Police in Spain have fired rubber bullets to clear demonstrators in Madrid as a day of nationwide protests against spending cuts ended in unrest.
Protesters set alight rubbish bins as riot police charged them in the city centre, near the parliament building.
Seven people were arrested and at least six injured, officials said.
Earlier, tens of thousands of people held largely peaceful protests across Spain against the latest government austerity measures.
Public sector workers crowded the streets of Madrid, Barcelona and several other cities, chanting slogans against government “robbery”.
Tens of thousands of people held largely peaceful protests across Spain against the latest government austerity measures (Photo: Reuters)
Among those protesting were firefighters and police officers, as well as health and education workers.
“We have lived through bad times, but this takes the biscuit,” fireman Francisco Vaquero, 58, told the Reuters news agency.
The new 65 billion-euro ($80 billion) package of public sector wage cuts and tax rises were announced last week by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
He said it was part of a deal with eurozone leaders to help rescue Spain’s troubled banks. Parliament ratified the measures on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Germany’s parliament voted in favor of the 100 billion-euro bailout for Spain’s debt-laden banking sector.
Government austerity measures aimed at cutting Spain’s large deficit have prompted frequent protests, including one by miners against subsidy cuts last week.
At a debt auction on Thursday, Spain managed to raise 2.98 billion euros on the financial markets, but at the cost of sharply higher interest rates compared to an auction last month.
Thousands of UK border staff (Home Office) will strike the day before London Olympics open, the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has said.
PCS members will strike for 24 hours next Thursday – when many thousands of visitors are due to arrive in the UK.
Home Secretary Theresa May said the action was “shameful” as it threatens disruption to people travelling to London for the Games.
Immigration minister Damian Green said contingency plans were in place.
East Midlands Trains staff has also voted to strike during the Olympics.
PCS union members will take other forms of action from July 27 to August 20, including working-to-rule and an overtime ban.
The PCS said 57.2% of those who voted backed strike action – the turnout was 20%.
The action will involve staff across the Home Office, including the UK Border Agency, the Identity and Passport Service and Criminal Records Bureau.
Thousands of UK border staff will strike the day before London Olympics open
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “I think the government is whipping up hysteria about the Olympics, there’ll be no disruption to the Olympics, this is a 24-hour strike before the Olympics actually takes place.”
He said he was prepared to meet the culture secretary and home secretary any time in the next week to avert a strike but if they kept their “heads in the sand” the strike would continue.
London Mayor Boris Johnson has said he does not think the union will succeed in disrupting the Olympics and the majority of PCS members want to put on a great Games.
In other developments as the UK prepares for the start of the Olympics on Friday 27 July:
• An additional 1,200 troops have been put on standby to provide security at Olympic sites following G4S’s problems deploying enough staff
• The Duchess of Cambridge has met the London 2012 Olympic torch relay’s oldest bearer at the opening of a new exhibition in London
• Olympic medallist Steve Backley and artist Tracey Emin are among those carrying the Olympic torch as it travels from Deal to Maidstone, in Kent
• Great Britain’s women’s basketball team are beaten 88-63 by USA despite a spirited performance in a Games preparation match in Manchester
• Drivers on East Midlands Trains will strike from 6-8 August, union Aslef says, threatening disruption to spectators travelling to the Games
• Certain ministers, including the prime minister, chancellor, culture secretary and foreign secretary will be allowed to use the priority car lanes
Immigration minister Damian Green said: “If this strike goes ahead it will be a selfish and irresponsible act by the union leadership, they have got no authority for this, only about a fifth of the membership voted in the ballot, and of that small minority only just over half want to go on strike.”
Damian Green said he was confident disruption at immigration desks could be minimized because extra staff from the Home Office and other departments had been trained to provide cover.
Theresa May condemned the action saying: “I think that is shameful, frankly. They are holding a strike on what is one of the key days for people coming in for the Olympic Games.
“We will of course put contingency arrangements in place to ensure we can deal with people coming through the border as smoothly as possible.”
John Cridland, director general of the Confederation of British Industries, said: “For PCS to go on strike on this key day beggars belief. For it to happen because of a vote by 11% of staff is simply outrageous.”
But Labour MP John McDonnell, who chairs the PCS Parliamentary Group, said: “The government has brought this dispute on its own head.”
East Midlands Trains drivers from the union Aslef plan to strike on 6-8 August in a row over pensions. But South West Trains staff has voted not to strike over the Olympics.
Prime Minister David Cameron insisted the Olympics would be safe and secure.
Speaking at a press conference in Afghanistan, he said: “I do not believe it will be right, I do not believe it will be justified.”
Labour leader Ed Miliband also condemned the strike.
The PCS is in dispute with the Home Office on plans to cut 8,500 jobs and the threat of compulsory redundancies in the passport office in Newport, South Wales.
There are also disagreements over pay rises capped at 1% following a two-year wage freeze, privatization of services, and alleged victimization of union reps.
This week the National Audit Office said the UK Border Agency had laid off 1,000 more staff than intended and was having to hire extra people and increase overtime to meet its workload.
The PCS is one of the largest unions in the UK with around 250,000 public sector members.
PCS members at the Department for Transport have been taking industrial action over the past few weeks, while staff in other departments, including the ministries of defence and justice, are set to vote shortly on how to campaign against cuts.
Bulgarian authorities has released CCTV footage of the man suspected of carrying out the deadly suicide bombing of a bus carrying Israeli tourists at Burgas airport.
A white man with long hair and a backpack is seen walking around the terminal and leaving before the blast.
The Bulgarian authorities say the man – believed to be 36 years old – had a fake US driving licence.
Israel blames Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran for Wednesday’s blast which killed five Israelis and a Bulgarian driver.
The suspected bomber also died in the explosion in the eastern Bulgarian city by the Black Sea.
At least 30 people were injured, some seriously.
In response to Israel’s accusations, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday that Tehran strongly condemned “all terrorist acts”.
Bulgarian authorities has released CCTV footage of the man suspected of carrying out the deadly suicide bombing of a bus carrying Israeli tourists at Burgas airport
Hezbollah – a Shia militant group – has not publicly commented on the issue.
The attack could be part of a covert but violent war between Israel and Iran, and there is a view among some analysts that this attack could be a response to a series of recent attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists.
The Bulgarian authorities released the security camera footage of the suspect on Thursday.
Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said the man is believed to have been in the country up to seven days before the attack.
“We cannot exclude the possibility that he had logistical support on Bulgarian territory,” Tsvetan Tsvetanov said, without providing further details.
The authorities are now trying to identify the man from DNA samples.
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the attack “was perpetrated by Hezbollah, Iran’s leading terrorist proxy”.
Benjamin Netanyahu said it was part of “a global campaign of terror carried out by Iran and Hezbollah”.
On Wednesday, the prime minister warned that “Israel will respond forcefully to Iranian terror”.
Israeli officials also stressed that the bombing resembled several recent attempted attacks on Israeli targets in India, Thailand, Azerbaijan, Kenya and Cyprus.
Passengers arriving on a charter flight from Tel Aviv boarded the bus at Burgas airport shortly after 17:00 local time on Wednesday.
“I was on the bus and we had just sat down when after a few seconds we heard a really loud explosion,” Gal Malka told Israel’s army radio.
“The whole bus went up in flames,” she said, adding that the explosion took place near the front of the bus.
Bulgarian journalist Dobromir Doskacharov, who arrived at the scene about 30 minutes after the blast, said: “I saw three buses completely burnt out – just the metal bars were left.”
“There were crowds of people around, very distressed. One man said he saw decapitated heads. Others spoke of body parts flying through the air,” Dobromir Dovkacharov said.
Israeli officials say the identification of the five Israeli victims has now been completed and they will be flown home later on Thursday.
Bulgaria is a popular tourist destination for Israelis.
However, in January there were reports that Israel had asked Bulgaria to tighten security for Israeli tourists travelling by bus.
This followed a reported discovery of a suspicious package found on a bus with Israeli tourists travelling from Turkey to Bulgaria.
Actress Angelina Jolie has reportedly been left furious after her boyfriend Brad Pitt’s mother Jane insisted on buying girly clothes for her notoriously tomboyish granddaughter Shiloh.
Despite Shiloh Jolie-Pitt and her five siblings being allowed to choose their own clothes by their famous parents, Jane Pitt is said to have purchased a series of feminine outfits for the six-year-old.
According to the Evening Standard, Angelina Jolie found Jane Pitt’s move “disrespectful” for her to buy such clothes for Shiloh, considering it is well known that she likes to dress in similar style to her brothers.
A source told the newspaper: “It’s well documented that Shiloh likes to dress like a boy.
“But Jane still insists on buying her fairy costumes and princess dresses, which Angelina finds very disrespectful.”
Angelina Jolie found Jane Pitt's move “disrespectful” for her to buy girly clothes for Shiloh
It is the second time this year that Angelina Jolie has been left angry by Jane Pitt, after Brad’s mother wrote a letter to a local newspaper in the United States urging Americans to vote against President Barack Obama in the upcoming elections because of his support for gay marriage.
In a letter to the Springfield News-Leader in Missouri urging support for Republican candidate Mitt Romney, Jane Pitt wrote: “Any Christian should spend much time in prayer before refusing to vote for a family man with high morals, business experience, who is against abortion, and shares Christian conviction concerning homosexuality just because he is a Mormon.”
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who are prominent supporters of gay marriage and President Barack Obama, were said to be appalled by the letter.
They once said they would not marry until same-sex marriage was legalized in the US, but became engaged after pressure from their six children.
The source said: “Brad and Angelina were devastated by Jane’s actions. They have worked hard campaigning for equality, working closely with Barack Obama.
“Angelina called Jane and told her she believes she’s setting a bad example for the kids.”
A source told Star magazine at the time of the letter: “Jane has never wanted to talk politics with Angelina.
“She knew it would cause greater issues for them, and she wanted to try to have a relationship with the mother of her grandkids. She never thought her letter would be such a big deal.”
Brad Pitt once said of his mother’s outspoken views: “She’s very loving, very open, genuine, and it’s hilarious because she always gets painted as a she-devil.”
There were once rumors that Jane Pitt and husband Bill did not get along with their son’s long-term partner, favoring his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston instead.
But such myths were dispelled when they stepped out together in December last year to support Angelina Jolie at the premiere of her first venture in the director’s chair, In the Land of Blood and Honey.
A new report from China Internet Network Information Center (CINIC) found that mobile phones are now the most common way for people to connect to the internet in China.
For the first time, desktop computers are no longer the leading method for the country’s 538 million connected citizens to get online.
The CINIC report said over 50% of the year’s new internet users were from rural areas.
A fall in smartphone costs has been the key cause of growth, experts said.
“Mobile phones are a cheaper and more convenient way to access the internet for [residents in] China’s vast rural areas and for the enormous migrant population,” said the report from the state-linked CINIC.
China Internet Network Information Center found that mobile phones are now the most common way for people to connect to the internet in China
Mobile internet users now number 388 million, up almost 10% since the start of the year.
“Mobile phone prices continued to drop,” the report said.
“The emergence of smartphones under 1,000 yuan [$157] sharply lowered the threshold for using the devices and encouraged average mobile phone users to become mobile web surfers.”
The total number of those online has risen 5% since the end of last year, many of whom are very active in cyberspace.
Over half of the connected population frequently use microblogging sites like Sina Weibo, a service similar to Twitter which is banned in the country.
The popularity of these services has prompted the government to force users to sign up using their real names.
Internet use in China has had a rocky history. The country has been on the end of sharp criticism from human rights groups for blocking large amounts of content from its citizens – a system which has been dubbed the Great Firewall of China.
Bill Dutton, professor of internet studies at the University of Oxford, said the trend followed similar growth in other parts of the world.
“We’re moving to what we call next-generation users,” he said.
“They’re likely to have three or four devices in their homes, therefore they’re able to integrate computing into their lives wherever they are.”
He added that the rapid adoption of mobile among the rural community was one of necessity over desire.
“There’s a wave of people coming online that would not otherwise be able to afford to be there.”
With a face full of make-up, Isabella Rossellini has proved a picture-perfect fit for luxury goods and jewellery brand Bulgari.
The past model, who served as the face of beauty giant Lancome for 14 years, has appeared in an ad campaign for her new line of namesake handbags for the brand, titled the Isabella Rossellini collection.
Isabella Rossellini, the beautiful daughter of the late Italian film director Roberto Rossellini and Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman was photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the line’s ad campaign, which is yet to be released entirely.
In the one released image, Isabella Rossellini, 60, is perched upon a plush couch, wearing a navy frock and carrying a red calf-leather tote handbag from the forthcoming collection.
With a face full of make-up, Isabella Rossellini has proved a picture-perfect fit for luxury goods and jewellery brand Bulgari
The product features a rock crystal twist lock and is no doubt bound to become the It bag of the Autumn/Winter season.
The elegant look is spiced up by a pair of lipstick-red pumps that sit on her feet up on the couch also.
One of the gown’s straps has been allowed to fall off her shoulder, revealing a peep of her bust.
Isabella Rossellini lunching with friends in Sicily last week
Interestingly, the fallen strap is intended to pay homage to a past portrait of the actress in which also stars director David Lynch, who directed Isabella Rossellini in the iconic 1986 film Blue Velvet.
In the original shot, also taken by Annie Leibovitz, her dress strap is also snapped falling off her shoulder.
The film itself, which also starred Dennis Hopper, helped cement Isabella Rossellini’s work as a actress in her own right, and not just the famous daughter of an A-list couple.
The new promotional image was shot in the photographer’s studio in New York.
It was inspired by the work of British painter Meredith Frampton, according to WWD.
The artist was renowned for his somewhat surrealist works and still life paintings, which might explain the incredible stillness that exudes from the image.
The full collection of ads are wrapped up in an exclusive deal with Vanity Fair magazine and will appear in the title’s September issue.
The outspoken actress has attracted further attention recently after appearing in the HBO documentary titled About Face.
In the film, which has been critically acclaimed and is scheduled to screen at Sundance Film Festival in January of next year, the actress is seen talking about plastic surgery as well as the realities of the fashion and beauty industries.
She also touches on her path to fame.
Isabella Rossellini is seen telling the camera that it is ‘essential not to depend on fathers and husbands’ while working in the showbiz industry.
The actress was famously dumped by Lancome in the mid-Nineties for allegedly being too old to be a model.
An FBI operation in Miami has recovered a painting which is believed to be a Matisse stolen from a Venezuelan museum more than 10 years ago.
A man and a woman allegedly tried to sell Matisse’s Odalisque A La Culotte Rouge to undercover FBI agents.
Pedro Antonio Marcuello Guzman, 46, and Maria Martha Elisa Ornelas Lazo, 50, have been arrested and charged with possession of stolen goods.
The 1925 painting has been valued at approximately $3 million.
The painting depicts a bare-chested woman sitting cross-legged on the floor wearing a pair of scarlet trousers.
It was stolen approximately a decade ago from the Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art – formerly known as the Sofia Imber Contemporary Art Museum, or MACCSI.
A man and a woman allegedly tried to sell Matisse's Odalisque A La Culotte Rouge to undercover FBI agents
In 2003 the museum discovered the original artwork had been replaced with a forgery after an art collector reported it was being offered for sale in New York.
A press release from the Department of Justice on Wednesday claimed Pedro Antonio Marcuello Guzman had agreed to sell the painting for $740,000 after admitting it was stolen.
“Marcuello allegedly admitted to the undercover agents during a meeting that he knew the painting was stolen and offered to sell [it],” the statement said.
The artwork was then brought into the US – from Mexico – by a courier identified as Maria Ornelas.
“Upon inspection by the undercover agents, the painting appeared consistent with the original Henri Matisse painting reported stolen from the MACCSI museum,” the statement said.
According to Reuters, the FBI’s National Stolen Art File database lists five other missing Matisse works, including a collection of 62 sketches.
His 1906 Pastoral was one of five paintings stolen from the Museum of Modern Art in Paris in 2010.
Earlier this year a Matisse floral still life, titled The Peonies, fetched $19 million at an auction in New York.
Grum, a botnet which experts believe sent out 18% of the world’s spam email, has been shut down, a security firm said.
Grum’s control servers were mainly based in Panama, Russia and Ukraine.
Security company FireEye and spam-tracking service SpamHaus worked with local internet service providers (ISPs) to shut down the illegal network.
A botnet is a network of computers that has been hijacked by cybercriminals, usually by using malware.
“Grum’s takedown resulted from the efforts of many individuals,” wrote Atif Mushtaq, a security researcher with FireEye.
“This collaboration is sending a strong message to all the spammers: Stop sending us spam. We don’t need your cheap Viagra or fake Rolex.”
Atif Mushtaq wrote that on Monday he learned that a Dutch server involved in Grum had been shut down. He said it “at least made a dent” in the botnet.
Grum botnet is believed to send out 18 percent of the world's spam email
On Tuesday, the command and control servers (CnCs) in Panama had been shut down.
“This good news was soon followed by some bad news,” he explained.
“After seeing that the Panamanian server had been shut down, the bot herders moved quickly and started pointing the rest of the CnCs to new secondary servers in Ukraine.
“So at one point, I was thinking that all we needed was to take down one Russian server, but right in front of my eyes, the bot herders started pointing their botnet to new destinations.”
He noted that in the past Ukraine has been something of a “safe haven” for bot herders.
“Shutting down any servers there has never been easy.”
Disabling Grum is just one of many high-profile efforts to neutralise botnets worldwide.
Russian Georgiy Avanesov was in May sentenced to four years in jail for being behind the Bredolab botnet which was believed to have been generating more than £80,000 a month in revenue.
Microsoft has been working to disrupt Zeus, another huge network responsible for, researchers said, millions of pounds in theft.
FireEye collaborated with other experts in the worldwide security industry to apply pressure to local ISPs to suspend the illegal operation.
Atif Mushtaq said more than 20,000 computers were still part of the botnet, but that without the active CnCs they would soon be rendered ineffective.
Grum’s closure was an encouraging development in clamping down on botnets across the world, he said.
“When the appropriate channels are used, even ISPs within Russia and Ukraine can be pressured to end their cooperation with bot herders.
“There are no longer any safe havens. Most of the spam botnets that used to keep their CnCs in the USA and Europe have moved to countries like Panama, Russia, and Ukraine thinking that no one can touch them in these comfort zones.
“We have proven them wrong this time. Keep on dreaming of a junk-free inbox.”
Google has launched Gmail SMS, a text message-based version of its email service, in some of the African countries.
Gmail SMS can run on so-called “dumb phones” which only have very basic features and no access to the internet.
The service has so far been made available in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya.
Gmail SMS is the latest in a line of Google products aimed at the African market – the company is also running educational programmes in the region.
Gmail SMS can run on so-called "dumb phones" which only have very basic features and no access to the internet
Google describes its efforts in improving computer science training as “an important goal for Google in 2012”.
It recently offered grants to 17 universities to expand its Computer Science for High School project.
However lack of access to affordable hardware is still seen as a critical barrier to technology adoption across the continent.
Geva Rechav, Google’s product manager for emerging markets, explained in a blog post how Gmail SMS was adapted to work by using simple text commands.
“Gmail SMS works on any phone, even the most basic ones which only support voice and SMS,” he wrote.
“Gmail SMS automatically forwards your emails as SMS text messages to your phone and you can respond by replying directly to the SMS.
“You can control the emails received by replying with commands such as MORE, PAUSE and RESUME.
“Additionally, compose a new email as an SMS and send to any email address recipient – who will find your message in the right email conversation thread!”
It will be free to receive messages from the system, but any sent texts will be subject to standard network rates.
Across Africa, adoption of mobile services has been swift and widespread.
Mobile commerce offerings like microfinancing tool M-Pesa have in excess of 15 million users.
An exhibit celebrating Whitney Houston will be on display at Los Angeles’ Grammy Museum starting with August 15.
The Whitney! exhibit will be on display two days before the superstar’s last movie, Sparkle, bows nationwide.
Whitney! Celebrating the Musical Legacy of Whitney Houston received full cooperation from the Houston family and will concentrate on the six-time Grammy winner’s life on and off stage.
An exhibit celebrating Whitney Houston will be on display at Los Angeles’ Grammy Museum starting with August 15
Whitney Houston died on February 11 in her Beverly Hilton Hotel room.
The Whitney! exhibit will include stage costumes worn by Houston, including the white, beaded gown she wore when awards the 1992 Grammy for album of the year; album and career scrapbooks from the early days of her career; concert posters and tour booklets, rare photographs of Whitney Houston, and her personal Bible.
There will also be interviews with a number of musicians and artists who worked with or were influenced by Whitney Houston.
Sparkle movie will premiere on August 17.
The Whitney! exhibit will be on display at the Grammy Museum until February 2013.
YouTube unveiled yesterday a way for users to automatically blur human faces in videos they upload, a feature that would help protect the identities of political dissidents, parent company Google Inc said.
Once known more as a repository for fuzzy, home-made cat videos, YouTube has become a growing destination for slick, highly produced entertainment and serious news content.
Earlier this week, a study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism said amateur “citizen journalism” footage from events such as the 2011 tsunami in Japan were some of the most-watched clips on YouTube.
In recent months YouTube has hosted dozens of videos from the rebellion in Syria, often uploaded by rebels seeking to publicize their struggle. But the videos have also revealed the identity of rebel fighters.
“Whether you want to share sensitive protest footage without exposing the faces of the activists involved, or share the winning point in your 8-year-old’s basketball game without broadcasting the children’s faces to the world, our face blurring technology is a first step towards providing visual anonymity for video on YouTube,” YouTube said in a blog post Wednesday.
Image of a demonstrator in Egypt as an example of a potential use for YouTube facial blurring feature
The feature also allows for the original copy of the uploaded video to be deleted. Videos may also be kept private.
“YouTube is proud to be a destination where people worldwide come to share their stories, including activists,” YouTube said.
As a new feature they warn of it potentially missing some faces depending on the lighting, angle, video quality and obstructions.
“Before you publish, you will see a preview of what your video will look like with faces blurred. When you save the changes to your video, a new copy is created with the blurred faces. You will then be given the option to delete the original video,” the blog posted by Amanda Conway, policy associate at YouTube reads.
She uses an image of a demonstrator in Egypt as an example of a potential use for the feature.
According to YouTube, 60 hours of video are uploaded to their site every minute collecting more than 3 billion views a day.
The international human rights organization WITNESS reports that “no video-sharing site or hardware manufacturer currently offers users the option to blue faces or protect identity.”
US researchers claim that omelettes, meringues and pasta could one-day be back on the menu for some people with egg allergies after they are treated with the food they are allergic to.
The only option for patients is to completely avoid foods containing egg.
A study on 55 children showed some were able to eat egg after minuscule amounts were gradually added to their diets.
However, the treatment is still experimental and doctors say it should not be tried at home.
Egg allergies are one of the most common allergies and are thought to affect up to 2.5% of children.
Egg allergies are one of the most common allergies and are thought to affect up to 2.5 percent of children
Gradually introducing the food which causes an allergic reaction has been successful in other foods such as such as peanuts.
Parents were given powdered egg to mix into their children’s food, building up to about a third of an egg every day.
The findings, presented in the New England Journal of Medicine, report that after 22 months of egg therapy, 75% of the children were able to eat the equivalent of two eggs without reacting.
The children were tested again after at least a month of no longer having the daily egg treatment. Of these, 28% could still eat egg without reacting and were considered allergy-free.
One of the researchers Dr. Wesley Burks, from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, said: “This study gives us hope that we’re closer to developing a treatment.
“Almost a third of the children had a permanent change and were no longer egg-allergic.”
Dr. Stacie Jones, from University of Arkansas, said: “Reducing these kids’ allergic response to egg also lessened parental anxiety over how their children might react if accidentally exposed to egg at school or at someone else’s house.”
However, about 15% of children did not finish the treatment, mostly due to allergic reactions.
Fresh fighting in many parts of Syria throughout the night has followed the deaths on Wednesday of three top regime figures in a suspected suicide attack.
Syrian government and opposition both said large numbers of people died, in one of the bloodiest days of the conflict.
Activists said artillery and helicopters were used in the worst attack, on a funeral south of Damascus.
The president’s brother-in-law, defence minister and head of Bashar al-Assad’s crisis team died in yesterday’s bombing.
Rebel groups said the bomb had been planted the day before the meeting at national security headquarters where it was detonated. They predicted the government’s imminent fall.
The army has pledged to rid Syria of “criminal and murder gangs”.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday that more than 150 people had died across the country on Wednesday, in one of the worst days of a 16-month revolt.
Video of one attack posted on the internet showed scenes of pandemonium after what activists said was a helicopter gunship attack on a funeral procession at Sitt Zeinab, south of the capital. They said at least 60 people were killed in this incident alone.
In Damascus, state media said, security forces launched operations in many areas which have been clashes in recent days, mainly in the south-west and north-east, killing many “terrorists”.
Activists reported more tanks moving towards the capital from the west.
Following Wednesday’s bombing, the government has vowed to root out ruthlessly what it describes as armed terrorists backed by outside powers.
The rebels are on the offensive too, warning state TV and radio to evacuate their personnel before its headquarters comes under attack.
In contrast with earlier explosions in Damascus, there were no photos or video from the scene of Wednesday’s blast at the security headquarters.
Among the victims were:
• Defence Minister and ex-chief of staff Gen Daoud Rajiha
• Deputy Defence Minister Assef Shawkat, married to Bashar al-Assad’s sister Bushra
• Assistant to the vice-president and head of crisis management office Gen Hassan Turkomani
• Two other senior officials – interior minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar and National Security Bureau chief Hisham Ikhtiar- were wounded
The US said the killings were a major blow to the regime.
“I think the incident today makes clear that Assad is losing control,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
“All of our partners internationally need to come together to support a transition.”
In Lebanon, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah condemned what he termed a targeted killing: “We are going to miss them and we offer our condolences to the Syrian leadership and the Syrian army.”
Russia said some countries had incited the opposition rather than calming it down.
The attack prompted the UN Security Council to delay until Thursday a vote on a Western-sponsored resolution calling for tougher sanctions on Damascus.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the Security Council must “shoulder its responsibility and take collective and effective action.
“Time is of the essence. The Syrian people have suffered for too long. The bloodshed must end now,” Ban Ki-moon said.
The mandate for the UN’s observer mission runs out on Friday. The resolution before the Security Council would extend the mission and place international envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which could ultimately authorize force.
But Russia is firmly against harsher measures. In a telephone conversation between President Barack Obama and President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, the two leaders were said to be divided in their approaches to ending the bloodshed.
Jerri Peterson from Atlanta in the US, who got a new tattoo to celebrate her role in the Olympic torch relay, was shocked to discover it had been spelt incorrectly.
Jerri Peterson carried the torch through Derby on 30 June after being nominated by the hotel chain she worked for.
When she arrived back in the US, she decided to spend $10 on a tattoo to mark the occasion.
It was only hours later she spotted it featured the mis-spelling “Oylmpic”.
Jerri Peterson was shocked to discover that her Olympic tattoo had been spelt incorrectly
Jerri Peterson was one of 70 international employees selected by her firm to take part in the relay as a thank you for her years of charity work.
She said: “I always wanted to have a tattoo but I never quite felt passionate about any one thing to have it put on my body permanently.
“So when I was selected for this wonderful honor, I thought <<that’s it – I’m ready to have my tattoo>>.”
She booked a session with a “really good” tattoo artist in her home state of Georgia, and took a friend along for moral support.
Initially she was delighted with how it looked and it was only when she sent a photo of the tattoo to a friend that the spelling mistake was pointed out.
She said: “I looked at it and I was so disappointed. I called my husband and he giggled a little bit.
“Then I started laughing about it and I’ve laughed ever since.”
Jerri Peterson pointed out the mistake to the tattoo artist responsible but declined his offer to correct it.
She said: “He felt so bad when he found out.
“He wanted to fix it but I decided I want to keep it. It’s fine.
Windows 8 will be released on October 26, Microsoft has revealed.
The declaration was made at the firm’s annual sales meeting and was published on its blog shortly after.
The firm has described the update as the most important redesign of its interface in more than a decade.
The announcement was made a day before the firm releases its fourth quarter earnings report. Analysts say it may post its first ever loss after writing down the value of a troubled takeover.
Microsoft paid $6.3 billion for the online advertising service Aquantive in 2007 but has said the service did not perform as expected. As a result its earnings will be offset by a $6.2 billion charge.
Windows 8 will be released on October 26
Microsoft’s future efforts are now focused on its upcoming system software release.
Windows 8 includes a touch-controlled interface dubbed Metro as well as a more traditional desktop.
It will be released in a version that runs on ARM-based chips for the first time, as well as versions for x86-based ones designed by Intel and AMD.
Some consumers will have delayed buying new computers ahead of the release, depressing Microsoft’s sales in the meantime.
However, many companies have continued with their roll-out of Windows 7 as it typically takes big firms’ IT departments months or years after a major system update to approve its installation on workers’ computers.
Part of Microsoft’s goal in the initial months will be to eat into sales of rivals’ tablet computers.
Apple’s iPad and Amazon’s Kindle Fire have dominated the sector while Google’s new Nexus 7 has also attracted positive reviews.
Microsoft hopes to make the most of the fact that it can offer a single system that can power both desktop PCs and mobile devices – allowing progams to work on both – as opposed to Apple’s decision to offer different Mac OS X and iPad iOS systems.
Microsoft has also taken the out-of-character step of announcing its own hardware – the Surface family of tablets – to compete with other companies’ products on the Windows 8 platform to maximize its chances.
But since announcing the news chief executive Steve Ballmer has sought to reassure his company’s hardware partners, describing Surface as “a design point” that would have a place within a “broad Windows ecosystem”.
Whatever the case, investors appear hopeful despite the problems with Aquantive.
“Microsoft’s stock is up 17% since the start of the year in part because of anticipation for Windows 8 and Surface,” said Colin Gillis, senior technology analyst at BGC Partners.
“We’re also still seeing nearly one million PCs sold worldwide a day so that’s a sizeable marketplace for them.”
The Petermann Glacier in northern Greenland has calved an iceberg twice the size of Manhattan, scientists say.
Images from a NASA satellite show the island breaking off a tongue of ice that extends at the end of the glacier.
In 2010 an ice island measuring 250 square km (100 square miles) broke off the same glacier.
Glaciers do calve icebergs naturally, but the extent of the changes to the Petermann Glacier in recent years has taken many experts by surprise.
The Petermann Glacier in northern Greenland has calved an iceberg twice the size of Manhattan
“It is not a collapse but it is certainly a significant event,” Eric Rignot from NASA said in a statement.
Some other observers have gone further. “It’s dramatic. It’s disturbing,” University of Delaware’s Andreas Muenchow told the Associated Press.
“We have data for 150 years and we see changes that we have not seen before,” Andreas Muenchow added.
However, the calving is not expected have an impact on sea levels as the ice was already floating.
Icebergs from the Petermann Glacier sometimes reach the coast off Newfoundland in Canada, posing a danger to shipping and navigation, according to the Canadian Ice Service.
Scientists have also raised concerns in recent years about the Greenland ice shelf, saying that it is thinning extensively amid warm temperatures.
Explosion of a bus carrying Israeli tourists in the eastern Bulgarian city of Burgas has killed at least seven people, Israeli officials say.
More than 30 people were also injured when the bus exploded at Burgas airport, by the Black Sea.
Witnesses told Israeli TV that someone boarded the bus and a huge explosion immediately followed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later accused Iran of being behind the explosion.
“All the signs lead to Iran,” he said in a statement.
“Israel will respond forcefully to Iranian terror.”
More than 30 people were also injured when the bus exploded at Burgas airport
The Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement: “There are six bodies on the scene – one critically wounded died at the hospital and two seriously injured are in intensive care. Thirty more people are being treated.”
It said the bus was carrying tourists from a charter flight that arrived from Israel.
Wednesday’s blast came on the 18th anniversary of a deadly attack on a Jewish community centre in Argentina. Israel blamed Iran for that attack – a claim denied by Tehran.
Israeli officials said passengers from a Tel Aviv-Burgas flight boarded the bus shortly after 17:00 local time.
“We don’t know if it was a terror attack. We do know it was an explosion,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Paul Hirschson was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.
Two buses standing nearby were also damaged.
“I arrived at the airport about half-an-hour after the explosion, and saw three buses completely burnt out – just the metal bars were left,” Bulgarian journalist Dobromir Dovkacharov said.
“There were crowds of people around, very distressed. One man said he saw decapitated heads. Others spoke of body parts flying through the air,” he added.
More than 40 people are reported to have been on the bus. Local officials say the death toll could rise further.
Burgas airport has now been closed and flights are being diverted to Varna.
In January there were reports that Israel had asked Bulgaria to tighten security for Israeli tourists travelling by bus.
This followed a reported discovery of a suspicious package found on a bus with Israeli tourists travelling from Turkey to Bulgaria.
Israeli tourists have been targeted in attacks in a number of countries around the world.
Last night hundreds of die-hard Madonna fans abandoned their Queen of Pop by marching out of London’s Hyde Park during her MDNA concert – some branding it the worst they had ever seen.
Even a sexy striptease on stage left fans cold- one simply stated: “When Madonna has concerts in her 50s where she strips herself on stage, you know her career is as dead as myspace.”
Many fans decided they did not want to stick around to watch the finale as of the poor sound quality, terrible weather and Madonna’s failure to perform more of her classic hits.
One reviewer even said at one point Madonna screamed: “We love you Poland,” which if it was a joke fell flat on an already less than enthusiastic audience.
Others said a 10:30 p.m. curfew imposed by Westminster Council meant Madonna was forced to start her performance early, in broad daylight, which meant the elaborate staging was lost to some of the audience.
Earlier her management admitted it had failed to sell all the tickets for the concert – Madonna’s first in England for four years.
It is believed some fans were put off by the £77 ($120) for the open air show.
Madonna failed to impress many fans at the Hyde Park MDNA concert
A number of fans later complained on Twitter about the show. One user, Courtney, tweeted: “Worst gig I have ever seen.”
Dawn Gracie wrote: “Madonna left early,” adding later: “I mourn those vintage Madonna days … where potty mouth and violent imagery wasn’t necessary. Just good vibes and great music!”
Claire Whitaker said : “When Madonna has concerts in her 50s where she strips herself on stage, you know her career is as dead as myspace.”
Kylie Minogue, George Michael, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and U2 star Adam Clayton were among celebrities seen watching the show – which finished just moments before the 10:30 p.m. curfew imposed by Westminster Council.
Her sexy strip took place while she sang Like A Virgin in front of the 50,000-strong crowd.
Madonna, 53, peeled off her clothing to reveal a sheer bra and black lacy thong, which she wore under fishnet tights.
Her toyboy boyfriend Brahim Zaibat, who was on stage as a backing dancer, then helped to fasten a corset around her.
The singer told the audience: “I like to live dangerously.”
Madonna also introduced her 11-year-old son Rocco, who joined her as a dancer during the gig.
As well as performing hits like Papa Don’t Preach, Hung Up and Vogue, she also showcased tracks from her latest album MDNA.
She made a dig at pop rival Lady Gaga by incorporating her track Born This Way during a rendition of Express Yourself.
Not all fans were disappointed. TV and radio presenter Toby Anstis tweeted : “I can definitely say, that was THE best live show I have ever seen! Mesmerising from start to finish! Amaaaazin!”
Apple has been ordered by a UK judge to publish announcements that Samsung did not copy the design of its iPad, according to the Bloomberg news agency.
It said the judge said one notice should remain on Apple’s website for at least six months, while other adverts should be placed in various newspapers and magazines.
It follows Apple’s failed attempt to block sales of the South Korean firm’s Galaxy Tab tablets.
Apple has been ordered by a UK judge to publish announcements that Samsung did not copy the design of its iPad
Apple and Samsung have not commented.
The order did not feature in Judge Colin Birss’s judgement published on 9 July, but Bloomberg said the matter was discussed in the court following the verdict.
It said the notices must make reference to the court case and should be designed to “correct the damaging impression” that Samsung’s tablets had aped the look of Apple’s products.
“They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design,” said the judge at the time.
“They are not as cool. The overall impression produced is different.”
However, the judge refused Samsung’s request that Apple be forbidden from restating its claim that its design rights had been infringed.
Judge Birss said that the US firm was “entitled” to hold the opinion that his judgement was wrong.
A Tanzanian ferry carrying at least 250 people has sunk near the island of Zanzibar.
An operation to rescue passengers has been launched by the navy and police. The boat had left the city of Dar es Salaam earlier in the day.
The navy said the vessel, the MV Skagit, got into difficulty because of strong winds.
A minister in Zanzibar quoted by AFP news agency said so far 12 dead bodies had been recovered.
Last September, nearly 200 people died when an overcrowded boat with 800 people aboard sank off Zanzibar
Last September, nearly 200 people died when an overcrowded boat with 800 people aboard sank off Zanzibar.
The MV Skagit left the mainland at 12:00 local time bound for the main island of the semi-autonomous archipelago.
The journey usually takes about two hours.
Thirty-one children are believed to have been on board.
A safety officer at the Zanzibar Port Corporation told Reuters news agency the ferry was now “bottom-up”.
“Twelve dead bodies and 10 survivors have been recovered so far. Rescue operations continue in bad weather,” Mwinyihaji Makame, state minister in the Zanzibari president’s office, told journalists, AFP reports.
The route between Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar is a busy crossing, popular with both Tanzanians and foreign tourists.
Actor Rajesh Khanna, Bollywood’s “first superstar”, has died at the age of 69, his family has announced.
Rajesh Khanna had been in and out of hospital in recent weeks. The cause of his health problems was unclear.
Rajesh Khanna, popularly called “Kaka” by his fans, made his name playing the romantic lead in a string of films which were massive hits in the 1960s and 1970s.
The actor starred in more than 160 films, including hits such as Kati Patang, Aaradhana, Anand and Amar Prem.
Rajesh Khanna had a huge following and was mobbed by fans whenever he appeared in public.
He died at his family home in Mumbai on Wednesday, the Press Trust of India reported. He had been discharged from a hospital in the city on Monday.
Rajesh Khanna, Bollywood's "first superstar", has died at the age of 69
Scores of fans gathered outside Aashirwad, his home on Carter Road in Mumbai’s Bandra area, following the news of his death, the agency said.
“He has gone to a very nice and heavenly place. We are very happy that he had gone there,” his actor son-in-law Akshay Kumar told reporters.
“I hope everybody there, whoever is watching him, can just say a little prayer for him,” he said.
Meanwhile, tributes have been pouring in for the superstar on the micro-blogging site, Twitter, where fans have been remembering his best dialogues and songs from his hit films.
PM Manmohan Singh led the tributes with his tweet: “I convey my heartfelt condolences to the members of the bereaved family and countless fans and admirers of Rajesh Khanna.”
Actor Anupam Kher wrote: “Rajesh Khanna gave us a crash course in Romance. He introduced us to a special twinkle in the eye that made us feel good about ourselves.”
Director Karan Johar tweeted: “The magic… the mannerism… the mania of RAJESH KHANNA is inscribed in every archive of Indian cinema… Forever…. RIP SIR!!!”
Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt wrote: “When we lose a loved one, something within us dies. Our generation loved Rajesh Khanna. Today a bit of us dies with this enigmatic star.”
Actress Shabana Azmi tweeted: “He was the SUPERSTAR like no other. Did 10 films with him. Met him last at Apsara awards. Pale shadow of himself but smile as winsome.”
The actor won a host of industry awards during his long career, although he was only recently seen in his first television commercial.
During the peak of his popularity, there were reports of his female fans marrying his photographs.
A bomb planted by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan has destroyed 22 NATO fuel tankers carrying supplies to coalition forces, local officials say.
The vehicles were hit by a pre-dawn explosion which triggered a huge fire that engulfed them in flames, they say.
At the time, the trucks were parked overnight in Samangan province, as they headed from Uzbekistan towards NATO forces in the south.
Police said the fire caused by the bomb is still burning.
An intelligence official said the device was attached under one of the trucks, which were parked close together.
The trucks were parked overnight in Samangan province, as they headed from Uzbekistan towards NATO forces in the south
“Since it was early in the morning, there were not a lot of people around. Otherwise, it could have caused a lot more casualties,” said the official.
In a statement, the Taliban said they carried out the attack, which officials say is the first of its kind in northern Afghanistan.
The trucks were attacked in the same province where well-known Afghan politician Ahmad Khan Samangani was killed in a suicide attack on Saturday while attending his daughter’s wedding.
NATO has relied heavily on overland supplies from Central Asia since last November when Pakistan banned NATO convoys after US airstrikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on the Afghan border.
Although Pakistan lifted its blockade earlier this month, NATO traffic has yet to return to normal.
While attacks on NATO tankers have been commonplace in Pakistan in recent years, correspondents say such attacks in Afghanistan have been much less frequent.
Actress Halle Berry was rushed to hospital in Los Angeles last night following an accident on the set of her latest movie, it has been claimed.
It is believed that Halle Berry hit her head on some concrete after taking a nasty fall while shooting The Hive in the city.
The mother-of-one, who had appeared in good spirits while filming earlier in the day, was rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Hospital in LA shortly after the incident occurred at around 10:00 p.m. last night.
A spokesperson for the actress said she has since been released from hospital, adding in a statement: “Halle Berry suffered a minor head injury while shooting a fight sequence on the set of her film, The Hive.
“She was taken to the hospital as a precaution, but she checked out healthy and was released. She’ll continue production as planned.”
Halle Berry hit her head on some concrete after taking a nasty fall while shooting The Hive
Following the accident, the set was shut down soon afterwards.
Earlier in the day, Halle Berry, 45, looked happy and cheery as she waved to fans while the crew set up shots on location in southern central Los Angeles.
The thriller, which is set against the backdrop of a 911 call centre, also stars Abigail Breslin, who first shot to fame in Little Miss Sunshine.
Halle Berry plays a 911 emergency operator who takes a call from a teenage girl, who has been abducted and carried away in the boot of a car.
The kidnapping plays out in real time as the pair work together to track down the killer.
It’s not the first time Halle Berry has been injured while filming.
In 2011, Halle Berry broke her foot while filming the movie adaptation of David Nicholls’ novel Cloud Atlas in Spain.
It was reported at the time that Halle Berry’s injury occurred in between filming as she spent time with her daughter Nahla at the property she was renting in Palma de Mallorca.
Meanwhile, the actress is currently embroiled in an intense custody battle for Nahla with former boyfriend, Calvin Klein model Gabriel Aubry.
She has hired the best legal guns in LA and taken Gabriel to court dozens of times in a bid to gain full custody of Nahla.
The actress has said she wants to move with her daughter to France to live with actor fiancé, Olivier Martinez.
The case is due to go to trial in a later this month and the parents are expected to take the stand against one another.
