Rupesh Paul has revealed he is making a movie about missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
Speaking at this year’s Cannes film festival, the Indian film director told the Hollywood Reporter the drama – titled TheVanishing Act – “will not affect any passengers’ families”.
The search is continuing for the Boeing 777 plane, which disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.
Rupesh Paul’s movie about missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, The Vanishing Act, has been promoted at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (photo YouTube)
The film is expected to be ready for an autumn release date. Rupesh Paul insisted he was not exploiting the ongoing search.
“The controversy will help indirectly, but we are not cashing in on the flight,” he said.
Rupesh Paul added there had been a lot of interest in the film, particularly from Asian markets.
The director is in Cannes to promote several of his films.
Rupesh Paul wrote the screenplay in 20 days based on a Malaysian journalist’s theory about what happened.
The journalist is one of the film’s investors and wants to remain anonymous for now.
Cannes Film Festival president Gilles Jacob has played down a backlash in Iran after he kissed Iranian actress Leila Hatami on the cheek.
Leila Hatami is one of five women members on the Palme d’Or prize jury, which includes actress Carole Bouquet and directors Sofia Coppola and jury president Jane Campion.
Gilles Jacob said it was “a usual custom in the West” after Iranian media claimed it was an affront to the “chastity” of women in Iran.
“I kissed Mrs. Hatami on the cheek,” Gilles Jacob tweeted.
Cannes Film Festival president Gilles Jacob has played down a backlash in Iran after he kissed Iranian actress Leila Hatami on the cheek (photo Canal+)
“At that moment, for me she represented all Iranian cinema, then she became herself again.”
“The controversy over a usual custom in the West has therefore no reason to be,” he added.
However, Iranian deputy minister of culture, Hoseyn Nushabadi, said that Leila Hatami’s appearance in Cannes was “in violation of religious beliefs”.
Born into a family with a film background, Leila Hatami gained worldwide recognition for her role in Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation, which won the 2012 Academy Award for best foreign language film.
Leila Hatami still lives in Iran with her husband, actor Ali Mosaffa.
The conservative Young Journalists’ Club, operated by Iran’s state broadcaster, wrote that “extending her [Leila Hatami’s] hand to Jacob was unconventional and improper behavior”.
Leila Hatami was wearing a scarf around her head but her neck was uncovered. Both her dress and the kiss are unacceptable in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Tulisa Contostavlos hit celebrity blogger Savvas Morgan in the eye during last year’s V Festival, a court has heard.
Savvas Morgan (Vas J Morgan) said his eye swelled after the alleged altercation on August 18, 2013.
Former X-Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos, 25, denied assault by beating at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court in Essex.
Tulisa Contostavlos hit celebrity blogger Savvas Morgan in the eye during last year’s V Festival
The former N-Dubz singer’s assistant Gareth Varey, 28, is also accused of threatening behavior, which he denied.
The court heard they were in a VIP area of the festival at its Chelmsford site when the alleged assault took place.
Prosecutor Matthew McNiff said Tulisa Contostavlos accused Savvas Morgan of stalking her and swore at him.
He added: “She saw the opportunity to hit him and hit him in the eye.”
The court also heard from Savvas Morgan, who said Tulisa Contostavlos, of Friern Barnet, north London, raised her fist in the air and was swinging her arms.
He said: “Everyone was jumping around trying to get at me, there was a lot going on.”
Tulisa Contostavlos’s arms were closest to him, the court was told.
The blogger was escorted away by security following the alleged attack.
Savvas Morgan said he was told by a guard: “There’s one of you and 15 of them and we don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Godfather cinematographer Gordon Willis has died at the age of 82.
Gordon Willis received an honorary lifetime achievement Oscar in 2010 and was nominated for his work on Woody Allen’s Zelig and The Godfather: Part III.
Gordon Willis received an honorary lifetime achievement Oscar in 2010 and was nominated for his work on Woody Allen’s Zelig and The Godfather: Part III
He was known in the industry as “the prince of darkness”, due to his unique lighting technique which created lots of shadows.
Gordon Willis was renowned for his striking imagery in films such as Woody Allen’s Manhattan – he made eight films with Allen – and All the President’s Men.
He was also the cinematographer on Alan J. Pakula’s Klute, for which Jane Fonda won her first Oscar.
Gordon Willis worked on several other Alan J. Pakula thrillers including The Devil’s Own, his final film in 1997, which was also Pakula’s last directorial outing.
Deutsche Bank is planning to raise 8 billion euros ($11 billion) of capital.
The German bank has sold a stake worth 1.75 billion euros to an investment company controlled by a member of the Qatari royal family.
It will raise a further 6.3 billion euros through a rights offer to existing shareholders, the bank said.
Deutsche Bank is planning to raise $11 billion of capital
Authorities across Europe are demanding lenders hold more capital to absorb potential losses and make banks less likely to fail.
Deutsche Bank has been to shareholders twice before in recent years, raising 10.2 billion euros in 2010 and 3 billion euros in 2013.
Those increases in capital were not seen by investors as enough amid stiffer demands from regulators.
The 1.75 billion euro-stake was sold to Paramount Holdings Services, an investment vehicle owned by Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al-Thani of Qatar.
“These measures enable Deutsche Bank to position itself for long-term, sustainable success in a time of historic change in the global banking industry,” Deutsche Bank’s chief executives, Juergen Fitschen and Anshu Jain, said.
Last month, Anshu Jain said the bank “would not rule out any option” to strengthen its capital base.
Deutsche Bank said it would hire bankers in the US, invest 200 million euros in Germany and Europe, hire up to 100 advisers to help its biggest corporate clients and expand its wealth management team in some markets by 15% in the next three years.
Five Chinese army officers have been charged in US with hacking into private-sector American companies in a bid for competitive advantage, in the first cyber-espionage case of its kind.
Attorney General Eric Holder said the alleged breaches were “significant” and demanded “an aggressive response”.
US prosecutors say the Chinese officers stole trade secrets and internal documents from five companies and a labor union.
China denied the charges and warned the case would harm US-China relations.
Eric Holder said a grand jury had laid hacking charges against the Chinese nationals, the first against “known state actors for infiltrating US commercial targets by cyber means”.
He identified the alleged victims as Westinghouse Electric, US Steel, Alcoa Inc, Allegheny Technologies, SolarWorld and the US Steelworkers Union.
“The alleged hacking appears to have been conducted for no reason other than to advantage state-owned companies and other interests in China, at the expense of businesses here in the United States,” Eric Holder said.
In response, the Chinese government said its “stance on the issue of internet security is consistent and clear”.
Eric Holder said the US government categorically denounces economic espionage as a trade tactic
Foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the allegations were “made up” and would “damage Sino-American cooperation and mutual trust”.
“China is a staunch defender of network security, and the Chinese government, military and associated personnel have never engaged in online theft of trade secrets,” he said.
In an indictment in the western district of Pennsylvania, the heart of the US steel industry, the US named Wang Dong, Sun Kailiang, Wen Xinyu, Huang Zhenyu, and Gu Chunhui, all officers in Unit 61398 of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), as the alleged conspirators.
FBI officials said the hacking in the years 2006-14 caused “significant losses” at the companies and that there were likely many more victims.
Eric Holder said the US government “categorically denounces” economic espionage as a trade tactic.
“As President Obama has said on numerous occasions, we do not collect intelligence to provide a competitive advantage to US companies, or US commercial sectors,” he said.
The move is seen as largely symbolic, as five men accused are unlikely to be extradited to the US to faces the charges in court.
John Carlin, head of the justice department’s national security division, said: “For the first time, we are exposing the faces and names behind the keyboards in Shanghai used to steal from American businesses.”
“While the men and women of our American businesses spent their business days innovating, creating, and developing strategies to compete in the global marketplace, these members of unit 61398 spent their business days in Shanghai stealing the fruits of our labor,” he said.
Last year, cyber-defense company Mandiant published a report on a Chinese military unit the firm said was behind the vast majority of significant attacks on American federal agencies and companies.
Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is to sue director Abel Ferrara for defamation over Welcome to New York movie.
“My client finds the film’s accusations of rape intolerable,” DSK’s lawyer said.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn was disgusted and frightened by Welcome to New York, which stars Gerard Depardieu in the lead role
Welcome to New York, screened at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, is about a French banker who assaults a maid at a New York hotel.
DSK, 65, quit as head of the IMF in 2011 after facing similar allegations.
He was arrested in New York three years ago when a hotel maid at New York’s Sofitel accused him of trying to rape her.
The charges were eventually dropped, and DSK subsequently reached a settlement with the maid, Nafissatou Diallo.
DSK’s laywer, Jean Veil, said the former IMF boss would take legal action for “defamation over the accusations of rape and the insinuations made throughout the movie”.
He added that Dominique Strauss-Kahn was “disgusted and frightened” by the film, which stars Gerard Depardieu in the lead role.
According to a new assessment from ESA’s CryoSat spacecraft, Antarctica is now losing 159 billion tonnes of ice a year to the ocean – twice as much as when the continent was last surveyed.
The CryoSat spacecraft has a radar instrument specifically designed to measure the shape of the ice sheet.
The melt loss from the White Continent is sufficient to push up global sea levels by around 0.43 mm per year.
Antarctica is now losing 159 billion tonnes of ice a year to the ocean
Scientists report the data in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
The new study incorporates three years of measurements from 2010 to 2013, and updates a synthesis of observations made by other satellites over the period 2005 to 2010.
CryoSat has been using its altimeter to trace changes in the height of the ice sheet – as it gains mass through snowfall, and loses mass through melting.
The study authors divide the continent into three sectors – the West Antarctic, the East Antarctic, and the Antarctic Peninsula, which is the long finger of land reaching up to South America.
Overall, CryoSat finds all three regions to be losing ice, with the average elevation of the full ice sheet falling annually by almost 2cm.
In the three sectors, this equates to losses of 134 billion tonnes, 3 billion tonnes, and 23 billion tonnes of ice per year, respectively.
The East had been gaining ice in the previous study period, boosted by some exceptional snowfall, but it is now seen as broadly static in the new survey.
As expected, it is the western ice sheet that dominates the reductions.
Scientists have long considered it to be the most vulnerable to melting.
It has an area, called the Amundsen Sea Embayment, where six huge glaciers are currently undergoing a rapid retreat – all of them being eroded by the influx of warm ocean waters that scientists say are being drawn towards the continent by stronger winds whipped up by a changing climate.
About 90% of the mass loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is going from just these few ice streams.
At one of them – Smith Glacier – CrysoSat sees the surface lowering by 9 m per year.
Serbia and Bosnia call for international help to rescue people from flooded areas after the worst flooding since modern records began.
Waters are now beginning to recede, but officials say dangers remain.
They say that the threat of landslides is an ever-present problem as are the difficulties caused by unexploded landmines in Bosnia and river surges.
Serbia’s main power plant is still at risk of flooding. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes.
Bosnian Refugee Minister Adil Osmanovic described the flooding as “catastrophic”.
Officials say that three months’ worth of rain has fallen on the Balkans in recent days, producing the worst floods since rainfall measurements began 120 years ago.
At least 35 people have died – with more casualties expected.
Serbia and Bosnia call for international help to rescue people from flooded areas after the worst flooding since modern records began
A large international aid operation is underway, with rescue helicopters from the European Union, US and Russia evacuating people from affected areas.
Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic said Serbia now needed further help, particularly deliveries of food, clothing and bottled water.
The rain caused more than 2,000 landslides in hilly Bosnia, officials say, enveloping roads, homes and whole villages.
Rescuers are urging people to go to the balconies or rooftops of their houses with bright fabric to make themselves visible.
The north-eastern part of Bosnia is reported to be especially badly affected, with houses, roads and rail lines submerged.
Officials say that about a million people – more than a quarter of the country’s population – live in the worst-affected areas.
The floods and landslides have raised fears about the estimated one million land mines planted during Bosnia’s 1992-95 war.
Nearly 120,000 of the unexploded devices remain in more than 9,400 carefully marked minefields, officials say.
But the weather dislodged warning signs and in many cases loosened the mines themselves.
The flooding and landslide threat in Serbia is equally serious, made worse by the constant threat of surging river levels.
Residents spent the weekend piling up sandbags in riverside towns – including Belgrade.
Serbia’s state-run EPS power company said crews were doing all they could to prevent further damage to the Tesla power plant.
Parts of the plant and a nearby mine that provides its fuel were underwater. Damage to the mine alone is estimated at more than $137 million.
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic has joined calls for help.
“Support and solidarity for my people in Serbia!” he wrote on Twitter.
Large parts of eastern Croatia are also underwater, with villages still cut off and hundreds forced to escape the flooded zone in boats and trucks.
President Vladimir Putin has ordered the withdrawal of the Russian troops from Ukraine’s border, the Kremlin says.
Units in the Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions should return to their permanent bases, a statement said.
Russia has made a similar statements in the past, only for NATO to report no change.
Vladimir Putin has ordered the withdrawal of the Russian troops from Ukraine’s border
Correspondents say the removal of some 40,000 Russian troops near the Ukrainian border could help de-escalate the Ukraine crisis.
The apparent build-up of Russian forces in the region has ratcheted up diplomatic tensions in recent weeks.
“In connection with the completion of the planned spring phase of military training… at ranges in Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions, Putin ordered the defense minister to withdraw the troops that took part in the exercises,” the Kremlin statement provided to Russian news agencies said.
Tensions between Russia and the West rose after the overthrow of pro-Kremlin Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in February, following months of street protests.
Russia’s subsequent annexation of Crimea triggered a crisis in relations.
Meanwhile, clashes have taken place between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russia separatist militants in eastern Ukraine.
One Ukrainian soldier was killed and one was injured on Monday in attack by separatists on a checkpoint near Sloviansk, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine’s Interfax news agency quoted the country’s defense ministry as saying.
On Saturday, the separatists appointed a prime minister for what they call the People’s Republic of Donetsk.
AT&T will acquire satellite television provider DirecTV in a cash and stock deal valued at $48.5 billion.
If approved, the deal gives AT&T access to DirecTV’s 40 million digital TV customers in the US and Latin America.
The deal would also give AT&T a new source of revenue beyond its traditional telecommunications business.
AT&T will acquire DirecTV in a cash and stock deal valued at $48.5 billion
The board of directors at both companies have approved the merger.
However, the deal is subject to approval by DirecTV shareholders, and needs to be reviewed by US regulators, including the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice.
Both companies are hopeful the transaction will complete in about 12 months.
AT&T chairman and chief executive Randall Stephenson said in a statement: “This is a unique opportunity that will redefine the video entertainment industry and create a company able to offer new bundles and deliver content to consumers across multiple screens – mobile devices, TVs, laptops, cars and even airplanes.”
DirecTV is a leading pay TV provider in the US and Latin America. Meanwhile AT&T is a telecommunications provider and it boasts of a nationwide mobile network and a high-speed broadband network, which the company says will cover 70 million customer locations, with the broadband expansion enabled by this transaction.
DirecTV’s premier content includes exclusive pay TV rights to NFL Sunday Ticket which gives subscribers access to every American football game played on Sunday afternoons, which they can view on TV, laptops and mobile devices.
Under the terms of the merger, DirecTV shareholders will receive $95 per share, comprising $28.50 per share in cash and $66.50 per share in AT&T stock.
AT&T intends to finance the cash portion of the transaction through a combination of cash on hand, sales of assets and loans.
A Colombian bus has caught fire near the city of Fundacion, killing at least 30 people, most of them believed to be children under 14.
The children were returning from an event at an evangelical Christian church near Fundacion, about 465 miles north of Bogota, close to the Caribbean coast.
It is not known why the fire started, but Colombian media said the bus may have been used for smuggling petrol
It is not known why the blaze started, but local media said the bus may have been used for smuggling petrol.
A local police spokesman, Colonel Adan Leon, said 18 people had been found alive at the scene of the accident.
But he warned that the number of deaths could rise.
Colombian media reported that some local residents complained that the firefighters had not responded quickly enough to the tragedy.
Pictures on local media websites showed the charred, smoking frame of the burned bus.
President Juan Manuel Santos said he would visit the city soon.
Formula 1 world champion Jack Brabham has died aged 88.
The Australian driver won the title in a car he built himself.
Motor racing legend Sir Jack Brabham won the championship in 1959, 1960 and 1966.
Motor racing legend Sir Jack Brabham won the championship in 1959, 1960 and 1966
His son, David Brabham, confirmed that he had died at his home on Australia’s Gold Coast after a long battle with liver disease.
“He lived an incredible life, achieving more than anyone would ever dream of,” said David Brabham.
“He will continue to live on through the astounding legacy he leaves behind.”
Jack Brabham began racing in Australia in 1948 after serving in the Royal Australian Air Force as a mechanic.
After a number of successful years racing in New Zealand and Australia, he came to the UK and made his Grand Prix debut in 1955.
Jack Brabham’s Grand Prix wins ranged from his first in Monaco in 1959 to his last in South Africa in 1970, the year he retired from the sport.
His world championship win in 1966 was achieved in a car of his own construction, the rear-engined BT19.
He remains the only man in history to have designed, built and driven a championship-winning car.
Jack Brabham raced on into his 40s, recording his last of his 14 F1 victories at the age of 43 in the 1970 South African Grand Prix.
After his retirement, he sold his team to Bernie Ecclestone – who would go on to run the sport – with the Brabham name remaining in the sport until the 1990s.
Jack Brabham was knighted for services to motor sport in 1979. He is survived by his wife, Lady Margaret, and sons Geoff, Gary and David and their families.
AstraZeneca has rejected an improved “final” takeover offer from Pfizer.
US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer had made a new offer of £55 ($88) per share, valuing AstraZeneca at about £69 billion ($105 billion).
However, AstraZeneca says the new proposal “undervalues the company and its attractive prospects”.
Pfizer’s pursuit has been under scrutiny because of fears it would hamper AstraZeneca’s drug research and cut jobs.
Pfizer had made a new offer of £55 per share, valuing AstraZeneca at about £69 billion
Pfizer planned to create the world’s largest drug company, with its headquarters in New York, but based in the UK for tax purposes.
In a strategy known as “tax inversion” Pfizer could pay the UK corporate tax rate of 20%, rather than the 35% rate applied in the US, if it bought AstraZeneca.
That plan has proved controversial with unions and politicians, with AstraZeneca employing 6,700 people in the UK.
AstraZeneca chairman Leif Johansson said Pfizer’s pursuit had been “fundamentally driven” by the corporate financial benefits.
“Pfizer has failed to make a compelling strategic, business or value case,” he added.
Of the two companies’ research and development workforce, Pfizer has said it will retain at least 20% in the UK for at least five years. It has also pledged to base its European HQ in Britain.
AstraZeneca’s shares fell over 13% in early trading after its rejection of the offer.
In its new offer statement, Pfizer chief executive Ian Read said: “We stand by our unprecedented commitments to the UK government.”
Pfizer had said that its improved offer of £55 per share was “final” and would not be increased.
AstraZeneca shareholders were being offered £24.76 in cash and 1.747 shares in the new firm – worth a combined £55 – for each share currently they hold.
Pfizer had also promised not to mount a hostile takeover – a direct approach to shareholders of AstraZeneca without the involvement of its board.
Leif Johansson said that he had made clear to Pfizer that his board could only recommend a bid that was at least 10% above an offer of £53.50 made by Pfizer on Friday.
Kraft Foods Group has voluntarily recalled select cottage cheese products due to out-of-standard storage temperatures, the company announced on its website Saturday.
Approximately 1.2 million cases of affected product were shipped to customers across the US. The affected products were not distributed outside of the US.
The recall involvesselected Knudsen Cottage Cheese, Breakstone’s Cottage Cheese, Simply Kraft Cottage Cheese and Daily Chef Cottage Cheese products, according to the release.
It was not immediately clear if any illnesses have been reported.
Kraft Foods Group has voluntarily recalled select cottage cheese products due to out-of-standard storage temperatures
Affected products all have code dates from May 9, 2014 through July 23, 2014.
Consumers who purchased any of the voluntarily recalled cottage cheeses were asked not to eat the product and to return the item to the store where it was purchased.
The recalled products all came from a manufacturing facility in Tulare, Calif., which has since ceased production and distribution of the affected products while the company addresses the problem.
Consumers can find the code date on the bottom of the cup or the top of the package. Simply Kraft products with a plant code of 36-2158 on the cups or a “W” in the case code (e.g., “W 21 JUL 2014”) are not affected. Simply Kraft products subject to the recall are only those with a plant code of 06-245 on the bottom of the cup and case code date without any “W” (e.g., “21 JUL 2014”).
No other Knudsen, Breakstone’s, Simply Kraft or Daily Chef products are impacted by this recall.
The Tulare, California, manufacturing facility, where all of the affected products were produced, has ceased production and distribution of the affected products as the company works to address the problem.
Consumers who purchased any of these products should not eat them. They should return them to the store where purchased for an exchange or full refund. Consumers also can contact Kraft Foods Consumer Relations at 1-800-396-6307 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. (Eastern).
Voters in Switzerland have rejected a proposal to introduce what would have been the highest minimum wage in the world in a referendum.
Under the plan, employers would have had to pay workers a minimum 22 Swiss francs (about $25 or 18 euros) an hour.
The minimum wage proposal was rejected by 76 percent of Swiss voters
Supporters said the move was necessary for people to live a decent life.
But critics argued that it would raise production costs and increase unemployment.
The minimum wage proposal was rejected by 76% of voters. Supporters had argued it would “protect equitable pay” but the Swiss Business Federation said it would harm low-paid workers in particular.
The issue was the most prominent of several referendums held on Sunday.
A controversial plan to buy 22 Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets for the Swiss Air Force was narrowly rejected by 53% of voters.
It was the trade union-backed proposal to ensure that an annual salary was not less than $53,600 a year that provoked the most debate.
America Ferrera got a bizarre moment at the Cannes Film Festival when a man tried to crawl under her Georges Hobeika Couture dress as she walked the red carpet.
However, America Ferrera, 30, kept her composure, but admits now that it was a bit violating.
“I don’t even know what happened!” she said after the incident, according to Vulture.
America Ferrera got a bizarre moment at the Cannes Film Festival when a man tried to crawl under her Georges Hobeika Couture dress as she walked the red carpet
“I feel something behind me, and there’s this guy under my dress, and then two guys drag him away!”
The actress added to the site: “Of all of the things I prepared myself for, that was not one of them.”
America Ferrera joked: “It’s my first time in Cannes. It’s been quite an experience!”
At the time of the bizarre moment, America Ferrera was posing for photographs next to co-stars Cate Blanchett, Jay Barachel and Kit Harrington,.
Two others stepped in to take the man away, as America Ferrera looked on in horror.
Cate Blanchett, who she just met that day, seemed to comfort America Fererra.
Joe Francis has been arrested on suspicion of assault after getting into a scuffle, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Joe Francis has been arrested on suspicion of assault after getting into a scuffle
Los Angeles police Sgt. John Juarez told the publication that the 41-year-old Girls Gone Wild creator was arrested Friday evening at an office building on Wilshire Boulevard after some “pushing and shoving.”
Joe Francis filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year after years of legal troubles and was issued a “stay away” order by a bankruptcy judge.
John Juarez told the newspaper police were investigating whether Francis’ presence at the building violated the restraining order.
Online jail records show Joe Francis was released Saturday on $20,000 bail.
Serbia’s main power plant is being threatened by the worst floods in the Balkans for decades, officials say.
The River Sava has burst its banks in many areas and water levels are expected to peak later on Sunday.
At least 20 people have died in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina after a month’s worth of rain fell in three days, and the death toll is expected to rise.
In Bosnia, landslides have buried houses and disturbed landmines laid during the war in the 1990s.
The floods are also affecting Croatia.
The River Sava has burst its banks in many areas and water levels are expected to peak
In Serbia, thousands of residents in Obrenovac were moved to safety after much of the town was inundated.
The town, south-west of the capital Belgrade, is home to the Nikola Tesla power plant, which supplies much of the country.
Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic said that his government’s primary concern was to protect the power plant.
“We are doing all we can,” he said.
Thousands of volunteers have responded to the government’s appeal to build up flood defenses along the Sava.
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic also appealed for help.
“Support for everyone! Let’s help those in danger! Join the aid action!” he wrote on his Twitter account.
Officials have refused to give a death toll for Obrenovac until the floodwaters recede.
Almost one-third of Bosnia is under water. The north-east is worst affected, with houses, roads and railway lines submerged.
Bosnian Serb police chief Gojko Vasic said the situation had been particularly difficult in Doboj “because the flood waters acted as a tsunami, three to four metres high”, the Reuters news agency reported.
Bosnian Security Ministry spokesman Admir Malagic said that about one million people – more than a quarter of the country’s population – live in the affected area.
Chairman of the Bosnian three-man presidency Bakir Izetbegovic said that his country is facing a “horrible catastrophe”, the Associated Press reported.
China is sending five ships to evacuate its workers from Vietnam following a wave of anti-Chinese riots.
The Chinese government has already evacuated more than 3,000 people, Chinese state-run media report.
The first ship set sail on Sunday, while 16 critically injured Chinese nationals left Vietnam on a chartered flight, Xinhua news agency said.
Two Chinese workers have been killed and dozens more injured in unrest over a Chinese oil rig in disputed waters.
More than 3,000 Chinese workers have been evacuated from Vietnam (photo Reuters)
On Saturday the Vietnamese government called for an end to the protests.
Officials said “illegal acts” would be stopped as they could damage national stability.
However, dissident groups have urged people to rally again in major cities on Sunday and the authorities broke up some anti-China protests in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
In recent days crowds have set fire to at least 15 foreign-owned factories – including Chinese, Taiwanese and South Korean businesses – in several Vietnamese industrial parks.
Correspondents say the attacks appear to have worried authorities, as Hanoi depends heavily on foreign investment for economic growth.
However, China has urged authorities to take tougher measures to punish rioters.
“We are strongly dissatisfied by the Vietnamese side failure to respond effectively to curb an escalation,” Xinhua quoted security chief Guo Shengkun as saying on Saturday.
The protests have been triggered by China’s decision to move its Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig into contested waters in the South China Sea.
This led to confrontations between Vietnamese and Chinese ships earlier this month, as Vietnam sought to block the move.
China insists it will continue drilling in the area, west of the Paracel Islands – which are controlled by China but also claimed by Vietnam, and Taiwan.
Nationalist sentiment is currently running very high in Vietnam over the issue, correspondents say.
Switzerland is voting in a referendum on whether to introduce what would be the highest minimum wage in the world.
If approved, employers would have to pay workers a minimum 22 Swiss francs (about $25 or 18 euros) an hour.
Supporters say the move is necessary for people to live a decent life.
But critics argue that it would raise production costs and increase unemployment because young people would find it more difficult to get work.
Correspondents say that the proposal “to protect equitable pay” is the most prominent of several referendums on Sunday.
Switzerland is voting in a referendum on whether to introduce what would be the highest minimum wage in the world
They include a controversial plan to buy Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets for the Swiss Air Force and to impose a lifelong ban against convicted paedophiles working with children.
But it is a trade union-backed proposal to ensure that an annual salary is not less than $53,600 a year which has provoked the most debate.
They argue that the measure is necessary because of the high living costs in big Swiss cities such as Geneva and Zurich.
The unions are angry that Switzerland – one of the richest countries in the world – does not have a minimum pay level while neighboring France and Germany do.
They argue that surviving on less than 4,000 francs a month is not possible because rents, health insurance and food are all prohibitively expensive.
The minimum wage in Germany will be 8.5 euros an hour from 2017.
A key element of the campaign in favor of a minimum wage is the argument that the Swiss welfare system is being forced to subsidize businesses which refuse to pay a living wage.
But business leaders and the government say that low unemployment and high standards of living for the majority show that there is no need for change.
Small businesses, in particular Swiss farmers, are especially worried that being forced to pay their staff 4,000 francs a month would price their products out of the market.
Most of Switzerland’s low-paid workers operate in the service industry, in hotels and restaurants, and the majority of them are women.
Another vote, which was designed to ensure that bosses could earn no more than 12 times the salary of the lowest paid in their company, was narrowly defeated last November.
The latest opinion polls indicate the minimum wage proposal may be rejected.
Swiss monthly living costs:
One-bed city centre flat: 1,800 francs
Utilities: 100-200 francs
Health insurance: 300-400 francs
Public transport: 50-70 francs
Restaurant meal for two: 100-150 francs [youtube C0j9XP4asPI 650]
The death toll of Soma mine disaster in Turkey has reached 301 after two more bodies were found.
The government has called a halt to the rescue operation as the bodies of all miners trapped after the mine collapsed are now thought to be recovered.
Protesters have clashed with police near Soma. Correspondents say more than 30 people, including several lawyers, have been arrested.
Demonstrations were held elsewhere over Turkey’s worst-ever mine disaster.
Hundreds of people marched through the western city of Izmir and there were protests in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara.
The death toll of Soma mine disaster in Turkey has reached 301 after two more bodies were found (photo AP)
“The rescue operation was carried out to completion. There are no miners left underground,” Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Saturday.
“Until today we had focused on search and rescue efforts. Now we will be focusing on investigations, on what will happen about production.”
“We won’t be leaving (Soma) because the search efforts are ending,” Taner Yildiz, said, according to Associated Press.
“There will be psychological and social support.”
The local authorities have banned demonstrations in the Soma town centre. On Friday riot police used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon when a protest briefly turned violent there.
Police have reportedly been stopping coach-loads of protesters from entering Soma and several lawyers linked to Turkey’s opposition movement have been arrested.
Tuesday’s disaster occurred when an explosion sent carbon monoxide gas into the mine’s tunnels while 787 miners were underground.
Mine operator Soma Holding has denied any negligence. A representative said an unexplained build-up of heat in the mine appeared to have caused the collapse.
There have been several anti-government protests across the country over the last four days.
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been criticised for appearing insensitive in his reaction to the disaster.
