Abhisit Vejjajiva, the former Thai prime minister, has been charged with murder over the death of a taxi driver shot by soldiers during political violence.
Abhisit Vejjajiva was prime minister when thousands of protesters took to the streets in 2010 demanding his government step down.
He gave orders allowing troops to use live ammunition on protesters, who had shut down parts of Bangkok.
Abhisit Vejjajiva denies the charge, which supporters say is politically motivated.
More than 90 people, both civilians and soldiers, were killed in the protests, which went on for over two months.
Abhisit Vejjajiva and his deputy at the time, Suthep Thaugsuban, are the first officials to face charges in connection with the deaths.
The move was announced last week, after a court ruled in September that taxi driver Phan Kamkong had been killed by troops.
Abhisit Vejjajiva, the former Thai prime minister, has been charged with murder over the death of a taxi driver shot by soldiers during political violence
Now the leader of the opposition, Abhisit Vejjajiva has defended his order for live ammunition to be used, saying government forces had “very little option” but to act when live fire was used against them.
“We tried to negotiate with the protesters, and they wouldn’t accept any of the deals that we offered them,” he said.
“It was our duty to restore order, and that’s what we were trying to do.”
Abhisit Vejjajiva said he would fight to prove he was not guilty.
Elections held after the protests, in July 2011, were won by the party led by Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted prime minister whom many of the protesters backed.
Twenty-four protest leaders are also being prosecuted on terrorism charges.
The Tallow Candle, an early work by Hans Christian Andersen, has been found at the bottom of a box near the Danish fairy tale writer’s home city, experts say.
The Tallow Candle is a short story about a revered candle that becomes grimy and neglected until its inner beauty is recognized and ignited.
The ink-written manuscript is dedicated: “To Mme Bunkeflod, from her devoted HC Andersen.”
Experts say it was probably written by the Ugly Duckling author in the 1820s.
Mrs. Bunkeflod is thought to be a widow whom the writer visited, read to and borrowed books from as a child.
Experts told Danish daily Politiken the script is likely the copy of an original manuscript that has since been lost.
The Tallow Candle, an early work by Hans Christian Andersen, has been found at the bottom of a box near the writer’s home city
Historian Esben Brage made the chance finding in a filing box at the National Archives of Funen in October and experts have since scrutinized the copy of the 700-word manuscript.
Experts say the story’s simplistic style is not on a par with Andersen’s elegantly written mature works, suggesting it was written during his time at a grammar school in the mid-1820s.
Born in Odense in 1805, the son of a shoemaker and a washerwoman concentrated on poetry before his first book of fairy tales was published in 1835.
Many of Hans Christian Andersen’s most famous works, such as the Emperor’s New Clothes and the Little Mermaid, focus on perceptions of wealth and beauty – themes touched on in The Tallow Candle.
Andersen expert Ejnar Stig Askgaard described the discovery as “sensational”.
“I have no doubt that it is Christian Andersen who wrote it,” he said.
A dedication thought to have been written on the copy later in blue ink reads: “To P. Plum from his friend Bunkeflod.”
The Plum and Bunkeflod families were close friends, and Hans Christian Andersen had a close relationship with Mme Bunkeflod, Politiken reported.
Before he died in 1875, Hans Christian Andersen wrote hundreds of fairy tales which have since been translated into more than 100 languages.
Jenni Rivera’s family identified her remains as her body was found in the wreckage along with the bodies of six others, including her publicist, lawyer, make-up artist and two pilots.
Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene said DNA tests are still pending. The singer’s remains will be given to the family once the tests are completed in coming days.
It was also revealed this week that Jenni Rivera, 43, was in the final states of buying the Learjet plane from business executive Christian E. Esquino Nunez.
Nunez is wanted for questioning regarding his ties to the plane, and has been convicted of drug-trafficking and counterfeiting government inspection stamps in the past.
ABC News exclusively reported that Christian E. Esquino Nunez could be wanted for questioning with Mexican authorities, as well as investigators with the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) regarding the fatal crash.
The Learjet 25 belongs to Starwood Management, which is, according to records, owned by Nunez.
According to ABC News, Christian E. Esquino Nunez and his partner Lance Z. Ricotta were convicted of creating false logbooks for six aircrafts they bought from the Mexican government and sold in the U.S.
Artists were so anxious to help out residents of the New York region hit by Superstorm Sandy, they almost didn’t let their concert at Madison Square Garden end.
The final notes of Alicia Keys Empire State of Mind brought the star-filled show to an end at 1:19 a.m. Thursday, nearly six hours after Bruce Springsteen opened the show with Land of Hope and Dreams.
Paul McCartney’s set found him playing the role of Kurt Cobain in a Nirvana reunion, performing a new song with the band’s former members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic.
Through television, live streams, the radio and theater simulcasts, an estimated 2 billion people around the world were given the chance to experience it live.
Heavy on classic rock royalty, it also featured the Rolling Stones, the Who, Roger Waters and Eric Clapton.
Music and comedy royalty struck a defiant tone throughout the event, asking for help to rebuild a New York metropolitan area most of them know well.
“When are you going to learn,” comic and New Jersey native Jon Stewart said at the sold-out show.
“You can throw anything at us – terrorists, hurricanes. You can take away our giant sodas. It doesn’t matter. Were coming back stronger every time.”
Artists were so anxious to help out residents of the New York region hit by Superstorm Sandy, they almost didn’t let their concert at Madison Square Garden end
Jersey shore hero Bruce Springsteen set a roaring tone, opening the concert with Land of Hope and Dreams and Wrecking Ball.
He addressed the rebuilding process in introducing his song My City of Ruins, noting it was written about the decline of Asbury Park, New Jersey, before that city’s renaissance over the past decade.
What made the Jersey shore special was its inclusiveness, a place where people of all incomes and backgrounds could find a place, he said.
“I pray that that characteristic remains along the Jersey shore because that’s what makes it special,” Bruce Springsteen said.
He mixed a verse of Jersey Girl into the song before calling New Jersey neighbor Jon Bon Jovi to join him in a rousing Born to Run. Springsteen later returned the favor by joining Bon Jovi on Who Says You Can’t Go Home.
Adam Sandler hearkened back to his Saturday Night Live days with a ribald rewrite of the oft-sung Hallelujah that composer Leonard Cohen never would have dreamed.
The rewritten chorus says: “Sandy, screw ya, well get through ya, because were New Yawkers.”
Adam Sandler wore a New York Jets T-shirt and mined Donald Trump, Michael Bloomberg, the New York Knicks, Times Square porn and Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez for laugh lines.
The music lineup was heavily weighted toward classic rock, which has the type of fans able to afford a show for which ticket prices ranged from $150 to $2,500.
Even with those prices, people with tickets have been offering them for more on broker sites such as StubHub, an attempt at profiteering that producers fumed was “despicable”.
Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse fooled by a hoax call to the London hospital treating Kate Middleton, was later found hanged, an inquest has heard.
Jacintha Saldanha was found dead in her nurses’ quarters on Friday, three days after the call from Australian radio presenters pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles.
There were also injuries to her wrist, Westminster Coroner’s Court heard.
The inquest was opened and adjourned until March 26th.
Detective Chief Inspector James Harman told the court: “On Friday 7 December Jacintha Saldanha was found by a colleague and a member of security staff. Sadly she was found hanging.
“There was also injuries to her wrist. The London Ambulance Service was called to the scene. At this time there are no suspicious circumstances.”
Two notes were found in Jacintha Saldanha’s room and another among her possessions, the court was also told.
Jacintha Saldanha was found dead in her nurses’ quarters on Friday, three days after the call from Australian radio presenters pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles
Jacintha Saldanha, 46, transferred the telephone call, made to the King Edward VII’s Hospital on 4 December, to a colleague who then gave a detailed update on the duchess’s condition to the hoaxers.
Kate Middleton, who is in the early stages of pregnancy, was receiving treatment for hyperemesis gravidarum, an extreme form of morning sickness.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to Jacintha Saldanha – a wife and mother-of-two – and offered condolences to her family.
“She clearly loved her job, loved her work and cared deeply about the health of her patients and what has happened is a complete tragedy,” David Cameron said.
“There will be many lessons that need to be learnt.”
Australia’s media watchdog has launched a formal inquiry into the hoax call, focusing on the licence-holder for 2Day FM radio station, Today FM Sydney Pty Ltd.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority will consider whether the licensee complied with its license conditions and the Commercial Radio Codes of Practice.
Station owner Southern Cross Austereo has said all profits from advertising for the rest of the year will go into a fund for Jacintha Saldanha’s family.
The two presenters, Michael Christian and Mel Greig, have said they are “gutted and heartbroken” over the death.
Bruce Smith, who was laid off by a US beef processing company, has sued celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, food blogger Bettina Siegel and ABC News, saying their use of the term “pink slime” helped him lose his job.
Bruce Smith, 58, was one of about 750 people fired by Beef Products Inc, maker of lean finely textured beef.
He is seeking $70,000 in damages, saying the company and workers were “maligned” by the “unfair” phrase.
The firm closed three plants and fired workers at its South Dakota office.
A social media campaign against use of the beef led to heightened public concerns over its health and safety.
Federal regulators said the beef ingredient met food safety standards, but critics argued the food was unappetizing and possibly unsafe.
The US Department of Agriculture eventually chose to allow schools to stop serving the product.
Lean finely textured beef is made from beef heated and spun in a centrifuge to separate the meat from the fat, before the final product is treated with a puff of ammonium hydroxide gas to kill any bacteria.
Bruce Smith has sued Jamie Oliver, blogger Bettina Siegel and ABC News, saying their use of the term “pink slime” helped him lose his job
Bruce Smith, formerly senior counsel and director of Environmental, Health and Safety at Beef Products Inc, filed his lawsuit in Dakota County District Court, Nebraska.
The filing names Jamie Oliver, food blogger Bettina Siegel, ABC News, its journalists Diane Sawyer and Jim Avila and 10 other unnamed defendants.
The company “and its employees were unfairly and unnecessarily maligned and accused of producing a food product that did not exist, a product that critics unfairly labeled “pink slime”, Bruce Smith said in a statement.
He also claims that chef Jamie Oliver used his TV show and social media to target his former employer.
“Defendant Oliver proceeded to use his celebrity chef media notoriety to place pressure on American fast food company McDonald’s, and others, to immediately stop using (lean finely textured beef) LFTB ground beef in its retail menu food products,” the lawsuit alleges.
In a blog post, Bettina Siegel – who petitioned the US government to change its food policy – remained unrepentant.
“I’m confident the First Amendment protects the rights of all Americans, including bloggers like myself, against meritless attempts at censorship like this one.
“I will vigorously defend my right, and the rights of all of us, to speak out on matters of public importance.”
Beef Products Inc has also sued ABC News separately for defamation, asking for damages of $1.2 billion.
Neither ABC News nor Jamie Oliver made any comment on Bruce Smith’s lawsuit.
Udinese football club fan Arrigo Brovedani has stolen media attention in Italy after being the only supporter to show up to watch his club play an away game in the top league.
Arrigo Brovedani was the club’s sole supporter in Genoa for a Serie A match against local team Sampdoria.
The 30-something wine merchant found himself alone in the visitors’ section.
But Sampdoria stewards gave him coffee and home fans invited him for a drink after the match.
Arrigo Brovedani said he had not expected to find many fellow supporters from Udinese, one of the smaller clubs in Serie A.
It was a cold Monday night and Udinese never attracts more than 50 or 60 away fans.
Udinese football club fan Arrigo Brovedani has stolen media attention in Italy after being the only supporter to show up to watch his club play an away game in the top league
“But I went there thinking I’d find five or six other people,” the Udinese fan said.
“I went into the stadium while they [Udinese] were warming up. I shouted and said <<hi>> to the team.
“When I went in the local fans booed me, I felt a bit offended.
“But in the end they clapped and invited me for coffee and a meal, and the club managers gave me a shirt. They wished me a merry Christmas.”
Genoa is about four hours’ drive from Friuli, where Udinese are based.
But Arrigo Brovedani was in Genoa on business.
“I like the stadium there, it’s very similar to English stadiums,” he said.
“I always take my flag and scarf around – they’re always in the car with me.”
Luckily for Arrigo Brovedani, Udinese won the match 2-0 and the team dedicated their victory to their only fan. He has been invited to attend its next home match on Saturday.
European finance ministers have reached a deal on rules for supervising eurozone banks, ahead of a new EU summit.
Around 200 of the biggest banks will come under the direct oversight of the European Central Bank, which will act as chief supervisor of eurozone banks.
The agreement – a key step towards banking union – will be put before European leaders later on Thursday.
New rules on prudent banking are seen as vital to bolster the euro, as bank failures triggered the financial crash.
The measures are also aimed at preventing banking failures ending up on the books of eurozone governments.
“We have reached the main points to establish a European banking supervisor that should take on its work in 2014,” said German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, after 14 hours of talks ended shortly before dawn on Thursday.
“Piece by piece, brick by brick, the banking union will be built on this first fundamental step today,” said EU Commissioner Michel Barnier.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the agreement, telling the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) that Germany’s “core demands” had been secured.
“It cannot be praised too highly.”
She has previously warned against rushing into banking union out of concern that Germany would face further financial demands.
Significantly, a large number of French banks will be supervised by the ECB but rather few institutions in Germany will, because of its fragmented banking industry.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso hailed the deal as “a crucial and very substantive step towards completion of the banking union”.
UK Chancellor George Osborne said the aim of protecting the interests of EU states not signing up to the banking union “has been achieved”.
Under the deal, banks with more than 30 billion euros ($39 billion) in assets will be placed under the oversight of the European Central Bank.
The ECB would also be able to intervene with smaller lenders and borrowers at the first sign of trouble.
Europe’s finance ministers have taken another major step towards closer integration, with a significant transfer of authority from national governments to the ECB.
The EU had already agreed that the ECB would act as chief supervisor of eurozone banks.
But the deal gives the ECB powers to close down eurozone banks that do not follow rules. It also paves the way for the EU’s main rescue fund to come to the direct aid of struggling banks.
It represents the first stage of a banking union – known as a Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) – which EU leaders believe can be put in place without having to change EU treaties.
But there have been some legal doubts about the subsequent stages – a joint deposit guarantee scheme and a joint resolution mechanism for winding up broken banks.
The UK, which is not in the eurozone, will not be joining the banking union but has won some protection against being marginalized when key decisions are taken.
The UK and Denmark both have formal opt-outs from the euro.
The other EU states still outside the euro are committed to joining, and can sign up to the banking union in the meantime, although Sweden and the Czech Republic have made clear they will not.
For months, the scope of the ECB’s supervisory powers was the subject of strained negotiations.
France and Germany had been unable to agree the threshold at which the ECB would intervene – with Germany arguing that many of its regional banks were too small to warrant ECB attention.
While the European Central Bank will be responsible for the overall running of the SSM, it will be in close co-operation with the supervisory authorities of member states and the EU-wide European Banking Authority, which creates banking rules across all 27 member states.
The summit’s chairman, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, will try to get a commitment to launch the SSM in January 2014 at the latest. His vision for far-reaching eurozone integration is set out in a report, which will be the focus of the discussions among EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday.
While banking union is the immediate focus, the report also proposes “contractual” arrangements between eurozone governments and the Commission, to prevent governments delaying, or reneging on, important economic reforms.
EU leaders are likely to avoid any measures that could trigger treaty change before the European elections in mid-2014, because treaty change is nearly always a thorny issue for the EU. It took seven years for the EU to adopt the Lisbon Treaty.
There is strong opposition in Germany and other richer eurozone nations to any further taxpayer-funded bailouts of indebted banks and governments.
Germany’s Constitutional Court has already flexed its legal muscles over eurozone integration.
Japan has accused China of violating its airspace for the first time after a Chinese government plane flew near disputed East China Sea islands.
Fighter jets were scrambled after the plane was seen around 11:00 local time near one of the islands, spokesman Osamu Fujimura said.
Japan lodged an immediate protest with Beijing, he said.
The islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, have been a long-standing source of tension.
A total of eight F-15 fighters were sent after reports of the presence of the plane, which belong to China’s State Oceanic Administration – a state body tasked with law enforcement in Chinese waters.
Japan’s defence ministry said it was the first intrusion into Japan’s air space by a Chinese government aircraft since the military began keeping records, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Last year, Japan said two Chinese military planes flew near the area, but did not enter the country’s airspace.
Osamu Fujimura called the incident “extremely deplorable”, saying it followed a report from the coast guard that Chinese surveillance ships had also been seen in waters near the islands earlier in the day.
“It is extremely regrettable that, on top of that, an intrusion into our airspace has been committed in this way,” he said.
The Chinese ambassador in Tokyo had been summoned to hear a formal Japanese protest, he said.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, however, said during a regular news briefing that the plane’s flight was “completely normal”.
“The Diaoyu islands and affiliated islands are part of China’s inherent territory,” he said.
“The Chinese side calls on Japan to halt all entries into water and airspace around the islands.”
Japan controls the islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan. Close to strategically important shipping lanes, the waters around the islands also offer rich fishing grounds and are thought to contain oil deposits.
The dispute over their ownership has rumbled for years but the Japanese government’s acquisition of three of the islands from their private Japanese owner in September sparked a renewed row, triggering a diplomatic chill and public protests in some Chinese cities.
Since then Chinese ships have been sailing in and out of waters around the islands, prompting warnings from Japan.
It is not clear whether this is a move by the Chinese side to escalate the dispute, or a one-off event designed to remind Japan of unsettled history.
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the start of the Nanjing massacre, where Japanese troops killed tens of thousands of Chinese civilians in China’s old capital, Nanjing, in 1937.
The incident also comes days before a Japanese general election thought likely to result in a change of government in Tokyo.
The Australian media watchdog has launched a formal inquiry into the hoax call to the London hospital, where Kate Middleton was being treated, after nurse Jacintha Saldanha’s death.
Nurse Jacintha Saldanha was found dead on Friday, three days after taking the call from Australian radio station 2Day FM.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will focus on the 2Day FM license holder and not directly on the presenters who made the prank call.
It will be examining if “broadcasting obligations” were breached.
On Wednesday, speaking in the Commons, UK Prime Minister David Cameron called Jacintha Saldanha’s death a “complete tragedy” and said lessons needed to be learnt.
Jacintha Saldanha had taken a call from presenters Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who were pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles, at the King Edward VII’s Hospital, where the duchess was being treated for severe morning sickness.
ACMA said its investigation would look at the compliance of 2Day FM’s licensee, Today FM Sydney Pty Ltd, with its license conditions and the Commercial Radio Codes of Practice.
ACMA chairman Chris Chapman said: “The ACMA’s formal regulatory relationship is always with the relevant licensee, and not the presenters of any broadcast in question. The ACMA will be examining whether the licensee has complied with its broadcasting obligations.”
The Australian Communications and Media Authority will focus on the 2Day FM license holder and not directly on the presenters who made the prank call
Under Australia’s Broadcasting Services Act, radio and television licensees have primary responsibility for ensuring that the material they broadcast reflects “community standards”.
Jacintha Saldanha, 46, answered the call from the 2Day FM presenters in the early hours of the morning on 4 December and, believing them to be members of the Royal Family, put them through to another nurse who gave a detailed update on the duchess’s condition.
She was found dead three days later at staff accommodation close to the hospital.
Southern Cross Austereo, which owns 2Day FM, said all profits from advertising on the station for the rest of the year would go into a fund for Jacintha Saldanha’s family.
MP Keith Vaz, who met Jacintha Saldanha’s family in Parliament on Monday night, has called on the hospital where she worked to hold a full inquiry.
He has also written to Southern Cross Austereo’s chief executive Rhys Holleran, expressing concern that the company had “not taken any steps to assist the family”.
“There has been no written apology, no request for a meeting with the family and no attempt to travel to the United Kingdom to express contrition,” he wrote.
Scotland Yard said the results of a post-mortem examination on Jacintha Saldanha would be released on Thursday morning at an inquest into her death.
The death is not being treated as suspicious and the inquest hearing in London is expected to be opened and adjourned as inquiries are continuing.
The two presenters involved in the hoax call, Michael Christian and Mel Greig, have said they are “gutted and heartbroken” over the death of Jacintha Saldanha.
Argentine football club Tigre has accused Brazilian security officials of beating and pulling guns on its players during the half-time interval of Copa Sudamericana final with Sao Paolo.
Tigre’s players refused to play the second half of the second leg of the Copa Sudamericana final.
The move left Sao Paulo to be declared winners of the tournament at their home ground.
Sao Paulo officials and players accused the Argentines of spoiling for a fight, and then running away.
The controversy at Sao Paulo’s Morumbi stadium comes just 18 months before Brazil hosts the 2014 World Cup.
The Argentines said they were attacked by about 20 men following scuffles involving players and officials as the teams left the pitch at half time.
Following Tigre’s refusal to play on, the referee signaled the end of the match – in which Sao Paulo had been leading 2-0 following a goalless first leg at Tigre’s stadium – and the Brazilian team’s players began celebrating. They were handed the trophy by officials from the South American Football Confederation.
Thousands of celebrating fans then filled one of Sao Paulo’s main streets.
Tigre players reportedly stayed in their dressing room for several hours after the incident before going to a police station to register an official complaint.
“They pulled two guns on us, the rest of the match is not going to be played,” Tigre coach Nestor Gorosito told Fox Sports at half time, referring to Brazilian military police and club stewards.
“They ambushed us and one of them pulled out a revolver and put it against [goalkeeper] Damian Albil’s chest. Their security and police also hit us, there were about 20 of them.”
Argentine football club Tigre has accused Brazilian security officials of beating and pulling guns on its players during the half-time interval of Copa Sudamericana final with Sao Paolo
Argentine media carried photographs of a blood-stained dressing room and comments from players saying they had been hit with sticks.
“They were going to lose by a big score,” Sao Paulo president Juvenal Juvencio told the club’s website.
“Our biggest victory is the fact that the Argentines ran away.”
Sao Paulo goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni said of Tigre: “They came here to fight, not to play.”
Honey Boo Boo returns to screens this holiday season with four television specials, and in anticipation, the 7-year-old has revealed her most prized and hated Christmas gifts.
During the Christmas special, which airs on February 17, Mama June also joins in and explains why the mother-daughter-duo will be on Santa Claus’ “nice” list this year.
The precocious youngster says in a TLCpreview: “The worst Christmas gift I ever got was my Barbie car that I had to take back because it was too small.”
Meanwhile, her favorite gift is something she treasures every day.
“My best Christmas present was my tent that goes over my bed,” she says.
June Shannon’s top gift was just as versatile.
She reveals: “The best Christmas gift I got was a year ago when I got my crock pot, ’cause we were able to put meals in there and then just forgot about it, come back like eight hours later and it would be ready.”
June Shannon, a mother of four, can’t remember the worst gift she was given, but recalls a $5 gift card for Walmart somewhere along the way.
“What are you gunna by nowadays with $5? I mean come on now,” she scolds.
Honey Boo Boo returns to screens this holiday season with four television specials, and in anticipation, the 7-year-old has revealed her most prized and hated Christmas gifts
On whether the pair will be on Santa’s naughty or nice list, both say they’ll definitely be placed in the “nice” category.
June Shannon said: “I think I’m going to be on Santa’s nice list this year. We give a lot back to our community and that, and I think we get a few extra brownie points because Sugar Bear is Santa’s little helper.”
Without missing a beat, Honey Boo Boo agreed.
“Nice list,” she said.
“My daddy’s always Santa Claus, so…”
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo Halloween special airs on TLC January 6th, the Thanksgiving special on January 13th, the Clip Show on February 10th and the Christmas special on February 17th.
The plane carrying Jenni Rivera plunged from more than 28,000 feet and hit the ground in a nose-dive at more than 600 miles an hour, Mexico’s top transportation official says.
Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, Mexico’s secretary of communications and transportation, revealed the first detailed accounts of the moments leading up to the crash that killed Jenni Rivera and six other people aboard their Learjet on Sunday in northern Mexico.
According to Ruiz Esparza told Radio Formula the plane hit the ground 1.2 miles from where it began falling, and plummeted at a 45 degree angle.
“The plane practically nose-dived,” he said.
“The impact must have been terrible.”
Ruiz Esparza did not offer any explanation of what may have caused the plane to plummet, saying only that: “The plane fell from an altitude of 28,000 feet … It may have hit a speed higher than 1,000 kph (621 mph).”
Ruiz Esparza said the pilot of the plane, Miguel Perez Soto, had a valid Mexican pilot’s license that would have expired in January.
Photos of a temporary pilot’s certificate issued by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and found amid the wreckage said that Miguel Perez Soto was 78.
Ruiz Esparza said there is no age limit for flying a civil aviation aircraft, though for commercial it’s 65.
Mexican authorities were performing DNA tests Tuesday on remains believed to belong to Jenni Rivera and the others killed when her plane went down in northern Mexico early Sunday morning.
Investigators said it would take days to piece together the wreckage of the plane carrying Jenni Rivera and find out why it went down.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to help investigate the crash of the Learjet 25, which disintegrated on impact in the rugged terrain in Nuevo Leon state in northern Mexico.
Human remains found in the wreckage were moved to a hospital in Monterrey, the closest major city to the crash, and Jenni Rivera’s brother Lupillo was driven past a crowd of reporters to the area where the remains were being kept. He did not speak to the press.
A state official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said investigators were testing DNA from the remains in order to provide families with definitive confirmation of the deaths of their loved ones.
“We’re in the process of picking up the fragments and we have to find all the parts,” Alejandro Argudin told reporters on Monday.
“Depending on weather conditions it would take us at least 10 days to have a first report and many more days to have a report by experts.”
The plane carrying Jenni Rivera plunged from more than 28,000 feet and hit the ground in a nose-dive at more than 600 miles an hour
In an interview on Radio Formula, Alejandro Argudin, head of Mexico’s civil aviation agency, said Mexican investigators weren’t sure yet if the Learjet had been equipped with flight data recorders. He also said there had been no emergency call from the plane before the crash.
Fans of Jenni Rivera, who sold 15 million records and was loved on both sides of the border for her down-to-earth style and songs about heartbreak and overcoming pain, put up shrines to her with burning candles, flowers and photographs in cities from Hermosillo, Mexico to Los Angeles.
Some Spanish-language radio stations played her songs nonstop.
A brother, Juan Rivera, as well as mother Rosa Saavedra, still held on to hope that she would be found alive.
“I still trust God that perhaps the body isn’t hers,” Rosa Saavedra said in a press conference Tuesday, adding that she could have been kidnapped and another woman was at the crash site.
“We’re hoping it’s not true, that perhaps someone took her and left another woman there.”
Jenni Rivera, 43, known as the “Diva de la Banda”, died as her career peaked. She was perhaps the most successful female singer in grupero, a male-dominated Mexico regional style, and had branched out into acting and reality television.
Besides being a singer, Jenni Rivera appeared in the indie film Filly Brown, which was shown at the Sundance Film Festival, and was filming the third season of I love Jenni, which followed her as she shared special moments with her children and as she toured through Mexico and the United States.
The Learjet 25, number N345MC, with Jenni Rivera aboard was en route from Monterrey to Toluca, outside Mexico City, when it was reported missing about 10 minutes after takeoff.
Ruiz Esparza said Mexican officials are investigating why the U.S. plane was carrying passengers between two Mexican destinations, something that’s against regulation. U.S- registered planes can only fly paying passengers internationally into Mexico.
He said the plane’s owner, Starwood Management of Las Vegas, said Jenni Rivera was not renting the jet, but was receiving a free flight because Starwood thought it would promote the aircraft, which was for sale.
That would be allowed under Mexican law, Ruiz Esparza said.
“The Civil Aviation Department has instructions to investigate this point specifically,” he said, adding that he’s also asking other authorities to verify the company’s story about why one of its planes was flying between Mexican destinations.
According to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the same plane was substantially damaged in a 2005 landing mishap at Amarillo International Airport in Texas. It hit a runway distance marker after losing directional control.
There were four aboard but no injuries. It was registered to a company in Houston, Texas, as the time.
Starwood has been the subject of a lawsuit and investigations, though none so far have centered on the plane that carried Jenni Rivera.
Porsche has announced it has already beaten its annual record for most cars sold.
The carmaker sold 128,978 cars worldwide in the 11 months to November – already beating the 118,868 sports cars sold in the whole of last year.
Porsche marketing and sales chief Bernhard Maier said that last month alone was up 39% on November 2011.
Demand came from China and the US, where there was 70% more demand for Porsches last month than in 2011.
The demand from other countries has picked up for slack demand in recession-hit Europe.
The result has been a 7.1% fall in car sales in Europe so far this year, with some southern European markets seeing sales slump by about a fifth.
Porsche sold 128,978 cars worldwide in the 11 months of 2012, already beating the 118,868 sports cars sold in the whole of last year
Premium carmakers, such as Porsche and BMW, and budget manufacturers, such as Hyundai, are doing relatively well. But mid-market players – such as Ford and General Motors’ Opel and Vauxhall units – are having a torrid time, suffering falling sales, profits and market shares.
David Bailey, a professor of international business strategy and economics at Coventry University Business School, told the BBC that Porsche’s success was driven by “huge growth in emerging markets”.
“The premium producers are doing very well and the lower end is doing well too. What you have is a bit of a squeezed middle.”
GM estimates it stands to lose more than $1.5 billion (1.2 billion euros) on its European operations this year. This week, it said it would end car production at its Bochum manufacturing plant in Germany in 2016.
“People want to be seen in a BMW or an Audi or a Mercedes, it’s a rapidly-developing consumer market,” said IHS Automotive analyst Tim Urquhart.
On Porsche, he said that the “Cayenne has really captured the imagination in the US and China”.
At the higher end of the car market, Italy’s Maserati sold 6,200 last year and said on Wednesday that sales in the first nine months of this year were up 2% to 4,754.
But it hopes to sell 50,000 Maserati a year by 2015. It plans to sell the sixth-generation of the four-door Maserati model, starting in the 150,000-euro range.
By comparison, a Ferrari starts at 20% below the Maserati. A Porsche Panamera costs from 77,000 to 166,000 euros.
Meanwhile, Indian-owned luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover said on Wednesday that it sold 324,184 vehicles during the first 11 months of the year, up 32% from the same period last year.
It is planning to set up a factory in Saudi Arabia and began construction of a factory in China last month.
In July, German mass-market rival Volkswagen agreed a deal to pay 4.46 billion euros ($5.6 billion) to buy the remaining 50.1% stake in Porsche it did not already own.
Volkswagen had acquired a 49.9% stake in Porsche in 2009.
Whitney Houston, One Direction and super hit Gangnam Style topped global searches on Google in 2012.
Whitney Houston, whose death in February shocked fans, was the most searched.
Teen heart-throbs One Direction topped the image search charts – with band member Harry Styles individually seventh most popular.
On Facebook, politics took centre stage – Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were the most discussed figures in the US.
The social network grouped its top trends in a special 2012 section.
In the US, the presidential election dominated discussion over the year, followed by excitement around the Super Bowl.
The London Olympics was the fifth most discussed topic in the US, whereas in the UK it understandably came out on top, beating chatter about steamy novel Fifty Shades of Grey into second place.
In third, Rylan Clark – a flamboyant yet divisive contestant on this year’s X Factor series.
Whitney Houston, One Direction and super hit Gangnam Style topped global searches on Google in 2012
Google’s results – which exclude pornography-related queries – give an honest glimpse into the psyche of the world’s internet users.
The company measures its chart by assessing what terms have had the greater increase of traffic when compared to 2011.
As it often does, “What is love?” topped the list in 10 countries, with “how to kiss” and “how to flirt” also popular for the presumably unlucky-in-love searchers.
The list also reveals some guilty pleasures. Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, the reality show following the life of child beauty pageant participant Alana Thompson, was the third most searched for TV programme worldwide.
Topping the TV list was Big Brother Brazil and soap opera Avenida Brasil.
There were also massive spikes for people who until this year the wider public probably did not know anything about.
Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner, whose record-breaking skydive captivated millions around the world, placed sixth in the list of most discussed individuals.
While Amanda Todd, the US teenager who took her own life after posting a message about being bullied on YouTube, was the world’s third most discussed individual.
Top 10 search terms of the year, according to Google:
Drew Barrymore has intoduced baby daughter Olive to the world on the cover of People magazine.
In an accompanying interview with People magazine, Drew Barrymore, 37, said she was not prepared for how much her life would change once she had a baby.
The actress said: “I couldn’t eat or sleep for two weeks, I was just so nervous!You have the highest highs and yet you’re facing the biggest fear of, <<How do I keep someone alive?>>”
But with the help of her husband Will Kopelman, Drew Barrymore was able to provide a loving and nurturing home for her baby to be brought into.
She added: “I really wanted a wonderful traditional home for my kid. Will comes from a strong family, he provides a strong family … It just makes me so emotional because it’s like a miracle.”
Drew Barrymore recently revealed the meaning behind Olive’s name, telling Ellen DeGeneres during an interview that she and Will Kopelman came up with the name after reading a baby manual.
Drew Barrymore has intoduced baby daughter Olive to the world on the cover of People magazine
Anne Hathaway has been caught going commando in embarrassing pictures taken at the premiere of her new film, Les Miserables.
In what’s being dubbed as “Full Hathaway-gate”, Anne Hathaway suffered the major wardrobe malfunction in the full glare of the media spotlight as she exited her car at the premiere of her new movie in New York on Monday.
Anne Hathaway is said to be “devastated” after news publications around the world ran the pictures.
Emerging from her car and onto the red carpet, eager photographers snapped away and unwittingly caught Anne Hathaway – who was wearing a stunning creation by designer Tom Ford – in full exposure – on a night she chose to forgo underwear.
The usually sophisticated actress was clearly embarrassed by the wardrobe malfunction, which was largely due to the thigh high split of her black figure-hugging dress falling open as she got out of the car by swinging both her legs onto the pavement, flashing her lady parts in the process.
And Anne Hathaway, 30, was allegedly overheard telling Vanity Fair writer Ingrid Sischy at a luncheon the following day about the “devastating” mishap.
“I was getting out of the car and my dress was so tight that I didn’t realize it until I saw all the photographers’ flashes,” Anne Hathaway told the journalist at the luncheon, as reported by NY Daily News.
“It was devastating. They saw everything. I might as well have lifted up my skirt for them.”
Anne Hathaway has been caught going commando in embarrassing pictures taken at the premiere of her new film, Les Miserables
Since the unfortunate mishap, which is out of character for the usually demure and pulled together Anne Hathaway, many fashion editors have offered words of advice on how to avoid showing off too much flesh.
“It’s so much better to be caught in Spanx,” one fashionista said.
Though Anne Hathaway can be consoled by the thought that most celebrities have endured an embarrassing wardrobe mishap, after failing to master the art of stepping out of a car.
Even Kate Middleton was once famously photographed revealing her underwear trying to get out of a vehicle, and many have flashed a little too much of their cleavages on the red carpet.
The director of the Etiquette School of New York, Patricia Fitzpatrick, advised: “Knees together girls! When you’re sitting, you sit with your knees touching.”
In a new video, Victoria’s Secret Angels Candice Swanepoel, Miranda Kerr, Doutzen Kroes, Alessandra Ambrosio, Lily Aldridge, Lindsay Ellingson and Erin Heatherton are shown modelling a selection of festive underwear while attempting to sing a rendition of Deck The Halls.
But the minute-plus film is littered with retakes as the seven girls stumble over the lyrics, and in one of the final shots Doutzen Kroes exclaims: “It’s unfair to have a model singing.”
During the festive Victoria’s Secret clip she sings: “Deck the halls of boughs of jolly’ and ‘Deck the halls of boughs of honey.”
When she realizes the mistake she laughs and says: “Let’s deck it with honey!”
Meanwhile Miranda Kerr explains to viewers: “We don’t sing this Down Under. We sing Santa Baby.”
In a new video, Victoria’s Secret Angels are shown modeling a selection of festive underwear while attempting to sing a rendition of Deck The Halls
The video, released today via YouTube, quickly generated hundreds of comments, with many acknowledging that they weren’t watching for the girls for their singing talents.
As well as singing, the models are shown decorating a Christmas tree, setting out presents, and trimming a large room with bows, tinsel and garlands.
Victoria’s Secret tweeted from their official Twitter account: “Happy Holidays from the @VictoriasSecret Angels!”
The message included a link to the video so fans could enjoy a little bit of holiday fun.
The Victoria’s Secret models will no doubt enjoy taking some time out this Christmas, after spending months prepping for the lingerie brand’s annual fashion show, shown on CBS last week.
Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who apparently took her own life following the royal hoax call scandal, was found hanged in her staff housing, it has been claimed.
Mother-of-two Jacintha Saldanha, 46, left a note for her family, it was revealed yesterday.
Jacintha Saldanha had not told her husband or children that she was involved in the incident, meaning the letter may provide their only clue to what prompted the respected nurse to take such a drastic and tragic step.
A post-mortem examination was held yesterday on the body of Jacintha Saldanha, who was the first unwitting member of staff at the King Edward VII Hospital in London, where Kate Middleton was being treated for acute morning sickness, to take the call made by two Australian DJs pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles.
Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who apparently took her own life following the royal hoax call scandal, was found hanged in her staff housing
She passed them on to a second nurse on Kate Middleton’s ward, who was then duped into giving out details of her medical condition
The results of the post-mortem examination are not yet known, and an inquest is due to be opened and adjourned tomorrow.
Family spokesman, Labour MP Keith Vaz, said yesterday Jacintha Saldanha’s family were demanding answers from the hospital about the circumstances that led to her death.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has described the decision of Gerard Depardieu to move to Belgium to avoid higher taxes as “shabby”.
Jean-Marc Ayrault suggested that Gerard Depardieu’s move to the small town of Nechin, just over the border from the French city of Lille, was unpatriotic at a time of cutbacks.
Nechin’s mayor revealed this week that Gerard Depardieu, 63, had taken up home there.
Some of France’s wealthiest citizens are feeling victimized by the Socialist government.
There is a general disgruntlement in business circles over the tax rates. Luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault made headlines three months ago when he announced plans to relocate to Belgium, denying it was for tax reasons.
However, Gerard Depardieu’s departure is seen as less damaging to the government as his political views are known to be on the right and he is regarded as a rather grumpy, temperamental character.
Belgian residents do not pay wealth tax, which in France applies to individuals with assets above 1.3 million euros ($1.7 million), starting at a rate of 0.25%. Nor do they pay capital gains tax on share sales.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault suggested that Gerard Depardieu’s move to Belgium, just over the border from the French city of Lille, was unpatriotic at a time of cutbacks
Next year, the top rate of income tax in France is due to become 75% on earnings above 1 million euros. It is currently 50% in Belgium.
Speaking on the France 2 TV channel, Jean-Marc Ayrault said: “I find this quite shabby… All that just to avoid paying tax.”
Gerard Depardieu was a “great star” whom “everyone loves as an artiste”, he added.
However, according to the prime minister: “Paying a tax is an act of solidarity, a patriotic act.”
French conservative opposition politician Jean-Francois Cope said the departure of Gerard Depardieu was “distressing for the country and its image”.
“You don’t see leading business figures or huge stars moving out of Belgium, Britain, Germany or Italy,” he added.
Gerard Depardieu is celebrated for such cinema roles as Cyrano de Bergerac and Obelix in the Asterix series, and can command 2 million euros per film.
The mayor of Nechin, Daniel Senesael, said the actor had other reasons for moving to his area, which is already home to some 2,800 French citizens including the Mulliez family, owners of French hypermarket chain Auchan and the Decathlon sports stores.
“I think he wanted to enjoy the atmosphere in Belgium, our identity, the rural, bucolic setting,” he told RTL radio.
However, it is quite obvious that the main reason for the move is for tax reasons.
It appears Gerard Depardieu’s new home is an old customs officer’s house, showing just how close it is to the border.
First Lady Michelle Obama delivered about 900 gifts to the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots campaign but perhaps lost in the seriousness of her mission, forgot to wear her smile.
Taking a few minutes to thank military families at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C. Michelle Obama shared how they make her job “easy” in their representation of the U.S. as well as in inspiring her role in the White House.
“The military families are what inspires my work,” she said at the annual toy drive started by a Marine reservist and his wife.
“Somehow you’re always the ones who find the extra hours in the day to give back, above and beyond what life has thrown your way anyway,” she said.
Among the unwrapped toys donated today by White House employees and American CEOs were Michelle Obama’s two daughters 14-year-old Malia and 11-year-old Sasha, according to the White House.
Michelle Obama along with Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, started the Joining Forces campaign in 2011 to honor and support military families.
Michelle Obama delivered about 900 gifts to the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots campaign but perhaps lost in the seriousness of her mission, forgot to wear her smile
Before slapping her hands together to get to work, Michelle Obama wished volunteers and service members at the military base “Happy Holidays”.
She then assisted the marines in sorting the gifts into bins marked for boys and girls by different age groups.
Noting the lack of toys for older children, Michelle Obama advised a little help in donors remembering the big kids this year.
“A lot of times when we do the shopping we like to reach for the cute little bear or the little doll, but the truth is that they also need gifts for older kids as well,” she said.
For children ages 11 to 14, she suggested books, games, backpacks and clothes “because if your teens are like mine, they want some clothes, something cute to wear”.
Retired Marine Lt. Gen. Pete Osman, president and CEO of Toys for Tots, said the demand for gifts seems to go up every season, especially in the Northeast after this year’s “curveball” Superstorm Sandy.
Pete Osman thanked the first lady for being the program’s “No. 1 volunteer” since she has enlisted public support and rolled up her sleeves to help in each of her four years in the White House.
“When Michelle Obama leads, the American people follow,” he said.
Presents collected from the White House toy drive included school supplies, books and toys by K’NEX Brands. President Barack Obama picked up the toys last month when he visited a suburban Philadelphia toy factory as part of his campaign to get the public to pressure Congress to act to prevent the so-called “fiscal cliff”.
Pope Benedict XVI has sent his first much-anticipated Twitter message using his personal account @pontifex.
The Pope was shown pressing a button on an iPad tablet.
The message read: “Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart.”
A spokesman said earlier the pontiff would “reach out to everyone” with accounts in eight languages.
The Pope’s English account already has more than 660, 000 followers.
So far, the Pope’s accounts @pontifex – which mean “pontiff” or “builder of bridges” – are only following each other.
Pope Benedict XVI has sent his first much-anticipated Twitter message using his personal account
Last year, the Pope sent his first tweet from a Vatican account to launch the Holy See’s news information portal.
The leader of the world’s 1.2 billion or so Roman Catholics is expected to sign off, rather than write, each individual tweet himself.
The Pope’s tweets are also expected to highlight messages from his weekly general audience, Sunday blessings and homilies on key Church holidays as well as papal reaction to world events.
The Vatican has long shown interest in using the latest communications technologies to spread the faith with the inventor of radio, Guglielmo Marconi, setting up Vatican Radio in 1931.
The Catholic Church also already uses several social media platforms, including text messages and YouTube, to communicate with young people.
Papal aides say the pontiff himself still prefers to communicate in longhand rather than using a computer keyboard.
Pope Benedict’s six-year papacy has been bedeviled by poor communications.
Embarrassing clarifications had to be issued over such thorny issues as his 2005 speech about Islam and violence, and his stance on condoms and HIV.
Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who apparently took her own life following the royal hoax call scandal, left a note for her family, it emerged yesterday.
Jacintha Saldanha had not told her husband or children that she was involved in the incident, meaning the letter may provide their only clue to what prompted the respected nurse to take such a drastic and tragic step.
A post-mortem examination was held yesterday on the body of Jacintha Saldanha, who was the first unwitting member of staff at the King Edward VII Hospital in London, where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for acute morning sickness, to take the call made by two Australian DJs pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles.
Jacintha Saldanha passed them on to a second nurse on Kate Middleton’s ward, who was then duped into giving out details of her medical condition
The results of the post-mortem examination are not yet known, and an inquest is due to be opened this week.
Family spokesman, Labour MP Keith Vaz, said yesterday Jacintha Saldanha’s family were demanding answers from the hospital about the circumstances that led to her death.
Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who apparently took her own life following the royal hoax call scandal, left a note for her family
Although bosses at the hospital in Marylebone have said they will conduct internal inquiries, the nurse’s family – husband Ben Barboza, 49, and children Junal, 17, and Lisha, 14 – “want to know everything”.
Keith Vaz, who has met hospital chairman Lord Glenarthur to demand a full inquiry, said: “What the chairman of the hospital said to me was that there are inquiries going on in the hospital.
“That is not sufficient for the family. There are unexplained circumstances. The family want to know everything. All the facts, fully and clearly.”
Keith Vaz added: “The hospital needs to be more pro-active, a full inquiry is needed and the family need to be included in that.
“They are a lovely close-knit family, a Catholic family who will be spending their first Christmas without their mother, and for Ben, without his wife.”
Ben Barboza, an NHS accountant, and his children live in Bristol.
Jacintha Saldanha, whose body was found in the hospital’s staff accommodation she used during the week, returned to the family home at weekends.
She had been expected home as usual last Friday when police broke the news of her death.
Keith Vaz said: “They [the family] were in the dark about the hoax call. They hadn’t watched the news or seen anything about it. They didn’t know they were involved until after Jacintha’s death.”
Bosses at the Australian radio station, 2Day FM, have also been under pressure to explain why they gave the go-ahead for the prank.
The company which owns the station, Southern Cross Austereo, yesterday cancelled its staff Christmas party and said it would donate the rest of the year’s advertising revenue – 500,000 AUD – to a memorial fund set up in Jacintha Saldanha’s name by the hospital.
Cuban surgeons have successfully operated on Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez to remove cancerous tissue, says his Vice-President Nicolas Maduro.
It was the president’s fourth cancer-related operation since June 2011.
At the weekend, Hugo Chavez spoke for the first time about a possible successor, naming Nicolas Maduro as his preferred candidate.
In a TV address, Nicolas Maduro described the president’s operation as both “complex” and a “complete success”.
“We’ve lived through complex moments of tension,” he added, saying that the operation had lasted more than six hours.
In Caracas, the vice-president then led an outdoor vigil with a group of the president’s supporters joining in with a recording of Hugo Chavez singing the national anthem.
Hugo Chavez’s children and grandchildren, as well as political allies including National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, were in Havana to be near the president while he underwent the operation, Nicolas Maduro said.
Cuban surgeons have successfully operated on Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez to remove cancerous tissue
The Venezuelan president had returned from cancer-related treatment in Cuba on Friday but he left again from Caracas early on Monday for further treatment.
The illness was first detected during an initial surgery for a pelvic abscess in June 2011.
During the weekend, Hugo Chavez himself had acknowledged the seriousness of the situation after tests had detected more cancerous cells in the pelvic area.
“There are risks. Who can deny it?” he said in a televised speech on Saturday.
Hugo Chavez added that if his health failed and new elections had to be held, people should vote for Nicolas Maduro, a former bus driver and one of the president’s closest advisers.
“He is a complete revolutionary, a man of great experience despite his youth, with great dedication and capacity for work,” Hugo Chavez said.
In his first speech since being named as Hugo Chavez’s successor, a tearful Nicolas Maduro thanked the president.
“We are eternally grateful to Chavez. We will be loyal to Chavez beyond this lifetime,” he said, adding: “We are the children of Chavez.”
Hugo Chavez, who was re-elected in October for a fourth term as president, is due to begin his new six-year term in office on 10 January.
The constitution states that should the president leave office in the first four years of his term, an election must be held within 30 days.
President Barack Obama has announced that the US now formally recognize Syria’s main opposition coalition as “the legitimate representative” of its Syrian people.
Barack Obama told ABC News that the National Coalition was now inclusive, reflective and representative enough for the US to take this “big step”.
The UK, France, Turkey and Gulf states have already given their recognition.
Russia said the US had decided to place all its bets on the coalition achieving an “armed victory”.
Activists say more than 40,000 people have died in the 18-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
Reports from central Syria on Wednesday said a large number of civilians from the president’s Alawite sect had been killed in a village to the west of Hama.
The circumstances are unclear but a video posted by opposition activists purported to show a young Alawite boy describing how government forces had destroyed a building where the civilians were being held hostage by pro-government militia.
The building, in the village of Aqrab, had been under siege from the Free Syrian Army and, according to the boy, as many as 300 civilians were killed,
There has been no word so far from the Syrian government and it is impossible to verify the activists’ account.
More than half a million people have now fled the conflict in Syria to neighboring countries, according to the UN’s refugee agency.
Barack Obama has said the US now formally recognize Syria’s main opposition coalition as the legitimate representative of its people
Announcing the US decision to recognize Syria’s main opposition, Barack Obama said it had earned the right to represent the Syrian people, but issued a note of caution as well.
The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces was formed last month and only a small number of countries have so far recognized it as the legitimate representative of Syrians.
“Obviously, with that recognition come responsibilities,” Barack Obama said.
“To make sure that they organize themselves effectively, that they are representative of all the parties, [and] that they commit themselves to a political transition that respects women’s rights and minority rights.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, expressing surprise at the announcement, said the US had decided “to place all its best on an armed victory of the Syrian National Coalition”.
President Barack Obama’s statement came as foreign ministers from 70 countries prepared to meet in Morocco on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Syria.
The Marrakech meeting will be the first time that the Friends of Syria conference is attended by the Syrian National Coalition.
US recognition of the coalition does not mean the US will begin arming rebel groups, but officials told ABC that might be approved if it was thought to help achieve a political solution in Syria.
Barack Obama warned that the US would not support extremist elements within the opposition coalition.
“Not everybody who’s participating on the ground in fighting Assad are people who we are comfortable with,” he said.
“There are some who, I think, have adopted an extremist agenda, an anti-US agenda, and we are going to make clear to distinguish between those elements.”
One group he mentioned – the al-Nusra Front – is believed to be linked to al-Qaeda and responsible for nearly 600 violent attacks in major Syrian cities in the past year, the US state department estimates.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton designated the group a foreign terrorist organization, freezing any assets its members may have in US jurisdictions.
