Mark Shand, Camilla Parker Bowles’ brother, has died as a result of a serious head injury he sustained during a fall.
Mark Shand, 62, was in New York when the incident happened on Tuesday night.
“The duchess, the Prince of Wales and all her family members are utterly devastated by this sudden and tragic loss,” Clarence House said.
He was described as a man of “extraordinary vitality, a tireless campaigner and conservationist”.
Mark Shand was chairman of the Elephant Family, a movement which exists to save the endangered Asian elephant.
In its statement, Clarence House said it was with “deep sadness” that it had to confirm Mark Shand’s death.
Mark Shand, Camilla Parker Bowles’ brother, has died as a result of a serious head injury he sustained during a fall
It said his “incredible work through the Elephant Family and beyond remained his focus right up until his death”.
The death comes as the Duchess of Cornwall and the Prince Charles, currently understood to be in Scotland, prepare for a high-profile tour of Canada next month.
Mark Shand, the duchess’s only brother, reportedly slipped while lighting a cigarette and hit his head on the pavement outside an after-party for a charity event.
According to the New York Police Department, the emergency services picked him up where he fell outside the Rose Bar and took him to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Wednesday.
Mark Shand married French actress Clio Goldsmith – the niece of billionaire entrepreneur James Goldsmith and the cousin of Jemima Khan and Zac Goldsmith – in 1990. They have a daughter together called Ayesha, aged 19.
Jemima Khan tweeted her condolences: “RIP Mark Shand: Best man, godfather to my son & my cousin’s ex.”
Her ex-husband, former Pakistan international cricketer and politician Imran Khan also took to the social media site to pay his respects.
Imran Khan tweeted: “Shocked & saddened to learn of the death of one of my closest English friends, Mark Shand, in New York where he was raising funds 4 charity.”
Mark Shand had been in New York for a charity auction at Sotheby’s, which was in aid of unprivileged children and the Elephant Family.
The event was the finale of the month-long Big Egg Hunt NYC by Faberge, where egg sculptures were sold to the highest bidder.
It raised $1.6 million for charity and was reportedly also attended by Princess Eugenie.
In a statement, the Elephant Family described Mark Shand as the head of its family and “a true force for conservation”.
Turkey has offered condolences for the first time for the mass killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule during WWI.
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s condolences came on the eve of the 99th anniversary of the mass deportation of Armenians in 1915.
Turkey denies Armenian claims that up to 1.5 million people were killed and that it constituted an act of genocide.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the events of 1915 had “inhumane consequences”, and expressed hope that those who died were at peace.
Turkey maintains that many of the dead were killed in clashes during World War I, and that ethnic Turks also suffered in the conflict.
The exact nature of what happened remains highly contentious and has continued to sour relations between Turkey and Armenia.
In his message, Recep Tayyip Erdogan stopped short of using the term “genocide” to describe the mass killings.
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has offered condolences for the first time for the mass killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule during WWI
The prime minister struck a conciliatory tone in his statement on Wednesday, in which he offered Turkey’s condolences to the grandchildren of Armenians who lost their lives in 1915.
In the statement, which was translated into nine languages including Armenian, Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the events of World War I as “our shared pain”.
“Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences – such as relocation – during the First World War, (it) should not prevent Turks and Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes among towards one another,” he said.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said “millions of people of all religions and ethnicities lost their lives in the First World War”.
But he said it was “inadmissible” for Armenia to use the 1915 events “as an excuse for hostility against Turkey” and to turn the issue “into a matter of political conflict”.
It is the first time a Turkish leader has formally offered condolences for the mass killings.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan also repeated calls to set up a joint historical commission into the events surrounding the killings – a request that has so far been denied by the Armenian authorities.
There has been a slight thaw in relations between Turkey and Armenia in recent years.
The governments of Turkey and Armenia agreed to normalize relations in October 2009, but peace efforts have since stalled and the border remains shut.
Last year, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the 1915-16 events a “mistake” during Turkey’s first high-level visit to Armenia in almost five years.
Armenia says up to 1.5 million people died in 1915-1916 as the Ottoman empire split. Turkey has said the number of deaths was much smaller.
The killings are regarded as the seminal event of modern Armenian history, uniting one of the world’s most dispersed peoples.
Among the other states which formally recognize them as genocide are Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Russia and Uruguay. The UK, US, Israel and others use different terminology.
Armenians mark the date of April 24, 1915, as the start of what they regard as the genocide.
GM has asked a US court to bar some lawsuits relating to its recall over faulty ignition switches.
The faulty switches could turn off the engine, disabling the airbags and have been linked to at least a dozen deaths.
The recall was issued earlier this year but GM has admitted some employees knew about the problem as early as 2004.
General Motors has asked the court to ban cases “alleging purely economic damages” due to the recall. It does not affect cases relating to accidents or injury.
The company has been hit by various lawsuits since the recalls began this year.
GM has asked a US court to bar some lawsuits relating to its recall over faulty ignition switches
“The lawsuits that are the subject of this motion, most of which purport to be class actions, are brought by or on behalf of individuals who were not injured as the result of any failure of the ignition switch,” the carmaker said.
GM has so far recalled nearly 2.6 million cars over the issue.
However, it has claimed that the problem affects cars that were manufactured in the years preceding its bankruptcy and subsequent bailout by the US government in 2009.
It said the “new GM” – referring to the post bailout firm – had committed to replacing the defective ignition switches as a result of the recall.
“New GM’s recall covenant does not create a basis for the plaintiffs to sue new GM for economic damages relating to a vehicle or part sold by old GM,” the company was quoted as saying in its filing by the Reuters news agency.
However, the company acknowledged in a statement that “it has civic and legal obligations relating to injuries that may relate to recalled vehicles”, and that it was looking at what options may be available to it to deal with those obligations.
Some of those suing the carmaker have alleged the firm hid the information about the problem from the US government while it was being bailed out.
They claim that as result of concealing this information GM was not entitled to protection from liability arising from the issue.
“GM’s argument suggests that the US Government would have agreed to extend $40bn of taxpayer money for GM’s restructuring, and supported shielding it from liability through the sale order, had it known of GM’s intentional misconduct,” Reuters quoted the plaintiffs as saying in their lawsuit.
GM is already facing an inquiry from US authorities over its handling of the issue.
Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have announced a reconciliation deal.
The rival factions said they will seek to form a unity government in the coming weeks.
The move comes as the peace talks between President Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel near collapse.
Hamas and Fatah split violently in 2007. Previous reconciliation agreements have never been implemented.
Israel’s prime minister said Mahmoud Abbas would have to choose between peace with Israel and peace with Hamas.
“You can have one but not the other. I hope he chooses peace; so far he hasn’t done so,” warned Benjamin Netanyahu.
Palestinian officials responded by saying reconciliation is an internal matter and uniting Palestinian people would reinforce peace.
Fatah and Hamas have announced reconciliation deal (photo Reuters)
Mahmoud Abbas sent a delegation from his Fatah party to Gaza for reconciliation talks earlier this week.
Wednesday’s announcement was made at a news conference by representatives of Fatah and Hamas, an Islamist group designated a terrorist organization by Israel, the US and the EU.
The factions said they planned to form an interim unity government – headed by Mahmoud Abbas – within five weeks and hold parliamentary elections within six months.
“This is the good news we tell our people,” Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of the Hamas-led government in Gaza, told reporters.
“The era of division is over.”
The news brought thousands of Palestinians out on to the streets of Gaza City in celebration.
Ordinary Palestinians have long hoped for an end to the split between their political leaders but previous reconciliation deals in Doha and Cairo were never implemented.
The agreement will strengthen the position of Mahmoud Abbas – whose Fatah movement dominates the Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the West Bank – and should also make Hamas feel less isolated as it continues to face border restrictions imposed by Israel and Egypt.
The two factions have been at odds since Hamas, which won parliamentary elections in 2006, ousted forces loyal to Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah in Gaza during clashes in 2007 and set up a rival government.
Shortly after Wednesday’s reconciliation deal was announced, five people were injured in an Israeli air strike in northern Gaza, Palestinian medics said.
NYPD’s plan to use Twitter to boost its image seems to have backfired.
In a tweet, the NYPD asked Twitter users to share pictures of them posing with a police officer with the hashtag “myNYPD” as part of a social media campaign.
But instead of a steady stream of friendly photos, the hashtag was quickly adopted by users posting images of possible police aggression.
The NYPD said: “Twitter provides an open forum for uncensored exchange.”
The original tweet was posted on the NYPD’s Twitter feed on Tuesday. Featuring two smiling officers and a member of the public, it encouraged users to send in similar photos.
NYPD’s plan to use Twitter to boost its image seems to have backfired (photo AP)
But while several people did so, the hashtag was also picked up by others who used it to identify tweets containing photos of the NYPD in more hostile situations.
By Wednesday, the hashtag had become one of Twitter’s top trending terms.
One photo showed a man being pushed down on to a car bonnet. It was from March 2013 and followed protests in Brooklyn over the death of 16-year-old Kimani Gray who was shot by police.
The protest group Occupy Wall Street tweeted an image of an NYPD police officer advancing towards a crowd with a baton raised.
Many of the photos appeared to be taken by professional photographers at incidents in New York City rather than users’ own images.
One from the Associated Press showing a man being held down on the floor by two officers appeared in several tweets.
The NYPD issued a statement on Tuesday evening in response to the activity: “The NYPD is creating new ways to communicate effectively with the community. Twitter provides an open forum for an uncensored exchange and this is an open dialogue good for our city.”
Other Twitter interactions that have backfired include McDonald’s using a hashtag to highlight its farmers that quickly got taken over by people sharing their bad experiences of the burger chain.
SABC, South Africa’s public broadcaster, refused to broadcast a campaign ad from the Economic Freedom Front (EFF) as it incited violence.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) denied that the advert was banned because it came from the EFF.
EFF’s election ad calls for people to “destroy e-Tolls”, a controversial new road tolling system.
The EFF, set up by ex-ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema, is contesting an election for the first time next month.
Julius Malema likened the SABC’s actions to those used by the apartheid government, which censored messages with anti-government sentiment
“Once you suppress the people contesting elections it means you not ready to give us free and fair elections because unfair coverage leads to unfair elections,” Julius Malema told reporters in Johannesburg.
However, SABC spokesman Kaiser Kganyago said it was to do with regulations, not politics.
SABC refused to broadcast a campaign ad from the Julius Malema’s EFF as it incited violence (photo SABC)
“They submitted it, we looked at it, and we found that we couldn’t put it on air,” the South African Press Association news agency quotes him as saying.
“The EFF, like any other political party, signed the code of conduct with the IEC [Independent Election Commission] that says it will not incite violence…. [the advert] goes against the code.”
The SABC has reportedly written to the EFF telling them to amend the advert, but the party has refused to do so.
Earlier this month, the SABC also rejected an ad from the Democratic Alliance (DA), the country’s main opposition party, saying it used language that promoted violence and amounted to a “personal attack” against President Jacob Zuma.
However, the ad was eventually aired after the Independent Communications Authority of SA’s (ICASA) complaints and compliance committee ruled in the party’s favor.
EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlovu said their party had also lodged an ICASA complaint.
The ad, which has been posted on YouTube, starts with a widow of one of the striking miners killed by police in August 2012 in what is called the Marikana massacre.
It is followed by a message from Julius Malema asking South Africans to vote against the “empty promises of the last 20 years”, then several slogans appear across the screen, one of which says: “Destroy e-tolls physically!”
Julius Malema was once a close ally of Jacob Zuma but was expelled from the governing African National Congress (ANC) in 2012 for sowing divisions in the party.
Opposition parties have in the past accused the SABC of a bias towards the ANC and censoring messages, which the broadcaster denied.
However, the refusal by the SABC to air these adverts plays into that perception.
After a hotly contested election campaign, South Africans go to the polls on May 7.
Four more crew members from Sewol ferry that sank last week have been arrested by the South Korean authorities, bringing the total number detained to 11.
Police have also raided offices of companies linked to the ferry’s owners.
Search teams are continuing to recover bodies from the submerged hull of the passenger ferry.
One survivor has described taking the agonizing decision to save himself as the ship capsized and water washed away students he was trying to rescue.
The number of people known to have died in the accident has reached 150, with another 152 still missing, most of them teenage children from a single school in Ansan, outside the capital Seoul.
An emotional memorial service took place near the school on Wednesday, with friends and family members laying flowers in front of photographs of some of those who died.
The government is under strong public pressure to find out why the ferry capsized.
Four more crew members from Sewol ferry have been arrested, bringing the total number detained to 11 (photo EPA)
Twenty-two of the 29 members of the ferry’s crew survived and prosecutors say the 11 arrested were on the bridge when the ship listed and sank within two hours of distress signals being sent.
Companies associated with Incheon-based Chonghaejin Marine Company, which owned the 6,825-tonne Sewol ferry, have also been raided by police as part of the investigation.
Authorities have issued 30-day travel bans to more than 70 executives connected with Chonghaejin and its affiliates while they are investigated on possible charges ranging from criminal negligence to embezzlement.
“We will also make efforts to retrieve profits made out of criminal acts and track down hidden assets to support financial compensations for [potential] lawsuits by families of the victims and the missing,” a prosecutor told AFP.
Survivors have spoken of the struggle to save the hundreds of passengers trapped below the tilting decks as cargo containers toppled into the sea.
Reports suggest that passengers were told to remain in their rooms and cabins as the ship listed, amid confusion on the bridge over whether to order them to abandon ship.
The first distress call from the sinking ferry was made from a mobile phone by a boy with a shaking voice, officials told Reuters.
His plea for help was followed by about 20 other emergency calls from children on board the ship.
A crew member quoted by local media said that attempts to launch lifeboats were unsuccessful because the ship was listing too severely. Only two of the vessel’s 46 lifeboats were reported to have been deployed.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye has condemned the conduct of some of the crew, calling it “akin to murder”.
Australian authorities are examining material washed ashore to determine if it is related to missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
The debris was found by a member of the public near the town of Augusta, some 190 miles south of Perth.
Images of the debris have been sent to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), which is now investigating.
“It’s sufficiently interesting for us to take a look,” an ATSB chief Martin Dolan told CNN.
Martin Dolan said the debris looked like sheet metal with rivets in it, but added: “The more we look at it, the less excited we get.”
The ATSB confirmed it was examining the photographs “to determine whether further physical analysis is required and if there is any relevance to the search of missing flight MH370”.
The images have also been sent to authorities in Malaysia and the ATSB is expected to collect the material later on Wednesday.
The material was metallic and about 8ft long, ABC News reported.
The debris was found by a member of the public near the town of Augusta, some 190 miles south of Perth
The Malaysia Airlines aircraft was carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it disappeared in March.
Malaysia is running the investigation into the plane’s disappearance, but search efforts are being led by Australia’s Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre (JACC).
For the past two days, bad weather has prevented planes from taking part in the search about 990 miles north-west of Perth.
The US Navy Bluefin-21 mini-submarine scanning the ocean bed has covered more than 80% of a120 sq mile search area in the southern Indian Ocean, without finding any sign of debris in water.
Up to 10 military aircraft and 12 ships are currently taking part in the hunt. The daily operation, involving some two dozen nations, is already shaping up to be the most expensive in aviation history.
Australia said on Wednesday that it would not abandon the hunt, insisting that the cost of the operation was not a concern.
Australian PM Tony Abbott said if the current underwater search was unsuccessful, a new strategy would begin.
Defense Minister David Johnston has said that sophisticated sonar equipment will probably be used in the next stage.
“The next phase, I think, is that we step up with potentially a more powerful, more capable side-scan sonar to do deeper water,” David Johnston said.
Tony Abbott said the probable impact zone of the airliner was in an area of the sea floor 430 miles long and 50 miles wide.
In a separate development, Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that his country’s cabinet had approved the formation of an international investigation team to find out what happened to the missing plane.
“The main purpose of the team is to evaluate, investigate and determine the actual cause of the accident so similar accidents could be avoided in the future,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
Australia says that it is now consulting with Malaysia, China and the US on the next phase of the search, which is likely to be announced next week.
Tony Abbott said a new search strategy would be put into action if nothing was found in the current seabed search.
“If at the end of that period we find nothing, we are not going to abandon the search, we may well rethink the search, but we will not rest until we have done everything we can to solve this mystery,” he said.
“We owe it to the families of the 239 people on board, we owe it to the hundreds of millions – indeed billions – of people who travel by air to try to get to the bottom of this.”
“The only way we can get to the bottom of this is to keep searching the probable impact zone until we find something or until we have searched it as thoroughly as human ingenuity allows at this time,” Tony Abbott said.
Lorde has decided to postpone her Australian tour after doctors advised her to rest immediately.
Lorde, 17, said in a statement: “It breaks my heart to have to postpone these shows as the band and I absolutely love playing to Australian crowds, and it was not a decision we made lightly.
“I know I need to focus on getting better in order to perform at my best.
“We’ll be with you as soon as we can, Aussies.”
Lorde has decided to postpone her Australian tour after doctors advised her to rest immediately
The New Zealander singer, whose real name is Ella Yelich-O’Connor, told her 1.5 million followers on Twitter that she had a “nasty chest infection and general ill health”.
Lorde also posted messages on the social network revealing her parents and team had told her to take a break after she worked “non-stop” in 2014.
“I just need time to get back to full gollum girl fitness before i go out playing shows again,” she added.
Lorde has been touring North and South America over the past few months and played at Coachella over the Easter weekend.
She was due to start her seven-date Australian tour in Melbourne on Thursday and said she expected to reschedule the gigs for November.
Lorde’s breakthrough hit Royals was number one on music charts around the world in 2013 and she won Grammys for song of the year and best pop solo performance in January.
Last month Lorde’s debut album Pure Heroine broke the million sales mark.
Chris Brown’s assault trial, which had been set for Monday, is set to resume on Wednesday.
Chris Brown and his bodyguard Christopher Hollosy were arrested in October after a man accused them of punching him outside a Washington hotel.
The trial was delayed on Monday while lawyers work out issues over a testimony from Christopher Hollosy, who was convicted of assault in a separate trial.
The bodyguard told police he punched the man first.
But court documents describe events differently, claiming Chris Brown punched the man first when he tried to get in a picture the singer was having taken with two women.
The papers also say the man was treated for a fractured nose and injuries to his face and head.
Judge Patricia Wynn set Christopher Hollosy’s sentencing for June 25.
Chris Brown and his bodyguard Christopher Hollosy were arrested in October after a man accused them of punching him outside a Washington hotel (photo Getty Images)
Chris Brown’s lawyers now want him to testify at the singer’s trial.
Christopher Hollosy would be expected to say that he, not Chris Brown, punched the man outside the W Hotel.
However, Christopher Hollosy’s lawyer, Bernard Grimm, told a judge he planned to appeal against his client’s conviction.
Unless prosecutors grant Christopher Hollosy immunity, testifying in Chris Brown’s case could affect his appeal.
Prosecutors haven’t said if they will grant Christopher Hollosy immunity and have previously said waiting until his appeal is over could take a year.
Chris Brown’s attorney Mark Geragos said outside court that he wanted to move forward.
“I don’t think that there’s any doubt Chris Brown is not guilty,” he said.
But Mark Geragos also said Christopher Hollosy’s testimony was crucial to Chris Brown’s case.
He said prosecutors have a “duty to fairly treat a defendant and to extend immunity in certain situations”.
“It’s going to be our argument that this is one of those situations,” he added.
Mark Geragos said he expected Chris Brown’s trial, when it does start, to last no longer than two days.
Chris Brown was on probation in California for an attack in 2009 on his then-girlfriend Rihanna when it’s claimed the assault took place.
Soon after his arrest in Washington Chris Brown entered rehab for anger management treatment, but he was jailed in mid-March after violating the treatment facility’s rules.
If convicted in the Washington case, Chris Brown could face jail time under the terms of a court order in the Rihanna case.
President Barack Obama arrives in Japan on Wednesday ahead of stops in three other Asian nations.
Barack Obama is not going to Beijing, but relations with China are expected to dominate his meetings with regional leaders.
The US president’s trip – April 23-29 – comes nearly seven months after he cancelled a visit to the region due to a government shutdown.
Stops include a private dinner with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, as well as bilateral meetings with the South Korean, Malaysian and Philippine leaders.
President Barack Obama arrives in Japan on Wednesday ahead of stops in three other Asian nations
Ties between Tokyo and Beijing will be high on the agenda when Barack Obama touches down in Japan.
Relations are severely strained over a raft of issues, including East China Sea islands – called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China – that both claim.
Japan controls the islands but Chinese ships have sailed repeatedly in and out of what Japan says are its territorial waters as Beijing presses its claim. Last year, China declared an air defense identification zone over the islands, drawing widespread criticism.
Japan depends on the US for its security, under a decades-old alliance that dates back to the end of World War Two.
The US, however, is keen for Japan to take on greater responsibility for its own security – an area where Barack Obama and Shinzo Abe are likely to be in general agreement.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade deal which requires each country to strike an agreement with other prospective members.
A rift between Japan and the US over agriculture product tariffs has proven a major sticking point.
Barack Obama is also expected to have to balance bolstering US ties with each Asian ally with improving communication among them, particularly between South Korea and Japan.
The two Asian nations are at odds over a separate set of disputed islands, as well as historical issues linked to Japan’s war history.
Led Zeppelin has unleashed two previously unheard recordings ahead of the reissue of the band’s first three albums in June.
The two tracks – blues classic Keys to the Highway, recorded in 1970, and an early version of the famous song Whole Lotta Love – are among dozens of tracks which the band will officially release alongside the reissues.
The companion discs will feature alternative versions of songs, works in progress and live performances, all recorded at the time of the original albums.
The tracks, like hundreds of others, had been carefully catalogued but then locked away in Led Zeppelin’s archive for decades.
Guitarist Jimmy Page, 70, has spent two-and-a-half years combing through the vaults, listening to hundreds of quarter-inch tapes before choosing the best material.
“I don’t want to die and have somebody else do it,” he says.
Led Zeppelin has unleashed two previously unheard recordings ahead of the reissue of the band’s first three albums in June
“I’m authoritative about what was done in the first place.”
Jimmy Page says the new material “deserves to be heard” because “it’s performance art”.
It will give fans the first chance to eavesdrop on some of the band’s key recording sessions.
Keys to the Highway/Trouble in Mind, to appear on Led Zeppelin III, was recorded in 1970 at the Olympic Studios in Barnes in south-west London, about half an hour after Hats Off to (Roy) Harper. But it was never released.
“It was a particularly prolific time, where we were learning about each other’s capabilities,” says singer Robert Plant.
“Jimmy and I were just fooling around with the stuff that we would play at home. We were just trying things out. Nothing was premeditated.”
Led Zeppelin II features an early version of Whole Lotta Love, which many consider to be one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll songs of all time.
There are significant differences between the two tracks. The original is missing the first chorus and middle section. New vocals appear on the finished version, as well as a slide guitar.
“You realize just how important all of those additional layers and the filigree work is,” says Jimmy Page.
“There’s all manner of bells and whistles to make it the song Whole Lotta Love as we all know it.”
Jimmy Page says it’s “reassuring” revisiting the songs after all this time.
“It’s undeniable that we’re good,” he adds.
“The band was the real deal.”
But the inevitable passage of time has given Robert Plant, who is now 65, a different perspective.
“My enthusiasm sometimes got in the way of finesse. I listen to it and go, wow, why didn’t I shut up a bit?” he laughs.
“I kind of overcooked it.”
Jimmy Page promises “lots of surprises” on the three reissues, which are part of a plan to reissue all nine of the band’s studio albums in chronological order.
But he has scotched rumors that there will be versions of songs featuring bass and keyboard player John Paul Jones on vocals.
For a band that broke up in 1980, following the death of the drummer John Bonham, interest in Led Zeppelin remains intense.
The surviving members reunited seven years ago for a concert at London’s O2. But fans will be disappointed if they are hoping there will be another one.
Police and protesters clashed in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro following the death of a young man allegedly beaten by police.
Violent protests broke out in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday after the body of a 25-year-old man, Douglas Rafael da Silva Pereira, was found in the Pavao-Pavaozinho favela near the Copacabana beach.
Douglas Rafael da Silva Pereira regularly appeared on Brazil’s largest TV network, Globo.
Main streets through the tourist area of Copacabana were closed as angry demonstrators from a nearby favela set barricades of tires alight.
The unrest started after a dancer was killed by police who reportedly mistook him for a drug trafficker.
It comes less than two months before Brazil hosts the football World Cup.
Police and protesters clashed in Rio de Janeiro following the death of Douglas Rafael da Silva Pereira (photo Reuters)
One man was shot dead during the violence on Tuesday night, local media quoted officials as saying. A 12-year-old boy was also reportedly wounded.
Witnesses said cars were set ablaze, a police station was attacked and gunfire could be heard from the Pavao-Pavaozinho favela.
Douglas Rafael da Silva, a professional dancer, was reportedly found dead inside a school earlier on Tuesday.
According to his family, his body was covered in wounds and they accused local police of beating him to death after mistaking him for a member of a local drugs gang.
The circumstances surrounding his death are under investigation, AFP news agency quoted police as saying.
“An on-site report indicates Douglas’s injuries are compatible with a death caused by a fall,” the police statement said.
Amnesty International says some 2,000 people die every year in Brazil due to police violence.
Huge crowds, demanding an explanation for the death, gathered near the entrance to the favela, which is just a few streets away from Rio’s famous beaches and tourist hot-spots.
Pavao-Pavaozinho is one of several Rio favelas or slums that have been part of the recent “pacification” program.
It is an attempt by the city authorities to drive the heavily armed drugs gangs away from the communities and to restore some peace and police authority ahead of the football World Cup in June and July.
World Cup 2014 will begin in Sao Paulo on June 12 and will end with the final in Rio’s famous Maracana stadium on July 13.
Justin Bieber is seeking a delay in his Florida trial scheduled to begin next month on charges of DUI, resisting arrest and driving with an expired license.
His lawyers filed a motion Monday saying they need more time to prepare their case.
Justin Bieber is seeking a delay in his Florida trial scheduled to begin next month
Justin Bieber’s trial is currently set for May 5 in Miami.
The motion says prosecutors do not oppose a delay. A scheduling hearing is set for Wednesday.
Justin Bieber, 20, was arrested January 23 in Miami Beach after what police described as an illegal street drag race. The singer was not charged with drag racing.
Ellen DeGeneres is joining HGTV with a six-episode competition series, Scripps announced at its upfront presentation on Tuesday.
Ellen’s Design Challenge will feature six competitors as they tackle challenges to sketch, design and build furniture in just 24 hours. Throughout the series, the contestants must showcase their creativity and versatility to impress a panel of judges. The last one standing will win a cash prize.
Ellen DeGeneres is joining HGTV with a six-episode competition series (photo Ellen)
“I’m so excited about this show because I love finding really special pieces of furniture,” Ellen DeGeneres said.
“One time I found a beautiful one-of-a-kind armoire that spoke to me in a way I’d never experienced. It turned out there was a drifter living inside of it, but that’s a story for another time.”
Ellen’s Design Challenge, which will be produced by Ellen’s production company, A Very Good Production, and A. Smith & Co. with Telepictures is scheduled to premiere in 2015.
John Turturro will replace Robert De Niro in the HBO miniseries Criminal Justice, which was to have starred James Gandolfini.
Robert De Niro replaced James Gandolfini on the drama after the Sopranos veteran’s sudden death in Rome last June.
The seven-part miniseries was thrown briefly into limbo by James Gandolfini’s death, and Robert De Niro would have been one of the most celebrated film actors to turn his attention to the small screen.
John Turturro will replace Robert De Niro in the HBO miniseries Criminal Justice, which was to have starred James Gandolfini
No one has seen Robert De Niro or James Gandolfini in the role – HBO will not air the pilot that was shot with Gandolfini – but audiences will no doubt imagine how the character might have been different as interpreted by the other men.
John Turturro stars in the new film Fading Gigolo, in which he directed a cast that includes himself and Woody Allen.
Criminal Justice is co-written and executive produced by Richard Price and Steven Zaillan. It is based on the BBC series of the same name.
James Gandolfini, who was among Criminal Justice‘s executive producers, will remain posthumously as an executive producer.
Ukraine’s acting President Oleksandr Turchynov has re-launched military operations against pro-Russian militants in the east after two men, one a local politician, were found “tortured to death”.
Oleksandr Turchynov said the politician, named as Vladimir Rybak, was found near rebel-held Sloviansk.
“The terrorists who effectively took the whole Donetsk region hostage have now gone too far,” he said.
The move came as US Vice-President Joe Biden was visiting Ukraine.
Ukraine has re-launched military operations against pro-Russian militants in the east after two men were found tortured to death
After meeting Ukrainian leaders in Kiev, Joe Biden called on Russia to “stop talking and start acting” to defuse the Ukraine crisis.
The US and the West accuse Russia of using undercover military to back separatists in eastern Ukraine, where public buildings are occupied in at least nine cities and towns. Russia denies this.
Joe Biden warned Russia that further “provocative behavior” would lead to “greater isolation” and urged Moscow to end its alleged support for pro-Russian militants.
In remarks to Ukrainian parliament, Joe Biden said the US stood with Ukraine’s new leaders against “humiliating threats” – an apparent reference to Russia.
The vice-president called on Moscow to urge the pro-Russian separatists to leave the buildings they are occupying and to abandon checkpoints.
The US is to provide an additional $50 million for political and economic reforms in Ukraine, including $11 million to help run the presidential election due on May 25.
Announcing the decision to resume the military operation Oleksandr Turchynov said in a statement: “I call on the security bodies to resume and carry out successful anti-terrorist measures aimed at defending Ukrainian citizens living in the east of Ukraine against terrorists.”
Vladimir Rybak, whose body was found on Tuesday, was described as a local councilor for the Fatherland party in the nearby town of Horlivka. The other man killed has not yet been publicly identified.
“These crimes are being committed with the full support and connivance of the Russian Federation,” Oleksandr Turchynov said.
The military operation to end the occupation of buildings began on April 16 but was suspended over the Easter period.
Separately, a Ukrainian military surveillance plane was hit by small arms fire over eastern Ukraine, the defense ministry said.
The aircraft, an Antonov AN-30, suffered minor damage over Sloviansk when it was targeted by automatic gunfire, according to the ministry. No-one was hurt and the plane returned safely to Kiev.
Pavel Durov, the founder of Russia’s most popular social network site VKontakte, says he has been fired and that allies of President Vladimir Putin have taken over his site.
Pavel Durov who ran VKontakte had previously announced he was leaving the company but said he had withdrawn his resignation.
The company denied it had been withdrawn.
Pavel Durov had previously refused requests from the Russian government to censor posts on his site.
In a statement Pavel Durov said that he only found out about the loss of his job from press reports: “Today I was fired as general director of VKontakte. It’s interesting that the shareholders didn’t have the bravery to do this directly, and that I learned about my firing from the press.
Pavel Durov had previously announced he was leaving VKontakte but said he had withdrawn his resignation
“Today VKontakte goes under the complete control of Igor Sechin and Alisher Usmanov. Probably, in the Russian context, something like this was inevitable, but I’m happy we lasted seven and a half years. We did a lot. And part of what’s been done can’t be turned back.”
Igor Sechin is the chief executive of state-owned oil company Rosneft and was Vladimir Putin’s former deputy chief of staff.
Alisher Usmanov, who is the richest man in Russia according to Forbes, made his money in iron ore and steel and until recently held a stake in Facebook. He has a large shareholding in VKontakte via his internet company Mail.ru.
Pavel Durov announced his resignation publicly on April 1st but two days later said it was an April Fool’s joke.
The Russian news agency Interfax reported that Vkontakte said they had acted on Pavel Durov’s resignation letter of March 21 as he had not withdrawn it officially within an allowed one-month grace period.
In an interview with news website TechCrunch, Pavel Durov said he was no longer in Russia and had no plans to return.
“Unfortunately, the country is now incompatible with internet business at the moment.
“I’m afraid there is no going back [to the company], not after I publicly refused to co-operate with the authorities. They can’t stand me,” he said.
VKontakte has more than 100 million users and had been subject to several government requests for information.
Pavel Durov had been asked by the Russian authorities to hand over the details of Ukrainians who had used the site to create groups related to anti-government protests. He was also asked to close down a group that supported Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
He refused the request and said he sold his shares in the company so that he could continue “to make the right decisions”.
“I have a clean conscience and ideals that I am willing to defend,” Pavel Durov said in a post at the time.
Reports suggest that a replacement for Pavel Durov will be elected at the next VKontakte board meeting.
The family of South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius has denied he took acting lessons ahead of his testimony in the trial of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
In a statement, they say claims Oscar Pistorius had received coaching for his emotional performance were “devoid of the truth”.
Oscar Pistorius, 27, has broken down on several occasions during the trial, often disrupting proceedings.
He denies intentionally killing Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day last year.
Oscar Pistorius says he fired four shots through a locked toilet door out of fear, believing there was a burglar inside.
Oscar Pistorius has broken down on several occasions during the trial
But the prosecution says the 29-year-old model and law graduate was deliberately killed after the couple had an argument.
South African columnist Jani Allan claimed Oscar Pistorius took acting lessons ahead of his trial in an open letter to the athlete last week, saying she had heard it “from a reliable source”.
“Oscar, you are the latest in a long line of faux heroes. Like so many who preceded you, you have betrayed your people and disappointed your fans,” Jani Allan wrote.
Oscar Pistorius’ family said they felt compelled to deny the claims after they were widely circulated in the media.
In a statement on the athlete’s website, spokeswoman Anneliese Burgess said Jani Allan had never met Oscar Pistorius and that any knowledge she had of him was “fictitious”.
“This type of comment makes a mockery of the enormous human tragedy involving the Steenkamp family and our client and his family,” it adds.
The allegations followed seven days of emotional testimony from Oscar Pistorius, who at times broke down in court and vomited when evidence from the post-mortem examination was presented to court.
Oscar Pistorius trial has been adjourned over the Easter period and will resume on May 5.
Hitachi has announced it will install an elevator capable of reaching speeds of 45mph (72km/h) into a skyscraper in Guangzhou, southern China.
The world’s fastest elevator would take 43 seconds to go from the first to 95th floor in the Guangzhou CTF Financial Centre, the company said.
The skyscraper is scheduled to be completed in 2016.
Currently, the Taipei 101 building in Taiwan holds the record for fastest elevator – it can travel up to 60.6km/h.
Hitachi promised a “comfortable ride” even at high speeds in the new elevator.
The world’s fastest elevator would take 43 seconds to go from the first to 95th floor in the Guangzhou CTF Financial Centre
The elevators would prevent ear blockages, Hitachi said, by artificially altering air pressure in the car.
Hitachi said guiding “rollers” that adapted to warping caused by wind pressure would mean the ride remained smooth.
And brakes able to resist extreme heat would activate in the “unlikely” event of a malfunction.
The building will have in total 95 elevators, two of which will be operate at the ultra-high speed.
Twenty-eight “double-decker” elevators will also be installed into the building.
The Guangzhou CTF Financial Centre will house office, hotel and residential space.
If the Hitachi elevator performs as well as the company has said, it will comfortably top the global chart for fastest elevator.
Today’s record is held in Taiwan, where passengers in the Taipei 101 building are flung from the fifth to the 89th floor in 37 seconds, a speed of 1,010m (3,313ft) per minute.
The Yokohama Landmark Tower in Japan moves its passengers at 750m per minute, while the world’s tallest building, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, has a lift that moves at 600m per minute.
London’s Shard, the tallest building in Western Europe, has elevators that move at 360m per minute.
An Irish-UK scientific team managed to make “supermaterial” graphene using a kitchen blender.
Graphene is thin, strong, flexible and electrically conductive, and has the potential to transform electronics as well as other technologies.
The research team poured graphite powder (used in pencil leads) into a blender, then added water and dishwashing liquid, mixing at high speed.
The results are reported in the journal Nature Materials.
Because of its potential uses in industry, a number of researchers have been searching for ways to make defect-free graphene in large amounts.
An Irish-UK scientific team managed to make “supermaterial” graphene using a kitchen blender
The material comprises a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb structure. Graphite is effectively made up of many layers of graphene stacked on top of one another.
Jonathan Coleman from Trinity College Dublin and colleagues tested out a variety of laboratory mixers as well as kitchen blenders as potential tools for manufacturing the wonder material.
They showed that the shearing force generated by a rapidly rotating tool in solution was sufficiently intense to separate the layers of graphene that make up graphite flakes without damaging their two-dimensional structure.
However, it’s not advisable to try this at home. The precise amount of dishwashing fluid that’s required is dependent on a number of different factors and the black solution containing graphene would need to be separated afterwards.
However, the researchers said their work “provides a significant step” towards deploying graphene in a variety of commercial applications.
In addition to its potential uses in electronics, graphene might have applications in water treatment or oil spill clean-up.
Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg will work together for a fourth time on a new Cold War thriller.
The untitled DreamWorks film is being produced by Steven Spielberg who is also said to be considering a directing role, according to Variety.
Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have previously teamed up for Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me if You Can and The Terminal.
Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg will work together for a fourth time on a new Cold War thriller
The new project is about real-life US lawyer James Donovan, who was enlisted by the CIA during the Cold War.
Tom Hanks will play James Donovan, who had to negotiate the release of a pilot captured when his U2 spy plane was shot down over Russia.
DreamWorks has declined to comment, but the film is thought to be one of several directing projects being considered by Steven Spielberg, who is already producing the film along with Marc Platt.
Other possibilities are Robopocalypse and the historical drama Montezuma, from American Gangster and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo writer Steve Zaillian.
Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22 with worldwide events to demonstrate support for environmental protection.
It was first celebrated in 1970, and is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and celebrated in more than 192 countries each year.
A major catalyst for Earth Day was the New York Times best-seller Silent Spring, published in 1962 by marine biologist and conservationist Rachel Carson. Prior to Silent Spring, environmental issues – and their effect on our health – weren’t on the public’s radar. The book went on to sell more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries and has been heralded as the “watershed moment for the modern environmental movement”.
Gaylord Nelson, a US Senator from Wisconsin, came up with the idea of Earth Day after witnessing the massive 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Gaylord Nelson modeled his idea for an environmental movement after the student anti-war demonstrations across the country, realizing that if the public became passionate about the issues and banded together to demand change, the government would eventually listen.
The date Gaylord Nelson chose for Earth Day – April 22 – was a strategic scheduling move. Since he realized college students would be the majority – and the most passionate – of the participants, Gaylord Nelson decided the date was ideal for most college schedules, falling midway between spring break and final exams.
Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22 with worldwide events to demonstrate support for environmental protection
After recruiting conservation-minded Republican Congressman Pete McCloskey to serve as his co-chair, Gaylord Nelson presented his Earth Day idea to the media, calling it a “national teach-in on the environment”. His team promoted events nationwide. As a result, 20 million Americans attended coast-to-coast rallies, calling for a healthy, sustainable environment on April 22, 1970.
Gaylord Nelson’s theory that Earth Day would get the government to listen proved correct. The event not only led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency but also to the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts. Talk about accomplishing a lot in one day.
While Earth Day is most often associated with April 22, there are technically two celebration dates.
John McConnell, a newspaper publisher and community activist, suggested an annual observance of our shared responsibility to care for the Earth that would coincide with the Vernal Equinox. In 1971, the United Nations signed a declaration establishing February 26 as the International Earth Day. The ringing of the UN Peace Bell at the UN headquarters in New York City continues to commemorate International Earth Day every year on the first day of spring.
In honor of Earth Day’s 20th Anniversary on April 22, 1990, the movement sought to boost its outreach goals. The day was celebrated globally rather than only in the U.S., and focused on increasing worldwide recycling initiatives. Earth Day’s global presence soon prompted the United Nations Earth Summit, held in 1992 – the first gathering of world leaders to create a global plan for sustainable development.
To mark Earth Day’s 25th anniversary, President Bill Clinton awarded Senator Gaylord Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the highest honor given to US civilians.
Gaylord Nelson shared his reflections on the past 25 years, saying: “There has been a sea change in the degree of environmentally educated people in our society. They, in the end, will make the difference.”
With the new millennium came a renewed energy for Earth Day. The 30th anniversary was dedicated to raising awareness about clean energy, with activities that ranged from a traveling drum chain in Gabon, Africa, to hundreds of thousands gathering at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
According to the Earth Day Network, 1 billion people participate in Earth Day events, making it the largest secular civic event in the world. This year’s theme, Green Cities, is inspired by the trend of the world’s population moves into cities. It is intended to motivate the public and city-planning officials to create and further support sustainable urban projects.
Other holidays include food traditions, why shouldn’t Earth Day have a celebratory meal too? In 2003, Earth Dinner was created as an opportunity to gather ’round the table with family and friends on Earth Day for a healthy meal (think local, organic and seasonal) and some talk about ways to reduce, reuse, recycle and conserve.
Celebrating Earth Day can be as simple as carpooling to work for the day or maybe just sporting the official 2014 Earth Day Tee.
