At least 17 Iranian border guards have been killed in a clash with gunmen on the border with Pakistan, the official Iranian news agency Irna says.
The clashes took place on Friday night in a mountainous region outside Saravan, a border town in the south-east province of Sistan Baluchistan.
A number of guards were also wounded in the attack, reports said.
An unnamed official quoted by Irna blamed “bandits or rebels opposed to the Islamic republic”.
At least 17 Iranian border guards have been killed in a clash with gunmen on the border with Pakistan
Iran lies on a major drug trafficking route between Afghanistan and Europe.
The population in this Sunni Muslim area complains of discrimination by Iran’s Shia establishment. An armed group, called Jundallah, has carried out a number of attacks against the state in recent years.
“We do not have exact details of the incident yet,” Tasnim news agency quoted Saravan’s member of parliament, Hedayatollah Mirmoradzehi, as saying.
“No group has claimed responsibility for the incident so far.”
“Since the venue of the operation is in a location that is geographically difficult of access, we have no exact information on whether any of the officers there were abducted or not,” he added.
The region has experienced repeated deadly clashes over previous years.
AFP news agency quotes officials as saying more than 4,000 police officers and soldiers have been killed in the past three decades in fighting with traffickers.
JP Morgan has reached a $5.1 billion settlement with the US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) over charges it misled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the housing boom.
Meanwhile, a separate settlement with the US Justice Department is expected to be announced soon.
“This is a significant step to address outstanding mortgage-related issues,” the FHFA said in a statement.
It is the biggest settlement ever by a US bank.
In a statement, JP Morgan said the settlement resolves the biggest case against the firm relating to mortgage-backed securities.
JP Morgan added that the agreement relates to “approximately $33.8 billion of securities purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from JP Morgan, Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual” from 2005 – 2007.
JP Morgan has reached a $5.1 billion settlement with the FHFA over charges it misled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the housing boom
The bank purchased Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual at the height of the financial crisis of 2008-2009, and has tried to argue that it should not be punished for mistakes made before those deals.
As part of the agreement with the FHFA, JP Morgan will pay $4 billion to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to settle claims that it violated US securities law.
It will pay the agencies an additional $1.1 billion for misrepresenting the quality of single-family mortgages.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the biggest mortgage lenders in the US. They received $187 billion in US taxpayer aid to help them stay afloat during the financial collapse.
They have since repaid $146 billion of the loan.
JP Morgan has been under investigation for several months by US regulators.
The bank said that it hoped the settlement would be part of a “broader resolution” of the firm’s housing bubble woes – a nod to an expected settlement with the US Justice Department that is also likely to run to several billions of dollars.
The firm reported a rare loss last quarter, having set aside an additional $9 billion to help it deal with its mounting legal troubles.
JP Morgan has set aside a total of $23 billion to help the bank work through its many investigations by regulators in the US and abroad.
Last month, JP Morgan agreed to pay more than $1 billion to help it end various investigations into its 2012 “London whale” trading debacle, which cost the bank more than $6 billion and raised questions about its oversight procedures.
Saudi Arabia’s government has stepped up warnings to women not to defy a ban on female drivers by taking part in a mass driving protest.
The interior ministry has reiterated that anyone flouting the ban is likely to face unspecified punishment.
Saturday’s planned protest is the third of its kind since 1990.
About 17,000 people signed a petition calling either for women to be allowed to drive or for an explanation of why the prohibition should remain in force.
Campaigners are encouraging women to take to the wheel in defiance of the ban.
After the 1990 protest, a number of women were arrested or lost their jobs.
Saudi Arabia’s government has stepped up warnings to women not to defy a ban on female drivers by taking part in a mass driving protest
An interior ministry spokesman, Mansour al-Turki, considerably toughened the Saudi government line on the women drivers’ campaign on Thursday.
A previous statement on Wednesday was confusing, with both those pro- and anti- the campaign believing it favored them.
But Mansour al-Turki explicitly restated that women were prohibited from driving, with violators – and their supporters – likely to face unspecified measures.
A campaign activist, Zaki Safar, said that this was an unusually explicit statement of the ban, which is informal rather than enshrined in Saudi law.
Zaki Safar believes the government is still sending mixed messages, as it is itself divided over whether to lift the ban.
Earlier this week, about 100 conservative clerics asked for an audience at the royal court in the capital, Riyadh, to denounce the campaign as a conspiracy by women and a threat to the country.
But there have been indications of a less hardline attitude by the authorities than back in 1990, and at the second protest in 2011.
As part of the latest campaign, dozens of women have posted online videos of themselves driving in different Saudi cities. None of them has been arrested.
The activists behind the campaign believe the public mood is changing, with many more people – including an increasing number of men – publicly supporting the lifting of the ban.
Music mogul Quincy Jones is suing the estate of Michael Jackson for $10 million in unpaid royalties.
Quincy Jones says Michael Jackson’s estate and Sony Music Entertainment improperly re-edited songs to deprive him of royalties and production fees.
The music producer says they also broke an agreement giving him the right to remix master recordings for albums released after Michael Jackson’s death in 2009.
Quincy Jones produced some of Michael Jackson’s top discs including Off the Wall and Thriller.
The Jackson estate said that it was saddened by the lawsuit.
Quincy Jones produced some of Michael Jackson’s top discs including Off the Wall and Thriller
“To the best of its knowledge, Mr. Jones has been appropriately compensated over approximately 35 years for his work with Michael,” a statement said.
Earlier this month the family of Michael Jackson lost a negligence case against concert promoters AEG Live over the death of the 50-year-old pop star.
A jury concluded Dr. Conrad Murray, who was looking after the singer ahead of his concert tour, was not unfit for his job – and so AEG had not been negligent in hiring him.
Michael Jackson died in 2009 after taking an overdose of a surgical anaesthetic.
Imprisoned Chinese journalist Chen Yongzhou, whose newspaper New Express has made front-page appeals for his release, has confessed to wrongdoing on state TV.
“I’m willing to admit my guilt and to show repentance,” said reporter Chen Yongzhou, arrested over claims he defamed a partly state-owned firm.
State media said he had admitted writing false stories for money.
Analysts say there have been a number of televised confessions recently in high-profile or politicized cases.
Imprisoned Chinese journalist Chen Yongzhou has confessed to wrongdoing on state TV
But campaigners have frequently criticized the practice, saying they are often made under duress and violate rights to due process.
Chen Yongzhou wrote several articles for the Guangdong-based New Express alleging financial irregularities at a construction-equipment company called Zoomlion.
“In this case I’ve caused damages to Zoomlion and also the whole news media industry and its ability to earn the public’s trust,” he told state broadcaster CCTV.
“I did this mainly because I hankered after money and fame. I’ve been used. I’ve realized my wrongdoing.”
State media said Chen Yongzhou had confessed to taking bribes, but did not report who might have paid the bribes.
Chen Yongzhou’s case attracted huge attention after the New Express twice used its front page to call for his release.
The New Express has not yet commented on the confession.
Augusto Odone, a former World Bank economist who rejected medical opinion and created an oil to save the life of his son Lorenzo, has died in Italy at the age of 80.
Augusto Odone taught himself enough science to invent a treatment for his 6-year-old son after he was diagnosed with a neurological disease and given two years to live. Lorenzo eventually died aged 30.
The battle to help Lorenzo Odone was depicted in a 1992 Hollywood film, Lorenzo’s Oil.
Lorenzo Odone was diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a neurological disease that progressively destroys the brains of young boys.
The disease leads to the build-up of dangerous “long-chain” fatty acids, and within a year children are paralyzed, blind and unable to speak.
Doctors predicted that Lorenzo Odone would die in childhood.
Augusto Odone rejected medical opinion and created an oil to save the life of his son Lorenzo
However, Augusto Odone and his wife Michaela refused to accept the prognosis for their son, and put all their energies into trying to find a treatment.
Despite having no formal scientific training, Augusto Odone studied medicine and biochemistry, and concocted a mixture of acids from olive and rapeseed oils.
The Odones eventually persuaded an elderly British chemist, Don Suddaby, to distil the formula, which became known as Lorenzo’s Oil.
After testing it on a family member, Augusto Odone gave the oil to his son, with dramatic results: his long-chain fatty acids started to drop to normal levels.
Its success in delaying the onset of symptoms in Lorenzo was demonstrated by the fact he lived to the age of 30, far beyond what doctors had predicted.
Scientific studies have shown that the oil has most effect on children who have the ALD gene but have not yet displayed any of the symptoms.
The story of Augusto and Michaela Odone was depicted in Lorenzo’s Oil, which starred Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon as the parents.
After the death of Michaela in 2000, Augusto Odone returned from the US to his native Piedmont region of Italy, to be near his surviving children.
A reboot of Murder, She Wrote series is in the works, starring Oscar winner Octavia Spencer.
Octavia Spencer has signed on to appear in the pilot ordered by NBC, reports Deadline.
The new take will feature Octavia Spencer as a hospital administrator who is also an amateur detective.
The original series, which starred Angela Lansbury, ran for 12 seasons on rival network CBS from 1984 to 1996.
At the height of its popularity, it attracted some 23 million viewers in the US and earned Angela Lansbury four Golden Globes for the role, as well as 12 consecutive Emmy nominations.
NBC has ordered a “put pilot”, which guarantees the episode will air, but does not guarantee it will be commissioned for a full series.
NBC is bringing back Murder, She Wrote, with Octavia Spencer playing Angela Lansbury role
It has been described as a “light, contemporary procedural in the vein of Bones or Fargo”.
“I’ve always considered myself an armchair detective and in a recent meeting with [NBC chairman] Bob Greenblatt, he asked me what type of character would be able to lure me to TV,” Octavia Spencer said.
“Naturally, I said JB Fletcher meets Colombo… and here we are.”
The pilot will be produced by David Janollari, who worked on Six Feet Under, and will be written by former Desperate Housewives executive producer Alexandra Cunningham.
If the show gets picked up, it will be the first regular series for Octavia Spencer, who has previously guest-starred on numerous shows including Ugly Betty, The Big Bang Theory and Chuck Lorre’s latest comedy Mom, starring Anna Faris and Allison Janney.
Murder, She Wrote is NBC’s latest “re-imagining” – it is also re-working 1980s crime series Remington Steele and 1994 film Reality Bites.
Enjoy this Halloween season with these spooky chocolate spiders.
Ingredients:
200g dark or milk chocolate, broken into chunks
113g pack liquorice Catherine wheels
2 x 154g packs Oreo cookies
white and black icing pens
Chocolate spider cookies
Method:
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Once melted, turn off the heat and leave the chocolate in the bowl to keep warm while you assemble the spiders.
Unroll some of the liquorice wheels and cut into 2-3cm lengths to use as the Chocolate spiders’ legs.
Splodge a small tsp of chocolate onto half of the cookies. Arrange eight liquorice legs on top, then sandwich with another cookie. Spread some more chocolate on top of the second cookie to cover, then put somewhere cool to set.
Use the icing pens to add eyes, by first blobbing two big dots of white icing on each, topped with two smaller dots of black icing.
Honey Boo Boo embraced the Halloween spirit early this year, working with Mama June to ready their McIntyre, Georgia, home for the ghoulish holiday.
Honey Boo Boo, 8, was seen earlier this month decorating her family property. In between playing with her Hula Hoop in the front yard, barefoot Alana Thompson hung lights adorned with spooky spiders. That was just part of the festive display, which also included cobwebs, jack-o’-lanterns, skeletons, ghosts, a giant black cat, and crime scene tape.
The family added a little inside joke to the display by hanging two “Boo” signs on the front exterior of the white house.
Honey Boo Boo embraced the Halloween spirit early this year
Honey Boo Boo loves her Halloween – earlier this year TLC aired a special episode on how the family spends the holiday. The clan was shown going all out with devilish decorations, making up their costumes and a trip to a local corn maze. They also told ghost stories (including an apparent family classic about the “Fart Ghost”) and complained about their trick-or-treat loot (someone dared to give her dental floss!).
This year’s festivities may well end up on the show’s third season, which premieres on January 1.
It remains to be seen whether Honey Boo Boo will once again inspire Halloween costumes this year.
In 2012, Miranda Lambert and Paris Hilton both dressed as Honey Boo Boo – with the country singer proving to be a real ringer. This year, the network is selling a “Little Miss Sassified” sash for those hoping to adopt an authentic Honey Boo Boo look.
There is no word on what Honey Boo Boo herself will dress up as this year, but it doesn’t really matter. As she said earlier this year: “Halloween is all about treats … treating myself to candy.”
Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom have confirmed the end of their 3-year marriage.
Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom – who were believed to be one of the strongest couples in Tinsel Town – announced their amicable split, claiming that they still love each other.
Talking to E! News, a representative for Orlando Bloom said: “Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr have announced that they have been amicably separated for the past few months.
“After six years together, they have recently decided to formalize their separation.”
The statement continued: “Despite this being the end of their marriage, they love, support and respect each other as both parents of their son and as a family.”
Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom – who have a son, Flynn, together – began dating in 2007 before walking down the aisle three years later.
Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom have confirmed the end of their 3-year marriage
The Victoria’s Secret model was last seen with her husband at the beginning of this month, while their final public appearance together was at the opening night of Orlando Bloom’s Broadway productions of Romeo and Juliet in September.
Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom looked as loved up as ever though, cozying up for the pictures on the red carpet as they made their way into the venue.
And it was only in January when the couple denied rumors of a split, with 36-year-old Miranda Kerr describing Orlando Bloom as an “amazing partner.”
Speaking on the Today show, Miranda Kerr said: “We’re wonderful. He’s such an amazing partner, and amazing father and we’re just really lucky.”
“We do the best that we can with both of our schedules and we’re really lucky to have each other.
“As long as [Orlando and I] know the truth, that’s all that matters.”
It is thought that the couple’s busy work schedules played a big part in the breakup of their marriage, with Miranda Kerr flying all over the world as a model and Orlando Bloom often moving locations to film scenes for his latest film projects.
Eerie eyeball pops: These spooky chocolate cake balls will be a hit with kids at Halloween – they can help decorate them too.
Ingredients:
100g/4oz Madeira cake
100g Oreo cookies
100g bar milk chocolate, melted
200g bar white chocolate, melted
few Smarties and icing pens, to decorate
You will also need:
10 wooden skewers
½ small pumpkin or butternut squash, deseeded, to stand pops in
Halloween eerie eyeball pops
Method:
Break the Madeira cake and cookies into the bowl of a food processor, pour in the melted milk chocolate and whizz to combine.
Tip the mixture into a bowl, then use your hands to roll into about 10 walnut-sized balls. Chill for 2 hrs until really firm.
Push a skewer into each ball, then carefully spoon the white chocolate over the cake balls to completely cover. Stand the cake pops in the pumpkin, then press a Smartie onto the surface while wet. Chill again until the chocolate has set. Before serving, using the icing pens, add a pupil to each Smartie and wiggly red veins to the eyeballs.
The parents of mystery girl Maria are the Bulgarian Roma couple who came forward earlier this week, DNA tests have confirmed.
Sasha Ruseva spotted the blond, blue-eyed girl on television after she was removed from a Roma camp in Greece last week, allegedly telling her neighbors she was the “fool” who had given the girl up, her grandmother Zineb Kasimova told NBC News in an earlier interview.
Zineb Kasimova had said that she would be prepared to “take her home,” if the tests proved conclusive, although the girl’s future now still remains unclear.
“They left the kid because they have no money at all,” said Zineb Kasimova, who has about 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“When the mother saw the child on TV, she went to the neighbors and told them, <<I was a fool to leave the kid there>>.”
Sasha Ruseva told Bulgarian TV on Thursday that she had once left a baby behind in Greece after working there.
“I didn’t take any money,” she said.
Sasha Ruseva spotted her daughter Maria on television after she was removed from a Roma camp in Greece last week
“I just didn’t have enough money to feed her. I intended to go back and take my child home, but meanwhile I gave birth to two more kids, so I was not able to go.”
Bulgarian police later questioned Sasha Ruseva and her 36-year-old husband Atanas Rusev, whose DNA was later shown to match with samples taken by the Greek police from the little girl.
“The prosecutors’ office has opened a pre-trial investigation against [Sasha Ruseva] for agreeing to sell her child on an undisclosed date in 2009 in Greece,” the regional prosecutor’s office in the southern town of Kazanlak said in a statement.
“The probe is opened following checks linked to the female child with the name Maria in Greece.”
Sasha Ruseva and her husband both vanished after being interviewed by investigators, police told NBC News on Friday.
From their small shacks next to an unpaved road in Nikolaevo, neighbors told NBC News that the couple have nine children – including four who are blond and fair-skinned like Maria.
Maria was found living with Christos Salis, 39, and Eleftheria Dimopoulou, 40, last week in a Roma settlement near Farsala, Greece.
Christos Salis and Eleftheria Dimopoulou have been charged with abduction and procuring false documents. Magistrates ordered that Christos Salis and Eleftheria Dimopoulou be held in custody until they face trial.
Their lawyer Marietta Palavra told NBC News earlier this week that Maria’s real mother is a Bulgarian Roma prostitute who was looking for a home for the unwanted baby among local Roma families in Greece.
Spanish singer Manolo Escobar, whose best-selling track Y Viva Espana became part of his country’s cultural identity in the 1970s, has died aged 82.
Manolo Escobar died at home in the town of Benidorm surrounded by his family, after a long fight against cancer.
The iconic singer was “a symbol who lived in the musical landscape of Spaniards for half a century,” Spain’s culture minister, Jose Ignacio Wert, said in a statement.
“Music is my life,” Manolo Escobar said this month.
“I will never surrender.”
“I am happy because I have work and because, moreover, people are still prepared to pay to see me on stage,” Manolo Escobar said in an interview with Spanish newspaper ABC.
“I want to return to a few of the places I have been to in my career of more than 50 years and say goodbye for good. I will sing one more time in each one so that I don’t go back,” the singer added.
Manolo Escobar’s best-selling track Y Viva Espana became part of Spain’s cultural identity in the 1970s
Born in a small village outside Almeria in October 1931, Manolo Escobar had a huge following in Spain in the 1960s and 1970s with hits such as El Porompompero and Mi Carro.
A well-known personality thanks to his television show Canta Manolo Escobar, he also starred in films including The Guerrillas and Father Manolo, in which he played a singing priest.
But it was the success of Y Viva Espana, in 1973, that made Manolo Escobar an international star. The track was based on Eviva Espana, the 1971 song written by Belgian duo Leo Rozenstraten and Leo Caerts, and performed, in Dutch, by Samantha.
Manolo Escobar’s best-selling single – released to coincide with Spain’s transition from dictatorship to democracy and a boom in international tourism – sold an estimated six million copies.
In 1974, the track was covered by Swedish singer Sylvia Vrethammar, whose English version reached number four in the UK Singles Chart.
One of Manolo Escobar’s last big acts was in July 2010 when he sang with the Spanish football team to celebrate their victory in the World Cup in South Africa.
Manolo Escobar announced his retirement from music at the end of 2012 after 50 years on the stage.
Last month, the singer had to cancel the final dates of his farewell tour after falling ill.
He was undergoing treatment, reportedly for colon cancer, at Benidorm’s Hospital Clinica, but is understood to have left on Tuesday. He died at home two days later.
Manolo Escobar leaves a wife, Anita, and one daughter, Vanessa.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), Iceland has been rated the country with the world’s smallest gender gap for five years in a row.
The rating means Iceland is the country where women enjoy the most equal access to education and healthcare. It is also where women are most likely to be able to participate fully in the country’s political and economic life.
Iceland is joined at the top of The Global Gender Gap Report, 2013 by its Nordic neighbors Finland, Norway and Sweden.
Overall, the gender gap narrowed slightly across the globe in 2013, as 86 of 133 countries showed improvements. However, “change is definitely slow”, says one of the report’s authors, Saadia Zahidi.
Europe has seven countries in the top 10 and the US is 23rd. The Philippines, at fifth, is the highest ranking Asian nation and Nicaragua is the highest-placed country from the Americas, at 10th.
The G20 group of leading industrial nations has no representative in the top 10, nor do the Middle East or Africa.
Top 10 countries:
1. Iceland
2. Finland
3. Norway
4. Sweden
5. Philippines
6. Ireland
7. New Zealand
8. Denmark
9. Switzerland
10. Nicaragua
The Global Gender Gap Report, 2013
Canada and the US come in at 20th and 23rd in the overall rankings. Both countries score well on education, where they are joint top alongside several other nations.
The US comes below Canada on politics, 60th to Canada’s 42nd place, but the US is ahead of its neighbour on economics, at sixth, and health, at 33rd, where Canada comes ninth and 49th respectively.
From Latin America, the three strongest-performing countries here are Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador, who all make the top 25 nations overall. Brazil’s position is unchanged from last year at 62nd.
“The health and education gap was closed here years ago. So it’s a continent ready to take off in terms of labor and political participation,” says Saadia Zahidi.
Northern European countries generally fare well compared with other countries. The WEF attributes this, in part, to policies that help people balance the twin demands of work and family life.
In southern Europe, the gender gap in education was reversed a number of years ago. However, there are lower levels of female participation in the workforce.
Middle East and North Africa is the region where some of the greatest gender inequalities exist. But the picture is far from uniform. For instance, the Gulf states have tended to invest heavily in female education, with a reverse gender gap taking place in the United Arab Emirates. Many more women than men are now finishing university here.
This contrasts with countries like Yemen, where levels of female education are very low.
Some of the Sub-Saharan African countries with the widest gender gaps can be found here; Chad and Ivory Coast all come close to the bottom of the overall rankings.
But southern Africa has some nations where a high level of labor force participation and political empowerment have helped bring them into the top 30 countries. Lesotho reaches 16th, South Africa is one place behind and Mozambique comes in at 26th.
In Asia, the Philippines stands out as the most equal country on the continent. This is down to closing the gap in health and education. The country also has a high level of economic participation, says the WEF.
China comes 69th overall, ahead of India at 101st. India’s low rank is due to poor scores from the WEF on education, health and economics.
How are the rankings made?
In order to compare relative gender gaps, the WEF creates an index from more than a dozen different sets of data. A score of one (or 100%) represents equality; zero (or 0%) represents inequality. Countries are then ranked on their results.
According to British cardiologist Aseem Malhotra, the risk from saturated fat in foods such as butter, cakes and fatty meat is being overstated and demonized.
Dr. Aseem Malhotra said there was too much focus on the fat with other factors such as sugar often overlooked.
It is time to “bust the myth of the role of saturated fat in heart disease”, Dr. Aseem Malhotra writes in an opinion piece in the British Medical Journal.
However, the British Heart Foundation said there was conflicting evidence.
It added reducing cholesterol through drugs or other means does lower heart risk.
The risk from saturated fat in foods such as butter, cakes and fatty meat is being overstated and demonized
Studies on the link between diet and disease have led to dietary advice and guidelines on how much saturated fat, particularly cholesterol, it is healthy to eat.
Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a cardiology registrar at Croydon University Hospital, London, says the “mantra that saturated fat must be removed to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease has dominated dietary advice and guidelines for almost four decades”.
The cardiologist says saturated fat has been “demonized” and any link with heart disease is not fully supported by scientific evidence.
The food industry has compensated for lowering saturated fat levels in food by replacing it with sugar, he says, which also contributes to heart disease.
Adopting a Mediterranean diet – olive oil, nuts, oily fish, plenty of fruit and vegetables and a moderate amount of red wine – after a heart attack is almost three times as powerful in reducing mortality as taking a statin, writes Dr. Aseem Malhotra.
Statins are a group of medicines that can help lower rates of cholesterol in the blood.
Cholesterol can also be reduced by eating a healthy, balanced diet, maintaining a healthy weight and doing regular physical activity.
European leaders at the EU summit in Brussels say distrust of the US over spying could harm the fight against terrorism.
A statement agreed by the leaders says that “a lack of trust could prejudice” intelligence-gathering co-operation.
France and Germany are pushing for talks with the US to find a new “understanding” by the year’s end.
A number of allegations against US intelligence agents have surfaced this week, including the bugging of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone.
In addition there have been claims that the US National Security Agency (NSA) monitored millions of French telephone calls.
On Thursday, the UK’s Guardian newspaper also reported that it had obtained a confidential memo from the NSA suggesting it had monitored the phones of 35 world leaders.
The latest revelations have been sourced to Edward Snowden, the former intelligence contractor who fled the country earlier this year and is now in Russia.
They have overshadowed other issues at the EU summit in Brussels, including the Mediterranean migration problem, which frames the agenda of Friday’s talks.
Italian authorities said they had intercepted some 800 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean as the EU leaders prepared to meet.
The statement of heads of state or government, released on Friday, reflects the EU leaders’ conclusions following their talks on Thursday.
It says the recent intelligence issues had raised “deep concerns” among European citizens.
The statement says the leaders “underlined the close relationship between Europe and the USA and the value of that partnership”.
It continues: “[The leaders] stressed that intelligence-gathering is a vital element in the fight against terrorism.”
European leaders at the EU summit in Brussels say distrust of the US over spying could harm the fight against terrorism
And it went on: “A lack of trust could prejudice the necessary cooperation in the field of intelligence-gathering.”
Belgian PM Elio di Rupo said: “The objective must remain the same – to fight against terrorism but also respect privacy.
“Everyone can understand the need for exceptional measures given the danger of terrorism… but we are not in the position where we should spy on each other.”
Talks among the EU leaders had continued late into Thursday night.
Speaking afterwards, Angela Merkel said: “We need trust among allies and partners. Such trust now has to be built anew.
“The United States of America and Europe face common challenges. We are allies. But such an alliance can only be built on trust. That’s why I repeat again: spying among friends, that cannot be.”
Germany and France said they were proposing talks with the US to settle the row by the end of the year.
The leaders’ statement said: “The heads of state or government took note of the intention of France and Germany to seek bilateral talks with the USA with the aim of finding before the end of the year an understanding on mutual relations in that field.
“They noted that other EU countries are welcome to join this initiative.”
French President Francois Hollande said on Friday: “What is at stake is preserving our relations with the United States.”
EU President Herman Van Rompuy accepted the UK had “a special relationship” with the US, but said Britain was “completely on board with this text”.
UK PM David Cameron has yet to comment.
But a number of other leaders have indicated their support for the French and German position.
Finnish PM Jyrki Katainen said: “We have to talk together with the Americans, and try to find some sort of code of conduct [on] how to cooperate on this kind of issue in the future.”
Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt said it was “completely unacceptable” to eavesdrop on the leader of an ally, a view echoed by Italian PM Enrico Letta, who added: “We want the truth.”
Other leaders signaled the need to move on.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said: “The main thing is that we look to the future. The trans-Atlantic partnership was, and is, important.”
Angela Merkel had raised her concerns with President Barack Obama in a call on Wednesday.
White House spokesman Jay Carney later said President Obama had assured Chancellor Angela Merkel that her phone was not being listened to now and would not be in the future.
However, his statement left open the question of whether calls had been listened to in the past.
Six South Korean men have been returned by North Korea to their homeland, South Korean officials say, in a rare move.
The men, between the ages of 27 and 67, were handed over on Friday at the truce village of Panmunjom, on the border between the two countries.
The names of South Korean men were not released and details surrounding their detention in the North remain unclear.
The two Koreas remain technically at war, as the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice and not a peace treaty.
Pyongyang’s Red Cross informed Seoul that the men would be handed back via Panmunjom on Thursday, a statement from South Korea’s Unification Ministry said.
Six South Korean men have been returned by North Korea to their homeland
Officials said the group would be taken to South Korea’s spy agency to face questions over their presence in North Korea.
The South Korean government said that at first glance, the men were not on the list of those abducted by the North.
One possibility is that they may have crossed into North Korea illegally from China. Unofficial travel to North Korea by private citizens from South Korea is illegal.
Pyongyang’s state news agency announced the detention of several unnamed South Korean nationals in 2010 and there is speculation that they may be among those returned.
The move by North Korea is seen as a gesture of reconciliation following the cancellation of reunions for families split by the division of the Korean peninsula at the end of the Korean War which were planned for last month.
Tensions between the two Koreas rose earlier this year, after North Korea’s third nuclear test in February.
Duck Dynasty has spawned its own mobile game app called Duck Dynasty: Battle of the Beards.
Available in the App Store, the game enables fans to occupy the “redneck” universe of the rough-and-tumble Robertson family in the backwoods of Louisiana.
The goal for players is to transform from a clean-shaven yuppie type into a duck-hunting man’s man with a mega beard.
Duck Dynasty has spawned its own mobile game app called Battle of the Beards
In addition to duck hunting, the game allows players to “eat chilies, blow up beaver dams and compete in sets of rapid-fire micro-games that test players’ reflexes and drop them feet first into the Louisiana backwoods. As players successfully complete the challenges, their beards grow to epic proportions and they start to transform from a yuppie into a full-blown redneck!”.
Duck Dynasty is currently the most-watched nonfiction cable show ever.
The reality show chronicles the unusual life of Robertson family that earned a fortune by making duck-hunting products, in particular a duck call named Duck Commander.
Duck Dynasty premiered in March 2012, and by the time Season 3 wrapped, it scored 9.8 million viewers. Season 4 went on to premiere to 11.8 million viewers.
Two mummies more than 1,000 years old have been found by archaeologists in a suburb of Lima, Peru.
The mummies – of an adult and a child – were found at an ancient religious complex which has been under excavation since 1981.
The child is believed to have been an offering to the gods and may have been buried alive after the adult’s death.
Researchers also found other offerings including the remains of guinea pigs and jars with feline designs.
“This is one of the most important finds in more than three decades of excavation, because the mummies are intact,” researcher Gladys Paz told the AFP news agency.
Two mummies more than 1,000 years old have been found by archaeologists in a suburb of Lima
The mummies are squatting and are fully dressed wrapped in rope.
It is the third intact find among more than 70 tombs uncovered in the Huaca Pucllana tomb, a pyramid-like temple built by the pre-Columbian Wari culture between 100 and 600 AD in what is now the Miraflores neighborhood.
In 2010, archaeologists found the remains of a woman with four children, and in 2008, the remains of a teenage girl.
The site was built on 2.5 hectares of land and towers over 66ft high. So far, only about 40% has been excavated.
The Wari culture flourished between AD 500 to 1,000 on the coastal area of northern Peru.
Little is known about them, as they did not appear to leave a written record.
Madagascar voters are going to the polls in the first election since the military-backed coup in 2009.
Thirty-three candidates are contesting the election, which has been postponed three times this year.
Two front-runners are competing with a similar pledge to rebuild Madagascar’s economy after years of political and economic crisis.
Over 92% of Madagascar’s 21 million people live on less than $2 a day, according to the World Bank.
The two front-runners, Hery Martial Rakotoarimanana Rajaonarimampianina and Richard Jean-Louis Robinson, are both pledging to rebuild Madagascar’s economy.
President Andry Rajoelina ousted Marc Ravalomanana from power in 2009, plunging the island nation into political turmoil and leaving the country isolated by the international community and deprived of foreign aid.
After seizing power, Andry Rajoelina announced that there would be a new constitution and elections within 24 months.
In May 2009 it was agreed that all former presidents would be allowed to stand in the election. However, these failed to take place in 2009 or 2010.
Madagascar voters are going to the polls in the first election since the military-backed coup in 2009
In January this year Andry Rajoelina and Marc Ravalomanana both agreed not to stand in the polls, in line with a plan by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a regional bloc that Madagascar belongs to.
The first round of this election was set to take place in July 2013 but was pushed back to August because Marc Ravalomanana’s wife and former first lady, Lalao – and then Andry Rajoelina himself – decided to run, prompting donors to suspend financing for the poll.
Andry Rajoelina and Lalao Ravalomanana were then barred from standing and the electoral court also struck former President Didier Ratsiraka from the list of candidates after the three refused to withdraw.
The African Union had said it would not recognize the results if any of the three were declared the winner.
The electoral commission then set the elections for October 25.
Hery Martial Rakotoarimanana Rajaonarimampianina, a former finance minister in the transitional government, says he aims to help the unemployed, build infrastructure to improve agriculture, reform the education system and make Madagascar a strong democracy.
Richard Jean-Louis Robinson says that his electoral programme will draw heavily on a new version of Lalao Ravalomanana’s Madagascar Action Plan (MAP) to help rebuild society and also rejuvenate the ailing tourism industry.
The polls will be run by the Independent National Electoral Commission of the Transition (CENIT) – an independent electoral body funded by the United Nations.
No firm date has been set to announce the results but if no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes cast, a second round will be held on December 20, along with the parliamentary elections.
CENIT says there are 7,697,382 registered voters and 20,115 polling stations in Madagascar, a country the size of France with a scattered population.
The recent reports claiming that Prince Charles believes becoming king will be a form of prison have been strongly denied by the Clarence House.
According to a report in Time magazine, quoting an unnamed official, Prince Charles is worried he will not achieve ambitions linked to his interests before “the prison shades” close.
The Prince of Wales is in no rush to become king because he fears being monarch will be a form of prison, according to one of his officials.
Clarence House has denied reports that the Prince of Wales believes becoming king will be a form of prison
Time spoke to 50 of the prince’s friends and associates.
It is not known whether the comment was made by a current or former member of royal staff.
A Clarence House spokesman said: “This is not the Prince of Wales’s view and should not be attributed to him as he did not say these words.
“The prince has dutifully supported the Queen all his life and his official duties and charitable work have always run in parallel.”
Shandong court in China has rejected the appeal of former politician Bo Xilai and upheld his life sentence for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power.
The former Chongqing Communist Party leader was convicted of the charges in September.
Bo Xilai was removed from office in 2012 amid a scandal which saw his wife Gu Kailai convicted of a British businessman’s murder.
The high court in Shandong, the province where Bo Xilai’s trial was held, accepted his appeal earlier this month.
“The facts of the first instance verdict are clear, the evidence is reliable, sufficient and the sentence is appropriate,” the high court said in its ruling, which was posted on its website.
“The court rules as follows: reject the appeal, uphold the original verdict. This verdict is the final ruling.”
The hearing appeared to have been brief, with the verdict coming about an hour after a convoy believed to be carrying Bo Xilai was seen arriving at the court.
Footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed Bo Xilai’s elder son, Li Wangzhi, in court with other relatives.
Shandong court has rejected the appeal of Bo Xilai and upheld his life sentence for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power
Bo Xilai only receives one chance to appeal and his sentence is now final. He could submit a complaint to the Supreme People’s Court in Beijing, but the vast majority of such complaints are rejected and do not result in another trial.
Correspondents said few expected Bo Xilai’s conviction to be overturned. The courts are controlled by the ruling Communist Party, from which Bo Xilai was expelled from last year.
Bo Xilai, the charismatic former party chief in the city of Chongqing in south-western China, was a member of the powerful politburo – one of the 25 most senior party officials in the country.
But he was removed from office last year amid a scandal which began when his deputy, Wang Lijun, sought refuge in the US consulate in Chengdu.
The incident prompted an investigation into the death of British businessman Neil Heywood.
Bo Xilai’s wife, Gu Kailai, was eventually convicted of Neil Heywood’s murder – a crime caused, the court said, by a financial dispute.
Wang Lijun was also jailed for 15 years for helping Gu Kailai cover up the murder.
Bo Xilai himself was found guilty of taking bribes amounting to 20 million yuan ($3.3 million) either personally or through his family. He was also accused of abusing his office by using his position to cover up for his wife’s crime.
His supporters, however, believe he is the victim of a political purge. His downfall came as China prepared for its once-in-a-decade leadership transfer, as one generation of leaders made way for the next.
Bo Xilai had been seen as a candidate for the very top, until his fall from grace. It was the biggest political shake-up to hit China’s ruling elite in decades.
The final verdict in the Bo Xilai case comes weeks before the Communist Party holds a major meeting in November to set economic policy.
Queen Elizabeth II has been pictured with three future kings – Prince Charles, Prince William and newborn Prince George.
This is the first such image of royal succession for nearly 120 years.
The Queen is shown with her son, the Prince of Wales, grandson, the Duke of Cambridge, and great-grandson, Prince George, to mark the royal christening.
The picture echoes a 1894 image from the future Edward VIII’s christening, showing him with his father, grandfather and great-grandmother – George V, Edward VII and Queen Victoria.
The royal pictures were taken by Jason Bell.
The Queen is shown with her son, the Prince of Wales, grandson, the Duke of Cambridge, and great-grandson, Prince George, to mark the royal christening
The four official portraits were taken in the Morning Room at Clarence House following Wednesday’s christening ceremony at the Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace.
The reigning monarch and three future kings will, in all probability, occupy the British throne for considerably more than 100 years.
The images were captured by Jason Bell, who is renowned for his images of high-profile figures like Sir Paul McCartney, actress Scarlett Johansson and former England footballer David Beckham.
Prince George wears a replica of the intricate lace and satin christening gown made for Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, Victoria, the Princess Royal, in 1841.
The sofa which the royals sat on for the pictures was designed by Thomas Chippendale and is part of a range dating from about 1773.
It is thought to have been commissioned by the Duke of Gloucester, George III’s brother.
UEFA has decided to open disciplinary proceedings against CSKA Moscow for the “racist behavior of their fans” during their home Champions League match against Manchester City.
Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure said he was subjected to racist chanting during his team’s 2-1 win in Moscow on Wednesday.
The European governing body says the case will be dealt with by its disciplinary board on 30 October.
CSKA Moscow considers the racism allegations to be “unfounded”.
Manchester City said on Thursday that they had submitted a formal written complaint to UEFA, which is also looking into the setting off of fireworks by home supporters during the match in the Russian capital.
In May, UEFA announced that in the case of racist incidents involving spectators, a partial stadium closure would be applied for the first offence and a full stadium closure for a second, coupled with a fine of 50,000 euros.
Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure said he was subjected to racist chanting during his team’s 2-1 win in Moscow
CSKA’s next home game in the Champions League is against Bayern Munich on November 27, before which they visit Manchester City on November 5.
Ivory Coast international Yaya Toure said he was “furious” and reported the chants to the referee during the game and afterwards.
But CSKA are “surprised and disappointed” by Yaya Toure’s claims.
A club statement read: “Having carefully studied the video of the game, we found no racist insults from fans of CSKA.”
Lord Ouseley, chairman of anti-discrimination body Kick It Out, said the latest incident would “test” Uefa’s new sanctions.
He added referee Ovidiu Hategan should not officiate again after failing to follow protocol when Toure reported the incidents to him.
Under guidelines issued by UEFA in 2009, referees have the power to tackle racist chanting from supporters in a number of ways.
As a first step, they can stop a match and ask for warnings to be made over the public address system.
The second step is to suspend a match for a short time. If the abuse continues, a match can be abandoned.
Romanian official Ovidiu Hategan, a FIFA referee since 2008, was also in charge when Lazio fans were found guilty of racist behavior towards Tottenham players in the Europa League last season.
FIFPro, the global union for professional footballers, is “disappointed” match officials failed to act.
Sir Ouseley said if players are not adequately protected, more could walk off the pitch during a game, as former AC Milan player Kevin Prince-Boateng did during a friendly last season.
Chinese newspaper The New Express has published a second front-page plea for the release of its journalist Chen Yongzhou held by police.
The New Express called for a second time in two days Chen Yongzhou to be freed.
Chen Yongzhou was taken away by police after he wrote about a part state-owned construction equipment company.
In a rare move, China’s publishing regulator has also voiced its concern over his detention.
The New Express, based in the southern city Guangzhou, published on the bottom of its front page a large four-character headline that read: “Again: Please Release Him.”
On Tuesday, the paper filled its front page with a three-character headline that read “Please Release Him.”
The New Express has published a second front-page plea for the release of its journalist Chen Yongzhou
The New Express also accompanied the second day’s plea with a call to resolve matters under the rule of law.
“[Police] cannot take way people first and question them later,” the paper said.
Correspondents say the paper’s move is rare and bold at a time when the government is tightening control over the media and the internet.
Meanwhile, China’s publishing regulator, the General Association of Press and Publishing (GAPP), has voiced its concern over Chen Yongzhou’s detention.
GAPP “resolutely supports the news media conducting normal interviewing and reporting activities and resolutely protects journalists’ normal and legal rights to interview,” the China Press and Publishing Journal said, citing a GAPP official.
“At the same time, it resolutely opposes any abuse of the right to conduct interviews,” said the journal which is overseen by GAPP.
The article said the association was paying “close attention” to the matter.
Earlier this year, Chen Yongzhou wrote several reports about Zoomlion, which is partly owned by the Hunan provincial government.
Zoomlion issued a statement after one New Express article, which alleged it had improperly accounted for sales, caused its share price to drop.
In a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange in late May, the company called the claims “false, groundless and misleading”.
Like all Chinese newspapers, the New Express comes under strict state control, but it has nonetheless gained a reputation for investigative journalism.
