Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a huge gas supply contract with China during his visit to the Asian country.
The deal between Russia’s Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has been 10 years in the making. No official price has been given but it estimated to be worth over $400 billion.
Russia has been keen to find an alternative energy market for its gas as it faces the possibility of European sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine.
Shares in Gazprom rose 2% on the Russian market following the news.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a huge gas supply contract with China during his visit to the Asian country (photo Reuters)
The agreement is expected to deliver some 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year eastward to China’s burgeoning economy, starting around 2018.
The main argument has been over price and China is thought to have been driving a hard bargain.
Over the last ten years it has found other gas suppliers. Turkmenistan is now China’s largest foreign gas supplier, and last year it started importing piped natural gas from Myanmar.
Another sticking point has been the construction of pipelines into China.
Currently there is one complete pipeline that runs across Russia’s Far East to the Chinese border, called “The Power of Siberia”. The pipeline was started in 2007, three years after Gazprom and CNPC signed their initial agreement in 2004.
Financing the $22-30 billion cost of sending it into China has been central to the latest discussions.
China is Russia’s largest single trading partner, with bilateral trade flows of $90 billion in 2013.
China and Russia aim to double the volume to $200 billion in 10 years.
At least 32 militants including “important commanders” have been killed in North Waziristan air strikes.
Pakistani officials described precision air strikes on targets near the border with Afghanistan.
Tens of thousands of Pakistanis have died in bomb attacks since the Pakistani Taliban began its campaign against the central government in 2007.
At least 32 militants including important commanders have been killed in North Waziristan air strikes
Several offensives have been launched against the militants, but the government is also pursuing talks.
“Before the launch of the air strikes, we had confirmed intelligence information about hideouts of the militants and their top commanders,” said a senior military official in Miranshah quoted by the Reuters news agency.
The army said in a statement that the strikes were targeting militants involved in attacks against Pakistani armed forces and Pakistani soldiers.
At least nine soldiers were killed and several critically wounded by a roadside bomb in the region earlier this month.
There have been similar air strikes since the beginning of the year, but this operation appears to have been the largest in a while.
North Waziristan, one of seven lawless tribal districts in Pakistan’s north-west, is a stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaeda linked militants.
The peace talks between the government and the Pakistani Taliban stalled after one round of negotiations in February, and a 40-day ceasefire between the two sides came to an end in mid-April.
Prince George threw food at his cousin Mia Grace Tindall, when they first met, Mike Tindall revealed.
In an interview with the Mirror on Monday, Mia’s father Mike Tindall, who is married to Zara Phillips (Prince William’s first cousin), revealed it was total “carnage” when it came to the two babies.
Prince George threw food at his cousin Mia Grace Tindall, when they first met
“I don’t think Mia will remember that day. She was 2-months-old, but it was great. It was carnage,” the Gloucester Rugby player laughed on May 19.
“George was eating at the time,” Mike Tindall continued.
“He’d got to that stage where more food goes on the table than in his mouth.”
Meanwhile, baby Mia Grace, now 4-month-old, “was just chilling and sleeping,” her father said.
Mia’s mom, Zara Phillips, is the daughter of Queen Elizabeth’s second child, Princess Anne, making Mia 16th in line for the throne.
Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall married in July 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Kate Middleton and Prince William’s baby boy, 9-month-old Prince George, is the third in line for the throne.
Tara the Hero Cat, who saved 4-year-old Jeremy Triantafilo from a neighborhood dog in California, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a minor league baseball game Tuesday.
Tara was held by owner Roger Triantafilo as a baseball tied to a fishing line was pulled toward home plate at a game of the Bakersfield Blaze, an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.
Tara the Hero Cat threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Bakersfield Blaze baseball game (photo Twitter)
The cat became an Internet sensation last week after surveillance video of her rushing a dog that was mauling the boy went viral.
Jeremy Triantafilo, Roger’s son, was playing in his family’s driveway in Bakersfield, California, when the K-9 ran up and grabbed his leg.
Tara, a stray adopted by the Triantafilo family six years ago, pounced into action and chased off the attacker.
Jeremy Triantafilo received 10 stitches for two lacerations to his calf. The dog was quarantined and will reportedly be euthanized.
Led Zeppelin faces a legal dispute over the song Stairway to Heaven, widely seen as one of the greatest rock compositions of all time.
The copyright infringement action is being taken on behalf of late guitarist Randy California, who played on the same bill as Led Zeppelin in the 1960s.
Randy California’s lawyers say that he should be given a writing credit on the 1971 track.
According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the eight-minute song had earned $562 million as of 2008.
The magazine says that the song was so profitable in part because Led Zeppelin did not release it as a single, leaving fans with no option but to buy the entire album, which is untitled but known as Led Zeppelin IV.
The famous Stairway to Heaven opening guitar riff loosely resembles guitar work on Spirit’s instrumental Taurus
Both Led Zeppelin and Warner Music have said they will not comment on the allegations.
Media reports say that the court case is likely to be based on allegations that the famous Stairway to Heaven opening guitar riff loosely resembles guitar work on an instrumental called Taurus.
Taurus was written by Randy California’s Los Angeles-based psychedelic band, Spirit, in 1968.
The plaintiffs include Spirit’s founding bassist Mark Andes and a trust that manages royalties for Randy California, who died in 1997 trying to save his son from drowning.
Randy California is quoted by Bloomberg Businessweek as describing Stairway to Heaven as a “rip-off” shortly before he died.
“It is fairly blatant, and note for note,” Mark Andes told Bloomberg Businessweek.
“It would just be nice if the Led Zeppelin guys gave Randy a little nod. That would be lovely.”
Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page is reputed to have begun writing Stairway to Heaven in 1970 in a remote cottage in Wales.
Earlier this month the band unveiled two previously unheard recordings ahead of the re-issue in June of its first three albums.
Jimmy Page, now 70, meanwhile has scotched rumors of a reunion concert.
For a band that broke up in 1980, following the death of the drummer John Bonham, interest in Led Zeppelin remains intense.
Two bomb explosions killed at least 46 people in the central Nigerian city of Jos, police say.
The first blast was in a busy market and the second went off outside a nearby hospital.
No group has said it carried out the attack but Boko Haram militants have carried out a spate of recent bombings.
Jos has also seen deadly clashes between Christian and Muslim groups in recent years.
Two bomb explosions killed at least 46 people in the central Nigerian city of Jos (photo Reuters)
A spokesperson for the regional governor told AFP news agency that most of the victims were women. The market and bus terminal are part of the commercial centre of Jos.
The second blast was some 30 minutes after the first and killed some rescue workers.
President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the attack as a “tragic assault on human freedom”.
“President Jonathan assures all Nigerians that the government remains fully committed to winning the war against terror and… will not be cowed by the atrocities of enemies of human progress and civilization,” his office said.
Although Boko Haram has previously targeted Jos, the capital of Plateau state, the city has been relatively calm for almost two years.
Plateau state lies on the fault-line which divides Nigeria’s largely Muslim north from its mainly Christian south.
The state has witnessed violence blamed on land disputes between semi-nomadic Muslim Fulani herdsmen and mainly Christian Berom farmers.
Nigeria is also currently trying to trace more than 200 girls captured by Boko Haram in April from a boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok.
In a recent interview with Fox News, Duck Dynasty’s Miss Kay Robertson opened up about her husband Phil’s pre-fame battle with alcoholism and revealed why she stayed with him after he admitted to adultery.
Miss Kay, who married Phil Robertson when she was just 16 years old, said: “The worst advice I ever got was when they told me to leave him.”
Miss Kay has been married to Phil Robertson since she was just 16 years old
“I attribute a lot of [sticking with Phil] to my grandma. She was such a stickler for staying with your marriage. She always used to say, <<You have to fight for your marriage>>.”
Miss Kay Robertson, now 63, added: “Of course I was someone that never believed I would have to do that because I read way too many books that ended with, <<And they lived happily ever after>>…When I say, <<I love you>>, it’s for life. If we would not have stayed together I would have known in my heart that I had done everything I could possibly do to make that marriage work.”
During Phil Robertson’s bout with alcoholism, Miss Kay said she reassured the couple’s children, Alan, Jase, Willie, and Jep, that their father was at heart a good man who deserved forgiveness.
“I told my kids, <<Your dad is a good man. He has a good heart but right now the he’s letting the devil control him and that’s who we should hate – the devil and not Phil. We’ll pray and pray that the devil will leave him but he has to make the choice to do that,” Miss Kay Robertson recalled.
“I knew that from the Bible, and eventually he did make the right choice. I think that’s why my heart and my kids were easy to forgive too.”
Keeping Up With the Kardashians star Kylie Jenner took to Twitter to deny recent rumors that she had a nose job.
Kim Kardashian’s sister wrote: “These plastic surgery rumors hurt my feelings, to be honest, and are kinda insulting … Just in case anyone forgot … I’m 16.”
Two months ago, Kylie Jenner sparked plastic surgery rumors, and fans of Keeping Up With the Kardashians reality show speculated that she got a nose job after her nose appeared thinner than usual in photos that she posted on Instagram.
In addition to a nose job, reports also claimed Kylie Jenner had gotten botox injections, a cosmetic procedure her older sister Kim Kardashian has admitted to in the past.
Rapper Macklemore has apologized for the Jewish caricature costume he wore on stage in Seattle, which critics said was anti-Semitic.
Macklemore said he didn’t mean to offend anyone but realized the outfit could have looked like a “Jewish caricature”.
“I respect all cultures and all people,” the singer wrote on his website.
Macklemore has apologized for the Jewish caricature costume he wore on stage in Seattle
“I would never intentionally put down anybody for the fabric that makes them who they are. I love human beings, love originality and… happen to love a weird outfit from time to time.”
Macklemore wore the costume at a performance in Seattle on Friday.
He explained that he randomly chose the elements of the outfit so that he could disguise himself and move freely around during the secret show.
“I acknowledge how the costume could, within a context of stereotyping, be ascribed to a Jewish caricature,” he wrote.
“I am here to say that it was absolutely not my intention and unfortunately at the time I did not foresee the costume to be viewed in such regard.”
Pictures from the concert show Macklemore wearing a black wig, beard and a fake hooked nose.
Macklemore added: “I’m saddened that this story, or any of my choices, would lead to any form of negativity.”
His website also now includes a link to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which was formed to fight anti-Semitism.
Along with Ryan Lewis, Macklemore is a Grammy award-winner and has been an advocate for the gay community, as well as tolerance and diversity, especially through the song One Love.
The CIA will no longer use vaccination programs as cover for spying operations, a White House official announced.
The agency used the ruse in targeting Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.
Lisa Monaco, Barack Obama’s leading counter-terrorism adviser, wrote to the deans of 13 prominent public health schools last week saying that the CIA had agreed it would no longer use vaccination programs or workers for intelligence purposes.
The CIA also agreed not to use genetic materials obtained through such programs.
Dr. Shakil Afridi offered a program of hepatitis vaccinations in Abbottabad as cover for his CIA-backed effort to obtain DNA samples from children at a compound where Osama bin Laden was later killed during a 2011 raid by US navy Seals.
The doctor was convicted and sentenced by a Pakistani court to 33 years in prison for treason. The sentence was later overturned and Shakil Afridi faces a retrial.
The CIA will no longer use vaccination programs as cover for spying operations
The health school deans were among a group of medical authorities who publicly criticized the CIA’s use of the vaccination program after it was disclosed by media accounts and Pakistan’s arrest of Shakil Afridi as a CIA operative.
In her letter dated May 16, Lisa Monaco said the US “strongly supports the global polio eradication initiative and efforts to end the spread of the polio virus forever”.
Lisa Monaco said the CIA director, John Brennan, committed in August 2013 to “make no operational use of vaccination programs, which includes vaccination workers”. She said the CIA policy “applied worldwide and to US and non-US persons alike,” and that no DNA or genetic material would be used from such programs.
The CIA spokesman Dean Boyd said Brennan “took seriously the concerns raised by the public health community, examined them closely and took decisive action”.
Lisa Monaco’s letter and the CIA statement did not acknowledge any error in the decision to use the Pakistan vaccine program as a spying cover. The letter was first disclosed in a report by Yahoo News.
The public health deans warned last year that the CIA’s use of a vaccination program had played a role in the shootings of several health workers in Pakistan and could hamper anti-polio efforts. “Public health programs should not be used as cover for covert operations,” they said.
Last week, Pakistan’s health ministry announced it would require all travelers leaving the country to first get a polio vaccination. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that polio’s spread is an international public health emergency, and identified Pakistan, Syria and Cameroon as nations that have allowed polio to spread beyond their borders.
Pakistan was the only country with reported endemic polio that saw a rise in new cases in 2012, the WHO reported. The country accounted for more than a fifth of all polio cases identified around the world in 2013.
The CIA’s use of a polio vaccine program to spy on Osama bin Laden’s compound undercut Barack Obama’s high-profile speech to the Muslim world in 2009 in which he touted US efforts to slow the growth of polio in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. With Obama administration assurances, Muslim scholars in two international groups issued religious decrees urging parents to vaccinate their children.
Divorce parties gain popularity in Iran’s major cities as more marriages meet a premature end.
According to the conservative Jomhuri-ye Eslami newspaper, the parties sometimes require extravagant preparations, complete with black roses and huge cakes.
“You go to a florist to order a bouquet of black roses. Next you come to us to order invitation cards,” one card shop owner tells the publication.
Divorce parties gain popularity in Iran’s major cities as more marriages meet a premature end
“I don’t miss you at all,” says one invitation, quoting the lyrics of a Persian pop hit.
“I swear I will not fall in love again as long as I live. Even if I do, it’s ok, as long as it’s not with you,” the lyrics continue inside the card.
The demand for divorce cards has been going up over the past two years, another shop owner told the Shahr-e Khabar news website.
Officials in the capital Tehran have recently expressed concern about the trend of celebrating divorce, the pro-government Iran newspaper says, and Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi, one of the country’s top conservative clerics, has spoken out over the issue.
Last year, Iran saw a 4.6% rise in divorce cases, and a 4.4% decline in marriage rates. Nearly 20% of Iranian marriages now end in divorce.
Justin Timberlake accepted seven Billboard Music Awards by video while he is on tour, leaving it to a Michael Jackson hologram to steal the show at the ceremony in Las Vegas.
It mimicked Michael Jackson’s famous dance moves while performing Slave to the Rhythm, a song from the late star’s new posthumous album Xscape.
Justin Timberlake’s haul of awards included top artist and Billboard 200 album.
Imagine Dragons won five and Pharrell, Robin Thicke and TI each won four.
Katy Perry was awarded top female artist, while Jennifer Lopez was handed the Icon Award, giving an emotional speech and performing at both the opening and finale of the show.
Justin Timberlake accepted seven Billboard Music Awards by video while he is on tour (photo Billboard)
Many artists performed remotely as they were on tour including Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus, who sang her cover of The Beatles track Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, with Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips.
Accepting the award for top streaming artist Miley Cyrus thanked her “amazing fans” before sticking her tongue out.
Justin Timberlake appeared on screen dancing with his band to accept the evening’s big prize of top artist.
“All the other finalists, Miley, Imagine Dragons, Bruno, Katy, I love you guys, it’s not a competition, but if it is, I won!” he said.
The biggest moment of the show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena came when the Michael Jackson hologram took over the stage, accompanied by dancers, beaming lights and blasts of fire – the result of several months planning.
Fans voted to give the Milestone Award to Carrie Underwood, who teamed up with fellow country star Miranda Lambert for a performance.
Imagine Dragons were happy to accept their five awards – which included top group and rock artist, in their home town of Las Vegas.
Lorde performed her new hit Tennis Court and was a double winner – taking the prizes for best new artist and rock song for Royals.
Robin Thicke performed a new song Get Her Back and paid tribute to estranged wife Paula Patton as he collected top R&B song for Blurred Lines.
Kendall Jenner fared less well on stage, fumbling her words while introducing Australian boyband 5 Seconds of Summer.
“And now we welcome … One …” Kendall Jenner said, appearing to be about to say One Direction, before explaining: “Guys, I’m the worst reader.”
Ennio Morricone has canceled concerts in New York, Los Angeles and Mexico City due to a back injury suffered earlier this year.
The Italian film composer is renowned for his work on spaghetti westerns such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West.
The show at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on June 15 was set to be his first performance in the city.
In a statement Ennio Morricone apologized to fans, saying he was “extremely disappointed”.
Ennio Morricone has canceled concerts in New York, Los Angeles and Mexico City due to a back injury suffered earlier this year
“I was very much looking forward to my first Los Angeles performance and only my second New York City performance,” said Ennio Morricone, who was also scheduled to perform at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on June 13 and in Mexico City on June 18.
“Hollywood has been instrumental in bringing my work to American audiences, and my 2007 performance in New York was one of the high points of my career to date,” he continued.
“I apologize to my fans for having to cancel these shows, and hope that I am able to make it back soon.”
Ennio Morricone was expected to conduct his own 100-piece orchestra during the performances and would have been accompanied by a 75-voice choir in LA.
The singers were informed on Sunday that the show had been cancelled, according to Variety magazine, due to Ennio Morricone’s “serious health issues”.
According to Deadline Hollywood, Ennio Morricone’s lawyer has revealed that the injury prevents him from conducting or flying.
Ennio Morricone previously postponed a series of April dates in Europe with “great disappointment”, following medical advice after a recent “back procedure”.
They were rescheduled for June, July and October, with the first due to take place in Cologne on June 22. It is not yet known if these dates will go ahead.
According to the LA Times, Ennio Morricone had said he would continue to compose while he recovers.
Four people died after a freight train hit a passenger train near Moscow, Russian officials say.
Several carriages were derailed in the crash, said to have occurred at 12:38 local time near Bekasovo 1 station, 37 miles from Moscow.
Injured people were reportedly carried from the train as emergency services rushed to the scene.
Four people died after a freight train hit a passenger train near Moscow (photo AFP)
The passenger train was on its way from Moscow to Chisinau in Moldova.
Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said at least four people were killed and 15 were injured.
According to Russian news agency ITAR-TASS, several carriages on the freight train came off the rails near the town of near Naro-Fominsk and hit the passenger train.
Several carriages on the passenger train are said to have then derailed, and some of them overturned.
The cause of the accident was not immediately clear.
Traffic on the line – which also serves Kiev in Ukraine – was suspended as a result.
Beijing has denounced the US charges against five Chinese army officers accused of economic cyber-espionage.
China says the US is also guilty of spying on other countries, including China, and accuses the US of hypocrisy and “double standards”.
US ambassador in Beijing has been summoned over the incident. China says relations will be damaged.
US prosecutors say the Chinese officers stole trade secrets and internal documents from five companies and a labor union.
China’s defense ministry put out a strongly-worded statement on its website on Tuesday saying that China’s government and its military “had never engaged in any cyber espionage activities”.
It also took aim at the US, saying: “For a long time, the US has possessed the technology and essential infrastructure needed to conduct large-scale systematic cyber thefts and surveillance on foreign government leaders, businesses and individuals. This is a fact which the whole world knows.
“The US’ deceitful nature and its practice of double standards when it comes to cyber security have long been exposed, from the WikiLeaks incident to the Edward Snowden affair.”
Beijing has denounced the US charges against five Chinese army officers accused of economic cyber-espionage (photo FBI)
The defense ministry added that China’s military had been the target of many online attacks, and “a fair number” of those had been launched from American IP addresses.
It said the arrest of the five Chinese army officers had “severely damaged mutual trust”.
According to a Xinhua report on Tuesday, between March and May this year, a total of 1.18 million computers in China were directly controlled by 2,077 machines in the US via Trojan horse or zombie malware.
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang lodged a “solemn representation” with US ambassador Max Baucus on Monday night, Xinhua reported.
On Monday US Attorney General 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”.
Eric Holder 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,” he said.
In the indictment brought 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 – between 2006 and 2014 – caused “significant losses” at the companies and that there were likely to be many more victims.
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.
In March, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the Pentagon planned to more than triple its cyber-security capabilities in the next few years to defend against such internet attacks.
Paul McCartney has canceled the rest of his tour of Japan due to illness, organizers have said.
Paul McCartney, 71, is believed to have contracted a virus.
The former Beatle is still scheduled to perform a concert in Seoul, South Korea, on May 28 followed by 19 performances in the US.
A message on his website said that doctors have ordered him to have a “complete rest” and that he “hates to let people down”.
The announcement means that Paul McCartney will not play the remaining two gigs of his Out There Japan Tour 2014.
Paul McCartney has canceled the rest of his tour of Japan due to illness
Fans will now not get to see Paul McCartney perform at the Nippon Budokan hall in Tokyo, which is where the Beatles performed during their first Japanese tour in 1966.
Organizer Kyodo Tokyo said in a statement that Paul McCartney “will regrettably have to cancel the remaining Japanese shows. Paul is still not feeling better and this cancellation is unavoidable”.
A quote from the singer on his website said: “Thank you so much for your kind messages of support.
“I’m so very touched. Unfortunately my condition has not improved overnight. I was really hoping that I’d be feeling better today. I’m so disappointed and sorry to be letting my fans down.”
Paul McCartney had already cancelled Saturday’s appearance and later his Sunday show, both due to have taken place at Tokyo’s National Stadium, saying that the decision was in his doctor’s hands.
He also told fans: “Thank you for such a beautiful and warm welcome to your country.”
The shows were the latest leg of the Out There tour, which started back in May 2013, and followed a series of Japan dates last November.
Paul McCartney and his band recently completed a tour of Latin America which included shows in Peru and Uruguay.
The forthcoming South Korea date will be the first time Paul McCartney has played in the country.
It will be followed by a series of US concerts in places including New Orleans, Atlanta, Nashville, Fargo and Kansas City between June and August.
They were announced by Paul McCartney’s team earlier this year on the social media site Instagram
Oscar Pistorius has been ordered to start daily tests on Monday to assess his mental state when he killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Judge Thokozile Masipa at Oscar Pistorius’ trial told him to attend Weskoppies psychiatric hospital in Pretoria as an outpatient for a month.
It comes after a defense witness said the double amputee was suffering from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
Oscar Pistorius, 27, denies intentionally killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Oscar Pistorius has been ordered to start daily tests to assess his mental state
He says he accidentally shot his girlfriend through the toilet door on Valentine’s Day last year in a state of panic, mistaking the 29-year-old model and law graduate for an intruder.
The prosecution had argued the tests were essential after forensic psychiatrist Merryll Vorster told the court in Pretoria the double amputee was “a danger to society”.
But the defense vigorously opposed the move.
Judge Thokozile Masipa said on Wednesday that four appointed psychiatrists would “inquire into whether the accused by reason of mental illness or mental defect was at the time of the commission of the offence criminally responsible for the offence as charged”.
She said the team would decide whether he was “capable of appreciating the wrongfulness of his act”.
Court proceedings were adjourned until June 30.
Legal experts say that the case may well hinge on the judge’s understanding of the athlete’s state of mind when he pulled the trigger.
They say the prosecution is keen to show that the defense keeps changing its reasons why Oscar Pistorius fired his gun – from putative self-defense, to accidental shooting, and now to something linked to his anxiety disorder.
Last week Judge Thokozile Masipa said that the criminal code stipulates that if an accused person is alleged not to be criminally responsible or is alleged to be mentally ill, he should be evaluated.
Credit Suisse has pleaded guilty to helping some American clients avoid paying taxes to the US government and agreed to pay a $2.6 billion fine.
It is the biggest bank to plead guilty to criminal charges in the US in more than 20 years.
Attorney general Eric Holder said Credit Suisse helped American “tax cheats dodge US taxes”.
The Swiss banking giant said in a statement it deeply regretted the past misconduct.
Credit Suisse has pleaded guilty to helping some American clients avoid paying taxes to the US government and agreed to pay a $2.6 billion fine
Credit Suisse said the settlement would reduce its second-quarter net profit by 1.6 billion Swiss Francs ($1.8 billion).
However, as part of the agreement with US regulators, the bank will not lose its banking license in the US.
Credit Suisse’s chief executive, Brady Dougan, said: “Having this matter fully resolved is an important step forward for us. We have seen no material impact on our business resulting from the heightened public attention on this issue in the past several weeks.”
Eric Holder told a press conference: “The bank went to elaborate lengths to shield itself, its employees, and the tax cheats it served, from accountability for their criminal actions.”
“They subverted disclosure requirements, destroyed bank records, and concealed transactions involving undeclared accounts by limiting withdrawal amounts and using offshore credit and debit cards to repatriate funds.”
He added that the tax evasion schemes went back decades, saying that in one case, the practice of using sham entities began more than 100 years ago.
However, according to US media reports, neither Credit Suisse chairman Urs Rohner, nor chief executive Brady Dougan are expected to lose their jobs as a result of the agreement.
US authorities have already indicted eight Credit Suisse employees who helped clients evade taxes.
Credit Suisse is not alone. US prosecutors are chasing more than a dozen other Swiss banks for allegedly helping wealthy Americans dodge US taxes, and at the press conference, they hinted that there would be more settlements to come.
Thailand’s army has imposed martial law amid a political crisis “to preserve law and order”.
The surprise announcement also granted the army wide-ranging powers to enforce its decision.
The military insisted that its assumption of responsibility for national security was not a coup.
Martial law comes amid a long-running political crisis, and months of escalating tensions between the government and the opposition.
Correspondents say the move could enrage supporters of the government, especially if it is seen as amounting to a coup. The army has staged at least 11 coups since the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932.
Roads in the capital, Bangkok, have been blocked off by tanks.
Thailand’s army has imposed martial law amid a political crisis to preserve law and order
The military has taken over TV and radio stations, and ordered media censorship in the interests of “national security”.
Soldiers have also moved into the main government building, which has been unoccupied following months of violent demonstrations by opponents who want to be rid of an administration they say is corrupt.
Both pro and anti-government protesters have been told not to march anywhere in order to prevent clashes.
An announcement on military-run TV said martial law had been imposed “to restore peace and order for people from all sides”.
“The public do not need to panic but can still live their lives as normal,” it said.
The military statement was signed by army chief Prayuth Chan-Ocha, citing a 1914 law that allows it to intervene during times of crisis.
The chief security advisor to the interim prime minister said the government had not been consulted about the army’s decision, but says it remains in office.
“Everything is normal except the military is responsible for all national security issues,” said Paradorn Pattanatabut.
An army spokesman also insisted the imposition of martial law would have no impact on the caretaker government.
Observers say the deadlock in south-east Asia’s second-largest economy has got worse since Yingluck Shinawatra dissolved the lower house of parliament in December, and a court ordered her removal earlier this month for abuse of power.
On Monday, acting PM Niwatthamrong Boonsongphaisan insisted his government would not resign, resisting pressure from anti-government protesters.
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.
