An overdue Jessica Simpson was yesterday spotted out for a drive with fiancé Eric Johnson.
Jessica Simpson, 31, must be feeling the pressure as last weekend her dad, Joe, gave fans a major hint that his daughter was due soon.
“Still counting down the days til I am a grandpa again. Keep Jess in your prayers,” he tweeted.
An overdue Jessica Simpson was yesterday spotted out for a drive with fiancé Eric Johnson
Soon afterwards Katy Perry and Chelsea Handler also took to their Twitter pages to wonder why Jessica Simpson still hasn’t given birth.
Katy Perry tweeted: “Has Jessica Simpson had that baby yet?! I’m getting anxious.”
And Chelsea Handler echoed the sentiment when she posted on her own page: “How has jessica simpson still not given birth to this baby? I’m getting frightened.”
Labor demonstrations marking May Day are taking place across the world, with the main focus on Europe and its backdrop of unpopular austerity measures and rising social unrest.
Greece, Spain and Portugal are set to hold large nationwide demonstrations.
At a Paris rally, National Front leader Marine Le Pen is expected to tell her supporters who they should vote for in Sunday’s presidential run-off vote.
The Occupy protest movement has urged May Day action spanning the globe.
Anti-austerity protesters will take part in a day of strikes and demonstrations across Greece.
In Athens, protests have become an institution, with public and private sector strikes and disruption to public transport.
But there may be less of the traditional violence, since minds are focused on Sunday’s general election, when many Greeks are expected to vent their anger against the austerity measures.
Labor demonstrations marking May Day are taking place across the world, with the main focus on Europe
Elections on Sunday are also the main focus in France.
Marine Le Pen will lead a march in Paris to the statue of Joan of Arc, an iconic figure for the far right.
She has promised to indicate where the 6.5m voters who supported her in the first round of the presidential election should cast their votes on Sunday, in the crucial second round between President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Socialist candidate Francois Hollande.
Nicolas Sarkozy will rally in Trocadero Square, while French unions march to the Bastille.
He has dubbed his rally a showcase of “real work”.
Francois Hollande said Nicolas Sarkozy was more the president of “real unemployment”.
The main May Day rally in Spain is expected to get under way in Madrid at about 11:00 a.m., while Portugal’s labor unions will rally in the afternoon.
In Russia, nationalists, communists and opponents of incoming president Vladimir Putin are all holding separate rallies.
Vladimir Putin and outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev made a rare joint public appearance on the streets of Moscow, leading more than 100,000 people in a Soviet-style “Holiday of Labor and Spring” march.
The Occupy movement has called for global protests against economic inequality.
The movement gained international attention with the Occupy Wall Street protest last September but has struggled to maintain its profile as its supporters began to be evicted from public squares across the US.
An Occupy statement said: “The Occupy Movement has called for A Day Without the 99% on May 1st, 2012,” referring to its slogan that the wealthy 1% rules over a powerless 99%.
Its main rally will be in New York in the afternoon rush hour.
The Occupy movement in San Francisco called for a Golden Gate Bridge protest.
It said: “This May Day we look forward to seeing strong, powerful picket lines, unlike anything the Golden Gate Bridge bosses have seen before.”
Rallies have already taken place across Asia, including:
• In Hong Kong, about 5,000 workers marched demanding a rise in the minimum wage
• In Jakarta, Indonesia, more than 9,000 workers marched to the state palace calling for better pay and job protection
• In Manila, the Philippines, some 8,000 workers rallied near the Malacanang palace to call for pay increases
Experts say a genetic test could help predict breast cancer many years before the disease is diagnosed.
Ultimately the findings, in the journal Cancer Research, could lead to a simple blood test to screen women, they say.
The test looks for how genes are altered by environmental factors like alcohol and hormones – a process known as epigenetics.
One in five women is thought to have such a genetic “switch” that doubles breast cancer risk.
The scientists from Imperial College London analyzed blood samples from 1,380 women of various ages, 640 of whom went on to develop breast cancer.
And they found a strong link between breast cancer risk and molecular modification of a single gene called ATM, which is found on white blood cells.
A genetic test could help predict breast cancer many years before the disease is diagnosed
They then looked for evidence of what was causing this change. Specifically, they looked for a chemical effect called methylation, which is known to act as a “gene switch”.
Women showing the highest methylation levels affecting the ATM gene were twice as likely to develop breast cancer compared with those with the lowest levels.
In some cases the changes were evident up to 11 years before a breast tumor was diagnosed.
Dr. James Flanagan, of Imperial College London, who led the new research, said: “We know that genetic variation contributes to a person’s risk of disease.
“With this new study we can now also say that epigenetic variation, or differences in how genes are modified, also has a role.
“We hope that this research is just the beginning of our understanding about the epigenetic component of breast cancer risk and in the coming years we hope to find many more examples of genes that contribute to a person’s risk.
“The challenge will be how to incorporate all of this new information into the computer models that are currently used for individual risk prediction.”
It is not yet clear why breast cancer risk might be linked to changes in a white blood cell gene.
But the team envisages that a blood test could be used in combination with other information about breast cancer risk, such as family history and the presence of other known breast cancer genes, to help identify those women at greatest risk of developing the disease in the future.
These women could then be closely monitored and offered pre-emptive treatment, such as surgery.
Researchers from Northwestern University, US, say bilingualism is a form of brain training – a mental “work out” that fine-tunes the mind.
Speaking two languages profoundly affects the brain and changes how the nervous system responds to sound, lab tests revealed.
Experts say the work in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides “biological” evidence of this.
For the study, the team monitored the brain responses of 48 healthy student volunteers – which included 23 who were bilingual – to different sounds.
They used scalp electrodes to trace the pattern of brainwaves.
Speaking two languages profoundly affects the brain and changes how the nervous system responds to sound, lab tests revealed
Under quiet, laboratory conditions, both groups – the bilingual and the English-only-speaking students – responded similarly.
But against a backdrop of noisy chatter, the bilingual group were far superior at processing sounds.
They were better able to tune in to the important information – the speaker’s voice – and block out other distracting noises – the background chatter.
And these differences were visible in the brain. The bilingualists’ brainstem responses were heightened.
Prof. Nina Kraus, who led the research, said: “The bilingual’s enhanced experience with sound results in an auditory system that is highly efficient, flexible and focused in its automatic sound processing, especially in challenging or novel listening conditions.”
Co-author Viorica Marian said: “People do crossword puzzles and other activities to keep their minds sharp. But the advantages we’ve discovered in dual language speakers come automatically simply from knowing and using two languages.
“It seems that the benefits of bilingualism are particularly powerful and broad, and include attention, inhibition and encoding of sound.”
Musicians appear to gain a similar benefit when rehearsing, say the researchers.
Past research has also suggested that being bilingual might help ward off dementia.
A new research has found that the number of babies born in the US showing symptoms of opiate withdrawal increased threefold in the 10 years up to 2009.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, said one in every 1,000 newborns was affected in 2009.
The number of pregnant women testing positive for illegal or legal opiates increased fivefold in the same period.
The report says abuse of prescription painkillers is partly to blame.
The study, the first of its kind in the US, was based on records from more than 4,000 hospitals across the country.
A new research has found that the number of babies born in the US showing symptoms of opiate withdrawal increased threefold in the 10 years up to 2009
It found that in 2009, about 13,500 babies were born with withdrawal symptoms – roughly one every hour.
Not all babies born to women who used opiates during pregnancy showed the symptoms, the report said.
But those that did were often born earlier and smaller, suffered seizures, restlessness, breathing problems or difficulty feeding and often required treatment with the opiate-replacement drug methadone to help wean them off their dependency.
“They appear uncomfortable, sometimes they breathe a little faster. They’re scratching their faces,” said Dr. Stephen Patrick of the University of Michigan, who worked on the study.
The babies were kept in hospital for an average of 16 days, compared to three for health babies.
As most were born to mothers who were entitled to financial help with their medical costs, the study said this was placing a serious burden on health budgets.
The researchers said many pregnant women were legitimately taking pain-relieving opiates on prescription, but warned that more must be done to find ways of protecting unborn babies from powerful drugs.
Dr. Stephen Patrick said the findings were “part of a bigger call to the fact that opiates are becoming a big problem in this country”.
An editorial in the journal accompanying the study said that while such opiate medications provide “superior pain control” they have been “overprescribed, diverted and sold illegally, creating a new opiate addiction pathway and a public health burden for maternal and child health”.
In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that painkiller abuse in the US had reached “epidemic proportions”.
It said overdoses of pain relievers cause more deaths than heroin and cocaine combined.
Bobby Brown has been widely derided by many fans being responsible for introducing Whitney Houston to the drugs which played a part in her untimely death.
Now, Bobby Brown has hit back at the claims in his first interview since the singer passed away back in February.
“I didn’t get high [on narcotics] before I met Whitney,” Bobby Brown tells The Today Show’s Matt Lauer.
“I smoked weed, I drank the beer, but no, I wasn’t the one that got Whitney on drugs at all.”
Bobby Brown, 43, says drugs were a part of Whitney Houston’s life “way way before” they got together.
Bobby Brown says he was not the one who got Whitney Houston addicted to drugs, in a new interview with Matt Lauer on The Today Show
Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown married in 1993 and had daughter Bobbi Kristina, now 19-years-old, before divorcing in 2007.
Bobby Brown adds: “It’s just unexplainable how one could, [say that I] got her addicted to drugs. I’m not the reason she’s gone.”
In the candid sit-down interview which will air in the U.S. this Wednesday, Bobby Brown, who says he is “very much clean and sober’ from narcotics,” tells host Matt Lauer that he was “hurt” when he heard the news of Whitney Houston’s death at just 48-years-old.
“I was hurt because me being off of narcotics for the last seven years, I felt that she was… I didn’t know she was struggling with it still,” says Bobby Brown, who looks studious in a pink sweater over a checked shirt.
“But at the same time, listen, it’s a hard fight. It’s a hard fight to maintain sobriety that way.”
Matt Lauer then presses home the media speculation to Bobby Brown, saying: “If I heard it once, I heard it a hundred times, and I know you heard it too. Fans, people who say they were close to Whitney, say her life went downhill when she met Bobby Brown. How does it make you feel when you hear it?”
“It makes me feel terrible,” Bobby Brown responds.
“But I know differently. I think if anyone ever knew us, if anybody ever spent time around us instead of time looking through the bubble, they would know how we felt about each other. They would know how happy we were together.”
Bobby Brown also recalls the last time he saw Whitney Houston – about a week before she died.
“She had this glow about her that was just incredible,” he says.
“I’m saying to myself, <<She must be doing really well>>, because she looked really well. She looked like she was in a good place.”
Whitney Houston was found dead in Beverly Hilton Hotel bathtub on February 11 from what authorities called accidental drowning brought on by cocaine use and heart disease. White powder and drug paraphernalia were found in the bathroom where she died.
The second part of Bobby Brown’s interview with Matt Lauer airs on Thursday on U.S. network NBC and features interviews with three of the singer’s children Landon, Bobby Jr., and La’Princia – and his fiancée, Alicia Etheridge.
It has not been smooth sailing for Bobby Brown since Whitney Houston’s death.
He turned up for Whitney Houston’s funeral in New Jersey but left before the service started saying he felt unwanted and disrespected.
And six weeks after Whitney Houston died, Bobby Brown was arrested and charged in Los Angeles with DUI and driving on a suspended license. Brown has pleaded not guilty.
Whitney Houston’s family is planning to encase her body in concrete to prevent the stealing of the $750,000 worth of jewellery the late singer is buried with.
At the moment Whitney Houston’s grave is under 24-hour guard at Fairview Cemetery in New Jersey but it is thought her mother Cissy Houston can’t afford to keep up the security.
Whitney Houston was buried with a diamond brooch and earrings next to the body of her father John Russell Houston Jr. – who died in 2003 – in February.
A close family source told the Daily Star newspaper: “Cissy can’t afford to keep paying guards forever. A concrete encasement is the only answer.”
Whitney Houston was buried with a diamond brooch and earrings next to the body of her father John Russell Houston Jr
A burial expert at Hollywood Forever, which houses the remains of a number of celebrities, believes encasing Whitney Houston in concrete is a “sensible move”.
They said: “It makes robbery virtually impossible. It would take a long time to get through, even with a pneumatic drill.”
Cissy Houston, 78, has also announced she wants to set the record straight about her daughter, who was found dead in a bath tub at the Beverly Hilton hotel in February aged 48.
Whitney Houston’s mother has vowed to write a book publishing both the “good” and “bad” times in the singer’s life.
She is quoted by the New York Times as saying: “I want to stop the lies, It’s going to be the bad. It’s going to be the good.”
Cissy Houston has met a number of New York publishers about the tome, and she could reach a seven-figure deal depending on what she reveals about Whitney Houston’s drug issues and previous marriage to Bobby Brown.
At least 103 people have died after a ferry capsized during a storm in north-eastern India, local police say.
The vessel was reported to be carrying at least 300 passengers on the Brahmaputra river in Assam state.
Reports say more than 100 people are missing, while dozens of others either were rescued or made it to safety.
Poor safety standards mean ferry accidents are common on the river but that this is one of the worst disasters in recent memory.
At least 103 people have died after a ferry capsized during a storm in north-eastern India
Police officials said it happened in the remote district of Dhubri during heavy winds and rain.
Dhubri is about 350 km (215 miles) west of Assam’s main city, Guwahati.
The vessel capsized and broke into two pieces during the storm, police said.
“I could see people being swept away as the river current was very strong,” a witness to the accident, Rahul Karmakar, told AFP news agency.
Assam state Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said emergency teams were in place but nightfall and bad weather were hampering rescue efforts.
The ferry carried no lifeboats or life jackets, and was overloaded with people and goods, with passengers sitting on the roof, according to a police officer quoted by the Reuters news agency.
In a statement, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was “shocked and grieved” by the incident.
Manmohan Singh has “given instructions for all possible assistance to the government of Assam in relief operations”, the statement added.
Boats are a common mode of transport in the area, which is dotted with small islands and villages along the banks of the river.
Many of the boats are overcrowded with poor or minimal safety features.
Robert F. Kennedy, JFK’s brother, was shot dead by two gunmen and not just “lone wolf” Sirhan Sirhan, claims Nina Rhodes-Hughes, a witness stood just metres away from the presidential candidate in a Los Angeles hotel.
Nina Rhodes-Hughes, of Vancouver, Canada, is convinced Sirhan Sirhan – sentenced to life imprisonment after the killing – was the not the only man firing shots that fateful 1968 day.
She told CNN: “What has to come out is that there was another shooter to my right. The truth has got to be told. No more cover-ups.”
Nina Rhodes-Hughes, now 78, claimed she had told FBI investigators she heard much more than eight shots, which was the maximum Sirhan Sirhan could have fired with his small-caliber handgun.
The former television actress, who was working as a volunteer fundraiser for RFK’s campaign at the time, also said some of the “12 to 14” shots came from a different location to where the convicted murderer was standing.
But the “official reporting” of the incident has left her frustrated after it was changed by the FBI, Nina Rhodes-Hughes claimed, to say that she only heard eight shots.
Nina Rhodes-Hughes added: “For me it’s hopeful and sad that it’s only coming out now instead of before – but at least now instead of never.
“I never said eight shots. I never, never said it. There were more than eight shots. There were at least 12, maybe 14. And I know there were because I heard the rhythm in my head.
“When they say only eight shots, the anger within me is so great that I practically – I get very emotional because it is so untrue. It is so untrue.”
She said she ran out of the pantry, where the shooting took place, yelling: “They’ve killed him! They’ve killed him! Oh, my God, he’s dead! They’ve killed him!”
“Now, the reason I said, <<they>> is because I knew there was more than one shooter involved. Although it was 44 years ago, I will swear thatthis is exactly what happened.
“I remember it like it was almost yesterday, because you don’t forget something like that when it totally changes your life forever.
“It took a great toll on me. For a while, even the backfiring of a car would send me into tears.”
Robert F. Kennedy was shot dead by two gunmen and not just “lone wolf” Sirhan Sirhan, claims Nina Rhodes-Hughes (left)
Sirhan Sirhan, now 68, is currently serving a life sentence at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California.
He was the only person arrested, tried and convicted for the murder of RFK, and never contested the case, during his 1969 trial, that he was the only gunman.
Initially handed the death sentence, it was reduced to a life sentence in 1972.
But Sirhan Sirhan is now trying to engineer his release on the grounds that he was not the only gunman and that it was not him that killed Robert F. Kennedy.
He is now awaiting a U.S. District Court ruling which could see him released, re-tried or granted a hearing.
The hearing would take place on the production of new evidence – including Nina Rhodes-Hughes’ eyewitness account.
Sirhan Sirhan’s lawyer William Pepper called the alleged FBI alteration of her story “deplorable” and “criminal” and said it “mirrors the experience of other witnesses”.
Other witnesses have also mentioned hearing more than eight shots, but these have only been detailed in Los Angeles Police Department summaries and not FBI reports.
These included Estelyn Duffy LaHive, who thought she heard 10 shots, and Booker Griffin who said there was “two quick shots, followed by a slight pause, and then another 10 to 12 additional shots”.
A recently uncovered tape recording at the Ambassador Hotel’s pantry by freelance journalist Stanislaw Pruszynski also suggests there were 13 shots on June 5.
Analysis has revealed five of the shots could have been fired from another direction to where Sirhan Sirhan’s weapon was positioned.
RFK’s autopsy report also revealed his body and clothing were struck from behind, at right rear, by four bullets fired at upward angles and at point-blank range.
But witnesses said Sirhan Sirhan fired somewhat downward, almost horizontally, from several feet in front.
Nina Rhodes-Hughes, whose witness account is now being reviewed by the federal judge, first met Robert F. Kennedy two-and-a-half years before his death at NBC-TV studios in Burbank, California.
In the make-up room being prepared for her role in Morning Star, Nina Rhodes-Hughes said she was “starstruck” when he entered. He was there to pre-record an interview.
Nina Rhodes-Hughes said: “I saw Robert Kennedy and everything else disappeared from view. There was an aura about him that was very captivating. He kind of pulled you in.
“His eyes were very deep set and they were very blue. And when you looked at him, you got very drawn in to him.”
Nina Rhodes-Hughes said it was at that point she decided to help RFK, who was then a Senator for New York, should he ever decide to run for the top job of President.
RFK, the most seriously wounded of the six people shot, was gunned down just moments after claiming victory in California’s Democratic primary election.
He died the next day, while the other victims survived.
Although Sirhan Sirhan’s lawyers are calling for his release, Nina Rhodes-Hughes, who was never called to testify at the trial, said he should remain in prison.
She said: “To me, he was absolutely there. I don’t feel he should be exonerated. There definitely was another shooter. The constant cover-ups, the constant lies – this has got to stop.”
Mariah Carey was eager to show off her figure after recently losing 70 pounds of baby weight, but her black and red spandex trousers looked eye-wateringly tight as she took to the stage at the Top of the Mountain Concert in Ischgl, Austria.
But Mariah Carey, 42, topped off the look with a cropped fur-trimmed jacket, black boots and fingerless gloves.
It’s not the first time she’s worn the two-tone ski pants – she was spotted in the same pair while in Aspen over Christmas.
Mariah Carey jetted to the city over the weekend after renewing her wedding vows to Nick Cannon on the top of the Eiffel Tower on Thursday.
Mariah Carey’s black and red spandex trousers looked eye-wateringly tight as she took to the stage at the Top of the Mountain Concert in Ischgl
The singer, who married the TV presenter in a surprise ceremony in the Bahamas four years ago, took to twitter to celebrate the “incredible night” in the French capital.
Mariah Carey wrote: “Tonight was an incredible night. I can’t express how amazing it was to renew our vows in Paris at the top of the Eiffel tower.
“Thank you so much to all the fans who came out as always and showed their love and support. I love you!”
Nick Cannon – who has recently battled ill health – recently admitted he continued to be amazed by his marriage to Mariah Carey, with who he now has nearly one-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe.
He said: “We get married every year; it’s our thing. I just have to keep doing it to make sure it’s real!”
Nick Cannon recently revealed the couple planned to celebrate their children turning one with a special celebration outside of the US.
He said: “It’s up in the air right now but it’s probably not going to be in the States. We are going to take it overseas.”
When a party at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France was suggested, Nick Cannon appeared to hint the speculation was right, smiling as he said: “You’re good. You’re good.”
Spain’s Duchess of Alba and her younger husband Alfonso Diez were still very much enjoying married life six months after their wedding as they stepped out for a lunch date in Paris.
Duchess of Alba, 85, held hands with Alfonso Diez, 61,as they strolled the streets of the French capital.
Dressed head to toe in several different shades of blue – which included a hairpiece, shoes, dress and stockings – the eccentric billionairess clung to her husband’s arm as they browsed a book shop.
The couple married in a flamboyant ceremony last October; the bride, an eccentric billionaire with more titles than Queen Elizabeth II while her groom was a mere civil servant young enough to be her son.
Duchess of Alba held hands with Alfonso Diez as they strolled the streets of the French capital
But despite the objections of her six children – and plenty of public controversy – Spain’s Duchess of Alba wed Alfonso Diez at her 15th century palace in Seville.
The famously flamboyant Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart wore a delicate pale pink gown designed by Victorio y Lucchino for her third marriage, which took place in front of 38 guests.
Well-wishers donned fancy dress and wigs in an attempt to copy her quirky style as they celebrated in the city’s streets.
The twice-widowed Duchess’s children feared Alfonso Diez was a gold-digger – so he has relinquished his rights to her $5 billion fortune in an effort to appease them.
Duchess of Alba, who is a distant relative of Winston Churchill and Princess Diana, went ahead with the marriage despite her children’s qualms.
It emerged in August that she has divided her fortune between her six children to convince them that her suitor is besotted with her rather than her money.
Known now for her frizzy white hair, squeaky voice and wildly colorful clothes, the duchess is among Spain’s most famous people.
Last year, Duchess of Alba was at the centre of a sex scandal when Spanish magazine Interviu published a 30-year-old picture on its front cover of the duchess sunbathing topless in Ibiza.
Duchess of Alba and Alfonso Diez, a social security administration employee, are old acquaintances through her second husband, who was a former priest, and Diez’s brother.
They bumped into each other about three years ago outside a cinema in Madrid and eventually started dating.
Khloe Kardashian and her husband Lamar Odom have decided not to continue with their reality series, so that he can concentrate on his basketball career, it has been claimed.
According to TMZ.com, the married couple are pulling the plug on their show, which currently airs on E!, and will significantly limit their time on the main family programme Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
TMZ also reports that Lamar Odom is keen to revive his playing career, after he was put on the Dallas Mavericks “inactive list” following a less than successful season.
Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom have decided not to continue with their reality series, so that he can concentrate on his basketball career
Lamar Odom, 32, released a statement earlier this month when the news was announced, which read: “The Mavericks and I have mutually agreed that it’s in the best interest of both parties for me to step away from the team.
“I’m sorry that things didn’t work out better for both of us, but I wish the Mavs’ organization, my team mates and Dallas fans nothing but continued success in the defense of their championship.”
Lamar Odom, who now lives in Los Angeles full-time with Khloe Kardashian, has hired a trainer in a bid to improve his skills on the court.
It is believed Lamar Odom is hoping to be traded from the Mavericks once the basketball season draws to a close.
Khloe & Lamar, which airs in America on Sunday nights, has proved a more than successful spin-off of the main Kardashian vehicle.
It followed in the footsteps of the family’s other spin-offs, including Kourtney & Kim Take New York, and Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami, as well as Kim’s Fairytale Wedding – which followed the most famous Kardashian as she prepared to wed her now estranged husband Kris Humphries.
It was reported earlier this month that the Kardashian family had signed a $40 million three-year contract with E!, with sisters Kim, Kourtney and Khloe, as well as parents Kris and Bruce Jenner, all earning equal pay.
The seventh season begins airing in the States on May 20.
President Nicolas Sarkozy is to file a complaint against Mediapart website that claimed Libya’s Col. Muammar Gaddafi had offered to fund his 2007 election campaign.
On May 6, Nicolas Sarkozy faces Socialist Francois Hollande in the second round of the presidential election.
The Mediapart site has published a 2006 document signed by former head of Libyan intelligence Moussa Koussa proposing up to 50 million Euros in funding.
Nicolas Sarkozy called it a “crude forgery” and Moussa Koussa said it was a fake.
“Do you think that with all that I’d done to Mr. Gaddafi, he’d have made me a bank transfer? Why not a signed cheque?” he told France 2 TV on Monday.
The allegation that Muammar Gaddafi had offered illegal funding for Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 election campaign first surfaced in March 2011 when the late Libyan leader’s son, Saif al-Islam, said he was ready to reveal all the details.
Nicolas Sarkozy is to file a complaint against Mediapart website that claimed Muammar Gaddafi had offered to fund his 2007 election campaign
At the time, France was spearheading NATO-led efforts to impose a no-fly zone aimed at halting the advance of pro-Gaddafi forces against Libyan rebels.
But this is the first document linked to the allegation, supposedly signed by Moussa Koussa and addressed to the head of Col. Gaddafi’s chief of staff at the time, Bashir Saleh, who ran Libya’s sovereign wealth fund.
Bashir Saleh said in a statement from his lawyers that the “politically intentioned” allegations were “completely unfounded”.
Speaking on French TV, Nicolas Sarkozy linked the publication of the document clearly to Sunday’s election run-off with Francois Hollande and promised to file a complaint by the end of the campaign.
“The election campaign doesn’t justify everything,” he complained.
“There’s a section of the press, of the media, and notably the site in question whose name I refuse to mention, that is prepared to fake documents. Shame on those who have exploited them!”
Responding to Nicolas Sarkozy’s threat to take legal action, Mediapart said that the outgoing president was “decidedly opposed to media independence and shows it by his reaction to our latest revelations on the Libyan secrets”.
The website added that those in power preferred to insult journalists whose information upset them rather than respond to the questions they posed.
Francois Hollande, who is currently eight points ahead in the latest opinion poll, told Europe 1 radio that it was for the judicial system to take up the matter.
“If it’s a fake, well then the website will be condemned,” he said.
“And if it’s not a fake, then at that point there would be some explaining to do.”
The Socialist candidate is himself facing an awkward political moment with the apparent re-emergence of former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, once a favorite for the party’s presidential nomination.
DSK, who is under formal investigation for alleged involvement in a vice-ring, was invited to a Socialist MP’s party on Saturday to which several figures in the party’s presidential campaign were also attending. Francois Hollande later emphasized that DSK “no longer has a role in political life” and was not part of the campaign.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn has denied giving an interview published by the British newspaper, the Guardian, in which he is said to have suggested that his arrest in New York last year on charges of sexual assault was manipulated by President Nicolas Sarkozy for political purposes.
A spokesman said the words were a montage from a forthcoming book by New York journalist Edward Jay Epstein.
Warner Bros. have launched a new eBook range called Inside The Script, which includes classic hits Ben Hur and Casablanca.
Available in the iBookstore for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, and for the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook, the Inside The Script titles take classic movie scripts and expand them for the digital age.
Other movies in the Inside the Script series will include An American in Paris and North by Northwest.
The e-books include items such as the shooting script, production notes, storyboards and on-set photographs.
Warner Bros. have launched a new eBook range called Inside The Script, which includes classic hits Ben Hur and Casablanca
“Now we can give fans rarely seen details of how these stories came together,” said Thomas Gewecke, Warner Bros. president of digital distribution.
The Ben Hur e-book includes excerpts from Charlton Heston’s performance and shooting journals from the film sets.
An American in Paris features a reproduction of the tickets to the film’s Hollywood premiere from MGM make-up artist John Truwe.
Casablanca includes a telegram from producer Hal Wallis relating to his row with studio mogul Jack Warner, who beat Wallis to the stage to accept the film’s Oscar for best picture in 1944.
And Hitchcock’s North by Northwest includes costume sketches and composer Bernard Herrmann’s music notes.
German media reports that pressure is mounting on the government to boycott Euro 2012 matches in Ukraine this summer because of alleged mistreatment of the jailed former PM and opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is considering such a boycott, the German news website Der Spiegel reports.
Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen said the government should stay away from Ukraine during the tournament. Ukraine is co-hosting Euro 2012 with Poland.
Yulia Tymoshenko says she is very ill.
She is reported to be on hunger strike and on Friday images appeared showing bruises on her body, which she says prison guards inflicted. She is being held in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine.
An official in the Ukraine Prosecutor’s Office, Vadim Goran, denied her allegation, saying the bruises came from “pushing against blunt, hard objects, or banging into them” and “in no way resulted from a punch to the stomach as she says”.
Germany warns to boycott Euro 2012 matches in Ukraine because of alleged mistreatment of the jailed Yulia Tymoshenko
After seeing the photos Sweden’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador and demanded an explanation.
Yulia Tymoshenko, key rival of Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych, is serving a seven-year jail sentence for abuse of office and faces another trial on tax evasion charges.
The new trial has been delayed until late May because she is refusing to attend on health grounds. Yulia Tymoshenko accuses Viktor Yanukovych of exacting political revenge on her.
The authorities have denied her request to be treated abroad. She is said to have been suffering months of back pain and is reported to have been diagnosed with a herniated spinal disc.
Norbert Roettgen, quoted by Germany’s Bild newspaper, said the Ukrainian “dictatorship” must not be allowed to exploit Euro 2012 for its own benefit.
“That’s why I think visits by ministers and prime ministers to Euro 2012 are out of the question in current circumstances,” he said.
The German team will play the Netherlands in Kharkiv on 13 June. The tournament runs from 8 June to 1 July.
Germany’s Social Democrat opposition leader Sigmar Gabriel also called for a boycott.
On Thursday, Germany’s President Joachim Gauck called off his visit to a summit in the Ukrainian resort of Yalta next month. Czech President Vaclav Klaus has also cancelled his visit to Yalta for the central European leaders’ summit.
And on Friday the EU Justice Commissioner, Viviane Reding, said she would boycott Ukraine’s opening ceremony because “you cannot close your eyes on human rights, even during a great sporting celebration”.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry says it hopes the reports about Germany considering a boycott are just “a press canard”.
“We would not like to think that the political leaders of Germany are capable of reviving the methods of the Cold War and making sport a hostage of politics,” ministry spokesman Oleg Voloshin said.
In another blow to Ukraine’s image abroad the eastern city of Dnipropetrovsk – not one of the Euro 2012 venues – suffered four bomb blasts on Friday, which injured 27 people.
The authorities believe the attack – described as “terrorism” – was linked to a similar bomb blast in the city last November, in which the device was also placed in a rubbish bin.
Police have released photofit images of three suspects wanted in connection with Friday’s attack.
Fourteen victims remain in hospital in the city, two in a serious condition, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reports.
At least three people have died during a yacht race in Newport, US, weeks after another fatal accident off California.
US Coast Guard boats are looking for a fourth crew member from the yacht Aegean.
Race organizers the Newport Sailing Association said the wreckage indicated the yacht collided with a ship much larger than the 37-foot vessel.
On Thursday the Coast Guard suspended yacht racing around San Francisco after a fatal accident earlier this month.
Five people died when powerful waves threw their yacht onto a rocky island. Three others survived the accident.
The Coast Guard said the suspension was to see whether changes were needed to improve race safety rules.
Race officials said the Aegean disappeared from their tracking system early on Saturday a few miles off the coast near the border between the US and Mexico, an area close to where the race route crossed shipping lanes.
At least three people have died during a yacht race in Newport, weeks after another fatal accident off California
Two of the dead have been identified as William Reed Johnson from California and Joseph Lester Stewart from Florida. The identity of the others on board has not been released.
Eric Lamb, one of those involved in the search of the wreckage, said small pieces of debris from the boat were scattered over a wide area.
“We have pulled a lot of boats off the rocks over the years and boats that hit the rocks, they don’t look like that. This was almost like it had gone through a blender,” he told Associated Press.
Other sailors point out that it is possible for a large ship to hit a yacht without the crew being aware of the smaller craft.
The coastguard said there was good visibility and moderate ocean swells at the time. An official at the sailing club organizing the race suggested that in light winds the yacht may not have been able to get out of the way of the larger vessel.
Other participants in the race said they saw a tanker or heard warnings on their radios.
“This has never happened in the entire 65 years of the race that I’m aware of,” the commodore of the Newport Sailing Association Chuck Iverson told the Associated Press news agency. “We’re all shocked by this whole event.”
The 125-mile (202 km) race began at Newport on Friday, with boats arriving in Ensenada on Sunday.
In March two sailors were injured off the North California coast in a round-the-world race when a huge wave overwhelmed their boat.
Sportswear giant Adidas has reported “commercial irregularities” at its Reebok unit in India that could cost the firm up to 125 million Euros ($165 million).
Adidas said it is carrying out an internal investigation. “We will take further steps” when that process has been completed, a spokeswoman said.
The firm said the irregularities resulted in a change of leadership at its India business in March this year.
Two top executives at the Adidas Group in India left the company in March.
At the time the executives left, the Times of India said it had learned that the departures were linked to “swirling allegations of financial discrepancies and losses” at Reebok in India.
Adidas has reported "commercial irregularities" at its Reebok unit in India that could cost the firm up to 125 million Euros
While the company did not provide more information about the investigation into its Reebok business in India, it highlighted that there has been a management overhaul.
In the statement accompanying its first-quarter results, Adidas said: “Management assures its stakeholders that it has, and will continue to, vigorously pursue a course of action to protect the group’s interests, which has already resulted in the appointment of a new local leadership team in India at the end of March.”
“Under this new leadership team, management is further planning an accelerated restructuring of its business activities in India, including significant changes to its commercial business practices.”
“This could lead to additional one-time charges in the remaining quarters of 2012 in an estimated amount of up to 70 million Euros.”
At the same time, the firm said first-quarter net income increased.
Adidas’ profit was 289 million Euros in the quarter, up 38% from the previous year, and it also raised its annual sales target. It now expects sales to rise 10% this year.
British charity Macmillan Cancer Support is warning that not enough women are using sun cream as over 2,500 people die of skin cancer every year.
It said a survey had shown that nearly one in four planned not to use sun tan lotion when going on holiday later this year.
The charity said it found some people’s attitudes to being sunburnt “very concerning”.
The British Association of Dermatologists has also raised concerns that too many people are getting burnt.
The Macmillan poll of 1,500 women showed that 22% did not wear sun cream when on holiday in a hot country.
British charity Macmillan Cancer Support is warning that not enough women are using sun cream as over 2,500 people die of skin cancer every year
The charity said: “Of those who said they never wear sun tan lotion, when asked why, 24% say they don’t sun burn, 14% think sun tan lotion is too expensive and 12% believe it doesn’t work.”
Carol Goodman, a Macmillan nurse, said: “As people are preparing to go abroad for their annual holiday, it is very concerning that nearly a quarter of British women are putting themselves at risk of skin cancer by not wearing any sun tan lotion abroad.
“Over two and a half thousand people die of skin cancer every year and so it is a real issue.”
Figures from the British Association of Dermatologists showed 92% of people had been sunburnt at least once. One in three had been burnt more than ten times.
Stephen Jones, the president of the Association, said that everyone’s skin was different.
“Not everyone’s skin offers the same level of protection in the sun, which is why it’s really important to get to know your own risk level – for example, people with pale skin who burn easily or those with a close family history of skin cancer are at greater risk of sun damage and need to take extra steps to protect themselves.”
Barack Obama has already held more re-election fundraising events than every elected president since Richard Nixon combined, according to figures to be published in The Rise of the President’s Permanent Campaign by Brendan J. Doherty.
Barack Obama is also the only president in the past 35 years to visit every electoral battleground state in his first year of office.
The figures, contained in The Rise of the President’s Permanent Campaign, due to be published by University Press of Kansas in July, give statistical backing to the notion that Barack Obama is more preoccupied with being re-elected than any other commander-in-chief of modern times.
Brendan J. Doherty, who has compiled statistics about presidential travel and fundraising going back to President Jimmy Carter in 1977, found that Barack Obama had held 104 fundraisers by March 6th this year, compared to 94 held by Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., Bill Clinton and George W. Bush combined.
Since then, Barack Obama has held another 20 fundraisers, bringing his total to 124. Jimmy Carter held four re-election fundraisers in the 1980 campaign, Reagan zero in 1984, George Bush Sr. 19 in 1992, Bill Clinton 14 in 1996 and George Bush Jr. 57 in 2004.
Brendan J. Doherty, a political science professor at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, has also analyzed presidential travel to battleground or swing states, which change and fluctuate in number with each election cycle.
In their first years in office, Jimmy Carter visited eight out of 18 battleground states and Ronald Reagan seven out of 17. Bush Sr., Clinton and Bush Jr. all visited around three-quarters of battleground states while Barack Obama went to all 15 within his first 12 months.
While the Obama’s campaign activities in office have been largely in line with historical trends, he is especially vulnerable to criticism because in 2008 he promised to change how politics works and to curb links with special interests.
Vowing in 2008 to “launch the most sweeping ethics reform in US history” Barack Obama said that if elected he would “make government more open, more accountable and more responsive to the problems of the American people”.
Barack Obama has already held more re-election fundraising events than every elected president since Richard Nixon combined
In his State of the Union speech in January, Barack Obama bemoaned the “corrosive influence of money in politics”. The following month, he reversed course and announced he was allowing cabinet members and top advisors to speak at big money events for so-called super PACs – unaccountable outside groups raising money for his re-election.
During the 2008 election, Barack Obama abandoned a pledge to opt for public funding of his campaign, instead opting to raise an unlimited amount privately. He then raised and spent approximately $730 million, almost double the campaign funds of Senator John McCain, his Republican opponent.
Up to the end of March, Barack Obama had raised $191.6 million for his re-election bid, compared to $86.6 million raised by his Republican challenger Mitt Romney. His frenetic fundraising activities are in part because he is lagging behind campaign expectations. Early last year, some advisers spoke privately of raising $1 billion.
In his book, Brendan J. Doherty writes that in his first full month in office Barack Obama visited Indiana, Florida, Colorado, Arizona and North Carolina – all battleground states – in 2012.
“Clearly, the White House made a point of the president travelling to key electoral states early in his term in office.”
This week, the Republican National Committee (RNC) lodged a formal complaint with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) about alleged misuse of taxpayer money by Barack Obama.
The Obama campaign dismissed the complaint as a “stunt” and the White House said that it would follow the same rules as previous administrations and refund the appropriate amounts.
In the complaint, Reince Priebus, RNC chairman, wrote: “Throughout his administration, but particularly in recent weeks, President Obama has been passing off campaign travel as <<official events>>, thereby allowing taxpayers, rather than his campaign, to pay for his re-election efforts.”
Brendan J. Doherty, however, said that although the tactic of labeling Barack Obama’s activities as fraud was “novel” in reality the opposing party always complained about a president facing re-election dressing up political events as official ones.
“This is not new. The Republican complaint is more of a situational complaint than a principled complaint because they certainly weren’t complaining when George W. Bush did this eight years ago.”
He added: “In 2004, President George W. Bush broke all records for presidential fundraising in terms of time devoted to fundraising and in terms of money raised and at the time Democrats hit him hard for that.
“Obama has already surpassed Bush [Jr.] in numbers of re-election fundraisers, but not yet in money raised.”
The rising costs of campaigns, lower contribution limits, the breakdown of the public financing system, the 24/7 media environment and the professionalization of campaigns had all led to successive presidents having to devote more and more time and energy to raising money.
He added that the “big picture” was incumbent presidents fearing defeat.
“Until 1976 [when Jimmy Carter beat President Gerald Ford] no sitting president had been defeated for re-election since 1932. It had been 44 years.
“And then three of the next four presidents who tried [Ford, Carter and Bush Sr.] lost. Of all the presidents re-elected since Ford lost to Carter, only Reagan has won in a landslide. George W. Bush’s re-election [in 2004] was close, Clinton got less than 50 percent [in 1996]. There is a very keen sense among presidents that they really might lose.”
Kirsten Kukowski, an RNC spokesperson, said: “It’s no surprise that the Campaigner-In-Chief has taken raising money for his re-election to a whole new level. The worst part is the American taxpayer has been footing the bill.”
The Obama campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Dating comedy Think Like a Man is still on top at the North American box office after taking $18 million between Friday and Sunday.
Chris Brown stars in the film, based on Steve Harvey’s dating advice book.
But Think Like a Man is likely to be swept aside by The Avengers when it opens in the US on Friday.
The super-hero blockbuster has already been released in 39 countries and has made $178 million in international ticket sales so far.
Second place in this weekend’s US and Canadian chart was taken by Aardman animation The Pirates! Band of Misfits which, according to studio estimates, plundered $11.4 million in its opening weekend.
The nautical comedy sees Hugh Grant provide the voice for an inept buccaneer.
Dating comedy Think Like a Man is still on top at the North American box office after taking $18 million between Friday and Sunday
Zac Efron’s romantic drama The Lucky One fell one place to three, having made $11.3 million in its second weekend on release.
With The Hunger Games at four, it was left to romantic comedy The Five-Year Engagement to round out this week’s top five.
According to Paul Dergarabedian of box office tracker Hollywood.com, “going to the movies… clearly was not the number one priority this weekend”.
“There’s so much anticipation for The Avengers that the newcomers kind of got lost in the shuffle.”
Those newcomers included Jason Statham action thriller Safe and John Cusack’s The Raven, a horror mystery inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe.
Safe was ranked sixth in the chart with $7.7 million, while The Raven claimed seventh place with $7.3 million.
The film features an ensemble of Marvel comic book characters including Captain America, the Incredible Hulk and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man.
British researchers at the Cancer Research UK say aggressive pancreatic tumors may be treatable with a new class of drugs.
Less than one in five people with this form of cancer are still alive a year after being diagnosed.
A study, published in the journal Nature, showed that a gene was being switched off in the cancerous cells.
The researchers said drugs were already being tested which had the potential to turn the gene back on, to stop the spread of the cancer.
Around 7,800 people in the UK are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer every year and it is the fifth most deadly cancer.
British researchers at the Cancer Research UK say aggressive pancreatic tumors may be treatable with a new class of drugs
Studies in mice showed that a gene called USP9x, which normally stops a cell from dividing uncontrollably, is switched off in some pancreatic cancer cells.
The gene is not mutated, but other proteins and chemicals become stuck to it and turn the gene off.
Studies then showed that UPS9x was being turned off in human pancreatic cancer.
Prof. David Tuveson, from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute, said: “We suspected that the fault wasn’t in the genetic code at all, but in the chemical tags on the surface of the DNA that switch genes on and off, and by running more lab tests we were able to confirm this.
“Drugs which strip away these tags are already showing promise in lung cancer and this study suggests they could also be effective.”
Dr. David Adams, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said: “This study strengthens our emerging understanding that we must also look into the biology of cells to identify all the genes that play a role in cancer.”
They argue that up to 15% of pancreatic cancers could be down the turning this one gene off.
Dr. Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK’s senior science information manager, said: “These results raise the possibility that a class of promising new cancer drugs may be effective at treating some pancreatic cancers.”
Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, Bahrain’s jailed opposition activist, is to have his case retried, an appeal court has ruled.
The retrial will take place in a civil court. A military court sentenced Abdulhadi al-Khawaja to life in prison for plotting against the state last June.
Abdulhadi al-Khawaja began a hunger strike some three months ago. His case has become a rallying point for other activists.
Twenty other activists will also face retrials, the court ruled.
Seven of them have been tried in absentia.
“The court is [ordering] that the trial take place again and that testimony from prosecution and defense witnesses be heard once more as if it is a new trial,” the official news agency BNA was quoted as saying.
Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, Bahrain's jailed opposition activist, is to have his case retried, an appeal court has ruled
A crowd of opposition supporters chanted outside the courthouse in the capital Manama after the verdict was announced.
This is only a limited victory for Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and his team, our correspondent says.
It means the ruling by the military court has been thrown out – but he will remain in custody while his case is reviewed.
“I think it is ridiculous, what sort of legal process is this?” said Abdulhadi al-Khawaja’s wife Khadija al-Moussawi.
“They are playing for time, and should have transferred his case to a civilian court at the first hearing not the third.”
“Just let them go. The government commissioned the Bassiouni report and that declared that they were prisoners of conscience,” she said, referring to an independent inquiry into events in 2011 that delivered a searing indictment of the government, including its treatment of Khawaja.
“They must be freed.”
Abdulhadi al-Khawaja has dual nationality with Denmark, and the Danish ambassador criticized the decision to keep him in custody and renewed his call for Khawaja to be transferred to Denmark on humanitarian grounds.
Abdulhadi al-Khawaja remains in hospital in a serious condition, having lost 25% of his bodyweight during his campaign.
“I saw him on Sunday,” Khadija Moussawi said.
“He is very weak. He had been restrained and force-fed through a tube for five days, but agreed to be fed by IV. He will decide today, what course to take. “
The hospital denies Abdulhadi al-Khawaja has been force-fed, saying he gave written permission to be fed via a naso-gastric tube.
Clive Palmer, an Australian mining billionaire, has commissioned a Chinese state-owned company to build a 21st Century version of the Titanic.
Clive Palmer told Australian media that construction will start at the end of next year.
It would be ready to set sail in 2016.
The plan, Clive Palmer added, is for the vessel to be as similar as possible to the original Titanic in design and specifications, but with modern technology.
Clive Palmer told Australian media that he had signed a memorandum of understanding with CSC Jinling Shipyard to construct the ship.
“It will be every bit as luxurious as the original Titanic but of course it will have state-of-the-art 21st Century technology and the latest navigation and safety systems,” he said in a statement.
The announcement comes just weeks after the centenary of the sinking of the ill-fated Titanic.
The vessel, the largest luxury ship in its time, struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. It went down on 15 April 1912, leaving more than 1,500 people dead.
Australian Clive Palmer has commissioned a Chinese state-owned company to build a 21st Century version of the Titanic
“Of course it will sink if you put a hole in it,” Clive Palmer said in response to questions from reporters on whether the Titanic replica would sink.
The new vessel is scheduled to sail from London to New York in late 2016, if all goes as planned.
“It is going to be designed so it won’t sink,” he added.
”But, of course, if you are superstitious like you are, you never know what could happen.”
The cost of the construction is not known, a spokesman for Clive Palmer told Australian media.
The mining magnate from Queensland, who has strong business relations with China, has expanded into tourism. He owns a luxury resort on the Sunshine Coast and has plans to build a fleet of luxury liners.
His plan to build the Titanic replica was announced on the same day that he revealed plans, in a separate news conference, to contest the next federal election in Queensland.
Clive Palmer told reporters that he has expressed interest in standing for Queensland’s Liberal National Party (LNP), part of the conservative opposition at federal level, in the Brisbane seat of Lilley – currently held by Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan.
Filmmaker Peter Jackson says he is unsurprised by the mixed reaction to footage from his long-anticipated film The Hobbit presented at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas earlier this week.
“It wasn’t particularly surprising because it is something new,” Peter Jackson told the Hollywood Reporter.
He added: “Ultimately, it is different in a positive way, especially for 3D, especially for epic films.”
The 3D film has been shot at a rate of 48 frames per second, compared with the industry standard of 24 frames.
Peter Jackson says he is unsurprised by the mixed reaction to footage from his long-anticipated film The Hobbit presented at the CinemaCon
The 10 minutes of unfinished footage was criticized as uncinematic – with some detractors claiming it “looked like a made-for-TV movie”.
“It does take you a while to get used to,” admitted Peter Jackson.
“Ten minutes is sort of marginal, it probably needed a little bit more.
“Another thing that I think is a factor is it’s different to look at a bunch of clips – and some were fast-cutting, montage-style clips. This is a different experience than watching a character and story unfold.”
Peter Jackson told the Hollywood Reporter that he had no plans to shoot a trailer for the film using the same 48-frame-per-second technique.
“The 48 frames is something you should experience with the entire film. A two-and-a-half minute trailer isn’t enough time to adjust to the immersive quality.”
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first chapter in Peter Jackson’s two-part adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s fantasy classic.
The two films were shot back-to-back in 3D, with the second part, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, due in cinemas in December 2013.
Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson believes the new filming format will take time for viewers to adjust to.
But added: “As another creative tool, I think it’s is a really important thing.
“Advocating that we have to stick with what we know, I think is a slightly narrow-minded way of looking at things when as an industry we are facing declining audiences.
“We have to find ways to make it more vibrant, more immersive – something that will encourage people to come back to the theatres for that experience.”
Libya’s former General Secretary of the General People’s Committee of Libya (prime minister) and Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem has been found dead in the Danube River, Austrian police say.
A spokesman said there were no signs of violence to Sukri Ghanem’s body, which was in the river that flows through Vienna.
Shukri Ghanem, 69, worked as a consultant for a Vienna-based company. He apparently left his home early on Sunday, police said.
The former prime minister defected from Libya as the country was engulfed in the uprising against Col. Muammar Gaddafi last year.
At the time, Shukri Ghanem criticized the bloodshed in Libya, saying that the situation had become “unbearable”, making his position untenable.
He served as Libyan prime minister from 2003 to 2006 and then as oil minister until 2011.
Shukri Ghanem, muammar gaddafi, danube river, oil minister, lybia,
A passer-by reported seeing the body under a bridge near a popular recreation ground in Vienna.
Police spokesman Roman Hahslinger said Shukri Ghanem was dressed when he was found but had no personal identification documents on him, with the exception of one naming the company he was working for. An employee of the company had identified him, the spokesman said.
Roman Hahslinger said that “it is possible that he felt unwell and fell into the water”. A post-mortem examination has been ordered for the coming days.
Shukri Ghanem is understood to have been in Europe since his defection last June, and to have had family in Vienna.
His connection to the city dates back to the time he used to attend meetings of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) representing his country.
The Libyan uprising ended in October last year with the killing of Col. Muammar Gaddafi.
In June Libya will hold elections to a constituent assembly, whose first task will be to draw up a constitution.
