Some fans and commentators say Minami Minegishi went too far with her public apology, and that it was unnecessary.
“What’s the point of this public execution show? It’s like something from the war or a totalitarian state,” one fan said on Twitter.
Australian DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who made a hoax call to the UK hospital treating Kate Middleton, will not face charges, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.
Mel Greig and Michael Christian phoned the King Edward VII’s Hospital pretending to be members of the Royal Family asking about Kate Middleton’s treatment for severe morning sickness.
Nurse Jacintha Saldanha was found dead three days after taking the call.
The CPS said there was no evidence to support a charge of manslaughter.
Although it said that there was some evidence to warrant further investigation of offences under the Data Protection Act, the Malicious Communications Act 1988 and the Communications Act 2003, it added that this would not take place as any potential prosecution would not be in the public interest.
Australian DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who made a hoax call to the UK hospital treating Kate Middleton, will not face charges
Malcolm McHaffie, deputy head of special crime at the CPS, said a number of issues had been taken into account in reaching its conclusion.
“It is not possible to extradite individuals from Australia in respect of the potential offences in question. However misguided, the telephone call was intended as a harmless prank,” he said.
“The consequences in this case were very sad. We send our sincere condolences to Jacintha Saldanha’s family.”
Last December, the pair, posing as the Queen and Prince of Wales, tricked Jacintha Saldanha into transferring the call to a colleague who then described Catherine’s condition in detail.
Jacintha Saldanha was found hanged in nurses accommodation close to the hospital, after apparently taking her own life.
Kate Middleton had been admitted to hospital suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, acute morning sickness.
Google has agreed to create a 60 million euro ($82 million) fund to help French media organizations improve their internet operations.
It follows two months of negotiations after local news sites had demanded payment for the privilege of letting the search giant display their links.
The French government had threatened to tax the revenue Google made from posting ads alongside the results.
The US firm had retorted it might stop indexing French papers’ articles.
In addition to the creating the Digital Publishing Innovation Fund, Google has agreed to give French media access to its advertising platforms at a reduced cost.
The compromise allows it to avoid paying an ongoing licensing fee.
“France is proud to have reached this agreement with Google, the first of its kind in the world,” the French president’s office said on Twitter.
“It appears Google have opened the door to other countries’ newspapers doing the same thing,” said Ian Maude, head of internet at Enders Analysis.
“This sets a precedent which other publishers may pursue in their own negotiations.”
Google has agreed to create a 60 million euro fund to help French media organizations improve their internet operations
After the news was announced, Eric Schmidt, Google’s chairman, wrote on his company’s blog: “These agreements show that through business and technology partnerships we can help stimulate digital innovation for the benefit of consumers, our partners and the wider web.”
The search giant has also made efforts to resolve a separate European dispute.
It has filed proposals with the European Commission stating how it intends to deal with complaints made by Microsoft and more than a dozen other companies that it had broken competition rules.
The European regulator will now consider Google’s proposals, which have not been disclosed.
If it rejects them and finds the firm has broken its rules, it has the power to fine the firm up to 10% of its global turnover which could amount to more than $4 billion.
President Vladimir Putin will lead Russia tributes to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad.
The city of Stalingrad, which was renamed Volgograd in 1961, will regain its wartime name for the event, following a council decision.
Around one million people are thought to have died in the battle, as Soviet troops defeated the Germans.
It is considered one of the major turning points of World War II.
The vast death toll is not the only reason why the battle has huge significance in Russia.
It is seen as the moment when the tide was turned against the Nazis.
From Stalingrad some Soviet soldiers fought all the way to Berlin.
The defeat threw Hitler’s offensive in the Soviet Union into disarray.
The victory in World War II is one of the things that unites all Russians.
President Vladimir Putin will lead the solemn commemorations at the battle site, which will include a military parade and a wreath-laying ceremony at the eternal flame in the Hall of Heroes.
There will also be an 18-gun salute with World War II-era Soviet artillery.
President Vladimir Putin will lead Russia tributes to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad
“At the heart of all Russia’s victories and achievements are patriotism, faith and strength of spirit,” Vladimir Putin said in a televised speech on Friday.
“In World War II, these true values inspired our people and our army.”
Some German veterans have also been invited to the tribute, along with senior military commanders from Russia’s allies in the war – Britain and the US.
On Wednesday, the council of Volgograd passed a decision to restore the city’s wartime name of Stalingrad on six specific days a year.
The dates, all associated with military commemorations, are February 2, May 9, June 22, August 23, September 2 and November 19.
Under the decision, the title “Hero City Stalingrad” will be used during commemorations as “a symbol of Volgograd”, the council said.
“We may use this symbol officially in our speeches, reports and while conducting public events,” the council ruling states.
The decision was taken after “numerous requests” from World War II veterans, officials said.
The city has had three names during the past century. It was originally known as Tsaritsyn before being renamed in 1925 in honor of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, who led Bolshevik forces there during the Russian Civil War.
The German attack on Stalingrad began on August 19, 1942.
Stalingrad was a strategically important city in their campaign to occupy the south of Russia and take control of the Caucasus oilfields.
It was also of symbolic importance because of its name.
After six months of ferocious fighting, Soviets troops eventually smashed the German siege.
It is one of the bloodiest battles in modern history.
Harvard University has imposed academic sanctions on dozens of students for cheating in a final exam, a dean said in an email to students.
“More than half” of 125 students under investigation were asked to leave for a period of time; others face probation.
An inquiry began when a tutor noticed identical answers to a take-home exam for an undergraduate politics course.
The review expanded to include nearly half the 279 students enrolled in the course, the HarvardCrimson said.
Correspondents say there have been complaints that exam rules for the Introduction to Congress class were unclear, and over the university’s handling of the investigation.
In an email to members of the university, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael Smith said the cases had now been resolved.
“Somewhat more than half” of the cases resulted in a request to withdraw, he said.
Harvard University has imposed academic sanctions on dozens of students for cheating in a final exam
Of the remaining cases, about half the students were placed on disciplinary probation and the rest were exonerated.
Some of those ensnared in the scandal were members of Harvard sports teams.
Two basketball co-captains have been dropped from the team, while earlier reports in the university newspaper suggested football, baseball and ice hockey players could also have been involved.
The dean added that an internal committee would put forward recommendations on how to promote honesty within the institution.
“This is a time for communal reflection and action,” Michael Smith said.
“We are responsible for creating the community in which our students study and we all thrive as scholars.”
Hillary Clinton held a farewell address to state department staff on her last day as America’s top diplomat.
Hillary Clinton, 65, leaves the post after four years, visits to 112 countries and nearly a million air miles.
She will be replaced by John Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, who was sworn in at a private ceremony on Friday.
The former first lady is now discussed as a possible candidate for the 2016 presidential election.
Hillary Clinton said leading the agency as the 67th US Secretary of State had been a “unique and singular, exciting and challenging” experience.
She acknowledged the attack on the US embassy in Turkey – a sobering reminder of the everyday global threats that will face her successor.
“I am very proud of the work we have done together,” she told her staff.
“Of course, we live in very complex and dangerous times, as we saw again just today at our embassy in Ankara, where we were attacked.”
But she said she was “more optimistic” now than when she took up her post in 2009.
“I am so grateful that we’ve had a chance to contribute in each of our ways to making our country and our world stronger, safer, fairer and better,” she told staff.
Hillary Clinton held a farewell address to state department staff on her last day as America’s top diplomat
Earlier in the day, Hillary Clinton officially tendered her resignation to President Barack Obama, her former bitter rival in the 2008 race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In her letter, she said she was more convinced than ever of America’s strength as a global leader and its potential to be a force for good.
Hillary Clinton has been coy about a possible White House run in four years’ time. She has said she has no specific plans for the future, but that she “absolutely” still plans to make a difference on issues she cares about.
“I am going to be secretary of state until the very last minute when I walk out the door,” she told the Associated Press on Thursday.
“And then I am going to take the weekend off and then I may start thinking about all the various offers and requests and ideas that have come my way.”
Hillary Clinton’s time in office will also be remembered for the attack last September on a consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed a US ambassador and three other Americans. She has apologized for that security failure.
Real-life Barbie and Ken dolls, Valeria Lukyanova and Justin Jedlica, met for the first time, but it wasn’t love at first sight.
Valeria Lukyanova, 23, who sports long peroxide blonde hair, a miniscule waist and large bust, flew from her home town in the Ukraine to New York to meet silicone-pumped Justin Jedlica, 32, for an upcoming episode of Inside Edition.
But Valeria Lukyanova didn’t hit it off with her chiseled male counterpart – especially following his remarks last year that she looked like a drag queen – and she bluntly said after their rendezvous: “He overdid his lips.”
According to The Sun, the pair “hated the sight of each other” and photographs show them posing awkwardly side-by-side.
Justin Jedlica shot to fame last year when it emerged that he had spent $100,000 on body sculpting procedures. This year he went under the knife for the 100th time.
“I’ve always been into plastic surgery because it’s an extension of me being creative,” Justin Jedlica said during an interview on The Doctors television show.
Among his surgeries are five rhinoplasties, a cranial brow bone shape and augmentations to his cheeks, lips, buttocks and chin.
Justin Jedlica turned to plastic surgery when he was 18-years-old, beginning the costly and dangerous habit with a nose job.
“It was really something that set me apart and validated me and I felt so euphoric,” he said of that first surgery.
Explaining why he aspires to look like a plastic doll, Justin Jedlica told the Inside Edition: “Children play with Barbie and Ken all the time so it’s fed to us from a very young age that that is the epitome of what is beautiful or what is handsome.”
Real-life Barbie and Ken dolls, Valeria Lukyanova and Justin Jedlica, met for the first time, but it wasn’t love at first sight
Valeria Lukyanova hit the press last fall after she posted a series of homemade videos on YouTube, which revealed her doll-like proportions.
To enhance her Barbie appearance, Valeria Lukyanova wears blue contact lenses over her naturally green eyes.
Valeria Lukyanova admits that she has had breast implants, but insists the rest of her body is completely natural and slender due to daily gym workouts. Make-up and skimpy outfits complete her look.
In a previous interview with V Magazine she said that in the in mornings she likes to work on her face and get a massage and then spends the rest of her time on the internet.
Meditation is also a one of her favorite pastimes and she claimed that her “real job” is “a teacher at the School of Out-Of-Body Travel” – an institution which reportedly teaches students how to leave their physical body and travel in the spiritual realm.
Back on the subject of being a living doll, Valeria Lukyanova told Inside Edition: “Barbie is ideal woman” adding that she had been fascinated with the Mattel character since she was five.
Justin Jedlica and Valeria Lukyanova had never before their recent television appearance. But they knew of each other.
Last November Justin Jedlica said that he did find Valeria Lukyanova beautiful but he told The Huffington Post: “It appears to me that much of her look is added makeup, fake hair and <<slimming>> corsets.
“Drag queens have put on the same illusions with makeup and costumes for years.”
Valeria Lukyanova hit back, telling The Sun: “Justin said bad things about me but he had more than 90 operations, while I had only one.
“I am not hiding that I’ve had plastic surgery. I had breast implants because I want to be perfect.
“He would do better not to comment on who is plastic and who is not. I think he is handsome man – but he overdid his lips.”
Lady Gaga lashed out at her former assistant Jennifer O’Neill, who is suing her for nearly $400,000 for unpaid overtime.
Lady Gaga, 26, branded Jennifer O’Neill a “f****** hood rat who is suing me for money she didn’t earn” during six hours of questioning at a Midtown Manhattan law office.
As she painted a picture of boozy, caviar-filled bashes – which left her “s**t hammered, crawling and screaming on the streets of Paris” at 5 a.m. – Lady Gaga insisted her former assistant had slept in “Eygptian cotton” sheets and travelled the world on a private jet, ranting: “She’s just – she thinks she’s just like the queen of the universe.
“And, you know what, she didn’t want to be a slave to one, because in my work and what I do, I’m the queen of the universe every day.”
According to court documents, Lady Gaga – real name Stefani Germanotta – complained that she got stressed when Jennifer O’Neill would only open a “couple of bags” while they were travelling and that she was left to move “these huge, big luggages… and s**t all by myself in the room”.
Lady Gaga noted “there is 20 bags and only me, and I can’t sift through everything”.
“She would only open a couple of bags and it was very stressful for me because then again on my off days I couldn’t really have a day off because, you know, I weigh 115 pounds and I was trying to move these huge, big luggages all by myself in the room and I did it all the time – by the way, she was asleep until 12:00 most of the time, so I was very often waking up and moving my own luggage and doing s**t by myself and it was – it was a problem that I had.”
And while previous assistants “would like to set up my room and I would know where my clothes were, I would know where my toothbrush was, I would know where my soap was and everything was”, Lady Gaga said that when Jennifer O’Neill “got lazy, she didn’t always do these things for me”.
Lady Gaga – who now has two personal assistants – added: “I can’t walk down the street and go buy myself toiletries, I have to call security, I’ve got to call Jen or now I got to call Wendi, I’ve got to get a whole bunch of people together to help me fix the problem, which wouldn’t happen if she was doing her job properly on regular days.”
Lady Gaga also gave an insight into her five-star lifestyle, which included flights on private jets, modeling in Paris and partying until 5a.m. in Paris with celebrity photographer Terry Richardson – ending up “s**t hammered…crawling on the streets of Paris, I was screaming”.
Jennifer O’Neill, 42, from Long Island, was employed by Lady Gaga for 13 months on a $75,0000 salary, accompanying the singer on her Monster Ball world tour in 2010.
She claims she was serving at Lady Gaga’s “beck and call” as the singer’s career took off between 2009 and March 2011.
However, Lady Gaga portrayed Jennifer O’Neill as an ingrate who took for granted the excesses, the parties, the “five star hotels” and other luxuries, including “caviar, champagne and yachts”, that she was allowed to enjoy as part of Gaga’s entourage – saying “she thinks it’s owed to her for no reason”.
Lady Gaga also described Jennifer O’Neill as a “disgusting human being” who should have been grateful for living a luxury lifestyle that included “sleeping in Egyptian cotton sheets every night, in five-star hotels, on private planes, eating caviar… and using my YSL discount without my permission”.
As she unleashed a tirade of abuse while giving her videoed testimony on August 6, Lady Gaga accused Jennifer O’Neill of staring at her “like a witch” and also fired expletives at the claimant’s lawyer.
Lady Gaga lashed out at her former assistant Jennifer O’Neill, who is suing her for nearly $400,000 for unpaid overtime
Lady Gaga insisted that none of her employees are paid overtime, adding: “She [Jennifer O’Neill] knew there was no overtime, and I never paid her overtime the first time I hired her, so why would she be paid overtime the second time? This whole case is b******t and you know it.”
Staring at Jennifer O’Neill, Lady Gaga raged: “Are you going to stare at me like a witch this whole time – honestly? Because this is going to be a long f***ing day that you brought me here.”
Her foul-mouthed evidence, revealed in court papers seen by the New York Post, came in defence of a 2011 lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court by Jennifer O’Neill, who claims she is owed more than $393,000, plus damages, for 7,168 hours of overtime.
In her evidence, Lady Gaga claims Jennifer O’Neill, who was paid around $75,000 a year, was given the job as a “favor” because she was majorly underqualified and failed at even the most basic tasks, such as unpacking her bags for her.
Lady Gaga said that her decision not to pay overtime wasn’t based on labor laws, but is “actually based on a bubbly, good heart”, as she insisted: “I’m quite wonderful to everyone that works for me and I am completely aghast to what a disgusting human being that you have become to sue me like this.”
The star claimed that she had treated how the night before her testimony, she treated her employees to a “beautiful $3000 meal” at Spiaggia in Chicago, the only four-star Italian eatery in the Windy City.
Lady Gaga also insisted that all her employees work only an eight-hour day, although she admitted: “This job is a 9-to-5 job that is spaced out throughout the day.
“You don’t get a schedule that is like you punch in and you can play f***ing Tetris at your desk for four hours and then you punch out at the end of the day. This is – when I need you, you’re available.”
Although she said she was in no way discounting how hard an 8-hour work day can be or discounting the role of an assistant, Lady Gaga added: “I do six shows a week and I make a lot of money. I work, I work 24-hours a day. I’m not standing next to Steve holding tea, waiting for him to take a sip, that is now what I do.
“Not that people who do that don’t deserve their hourly pay, but I’m just pointing out that I deserve everything I’ve worked for. I deserve every dollar of it. And she deserves every dollar of her $75,000 that we agreed to. But she does not deserve a penny more.”
Rather than paying off Jennifer O’Neill, Lady Gaga revealed: “I’m going to give all the money that she wants to my employees that work hard for me now that deserve it. I’m not going to give it to her so she can go to Intermix and buy herself a new tube top.”
Lady Gaga told how her relationship with Jennifer O’Neill ended following a trip to Paris, where she walked the runway at Thierry Mugler’s fall 2011 fashion show.
She claimed Jennifer O’Neill “wore my coat when were at the show, she wore my clothes”.
The pair “partied until 5 in the morning, we got s***t hammered, I was crawling on the streets in Paris, I was screaming”.
“Jennifer was there. She hung out all night with me and Terry Richardson and tons of socialites from Paris and she had the time of her life.”
The next morning, Lady Gaga said, she “barely could talk; but had to fly back to America that night”, adding: “I mean, what a rock-star moment, right?”
However, on the flight back, Lady Gaga claimed her assistant insisted on sleeping in the second bed on the private plane and “completely, like, flipped out at me, beyond belief”, when “I told her no”.
She said most of her assistants in the past had always offered the spare bed to guests on the plane – and she claimed that Jennifer O’Neill even refused to share any pillows with two other women on board, saying she was sickened by it.
Lady Gaga claimed: “I said: <<Jennifer, this is really inappropriate in front of Terry Richardson>> and she was like <<Don’t I get some sort of seniority because I’ve been here longer and I’m your friend?>>.
“And I remember those words as clear as day, because when your best friend looks you in the eye and says <<Why can’t I have that seat on your private plane, I’m your friend>>, the first thing I thought was <<You’re not my f***ing friend. You are not my f****ing friend>>.”
Last year, it emerged that Jennifer O’Neill believes Lady Gaga has no right to privacy because she is always exposing her body for the world.
In court papers, she argues the singer’s demands for privacy are “ludicrous” as she always dresses in a bizarre and intimate way.
Her views were revealed as lawyers went back to court last September to seek access to a series of photos taken by famed photographer Terry Richardson for his book Lady Gaga x Terry Richardson.
Lady Gaga refused to hand over the photos saying they are “private and personal”. A judge allowed the pictures to be used – but Lady Gaga’s legal camp asked for the decision to be reconsidered, which is still ongoing.
Lawyers for Jennifer O’Neill say they will show O’Neill was on call all the time.
Sources also claim that Lady Gaga’s camp have already failed to hand over emails which could help Jennifer O’Neill’s case, in discovery before the suit, and are now facing sanctions over this. This could see them face a financial fine and also be banned from presenting parts of their case.
Anti-Mohamed Morsi protesters have clashed with police outside the presidential palace in Cairo, after a week of violence in which more than 60 people were killed.
Riot police used tear gas and water cannon to try to drive back the crowds throwing rocks and petrol bombs.
Thousands also rallied in Port Said – one year after football riots in the city, which killed 74 people.
The protesters accuse Islamist President Mohamed Morsi of betraying the 2011 uprising – a claim he denies.
In a statement on his Facebook page, Mohamed Morsi warned that security forces would “act with utmost decisiveness” to protect state institutions and those groups behind the violence would be held “politically accountable”.
Mohamed Morsi’s supporters say the demonstrators are trying to used the power of the street to bring down the country’s first democratically elected president.
On Friday, thousands of people chanted “Leave, leave, Morsi!” as they gathered outside the presidential palace – in the north of the capital.
Some of the demonstrators then began throwing Molotov cocktails over the palace walls and lighting fires in the streets.
Anti-Mohamed Morsi protesters have clashed with police outside the presidential palace in Cairo, after a week of violence in which more than 60 people were killed
Skirmishes were reported close to the capital’s Tahrir Square, where thousands more marched, urging Mohamed Morsi to leave.
A demonstration was also held in Port Said, at the northern end of the Suez Canal.
The city has seen the worst of the violence over the past week, in clashes sparked by death sentences imposed on 21 local people in connection with the football riots.
On Thursday, leaders of some of the main political factions condemned the violence. But youth groups later still called for more street protests.
In a separate development, human rights officials have expressed alarm over a rise in sexual violence against women in Cairo.
According to the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 25 women have been sexually assaulted, mainly in Tahrir Square, since the protests erupted.
Michelle Bachelet, of the UN’s Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, said she was “deeply disturbed by the gravity of [the] recent attacks”.
Sexual assaults against women around Tahrir Square was widely reported during the uprising there which eventually unseated Hosni Mubarak.
The current unrest began on January 24 in Cairo on the eve of the second anniversary of the revolution and has spread to several cities.
Protesters accuse President Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, of imposing a new form of authoritarianism and betraying the values of their uprising two years ago.
On Tuesday, Egyptian army chief General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi warned that the political crisis could lead to the collapse of the state.
Katie Couric has admitted to dating talk show legend Larry King during Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
Katie Couric and Larry King went for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Washington, D.C. about 25 years ago and afterwards King drove them back to his apartment where he tried to put the moves on her.
“So we sat there and what can I say, he lunged,” Katie Couric said, as Jimmy Kimmel cracked up and interjected: “Incredible.”
Katie Couric, now 56, said their one and only date took place when she was about 30-years-old and during a time when she decided to be more adventurous in her love life.
“I was going through this period of my life that I was going, <<I’m going to go out with anyone who asks me because you learn something every time>>.”
After Larry King, who has famously been married eight times, met her at a restaurant and later called her to ask her out.
“And I thought well that would be really interesting,” Katie Couric said of her reason for saying yes.
She said Larry King, now 79-years-old, came to her apartment to pick her up driving a Lincoln Town Car and then they went to dinner.
“They put us right next to each other like they do with all the men and their <<nieces>>.”
“He had ordered the veal poached in chicken stock because he had just had quadruple bypass, which was hot,” Katie Couric joked.
The rest of the meal went “nice enough” Katie Couric said, but she was soon thrown for a shock when she realized he wasn’t taking her back to her apartment.
“I go, <<Larry, where are we going>> and he goes, <<My place>>.
“I was like, <<Oh mother of god>>. I was like <<Dear, Cosmo what do i do?>> I was only 30, I could not figure out how to extricate myself from it.”
“So we go to his apartment in Roslyn [Virginia] and we walk in and its covered in proclamations for <<Larry King Day>> and keys to every city in the country. That was sexy!”
Katie Couric has admitted to dating talk show legend Larry King during Jimmy Kimmel Live
Soon after they got there, Larry King made his advance towards her, which she quickly rebuffed, she said.
“I started laughing a little because the whole situation was like out of a bad Lifetime movie.
“So I said <<Larry, you’re such an interesting, nice man but I would like to meet someone a little closer to my age>>.
“He said, <<That’s okay cause when I like, I really like>>.”
Larry King, who has been married to Shawn Southwick since 1997, has a totally different recollection of getting shot down.
“We went out to dinner, a nice Italian restaurant, we drove home, thought we were kind of romantic, we get to her door, in the apartment house and she said, <<Oh, I have a roommate>>,” he said in 2009.
“Then I kissed her goodnight and that was that. And we became friends ever since,” Larry King said.
Katie Couric also revealed last night how Michael Jackson once bizarrely asked her on a date after he rejected her request for an interview.
“Can you imagine going home to my daughters who were then about 8 and 4, saying, <<Honey, Girls. I’m going out on a date with Michael Jackson>>,” she said.
“I just thought it would be too weird. The tabloids would go crazy and I didn’t need that.”
Columbia crew were not told that the shuttle had been damaged and they might not survive re-entry, NASA has revealed.
The seven astronauts who died will be remembered at a public memorial service on the 10th anniversary of the disaster this Friday at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
The shuttle was headed home from a 16-day science mission when it broke apart over Texas on February 1, 2003, because of damage to its left wing.
Ten years ago, experts at NASA’s mission control faced the terrible decision over whether to let the astronauts know that they may die on re-entry or face orbiting in space until the oxygen ran out.
Those on the ground decided that it would be better if the crew were spared knowledge of the risks.
There was no way to repair any suspected damage – the crew were far from the International Space Station and had no robotic arm for repairs. It would have taken too long to send up another shuttle to rescue them.
Wayne Hale, who went on to become space shuttle program manager, has written on his blog about the fateful day.
Wayne Hale writes: “After one of the MMTs (Mission Management Team) when possible damage to the orbiter was discussed, he (Flight Director Jon Harpold) gave me his opinion: <<You know, there is nothing we can do about damage to the TPS (Thermal Protection System). If it has been damaged it’s probably better not to know. I think the crew would rather not know. Don’t you think it would be better for them to have a happy successful flight and die unexpectedly during entry than to stay on orbit, knowing that there was nothing to be done, until the air ran out?>>.”
Columbia crew were not told that the shuttle had been damaged and they might not survive re-entry
When Mission Control had it confirmed that the shuttle had broken up over Texas, Flight Director Leroy Cain ordered the room on lock-down and all computer data saved for later investigation.
All seven on board – David Brown, Rick Husband, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson, William McCool and Ilan Ramon – were known to be dead within minutes.
Following the crash, low-level engineers at Johnson Space Center revealed that they had tried to alert NASA senior staff about problems with the shuttle.
The investigation into the Columbia disaster revealed that a piece of foam the size of a briefcase was the physical cause of the accident. It had smashed into the shuttle’s wing during take-off and left a hole in the protective tiles, leaving the shuttle vulnerable on re-entry.
Wayne Hale is the only person at NASA who publicly accepted blame, according to ABC.
NASA flights resumed two years later and the shuttles were retired in 2011.
As the memorial takes place on Friday, 12 children will remember the parents they lost. A decade later, the youngest is now 15 and the oldest is 32.
The oldest son of Columbia’s pilot is now a Marine captain with three young children of his own.
The son of astronaut Dr. Laurel Clark, Iain Clark is a young man on the cusp of college with a master’s rating in scuba diving and three parachute jumps in his new log book.
His mother loved scuba and skydiving. So did her flight surgeon husband and Iain’s dad, Dr. Jonathan Clark, who since the accident, has been a crusader for keeping space crews safe.
Neurologist Dr. Jonathan Clark told the Associated Press: “It’s tough losing a mom, that’s for sure. I think Iain was the most affected.
“My goal was to keep him alive. That was the plan. It was kind of dicey for a while. There was a lot of darkness – for him and me.”
Jonathan Clark’s wife and the six other astronauts were killed in the final minutes of their 16-day scientific research mission aboard Columbia.
Jonathan Clark, now 59, said he turned to alcohol in the aftermath of Columbia. If it wasn’t for his son, he doubts he would have gotten through it.
“He’s the greatest kid ever,” Jonathan Clark said in a phone interview from Houston.
“He cares about people. He’s kind of starting to get his confidence, but he’s not at all cocky.”
US economy has added 157,000 jobs in January 2013, which was slightly below forecasts, but the number of new jobs at the end of 2012 was revised up significantly, official data has shown.
In November and December, the Labor Department’s revised figures showed that 127,000 more jobs were created than initially thought.
But the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9% in January, from 7.8% in December.
In 2012, an average of 181,000 jobs a month were created, the data showed.
The news helped lift shares on Wall Street to levels not seen since before the financial crisis. In early trading the Dow Jones index rose above 14,000 for the first time since October 2007.
The unemployment rate is based on a survey of households, while the job creation figure is taken from a survey of employers.
On Wednesday, government data indicated that the US economy unexpectedly shrank at an annualized rate of 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Meanwhile, an industry survey on Friday said that the US manufacturing sector grew in January at the fastest pace for nine months.
The latest purchasing managers’ index from financial data firm Markit rose to 55.8 last month, up from 54 in December. A reading above 50 indicates growth.
US economy has added 157,000 jobs in January 2013, which was slightly below forecasts
Markit said that its latest survey “suggests the underlying health of the industrial sector continues to improve, and rising production will help the economy return to growth in the first quarter, provided there are no set-backs in coming months”.
The Labor Department said that in January, jobs were created in retail, construction, healthcare and wholesale trade, but jobs were lost in transportation and warehousing.
Employment in retail rose by 33,000, compared with an average monthly gain of 20,000 in 2012.
Employment in construction rose by 28,000. The Labor Department said that the industry had created 296,000 jobs since falling to a low in January 2011, but added that the current level of employment was still some two million below its previous peak in April 2006.
Healthcare added 23,000 jobs in January, while wholesale trade added 15,000.
There was little change in manufacturing employment, which has been essentially flat since July 2012.
On the downside, couriers and messengers lost 19,000 jobs, after strong seasonal hiring in November and December came to an end.
Darrell Cronk, regional chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank in New York, said: “Like most of our jobs reports, it seems like every month, there is something for everybody in this one – there are positives and negatives.
“It was certainly below expectations and a slight negative that we saw a tick up in the unemployment rate from 7.8% to 7.9%, especially with the labour force participation rate staying where it is, which suggests there aren’t a vast influx of those unemployed/underemployed coming back being job seekers. That was disappointing.”
Volgograd, the Russian city once known as Stalingrad, is to regain its old name during commemorations of the famous World War II battle on Saturday.
The city has been officially known as Volgograd since 1961, when it was renamed to remove its association with Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
Its old name is inseparable from the ferocious battle won by Soviet forces 70 years ago this week.
Volgograd council has restored the name for six days a year.
The dates, all associated with military commemorations, are February 2, May 9, June 22, August 23, September 2 and November 19.
According to the council, which is dominated by Russia’s ruling United Russia party, the decision was taken after “numerous requests” from World War II veterans.
Critics have suggested the decision is a populist move aimed at boosting United Russia’s popularity ahead of council (or city Duma, as it is officially known) elections in September.
Some have also objected to the use of Stalin’s name again, worried about what they see as creeping attempts under President Vladimir Putin’s rule to portray Stalin as a great war leader.
Under the decision, passed by the council on Wednesday, the title “Hero City Stalingrad” will be used during commemorations as “a symbol of Volgograd”.
“We may use this symbol officially in our speeches, reports and while conducting public events,” the council ruling states.
Volgograd, the Russian city once known as Stalingrad, is to regain its old name during commemorations of the famous World War II battle on Saturday
Commenting on the decision, Russia’s Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper said the revived name would not appear in documents, but only on banners and posters.
A council deputy from opposition party A Just Russia, Oleg Mikheyev, said the move had a clear political aim.
“The Volgograd-Stalingrad issue comes up before every election, then drops back down when the election is over,” he told the Russian news website Gazeta.Ru.
He added: “I think Stalingrad is already bigger than Stalin, it’s the name of the city of the great victory, but this issue should be settled finally in a referendum.”
Communists in the region say they have collected 35,000 signatures for a petition calling for Volgograd to be renamed permanently and plan to take their demand to court.
The use of the name Stalingrad (“Stalin City”) has dismayed some Russians because of its connection to the Soviet dictator whose rule saw the persecution of millions of people.
Nikolai Levichev, a Just Russia federal MP, said it was “blasphemous to rename the great Russian city after a bloody tyrant who had killed millions of his fellow citizens and caused irreparable damage to the nation’s gene pool”.
“The attitude towards Stalin was expressed in 1961, when Stalingrad was renamed Volgograd,” he was quoted as saying by Russia’s Interfax news agency.
Gamlet Dallatyan, a 92-year-old veteran of the actual battle, said he in no way condoned Stalin’s repressions.
“But you have to recognize the positive things he did,
whether you want to or not,” he told Reuters news agency.
“It would be good to go back to the name of Stalingrad, though not so much because of Stalin himself but because that is how the city was known during the war.”
The city has had three names during the past century. It was originally known as Tsaritsyn before being renamed in 1925 in honor of Stalin, who led Bolshevik forces there during the Russian Civil War.
Dates when the old name Stalingrad can be used officially:
February 2 – the defeat of the Nazi German forces at Stalingrad
May 9 – Victory (in Europe) Day
June 22 – anniversary of Nazi invasion of USSR
August 23 – commemoration of civilians killed by mass German air raid on Stalingrad
September 2 – end of World War II (Japanese surrender)
November 19 – launch of Operation Uranus to trap Germans and their allies at Stalingrad
President Francois Hollande is to visit Mali, where three weeks of targeted French air strikes have forced Islamist militants to retreat.
France’s President Francois Hollande will fly into Bamako to meet interim President Dioncounda Traore, his office says.
He is set to visit Timbuktu, recently seized from Islamist rebels by French and Malian troops, on Saturday.
The French military intervention has recaptured large parts of northern Mali from Islamist groups.
French troops are currently securing Kidal, the last major town which was occupied by militants who had controlled much of the northern part of the former French colony since a coup last year.
Francois Hollande will be joined on his trip by Foreign Minister Lauren Fabius, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Development Minister Pascal Canin.
Earlier, Jean-Yves Le Drian said the jihadists had now scattered, marking a “turning-point” in France’s intervention.
President Francois Hollande is to visit Mali, where three weeks of targeted French air strikes have forced Islamist militants to retreat
French polls suggest the public only have patience for a limited operation: Eradicating the Islamist threat entirely is a bridge too far.
Francois Hollande’s objective is to prepare to hand over the towns the French-led troops have captured to an African force that has begun to deploy to Mali, and create enough stability to facilitate new elections by July.
So far about 2,000 African soldiers, mainly from Chad and Niger, are on the ground in Mali.
On Thursday, French military spokesman Colonel Thierry Burkhard said a column of 1,400 troops from Chad was heading towards Kidal from the Niger border.
It will be the job of the African Union-backed force, the International Support Mission to Mali (Afisma), to root out the al-Qaeda-linked insurgents that have fled into the desert and mountains further north.
The Tuareg rebels launched the insurgency in October 2011 before falling out with the Islamist militants.
The Islamist fighters extended their control of the vast north of Mali in April 2012, in the wake of a military coup.
France launched a military operation this month after the Islamist militants appeared to be threatening the south.
