Patrick Devillers, a French architect with alleged links to scandal-hit Chinese politician Bo Xilai has left Cambodia for China, officials say.
Patrick Devillers was detained in Phnom Penh on 13 June at China’s request.
He reportedly had close ties to Bo Xilai and his wife, Gu Kailai, a suspect in the death of British man Neil Heywood.
Cambodia had said he would not be sent to either China or France without an investigation, but officials said he left on Tuesday of his own free will.
“China wants him as a witness,” Information Minister Khieu Kanharith told Reuters news agency.
Patrick Devillers had close ties to Bo Xilai and his wife, Gu Kailai, a suspect in the death of British man Neil Heywood
Patrick Devillers, 52, has been living in Cambodia for the past five years. Reports said he checked into a Shanghai-bound flight late on Tuesday.
Bo Xilai, the former high-flying leader of the south-western Chinese megacity of Chongqing, was sacked in March and is under investigation for flouting Communist Party discipline.
His downfall was triggered when his police chief, Wang Lijun, fled to the US consulate, reportedly to seek asylum after falling out with Bo Xilai over his investigation into the death of Neil Heywood.
Neil Heywood was found dead in a hotel in Chongqing on 15 November 2011.
Local officials initially said he died of excessive drinking, but the government announced in April that it was investigating Bo Xilai’s wife in connection with the case.
Bo Xilai and his wife have not been seen in public since then.
Syria’s defense minister Daoud Rajiha and his deputy Assef Shawkat, President Assad’s brother-in-law, have died in a suspected suicide bombing at security headquarters in Damascus, state TV says.
Daoud Rajiha and Assef Shawkat were attending a meeting of senior officials at the time.
The national security chief and interior minister are said to be critically hurt.
The attack comes amid claims of a major rebel offensive on the city.
A statement by the armed forces read out on TV shortly after the attack said Syria was “more determined than ever” to fight terrorism and wipe out “criminal gangs”.
Whoever thinks that killing top commanders “can twist Syria’s arm… is delusional”, it said.
The rebels now clearly believe that victory is within sight, and the deaths will give them even greater heart.
Security sources say the suspected bomber worked as a bodyguard for members of President Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle.
General Daoud Rajiha has been defense minister for less than a year, serving previously as chief of staff, and is on a US blacklist for his role in the suppression of dissent.
He is believed to be an Orthodox Christian – a rarity in the Alawite-dominated Syrian military and government.
General Assef Shawkat is considered a top security chief and a member of the inner circle of the regime. He is married to Bashar al-Assad’s sister Bushra.
General Assef Shawkat was a top security chief and Bashar al-Assad’s brother-in-law
In other developments:
• Turkish officials report two Syrian generals are among hundreds of refugees who fled into Turkey overnight, bringing the total number of fleeing generals to 20.
• Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to discuss the Syrian crisis with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The area around the national security building, in Rawda district, has been sealed off.
Witnesses at the site of the bombing said journalists were banned from approaching.
“The terrorist explosion which targeted the national security building in Damascus occurred during a meeting of ministers and a number of heads of [security] agencies,” the TV said.
The reports say that Hisham Ikhtiar, director the National Security Bureau, and Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar, were among those injured in the attack.
Earlier, activists reported more clashes during the night in several areas around the south-west of Damascus.
They said the government had brought more troops and armour into some districts, and that several people had been killed in clashes and bombardments.
A rebel spokeswoman, Susan Ahmad, said the entrances to Damascus were closed on Wednesday morning.
“We heard the sounds of explosions every now and then all around Damascus,” she said.
“Now tanks are storming into al-Qaboun [district], shelling everything, shelling residential houses, shooting every moving thing and they are trying to arrest people and kill.
“People are trying to run away and get out of al-Qaboun.”
Activists have also posted on the internet pictures of what they say is a barracks on the heights overlooking the city engulfed in flames.
They believed it had been hit by fire from Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels, and said the barracks is involved in providing security for the presidential palace complex below.
State media said security forces fought off attacks by small groups of armed terrorists in the city.
But the TV carried night-time footage of troops deployed in the Midan quarter, in some very tense and deserted streets.
The rebels have declared a final battle for the capital, calling it Operation Damascus Volcano, and have been fighting troops in several parts of Damascus for the past three days.
The fighting reached central areas on Tuesday, with gunfire and plumes of smoke reported in a street near parliament.
The Free Syrian Army said the operation was well planned, and they had sent hundreds of fighters to the capital last week to be in place for the assault.
The rebels and the government often publish contradictory accounts of the same incidents.
Western journalists are under heavy restrictions in Syria, making it difficult to verify the claims of either side.
The attack comes as UN chiefs have been trying to persuade China and Russia to agree tougher measures on Syria, ahead of a Security Council vote on Wednesday on imposing sanctions.
UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met Chinese leader Hu Jintao in Beijing.
The UN has until Friday to renew the mandate for observers in Syria, although a vote is expected in New York on Wednesday afternoon.
Western nations want a new resolution threatening measures short of the use of force.
The Western-backed draft resolution to be discussed gives the Syrian government 10 days to withdraw heavy weapons from cities and return troops to barracks, otherwise a further resolution on sanctions will be submitted to the Security Council.
With Russia resisting all efforts to persuade it to take a tougher line with Syria, there is virtually no hope of concerted international action to pull the country back from the brink.
About 16,000 people have died in Syria since protests against the Assad regime began in March last year.
Former South Africa’s President Nelson Mandela is celebrating 94th birthday on Wednesday and some 12 million schoolchildren across the country have sung a specially composed song as part of official celebrations.
Nelson Mandela will spend the day quietly with his family in his village home of Qunu in the Eastern Cape, near where he was born.
The former president met former US President Bill Clinton on Tuesday.
Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in jail for leading an armed anti-apartheid campaign.
Nelson Mandela met former US President Bill Clinton one day before his 94th birthday
Bill Clinton, accompanied by his daughter Chelsea, opened a new library for the No-Moscow Primary School in Qunu, ahead of his meeting with Nelson Mandela.
He told the children that Madiba – as Nelson Mandela is affectionately called in South Africa – believed in the future and not the past.
“When I think about Mandela I always think about someone committed to the future,” Bill Clinton said.
US President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, have also paid tribute ahead of Nelson Mandela’s birthday.
The US first couple hailed Neslon Mandela’s “extraordinary life and steadfast commitment to the principles of democracy and reconciliation.”
Nelson Mandela’s birthday is traditionally celebrated with the poor communities receiving help from those who are more fortunate.
To celebrate the number of years Nelson Mandela spent in public life, people are encouraged to spend at least 67 minutes of their time helping those who are less fortunate.
The guest list for a private lunch with Nelson Mandela has, however, been kept a closely guarded secret.
The August cover of Vogue Russia features a perfectly flawless, but armless supermodel Natasha Poly.
Seducing the camera with an over-the-shoulder glance, Natasha Poly, 27, oozes elegance with red lips, and long jewel-encrusted earrings, but she is missing a prominent appendage, her elbow, which should jut out somewhere between the V and the O of Vogue.
In what appears to be an overzealous Photoshop blunder, the magazine may have erased her right arm to leave an eye-catching negative space on the left hand side of the cover page – a simple way to counteract the prominent aubergine blob while the issue sits on magazine stands.
The August cover of Vogue Russia features a perfectly flawless, but armless supermodel Natasha Poly
Vogue Russia has a history of Photoshopping its images to distracting proportions however.
Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and model girlfriend Anne Vyalitsyna featured in the November 2011 issue of the magazine, and the media quickly picked up on the peculiar black and white photo.
Adam Levine’s torso appeared to have been completely carved out, with a big open space where his right ribs should have been.
Two months ago, Vogue China was also at the forefront of airbrushing accusations.
Swimwear model Doutzen Kroes had an entire leg erased on a June cover for Vogue China.
The Victoria’s Secret angel told the New York Post on Friday: “I just saw this. Maybe it’s two legs together? Maybe it’s the pose?
“I was like, <<Oh my God>>. I think Photoshopping is OK until something like that happens. You don’t want to lose one of your limbs.”
Actor Tom Cruise reunited with his daughter Suri in New York yesterday for the first time since his split from wife Katie Holmes.
Shooting on his latest movie Oblivion wrapped in California, Tom Cruise flew to New York overnight to see his youngest child.
Suri Cruise, 6, cuddled her father with one arm and clutched a soft toy in the other as he carried her into the Greenwich Hotel.
They later emerged, seemingly having changed outfits, with Suri switching from casual red flip-flops into a pair of burnt red patent flats – although her orange dress remained the same.
Tom Cruise reunited with his daughter Suri in New York yesterday for the first time since his split from wife Katie Holmes
Tom Cruise, 50, also seemed to have freshened up, wearing a navy T-shirt instead of a light blue shirt.
His sister Cass Mapother was also seen arriving at the establishment with toys in tow.
Tom Cruise had no contact with Katie Holmes when he made a five minute visit to her apartment to collect their child earlier this morning, according to TMZ.
The actor and his daughter were last spotted in public together on June 16, when they dined at Sushi Samba in Reykjavik, Iceland, along with Katie Holmes.
It was no doubt an emotional reunion for father and daughter, who have been keeping in touch via phone and video chat in recent weeks.
Last week Tom Cruise’s lawyer, Bert Fields said the actor was eager to be with his daughter again, adding: “Tom loves Suri very, very much, as he does his other two children. Tom is a family man, and dedicated to his children. They are the centre of his world.”
Tom Cruise’s older children Isabella, 19, and 17-year-old Connor from his marriage to Nicole Kidman have both been spending time with him in recent weeks, including sombre birthday celebration on July 3.
Following her split from Tom Cruise on June 29, Katie Holmes has secured primary custody of their little girl in an undisclosed divorce agreement.
It was recently revealed Katie Holmes has enrolled Suri into New York’s Convent of the Sacred Heart School.
The conservative school – where former pupils include Lady Gaga and Paris Hilton – was chosen because the actress wants her daughter to have a Catholic education, rather than being taught at a Scientology school as Tom Cruise desired.
Young North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has been given the title of ”marshal”, state media has announced.
The move followed a high-level military reshuffle in which army chief Ri Yong-Ho was removed ”due to illness” and a little-known general promoted.
Marshal is the highest military rank and would cement Kim Jong-Un’s control over the army, reports say.
Kim Jong-Un inherited the leadership of North Korea from his father, Kim Jong-Il, who died in December 2011.
Marshal is the highest military rank and would cement Kim Jong-Un's control over the army
The title of marshal was previously held by the late Kim Jong-Il, who received a posthumous promotion to the rank of generalissimo in February, when the country marked his 70th birthday.
”A decision was made to award the title of Marshal of the DPRK [North Korea] to Kim Jong-Un, supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army,” the KCNA statement said.
The decision was jointly made by the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the National Defence Commission of the DPRK [North Korea] and the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK [North Korea], the statement said.
This latest promotion is another sign that Kim Jong-Un is planning to rule North Korea through the army, just as his father did – and that he is tightening his grip on the levers of power.
Ri Yong-Ho, 69, who was a vice-marshal, was also vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission and held top posts in the ruling Workers’ Party.
His removal took many North Korea observers by surprise, with widespread skepticism at the official explanation for the move.
He was seen as a key figure in the recent transition of power to the young leader.
A day after Ri Yong-Ho’s removal, Pyongyang appointed a new vice-marshal, Hyon Yong-Chol, of whom little is known except that he was made a general in 2010.
”What we are seeing is a reconstitution of the North Korea leadership from the old guard who were loyal to Kim’s father to a new guard,” said Jasper Kim of the Asia Pacific Global Research Group.
Hans Kristian Rausing, husband of late millionairess Eva Rausing, is due in court today charged with delaying her burial.
American-born Eva Rausing was found dead in the bedroom of the couple’s London house in Cadogan Place, Belgravia, on 9 July.
Hans Kristian Rausing, 49, whose family is said to be worth more than £4bn, has been charged with preventing the lawful and decent burial of her body.
He is due to appear at West London Magistrates’ Court later.
Hans Kristian Rausing, husband of late millionairess Eva Rausing, is due in court today charged with delaying her burial
Police are treating the death of Eva Rausing as “unexplained” and a post-mortem examination held last week failed to establish a formal cause of death.
Eva Rausing was stopped by police on 9 July on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
A subsequent search of the couple’s home led to the discovery of Eva Rausing’s body.
The couple, who have four children, were well known for their philanthropic activities having donated millions over to years to charities, especially those working in the field of drug abuse and rehabilitation.
The Rausing family made billions from the Tetra Pak carton firm.
A new study published in Lancet suggests that a lack of exercise is now causing as many deaths as smoking across the world.
The report, which is published in the Lancet to coincide with the build-up to the Olympics, estimates that about a third of adults are not doing enough physical activity, causing 5.3 million deaths a year.
That equates to about one in 10 deaths from diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and breast and colon cancer.
Researchers said the problem was now so bad it should be treated as a pandemic.
And they said tackling it required a new way of thinking, suggesting the public needed to be warned about the dangers of inactivity rather than just reminded of the benefits of it.
About a third of adults are not doing enough physical activity, causing 5.3 million deaths a year
The team of 33 researchers drawn from centres across the world also said governments needed to look at ways to make physical activity more convenient, affordable and safer.
It is recommended that adults do 150 minutes of moderate exercise , such as brisk walking, cycling or gardening, each week.
The Lancet study found people in higher income countries were the least active with those in the UK among the worst as nearly two thirds of adults were judged not to be doing enough.
Although the researchers admitted comparisons between countries were difficult because the way activity was estimated may have differed from place to place.
Nonetheless, they said they remained confident that their overall conclusion was valid.
Pedro Hallal, one of the lead researchers, said: “With the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games, sport and physical activity will attract tremendous worldwide attention.
“Although the world will be watching elite athletes from many countries compete in sporting events… most spectators will be quite inactive.
“The global challenge is clear – make physical activity a public health priority throughout the world to improve health and reduce the burden of disease.”
Prof. Lindsey Davies, president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, agreed:
“We need to do all we can to make it easy for people to look after their health and get active as part of their daily lives.
“Our environment has a significant part to play. For example, people who feel unsafe in their local park will be less likely to use it.”
But others questioned equating smoking with inactivity.
While smoking and inactivity kill a similar number of people, smoking rates are much lower than the number of inactive people, making smoking more risky to the individual.
Dr. Claire Knight, of Cancer Research UK, said: “When it comes to preventing cancer, stopping smoking is by far the most important thing you can do.”
Secret wartime papers exchanged between MI5 officials reveal that the Nazis’ plans to conquer Britain included a deadly assault on Sir Winston Churchill with exploding chocolate.
Adolf Hitler’s bomb-makers coated explosive devices with a thin layer of rich dark chocolate, then packaged it in expensive-looking black and gold paper.
The Germans planned to use secret agents working in Britain to discreetly place the bars of chocolate – branded as Peter’s Chocolate – among other luxury items taken on trays into the dining room used by the War Cabinet during the Second World War.
The lethal slabs of confection were packed with enough explosives to kill anyone within several metres.
But Hitler’s plot was foiled by British spies who discovered they were being made and tipped off one of MI5’s most senior intelligence chiefs, Lord Victor Rothschild.
Nazis’ plans to conquer Britain included a deadly assault on Sir Winston Churchill with exploding chocolate
Lord Victor Rothschild, a scientist in peace time as well as a key member of the Rothschild banking family, immediately typed a letter to a talented illustrator seconded to his unit asking him to draw poster-size images of the chocolate to warn the public to be on the look-out for the bars.
His letter to the artist, Laurence Fish, is dated May 4, 1943 and was written from his secret bunker in Parliament Street, central London.
The letter, marked “Secret”, reads:
“Dear Fish,
“I wonder if you could do a drawing for me of an explosive slab of chocolate.
“We have received information that the enemy are using pound slabs of chocolate which are made of steel with a very thin covering of real chocolate.
“Inside there is high explosive and some form of delay mechanism… When you break off a piece of chocolate at one end in the normal way, instead of it falling away, a piece of canvas is revealed stuck into the middle of the piece which has been broken off and a ticking into the middle of the remainder of the slab.
“When the piece of chocolate is pulled sharply, the canvas is also pulled and this initiates the mechanism.
“I enclose a very poor sketch done by somebody who has seen one of these.
‘It is wrapped in the usual sort of black paper with gold lettering, the variety being PETERS.
“Would it be possible for you to do a drawing of this, one possibly with the paper half taken off revealing one end and another with the piece broken off showing the canvas.
“The text should indicate that this piece together with the attached canvas is pulled out sharply and that after a delay of seven seconds the bomb goes off.”
The letter was found by Laurence Fish’s wife, journalist Jean Bray, as she sorted through his possessions following the artist’s death, aged 89, in 2009.
Jean Bray has spent the past two years putting together a book of her late husband’s work – Pick Up A Pencil. The Work Of Laurence Fish.
Nigeria’s oil regulator has asked industry giant Shell to pay $5 billion for the Bonga oil spill from last December.
The disclosure was made during a parliamentary hearing on the matter.
A leak at the Bonga field during a transfer of oil to a tanker led to 40,000 barrels spilling into the Atlantic Ocean.
A Shell spokesperson said there was no need for a fine as everything had been done to prevent environmental damage.
Nigeria's oil regulator has asked industry giant Shell to pay $5 billion for the Bonga oil spill
The Bonga field, operated by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO), is approximately 120 km (75 miles) offshore and produces 10% of Nigeria’s oil exports.
The spill was contained before it reached the shore.
The head of Nigeria’s National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency urged MPs on the House of Representatives’s environment committee to approve his proposal.
“Although adequate containment measures were put in place to combat the Bonga oil spill, it however posed a serious environmental threat to the offshore environments,” Peter Idabor said.
“The people could not fish after a long period after the spill,” he said.
“So that’s why we are looking at the damages. If the people said they will not pay, so be it. But we want to make it very clear that it’s wrong for them to say they cannot pay. Are they denying that they spilled 40,000 barrels of crude oil into the waters?” he asked.
But Shell said it believed there no “basis in law for such a fine”.
“SNEPCO responded to this incident with professionalism and acted with the consent of the necessary authorities at all times to prevent environmental impact as a result of the incident,” a spokesperson for the Anglo-Dutch company said in a statement.
Most previous oil spills in Nigeria – one of the world’s biggest oil producers – have been onshore. Many have been caused by sabotage or militant attacks.
Last year, a UN report into spills in Ogoniland found that the region could take 30 years to recover.
In March, lawyers representing a fishing community in Ogoniland began a case against Shell in a London court over recent oil spills.
Microsoft has unveiled a touch-ready version of Office, the latest version of the company’s market-leading productivity software suite.
In San Francisco, Steve Ballmer described Office 2013 as the firm’s “most ambitious release” to date.
The software is primed for mobile devices, cloud computing, and social networking.
Office is the globe’s most popular productivity application, with a billion users worldwide.
It is also Microsoft’s key revenue driver, and keeping it fresh is how the firm intends to maintain its market lead.
Throughout his hour-long demonstration on Monday, Steve Ballmer and Kirk Koenigsbauer, vice-president of Microsoft’s Office division, highlighted how the software had been adapted to keep pace with technology changes.
Microsoft Office 2013 is fully touch-ready, as is Windows 8, the company’s latest operating system, and its new tablet computer, Surface, which is expected to be available in October.
Surface will hit stores some two-and-a-half years after Apple launched its iPad onto the market, and analysts say the power of Office gives Microsoft its best chance at gaining a genuine foothold in the tablet market.
Steve Ballmer described Microsoft Office 2013 as the firm's "most ambitious release" to date
For the first time, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook are all responsive to touch-screen controls – taps, swipes, and pinch-and-zoom can be used within documents, files and presentations.
The user-experience is designed to be more “immersive,” “visceral” and “multimedia-rich” compared to earlier version of Office, Steve Ballmer said.
• Documents, slides, and presentations can be marked up on mobile screens, drawn on, highlighted or annotated with a digital pen, stylus or even a finger.
• Skype, bought for $8.5 billion in 2011, and Yammer, a social network for businesses, are being rolled into Office: live, multi-party conversations and meetings can be created with Skype video and accessed within Word, PowerPoint, or Outlook.
• New “People Cards” include an individual’s digital “presence” – a photo, options to email, instant message, phone or video chat, and activity feeds from the social networks Facebook and Linkedin.
• Skydrive automatically saves and syncs all Office documents in an online, cloud-based storage service. This makes files and content created in Office available on demand across computing devices.
In 2011, Microsoft Office was worth $14 billion, more than half the company’s profits, according to Michael Silver, a research analyst at Gartner.
“There doesn’t seem to be a lot of competition here because Microsoft still has over 90% of the market,” said Michael Silver.
While less expensive and free online alternatives to Office like Google Apps and Zoho have become available, no company is taking away significant market share from Microsoft yet, he said.
“Microsoft has been competing against free for over 10 years with the open source products and in terms of cheap with Google.”
“But the compatibility issues… [have] been a bigger hurdle for people than a lot of people would have expected and it has kept the vast majority of users in the Microsoft camp,” Michael Silver noted.
Andy McLoughlin, co-founder of Huddle, a cloud computing start-up in San Francisco that competes with Microsoft’s Sharepoint software for online content management, sees Office as dominant in the workplace, but faltering elsewhere.
“Office is still seen as the de facto productivity suite for the workplace,” he agreed.
“I think it’s got a few years yet. Microsoft is still pretty clever in terms of the way that they license the software for big companies and so there’s a certain degree of lock-in.”
“When you talk about consumers, though, I don’t really know any people who, unless they have a license through work, would keep Office on their machine.
“Why spend several hundred dollars on software when you are really only using one or 2% of the functionality?”
George Michael has revealed he has a five-week gap in his memory from when he was battling pneumonia late last year.
During an interview with BBC Radio 2’s Chris Evans, George said that it was “touch and go” whether he would survive his time in hospital.
George Michael, 48, said he had to learn to walk after the illness, which left him fighting for his life, as his muscles had wasted away.
The star added: “It’s like I just dodged a bullet.”
George Michael was forced to cancel a string of shows while he was treated in the Austrian capital Vienna, where he said medics “downplayed” his condition to avoid a “death watch kind of thing”.
The true extent of his illness did not become public until after his release from hospital.
George Michael has revealed he has a five-week gap in his memory from when he was battling pneumonia late last year
George Michael admitted the severity of his condition could have been avoided if he had followed advice to get checked out, when a temperature forced him to pull out of a show at the Royal Albert Hall a few weeks earlier.
“I took it for granted that I’d just fought off flu,” the former Wham star told Evans.
“I went and played for another three weeks in Europe. And then one afternoon I was having lunch and suddenly felt really odd and said to everyone that I had to go and lay down for half an hour on my own,” he added.
“And that’s the last thing I remember for five weeks. It was three weeks of them trying to save my life and two weeks awake.”
George Michael has written new single White Light about his near death experiences.
Kate Moss features in the video, more than 20 years after missing out on starring in his supermodel-filled promo for his single Freedom.
George Michael told Chris Evans in an interview for his breakfast show that he was “very close” to death on several occasions, and still found it upsetting to talk about.
“When something like that happens in such a random fashion, I think it takes a while to think that life is safe again.”
He continued: “I literally had to learn to walk again and weird stuff, because when they keep you sedated for that long your muscles literally atrophy at an incredible rate. And I just woke up like this feeble old man.”
In March this year George Michael announced rescheduled dates for The Symphonica tour, starting on 4 September with a newly-added date in Vienna.
He said he would donate 1,000 tickets to the medical staff in the city who had looked after him.
George Michael also confirmed to Chris Evans that he is scheduled to perform at the Olympics closing ceremony in August.
“That’s the plan yes,” he said.
“I’ll be playing a couple of songs to kick off the concert at the end.”
Wildlife trade watchdog Traffic has found that the Solomon Islands has become a hub for “laundering” wild birds into the global captive-bred bird trade.
Thousands of parrots, cockatoos and other exotic birds have been exported over the last 10 years, Traffic has reported.
But officials say there are no major captive breeding units in the islands.
The Solomons recently joined Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the global wildlife trade convention, which sets different conditions for trading captive-bred and wild animals.
“Declaring exported birds as being captive-bred has all the hallmarks of a scam to get around international trade regulations,” said Chris Shepherd, Traffic’s deputy director for Southeast Asia.
Traffic has found that the Solomon Islands has become a hub for "laundering" wild birds into the global captive-bred bird trade
Some of the 35 bird species exported from the Solomons are on the internationally recognized Red List of Threatened Species.
They include the Critically Endangered yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea), and the chattering lory (Lorius garrulus) and blue bird of paradise (Paradisaea rudolphi), which are both categorized as Vulnerable.
Under CITES all trade in the yellow-crested cockatoo is banned.
For the others, exports of wild-caught birds are strictly regulated.
Using records from importing countries, Traffic investigators calculated that about 54,000 birds were exported from the Solomons in the period 2000-2010.
More than 40,000 of these were declared as captive-bred.
Most belong to species native to the Solomons, but more than 13,000 came from non-native species, mainly originating in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
But Traffic could find no records of these species being imported into the Solomons, either for re-export or to begin a captive breeding programme.
An official from the government’s Environment Conservation Division told investigators: “There are no breeding facilities, only some confusion with storing facilities.
“Most of the exported birds were captured and kept in holding sites only.”
The main destinations for the birds were Malaysia and Singapore.
Malaysia recently suspended imports from the Solomon Islands after concerns were raised. Traffic is urging the Singapore government to do the same.
It also recommends that CITES should investigate the situation with authorities in the Solomon Islands, and consider a trade suspension if no action is taken.
Traffic is jointly supported by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and WWF, and works with CITES on various issues.
Edd Filiti, Sylvester Stallone’s nephew, has blasted the actor, accusing him of being to blame as he continually neglected his son Sage who was found dead at his Hollywood Hills home on Friday from an apparent overdose.
Edd Filiti, 18, made the claims on his Facebook page, though the messages have since been removed.
In a posting where Edd Filiti slammed Sylvester Stallone’s current wife Jennifer Flavin, he also said the actor had cut Sage out of his life, devastating the aspiring filmmaker.
When Sage Stallone called his father on July 6 to wish him happy birthday, the Hollywood star apparently didn’t pick up and didn’t call him back.
“What did he do wrong, say happy birthday?” Edd Filiti wrote.
“Neither you [Sylvester Stallone’s wife Jennifer Flavin] or he could return a phone call, which is all he wanted, his father.
“I know you don’t care what happened, but you’ll care when you’re squirming under the burning magnifying glass of public opinion. You people make me f****** sick.”
Sage Stallone was found dead at his Hollywood Hills home on Friday from an apparent overdose
Edd Filiti, who is the son of Sylvester Stallone’s half-sister Toni Ann, also went on to make a withering attack to 43-year-old former model, who married the Rocky favorite in 1997.
He said: “Jennifer Flavin, you won. You tore this family apart and got your trophy, Congrats!
“Like you told my family, <<I’m Sly’s family now, he doesn’t [need] you anymore. Lets see how much he needs you after this.”
Edd Filiti later decided to remove the comments from his Facebook page, telling the New York Post that he regretted sharing his feelings.
“I made a mistake. It is a very emotional time and I vented my feelings,” he explained.
“I was feeling raw and emotional and I never meant for my feeling to become public.
“I took the post down minutes later. I never meant to insult my uncle. I have my own issues with him, but that should never be said on Facebook. I want to recant my words.”
Sage Stallone’s mother, Sasha Czack, split with Stallone in 1985 after 11 years of marriage.
According to reports Sasha Czack got a $12 million divorce settlement from the filmmaker.
A source said: “Sasha has been inconsolable. She’s totally devastated. Her children are her life.”
Meanwhile it has emerged officers investigating the death want to talk to several doctors that prescribed him medications.
It follows reports that Los Angeles Police Department Robbery and Homicide division has taken over the case.
A source told RadarOnline: “Detectives from the LAPD are in the process of going through evidence recovered from Sage’s house and will be contacting the doctors that prescribed the medications found there.
“There was more than one doctor that Sage was seeing in the days leading up to his death.
“Cops want to establish a timeline of events leading up to Sage’s death and they want to know what his medical history was.”
While prescription bottles were found at the scene, no suicide not was found and it is believed his death was accidental.
On Sunday night, Sylvester Stallone, 66, issued a statement asking “people to respect my talented son’s memory and feel compassion for his loving mother Sasha,” and for the media to stop “the speculation and questionable reporting”.
The actor added: “When a parent loses a child there is no greater pain. This agonizing loss will be felt for the rest of our lives.
“Sage was our first child and the center of our universe and I am humbly begging for all to have my son’s memory and soul left in peace.”
An autopsy and a toxicology test were completed Sunday, but the results of the latter will not be released for weeks.
Meanwhile a photographer who did a feature on Sage Stallone in May said he was not surprised about the death, though he said the young filmmaker was far from suicidal.
Girls and Corpses snapper Mark Berry told RadarOnline: “I saw nothing to suggest that he was in a suicidal mood. He was telling me about how he wanted to shoot a film, he seemed hopeful for the future and making work plans.
“My impression was that he was a very talented character who seemed under the influence of a pharmaceutical medication, he wasn’t a wreck but he was just a little spaced out.
“I wasn’t entirely shocked when I heard [of his death], my initial thought was that he had an accidental overdose, or that his body just packed up.”
Despite reports that Jennifer Lopez was pushed out of American Idol by Fox network brass, the singer says Steven Tyler’s exit from the singing competition is the real reason she decided to call it quits.
“We had magic,” Jennifer Lopez revealed in a new interview with ABC News reporter Amy Robach on Sunday in Montreal, Canada.
“I don’t know, with him gone, it might be a different formula,” Jennifer Lopez said during a break from her concert at Bell Centre in Montreal.
Steven Tyler, 64, announced his departure on Thursday, saying he was leaving to return to his “first love”, Aerosmith.
A day later, Jennifer Lopez, 42, announced she would not be returning to American Idol because she wanted to resume her music and acting career.
Jennifer Lopez announced she would not be returning to American Idol because she wanted to resume her music and acting career
Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez joined the hit series judges for the 2011 season, alongside Randy Jackson who has been part of the original judges’ table since the show first began in 2002.
But over the weekend, The Los Angeles Times and Hollywood trade website Thewrap.com, both reported that Jennifer Lopez was “dumped by [U.S. network] Fox after asking for a $2 million raise in salary”, which would have taken her pay to a whopping $17 million.
Sources told The Wrap that Fox also opted not to pick up fellow judge Steven Tyler’s option to appear on the next season of the show.
According to thewrap.com, Jennifer Lopez was surprised that Fox did not try to negotiate with a counter offer when she asked for the extra cash.
Along with Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, several reports are also hinting that long serving judge Randy Jackson, 56, is also considering departing the show.
However, Randy Jackson has remained mum about the speculation surrounding his future on the series.
With her American Idol days done, Jennifer Lopez has taken to the road for her North American tour with singer Enrique Iglesias.
“I wouldn’t be a good judge,” the superstar singer told ABC News.
“It’s a lot of pressure, just thinking about, <<Oh my god, I just ruined this person’s career>>.”
Jennifer Lopez says no matter where she goes next in her own career she’ll never forgot the time she spent on American Idol.
“It got me back in touch with who I was, watching the contestants and singers,” she said.
“That’s why it’s hard to walk away.”
After years of dominating the U.S. ratings, American Idol has slipped in recent years, losing out to NBC’s Sunday Night Football last season, with ratings slipping by 23%.
The rest of Jennifer Lopez’s interview will air tomorrow in the U.S. on Good Morning America and Nightline.
Demi Moore’s girls, Rumer, Scout and Tallulah, are believed to be at “breaking point” with their mother and “considering a restraining order”, as she “incessantly” tries to contact them following the breakdown of her marriage to Ashton Kutcher.
A source told RadarOnline: “Rumer, Scout and Tallulah are seriously considering taking out a restraining order against Demi to stop her from contacting them.
“They made it clear to her weeks ago that they do not want to talk to her right now but she is still trying to contact them.”
The insider also revealed: “Demi has been calling them incessantly and emailing them, leaving them tearful messages and begging them to call her and the girls are sick of it.”
While it was stressed that this “drastic measure” is a last resort, it is said that the trio “just feel like they want some peace and quiet”.
However, a legal expert explained: “You can’t get a restraining order against your mum when she’s trying to call you. If that were the case, many, many more people would all be in court.”
Demi Moore was spotted showing the strain of the family drama on the set of her new movie Very Good Girls in Brooklyn
Earlier this month it was reported that Demi Moore was left “devastated” that her daughters, whom she had during her second marriage to Bruce Willis, had cut contact with her.
Demi Moore, 49, has unarguably had a very difficult year, following her split from Ashton Kutcher after claims of his infidelity and a stint in rehab for “eating disorder and addiction issues”.
The actress was spotted showing the strain of the family drama on the set of her new movie Very Good Girls in Brooklyn, New York, last week after it was stated the girls have “broken all ties”.
Demi Moore put her head to her hands and appeared deep in her own thoughts as she took a break in between takes for the film, which also stars Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen.
It was reported at the beginning of July that Rumer, 23, Scout, 20 and Tallulah, 18, told their mother they “need a little distance”, after sticking by her side through the split and supporting her in rehab.
Apart from Tallulah’s graduation ceremony in mid-June, Demi Moore has not been seen out with her daughters much in recent months.
However, it was Demi Moore’s behavior at this graduation ceremony which proved the most infuriating for her daughters, according to Us Weekly.
The publication reported that Demi Moore “didn’t speak to the girls” and was apparently infuriated by the fact her children spent most of their time with father Bruce Willis, and looked happier with him.
A source told Us Weekly: “The girls are just tired of walking on eggshells around Demi.”
The FBI has opened an investigation after needles were found in turkey sandwiches served on four Delta Air Lines flights bound for the US from the Netherlands.
The needles, which the authorities said appeared to be small sewing needles, were found in six sandwiches prepared by the Amsterdam-based Gate Gourmet.
One person flying to Minneapolis was injured. Needles were also found on two flights to Atlanta and one to Seattle.
FBI has opened an investigation after needles were found in turkey sandwiches served on four Delta Air Lines flights
Delta said it was taking the matter “extremely seriously”.
In a statement, the airline said it was co-operating with the FBI and the authorities in the Netherlands and was working with Gate Gourmet “to ensure the safety and quality of the food” served on board.
James Tonges, who was travelling on one of the flights, said he felt a needle in his mouth after biting into a sandwich.
“When I pulled it out of my mouth it was very clear,” he told ABC News.
“I cleaned the food off and it was about a one inch-long straight needle.”
Delta spokeswoman Kristin Baur told the Associated Press news agency that flights attendants stopped serving the sandwiches as soon as the first needle was discovered, and alerted other flights. Passengers were served pizza instead.
The person who was injured declined medical treatment, said Kristin Baur.
A spokeswoman for Gate Gourmet, Christina Ulosevich, said the company had also launched its own investigation and was heightening its own “already stringent safety and security procedures, to prevent any recurrence”.
New reports claim that Katie Holmes and daughter Suri Cruise were involved in a minor car collision in New York City yesterday.
Katie Holmes and her six-year-old daughter with Tom Cruise are believed to have been riding in the back of a black Mercedes sedan when it was struck by a sanitation truck on Monday evening.
No one was reported hurt in the incident.
The actress was seen leaving Manhattan’s Chelsea Piers with Suri, where she takes gymnastics, before the incident occurred.
Katie Holmes and Suri are believed to have been riding in the back of a black Mercedes sedan when it was struck by a sanitation truck
Police arrived to the scene and documented the damage on the S550, which sustained a large dent and several scratches to the rear driver side panel.
It appeared the Volvo dump truck – from Classic Santitation Recycling New York Corp – had backed into the luxury vehicle.
Katie Holmes and Suri were not seen at the scene of the accident. It was unclear if the actress and her daughter were in the vehicle when the incident occurred.
However, drivers of the Mercedes and sanitation truck were seen talking to authorities.
Reports Katie Holmes and Suri were involved in the collision were originally published by Pacific Coast News and X17Online, who captured pictures at the scene.
A US Senate probe has disclosed how lax controls at HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, left it vulnerable to being used to launder dirty money from around the world.
The report into HSBC, released ahead of a Senate hearing on Tuesday, says huge sums of Mexican drug money almost certainly passed through the bank.
Suspicious funds from Syria, the Cayman Islands, Iran and Saudi Arabia also passed through the British bank.
HSBC said it expected to be held accountable for what went wrong.
The damning report comes at a difficult time for the British banking sector, which is having its standards and practices scrutinized by regulators and policymakers.
Critics say the current furor over the manipulation of the Libor inter-bank interest rate is the latest example of a banking system in need of fundamental reform.
US Senate report into HSBC says huge sums of Mexican drug money almost certainly passed through the bank
The report also concludes that the US bank regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, failed to properly monitor HSBC.
The report into HSBC was issued by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, a Congressional watchdog that looks at financial improprieties.
The year-long inquiry, which included a review of 1.4 million documents and interviews with 75 HSBC officials and bank regulators, will be the focus of a hearing on Tuesday at which HSBC executives are scheduled to testify.
These will include HSBC’s chief legal officer Stuart Levey, who joined the bank in January and was previously one of the top officials on terrorism and finance at the US Treasury Department.
In a memo released ahead of the hearing, HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver said: “It is right that we will be held accountable and that we take responsibility for fixing what went wrong.”
“As well as answering the subcommittee’s questions, we will explain the significant changes we have already made to strengthen our compliance and risk management infrastructure and culture,” he said.
A separate HSBC statement said its executives will offer a formal apology at the hearing.
“We will apologize, acknowledge these mistakes, answer for our actions and give our absolute commitment to fixing what went wrong,” the bank said.
Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the sub-committee, spoke of a “polluted” system that allowed black-market funds to move through the US banking system.
In 2010, Wachovia agreed to pay $160 million as part of a Justice Department probe that examined Mexican transactions.
Last month, ING agreed to pay $619 million to settle US government allegations that it violated US sanctions against Cuba and Iran.
Nick Buckles, the chief executive of security firm G4S, will go before MPs later to explain why his company was unable to provide the Olympics staff it promised.
Nick Buckles has already apologized after 3,500 extra troops had to be deployed to meet the firm’s shortfall.
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said it was no time for a “witch-hunt” but “contingency plans” were in place if G4S further failed to deliver.
It has emerged police have also helped fill gaps left by the company.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison, the national Olympic security co-ordinator, said that the “basic plan” for the Games remained “exactly the same”, albeit with “a different mix of people”.
“I’m satisfied that we have got a very strong partnership – a group of people – who are working together with one goal, and that is to make sure the Olympics pass off safely and securely,” he said.
“In the event of a major incident happening, everybody understands that the police will take over and run that major incident while supported by everybody else,” he added.
Nick Buckles, G4S chief executive, will go before MPs to explain why his company was unable to provide the Olympics staff it promised
Theresa May told the Commons on Monday that G4S had “repeatedly” promised they would exceed targets.
Nick Buckles, who is due to appear before the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, has said he is “bitterly disappointed” at his company’s failure to meet the terms of its contract.
The company, by its own admission, stands to lose up to £50 million ($80 million) on the contract, worth a total of about £280 million ($445 million), after being unable to provide the 10,000 staff it had been contracted to deliver.
Labour MP David Winnick, who sits on the MPs’ committee, said he wanted to know why G4S had not told the authorities earlier what was going on.
“It’s a shambles and it’s unfortunate to say the least,” he said.
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the government had “moved very quickly” when it learned of the company’s staffing issues.
“We would have been failing in our job as ministers if a contract had gone wrong and we didn’t have a back-up plan that worked.”
He said they would continue to monitor the contract.
Asked if it might be necessary to call on further troops, he replied: “Of course if G4S don’t deliver what they now say they can provide, we have contingency plans.”
The Ministry of Defence has confirmed army officials have met G4S over security.
But a Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “Olympic security remains a civilian and police-led operation which has not changed.
“For many months the MoD has been working closely with G4S with military personnel embedded as Olympic security plans have developed. As you would expect, the level of liaison has increased as the Games has drawn closer and the military contribution has increased.”
Police meanwhile have had to deploy extra officers at short notice from eight UK forces to do Olympic security work after the company’s staff failed to turn up to venues.
G4S said security was tightened at venues before staff was assigned, but that this was being rectified over the “coming days” and should lead to the withdrawal of police from roles assigned to private security.
Greater Manchester Police had to deploy officers to provide security at a hotel in Salford where four Olympic football teams will stay – after only 17 of an expected 56 G4S staff turned up for work.
In the Commons on Monday the home secretary reiterated the government only knew on Wednesday that there would not be enough G4S security guards and had reacted quickly.
In her statement to MPs, Theresa May denied the company had “deliberately deceived” the government, insisting the firm’s problem was “workforce supply and scheduling”.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said David Cameron was involved in the decision to deploy extra soldiers.
Heathrow airport had its busiest day ever on Monday as Olympic athletes and officials started arriving from 50 countries. The airport handled nearly a quarter of a million passengers.
Those arriving were the first to use dedicated Games Lanes on the M4.
Marissa Mayer, a former leading Google executive, has been appointed as Yahoo next chief executive.
Marissa Mayer, 37, will become the firm’s third CEO in the space of a year.
In a statement released by Yahoo, Marissa Mayer said she was “honored and delighted” to lead the company.
In May CEO Scott Thompson stepped down after accusations that he put a fake computer degree on his CV. In September 2011, CEO Carol Bartz was fired after two-and-a-half years in the post.
Yahoo has struggled in the face of increased competition from search rivals including Google and the emergence of social giants such as Facebook.
Although it remains the US’ largest web portal, correspondents say Yahoo’s failure to become more “social” has hurt the firm.
Its stock is now worth less than half its peak value.
Marissa Mayer, a former leading Google executive, has been appointed as Yahoo next chief executive
Yahoo’s news service still attracts very large volumes of traffic. But other products, such as its search engine and email, have suffered. The company’s revenue from display advertising has also dwindled.
Interim CEO Ross Levinsohn was thought to have been the favorite for the job before Monday’s announcement that Marissa Mayer was to take the helm.
Correspondents say the selection of Marissa Mayer to head the company suggests a renewed focus on technology and products, over online content.
“I look forward to working with the company’s dedicated employees to bring innovative products, content, and personalized experiences to users and advertisers all around the world,” Marissa Mayer said.
She becomes one of very few women in Silicon Valley to rise to the top of a major technology firm.
“A lot of people did not believe that Yahoo could get someone of the caliber of a Marissa Mayer to become the CEO at this stage,” Standard and Poor’s equity analyst Scott Kessler told Reuters news agency.
Marissa Mayer, who takes up her post at Yahoo on Tuesday, joined Google in 1999 as the company’s first female engineer.
A former computer science student at California’s Stanford University, she was the fledgling company’s 20th employee.
She worked on creating the Google search engine and the company’s widely-recognised home page.
More recently, Marissa Mayer has been in charge of the technology giant’s location and mapping services, which include Google Maps, Earth, Local and Street View.
She has been credited with shaping much of the “look and feel” of Google’s user experience.
Marissa Mayer currently serves on the boards of Walmart, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Ballet and New York City Ballet. She will also join Yahoo’s board.
Hyon Yong-Chol has been appointed as North Korea’s new vice-marshal, the official KCNA news agency says.
The move comes a day after the army chief, Ri Yong-Ho, was removed from his post “due to illness”.
The decision was made by the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the National Defense Commission of North Korea, KCNA said.
The statement did not say if Hyon Yong-Chol was taking over the top military job from Ri Yong-Ho.
Hyon Yong-Chol has been appointed as North Korea’s new vice-marshal
Little is known of Hyon Yong-Chol, who is reported to be a member of the party’s 120-member central committee. He is now one of four vice-marshals in the army.
Ri Yong-Ho, 69, who was also a vice-marshal, was vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission and held top posts in the ruling Workers’ Party.
Hyon Yong-Chol is believed to have been appointed a general in 2010 but is not currently part of the military commission chaired by young leader Kim Jong-Un, reports said.
He appears to be the latest rising star in North Korean politics.
Ri Yong-Ho’s removal took many North Korea observers by surprise, with widespread skepticism at the official explanation for the move.
He was seen as a key figure in the recent transition of power from Kim Jong-Il, who died in December 2011, to his son.
He was made army chief three years ago under Kim Jong-Il and appeared regularly at state occasions beside the late Kim.
He was also one of seven top officials to accompany the younger Kim as he followed the hearse containing his father’s body at his state funeral.
A spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry told reporters that Ri Yong-Ho’s departure was “very unusual”.
Some analysts say ”illness” is not an uncommon pretext in Pyongyang when a member of the elite leadership is removed.
Now in power for six months, Kim Jong-Un is rumored to be promoting a new generation of officials, and is being carefully watched for signs that he will take the country in a new direction.
Truvada is the first drug approved by Food and Drug Administration to be used for HIV infection prevention.
Truvada, made by California-based Gilead Sciences, can be used by those at high risk of infection and anyone who may engage in sexual activity with HIV-infected partners, said FDA.
Studies showed the drug reduced the risk of contracting HIV by up to 73%.
Truvada is the first drug approved by FDA to be used for HIV infection prevention
Some health workers and groups active in the HIV community opposed a green light for the once-daily pill.
There have been concerns the circulation of such a drug could engender a false sense of security. There have also been fears that a drug-resistant strain of HIV could develop.
In a statement, the FDA stressed that the drug should be used as part of a “comprehensive HIV prevention plan”, including condom use and regular HIV testing.
In May, an advisory group of health experts recommended approval for the pill.
Truvada, is already backed by the FDA to be taken with existing anti-retroviral drugs for people who have HIV.
Studies from 2010 showed that Truvada reduced the risk of HIV in healthy gay men – and among HIV-negative heterosexual partners of HIV-positive people – by between 44% and 73%.
Jon Lord, the former keyboard player with heavy rock band Deep Purple, has died from pancreatic cancer at 71.
Jon Lord co-founded Deep Purple in 1968 and co-wrote many of the group’s songs including Smoke On The Water. He also played with bands including Whitesnake.
He had been receiving treatment for pancreatic cancer since last August.
He died at the London Clinic on Monday, surrounded by family, a statement said.
“Jon passes from Darkness to Light,” it added.
Jon Lord, the former keyboard player with heavy rock band Deep Purple, has died from pancreatic cancer at 71
Jon Lord was influenced by classical, blues and jazz but played his Hammond organ with a rock attitude and helped Deep Purple become pioneers of progressive and heavy rock.
Tributes have been paid by musicians including one-time Deep Purple bandmate Joe Satriani, Iron Maiden and Anthrax.
Ex-Rage Against the Machine star Tom Morello wrote on Twitter: “RIP the great Jon Lord, Deep Purple’s cornerstone/keyboardist. So many great great songs and that incredible SOUND of his! Thankyou.”
Former Yes keyboard player Rick Wakeman was a friend and said he was “a great fan”.
“We were going to write and record an album before he become ill,” he said.
“His contribution to music and to classic rock was immeasurable and I will miss him terribly.”
Born in Leicester, Jon Lord learned classical piano at an early age before being seduced by watching early rock ‘n’ roll star Jerry Lee Lewis and jazz organist Jimmy Smith.
He could have chosen a career as an actor after receiving a drama school scholarship, but started playing in pub bands including short-lived outfits with future Rolling Stones star Ronnie Wood and his brother Art.
He also worked as a session musician and is thought to have played piano on The Kinks’ hit You Really Got Me.
After meeting guitarist Ritchie Blackmore through another project, the first incarnation of Deep Purple was born.
Jon Lord’s classical influence surfaced when Lord composed Concerto for Group and Orchestra, which the band performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in 1969.
But the group refined their heavy rock sound and found mass success at the start of the 1970s with albums including Deep Purple in Rock and Machine Head.
In their classic years, the band also included Blackmore, singer Ian Gillan, drummer Ian Paice and bassist Roger Glover.
Jon Lord continued to compose classical works alongside the group’s output and, when they split in 1976, he joined other groups Whitesnake and Paice, Ashton and Lord.
Deep Purple reformed in 1984 and resumed at the height of their commercial prowess, playing to tens of thousands of fans around the world.
They sold a total of 150 million albums and Jon Lord remained an ever-present amid numerous line-up changes until he left in 2002.
Still composing, he had signed to a classical music label and performed a concert to mark the 30th anniversary of Concerto for Group and Orchestra.
“Thirty years later the piece came back and changed my life again… It gave me the courage to step outside and carve a career for myself outside the band,” he told an interviewer.
He broke the news of his cancer diagnosis on his website last year, telling fans he would continue to write music as part of his therapy.
