Model Amber Rose has shared her baby boy Sebastian Taylor Thomaz first picture with her Twitter fans.
Amber Rose, 29, posted a picture of her new son, Sebastian “The Bash” Taylor Thomaz being cradled by his father Wiz Khalifa, 25.
She tweeted the photograph of her fiancé in the early hours of Friday morning, adding: “Best daddy ever…. Up with the baby so Muva can go back to sleep :-)”
Wiz Khalifa, whose real name is Cameron Jibril Thomaz, was pictured looking tired and emotional as he held the newborn tot all wrapped up in a white blanket.
He stayed cosy in a pinked floral hooded top as he stood over the child’s cot in the hospital room.
Meanwhile Wiz Khalifa revealed that his partner’s first request after getting over the fuss around her giving birth was for some whiskey.
He posted online: “My wife said she just wants a Jacc & coke, a cheesesteak, and a cigarette. That’s why I’m marrying that woman!”
Amber Rose and Wiz Khalifa welcomed their “perfect” first child into the world on Thursday.
Amber Rose posted a picture of her new son, Sebastian “The Bash” Taylor Thomaz being cradled by his father Wiz Khalifa
North Korean mobile phone provider Koryolink is planning to launch a 3G data service for foreign visitors and residents from abroad.
Egyptian telecoms firm Orascom, which is a partner in Koryolink, estimates that more than 1 million North Koreans use mobile phones.
They will not be able to use the new service, according to reports.
Orascom launched a 3G phone network inside North Korea in 2008, but users can only use it to make phone calls.
International calls, including calls to South Korea, are banned.
North Korean mobile phone provider Koryolink is planning to launch a 3G data service for foreign visitors and residents from abroad
In January 2013 North Korean government began allowing foreign visitors to bring their own mobile devices into the country with them for the first time.
Following a recent visit to the notoriously closed country, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt wrote in a blog post that North Korea’s decision to isolate itself “is very much going to affect their physical world and their economic growth.”
Eric Schmidt added that it would be “very easy” for 3G internet access to be enabled on the existing service.
Current internet access is extremely limited for locals, with most people only having access to a small number of state-run pages.
Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is well enough to return to prison after spending nine months in hospital, the Ukrainian health ministry has said.
Yulia Tymoshenko was being treated for back problems after being jailed in 2011 for abuse of office.
Her supporters regard that conviction as politically motivated.
Last year Yulia Tymoshenko claimed to be too ill to attend court proceedings relating to a separate charge of misappropriation of public funds.
The Ukrainian authorities are also investigating allegations against her of tax evasion and involvement in murder.
Yulia Tymoshenko’s conviction for abuse of office relates to a gas deal she signed with Russia as prime minister in 2009, which critics said paid Russia too high a price.
Her supporters say the former prime minister was jailed to prevent her being a political threat to Viktor Yanukovych, the current president.
Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is well enough to return to prison after spending nine months in hospital
Yulia Tymoshenko remains a popular politician despite her imprisonment, after coming second to Viktor Yanukovych in the 2010 presidential election.
She was a face of Ukraine’s pro-democracy Orange Revolution alongside Viktor Yanukovych’s long-time rival Viktor Yushchenko.
Correspondents say the health ministry’s announcement will make it difficult for Yulia Tymoshenko to avoid appearing in court.
Previously Yulia Tymoshenko has boycotted trial proceedings against her, and has also staged hunger strikes in protest at conditions in prison and alleged election fraud.
Steve Tyler has revealed on Australian show 60 Minutes he spent $6 million on drugs, admitting: “You could say I snorted half of Peru.”
Steve Tyler, 65, who with guitarist Joe Perry was known as one of the Toxic Twins, said he estimated he had shoveled millions up his nose in the years – controversially less than the $20 million than had rumored.
Aerosmith frontman said he spent: “Realistically, 5 or 6 [million]. But it doesn’t matter. You also could say I snorted half of Peru, but it doesn’t matter.”
Steve Tyler had been sober for more than two decades until he became addicted to prescription drugs in 2009, although he later was successful with treatment.
He became addicted to drugs in the late 1970s and continued to take illegal substances until 1986 when he received treatment.
In the interview, to be aired on Australian TV this week, Steve Tyler reveals his relationship with Joe Perry has improved since they famously fell out over the rocker’s stint on American Idol – they made up when Steve quit the band.
Without the drugs Steve Tyler is still no stranger to controversy after he made some remarks over fellow judge Nicki Minaj’s competence in December.
Steve Tyler has revealed on Australian show 60 Minutes he spent $6 million on drugs
Nicki Minaj then lashed out at the Aerosmith rocker – who she replaced on the panel of the talent show – after he questioned her suitability, claiming she would’ve passed on legendary musician Bob Dylan if he auditioned.
At the time Steve Tyler said: “It was a moment, I’m sorry if it was taken wrong. But I’m the furthest from a racist.
“I’m not sure how she got that from me saying <<I’m not sure she would have judged Bob Dylan>>.
“I was just saying if Bob Dylan came on the show he would have been thrown off. Maybe I spoke out of turn but a racist I’m not.”
Nicki Minaj, 29, was furious when Steven Tyler insisted she would have turned down Bob Dylan if he auditioned for American Idol and took to twitter to blast the Aerosmith frontman.
Taking to the social networking website she wrote: “Steven Tyler said I would have sent Bob Dylan to a cornfield??? Steven, you haven’t seen me judge one single solitary contestant yet.
“I understand you really wanted to keep your job but take that up with the producers. I haven’t done anything to you. That’s a racist comment.
“You assume that I wouldn’t have liked Bob Dylan??? why? black? rapper? what? go f*** yourself and worry about yourself babe. LOL lets make him a shirt that says <<No Coloreds Allowed>>.”
Kenneth Cherry, aka Kenny Clutch, the driver of a Maserati who was killed in a drive-by shooting on the Las Vegas Strip on Thursday, bragged about stashing a gun in his $120,000 Italian sports car.
Kenneth Cherry was killed when men inside a black Range Rover opened fire on his car while he was sitting at a red light. He accelerated into the intersection and crashed into a taxi.
Cab driver Michael Boldon and his passenger died when the taxi burst into flames. Family members said Michael Boldon had recently moved to Las Vegas to take care of his ailing mother.
Police say the shooting was the result of a fight that erupted in the nearby Aria Resort and Casino that escalated into violence.
Despite initial reports that the chaos on the Strip was the result of a gunfight, authorities are now saying neither Kenneth Cherry nor his passenger fired any shots and that the attack was a drive-by shooting.
The gunmen, driving a Range Rover with black rims, tinted windows and a temporary paper license plate, are still at large.
The shooting took place just two blocks from the spot where rapper Tupac Shakur was infamously gunned down in a drive-by shooting in 1992 on the Las Vegas Strip.
Kenny Clutch was only beginning his rap career when he was killed.
He posted two videos on YouTube last year and each had gained only a few thousand views.
In Stay Schemin, Kenny Clutch rapped about hiding a pistol in his Maserati. Police didn’t say whether Kenneth Cherry was armed the night of the shooting.
“Maserati. Paid 120 for it. Stash box ‘cuz you know I got that semi for it,” he sings.
Kenneth Cherry, aka Kenny Clutch, the driver of a Maserati who was killed in a drive-by shooting on the Las Vegas Strip on Thursday, bragged about stashing a gun in his $120,000 Italian sports car
The gunfire broke about 4:20 a.m. PST when at least one person in the Range Rover opened fire. Several people were inside the vehicle, according to police.
Kenny Clutch’s Maserati sped through the intersection and crashing into a taxi cab, which burst into flames.
The driver of the Maserati, as well as the taxi driver and a passenger in the cab were killed in the fiery crash, police said. One witness said it was like a scene out of Die Hard.
Now authorities are trying to track down the gunman, who remains at large after fleeing the scene. Officials say the shooter remains armed and dangerous.
In a press conference this morning, Las Vegas Police Sgt. John Sheahan said the attack was not a rolling gun battle as previously described, saying that the cars were all stopped at a red light.
Sgt. John Sheahan said police have video from traffic cameras at the intersection where the shooting occurred on Thursday.
“We have a lot of pieces to put together to establish a timeline as to why this confrontation occurred,” he said.
TheLas Vegas Review-Journal reports that the high-speed gun battle could have started as a dispute at a nearby casino.
LVMPD officials are still searching for the gunman and the high-end SUV after it fled the scene of the deadly accident. They said the SUV has black rims and tinted windows.
The identities of the three victims have not yet been released, though it was revealed that the driver of the Maserati was male.
Las Vegas Boulevard is currently shut down as the LVMPD continues their investigation.
The intersection is surrounded by some of the most famous casinos on the Strip, including the Bellagio, Caesars Palace, and Bally’s, and is a popular area for tourists.
A spokesman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Jeremy Handel, issued a statement reassuring people that much is being done to keep them safe.
“Recent incidents, while unfortunate, were isolated events,” he said.
Las Vegas is among the safest travel destinations in the world and utilizes the most advanced technology and training to maintain a secure environment.
The shooting is the latest in a series of violent actions on the tourist corridor since the beginning of the year.
Two people were critically wounded in a shooting at a parking garage February 6, and a tourist was stabbed in an elevator at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay February 16.
Rapper Pitbull has seen Lindsay Lohan’s lawsuit against him quashed in court.
Lindsay Lohan sued Pitbull in 2011 for using her name in his hit song Give Me Everything when he used the line: “I got it locked up like Lindsay Lohan.”
The actress claimed Pitbull never got permission to use her name and shouldn’t profit from its use.
But on Thursday – according to TMZ – a New York federal judge ruled that Lindsay Lohan wrong because the song is a work of art protected by the first.
Lindsay Lohan, 26, was recently accused of ruining the $1,750 designer dress she borrowed for a glitzy New York gala earlier this month.
She wore a floor-length gold and silver beaded gown by Theia Coture to an amfAR fundraiser on February 6.
But a photo of the gown obtained by US Weekly appears to show the same gown cut into a mini dress before its return to the designer.
Lindsay Lohan sued Pitbull in 2011 for using her name in his hit song Give Me Everything
Milan Fashion Week 2013 February 20- February 26 catwalks schedule.
February 20
Paola Frani
Mila Schön
Angelo Marani
Simonetta Ravizza
Gucci
Chicca Lualdi Beequeen
Frankie Morello
Alberta Ferretti
N°21
Andrea Incontri
Francesco Scognamiglio
Kristina Ti
February 21
Max Mara
Blugirl
Les Copains
Fendi
Just Cavalli
Antonio Marras
Krizia
Luisa Beccaria
Prada
Daniela Gregis
Ports 1961
Anteprima
Dsquared2
February 22
Moschino
Sportmax
Etro
Roccobarocco
Iceberg
Blumarine
Gabriele Colangelo
Aigner
Jo no fui
Versace
Milan Fashion Week 2013 February 20- February 26 catwalks schedule
February 23
Bottega Veneta
Trussardi
Ermanno Scervino
Roberto Cavalli
Byblos Milano
Jil Sander
Cividini
Ter et Bantine
Aquilano.Rimondi
Emilio Pucci
Musso
February 24
Marni
Sergei Grinko
Emporio Armani
Laura Biagiotti
Dolce & Gabbana
Genny
Missoni
Marco de Vincenzo
Salvatore Ferragamo
Maurizio Pecoraro
February 25
John Richmond
Giorgio Armani
Gianfranco Ferre’
Massimo Rebecchi
Lorenzo Riva
Cristiano Burani
February 26
New upcoming designers: Mauro Gasperi, Francesca Liberatore
next generation: Ryuya Ohishi, Miguel Garcia Abad, Lucia Ji Youn Jang, Isabella Zoboli
The European Commission has said Spain, France and Portugal have failed to cut overspending to agreed targets.
Spain’s government deficit was 10.2% of the country’s economic output in 2012, well above the agreed 6.3% target, and will stay far above target into 2014.
Meanwhile, the Commission joined other major international organizations in admitting that the eurozone economy would contract in 2013.
It is forecast to shrink 0.3%, making the governments’ task even harder.
Previously, the Commission had expected the 17 economies in the eurozone would collectively enjoy 0.1% positive growth this year.
Delivering its winter forecast, Commission Vice-President Olli Rehn said that the eurozone was nonetheless expected to rebound in the last three months of this year, registering 0.7% growth in the fourth quarter.
The Commission is concerned about a “surprise” fall in Portugal’s economy, which fell 3.2% in 2012 and is forecast to contract by another 1.9% in 2013.
The European Commission joined other major international organizations in admitting that the eurozone economy would contract in 2013
Most economic forecasters have been revising down their European growth estimates, after the global economic recovery showed signs of faltering in the final quarter of 2012.
For example, in January the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it expected the eurozone to fall into “mild recession” in 2013, having previously predicted growth.
It also predicted that the UK would grow 1% in 2013, compared with the 1.1% previously forecast.
The World Bank also revised down its global growth forecasts earlier in January.
But European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi believes the eurozone will begin recovering in the second half of this year.
And this week, Germany’s Bundesbank said Europe’s biggest economy would avoid recession and return to growth in the first quarter of 2013, after shrinking 0.6% in the last three months of 2012.
It expects Germany to continue growing throughout 2013.
Greek capital Athens has been hit by heavy rain and a thunderstorm for several hours, leaving flooded roads and homes, causing traffic jams and disrupting the train and tram network, officials say.
The deluge inundated basements and forced authorities to close underpasses and a central subway station.
The fire department said it had received at least 600 calls to drain water from houses and businesses.
Many of the city’s streets remain ankle-deep in water.
Greek capital Athens has been hit by heavy rain and a thunderstorm for several hours, leaving flooded roads and homes, causing traffic jams and disrupting the train and tram network
“It was one of the worst thunderstorms we have ever had in the greater Athens area [since 1961],” fire department chief Sotiris Georgakopoulos told NET state television.
At one point the rainfall was so intense that parked cars were swept away by racing waters.
“There are cars immobilized on several Athens highways and we have dispatched tow trucks to clear the roads,” senior traffic police officer Dimitris Papanagiotou told NET.
Fire chiefs say that they have about 60 crews tackling the floods which they expect to recede throughout Friday.
Amber Rose and her fiancé Wiz Khalifa welcomed their first child Sebastian Taylor Thomaz into the world on Thursday.
Wiz Khalifa, 25, tweeted: “Happy Birthday Sebastian <<The Bash>> Taylor Thomaz! Everyone welcome this perfect young man into the world.”
Amber Rose, 29, then added her own message: “Happy Birthday to our baby boy Sebastian <<The Bash>> Taylor Thomaz! I’m so happy u guys I fell in love all over again! :-).”
Stars were quick to add their congratulations.
Rihanna, 25, wrote: “Congratulations to my fam @mistercap and @muvarosebud !!! Welcome baby Bash! You’re born in an exquisite month #babypisces.”
And it seems that February 21st is an auspicious day for rapper birthdays, with Snoop Dogg also tweeting that it is also his sons.
“Welcome 2 fatherhood @mistercap!!! Congrats 2 u n @muvarosebud on ur new son – he got the same Cday as @cbroadus!!! Bless up.”
Wiz Khalifa had earlier posted a picture of himself in doctor’s scrubs, including a shower cap and a face mask.
Appearing to ready himself for his pregnant fiancée to give birth, he captioned the photo: “Daddy time.”
Amber Rose and her fiancé Wiz Khalifa welcomed their first child Sebastian Taylor Thomaz into the world on Thursday
Amber Rose hinted she was close to her due date last week when she announced that she would not be online again until after their baby’s arrival, as she wanted to focus on relaxing.
Writing on her Twitter page, Amber Rose said: “Hey Rosebuds& Rosestuds Muva won’t be back on twitter until Wizbud is born I need 2 meditate & focus on our Lil boy Luv u talk soon – Muva (sic).”
Amber Rose told Los Angeles radio show Big Boy’s Neigbourhood earlier this month: “I don’t want no medication. We take home birthing classes to teach us how to do it, and we’re gonna have our midwife, and when the baby’s head comes out, he’s gonna be Dr. Wiz.”
“He’s gonna be the first person to touch the child. No doctors, no gloves,” added the model.
There was speculation that Amber Rose went into labor earlier this week after Wiz posted an Instagram picture of a fetal monitor, saying: “Coming soon!”
But the model, who previously dated Kanye West, set the record straight on Wednesday, tweeting: “Good morning Rosebuds & Rosestuds Muva is not in labor nor did I have the baby yet I just had a doc appt yesterday Lol that’s all. ;-).”
After the couple’s child is born, Amber Rose and Wiz Khalifa will resume their wedding plans.
“It makes more sense for the baby to be in the wedding than for her to be pregnant,” said Wiz Khalifa.
“Some people, they rush and do it, but it works both ways.”
Amber Rose added: “Being pregnant, I’m tired a lot. So to have a wedding and planning it all out and the reception – I just don’t want to be sleeping when everybody’s partying at our wedding.”
Beyonce has decided to extend her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, adding three British dates.
Just hours after the biggest performance of her career at Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans on February 3, Beyonce announced on her website that she would be embarking on a world tour starting April 15.
Beyonce, 31, had been due to play eight English shows in April and May, but following popular demand when tickets went on pre-sale this morning, she has now added three more gigs to her tour.
Her previously-announced dates will remain the same.
Beyonce’s UK itinerary now includes appearances at London’s The O2 on 4 and 5 May, and the Manchester Arena on May 9.
This brings Beyonce’s total number of shows in London to six and Manchester to three.
Beyonce will also perform two gigs in Birmingham.
Beyonce has decided to extend her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, adding three British dates
Tickets for all 11 UK concerts go on general sale on Saturday, February 23.
The title of her globetrotting performances was first leaked on February 1.
The tour’s namesake, Mrs. Carter Show, is a nod to Beyonce’s husband Jay-Z – whose real name is Shawn Carter.
It is rumored that Jay-Z might make a few surprise appearances on stage with his wife for the highly anticipated shows.
The tour is set to be kicked off in Belgrade, Serbia on April 15 and the European leg comes to an end in Stockholm, Sweden, on May 29.
Beyonce will then take a month’s break before returning to the stage at Los Angeles’ Staples Center on June 28.
The singer will end the tour on August 3 in her spouse’s hometown of Brooklyn, New York.
The final show will take place at the newly-built Barclay’s Centre, which Beyonce owns a share of.
The tour farewell performance will not only be sentimental for her husband but for Beyonce as well.
It will be a true homecoming for the mother-of-one, who along with Jay-Z rents out a basement suite at the Barclay for $1 million per year.
PayPal has launched Here device, a chip-and-pin machine designed to offer new sales methods to UK small businesses that have previously relied on cash or cheques.
Payments firm means market traders, taxis and shops will be able to accept credit and debit cards as well as PayPal payments.
There will be an initial cost “under £100” ($160) for the PayPal Here device.
PayPal, which faces competition from other similar devices, said it will take a transaction fee of less than 3%.
“At PayPal, we spend a huge amount of time talking and listening to small businesses. They are the core of PayPal’s business and they’ve told us that they want a simple, secure way to take card payments anytime and anywhere they trade,” said David Marcus, president of PayPal.
PayPal is offering the devices to a few select businesses before a full launch in the summer. It will roll out in the UK first with other countries to follow.
In the US, PayPal has already brought out a similar device, a dongle that can be plugged into a mobile phone to act as a credit card reader.
PayPal has launched Here device, a chip-and-pin machine designed to offer new sales methods to UK small businesses that have previously relied on cash or cheques
Eden Zoller, an analyst with research firm Ovum, said the move was an obvious one for PayPal to make.
“It hasn’t released figures about the dongle it launched in the US but has indicated that it is popular so it makes sense to have an optimized version for the European market,” she said.
There are other similar devices on the market from companies such as iZettle, Intuit and mPowa.
“It is going to have a bit of competition but PayPal is an established a trusted brand,” said Eden Zoller.
Mark Thomas runs an ice cream stall at London’s Borough Market. He will be among the first to try out the device.
“Cash is king in the market, but people run out of cash very quickly, and we often lose sales because customers can’t face the long weekend wait at the ATM,” he said.
US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has warned against “the sensational exploitations of human tragedy” after Russian officials accused an American woman of murdering her adopted Russian son, Max Shatto.
Michael McFaul said the US had been working behind the scenes with Russian diplomats after Max Shatto’s death.
Three-year-old Max Shatto died in January. He was adopted from a Russian orphanage.
Officials and parliamentarians have regularly used the death to justify a recent ban on adoptions to America.
In a blog poston Friday, Michael McFaul said that he was “distressed about a number of issues surrounding the tragic death”, including the way that the US and its diplomats were being portrayed by some Russian commentators.
The ambassador said that “a thorough investigation to discover exactly what happened to Max was still under way” and that investigators are abiding by an important principle in American society: “the idea that one is innocent until proven guilty”.
Michael McFaul added that while he was “saddened and appalled” that 20 children adopted from Russia to the US over the last two decades had died, he was proud that more than 60,000 others “have had the opportunity to enjoy loving parents, new families, and countless opportunities in America”.
“It is time for sensational exploitations of human tragedy to end and for professional work between our two countries to grow, on this issue and many others,” Michael McFaul said.
Russian officials and parliamentarians have regularly used Max Shatto’s death to justify a recent ban on adoptions to America
News of Max Shatto’s death led to an angry reaction in Russia, where he was known as Maxim Kuzmin.
Outraged officials said that he may have been badly beaten and abused.
Russia’s top investigative body on Wednesday opened a murder inquiry into the case.
Earlier in the week, the Russian children’s commissioner went on Twitter to say that Max Shatto had been murdered by his adoptive mother Laura Shatto.
Russia banned adoptions to the US from the beginning of January in retaliation for an American law know as the Magnitsky Act – which blacklists Russian officials accused of rights abuses.
The US act was named after anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, whose death in Russian custody became a symbol of the fight against corruption in Russia and soured relations between the two countries.
Some 3,400 Russian children were adopted by foreign families in 2011, with almost a third of the children going to American homes.
In the past two decades, Americans have adopted more than 60,000 Russian children.
The United Nations has formally rejected compensation claims by victims of a cholera outbreak in Haiti that has killed almost 8,000 people.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called Haitian President Michel Martelly to inform him of the decision.
The UN says it is immune from such claims under the UN’s Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN.
Evidence suggests cholera was introduced to Haiti through a UN base’s leaking sewage pipes.
The UN has never acknowledged responsibility for the outbreak – which has infected more than 600,000 people – saying it is impossible to pinpoint the exact source of the disease, despite the mounting evidence the epidemic was caused by poor sanitation at a camp housing infected Nepalese peacekeepers.
In a terse statement, Ban Ki-moon’s spokesman said damages claims for millions of dollars filed by lawyers for cholera victims was “not receivable” under the 1947 convention that grants the UN immunity for its actions.
But a lawyer for the cholera victims said that UN immunity could not mean impunity, and said the case would now be pursued in a national court.
The UN has formally rejected compensation claims by victims of a cholera outbreak in Haiti that has killed almost 8,000 people
The lawyer, Brian Concannon, said the victims’ legal team would challenge the UN’s right to immunity from Haitian courts, on the grounds that it had not established an alternative mechanism for dealing with accountability issues, as stipulated in its agreement with the government.
Brian Concannon also said lifting immunity would not challenge UN policy, which is protected by the convention, but its practice, such as how to test troops for disease and properly dispose of sewage.
In December the UN launched a $2 billion appeal to fight the cholera epidemic, which is currently the worst outbreak in the world, and Ban Ki-moon reiterated to Michel Martelly the UN’s commitment to the elimination of cholera in Haiti.
Cholera is a disease of poverty, analysts say. It is spread through infected faeces and, once it enters the water supply, it is difficult to stop – especially in a country like Haiti which has almost no effective sewage disposal systems.
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is still suffering breathing problems after returning from Cuba where he was treated for cancer, officials say.
Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said Hugo Chavez was continuing to receive treatment at a military hospital in Caracas.
It was the first official communiqué on the president’s health since he returned to Venezuela on Monday.
Hugo Chavez went to Havana for surgery on December 11.
It was his fourth operation in an 18-month period for cancer, which was first diagnosed in mid-2011.
Hugo Chavez is said to have suffered a severe respiratory infection following the latest surgery.
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is still suffering breathing problems after returning from Cuba where he was treated for cancer
“The breathing insufficiency that emerged post-operation persists, and the tendency has not been favorable, so it is still being treated,” Ernesto Villegas said in a televised statement.
President Hugo Chavez, in office for 14 years, was re-elected for another six-year term in October 2012, but his swearing-in was delayed because of his illness.
Doubts remain about whether his health will allow him to return to active politics.
Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi has called parliamentary elections, starting on April 27 and end in June.
A presidential decree said voting would take place in four regional stages, due to a shortage of election supervisors.
Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement hope the election will put an end to increasingly vocal opposition and street protests, analysts say.
The Islamist-dominated parliament was dissolved last June after judges ruled election laws were unconstitutional.
In the last elections, in January 2012, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party won roughly 40% of the vote.
Egypt is deeply divided between Mohamed Morsi’s Islamist supporters and a liberal-led opposition, and has been wracked by unrest, insecurity and an economic crisis.
Tensions have intensified since an Islamist-backed constitution – criticized for failing to protect key rights – was adopted in December.
Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi has called parliamentary elections, starting on April 27 and end in June
Thursday’s decree states voting will take place in:
Cairo and four other provinces on April 27-28, with a run-off scheduled for May 4-5
Giza, Alexandria and six other provinces on May 15-16, with a run-off scheduled for May 22-23
Eight provinces on June 2-3, with a run-off scheduled for June 9-10
Six provinces on June 19-20, with a run-off on June 26-27
The new People’s Assembly will be invited to convene on July 6, the decree said.
Donald Trump’s Twitter account has been hacked, and the real estate mogul was not amused by the prank.
“Twitter will soon be irrelevant if lowlifes are so easily able to hack into accounts,” Donald Trump fumed.
In an earlier message, Donald Trump had confirmed that his account was “seriously hacked” and added, “we are looking for the perpetrators”.
The hacking brouhaha was sparked by a tweet fired off from Donald Trump’s account at 11.41 a.m. which read: “Those hoes [sic] think they classy, well that’s the class i’m skippen.”
Hip hop aficionados immediately recognized in the message a lyric by Lil’ Wayne, who is featured on Will.i.am featuring Britney Spears’ song called Scream & Shout.
Donald Trump, 66, has never been known as a major hip hop enthusiast, his followers and commentators immediately suspected a prank.
The offensive message was quickly deleted from the account, and Donald Trump’s spokesman, Michael Cohen, later stated that authorities are investigating the hacking.
Donald Trump’s Twitter account has been hacked, and the real estate mogul was not amused by the prank
“Regrettably there was a single instance of Mr. Trump’s twitter account being hacked. The offensive tweet was removed within minutes of being posted and is currently being investigated by the authorities,” Michael Cohen said in a statement to Politico.
Donald Trump, who has gained notoriety for his relentless attacks on President Barack Obama and his off-color remarks about race relations and immigration, is only the latest Twitter user to have his account hijacked.
Earlier this week, Burger King and Jeep both had their Twitter pages hacked, with the pranksters firing off dozens of vulgar messages and racial epithets before the companies caught on and regained control of their accounts.
Lt. Gen Vinesh Moonoo is to take over the Oscar Pistorius inquiry amid attempted murder accusations against current lead, Detective Hilton Botha.
Detective Hilton Botha was removed pending the result of an investigation into seven counts of attempted murder.
National police commissioner Mangwashi Phiyega announced the change after a third day of testimony at Oscar Pistorius’s bail hearing.
Oscar Pistorius, 26, denies murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, 29.
Reeva Steenkamp died after being shot three times at Oscar Pistorius’ home on 14 February.
Mangwashi Phiyega said the police had received feedback from state prosecutors about Det. Hilton Botha only on Wednesday.
She described him as an “experienced detective” who was not yet facing any criminal charges.
However, she said she was using her authority as national police chief to ask Lt. Gen Vinesh Moonoo to take over the Pistorius case.
Vinesh Moonoo is reported to be a veteran of some 30 years service. He will work with the police chief in Gauteng province on a case Mangwashi Phiyega said required attention “at a national level”.
She denied that the decision to replace Det. Hilton Botha was embarrassing for the police.
The claims against Det. Hilton Botha refer to a 2009 incident in which he and several other officers allegedly opened fired on a minibus taxi carrying seven passengers when the driver apparently disobeyed an order to stop.
In court on Thursday, defence and prosecution lawyers offered their final arguments.
The magistrate is expected to issues his ruling on Oscar Pistorius’s bail application on Friday.
Lt. Gen Vinesh Moonoo is to take over the Oscar Pistorius inquiry amid attempted murder accusations against current lead, Detective Hilton Botha
Lead defence lawyer Barry Roux asked for the charge of premeditated murder to be downgraded, and said Det. Hilton Botha’s contradictory evidence on Wednesday had undermined the prosecution’s case.
Barry Roux said: “The poor quality of the evidence offered by investigative officer Botha exposed the disastrous shortcomings of the state’s case.”
The defence counsel said the fact that Oscar Pistorius had carried Reeva Steenkamp downstairs showed he was desperate to save her life.
On Wednesday, Det. Hilton Botha told the court that the trajectory of gunshots through the bathroom door indicated that Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee, was wearing his prosthetic legs and shot downwards through the door.
This contradicted an earlier account given by Oscar Pistorius, who said he was walking on his stumps and grabbed his gun because he felt vulnerable when he thought an intruder had entered his home.
But Det. Hilton Botha also amended his testimony on the proximity of the witness who he said had heard arguments.
He said police had lost track of ammunition found inside the house, and was also accused of not wearing protective clothing at the crime scene.
The defence also countered police suggestions that testosterone and needles had been found in Oscar Pistorius’s bedroom, arguing instead that the substance was a herbal remedy called Testocompasutium co-enzyme.
On Thursday, prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the court that Oscar Pistorius should not be granted bail simply because he is famous.
Gerrie Nel branded Oscar Pistorius as a man “prone to violence” who threatened Reeva Steenkamp and eventually killed her.
Google has unveiled Chromebook Pixel, its first touchscreen-enabled laptop.
The Chromebook Pixel runs Google’s Chrome operating system and has been “largely built” by the web giant.
The laptop has Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors, fast 4G LTE connectivity and a high-resolution screen aimed at challenging Apple’s Retina Display.
Analysts say the move represents a fresh bid to build market share for Chromebooks against machines running Microsoft and Apple operating systems.
Unlike PCs that use installed software such as Microsoft Word, Chrome OS computers run their applications through the firm’s web browser and store their files in the cloud.
The internet giant said the device was “largely built by Google, with components that are manufactured globally”.
The laptop’s display resolution is similar to the so-called Retina Display of Apple’s MacBook range, aimed to have pixel density high enough for the human eye not to notice pixelation when looking at the screen at a typical viewing distance.
“This Chromebook has the highest pixel density [239 pixels per inch] of any laptop screen on the market today,” said the company.
“Packed with 4.3 million pixels, the display offers sharp text, vivid colors and extra-wide viewing angles.
“With a screen this rich and engaging, you want to reach out and touch it – so we added touch for a more immersive experience.”
Google has unveiled Chromebook Pixel, its first touchscreen-enabled laptop
The first Chrome-powered laptop, built by Samsung, went on sale in June 2011. Chrome laptops that followed were made by Acer, Lenovo and HP.
But so far, Chromebooks have had difficulties challenging Windows-powered computers, said CCS Insight analyst Geoff Blaber.
“Chromebooks have struggled for relevance to date, stuck between comparably-priced but entertainment-centric tablets – many of which run Android – and more functional PCs,” he said.
“[The new computer] won’t transform its prospects but Google will hope it serves as a flagship device that has a halo effect for the broader portfolio.”
Windows 8, Microsoft’s latest operating system launched last year, has touchscreen capabilities.
Geoff Blaber said: “Touch is now pervasive across every computing category from phones to high-end PCs.
“The challenge for the Chromebook is that computing is shifting towards tablets whilst most consumers lives are not yet fully embracing the cloud versus local storage.”
Global stock markets have fallen after some members of the Federal Reserve suggested its stimulus measures may be increasing the “risks of future economic and financial imbalances”.
The comments came in minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting, where the Fed said it had left its monthly $85 billion bond-buying plan in place.
US markets opened lower on Thursday after recording their biggest drop so far this year on Wednesday.
European markets all closed down.
The Fed comments have raised expectations that the US central bank may scale back its bond-buying programme earlier than predicted.
Currently, the Fed is carrying out its plan of buying $85 billion of bonds a month until the US jobs market sees a substantial improvement.
By buying bonds, the Fed keeps interest rates low, which keeps the cost of borrowing for mortgages and other loans low.
However, the minutes of the Fed’s meeting in January showed that some members were concerned that the bond-buying programmes could push up inflation or could “foster market behavior that could undermine financial stability”.
The minutes said that “a number of participants” commented that an ongoing review of the effectiveness of the bond programme “might well lead the committee to taper or end its purchases before it judged that a substantial improvement in the outlook for the labor market had occurred”.
Global stock markets have fallen after some members of the Federal Reserve suggested its stimulus measures may be increasing the risks of future economic and financial imbalances
The bond-buying programme has been cited as a major reason for the rise in share prices in recent weeks, so signs of a premature end have hit stocks.
“US liquidity concerns following the Fed minutes looks like the pin which will burst the recent bubble in equities,” said Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at Interactive Investor.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones index ended Wednesday down 108.13 points at 13,927.54, and continued to fall on Thursday, shedding a further 61 points by midday in New York.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 159.15 points, or 1.4%, to 11,309.13, while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng index closed down 400.74 points, or 1.7%, at 22,906.67.
European markets all fell, with London’s FTSE 100 closing down 1.6% at 6,291.54 and the Cac 40 in Paris falling 2.3% to 3,624.80.
The dollar rose 0.5% against the euro on Thursday, with one euro buying $1.3206.
While the dollar had been boosted by the Fed minutes, the euro was also hit by the latest survey of the eurozone region which suggested the downturn in the region’s businesses had worsened.
The latest eurozone purchasing managers’ index (PMI), compiled by research firm Markit, fell to 47.3 this month, down from 48.6 in January. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.
The figure was the lowest reading for two months and appeared to dash hopes that the eurozone’s economy would show signs of revival.
It also indicated a growing divergence between Germany and France, with output rising in Germany but declining at an increasing pace in France.
Twin blasts have killed 12 people in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, in what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh labeled as a “dastardly attack”.
The blasts that hit the city in Andhra Pradesh were 10 minutes apart, police said. Television images showed casualties being rushed to hospital.
India’s home minister said bombs had been planted on bicycles 150m (500ft) apart near a crowded fruit market.
Major cities have been put on alert as police probe the cause for the blasts.
“The number of dead has increased to 12 and the injured are 57,” home secretary RK Singh said after a high-level security meeting following the attacks.
Unconfirmed reports suggest the number of casualties may rise.
The explosions hit just after 19:00 within a radius of 150m, home minister Sushil Shinde said. There was a possible third blast reported shortly afterwards, said Hyderabad police.
No group has so far said it carried out the attack.
Authorities had received intelligence about possible attacks in the country but no specific information as to where or when they might occur, Sushil Shinde said.
The information had been passed on to the states, he added.
Twin blasts have killed 12 people in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad
PM Manmohan Singh has urged the public to remain calm.
“The guilty will not go unpunished,” he tweeted.
He has directed federal agencies to extend all possible help to the state authorities in the relief effort, and offered 200,000 rupees to the next of kin of each person killed.
Meanwhile, Australia’s cricket team says it has held talks about its players’ safety with Indian authorities in the wake of the deadly twin bombings. The second Test of the India-Australia series is due to start in Hyderabad on March 2.
“The safety of the squad is of paramount importance and Australian team management and Cricket Australia staff are liaising with the Board of Control for Cricket in India, local authorities and the Australian High Commission to ensure we have all the appropriate information,” the team said in a statement on Thursday.
Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra state have been put on high alert following the blasts, with measures such as increased police presence on the streets and random vehicle searches.
It is the first major bomb attack in India since a September 2011 blast outside Delhi’s High Court killed 13 people.
The Muslim extremist group Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami (Huji) said it carried out the Delhi attack.
Hyderabad is one of southern India’s main commercial hubs.
The explosions hit the busy Dilsukh Nagar neighborhood, which is crowded with cinemas, shops, restaurants and one of India’s largest fruit and vegetable markets.
There have been at least nine attacks on the city since 1992, including twin explosions in 2007 that killed more than 40 people.
The city has a sizeable Muslim minority, is a stronghold of the Muslim political party, MIM, and has a long history of religious tension.
Religious tensions grew from the 1980s and 1990s with Hindus and Muslims moving out of mixed areas into community ghettos.
Sergei Ignatiev, Russia’s central bank governor, has said that $49 billion left the country illegally last year.
The capital flight, some 2.5% of Russia’s annual economic output, was controlled by “one well-organized group of individuals.”
Sergei Ignatiev told a Russian newspaper that the money transfers could have been used to pay for supplies of narcotics, bribes and avoiding taxes.
But a government spokesman said the figure was “highly exaggerated”.
“You get the impression that they are all controlled by one well organized group of people,” Sergei Ignatiev told local newspaper Vedomosti, although he declined to name the individuals.
“With a serious concentration of efforts by law enforcement agencies, I think it is possible to find these people,” he added.
Sergei Ignatiev said the $49 billion figure was drawn from a central bank study that showed more than half the flows were made up of “dubious” capital transfers, “payments made by Russian organizations to non-residents, the stated aims of which are clearly false”.
“It can be payment for narcotics… illegal imports… bribes and kickbacks to officials (and) managers making large-scale purchases. It can be schemes to avoid tax,” he added.
Sergei Ignatiev, Russia’s central bank governor, has said that $49 billion left the country illegally last year
Sergei Ignatiev, who is expected to step down in June after 11 years at the helm of the central bank, also highlighted the prevalence of what are known in Russia as “one-day companies” used as conduits for money transfers that then vanish before paying taxes.
They are “the bane of our economy”, he said.
But Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, dismissed the central bank’s findings, saying the figure was “highly exaggerated”.
A study by Washington-based Global Financial Integrity found that an average of $62 billion in income earned from corruption, weapons smuggling, human trafficking, and other illicit activities has entered or left Russia each year since 2004.
Alexander Lebedev, who owns The Independent and Evening Standard newspapers and is a frequent critic of the Kremlin, wrote in a blog that Sergei Ignatiev’s comments were long overdue.
“Let’s hope the next head of the central bank heeds these words,” he said.
However, Sergei Ignatiev did not refer to the subject when he testified in front of Russia’s upper house of parliament on Wednesday.
On the slopes of the Verbier ski resort, Prince Harry and his society girlfriend Cressida Bonas seem to be closer than ever.
The very public display of affection, in front of dozens of fellow skiers, came only a few hours after even more intimate revelries at a restaurant in the town.
Fellow diners in the wee small hours at the Pot Luck Club restaurant in the resort’s Farinet Hotel were entertained by the sight of Prince Harry bouncing 24-year-old blonde model Cressida Bonas on his knee.
Prince Harry and Cressida Bonas were said to have “kissed like love-struck teenagers in the back of a cinema”.
The other end of the same table was an altogether more sober affair. Prince Harry’s uncle, Prince Andrew, whose 53rd birthday on Tuesday they were celebrating, sat with his ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, and their two daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
Princess Eugenie’s boyfriend, Jack Brooksbank, briefly strolled over chatted to Prince Harry and Cressida Bonas. But for the most part they had eyes only for each other. The Yorks traditionally enjoy a week’s skiing in the resort every year to mark Prince Andrew’s birthday, often inviting photographers to capture the event. This time, perhaps not unsurprisingly, the invitation was not extended.
The family had booked a table for 20 at The Pot Luck, where they ordered steak and king prawns and drank $27 champagne cocktails.
As the night drew on, Prince Harry and his socialite girlfriend became increasingly tactile.
Shortly before midnight, Cressida Bonas, who wore a minuscule black dress and heels, showing off a pair of endless legs, stood up and walked over to sit on Prince Harry’s lap.
The pair then began to kiss, with Prince Harry stroking the back of her head as they did so, in a passionate clinch for several minutes.
A witness said: “We couldn’t believe what we were seeing. They were not being discreet about it. “The Duchess of York and Eugenie sat just a few seats away at the time and seemed to be deliberately looking the other way, making polite conversation while it was happening.
“Afterwards, Harry’s girl stayed sitting on his knee while they chatted to his friends.”
The diner went on to reveal: “At one point, a waiter brought over a tray of vodka and Red Bull and Harry shouted: <<Free drinks on the house!>> Everyone seemed to be having a great time.”
Although Prince Andrew left shortly afterwards, the younger royals went on to an exclusive bar above the restaurant, before moving to a basement nightclub, where they stayed until 3.30 a.m.
On the slopes of the Verbier ski resort, Prince Harry and his society girlfriend Cressida Bonas seem to be closer than ever
Despite the late night, however, Prince Harry and Cressida Bonas still hit the slopes yesterday morning and were again seen openly hugging and kissing on the slopes, which were packed with half-term visitors.
Both appeared to be extremely competent skiers and spent most of the day on the mountain.
At one point, taking a break from their fun, Prince Harry was seen putting his arms around Cressida Bonas’ waist while she rested her head on his shoulder.
Cressida Bonas, who wore a white woolly hat with a fur bobble and pink salopettes, appeared relaxed and could be seen laughing with the Duchess of York as they left the slopes.
She and Princess Eugenie were also seen lying on the snow and giggling as they played with a large St Bernard dog.
Last summer’s disastrous Las Vegas stag trip, during which Prince Harry, now 28, was pictured naked – a faux pas which reportedly led to him being dumped briefly by a furious Cressida Bonas – seems a very long time ago now.
So, for that matter, does his previous, long-term relationship with the Zimbabwean heiress Chelsy Davy, who dumped him in 2011, reportedly because she could not face the prospect of being in the spotlight as a royal wife.
Since Vegas, Prince Harry, in his guise of Captain Wales of the Army Air Corps, has served a four-month tour of Afghanistan as a co-pilot in an Apache attack helicopter.
At the end of his service he talked of having a new maturity. A few months earlier, he had complained on American television that he would like to settle down, but girls were put off by his royal status.
The couple are said to have started dating last May, though they only appeared as an item on the public radar when pictured leaving a Mayfair nightclub in July.
They had spent the evening “kissing and cuddling” inside Le Salon after attending the latest Batman premiere.
Prince Harry’s cousin and Cressida Bonas’s good friend Princess Eugenie is said to have brought them together.
The daughter of renowned Old Harrovian businessman Jeffrey Bonas and Sixties model Lady Mary Curzon – who posed semi-naked for a coffee table photographic book and went on to get married and divorced four times – Cressida Bonas is a familiar figure in London’s upper-class social scene.
As a teenager, Cressida Bonas was labeled by society bible Tatler as “really pretty, really nice and absolutely obsessed with Eva Cassidy [the late American singer]”.
After splitting up with Chelsy Davy, Prince Harry was linked to a string of women, including model Florence Brudenell-Bruce. But Cressida Bonas seems to be the one he has been most smitten with.
Like Chelsy Davy, “Cressie” went to Leeds University where she dated Harry Wentworth-Stanley, son of the Marchioness of Milford Haven. After graduation, that relationship cooled. Now she has a prince in her life.
Last year Cressida Bonas and Prince Harry flew together to the Caribbean island of Necker for the birthday of tycoon Sir Richard Branson’s son Sam, who is engaged to be married to Cressida’s beautiful half- sister, the actress Isabella Anstuther-Gough-Calthorpe.
This week’s ski holiday, to which Prince Harry had flown on budget airline easyJet, is significant in royal terms for more than one reason.
It is the first time in many, many years that Prince Harry has been seen in public with the snubbed Duke of York’s ex-wife.
Sarah was robustly frozen out by the Royal Family after being photographed having her toes sucked by her “financial adviser” in the South of France, an incident which precipitated her divorce from Prince Andrew.
And despite enjoying a close relationship with prince Harry and his brother Prince William while they were growing up, they had little to do with Sarah after she fell out with their mother Diana, Princess of Wales, shortly before her death.
Prince Andrew, however, has always championed his ex-wife and, despite the fact that she was pointedly not invited to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding, will no doubt be feeling pleased that his nephew Prince Harry is rekindling their relationship once again, thanks to Cressida Bonas.
