North Korea has denied any link to Morning Glory tanker which left Libya with an oil shipment in defiance of the government, a Pyongyang official has said.
North Korea revoked the Morning Glory’s registration when it learned of the incident, Jon Ki-chol said.
Libya’s PM Ali Zeidan was dismissed by parliament on Tuesday after the ship evaded a naval blockade to set sail from a rebel-held port.
It fuelled speculation about links between North Korea and Libyan rebels.
Jon Ki-chol, deputy director-general of North Korea’s Maritime Administration, said the Morning Glory was operated by an Egypt-based company.
North Korea has denied any link to Morning Glory tanker which left Libya with an oil shipment in defiance of the government
On Wednesday, Libyan government spokesman Habib al-Amin said the navy had fired on the vessel, but failed to disable it.
It sailed eastwards towards Egyptian waters and Libya had asked Egypt and other countries to help stop it, he added.
The tanker was reported to have taken on at least 234,000 barrels of crude at Sidra’s oil terminal.
Its final destination remains unclear.
The Morning Glory was the first vessel to have loaded oil from a rebel-held port since a separatist revolt against the central government in Tripoli erupted in July 2013.
Armed separatists have occupied three major eastern ports since August.
They are seeking a greater share of the country’s oil revenues, as well as autonomy for the historic eastern region of Cyrenaica.
Libya’s parliament has ordered a special force to be deployed to “liberate” all rebel-held oil terminals.
The operation had been due to start within a week but the AFP news agency quotes the head of Libya’s interim parliament, or General National Congress, Nuri Abu Sahmein, as saying the separatists now have two weeks to lift the blockade before the military would be deployed.
Reubin Askew, the former Florida governor who guided the state through a period of school busing to achieve integration in the 1970s, died early Thursday at the age of 85.
Reubin Askew died surrounded by family members at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, Ron Sachs, a former aide and family spokesman, told The Associated Press.
He was admitted to the hospital Saturday, his family said. Over the past three months, he has suffered from aspiration pneumonia, hip surgery and, most recently, a stroke.
Reubin Askew rose from obscurity in the Florida Legislature to become the Democrats’ surprise gubernatorial nominee in 1970
Reubin Askew rose from obscurity in the Florida Legislature to become the Democrats’ surprise gubernatorial nominee in 1970 and then beat the incumbent Republican, Claude Kirk.
His eight years in office coincided with the end of the Vietnam War, Watergate and dramatic social change across the nation.
Reubin Askew was a liberal on racial issues and crusaded for overhauling the state’s tax laws, open government, environmental protection, ethics legislation and streamlining the courts and other governmental agencies.
Lindsay Lohan has revealed the true extent of her showbiz dalliances after penning a list of 36 of her best known lovers.
In Touch magazine is reporting that Lindsay Lohan’s love roll call features the names of high profile conquests including Heath Ledger, Adam Levine, Zac Efron, Justin Timberlake and Joaquin Phoenix.
According to the magazine, Lindsay Lohan penned the 36-person list during a boozy lunch in Hollywood with a few of her mates.
Lindsay Lohan has revealed the true extent of her showbiz dalliances after penning a list of 36 of her best known lovers (photo InTouch)
A source, who claimed to have watched her write the document, said: “They were giggling and talking s**t about people in the industry.
“It was her personal conquest list. She was trying to impress her friends with the list and then tossed it aside.”
Other big names on the list include Colin Farrell, Evan Peters and her ex-boyfriend Wilmer Valderrama, and 50 Shades Of Grey star Jamie Dornan.
An industry insider also said: “The list has some pretty big names on it, and they’re not all single guys.
“This getting out now could rock several Hollywood relationships to the core.”
In 2009, a report claimed Lindsay Lohan had been seeing Heath Ledger just before his death in 2008 of an accidental drug overdose.
Lindsay Lohan’s most enduring relationship was with DJ Samantha Ronson, although the two reportedly went their separate ways after Ronson could no longer deal with Lohan’s many “issues”.
According to new reports, Rihanna and Drake may have rekindled their fizzled flame when they were spotted holding hands Tuesday night in Manchester, UK.
Rihanna, 26, and Drake, 27, were blurrily caught on camera exiting a local club, where he hosted an after-party following his arena concert that night. From there, it was off to a bowling alley they’d reserved for the evening, TMZ reported. The pair finally packed it in around 4 a.m.
In recent weeks, Rihanna and Drake have surfaced in Los Angeles, Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris, where she joined him onstage for a duet of Take Care
This is the latest outing for Rihanna and Drake, who have done their best to avoid being photographed together in public. In recent weeks, they have surfaced in Los Angeles, Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris, where she joined him onstage for a duet of Take Care. Meanwhile, on Monday night, Rihanna and Drake apparently got affectionate at London hotspot Cirque Le Soir.
Rihanna and Drake have been linked off and on since 2009, and their closeness is believed to have set off a bottle-hurling nightclub brawl in 2012 between the rapper and Chris Brown.
At least six people are dead, several are missing and dozens are injured in East Harlem buildings collapse after a gas leak sparked a powerful explosion leveled the New York City blocks.
Rescue crews began searching the debris on Wednesday evening for victims after the fire was finally put out.
Train services to and from Grand Central Terminal have been restored after a complete halt earlier.
As the search-and-rescue operation continued under floodlights on Wednesday night, the emergency services confirmed that the death toll had risen first to four, then to five and to six, with several people still missing.
Earlier, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a news conference from the scene that the gas leak had been reported to the utility company 15 minutes before the blast on Wednesday morning.
Bill de Blasio said the “major explosion” had destroyed two buildings and heavily damaged other structures.
East Harlem explosion destroyed two buildings and smashed nearby windows
As night fell, rescue crews were finally able to search for victims in the debris after the fire raged for most of the day.
Heavy equipment, including a bulldozer, helped clear the remnants of two multi-storey buildings. Thermal imaging cameras were brought in to identify bodies or pockets of fire inside the mountain of debris.
The New York fire department said 22 people had been hurt, but a tally of local hospitals by ABC News found that 64 had been admitted with injuries as a result of the incident.
That figure included seven children, one of whom was in a critical condition.
The utility company, Con Edison, says a resident in a nearby building reported smelling gas shortly before the explosion.
Streets and pavements around the site were littered with broken glass from shattered windows.
The blast scattered debris across nearby rooftops, correspondents say, destroying adjoining five-storey buildings in a largely Latino working-class neighborhood.
Witnesses reported the powerful blast knocked items off shelves in nearby stores.
Malaysia’s civil aviation chief has said the planes sent Thursday to check the spot where Chinese satellite images showed possible debris from the missing flight MH370 found nothing.
“There is nothing. We went there, there is nothing,” Azharuddin Abdul Rahman told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
Adding to the mystery, The Wall Street Journal reported that US investigators suspect the plane flew on for four hours once it lost contact with air traffic controllers, based on data from the plane’s engines that are automatically downloaded and transmitted to the ground as part of routine maintenance programs.
The report, based on two anonymous sources, raises questions as to why the Boeing 777 would have been flying without passive or active contact with the ground, and if anyone would have been in control during that time. US counterterrorism officials are considering whether a pilot or someone else on board intentionally disabled the jetliner’s transponders to avoid detection and divert it, the report said.
The hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has been punctuated by false leads since it disappeared with 239 people aboard about an hour after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing early Saturday.
The plane was heading northeast over the Gulf of Thailand toward Vietnam when vanished.
Shortly after that it fell off commercial radar, but military authorities say it might have turned west and flown into the northern stretches of the Strait of Malacca based on unconfirmed traces seen on its air defense radar.
Dozens of ships and aircraft from 12 nations have been searching the Gulf of Thailand and the strait, but no trace has been found. The search area has grown to 35,800 square miles, or about the size of Portugal.
Malaysia found nothing at the spot where Chinese satellite images showed possible debris from the missing flight MH370 (photo PRC)
If the Wall Street Journal report is confirmed, the search area will have to significantly expand.
The Chinese satellite imagery showing possible debris was not far from where the last confirmed position of the plane was between Malaysia and Vietnam. The images and coordinates were posted on the website of China’s State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.
China’s state Xinhua News Agency said the images from around 11 a.m. on Sunday appear to show “three suspected floating objects” of varying sizes in a 12-mile radius, the largest about 79-by-72 feet off the southern tip of Vietnam.
Li Jiaxiang, chief of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said later China had yet to confirm any link between the suspected floating objects and the plane.
Pham Quy Tieu, deputy transport minister, told The Associated Press that the area had been “searched thoroughly” by forces from other countries over the past few days. Doan Huu Gia, chief of air search and rescue coordination center, said Malaysian and Singaporean aircraft were scheduled to visit the area again Thursday.
Malaysian authorities have come under fire for their handling of the search amid sometimes confusing and conflicting statements, including the time of the plane’s disappearance. Officials had also said that five passengers had checked into the flight but did not board the plane, and their luggage had been removed, but later they said this was not true.
Malaysia’s air force chief said Wednesday that an unidentified object appears on military radar records about 200 miles northwest of Penang, Malaysia, and experts are analyzing the data to determine whether the blip is the missing plane.
Authorities have not ruled out any possible cause, including mechanical failure, pilot error, sabotage and terrorism, and they are waiting to find any wreckage or debris to determine what went wrong.
Two US Federal Aviation Administration technical experts and a regional representative are in Kuala Lumpur as part of a National Transportation Safety Board team supporting the investigation.
Salvador Sanchez Ceren – a former El Salvador left-wing rebel – has won a tight presidential run-off election, the country’s electoral tribunal has announced.
However, Salvador Sanchez Ceren’s rival has the right to appeal and officials say a final declaration cannot yet be made.
Conservative candidate Norman Quijano had earlier called for a new poll after preliminary results indicated a margin of victory of fewer than 7,000 votes.
Salvador Sanchez Ceren would be the first ex-rebel to serve as El Salvador’s president.
Salvador Sanchez Ceren would be the first ex-rebel to serve as El Salvador’s president
He became vice president of El Salvador in 2009, while Norman Quijano was the mayor of the capital, San Salvador.
The election body has already rejected calls from Norman Quijano’s party for a rerun.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal announced on Thursday that Salvador Sanchez Ceren, a member of the Farabundo Marti Liberation Front (FMLN), had won 50.11% of the vote after a manual count.
Norman Quijano, of the conservative Arena party, won 49.89%, the election body said.
A US has dismissed the visa fraud charges against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, whose arrest strained US-India relations.
Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled Devyani Khobragade had diplomatic immunity at the time of her indictment on visa fraud and underpaying her housekeeper.
Devyani Khobragade, who has since left the US, said through a lawyer she felt the rule of law had prevailed.
India demanded an apology after Devyani Khobragade was arrested and strip-searched.
Devyani Khobragade had diplomatic immunity at the time of her indictment on visa fraud and underpaying her housekeeper
Delhi said it was “shocked and appalled” at the manner of Devyani Khobragade arrest, and ordered a series of diplomatic reprisals against the US, including the withdrawal of a US diplomat from India.
Uttam Khobragade, the diplomat’s father, welcomed the ruling by the US judge.
US Attorney Preet Bharara said Devyani Khobragade was afforded courtesies most Americans would not receive during an arrest and said the search, done by a female agent, was a standard practice.
Devyani Khobragade was detained 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 Vatican is celebrating Pope Francis’ first year in office.
The pontiff is currently on a week-long spiritual retreat with cardinals and bishops in the Alban Hills near Rome.
Italian opinion polls give Pope Francis the highest popularity rating of any recent pontiff.
Pope Francis is the first Latin American – and the first Jesuit – to lead the Roman Catholic Church.
Since taking office, pilgrims have been arriving in Rome in unprecedented numbers.
Pope Francis is also riding high on social media, with 11 million following him in nine languages on Twitter.
His approval rating has remained high despite a recent UN report accusing the Catholic Church of systematically covering up for tens of thousands of child-abusing priests reported to the Vatican.
Vatican is celebrating Pope Francis’ first year in office
The Pope himself has denounced any cult of personality.
He recently told Corriere della Sera: “Portraying the pope as a kind of superman, a type of star, it seems offensive.”
Pope Francis, 77, has appointed new advisers to help him run the Church and is planning major reforms of Vatican finances and of the scandal-hit Vatican bank.
For the moment there is no sign of a change in official Catholic teaching on artificial contraception or on the celibacy rule for priests.
However, the Pope’s compassionate attitude – especially his outreach to believers who have abandoned going to Mass and to divorced Catholics banned from receiving communion – is not universally admired by traditionalist cardinals.
Likewise his attitude towards gay people – Pope Francis says that he is not going to judge them – contrasts strongly with that of his predecessor Pope Benedict, who called homosexuality “intrinsically evil”.
Thursday’s anniversary is not being marked in any official way, a move that Vatican-watchers say is in keeping with the Pope’s tendency to eschew pomp and ceremony.
The decision to celebrate the anniversary quietly is a sound alternative to what almost certainly would have been a media frenzy if Pope Francis had decided to mark the anniversary in public, correspondents say.
Few modern etiquette questions are quite as perplexing as what wine to take along to a party. There are many potential minefields along this journey and, unfortunately, you won’t know if you’ve committed a faux pas until the moment comes when you hand the bottle over to your hosts. Just like what you’ve chosen to wear and what conversation you make, the wine you bring will say a lot about you and make an impression — good or bad.
If the occasion is a dinner party, you’ve no way of knowing beforehand what’s on the menu or whether or not your offering will match the food. This shouldn’t matter, as the wine is a gift and shouldn’t be expected to accompany the night’s dishes. Instead, it should be such a nice wine that the party hosts will look forward to consuming later at their leisure.
Of course, we all know this doesn’t happen. Once a party gets going, the sensible prescribed alcohol on the table invariably runs out, and those looking for an extra glass or two turn to the wine that the guests have brought. Hoping your wine will escape scrutiny or remain anonymous by sitting in the kitchen along with the others is by no means a certainty. If you’ve plumped for a $4.99 cheapie from the garage on the way there, they’ll catch you out. This is less likely to occur at a standing drinks party, so you may get away with cheapskate practices in that instance. You can avoid this pitfall and still find something good to drink by searching for good wine deals online and keeping some decent stocks at home.
The reverse of this situation is where you take a lovely chilled bottle of expensive champagne, expecting it will be opened and you’ll enjoy some of it yourself, and the host politely accepts and goes to put it away. This can be terribly disappointing, but again it’s wise to remember that the wine is a gift and there’s no guarantee you’ll get a taste.
This will turn out to be even more annoying if the wine you are then given to drink is really rather cheap and nasty, but you must grin and bear it. If the worst comes to the worst, you can slyly decant it into a plant pot.
Whether to take one bottle or two is another modern conundrum. If there are two of you attending, it’s more polite to take two, as that way you are both effectively making a contribution. And let’s face it, you’ll drink more anyway.
More Please?
Another tickly question about modern manners is whether it’s impolite to top up your own glass. This can be frustrating when the bottle is sitting right in front of you and your glass has been empty for ages. Helping yourself with impunity is not a good idea, but a quick “May I?” and a nod of assent should smooth the passage. After all, it’s hard for a host to say no to the guests! Throw in a compliment about the food and you should be fine on this score.
Finding the right wine for a party doesn’t have to get you all in a nervous wreck, and you don’t have to empty your savings either just to impress your dinner hosts. Check out some of the deals for wine online and you can still be the perfect dinner guest, one who has impeccable taste.
According to New York City authorities, three people have died and nine are missing after a gas leak sparked an explosion which leveled two buildings in East Harlem.
Scores of others have been injured in the incident, which sent smoke billowing into the city sky.
More than 250 firefighters tackled the blaze at the scene near 116th Street and Park Avenue.
Train services to and from Grand Central Terminal have been restored after a complete halt earlier.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a news conference from the scene that the gas leak had been reported to the utility company 15 minutes before the blast on Wednesday morning.
Bill de Blasio said the “major explosion” had destroyed two buildings and heavily damaged other structures.
The mayor’s office confirmed to the Associated Press news agency that nine people were still missing by early Wednesday evening.
Three people have died and nine are missing after a gas leak sparked an explosion which leveled two buildings in East Harlem
The New York fire department elevated the incident to the highest threat level possible.
The department said 22 people had been hurt, but a tally of local hospitals by ABC News found that 64 had been admitted with injuries as a result of the incident.
That figure included seven children, one of whom was in a critical condition.
The utility company, Con Edison, says a resident in a nearby building reported smelling gas shortly before the explosion.
Streets and pavements around the site were littered with broken glass from shattered windows.
Witnesses reported the powerful blast knocked items off shelves in nearby stores.
Authorities in the area were said to be handing out medical masks to residents due to the thick white smoke at the scene.
A South African forensics expert has swung a cricket bat at a toilet door erected in the courtroom at Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial in Pretoria to demonstrate key pieces of evidence.
Oscar Pistorius, 27, says he mistakenly shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through the door, believing she was a burglar, then broke it down with the bat.
The prosecution says the Paralympic champion tried to beat down the door and then fired the gun.
Oscar Pistorius denies intentionally killing Reeva Steenkamp on February 14, 2013.
Forensic expert Police Colonel Johan Vermeulen also said he thought Oscar Pistorius had hit the door with the bat from a low angle, indicating he was not wearing his prosthetic legs at the time.
This contradicts the athlete’s claim that he had been wearing his artificial limbs.
Correspondents say whether or not Oscar Pistorius was on his prosthetic limbs is important because it could match parts of his story that he accidentally shot Reeva Steenkamp, or expose inconsistencies in it.
The damaged toilet door, with four bullet holes, was examined in the courtroom along with a replica of the toilet cubicle.
The forensics expert has swung a cricket bat at a toilet door erected in the courtroom at Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial
Forensic evidence on the location from which shots were fired, how they were grouped and their trajectory were presented to the court on Wednesday.
Cross-examining, Oscar Pistorius’ defense team asked forensic expert Col. Johan Vermeulen to kneel and lift his feet, which caused him to wobble.
The defense team claimed that Oscar Pistorius therefore would not have been able to balance on his stumps and break down the door using a cricket bat.
Defense lawyer Barry Roux also alleged that police had contaminated the crime scene by stepping on the door.
Col. Johan Vermeulen argued that if Oscar Pistorius was balanced enough to fire a gun, he could also break down a door with a bat.
The forensics expert argued that the angle and location of the marks on the door suggested that they had been caused by someone much shorter than him.
The defense team argued that a mark on the bottom of the door showed where Oscar Pistorius had tried to kick open the door using his prosthetic legs. Col. Johan Vermeulen agreed that this was possible.
“The marks on the door are actually consistent with him not having his legs on and I suspect they must be similar to the height that he was when he fired the shots,” he told the court.
The prosecution argues that Oscar Pistorius hit the door with the cricket bat before the shots were fired, but the defense claims it was the other way round.
The trial is now halfway through its second week.
Earlier on Wednesday, a friend of Oscar Pistorius, Darren Fresco, claimed that the athlete had driven at 124mph and that he had taken a picture of the speedometer to prove it.
The defense team alleged that Darren Fresco was himself driving at the time and had therefore fabricated evidence.
On Tuesday, Oscar Pistorius’ defense team questioned a pathologist’s finding that Reeva Steenkamp had eaten less than two hours before he killed her.
This contradicts Oscar Pistorius’ account that the pair had been in bed for several hours before the shooting.
A Chinese government website has released satellite images of possible debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
The three images show what appear to be large, floating objects in the South China Sea. Previous sightings of possible debris have proved fruitless.
Malaysia Airlines plane went missing on Friday with 239 people on board.
The aircraft vanished about an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur as it flew south of Vietnam’s Ca Mau peninsula.
No distress signal or message was sent.
China has released satellite images of possible debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 (photo PRC)
The three images were taken on Sunday, a day after the plane disappeared, but were only released on Wednesday on the website of China’s State Administration for Science.
Map co-ordinates place the objects in the South China Sea east of Malaysia and off the southern tip of Vietnam.
China’s official Xinhua news agency says the largest of the objects measures about 24m x 22m (78ft x 72ft).
China has deployed several high-resolution satellites – controlled from the Xian Satellite Control Centre in northern China – to help search for the jet, the People’s Liberation Army said on Tuesday.
Earlier, Malaysian authorities revealed that the last communication from the jet suggested everything was normal on board.
Ukraine’s interim PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk met President Barack Obama at the White House.
During their meeting, Barack Obama pledged to “stand with Ukraine” in its dispute with Russia.
The US president warned Russian President Vladimir Putin the international community “will be forced to apply costs” if Russia does not remove its troops from Crimea.
Earlier, leaders of the G7 group of nations issued a similar threat.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, speaking after meeting Barack Obama, said Ukraine “will never surrender” to Russia.
“It is absolutely unacceptable to have Russian boots on the Ukrainian ground in the 21st century, violating all international deals and treaties,” he said.
The diplomatic appeals to Moscow come ahead of Sunday’s referendum in Crimea, in which citizens will be asked if they want to stay with Ukraine or join Russia.
Ukraine’s interim PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk met President Barack Obama at the White House
The Russian military and pro-Russian armed men moved in to seize key sites in Crimea – an autonomous region of Ukraine whose population is mainly ethnic Russian – in late February after the fall of President Viktor Yanukovych.
Barack Obama said the US has “been very clear that we consider Russia’s incursion into Crimea outside of its bases to be a violation of international law”.
“We have been very firm in saying we will stand with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in ensuring that territorial integrity and sovereignty is maintained,” he added.
In reference to scheduled talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in London on Friday, Barack Obama said he hoped diplomatic efforts will result in a “rethinking of the process”.
But he stressed that if Moscow “continues on the path that it is on then, not only us, but the international community… will be forced to apply a cost to Russia’s violations of international law and its encroachments on Ukraine”.
The president did not specify what those costs would be, but Washington has already issued visa bans to some high-profile Russians and threatened asset freezes for others.
Barack Obama also said the US “will completely reject” the results of Crimea’s referendum, saying it had been put together in a “slapdash” way.
As Barack Obama and Arseniy Yatsenyuk were holding talks, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to authorize $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine’s new government and allow the US to impose sanctions on Russian and Ukrainian officials.
Olivia Wilde has joined the cast of Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger’s rock and roll pilot for HBO.
The unnamed drama about the drug and s**-fuelled music business in 1970s New York will start filming in the summer, based on an idea by Mick Jagger.
Bobby Cannavale will play record executive Richie Finestra, who tries to resurrect his label.
Olivia Wilde revealed on Twitter she “could not be more psyched” about landing the role of his wife Devon.
Olivia Wilde has joined the cast of Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger’s rock and roll pilot for HBO
Martin Scorsese will direct the pilot episode which is written by his regular collaborator Terence Winter – whom he worked with on Wolf of Wall Street and Boardwalk Empire – and George Mastras of Breaking Bad.
According to Variety magazine, all three will executive produce the project along with Mick Jagger.
The show will be seen through the eyes of Richie Finestra, the founder and president of American Century Records, who is struggling to find the next new sound as punk and disco begin to take over the music business.
Richie Finestra is then hit with a crisis of character when he is forced to make a life-altering decision, which sends his wife – a former actress and model – back to her old bohemian lifestyle.
The new drama will mark a return to TV for Olivia Wilde, who played Dr. Remy Hadley in House from 2007 to 2012.
Olivia Wilde recently appeared in Spike Jonze film Her and Ron Howard’s Formula One drama Rush.
The Big Bang Theory has been extended for a further three series, CBS has announced.
The long-running sitcom, which centers on a group of high-functioning science “geeks”, is now due to air until at least 2017.
The most recent series was seen by almost 20 million viewers in the US.
The Big Bang Theory has been extended for a further three series
“The Big Bang Theory is the biggest comedy force on television,” said CBS entertainment head Nina Tassler.
Nina Tassler also hailed the partnership between the broadcaster and Warner Bros, who make the program.
Jim Parsons, who lies at the heart of the show as a scientific genius with negligible social skills, has already won three Emmy Awards for his role as Dr. Sheldon Cooper.
According to Variety magazine, Jim Parsons – along with his principal co-stars – are currently in negotiations to renew their contracts on the show.
The Big Bang Theory, which is currently in its seventh season, was the top-rated sitcom on US television in 2012-13.
US Federal Trade Commission has launched an investigation into the operations of nutrition and weight-loss firm Herbalife.
The FTC move follows allegations that the company operates a “pyramid scheme” – making money from recruiting new distributors, rather than sales.
Herbalife has denied these allegations and said it would “cooperate fully” with the FTC inquiry.
Its shares fell by as much as 16%.
But they recovered slightly and ended the day down by 7%.
“Herbalife welcomes the inquiry given the tremendous amount of misinformation in the marketplace,” the company said in a statement.
“We are confident that Herbalife is in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.”
Herbalife sells a range of nutritional products across the globe through a network of independent distributors
The investigation comes just a day after prominent hedge fund manager, William Ackman, renewed his attack on the firm.
William Ackman has been one of Herbalife’s biggest critics and has a $1 billion short sale position on the firm’s stock – betting that the share price will drop.
He first publically accused Herbalife of running a pyramid scheme in 2012.
On Tuesday, William Ackman accused the company’s China business of violating direct-selling laws in the country, something Herbalife denies.
China is one of the fastest growing markets for the firm and its sales there rose 65% in 2013.
Herbalife sells a range of nutritional products across the globe through a network of independent distributors.
It reported revenues of $4.8 billion in 2013, a jump of 18% from the previous year.
The company has got the backing of billionaire investors George Soros and Carl Icahn, who have picked up stakes in the firm.
Herbalife shares have risen by more than 50% over the past 12 months.
Malaysian authorities have unveiled the last communication received from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
The message suggests everything was normal on board minutes before the plane went missing over the South China Sea.
Flight MH370 replied: “All right, roger that” to a radio message from Malaysian air control, authorities said.
The search has been widened to waters off both sides of the peninsula.
Malaysia’s air force chief has denied reports the plane was tracked to the Malacca Strait in the west.
The China-bound plane went missing on Saturday with 239 people on board.
The plane vanished about an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, as it flew over the South China Sea, south of Vietnam’s Ca Mau peninsula. No distress signal or message was sent.
Malaysian authorities revealed the plane’s last communication at a news conference held in Beijing for relatives of the 154 Chinese who are among the missing passengers.
Malaysian authorities have unveiled the last communication received from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane
As the plane reached the boundary between Malaysian and Vietnamese airspace, the Malaysian air control announced it was handing over to Ho Chi Minh City Control.
Minutes later, all contact with Flight MH370 was lost.
China’s foreign ministry said there was “too much confusion” regarding the information released about the plane’s flight path.
“It is very hard for us to decide whether a given piece of information is accurate,” spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing.
Earlier on Wednesday, Malaysia’s air force chief Rodzali Daud denied remarks attributed to him in local media that flight was tracked by military radar to the Malacca Strait, far west of its planned route.
Gen. Rodzali Daud said he “did not make any such statements”, but the air force had “not ruled out the possibility of an air turn-back”.
Early search efforts focused on waters between Malaysia and Vietnam.
The search was later extended to the Malacca Strait and the Andaman Sea, off Malaysia’s west coast, amid reports that the plane could have turned back.
Operations are now covering some 27,000 square nautical miles.
Malaysian authorities on Wednesday requested assistance from India in searching the Andaman Sea, north of the Malacca Strait.
Vietnam has confirmed an investigation into a possible sighting of the plane has so far yielded no results.
Vietnam’s air traffic management earlier said it had received an email from a New Zealander working in one of the oil rigs off Vung Tau.
“He said he spotted a burning [object] at that location, some 300 km [200 miles] southeast of Vung Tau,” deputy general director Doan Huu Gia said.
Officials still do not know what went wrong with the aircraft, and several leads pursued so far have proven not to be linked to the plane.
The G7 leaders have called on Russia to stop all efforts to “annex” Ukraine’s Crimea region.
G7 said if Russia took such a step they would “take further action, individually and collectively”.
They also said they would not recognize the results of a referendum in Crimea this weekend on whether to split from Ukraine and join Russia.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s national security chief has warned of a major Russian military build-up on Ukraine’s borders.
Andriy Parubiy said Moscow had not withdrawn its troops after carrying out military exercises near Ukraine’s eastern and southern frontiers last month.
The Group of Seven industrial nations – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US – along with the EU urged Russia to “cease all efforts to change the status of Crimea”.
G7 said Crimea’s referendum has no legal effect as it is in direct violation of Ukraine’s constitution
“In addition to its impact on the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea could have grave implications for the legal order that protects the unity and sovereignty of all states,” they said in a statement released by the White House.
They said Sunday’s referendum, asking the people of Crimea if they want to be a part of Russia or Ukraine, has “no legal effect” as it is in “direct violation” of Ukraine’s constitution.
“Given the lack of adequate preparation and the intimidating presence of Russian troops, it would also be a deeply flawed process which would have no moral force.”
The leaders repeated their calls for Russia to de-escalate the crisis by withdrawing its troops, talking directly with Kiev and using international mediators to “address any legitimate concerns it may have”.
US Secretary of State John Kerry says he has been asked by President Barack Obama to travel to London for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday.
“Our job is to present them with a series of options that are appropriate in order to try to respect the people of Ukraine, international law and the interests of all concerned,” John Kerry told the House Appropriations Committee on Foreign Operations.
At least one person has died in a Park Avenue apartment building collapse following an explosion, NYPD says.
Local TV stations report that 11 people suffered minor injuries in the incident in East Harlem.
Residents heard a blast in the five-storey building at 116th Street and Park Avenue before it caved in.
Residents heard a blast in the five-storey building at 116th Street and Park Avenue before it caved in (photo AP)
All train services in and out of Grand Central terminal have been halted following the incident near its tracks.
The New York fire department has elevated the incident to the highest threat level possible and dispatched 168 members from more than three dozen nearby fire stations to battle the blaze.
The local utility has been called to shut off the gas following the explosion, which damaged windows in the area, reports WABC TV.
A witness told the New York Daily News she had smelled gas “for weeks” before the explosion.
The funeral of Berkin Elvan – a teenage boy injured during Istanbul anti-government protests last year – has gathered tens of thousands of people on the streets of Turkey’s biggest city.
Berkin Elvan, 15, spent 269 days in a coma before his death on Tuesday.
Many of the protesters echoed his mother’s claim that Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan was Berkin’s “killer”.
Police in the capital Ankara fired tear gas to disperse several thousand protesters who had gathered in the central Kizilay square.
Berkin Elvan was 14 when he was struck on the head by a tear gas canister while going to buy bread during last year’s unrest.
“Berkin’s murderers are the AKP police,” protesters shouted in Istanbul, referring to PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The crowds, shouting anti-government slogans, lit a huge fire as they made their way to a cemetery for the burial of the teenager.
“The rage of mothers will suffocate the killers,” screamed others.
Tens of thousands of people have marched through Istanbul for Berkin Elvan’s funeral (photo Reuters)
Berkin Elvan’s death triggered violent protests in at least 32 towns and cities across the country on Tuesday – reminiscent of last year’s unrest.
President Abdullah Gul expressed his sadness and appealed for calm, urging everyone “to do everything to prevent this from happening again”.
He said Turkey was going through difficult days and that the “mind of the state has become overwhelmed by anger and hatred.”
The president added: “Little 15-year-old Berkin Elvan is the latest victim of this atmosphere.”
Correspondents say Berkin Elvan became a symbol of the heavy-handed tactics used by police to rein in the biggest demonstrations against the prime minister.
His death brought the toll from last year’s unrest to at least eight, including one policeman.
Berkin’s mother, Gulsum Elvan, had challenged Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who praised police “heroism” during the protests.
“It’s not God who took my son away but prime minister Erdogan,” the tearful mother told reporters on Tuesday.
The renewed unrest is likely to add to pressure on Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose government has been rocked by an escalating corruption scandal ahead of elections that could decide his fate.
Swiss prosecutors have opened a money laundering investigation into Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov.
The public prosecutor said in a statement that Gulnara Karimova is now part of an inquiry already looking at alleged wrongdoing involving four Uzbeks linked to her.
The investigation involves the business activities of a Swedish telecoms firm.
Gulnara Karimova, 41, had her diplomatic immunity lifted last year when she lost her post as Uzbek envoy to the UN.
A flamboyant businesswoman as well as a pop star in her home country, Gulnara Karimova is believed to have broad commercial interests in the Central Asian republic, ruled by her father for more than two decades.
Swiss prosecutors have opened a money laundering investigation into Gulnara Karimova (photo ITAR-TASS)
The public prosecutor revealed on Wednesday that Gulnara Karimova had been under investigation since September 2013 and that her villa in Cologny, just outside Geneva, had been searched by police the previous month, a few weeks after her immunity was lifted.
Gulnara Karimova is believed to have left Geneva after her role as permanent UN ambassador there came to an end.
Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber told Geneva daily Le Temps that Gulnara Karimova’s diplomatic immunity had previously prevented any action from taking place.
A sum of 800 million Swiss francs ($910 million) has been frozen as part of the inquiry, although the origin of the money is not yet clear, officials say. Several searches have also taken place in France.
Four Uzbek nationals have been under investigation since the summer of 2012. Two were held in custody but released a few months later.
Swedish-Finnish company TeliaSonera, which is partly state-owned, was accused in a 2012 Swedish TV report of paying an intermediary company, Takilant, $300 million for 3G mobile phone rights in Uzbekistan.
Although TeliaSonera strongly denied any wrongdoing, the case was taken up by Swedish prosecutors.
The Swiss authorities did not name TeliaSonera in their statement but said their Swedish colleagues were involved in a corruption inquiry linked to various acquisitions made by a “Swedish enterprise” in the Uzbek telecoms market.
A few months ago, Gulnara Karimova denied any involvement in the TeliaSonera case.
Professor Green has been charged with DUI in the UK.
The 30-year-old rapper was arrested in south-east London on November 3 last year by police investigating a suspected mugging.
Professor Green has been charged with DUI
Officers had been called to Tyrwhitt Road in Lewisham where they discovered a Mercedes car and a van had been involved in a crash.
Professor Green, whose real name is Stephen Manderson, was charged while answering bail on Tuesday. He is due to appear before Bromley magistrates on March 20.
Professor Green was also arrested at the end of November on suspicion of perverting the course of justice, however, the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed no further action would be pursued in that matter.
Angelina Jolie will have more cancer-preventing surgery, after a double mastectomy last year, the actress confirmed in a recent interview.
Angelina Jolie, 38, had the procedure after discovering she was at high risk of developing breast cancer.
“I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could,” she said at the time.
Angelina Jolie will have more cancer-preventing surgery, after a double mastectomy last year
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Angelina Jolie said she is “very happy” with her decision to have the operation.
“There’s still another surgery to have, which I haven’t yet. I’ll get advice from all these wonderful people who I’ve been talking to, to get through that next stage,” she said.
“I was very fortunate to have great doctors and very, very fortunate to have a good recovery and have a project like Unbroken to have something to be really focused on, to be getting healthy for, and to be able to just get right back to work.”
Angelina Jolie has previously explained her reasons for having the surgery, arguing she needed to minimize her risk after her mother died from ovarian cancer aged 56.
Doctors estimated Angelina Jolie had an 87% risk of breast cancer and a 50% risk of ovarian cancer, because of genes she had inherited.
Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius was not wearing his prostheses when he broke down a door to reach Reeva Steenkamp after he shot her, his murder trial has heard on the eighth day.
The forensic evidence contradicted Oscar Pistorius’ claim that he was wearing prosthetics at the time.
The door has been brought into court to be examined during the murder trial.
Oscar Pistorius denies intentionally killing Reeva Steenkamp on February 14 last year, saying he fired after mistaking her for a burglar.
A replica of the toilet in which Reeva Steenkamp was shot has been also brought into court.
The court will hear forensic evidence on the location of shooter, the grouping of the shots and their trajectory.
Cross-examining, Oscar Pistorius’ defense team asked the forensic expert to kneel on his knees and lift his feet, which caused him to wobble.
Oscar Pistorius denies intentionally killing Reeva Steenkamp on February 14 last year
The defense team claimed that Mr Pistorius therefore would not have been able to balance on his stumps and break down the door using a cricket bat.
The prosecution witness argued that if Oscar Pistorius, 27, was balanced enough to fire a gun, he could also break down a door with a bat.
The trial is now halfway through its second week, and is expected to feature over 100 witnesses.
Earlier on Wednesday, a friend of Oscar Pistorius claimed that the star had driven at 124mph and that he had taken a picture of the speedometer to prove it.
The defense team alleged that Darren Fresco was himself driving at the time and had therefore fabricated evidence.
The state is seeking to convince the court that Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, and reality TV star, had an argument before the athlete fired the shots that killed her.
