A stampede among jobseekers taking a recruitment test in the national stadium in Nigeria’s capital Abuja has left at least seven people dead and many others injured.
A journalist for AFP news agency said he had counted seven corpses.
Nigeria stampede among jobseekers taking a recruitment test in the national stadium in Abuja
The stampede came during a recruitment exercise by the immigration department. Tens of thousands had turned up to take the test, according to reports.
There is a high level of unemployment in Nigeria especially among young people. In 2011, it stood at 23.9%.
Survivor Rosemary Ogida told AFP that she could remember being picked up by three men.
“I cannot even imagine the number of people that stamped on me,” she said.
Slovakia’s PM Robert Fico and independent challenger Andrej Kiska will run for a second round of the country’s presidential elections.
In Saturday’s first round, Robert Fico polled 28.2% with Andrej Kiska on 24% on a turnout of 43.4%.
Independent conservative Radoslav Prochazka was third with 20.8%.
As no candidate gained 50% of the votes, a second round run-off will be held in two weeks’ time for the mainly ceremonial post.
Robert Fico’s left-wing Smer party won the parliamentary election in 2012.
The 49-year-old had previously served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010, pursuing an anti-austerity agenda.
Since the 2012 elections Robert Fico’s party has governed alone – the first time since independence that a party secured an absolute majority in the Slovak parliament.
Slovakia’s president has the power to appoint the prime minister, as well as the main figures in the judiciary.
Independent challenger Andrej Kiska and PM Robert Fico will run for a second round of Slovakia’s presidential elections (photo SITA/Jozef Jakubèo)
However, parliament exercises legislative power.
Robert Fico’s bid for the presidency is widely seen as an attempt to make his domination of Slovak politics total.
Outgoing President Ivan Gasparovic was elected for the first of two five-year terms in 2004 as voters united against former PM Vladimir Meciar.
Slovakia adopted the euro in 2009 during Robert Fico’s previous term as prime minister.
The country has since seen significant economic growth.
Past governments had been blamed for privatization scandals and other forms of corruption.
Analysts say challenger Andrej Kiska, a 51-year-old millionaire, is riding a wave of continuing popular anger at allegations of sleaze and distrust in established parties.
Andrej Kiska says he wants to fight corruption and create a more efficient government.
The Kuala Lumpur homes of the two pilots of missing Malaysia Airlines plane that vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board are being searched by police.
Malaysian police are also reportedly looking at the family life and psychological state of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27.
This comes after the authorities said the communications systems of the plane had been deliberately disabled.
The Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight is believed to have then changed course.
According to satellite evidence, the Boeing 777 could have continued flying for a further seven hours after its last radar contact, Malaysian PM Najib Razak said.
He added that the plane could be anywhere from Kazakhstan to the Indian Ocean.
Najib Razak stopped short of saying it was a hijacking, saying only that they were investigating “all possibilities”.
In a separate development, India on Sunday suspended its search for the plane around the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands and also in the Bay of Bengal.
Delhi said it acted at the request of the Malaysian authorities.
China – which had 153 citizens on board flight MH370 – has urged Malaysia to continue providing it with “thorough and exact information” on the search.
The homes of Zaharie Ahmad Shah and Fariq Abdul Hamid were searched on Saturday, a senior police officer familiar with the investigation was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“We are not ruling out any sort of motivation at the moment,” the official said.
Malaysian police are also investigating the family life and psychological state of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid
The authorities have so far released no new details on the pilots’ investigation.
However, nothing has been ruled in or out – so terrorism, piracy or even an elaborate suicide are all options now being considered.
Zaharie Ahmad Shah joined Malaysia Airlines more than 30 years ago, and was considered a very experience pilot.
Fariq Abdul Hamid recently graduated to the cockpit of a Boeing 777. It is believed that he was considering marriage.
It was also reported that Fariq Abdul Hamid had drawn scrutiny after he and another unnamed pilot invited two female passengers to sit in the cockpit during a flight in 2011, according to the Associated Press.
Flight MH370 left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing at 00:40 local time on March 8 and disappeared off air traffic controllers’ screens at about 01:20.
PM Najib Razak told a news conference on Saturday that new satellite evidence shows “with a high degree of certainty” that the one of the aircraft’s communications systems – the Aircraft and Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) – was disabled just before it had reached the east coast of Malaysia.
ACARS is a service that allows computers aboard the plane to “talk” to computers on the ground, relaying in-flight information about the health of its systems.
Shortly afterwards, near the cross-over point between Malaysian and Vietnamese air traffic controllers, the plane’s transponder – which emits an identifying signal – was switched off, he said.
According to a military radar, the aircraft then turned and flew back over Malaysia before heading in a north-west direction.
A satellite was able to pick up a signal from the plane until 08:11 local time – more than seven hours after it lost radar contact – although it was unable to give a precise location, Najib Razak said.
The prime minister went on to say that based on this new data, investigators “have determined the plane’s last communication with a satellite was in one of two possible corridors”: a northern corridor stretching from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan through to northern Thailand and a southern corridor stretching from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean
Investigators will now focus on trying to obtain the radar data from any of the countries the Boeing 777 may have passed over.
This could include Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Pakistan.
Along with the Chinese passengers, there were 38 Malaysians and citizens of Iran, the US, Canada, Indonesia, Australia, India, France, New Zealand, Ukraine, Russia, Taiwan and the Netherlands on board.
People in Ukraine’s region Crimea are voting on whether or not to re-join Russia in a referendum condemned as “illegal” by Kiev and the West but backed by Moscow.
Russian troops have taken de facto control of the majority ethnic-Russian region, and voters are expected to support leaving Ukraine.
Crimean Tatars are boycotting the vote, pledging their allegiance to Kiev.
Russia earlier vetoed a draft UN resolution criticizing the vote – the only Security Council member to do so.
The US-drafted document was supported by 13 Council members. China, regarded as a Russian ally on the issue, abstained from the vote.
The US and EU have warned they would slap further tough sanctions against Russian officials if the referendum goes ahead.
Crimea are voting on whether or not to re-join Russia (photo AFP)
Russia intervened in the Crimean peninsula by seizing control of government buildings and blocking Ukraine’s troops at their bases after the fall of Ukraine’s pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych on February 22.
However, the Kremlin officially denies deploying extra troops there, describing them as Crimea’s “self-defense forces”.
Polling stations across Crimea opened at 08:00 local time and will close 12 hours later.
Voters are being asked whether they would like Crimea to rejoin Russia.
A second question asks whether Ukraine should return to its status under the 1992 constitution, which would give the region much greater autonomy.
Some 1.5 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots, and the first results are expected to be released shortly after the referendum.
Ethnic Russians form a clear majority in the region (58.5%), and many of them are expected to vote for joining Russia.
Paris is introducing alternative driving days in an attempt to tackle dangerous levels of air pollution.
From Monday, drivers will only be able to use their vehicles every other day.
This is only the second time since 1997 that such a restriction has been enforced.
The French government made the decision after air pollution exceeded safe levels for five days running in Paris and surrounding areas.
Motorcycles will also be covered by the ban, which will allow only vehicles with number plates terminating in an uneven digit to take to the roads, beginning at 05:30 on Monday.
On Friday, public transport was made free of charge for three days in an attempt to encourage people to leave their cars at home. This measure will continue on Monday.
Paris is introducing alternative driving days in an attempt to tackle dangerous levels of air pollution
The smoggy conditions have been caused by a combination of cold nights and warm days, which have prevented pollution from dispersing.
The capital’s air quality has been one of the worst on record, French environmental agencies say, rivaling the Chinese capital, Beijing, one of the world’s most polluted cities.
On Friday, pollution levels hit 180 micrograms of PM10 particulates per cubic meter, more than double the safe limit of 80.
PM10 particulates are emitted by vehicles, heating systems and heavy industry.
The French government will review pollution levels on Monday, before deciding whether to extend the driving restrictions for longer.
Radar coverage of the area where Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing is patchy and often not even switched on, according to aviation experts.
During the investigation it has emerged that civilian systems do not cover large swatches of the areas the plane could have gone, and that military systems are often left off to save money.
Air traffic control teams rely transponders signals to track planes – but investigators believe that the device was intentionally switched off on the missing aircraft.
Radar coverage of the area where Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing is patchy and often not even switched on
Military systems, meanwhile, are often limited, switched off, or routinely ignore aircraft they do not think are suspicious.
A Rear Admiral in the Indian armed forces, which are aiding search efforts over the Andaman Islands, said: “It’s possible that the military radars were switched off as we operate on an <<as required>> basis.”
However, experts have suggested that a disappearing transponder signal would be treated more seriously over Europe or America, and that a parallel situation would be unlikely to develop.
According to officials, the missing Malaysia Airlines jet was hijacked, steered off-course and could have reached Pakistan.
It appears that people with significant flying experience could have turned off flight MH370’s communication devices.
A Malaysian government official said that hijacking theory was now “conclusive”, and, as a result, police have raided the luxury homes of both the captain and the co-pilot.
The search operation has now been focused on two “corridors”, one which extends from north west from Thailand to the Kazakstan-Turkmenistan border and the other which opens out into the southern Indian Ocean.
Countries in the plane’s potential flightpath have now joined a huge diplomatic effort to locate the missing passengers, but China described the revelation as “painfully belated”.
While Malaysian PM Najib Razak refused to confirm that flight MH370 was taken over, he admitted “deliberate action” on board the plane resulted in it changing course and losing connection with ground crews.
The missing Malaysia Airlines jet was hijacked, steered off-course and could have reached Pakistan
The plane’s communication system was switched off as it headed west over the Malaysian seaboard and could have flown for another seven hours on its fuel reserves.
It is not yet clear where the plane could have been taken, however PM Najib Razak said the most recent satellite data suggests the plane could have headed to one of two possible flight corridors.
The last radar contact was made at 8.11 a.m. on March 8 along one of the corridors, 7 hours and 31 minutes after takeoff, but the plane could have deviated further from these points.
US investigators have not ruled out the possibility that the passengers are being held at an unknown location and suggest that faint “pings” were being transmitted for several hours after the flight lost contact with the ground.
NASA has also joined the international search operation, analyzing satellite data and images that have already been gathered.
Malaysian authorities and others are investigating the two pilots and 10 crew members, along with the 227 passengers on board.
Bobbi Kristina Brown and her husband Nick Gordon are lashing out at those who commented on a bikini-clad photo of the 21-year-old Whitney Houston’s daughter.
The husband and wife posted a photo of Bobbi Kristina posing by a swimming pool on Instagram. Comments started flooding both accounts saying she was way too thin.
Bobbi Kristina Brown and her husband Nick Gordon are lashing out at those who commented on the bikini-clad photo (photo Instagram)
Then Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon fired back at those making what they felt were insulting comments with some comments of their own via Twitter.
Following the comments about how skinny Bobbi Kristina Brown is, both she and Nick Gordon tweeted some of their own thoughts.
Bobbi Kristina Brown tweeted: “I am my mothers child! Have you ever heard of a #fastmetabolism ? Damn, lol it’s incredible how the world will judge you.”
Her husband, Nick Gordon, added: “My baby is perfect the way she is… MADD cuz your b**h is a 400 pounder.”
Ron Woodroof was first diagnosed with AIDS in 1985 and given just 30 days to live.
Ron Woodroof, who was born in Texas in 1950, was 35 at the moment of diagnosis.
He became an electrician and rodeo cowboy in adulthood.
Ron Woodroof initially refuses to accept the diagnosis, but remembers having unprotected s** with an intravenous drug-using prostitute.
Instead of accepting the death sentence, Ron Woodroof studied the disease and its effects on the body, and created a business sourcing and smuggling non-FDA approved medication, experimental and alternative drugs for AIDS patients.
His determination and tenacity enabled him to live for six more years – during which time he pushed legislation through the courts, promoted awareness of the disease and helped countless other AIDS patients in the process.
Ron Woodroof was first diagnosed with AIDS in 1985 and given just 30 days to live
In 1988, Ron Woodroof also began what is now known as the Dallas Buyers Club, through which he sold the drugs to AIDS victims around the world who had no other recourse. In the face of the FDA and other regulators, the Dallas Buyers Club flourished, but Ron Woodroof himself succumbed to the affliction six years after the diagnosis, on September 12, 1992.
Through the Buyers Club, Ron Woodroof operated a large distribution center for experimental AIDS treatments out of his Oak Lawn, Texas, apartment, selling thousands of dollars worth of medication. His club resulted in a huge network of buyers and sellers, all of whom attempted to fly under the FDA radar. The group imported AIDS treatments from other countries or smuggled in experimental American drugs that had been shipped to other countries but were not approved in the US.
His fight brought added awareness to the disease, and the awareness in turn helped countless victims find Ron Woodroof and attain a level of help otherwise unavailable.
More than two decades after his death, Ron Woodroof and his story are gaining renewed attention in 2013, as a movie version of his life, Dallas Buyers Club, finally came to fruition after years in limbo. The film stars Matthew McConaughey as Ron Woodroof, a role which brought him the Academy Award for Best Actor prize last month.
The draft UN resolution criticizing Sunday’s secession referendum in Ukraine’s Crimea region has been vetoed by Russia.
Russia is the only Security Council member to vote against the measure.
China, regarded as a Russian ally on the issue, abstained from the vote.
Western powers criticized Russia’s veto over the referendum, which will ask Crimeans if they want to rejoin Russia.
Meanwhile, Kiev has accused Russian forces of seizing a village just north of Crimea and demanded they withdraw.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said 80 military personnel backed by four helicopter gunships and three armored vehicles had taken the village of Strilkove.
An unnamed Russian official quoted by Pravda-Ukraine said they had taken action to protect a gas distribution station from “terrorist attacks”.
Russia intervened in the Crimean peninsula after the fall of Ukraine’s pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych on February 22.
Russia’s envoy Vitaly Churkin told the Security Council he would vote against the resolution
The Crimean region was part of Russia until 1954 and most of its residents are ethnic Russians, many of whom would prefer to be governed by Moscow rather than Kiev.
Russia’s Black Sea fleet is also still housed in Crimea.
But Russia has signed agreements promising to uphold Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Crimea’s regional parliament instigated the secession referendum after lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to support rejoining Russia.
However, the national parliament in Kiev ruled the referendum unconstitutional, and earlier on Saturday voted to disband the regional assembly.
At the UN, 13 members of the Security Council backed a resolution that called for all nations to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and condemned the referendum as illegal.
Western diplomats had expected Russia to veto the document, but got what they wanted when China abstained.
China and Russia usually work in tandem at the Security Council.
But Beijing is sensitive about issues of territorial integrity, because of fears it could send a message to its own restive regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.
America’s UN envoy Samantha Power said it was a “sad and remarkable moment” and labeled Russia “isolated, alone and wrong”.
Samantha Power said Sunday’s referendum was “illegal, unjustified and divisive” and would have no effect on the legal status of Crimea.
Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin said the referendum was necessary to fill the “legal vacuum” since Ukraine’s “coup d’etat” last month.
Earlier in Moscow, tens of thousands rallied against Russia’s actions in Ukraine, the biggest such protest in two years.
Turkey’s PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said 15-year-old Berkin Elvan who died on Tuesday from injuries sustained in last year’s anti-government protests had links to terrorism.
Berkin Elvan spent nine months in a coma after being hit by a tear gas canister as he went to buy bread.
His death triggered more clashes with the police in over 30 towns and cities.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments could further inflame political tensions, correspondents say.
In a campaign speech ahead of local elections on March 30, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the teenager was connected to “terrorist organizations”.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said 15-year-old Berkin Elvan had links to terrorism
“This kid with steel marbles in his pockets, with a slingshot in his hand, his face covered with a scarf, who had been taken up into terror organizations, was unfortunately subjected to pepper gas,” he said in the speech broadcast on state TV.
Berkin Elvan’s funeral took place in Istanbul on Wednesday, providing a focus for further expressions of discontent with Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Police fired water cannon and tear gas at protesters near Taksim Square, while his coffin was carried through the city’s streets.
Tens of thousands of mourners chanted anti-government slogans and Berkin Elvan’s mother accused Recep Tayyip Erdogan of killing her son.
Berkin Elvan’s death brought to at least eight the toll from last year’s unrest, including one policeman.
The protests began over plans to develop Istanbul’s Gezi Park into a new mosque and shopping centre, but escalated into national demonstrations against what opponents see as Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s growing authoritarianism.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has been accused by Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Elias Jaua of inciting violence and “murder”.
Elias Jaua was reacting to comments by John Kerry, who accused Venezuela of waging a “terror campaign against its own people” in its response to protests.
Venezuela has repeatedly accused the US of orchestrating the unrest, which already left 28 people dead.
The US argues Venezuela is using it as a scapegoat for its domestic problems.
On national television, Elias Jaua said he was not going to “tone down” his rhetoric following John Kerry’s strong words on Thursday.
“Mr. Kerry, we denounce you before the world. You are inciting violence in Venezuela, and we will denounce it in every part of the world. We denounce you as a murderer of the Venezuelan people,” Elias Jaua said in Caracas.
“Every time we’re about to isolate and reduce the violence, out comes Mr. Kerry with a speech and immediately road blocks are reactivated in the mains spots of violence,” he added.
Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Elias Jaua has accused John Kerry of inciting violence and called him a murderer
While US State Departments’ spokeswoman Marie Harf declined to comment on Elias Jaua’s comments, she said the Venezuelan government was “not telling the truth” about the protests.
On Thursday, John Kerry also said the Organization of American States (OAS), allies and neighbors should demand accountability of Venezuela over the protests.
“We are trying to find a way to get the [President Nicolas] Maduro government to end this terror campaign against his own people and to begin to, hopefully, respect human rights in an appropriate way,” John Kerry told a committee in the US Congress.
American legislators say they are ready to impose sanctions on the oil-rich nation, although no decision has yet been taken on the matter.
President Nicolas Maduro, however, offered his American counterpart, Barack Obama, some advice on Friday.
“Let’s hope that with two remaining years left [in his presidency], Mr. Obama doesn’t pass into history as the man who attacked Venezuela and filled it with violence,” he told foreign reporters in the presidential palace in Caracas.
Nicolas Maduro also said the destabilization of Venezuela would have “unbearable consequences” for the US, bringing about “political instability in Latin America” and thousands of people to seek refuge in the richer neighboring nation.
Suspected drunken driver Rashad Charjuan Owens was charged Friday with capital murder in the deaths of two people he allegedly killed as he sped erratically through streets filled with attendees of the South by Southwest (SXSW) digital conference in Austin, Texas.
Rashad Charjuan Owens, 21, was charged in the deaths of Jamie West, 27, who was on a motorcycle, and Dutch tourist Steven Craenmehr, 35, who was slammed into by a cab that Owens allegedly struck on Thursday.
Twenty-three people were injured, some seriously.
According to Austin police, the incident began when an officer attempted to stop Rashad Charjuan Owens for a traffic violation. Rashad Charjuan Owens allegedly fled the wrong way down a one-way road at high speed and turned onto Red River Street, which was closed for the city’s iconic event.
Rashad Charjuan Owens was charged with capital murder in the deaths of two people at the SXSW conference in Austin (photo Austin Police)
Witnesses said they heard Rashad Charjuan Owens’ Honda rev up and the car accelerated, running over pedestrians. Some people were knocked in the air.
“Victims were reported to have been flying everywhere as they were being struck by the Honda,” police said in the charging documents.
The Honda ground to a halt in a parking lot after running over a few curbs and crashing into a van. Owens took off on foot and a police officer Tasered him twice to get him to stop.
The blood-alcohol test revealed that Rashad Charjuan Owens was over the legal limit, police said. He told police that he fled initially because he had outstanding warrants in a custody battle over his daughter, according to the charging documents.
Video evidence of the incident showed the driver “intentionally or knowingly hitting people and running through anything in the path,” and driving so fast that people “have no chance” to get out of the way, police said.
Rashad Charjuan Owens was ordered held on $3 million bond.
Slovakia votes in a presidential election that pits current PM Robert Fico against independent challenger Andrej Kiska.
PM Robert Fico is seen as the frontrunner, ahead of businessman-turned-philanthropist Andrej Kiska.
Opinion polls predict a two-candidate run-off vote will follow as no one is expected to win an outright majority.
Robert Fico’s leftist Smer party won over half of the seats in parliament in the 2012 general election.
The Slovak president has the power to appoint the prime minister, as well as the main figures in the judiciary.
However, it is a largely ceremonial role and parliament exercises legislative power.
Slovakia’s PM Robert Fico is seen as the frontrunner in today’s presidential election
Outgoing President Ivan Gasparovic was elected for the first of two five-year terms in 2004 as voters united against former nationalist PM Vladimir Meciar.
Slovakia adopted the euro in 2009 during Robert Fico’s previous term as prime minister.
The country since has seen significant economic growth.
Past governments been blamed for privatization scandals and other forms of corruption.
Analysts say Andrej Kiska is riding a wave of continuing popular anger at sleaze and distrust in established parties.
The 51-year-old is a successful businessman-turned-philanthropist who says he wants to fight corruption and create a more efficient government.
Other candidates in Saturday’s vote include actor Milan Knazko, who was a leading figure of the 1989 Velvet Revolution that ended Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, and Radoslav Prochazka, an independent conservative lawmaker with a degree from Yale Law School.
Saturday’s first round is unlikely to produce an outright winner, who would need over 50% of the vote, but is expected to send Robert Fico and Andrej Kiska into a run-off on March 29.
J.K. Rowling is continuing to expand Harry Potter’s wizarding world with her new website, Pottermore.com.
On Friday, J.K. Rowling released the first chapter in a new, 2,400-word story about the Quidditch World Cup.
Although Quidditch has been part of Harry Potter series from the beginning, and Harry and Ron even attend the massive World Cup in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which was released in 2000, J.K. Rowling’s new story seems to take direct inspiration from the logistical struggles of the Sochi Olympics and upcoming FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
J.K. Rowling released the first chapter of a new Harry Potter story about the Quidditch World Cup
“The ICWQC [International Confederations of Wizards Quidditch Committee] has the unlucky job of regulating this contentious and anarchic competition,” J.K. Rowling writes.
“A source of vehement disagreements, a security risk for all who attend it and a frequent focus for unrest and protest, the Quidditch World Cup is simultaneously the most exhilarating sporting event on earth and a logistical nightmare for the host nation.”
The chapter goes on to list some of the most controversial rules and moments in the tournament, which stretches back to 1473, including not just the Death Eater-driven events of Goblet of Fire, but also the Attack of the Killer Forest in 1809 and Royston Idelwind and the Dissimulators of 1971.
A huge rally is being held in Moscow to oppose Russia’s intervention in Ukraine a day before the region of Crimea votes to secede in favor of joining Russia.
Holding Russian and Ukrainian flags, protesters shouted: “The occupation of Crimea is Russia’s disgrace.”
A smaller pro-Moscow rally was being held elsewhere.
Moscow supports the vote, which Ukraine and the West have dismissed as illegal.
Kiev says Russian “provocateurs” are behind clashes eastern Ukraine.
Huge rally is being held in Moscow to oppose Russia’s intervention in Ukraine (photo AFP)
Three people have died in Ukraine in pro- and anti-Moscow rallies in the cities of Donetsk and Kharkiv with sides blaming each other.
Russia’s military intervention in the Crimean peninsula – part of Russia until 1954 and host to its Black Sea fleet – followed the fall of Ukraine’s pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych on 22 February.
Ukraine’s interim President Oleksandr Turchinov echoed the charge, saying “Kremlin agents” were organizing and funding the protests in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow denies this, vowing to protect its “compatriots” from far-right radicals.
Up to 50,000 people attended the rally in Moscow to oppose the government’s intervention in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot soared to $400 million for the next drawing as no winning tickets were sold this week, lottery officials said.
Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot soared to $400 million for the next drawing as no winning tickets were sold this week
The lottery prize would rank seventh among all-time US jackpots.
Friday night’s numbers were 7-20-40-54-69 with Mega Ball 12. That pot would have been worth an estimated $353 million – the fifth largest Mega Millions jackpot ever and the 12th largest US lottery prize ever.
The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has sued 16 banks for allegedly manipulating the London interbank offered rate (LIBOR).
The LIBOR rate is used to set trillions of dollars of financial contracts, including mortgages and financial transactions around the world.
The regulator said the manipulation caused substantial losses to 38 US banks which were shut down during and after the 2008 financial crisis.
The sued banks include Barclays, HSBC, Citigroup and Royal Bank of Scotland.
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has also been sued by the FDIC.
“BBA participated in the alleged scheme to protect the revenue stream it generated from selling Libor licenses and to appease the Panel Bank Defendants that were members of the BBA,” it was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
The FDIC has sued 16 banks for allegedly manipulating the LIBOR
The FDIC alleged that the banks mentioned in its lawsuit rigged the rate from August 2007 to at least mid-2011.
Other banks named in the lawsuit include Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Bank, Credit Suisse, UBS, and Rabobank.
LIBOR is the average rate at which banks lend money to one another and is decided on a daily basis.
Most of the world’s biggest banks contribute estimates to form the LIBOR.
But there have been allegations that some have looked to profit from it by understating or overstating their submissions.
Over the past two years, regulators across the globe have been investigating the manipulation of the rate and there have been $3.7 billion in fines to date.
A string of international banks and brokers have faced both criminal and civil penalties for their involvement in the scandal.
Some banks have also been found to have understated their submissions in the period during and after the financial crisis.
Malaysia’s PM Najib Razak has said the communications systems of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 were deliberately disabled.
According to satellite and radar evidence, the plane then changed course and could have continued flying for a further seven hours.
The plane’s last signal came about seven and a half hours after takeoff, meaning it could have ended up as far as Kazakhstan or deep in the southern Indian Ocean, PM Najib Razak said Saturday.
Najib Razak’s statement confirmed days of mounting speculation that the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 with 239 people on board on March 8 was not accidental, and underlines the massive task for searchers who already been scouring vast areas of ocean.
The Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight last made contact with air traffic control as it headed east towards the South China Sea, about one hour after take-off.
Najib Razak told a news conference that new satellite evidence shows “with a high degree of certainty” that the aircraft’s communications systems were disabled just before it reached the east coast of Malaysia.
Malaysia’s PM Najib Razak has said the communications systems of the missing flight MH370 were deliberately disabled (photo Reuters)
According to a military radar, the flight then turned and flew back over Malaysia before turning north-west.
A satellite was able to pick up a signal from the plane for some seven hours after it lost radar contact, although it was unable to give a precise location, Najib Razak said.
He went on to say that based on this new data, investigators “have determined the plane’s last communication with a satellite was in one of two possible corridors”:
a northern corridor stretching from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan through to northern Thailand
a southern corridor stretching from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean
Najib Razak said that in light of the new evidence, the investigation had “entered a new phase” and would focus on the crew and passengers on board.
Addressing reports that the plane had been hijacked, he said only “we are still investigating all possibilities as to what caused MH370 to deviate”.
An extensive search of the seas around Malaysia – involving 14 countries, 43 ships and 58 aircraft – have proved fruitless.
Najib Razak’s news conference goes some way to addressing the speculation that had begun circulating in local media that the plane had been hijacked and had somehow landed intact.
Gunmen have killed six Egyptian soldiers at a checkpoint in the northern Cairo suburb of Shubra al-Khayma, state media reports.
A security official said two bombs left behind by the attackers had been defused.
The violence comes two days after another soldier was shot dead in an attack on an army bus in eastern Cairo.
Egypt has seen an upsurge in violence since the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi last July
There has been an upsurge in violence since the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi last July.
The military has accused Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood of carrying out this latest and previous attacks. The Muslim Brotherhood denies involvement.
The Muslim Brotherhood was designated a terrorist group in December and thousands of its members have been put on trial.
A series of high-profile attacks on security forces in Cairo and the Sinai Peninsula have been claimed by another group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which it says are in revenge for the military-backed government’s repression of Mohamed Morsi’s supporters.
According to officials, two people have been killed in clashes between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian activists in Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv.
Five people were injured overnight, as gunshots were fired. Rival groups blamed each other for the violence.
Earlier, Russia and the US failed to agree on how to resolve the crisis in Ukraine’s Crimea region, ahead of a secession referendum there.
Russia vowed to respect Sunday’s vote – but the US said it was illegitimate.
Moscow has been tightening its military grip on Crimea – the southern autonomous republic in Ukraine – where voters are to decide on whether to re-join Russia or stay with Kiev.
The violence reportedly began on Kharkiv’s Svoboda Square on Friday evening and later moved to an office of a pro-Ukrainian group in the city.
Two people have been killed in clashes between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian activists in Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv
Eyewitnesses said that pro-Russian activists tried to storm the rival protesters, who had barricaded themselves in.
The witnesses said that shots had been fired and Molotov cocktails thrown in.
Kharkiv Mayor Hennadiy Kernes was later quoted by Ukrainian media as saying that two people were killed and five injured.
Meanwhile, Kharkiv Governor Ihor Baluta called the incident “a provocation”.
Both rival groups blame each other for starting the clashes. A criminal investigation is now under way.
This follows Thursday night’s violence in Donetsk, also in the east, where at least one person died in fighting between a pro-Russian crowd and supporters of the new government in Kiev.
Ukraine accuses Russia of using provocateurs to stoke unrest on the eastern border. Moscow denies this, vowing to protect its “compatriots” from far-right radicals.
Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade has been re-indicted by a grand jury in the US.
Devyani Khobragade is accused of visa fraud and underpaying her housekeeper, lawyers in New York said.
The move comes two days after a US judge threw out virtually identical charges on the grounds that Devyani Khobragade had diplomatic immunity.
Devyani Khobragade is accused of visa fraud and underpaying her housekeeper in the US (photo Reuters)
However, that ruling left open the possibility that prosecutors could bring a new indictment.
Devyani Khobragade has always denied any wrongdoing.
Her lawyer, Daniel Arshack, had no immediate comment on Friday.
Devyani Khobragade was detained in New York in December on suspicion of visa fraud and making false statements, after being accused of paying her Indian maid below the US minimum wage.
The Indian government said it was “shocked and appalled” at the manner of her arrest, and ordered a series of diplomatic reprisals against the US, including the withdrawal of a US diplomat from India.
Devyani Khobragade returned to India in January after she was indicted on criminal charges and India refused to waive her immunity.
Former police officer Col. Schoombie van Rensburg told Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial that two of the athlete’s watches went missing from the crime scene.
Col. Schoombie van Rensburg said he had been “furious” at the disappearances and had ordered officers to be body-searched for the “expensive” watches.
The court was also shown a photo of Oscar Pistorius in blood-covered shorts.
Oscar Pistorius denies murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last year, saying he mistook her for an intruder.
The prosecution says he intentionally shot Reeva Steenkamp after an argument at his house on February 14, 2013.
Col. Schoombie van Rensburg, who was initially in charge of the crime scene, said that when he first saw the watches he was worried about them and ordered them to be photographed because they “looked expensive”.
Col. Schoombie van Rensburg told Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial that two of the athlete’s watches went missing from the crime scene
After returning to the main bedroom where a team of forensic experts was gathering evidence, the police officer realized one watch, said to be worth as much as $10,000 was missing. He said he was told Oscar Pistorius’ sister Aimee had come into the room and removed it.
After leaving the room again, another watch went missing, so he gave instructions for the police officers and their cars to be searched.
Col. Schoombie van Rensburg said that after that, everyone entering and leaving the scene was thoroughly searched and entered into a log, presented in court.
He said he told Oscar Pistorius he should file a complaint, while he opened a case of theft.
The former officer, who retired last year, also told the court he was angry when he saw a ballistics expert handling Oscar Pistorius’ 9mm pistol without any gloves, and told him to put some on.
The admissions call into question the police’s handling of the crime scene, in a case that is likely to hinge on sensitive forensic evidence, correspondents say.
Friday’s hearing has now been adjourned and the trial continues on Monday.
Another 4,000 pages of records from President Bill Clinton’s White House period have been released by the US National Archive.
The newly released records include edited versions of President Bill Clinton’s remarks to the nation after the 2000 election recount and Hillary Rodham Clinton’s speech to the Democratic National Convention that year.
The National Archives has released another 4,000 pages of records from former President Bill Clinton’s White House (photo White House)
Another document from an adviser to Vice President Al Gore offers instructions on how to respond to a January 1999 poll in USA Today that showed candidate George W. Bush leading Gore. The adviser urged Al Gore aides to “UNDERSPIN it and downplay its significance”.
This is the second batch of President Bill Clinton records to be released in recent weeks. The documents are being closely watched as former first lady and secretary of state Hillary Clinton considers another presidential bid in 2016.
French news website Atlantico has been ordered by a Paris court to remove the recordings of secretly taped conversations of Nicolas Sarkozy during his time as president.
Judges also sentenced Nicolas Sarkozy’s former aide, Patrick Buisson, to pay damages for making the recordings, some of which involved the former president’s wife Carla Bruni.
Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni took legal action after the audio appeared on Atlantico‘s website.
The website said it already taken down files featuring Carla Bruni because she was not a politician.
The so-called Sarkoleaks scandal, which broke in early March, caused turmoil in Nicolas Sarkozy’s party, the opposition centre-right UMP.
Although embarrassing, the transcripts were mostly harmless and contained no political bombshells.
Patrick Buisson has been ordered to pay damages for making the recordings involving Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni
On Friday, the court in Paris ordered Atlantico to immediately remove the files or face daily fines.
The court also ordered Patrick Buisson, 64, to pay 10,000 euros ($13,900) in damages to Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni. Lawyers for the couple welcomed the ruling.
A highly controversial figure whose political origins lie on the far-right, Patrick Buisson was credited with engineering Nicolas Sarkozy’s election win seven years ago by pushing him to toughen his stance on immigration and crime, correspondents say.
At the trial, it emerged that Patrick Buisson had recorded hundreds of hours of conversations, using a dictaphone kept in his pocket, during Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007-2012 term.
Patrick Buisson’s lawyer argued in court the tapes had been made to help him to keep a proper record of all discussions with Nicolas Sarkozy and other officials.
In the recordings, Nicolas Sarkozy is heard discussing confidential affairs of state but also sharing private chats with his wife, Carla Bruni.
At one point, Carla Bruni jokes about having to put her modeling career on hold while she was first lady.
“I thought I was marrying a guy with a salary,” she is heard saying.
“I had big contracts and now nothing.”
The leaks also contain excerpts in which top officials boast of their influence over Nicolas Sarkozy and express scorn over his wife’s presence at meetings at the Elysee.
