Royal Artilery gun salutes to mark birth of royal baby

Royal Artillery sound series of gun salutes to mark the birth of the royal baby

The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery and the Honourable Artillery Company carried out the ceremonial of gun salutes to mark the birth of the royal baby. Gun salutes are fired for the birth of every prince or princess, no matter where their place is in the line of succession. The last royal salute for a… Continue reading Royal Artilery gun salutes to mark birth of royal baby

World Youth Day 2013: Pope Francis’ car mobbed by pilgrims in Rio de Janeiro

Crowds mobbed Pope Francis' car in Rio de Janeiro as it made its way from the airport

Pope Francis has been greeted by tens of thousands of Brazilian pilgrims as he toured Rio de Janeiro in an open car and then met President Dilma Rousseff at the state governor’s palace. After the pontiff left, police fired tear gas to disperse protests against both the government and the cost of the visit. Pope… Continue reading World Youth Day 2013: Pope Francis’ car mobbed by pilgrims in Rio de Janeiro

It’s a boy! Official royal baby announcement at Buckingham Palace

The news of royal baby boy arrival has been displayed on an easel in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace in line with tradition

Kate Middleton has given birth to a baby boy, Kensington Palace has announced this evening. The baby was delivered at 16:24 BST at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, west London, weighing 8lb 6oz. Prince William said in a statement the couple “could not be happier”. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will remain in the… Continue reading It’s a boy! Official royal baby announcement at Buckingham Palace

Kate Middleton gives birth to a baby boy of 8lb 6oz

Kate Middleton gives birth to a baby boy

Kate Middleton gives birth to a baby boy, Kensington Palace has announced. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have welcomed a healthy baby boy, and the nation celebrates the birth of a future king. Prince William and Kate Middelton’s son weighed 8lb 6oz and was delivered at 4.24 p.m. today at the private Lindo Wing… Continue reading Kate Middleton gives birth to a baby boy of 8lb 6oz

World Youth Day 2013: Pope Francis arrives in Rio de Janeiro for the catholic youth festival

Pope Francis has arrived in Rio de Janeiro on his first trip abroad since becoming head of the Catholic Church

Pope Francis has arrived in Rio de Janeiro on his first trip abroad since becoming head of the Catholic Church in March. The first Latin American Pope touched down at Rio de Janeiro airport on Monday afternoon and was greeted by Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff. The Argentina-born pontiff has travelled to Brazil to attend the… Continue reading World Youth Day 2013: Pope Francis arrives in Rio de Janeiro for the catholic youth festival

UBS reaches agreement with Federal Housing Finance Agency over US mortgage litigation

UBS reached an agreement in principle with the FHFA over the investments sold between 2004 and 2007

Swiss bank UBS has reached an agreement with US housing agencies to settle claims it had mis-sold mortgage investments. UBS said it had reached an agreement in principle with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) over the investments sold between 2004 and 2007. In its statement, UBS also said it expected its second-quarter net profits… Continue reading UBS reaches agreement with Federal Housing Finance Agency over US mortgage litigation

Kate Middleton is in labor and has been admitted to St Mary’s Hospital in London

Kate Middleton is in labour and has gone to give birth at St Mary's Hospital in London

Kate Middleton is in labor and has gone to give birth at St Mary’s Hospital in London, Kensington Palace has announced. Kate Middleton, 31, has been admitted to hospital and is in the early stages of labor. The Duchess of Cambridge was taken to St Mary’s Hospital in London. The long wait was over but there… Continue reading Kate Middleton is in labor and has been admitted to St Mary’s Hospital in London

Tokyo stocks flat on Shinzo Abe elections win

Japanese markets show a little change after PM Shinzo Abe was given a vote of confidence for his economic policy

Japanese markets show a little change after PM Shinzo Abe was given a vote of confidence for his economic policy known as “Abenomics”. As widely predicted, Shinzo Abe has won a majority in parliament’s upper house in Sunday’s elections, according to exit polls. After climbing 1.2% in early trading, the benchmark Nikkei 225 fell back… Continue reading Tokyo stocks flat on Shinzo Abe elections win

Trayvon Martin rallies: Calls for Florida boycott after George Zimmerman verdict

Trayvon Martin backers call for Florida boycott

A crowd of over 500 swelled in Washington, DC Saturday in protest over last weekend’s George Zimmerman acquittal in Trayvon Martin case, with some crying for a boycott against Florida. Comedian and long-time civil rights activist Dick Gregory addressed the crowd and told them to hit Florida where it hurts – in the wallet –… Continue reading Trayvon Martin rallies: Calls for Florida boycott after George Zimmerman verdict

China: Twin earthquakes hit Gansu province killing at least 47 people

China's north-west Gansu province has been hit by two powerful earthquakes killing at least 47 people and injuring almost 300

China’s north-west Gansu province has been hit by two powerful earthquakes killing at least 47 people and injuring almost 300. The first earthquake near Dingxi city had a magnitude of 5.98 and was shallow, with a depth of just 6 miles, the US Geological Survey said Just over an hour later, a magnitude 5.6 quake… Continue reading China: Twin earthquakes hit Gansu province killing at least 47 people

Syrian troops kill 13 members of same family in Bayda

Syrian army has killed 13 members of the same family, mostly women and children, in Bayda

Syrian army has killed 13 members of the same family, mostly women and children, activist groups say. Some reports say some of the victims were burnt alive, in the incident in Bayda near the coastal city of Banias. The family members were said to be from a mostly Sunni village, but in an area where… Continue reading Syrian troops kill 13 members of same family in Bayda

Cleveland killings: Suspect Michael Madison arrested after three bodies found

Michael Madison has been arrested in connection with the discovery of three bodies in East Cleveland, Ohio

Ohio police is searching a neighborhood in a Cleveland suburb after the discovery of three dead women there. The bodies were found on Friday and Saturday in East Cleveland. The first was found in a garage, the second in a yard and the third in an empty house. A 35-year-old man, reported to be a… Continue reading Cleveland killings: Suspect Michael Madison arrested after three bodies found

King Philippe of Belgium sworn in

Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium has been sworn in as the new king after the emotional abdication of his father Albert II

Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium has been sworn in as the new king after the emotional abdication of his father Albert II. Prince Philippe, an Oxford- and Stanford-educated and trained air force pilot, took the oath as the country’s seventh king in a ceremony in parliament. To warm applause, King Philippe, 53, promised to uphold… Continue reading King Philippe of Belgium sworn in

France: Trappes violent protest over Islamic veil arrest

Trappes unrest was sparked by the arrest of a man whose wife was told by police to remove an Islamic face-covering veil, banned in public

Crowds of youths in the Paris suburb of Trappes have thrown stones at police officers and set fire to cars in a second night of disturbances. The trouble was sparked by the arrest of a man whose wife was told by police on Thursday to remove an Islamic face-covering veil, banned in public. He has… Continue reading France: Trappes violent protest over Islamic veil arrest

Japan votes in upper house elections

Japan is voting in upper house elections expected to deliver a win for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Japan is voting in upper house elections expected to deliver a win for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Half of the 242 seats in the chamber are being contested. Polls show Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its allies could secure a majority, meaning a ruling party would control both houses of parliament for the… Continue reading Japan votes in upper house elections

Pakistan: Women barred from shopping without a male relative

Pakistani women banned from shopping alone

Women in Pakistan’s north-west Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have been barred from shopping without a male relative. The decision was made by Islamic clerics and tribal elders during a meeting at a mosque in Karak district and announced over its loudspeaker. Most women in Pakistan’s tribal north-west cover their heads and bodies. The step is reportedly… Continue reading Pakistan: Women barred from shopping without a male relative

Trayvon Martin protests across US a week after George Zimmerman not guilty verdict

Protests are under way across the US, a week after George Zimmerman was cleared of murdering unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin

Protests are under way across the US, a week after George Zimmerman was cleared of murdering unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin. Demonstrators want federal charges to be brought against George Zimmerman, 29, over the February 2012 incident. A Florida jury agreed that the neighborhood watch volunteer killed 17 year-old Trayvon Martin in self-defense. In his… Continue reading Trayvon Martin protests across US a week after George Zimmerman not guilty verdict

Costa Concordia trial: Five people convicted of manslaughter

An Italian court has convicted five people of manslaughter over the deadly 2012 Costa Concordia shipwreck off Giglio

An Italian court has convicted five people of manslaughter over the deadly 2012 Costa Concordia shipwreck off Giglio. The boat’s helmsman, cabin service director, two ship officers and the head of the Italian company’s crisis team were sentenced to up to two years and 10 months in prison for multiple manslaughter, negligence and shipwreck. Reports… Continue reading Costa Concordia trial: Five people convicted of manslaughter

Alexei Navalny vows Moscow mayoral poll win after being freed from jail

Alexei Navalny has told supporters he will fight and win the Moscow mayoral vote, after he was freed from jail pending an appeal against a five-year jail term

Russian activist Alexei Navalny has told supporters he will fight and win the Moscow mayoral vote, after he was freed from jail pending an appeal against a five-year jail term. Alexei Navalny has returned to Moscow from Kirov, where a judge convicted him of embezzlement, in a case widely condemned as political. The court ruled… Continue reading Alexei Navalny vows Moscow mayoral poll win after being freed from jail

Barack Obama makes first comments on Trayvon Martin case since George Zimmerman’s acquittal

President Barack Obama has made his first comments on Trayvon Martin case since last week's acquittal of George Zimmerman

President Barack Obama has made his first comments on Trayvon Martin case since last week’s acquittal of George Zimmerman. The president said: “Trayvon Martin could have been me, 35 years ago.” The unarmed black 17-year-old was shot and killed in Florida in February 2012. George Zimmerman, 29, said he opened fire on the teenager in… Continue reading Barack Obama makes first comments on Trayvon Martin case since George Zimmerman’s acquittal

First adult stem cell trial approved in Japan

The Japanese government has approved the first trial of stem cells produced from a patient's own body

The Japanese government has approved the first trial of stem cells produced from a patient’s own body. Stem cells can become any other part of the body – from nerve to bone to skin – and are touted as the future of medicine. Researchers in Japan will use the cells to attempt to treat a… Continue reading First adult stem cell trial approved in Japan

Huawei denies spying for Chinese government allegations

Huawei has denied claims made by former CIA chief Michael Hayden that it has spied for the Chinese government

Huawei has denied claims made by former CIA chief Michael Hayden that it has spied for the Chinese government. Michael Hayden was quoted by the Australian Financial Review as saying that it was his “professional judgment” that the firm supplied intelligence to ­China. However, Huawei said the claims were “unsubstantiated” and “defamatory”. Huawei, one of… Continue reading Huawei denies spying for Chinese government allegations

Alexei Navalny freed on bail with travel restrictions following Russian protests

Alexei Navalny has been freed from jail pending an appeal, a day after being sentenced to five years for embezzlement

Russian activist Alexei Navalny has been freed from jail pending an appeal, a day after being sentenced to five years for embezzlement. The court ruled that keeping Alexei Navalny in custody would deprive him of his right to stand in the mayoral elections in Moscow in September. Thousands of Russians had protested against Alexei Navalny’s… Continue reading Alexei Navalny freed on bail with travel restrictions following Russian protests

Detroit City files for bankruptcy with debts of at least $15 billion

Detroit has become the largest US city ever to file for bankruptcy

Detroit has become the largest US city ever to file for bankruptcy, with debts of at least $15 billion. The city of Detroit, once a symbol of US industrial power, is seeking protection from creditors who include public-sector workers and their pension funds. Unions described the bankruptcy filing as a power grab. Detroit has faced… Continue reading Detroit City files for bankruptcy with debts of at least $15 billion

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev capture pictures leaked in anger at Rolling Stone magazine cover

Sgt Sean Murphy has leaked images of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev during his capture in anger at the picture used by Rolling Stone magazine for its next cover

Police photographer Sgt Sean Murphy has leaked images of Boston Marathon suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev during his capture in anger at the picture used by Rolling Stone magazine for its next cover. Sean Murphy said his photos showed “the real bomber” – the magazine cover was “hurtful” to the victims’ memories and their families. The images,… Continue reading Dzhokhar Tsarnaev capture pictures leaked in anger at Rolling Stone magazine cover