Eurozone finance ministers are to hold a conference call to discuss a bailout for Spanish banks.
EU sources say Madrid could formally request financial assistance for its troubled banks this weekend.
So far Spain has denied reports that an announcement on a European rescue plan for its banks is close.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is estimating that Spain’s banks need a cash injection of at least 40 billion Euros ($50 billion).
The IMF said on Friday that a “stress test” showed Spain’s financial sector was well managed but “vulnerable”.
The eurozone finance ministers’ conference call is expected early on Saturday afternoon.
In an interview on Portuguese radio, European Central Bank Vice-President Vitor Constancio said: “It is expected that Spain will formulate a request for aid exclusively for banks recapitalization.
“There has to be an expression of will to have such a programme for Spanish banks, and one may hope it happens rather swiftly.”
Eurozone finance ministers are to hold a conference call to discuss a bailout for Spanish banks
Spain is under pressure from Brussels to act, possibly before the feared uncertainty that could follow next weekend’s Greek elections.
However on Saturday morning, the Spanish government restated its position that it does not need outside help to shore up its banks.
“There has been no change,” a spokeswoman from the economy ministry in Madrid told AFP news agency.
Spanish Prime Minister Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has insisted that any decision will come after the results of an independent audit on the Spanish banking system, which are due out within two weeks.
The audit will produce a figure of how much money, in total, is needed to prop-up Spain’s banks.
A rescue deal would see money passed first to the Spanish government and then to the troubled banks.
Because Madrid has already announced tough financial reforms it is likely that a deal would only carry limited conditions, our correspondent says, unlike the full-blown bailouts for Greece, Portugal and Ireland.
Reuters reported that eurozone deputy finance ministers would first hold a conference call on Saturday morning to discuss a Spanish request for aid.
The Eurogroup of finance ministers would then discuss the issue on another conference call, the news agency said, citing unnamed EU and German officials.
A downgrade of Spain’s creditworthiness by rating agency Fitch earlier this week has been seen by some as adding to the urgency of shoring up Spain’s finances.
European leaders have to make difficult decisions to steer the eurozone away from crisis, US President Obama said on Friday.
He said the US would support Europe as it implemented the hard solutions needed to solve the ongoing debt crisis.
He said a deep new recession in Europe would have an impact on the US economy.
Greece’s future in the eurozone was a matter for the Greek people, he said, but “further hardship” must be expected if the country chose to leave the euro.
Greeks will go to the polls on 17 June to try and end a political impasse that eurozone leaders say is harming Greece’s ability to tackle its economic crisis.
China announces it will carry out manned space flight Shenzhou 9 at some point in the middle of June.
A rocket carrying the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft has been moved to a launch pad in the north-west of the country.
According to state news agency Xinhua, it will carry three astronauts – possibly including a woman – to the Taingong 1 space station module.
This will be China’s fourth manned space flight and its first since 2008.
It became only the third country to independently send a man into space in 2003.
Last year, China completed a complicated space docking manoeuvre when an unmanned craft docked with the Taingong 1, or “Heavenly Body”, by remote control.
China announces it will carry out manned space flight Shenzhou 9 at some point in the middle of June
The astronauts onboard the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft will also dock with the Taingong 1 – an experimental module currently orbiting Earth – and carry out scientific experiments on board.
Xinhua reported that Niu Hongguang, deputy commander-in-chief of China’s manned space programme, said the crew “might include female astronauts”.
The mission is part of China’s programme to develop a full orbiting space station.
Beijing is planning to complete the 60-tonne manned space station by 2020.
China was previously turned away from the International Space Station, a much bigger project run by 16 nations, reportedly after objections from the United States.
Thousands of people have protested in Greece against the far-right Golden Dawn party after its spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris assaulted Liana Kanelli of the Greek Communist party on live TV.
Demonstrators shouted “Neo-Nazis out” in rallies called by left-wing and anti-racism groups in Athens.
On Thursday, Ilias Kasidiaris, a Golden Dawn MP, was filmed hitting a left-wing politician during a chatshow.
The rally comes nine days before elections which could result in a Greek exit from the Eurozone.
In polls a month ago, Golden Dawn surprised many by winning 21 seats in Greece’s 300-seat parliament.
A second election is taking place as no party was able to forge a coalition.
Prosecutors said an arrest warrant has been issued for Ilias Kasidiaris, whose whereabouts remain unknown after he fled the television studio on Thursday.
The assault took place during a live debate on a daily morning political show on the private Antenna television.
It started after Rena Dourou of the radical left-wing Syriza party mentioned Ilias Kasidiaris’s alleged involvement in an armed robbery in 2007.
He jumped up and threw a glass of water across the table at her, a You Tube clip of the Antenna television channel showed.
When Liana Kanelli of the Greek Communist party, the KKE, apparently threw a newspaper at him, he responded by slapping her around the face with three right-left blows.
Speaking to a TV station from an undisclosed location on Friday, Ilias Kasidiaris said he had been provoked.
“She [Communist party member Liana Kanelli] raised her hand and hit me first and since I respect my honor and my name, I had to defend myself. The police ought to arrest her,” he told Star TV, according to Reuters news agency.
The government and other political parties have condemned the attack.
“The government condemns in the most categorical way the attack by Golden Dawn spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris against Liana Kanelli and Rena Dourou,” government spokesman Dimitris Tsiodras said.
“This attack is an attack against every democratic citizen.”
Ilias Kasidiaris is already facing charges of theft and bodily harm, which he denies.
Golden Dawn campaigned on an anti-immigrant platform, and has even proposed planting mines along Greek borders to prevent the entry of migrants. It has been accused of violent attacks against immigrants in Athens, but denies the claims.
Lindsay Lohan’s dramatic car crash pictures have emerged yesterday.
The accident happened after Lindsay Lohan ran into the back of a heavy goods vehicle in Los Angeles this morning while driving to a movie set.
Lindsay Lohan, 25, was taken to hospital as a precaution, but was later released after a check-up revealed she was uninjured.
Luckily for the actress she will not be left with a massive repair bill as she was renting the high-end black Porsche sports car.
Lindsay Lohan, who is currently shooting her movie return as the late screen icon Elizabeth Taylor in Liz & Dick, was driving the car on Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica when she hit the big rig, and according to TMZ she is claiming she was cut off by the 18-wheeler.
According to police, detectives are still trying to determine the cause of the crash, but they said there was no immediate evidence of wrongdoing.
They confirmed the actress was behind the wheel but showed no signs of intoxication.
Her spokesman Steve Honig said: “Lindsay was involved in an automobile accident today on her way to the set.
“She was brought to Santa Monica UCLA hospital as a precaution.
“She is fine and was released less than two hours later and is already headed back to the set to resume work.
“Fortunately, no one was seriously injured in the accident.”
The accident happened after Lindsay Lohan ran into the back of a heavy goods vehicle in Los Angeles this morning while driving to a movie set
The car bumper was mangled car and the passenger window was smashed, and as the vehicle was towed away debris was still scattered on the road.
An ambulance was called to the scene but Lindsay Lohan did not appear to use it and made her own way to an the hospital.
Her assistant was in the car at the time of the incident, but was also uninjured in the crash.
The star had been seen socializing the night before at the upmarket Chateau Marmont, but it is understood she was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.
Lindsay Lohan has been trying to get her life back on track after a series of medical and legal wrangles in recent years.
She has been on probation since a 2007 conviction for driving under the influence, and since then was convicted of shoplifting. She is currently on probation for both offenses.
Lindsay Lohan recently pulled out of negotiations to star in a biopic about mobster John Gotti, with publicist Steve Honig confirming no agreement could be made.
He said: “I can confirm that Lindsay has not signed on to be a part of the John Gotti movie, nor is she in talks to join the cast.
“It does not look like an agreement can be made. Lindsay’s representatives and film producers were unable to come to an agreement.
“Lindsay has the utmost respect for Barry Levinson [the director of the movie] and the producers and hopes to work with them in the future and wishes them all the best.”
Two computer scientists have developed a depth-camera based system that keeps track of household objects as they are moved around a building.
The project – dubbed Kinsight – relies on several of Microsoft’s Kinect sensors attached to a computer running the team’s software.
Although the project is still at an experimental stage, it has been shown to work in a “real-world scenario”.
Details of the system were recently outlined at a conference in China and were subsequently reported by New Scientist.
“Imagine if we had a system that could keep account of all the objects that we interact with in our daily lives,” the researchers said.
“By keeping track of the locations of the objects, we could build a smart search engine for our home that could answer queries like – where are my eye glasses, or my TV-remote, or my wallet?”
Two computer scientists have developed a depth-camera based system that keeps track of household objects as they are moved around a building
Although alternative solutions, such as the use of radio-frequency identification chips already exists, the men said their system was many times cheaper due to the high cost of RFID readers.
The researchers noted that running a computer program that simultaneously tracked all the owner’s objects in real-time would be too processor-intensive.
So they based their design around the principle that objects only change locations when humans move them.
As a result the system focuses on tracking human figures and then looking for objects that have changed position in their vicinity.
Although the Kinect sensor’s capabilities are limited – it only sees objects up to 11 feet (3.4 m) away and only provides “skeleton data” at 15 frames/second – the Kinsight program has commonsense notions built into it to improve accuracy: so it knows that a coffee cup is most likely to be found at a study desk, or kitchen sink, but not inside a bath.
“This means that, when in doubt, an object recognition algorithm can use this knowledge to identify an object by analyzing the likelihood of it being at some location, or looking for the candidate objects in their other locations,” the researchers said.
Algorithms were also created to help the computer learn the appearance of objects and the context they were likely to be used in by analyzing the data gathered.
To prove the system worked the two scientists labeled 48 objects – including knives, forks, keys and a Rubik’s cube – and identified 80 possible locations around a house.
They then asked volunteers to move the items around according to randomly generated patterns.
The results suggested room for improvement – errors were more likely if the objects were very small, far away, transparent or placed too closely together – but the team said these problems should be addressed by using more sensors per room and adopting more sensitive depth-cameras.
In the meantime, they say that even when the program does lose track of possessions, it can still say were they were last seen which may still prove helpful.
Barry Gibb yesterday revealed the solace he finds in knowing that his siblings, twins Robin and Maurice, have now been reunited – and that he will join them both one day too.
“They were both beautiful. And now they’re together,” said Barry Gibb, his voice trembling with emotion, as he addressed the congregation at Robin’s funeral.
Barry Gibb, 65, the only remaining member of the group he formed with his younger siblings in 1958 which went on to sell more than 200 million records worldwide, told mourners: “When you’re twins, you’re twins all your life. You go through every emotion.”
Robin Gibb died last month aged 62 after a long battle with colon cancer.
Maurice Gibb died of complications resulting from a twisted intestine in 2003 aged 53.
At yesterday’s service at St Mary’s Church in Thame, Oxfordshire, Barry Gibb spoke of Robin’s “magnificent mind and beautiful heart”.
Barry Gibb also read a poem he had written called Ode To Rob, which included the lines: “We will all be together one day. So fly away Rob, fly away.”
Among the 300-strong congregation were celebrities including Sir Tim Rice, Uri Geller, DJs Mike Read, Paul Gambaccini and David “Kid” Jensen, singer Peter Andre, actress Susan George and 88-year-old actor Leslie Phillips.
Robin Gibb’s widow Dwina, 59, an author and artist, read a poem called My Songbird Has Flown, including the words: “No music can be heard that is sweeter than the language of his love, no diamond is more precious than the memory of his twinkling eyes.”
Dwina and Robin Gibb’s son Robin-John, 28, kissed his father’s white coffin after telling mourners his “best friend and daddy” is “always only a song away”.
Absent from the service, however, was Claire Yang, the former housekeeper with whom Robin Gibb fathered a daughter, Snow, aged four.
Claire Yang was reportedly “unwelcome” and spent the day a few miles away at her home in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.
A source said that security guards had been briefed “to keep an eye out for her”.
However, Snow was mentioned by Barry Gibb at the end of his eulogy as “little Snow” in a list of close family members.
At yesterday’s service at St Mary’s Church in Thame, Oxfordshire, Barry Gibb spoke of Robin’s “magnificent mind and beautiful heart”
Barry Gibb also referred to the fourth Gibb brother, Andy, also a singer, who died aged 30 in 1988, saying that to have lost three siblings was “a very strange experience”.
And referring to the Bee Gees’ days of packing out arenas to adoring audiences across the globe, Barry Gibb said: “The three of us have seen a lot of crowds but I’ve never seen so much love in one crowd as I’m looking at today.”
The coffin was taken to the church in a glass-sided, horse-drawn carriage topped with red roses.
The coffin itself was draped with the flag of the Isle of Man, where all three Bee Gees were born.
Robin and Dwina Gibb’s home, a converted 13th century monastery, is opposite the church but the carriage travelled along the market town’s high street first as it was among Robin’s last wishes that he could “say a final goodbye to fans and his home town”.
The cortege was followed by Robin Gibb’s two Irish wolfhounds, Ollie and Missy.
The coffin entered the church to the sound of the Bee Gees’ hit How Deep Is Your Love.
Barry Gibb also spoke of his brother’s sense of humor: “There was no funnier man than Spike Milligan – apart from Robin.
“And his sharp, intuitive wit will live with us forever.
“You could stand Robin next to Spike Milligan and it would be a competition.”
He hinted at recent tensions between himself and Robin, however, saying: “We were laughing all the way. Sometimes crying. God knows how much we argued.
“Even right up to the end we found conflict with each other, which now means nothing. It just means nothing. If there’s conflict in your lives – get rid of it.”
Robin Gibb’s elderly mother, Barbara, left the church just before Barry gave his eulogy.
He told the congregation: “This is a very strange experience, having already lost two brothers and now Rob.
“I think there are an awful lot of things happening right now that maybe you won’t be aware of. And one is how many people came on such a terrible day. It is staggering.
“So many people loved this boy, so many illustrious people are here that loved him. And that is such a pleasure to witness.
“The three of us have seen a lot of crowds but I’ve never seen so much love in one crowd as I’m looking at today – for Rob, you know, for the music. And it’s an intense experience for me.
“I think it’s an experience none of us will forget. We will keep him in our hearts and minds forever.”
Robin Gibb’s family and friends were joined by hundreds of fans, who lined the streets as a glass horse-drawn carriage covered in red roses made its way down the town’s high street on the way to the funeral.
Family members including Robin Gibb’s wife Dwina, his children Spencer, Melissa and RJ, Barry, his wife Linda and his son Stevie, were pictured leading the procession on foot from the gate house of their estate to St Mary’s Church.
It had been Robin Gibb’s wish to “say a final goodbye to fans and his home town of Thame”, according to his family.
Robin Gibb died from kidney failure last month after fighting colon cancer and pneumonia.
Peter Andre, who was a close friend of the musician, was front and centre to place a rose on the coffin at the burial.
He announced last week that he plans to release a tribute single using music written for him by Robin Gibb shortly before his death.
“He very kindly wrote a song for me recently and I’m determined to finish working on it when I get back to the UK,” he said.
“I’m going to release it and make sure all the proceeds go to his favorite charity.”
St Mary’s church is opposite the home which the musician had shared with wife Dwina for 19 years.
Two candles flickered at the front of the church as some guests entered in tears, to take their places on wooden seats surrounded by pink and white flowers.
They were issued with an order of service printed with a black and white picture of Robin Gibb on the front cover, and images of red roses throughout.
An image of the three members of the Bee Gees – Robin, Maurice and Barry – was on the back.
Kara Koskowich, a 17-year-old student from Canada, decided she would recycle unwanted paper, making her own prom dress using old maths homework.
Kara Koskowich cut, sewed, glued, and eventually tailored a one-shouldered dress out of 75 pieces of algebra formulas.
She told CBC News: “For me, [prom] is not a big, spend your money, you have to look this nice, you have to fit into this mould of grad.”
While most graduates never want to look at their homework again, Kara Koskowich found a way to look good in it.
She sculpted the dress sewing in darts and even a zipper, also adding colorful post-it notes circling the waist to give it a cinched-in effect.
Kara Koskowich decided she would recycle unwanted paper, making her own prom dress using old maths homework
The student began making her dress in March, but said she didn’t finish it until the night before prom.
“I did most of it the last week because I’m that kind of person. I procrastinate,” she said.
Kara Koskowich’s date was her friend Dorothy Graham, who was wearing a dress she made out of plastic bags.
According to Dorothy Graham, the dresses made the pair the most popular people at prom.
Dorothy Graham explained: “It was actually funny because everyone was wearing these elegant dresses, and we’re in dresses that cost nothing, and we were the most popular people there.”
Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin has said she stands by her accusations that the Miss USA 2012 competition was rigged and will take on Donald Trump if he sues her, as he has claimed.
Earlier this week, Sheena Monnin resigned from her position claiming one of her fellow contestants – later revealed as Miss Florida – had seen a list of the top five girls before the show had even begun.
Sheena Monnin branded the competition “fraudulent”, “trashy” and “lacking in morals”, which led Donald Trump, the co-owner of Miss Universe Organization, to threaten her with a lawsuit.
But speaking to the Today show, Sheena Monnin said she is standing by her claims and knows Miss Florida was serious as she has had “years of psychological training”.
Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin has said she stands by her accusations that the Miss USA 2012 competition was rigged and will take on Donald Trump if he sues her
“I feel disappointed that [Trump] has made some of the statements that he said about me, and I feel prepared to continue to pursue the truth,” Sheena Monnin said on the Today show.
“I know what I heard, and I know what I in turn witnessed… so I’m prepared to continue to march forward.”
Florida’s Karina Brez has since said mentioning the list was “a throwaway comment” that was “never meant as fact”, but Sheena Monnin rubbished this defense.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that the contestant was serious when she laid out what she said she saw, and I believe her to be true,” Sheena Monnin, who hold a master’s degree in psychology, said.
“I have many years of psychological training. I know when someone’s telling a joke, I know when someone’s scared and when someone’s serious, and in my opinion her body language was very serious.
“She looked a little bit scared because she had just seen something that would potentially, drastically change the reputation of the Miss Universe Organization. This is a big deal.”
Donald Trump said on Wednesday that her claims were a case of sour grapes, adding: “I did see her for about a second. I never felt that she had a chance, and all this is buyer’s remorse.”
He added that an investigation into Sheena Monnin’s “disgraceful” claims has been carried out, and there is no evidence that there was a list of the five top girls before the show.
In her Facebook posts, Sheena Monnin, who had not placed in the top 16, had claimed Miss Florida went on to name all five women correctly before they were announced on the show.
Famous gymnast Dominique Moceanu, part of the “Magnificent Seven” who won gold at the 1996 Olympics, has revealed how she discovered her parents gave up for adoption a secret sister who had no legs.
Dominique Moceanu, now 30 and living in Cleveland, Ohio, only found out about her younger sister two decades later when the woman wrote to her to say she had learned her birth name was Moceanu.
“It was the biggest bombshell of my life,” Dominique Moceanu told ABC’s 20/20.
“I had this sister that was born who was given up for adoption, and I never knew it.”
The gymnast had a famously fraught relationship with her parents, divorcing them when she was 17. She was also granted a restraining order against her father, after she accused him of stalking her.
When the 20-year-old woman contacted her with a letter and photographs of herself just over five years ago, Dominique Moceanu contacted her parents with questions, ABC News reported.
Dimitry and Camelia Moceanu, who moved from their native Romania in the 1980s and had both been keen athletes, told her the baby girl was born the day after her sixth birthday.
They added that the baby had medical problems that would require expensive care that they could not afford, so they gave her up for adoption. The woman confirmed this story.
“Oh by the way, I have no legs,” she told Dominique Moceanu.
“But people forget that within minutes of meeting me.”
Gymnast Dominique Moceanu has revealed how she discovered her parents gave up for adoption a secret sister who had no legs
The women now meet regularly and have noticed similarities, such as their love of gymnastics.
“The tones in our voices, our handwriting, the way we laugh and chuckle. It’s mind-blowing,” Dominique Moceanu said.
The revelation is just one of many made by the Olympic gold medalist in her autobiography Off Balance and in an interview with 20/20, which will air on Friday evening.
Dominique Moceanu recounts her struggle to reach the top – and how she was plagued by her over-bearing parents, who had both been athletes and wanted their child to have an interest in the same.
“I think [my dad] wanted me to do something that he didn’t get a chance to do,” Dominique Moceanu said.
They enrolled their daughter in a gymnastics class when she was three, and she took to it at once.
Focusing on the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, her parents took her to try out for famous Olympic gymnastics coaches Bela and Marta Karolyi when she was nine and she was accepted.
After winning the 1995 U.S. National Championships aged just 13, she was accepted for the U.S. Olympics team, despite suffering a stress fracture in her leg.
At the Games, Dominique Moceanu’s first three rounds went off perfectly, but she fell twice during her final event – the vault – and she knew she would be punished for it.
As the team collected their gold medals, Dominique Moceanu said she knew her father would berate her following the ceremony.
“I have this gold medal around my neck. I wanted to take it off. I was devastated. It was heartbreaking,” she said.
A few years later, Dominique Moceanu successfully filed for emancipation from her parents. She claimed they had repressed her and squandered her fortune.
She was also granted a restraining order against her father, who had stalked her. She also feared he had hired someone to kill two of her close friends.
Dominique Moceanu eventually reconciled with both of her parents. Her father died in 2008 from cancer.
An injury kept her from the 2000 Olympics and she went to college and married a fellow gymnast, Mike Canales, in 2006. They have two children.
After retiring from the sport twice – in 2000 and 2006 – Dominique Moceanu now works as a gymnastics coach in the Cleveland area and holds private clinics around the country.
She has continued to make headlines; in 2008, she claimed her coaches, the Karolyis, had abused her during practices as a child.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, she claimed Martha Karolyi had grabbed her neck and slammed her face into a phone, while Bela Karolyi had twice chided her about her weight in front of national teammates.
“I never, ever objected to hard work,” Dominique Moceanu said in the interview.
“What I objected to was Martha grabbing me by the neck, shoving my face into the phone and telling me to call my parents when I hurt my neck in practice.
“I objected to being told to jump onto a scale in front of the 1995 world championship team, of being forced to do 16 uneven bars routines in a row by Martha.
“I was completely embarrassed by Bela in front of the 2000 national training team at camp.
“He completely belittled me and my weight, singled me out and made me feel very small.
“It was unfair treatment. Martha’s logic is so false but no one would listen to a 14-year-old. I was never allowed to speak out.”
Martha Karolyi responded that the comments made her feel “sad” that Dominique Moceanu only appeared to remember the hard days of work, rather than the championship wins.
The coaches are credited for the young girl’s success.
“Bela Karolyi is the greatest kingmaker we have seen in gymnastics,” said USA sports columnist Christine Brennan.
“And Dominique Moceanu had to have Bela Karolyi to become the gymnast that she was to become.”
Usain Bolt crashed into a flower girl at the end of his 100 m sprint last night in Oslo where he ran the second fastest time this year – he holds first and third place too.
Crossing the line at about 40 mph, it takes Usain Bolt a few metres to slow to a stop. It was during this slowdown that the world’s fastest man clashed with a girl who was there to present flowers to runners.
Video footage shows Usain Bolt avoids one of the girls on the track but fails to see a second just behind her.
He then appears to try and jump over her but, resigned to his fate, grabs hold of her and runs along with her.
She falls backwards but Usain Bolt manages to stop her from actually hitting the ground, pulling her upwards and eventually gives her a hug once he comes to a halt.
Usain Bolt crashed into a flower girl at the end of his 100 m sprint last night in Oslo where he ran the second fastest time this year
World champion Yohan Blake’s challenge awaits Usain Bolt in Kingston – Blake races in New York on Saturday – but in his present form Bolt is a shoo-in for the team his island will send to London.
The collision occurred after Usain Bolt ran 9.79 sec in Oslo on Thursday, he owns the year’s three fastest 100 metres times.
“I am not yet in the shape where I can say, <<Nobody can beat me>>. My start is letting me down slightly still,” said Usain Bolt.
“I can’t complain but the execution of my race was not perfect.”
For that he blamed shorter starting blocks, introduced by Omega this year to Diamond League meetings. They will be used in the Olympic Games.
US President Barack Obama says European leaders must make difficult decisions to steer the eurozone away from crisis.
Speaking at the White House, Barack Obama said the US would support Europe implement the hard solutions needed to solve the ongoing debt crisis.
He said a deep new recession in Europe would have an impact on the US economy.
Greece’s future in the eurozone was a matter for the Greek people, he said, but “further hardship” must be expected if it choose to leave the euro.
Barack Obama says European leaders must make difficult decisions to steer the eurozone away from crisis
Outlining a series of “specific steps” Europe needed to take to ensure stability within the eurozone, the president was at pains to say he would not “scold” Europe.
Barack Obama said European leaders needed to stabilize the continent’s financial system and inject capital into weak banks “as soon as possible”.
“The solutions are hard, but there are solutions,” Barack Obama said, saying the US was offering advice, but that “these decisions are fundamentally in the hands of Europe’s leaders”.
Barack Obama also reprised his calls for the US Congress to pass the remaining parts of his own jobs plan, in order to strengthen the US economy against possible shocks from Europe.
UEFA confirms there were “isolated incidents of racist chanting” aimed at Netherlands players during an open training session at Euro 2012.
But the governing body has not revealed whether it is investigating the incident in Krakow, Poland.
Dutch captain Mark van Bommel said monkey chants were directed at players.
“Should such behaviour happen at further training sessions, UEFA would evaluate the operational measures to be taken to protect players,” UEFA said.
“UEFA has now been made aware that there were some isolated incidents of racist chanting that occurred at the open training session of the Dutch team yesterday in Krakow.
“UEFA has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to discriminatory behaviour and has given the power to referees to stop matches in case of any repeated racist behaviour.”
UEFA confirms there were "isolated incidents of racist chanting" aimed at Netherlands players during an open training session at Euro 2012
The Dutch FA said in a statement that it would not be making an official complaint but was “more than willing to answer [the] questions of UEFA in this respect”.
Outlining the incident, the statement added: “As at one moment there was a lot of noise coming from a specific stand, the team decided to train at the other side of the stadium, which was much quieter.
“A few players have heard sounds, which could be described as possible monkey chants. However, the training staff on the pitch were not aware of this.”
While Mark Van Bommel complained specifically of racist abuse, the Dutch FA had earlier said this was mixed with anti-Euro 2012 chanting believed to have been prompted by the fact the city has not been given any matches in the tournament.
When this was put to Mark Van Bommel on Thursday, he said: “Open your ears. If you did hear it and don’t want to hear it, that is even worse.”
The claims emerged on the opening day of the tournament, which is being co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine.
Around 20,000 fans had turned up to watch the training session at the Stadion Miejski on Wednesday.
Journalist Marcel van der Kraan, who writes for Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, said he heard the racist abuse.
He said: “As the Dutch players did their warm-up, during the first lap of the pitch they could hear monkey noises from one end of the crowd.
“When the players heard this they said they would do another lap and if they heard monkey noises again they would stop.
“The Dutch coach moved all the cones and started training on the pitch as far away from these people as possible. It was considerably more than two or three people.”
The day before the alleged abuse, the Netherlands players had visited Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, which is nearby.
Mark Van Bommel said: “It is a real disgrace, especially after getting back from Auschwitz, that you are confronted with this.
“We will take it up with UEFA and if it happens at a match we will talk to the referee and ask him to take us off the field.”
Earlier this week, UEFA president Michel Platini said the issue was one for wider society, not simply football. But he added that referees had the power to stop games if there was racist abuse from the stands.
The tournament kicks off at 17:00 BST on Friday with hosts Poland playing Greece in the opening match in Warsaw.
Flame malware’s makers have sent a “suicide” command that removes it from some infected computers.
Security firm Symantec caught the command using booby-trapped computers set up to watch Flame’s actions.
Flame came to light after the UN’s telecoms body asked for help with identifying a virus found stealing data from many PCs in the Middle East.
New analysis of Flame reveals how sophisticated the program is and gives hints about who created it.
Like many other security firms Symantec has kept an eye on Flame using so-called “honeypot” computers that report what happens when they are infected with a malicious program.
Described as a very sophisticated cyber-attack, Flame targeted countries such as Iran and Israel and sought to steal large amounts of sensitive data.
Flame malware’s makers have sent a "suicide" command that removes it from some infected computers
Earlier this week Symantec noticed that some Flame command and control (C&C) computers sent an urgent command to the infected PCs they were overseeing.
Flame’s creators do not have access to all their C&C computers as security firms have won control of some of them.
The “suicide” command was “designed to completely remove Flame from the compromised computer”, said Symantec.
The command located every Flame file sitting on a PC, removed it and then overwrote memory locations with gibberish to thwart forensic examination.
“It tries to leave no traces of the infection behind,” wrote the firm on its blog.
Analysis of the clean-up routine suggested it was written in early May, said Symantec.
At the same time, analysis of the inner workings of Flame reveal just how sophisticated it is.
According to cryptographic experts, Flame is the first malicious program to use an obscure cryptographic technique known as “prefix collision attack”. This allowed the virus to fake digital credentials that had helped it to spread.
The exact method of carrying out such an attack was only demonstrated in 2008 and the creators of Flame came up with their own variant.
“The design of this new variant required world-class cryptanalysis,” said cryptoexpert Marc Stevens from the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in Amsterdam in a statement.
The finding gives support to claims that Flame must have been built by a nation state rather than cybercriminals. It is not clear yet which nation created the program.
It appears that President Barack Obama made a rude joke about First Lady Michelle Obama and oral sex at a Beverly Hills fundraiser for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Leadership Council.
Talking to some 600 supporters at the event on Wednesday night, Barack Obama referred to Ellen DeGeneres, the stand-up comedian and television host and a lesbian.
“I want to thank my wonderful friend who accepts a little bit of teasing about Michelle beating her in push-ups but I think she claims Michelle didn’t go all the way down,” he said.
The crowd erupted into what the Los Angeles Times described as “bawdy laughter”.
In the pool report of the event, Todd Gillman of the Dallas Morning News, wrote that this was a line that Barack Obama “let hang, naughtily, provoking laughter from the crowd”.
It remained unclear, however, whether Barack Obama uttered a deliberate double entendre about his wife having oral sex with a lesbian or whether he simply stumbled into using a phrase that was misinterpreted.
Barack Obama made a rude joke about First Lady Michelle Obama and oral sex at a Beverly Hills fundraiser for the LGBT Leadership Council
The LA Times plumped for the latter interpretation, reporting that “the president seemed briefly caught off-stride when the audience interpreted as off-color a joke he made about a push-up competition between DeGeneres and his wife, initiated by the talk show host in February”.
After the bawdy laughter, the newspaper continued: “Obama kept a straight face. <<That’s what I heard>>, he added. <<I just want to set the record straight. Michelle outdoes me in push-ups as well. You shouldn’t feel bad>>.”
Political reporters immediately picked up on the obscene reference.
“I hope @MichelleObama yells at @BarackObama tonight. Or at least withholds pushups,” twteeted Meredith Shiner, a reporter for Roll Call.
Barack Obama was very much amongst friends at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel event, part of a two-day fundraising swing through California and Nevada during which he is expected to raise more than $15 million for his re-election bid.
At a similar event in New York this year Barack Obama was heckled by people shouting: “Marriage!”
After recently coming out in favor of gay marriage, however, this time he was greeted with chants of: “Four more years!”
Ellen DeGeneres, whose decision to come out of the closet in 1997 prompted headlines and predictions that her career was over, introduced Barack Obama at what was a who’s who of gay Hollywood and those whose work had taken gay themes into the mainstream.
Max Mutchnik, creator of Will and Grace was a co-host. Lance Black, Oscar-winning screenwriter of Milk and the singer Cher attended.
Barack Obama spoke for 30 minutes and highlighted measures that have been applauded by the gay lobby, including his repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule banning open homosexuality.
He equated gay rights with civil rights struggles for equality of treatment based on sex and race, stating that his achievements had been part of “this constant progression to include more and more people in the possibility of the America dream”.
Former Fleetwood Mac guitarist and vocalist Bob Welch has been found dead after apparently committing suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Bob Welch was 66.
According to police, Bob Welch was found dead by his wife after shooting himself in the chest at their Nashville home at around 12:15 p.m. local time yesterday.
Bob Welch had had health issues recently, according to police spokesman Don Aaron, who confirmed the singer left a suicide note.
The spokesman would not elaborate on specific details regarding Bob Welch’s health – but added that there was no evidence of foul play.
Bob Welch, who also had a solo career, was a guitarist and vocalist for Fleetwood Mac from 1971 to 1974 and worked on albums such as Future Games and Bare Trees.
The artist formed the British rock group Paris in 1976, and had hits including Sentimental Lady in 1977 and Ebony Eyes in 1978.
Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham did backing vocals on Sentimental Lady.
Fleetwood Mac’s career took off in the mid-1970s after Bob Welch left the band.
Former Fleetwood Mac guitarist and vocalist Bob Welch has been found dead after apparently committing suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Dreams was a Number 1 hit in 1977, and Don’t Stop hit the top of the charts the same year.
It later became the anthem for Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign. Hold Me was a hit in 1982 and Little Lies in 1987.
Bob Welch, a native of Los Angeles, scored his biggest hit with Sentimental Lady, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard chart.
His other singles included Precious Love in 1979 and Hot Love, Cold World in 1978.
Bob Welch fell out with his former band mates after suing the group in 1994 for unpaid royalties, which led to his exclusion from the group’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1998.
“It basically comes down to the fact that they don’t like me anymore,” he told The Plain Dealer of Cleveland at the time.
“I guess they can do what they want. I could understand it if I had been a sideman for a year. But I was an integral part of that band… I put more of myself into that band than anything else I’ve ever done.”
Longtime Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks told The Associated Press that Bob Welch’s death hit her hard.
“The death of Bob Welch is devastating… I had many great times with him after Lindsey and I joined Fleetwood Mac. He was an amazing guitar player – he was funny, sweet – and he was smart. I am so very sorry for his family and for the family of Fleetwood Mac – so, so sad.”
As a songwriter, Bob Welch had his songs recorded by Kenny Rogers, Sammy Hagar, the Pointer Sisters and others.
In 1999 he released a CD, Bob Welch Looks at Bop, a salute to bebop music in the 1940s.
In an interview with The Tennessean in 2003, Bob Welch said he never dreamed he’d be remembered for much.
“I just wanted to play guitar in a good band,” he said.
“I wanted to make the music I love. I wanted to travel the world and have adventures.”
Bob Welch also said “music is disposable now. It doesn’t have the emotional impact anymore. That’s sad.”
He had lived in Nashville since the 1990s.
Bob Welch is the second member of Fleetwood Mac to die this year. In January, another former guitarist for the band, Bob Weston, died in London from a gastrointestinal haemorrhage, aged 64.
The Duchess of Cambridge’s diamond and pearl earrings were among the most admired at St Paul’s Cathedral over the Bank Holiday.
So it will come as a surprise to those who spent a fortune on jewellery at Graff and Asprey that Kate’s sparklers weren’t diamonds at all and cost a mere £48 ($75).
In fact, they were a very good copy under the description “fabulous fakes” designed by Belinda Hadden, ex-wife of top PR man Abel Hadden.
Belinda Hadden was astonished to learn that Kate had worn her creations on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
Mother-of-three Belinda Hadden, who set up little-known Heavenly Necklaces in the Nineties as a hobby when her daughters were small, said: “I was at a wedding, so I had no idea Kate had worn my earrings until another client sent me an email asking: <<Are they the same as mine?>>”
The Duchess of Cambridge’s diamond and pearl earrings were among the most admired at St Paul’s Cathedral over the Bank Holiday
It wasn’t long, however, before the “Kate effect” began to work, with internet chatrooms abuzz.
Belinda Hadden, daughter of the late Tory MP for Gosport and Fareham, Hants, Sir Reginald Bennett, says: “Within the next 24 hours, I had sold out. I sold 60 on my website, which is the amount I would usually sell in a whole year.”
Belinda Hadden, who sources her fakes from India, China and Hatton Garden in London, says: “They are made of finest grade cubic zirconia, but what makes them look authentic is the settings they are in.”
The pearls, she says, are made from ground-up freshwater pearls reconstituted with resin.
She adds: “Usually, I would never dream of talking about my clients but, in this case, Kate’s earrings were outed on various blogs.
“I had no idea there was this huge internet chat about where, when and what she wears.”
Belinda Hadden designs 75% of her earrings, necklaces and bracelets herself and explains: “I have always loved jewellery and I did a short design course – two terms – at a further education centre run by my local council.”
Parasitic Varroa mite has helped a virus wipe out billions of honeybees throughout the globe, say scientists.
A team studying honeybees in Hawaii found that the Varroa mite helped spread a particularly nasty strain of a disease called deformed wing virus.
The mites act as tiny incubators of one deadly form of the disease, and inject it directly into the bees’ blood.
This has led to “one of the most widely-distributed and contagious insect viruses on the planet”.
The findings are reported in the journal Science.
A team studying honeybees in Hawaii found that the Varroa mite helped spread a particularly nasty strain of a disease called deformed wing virus
The team, led by Dr. Stephen Martin from the University of Sheffield, studied the honeybees in Hawaii, where Varroa was accidentally brought from California just five years ago.
Crucially some Hawaiian islands have honeybee colonies that are still Varroa-free.
This provided the team with a unique natural laboratory; they could compare recently-infected colonies with those free from the parasite, and paint a biological picture of exactly how Varroa affected the bees.
The team spent two years monitoring colonies – screening Varroa-infected and uninfected bees to see what viruses lived in their bodies.
Dr. Stephen Martin explained that most viruses were not normally harmful to the bees, but the mite “selected” one lethal strain of one specific virus.
“In an infected bee there can be more viral particles than there are people on the planet,” he explained.
“There’s a vast diversity of viral strains within a bee, and most of them are adapted to exist in their own little bit of the insect; they get on quite happily.”
But the mite, he explained, “shifts something”.
In Varroa-infected bees, over time, the vast majority of these innocuous virus strains disappear and the bees’ bodies are filled with one lethal strain of deformed wing virus.
And when it comes to viral infection, it’s the sheer quantity that kills; each viral particle invades a cell and takes over its internal machinery, turning the bee’s own body against itself.
Although it is not clear exactly why this strain thrives in mite-infected bees, Dr. Stepehn Martin explained that it could be the one virus best able to survive being repeatedly transmitted from the mites to the bees and back, as the mites feed on the bees’ blood.
The effect appears to take once the mites have changed this “viral landscape” in the bees’ bodies, the change is permanent.
“So the only way to control the virus is to control the levels of the mite,” said Dr. Stephen Martin.
Experts say a common chiropractic treatment for neck pain, which involves applying thrusts to the neck area of the spine, should be abandoned.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, Neil O’Connell from the Centre for Research and Rehabilitation at Brunel University and colleagues say that cervical spine manipulation carries a low risk of stroke, resulting from damage to the major neck arteries.
They say the technique is “unnecessary and inadvisable”.
But other experts believe it is a valuable addition to patient care.
Spinal manipulation can be used to treat neck and back pain or other musculoskeletal conditions. It is a technique used by physiotherapists, osteopaths and most commonly by chiropractors.
Neil O'Connell from the Centre for Research and Rehabilitation at Brunel University and colleagues say that cervical spine manipulation carries a low risk of stroke, resulting from damage to the major neck arteries
Cervical spine manipulation focuses on the neck and involves a range of high-speed manual manoeuvres that stretch, mobilize or manipulate the upper spine in order to relieve pain.
Neil O’Connell and colleagues argue that cervical spine manipulation “may carry the potential for serious neurovascular complications”.
They also say that studies “provide consistent evidence of an association between neurovascular injury and recent exposure to cervical manipulation.”
Such injuries include tearing the lining of the vertebral artery, which is located in the neck and supplies blood to the brain, and stroke.
O’Connell and colleagues refer to a Cochrane review of randomized trials of neck manipulation or mobilization which found that as a stand-alone treatment, the technique provides only moderate short-term pain relief.
They point to other recent, high-quality trials which suggest that manipulation is no better than other treatments such as physical exercise.
In their view, the risks of using manipulation for neck pain outweigh the benefits.
They conclude: “The potential for catastrophic events and the clear absence of unique benefit lead to the inevitable conclusion that manipulation of the cervical spine should be abandoned as part of conservative care for neck pain.”
However, not all experts agree.
Writing in the same edition of the BMJ, Professor David Cassidy, from the University of Toronto, and colleagues argue that cervical spine manipulation should not be abandoned as a treatment for neck pain.
They point to high quality evidence that “clearly suggests that manipulation benefits patients with neck pain” and raises doubt about any direct relation between manipulation and stroke.
But they want to see more research into the pros and cons of this and other techniques with the aim of identifying safe and effective treatments.
Relatives of victims of General Augusto Pinochet’s military rule in Chile have protested against plans to pay homage to the late dictator this weekend.
They held a rally in Santiago, calling for the screening of a new pro-Pinochet documentary to be banned.
The relatives say it is insensitive, but the government says it is a private event and it will not intervene.
More than 3,000 people disappeared or were killed during General Augusto Pinochet’s rule, which ended in 1990.
Relatives of victims of General Augusto Pinochet's military rule in Chile have protested against plans to pay homage to the late dictator this weekend
General Augusto Pinochet, who ruled the South American nation for 17 years, died in 2006.
The protesters held a rally at a former detention and torture centre in the Chilean capital.
Many wore photos of their relatives.
“In Chile, state-sponsored terrorism existed. Forced disappearances existed. Torture existed. Executions. And the systematic violation of hundreds of Chileans. We cannot allow this. We can’t allow a tribute to this,” Alejandra Arriaza, of the Corporation for the Promotion and Defence of People’s Rights was quoted as saying by the AP news agency.
The documentary, Pinochet, will be screened in a theatre in Santiago on Sunday.
The organizers say it aims to show General Augusto Pinochet as he really was, and not as the media portrayed him – as a ruthless dictator.
Right-wing politicians and former members of the Chilean military have been invited.
The controversy shows how divisive General Augusto Pinochet remains, nearly four decades after the coup that brought him to power.
For some he was a hero who saved Chile from Communism, but for others he was as brutal murderer who should be reviled, not applauded.
The funeral of Bee Gees star Robin Gibb is to be held later in his home town in Oxfordshire.
Robin Gibb, who lived in Thame, died from kidney failure last month after suffering from cancer and pneumonia.
A glass-sided carriage, drawn by four horses, will travel through the town at about 13:30 BST followed by a private church service.
His son Robin-John said the Bee Gees hit I Started A Joke would be played at the church.
The track Don’t Cry Alone, which is one of Robin Gibb’s final compositions from his Titanic Requiem – premiered only weeks before his death – will also be played.
The funeral of Bee Gees star Robin Gibb is to be held later in his home town in Oxfordshire
His family said his wish was to say a “final goodbye” to fans and the town.
Radio presenter Henry Wymbs has known the Gibb family for a number of years as Robin Gibb’s wife Dawina was a fan of his Irish Eye programme.
Henry Wymbs said: “Part of my youth died with him because he created so many of the songs I loved.
“But I enjoyed meeting him. He was humble, down to earth, a very genuine man who wasn’t affected by fame or wealth.
“Apparently he had really become a part of the community in Thame and I can believe that because he was such a nice man.”
The carriage will leave from Priests End and travel along the High Street to the town hall.
It will then return through the High Street to St Mary’s Church where a private family service will be held.
US researchers have used a blood sample from mother and saliva from father to sequence the genome of a foetus in the womb.
At the time, the mother was just 18 weeks into the pregnancy.
The doctors said the findings, reported in Science Translational Medicine, could eventually lead to foetuses being screened for thousands of genetic disorders in a single and safe test.
However, they also caution it would raise “many ethical questions”.
US researchers have used a blood sample from mother and saliva from father to sequence the genome of a foetus in the womb
The scientists at the University of Washington used pieces of the foetus’ DNA which naturally float around in the pregnant woman’s blood.
These fragments were then pieced together using the parents’ DNA as a guide to build a complete “map” of the foetus’s genome.
They then compared the genetic map drawn 18 weeks into pregnancy with the foetus’ actual DNA taken from the umbilical cord after birth. It was 98% accurate.
The researchers hope their findings will one day be used to test safely for genetic diseases.
Tests do already exist such as those for Down’s syndrome. To test for Down’s syndrome a sample is taken from the sac around the developing foetus, which comes with a risk of miscarriage.
They also say new genetic defects, which are not present in the parents, could be picked up if the technique could be improved. Such mutations form in the eggs, sperm or at conception.
There were 44 new mutations in the foetus and the screen at 18 weeks found 39 of them. However, the screening also detected 25 million possible new mutations or false positives.
One of the researchers, Dr. Jay Shendure, said: “This work opens up the possibility that we will be able to scan the whole genome of the foetus for more than 3,000 single-gene disorders through a single, non-invasive test.”
Filmmaker Tyler Perry was so afraid Bobbi Kristina Brown couldn’t act he only gave her a handful of lines for her appearance on his upcoming TV sitcom For Better Or Worse.
Tyler Perry believed Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, had the potential to be a star and wrote a part specifically for her – hoping that her work on set would take her mind off the tragedy surrounding her mother’s death in February.
He was hesitant about Bobbi Kristina Brown’s abilities, but he admits he was blown away with her performance after her first day on set.
Filmmaker Tyler Perry was so afraid Bobbi Kristina Brown couldn't act he only gave her a handful of lines for her appearance on his upcoming TV sitcom For Better Or Worse
Tyler Perry told ETonline.com: “I’m so proud of her because she said she wanted to act and I had a feeling she could but I wasn’t sure until she hit the set.
“The first couple of shows she did, she had very few lines because I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into, but the kid showed up and blew my mind. She definitely has it (star potential).”
Tyler Perry is convinced Bobbi Kristina Brown has a bright future ahead of her if she chooses to pursue a career onscreen: “She’s a definite actor, and she can go as far as she wants to go in the business.”
He was recently forced to speak out against false reports suggesting Bobbi Kristina Brown walked off the set of For Better or Worse and urged the media to stop spreading rumors about the youngster.
In a post on his blog, Tyler Perry wrote: “Please Leave This Baby Alone!!!! And She Is A Baby!!! Please stop the lies and give this child some room to breathe and grieve.“
Kate Middleton wore the same pair of nude shoes to the Epsom Derby last June, to Prince Philip’s 90th birthday at Windsor, to attend Zara Phillips’s wedding, and on a visit to the Royal Marsden Hospital, London.
On tour in Canada and the U.S., Kate Middleton was seen in them six times. On Sunday, she chose them for the Royal Barge. And on Tuesday she put them on to attend the service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s cathedral.
Just what is it about Kate and her $296 pair of LK Bennett nude patent courts? Perhaps she bought a dozen pairs of the Sledge Court Shoe, first produced in 2009, as she loved them so much? Perhaps they are such good value and never scuff.
Despite their four-inch heel, the shoes must be comfy, given they have been worn in so wonderfully (the Queen asks her dresser, Angela Kelly, to break in shoes for her. Kate clearly has no need of such a service).
Kate Middleton wore the same $296 pair of LK Bennett nude shoes at each event
What’s more, at St Paul’s, Samantha Cameron wore the same pair, only in black. For after they became such a success, LK Bennett brought out a Sledge 2: identical, but in a patent leather rather than a high-shine leather.
In the more recent photos, Kate is wearing the patent version – which means she definitely has at least a pair to wear and a pair to air.
So what is wrong with Kate Middleton endlessly showcasing a High Street shoe?
The “safe” nude shoe is very much a 2011 trend, as is the slim platform; seen endlessly on the High Street.
Kate has occasionally patronized other shoe brands: Jimmy Choo twice, Pied a Terre once, and an Aquatalia Rumba boot – an awful suede affair. And wedge espadrilles, too. All pretty ghastly.
But what should Kate be putting on those size seven feet?
Kate should patronize Aruna Seth, a 30-year-old British-born designer who makes wonderful shoes that hover around the $960 to $1,280 mark.
Or show courtier Georgina Goodman, who sadly went into liquidation in May, but she still hopes to make bespoke commissions.
Or how about patronizing the new generation of shoe couturiers, such as Rupert Sanderson, Charlotte Dellal, Camilla Skovgaard and Tracey Neuls?
