Turkey Kurds: PKK Chief Ocalan Calls For Ceasefire

The jailed leader of Kurdish rebels fighting Turkey, Abdullah Ocalan, has called for a truce after years of war.

Ocalan also urged his fighters to withdraw from Turkey, in a message read out to cheers during Kurdish New Year celebrations in the city of Diyarbakir.

Hundreds of thousands were there to hear the call, which follows months of talks between the PKK and Turkey.

More than 40,000 people have died in the 30-year fight for an ethnic Kurdish homeland in Turkey's south-east.

Several previous ceasefire attempts have failed.

But the BBC's James Reynolds in Istanbul points out that this time Ocalan and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan - the two key figures involved - are talking via intermediaries.

Our correspondent says Ocalan is still the final decision-maker among the Kurds, despite the 14 years he has spent in jail. He is serving a life sentence for treason.

The announcement was read out in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir in Kurdish and in Turkish.

"We have reached the point where weapons should be silent and ideas and politics should speak. A new phase in our struggle is beginning," Ocalan's message said.

"Now a door is opening to a phase where we are moving from armed resistance to an era of democratic political struggle.

"Now it is time for our armed units to move across the border [to northern Iraq]. This is not an end but a new beginning. This is not abandoning the struggle, but a start to a different struggle."

Our correspondent says it is not immediately clear when this withdrawal will take place - or whether the PKK will ultimately choose to disarm.

Ocalan had told Kurdish politicians who visited him earlier this week at his prison on the island of Imrali that his declaration would be "historic".

In February the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) leader, who has been in Turkish custody since his capture in Kenya in 1999, called for prisoners to be released by both sides.

The PKK freed eight Turkish soldiers and officials it had held captive in northern Iraq for up to two years.

The PKK launched its armed campaign in 1984 and is regarded by Turkey, the US and EU as a terrorist organisation. Last year saw some of the heaviest fighting in decades.

The organisation rolled back on its demands for an independent Kurdish state in the 1990s, calling instead for more autonomy.

Reports say the PKK wish list now includes greater constitutional and linguistic rights for Kurds, as well as an easing of pressure on Kurdish activists.

The government has also not dismissed speculation that Ocalan could be moved to house arrest.

On the eve of the truce call, Mr Erdogan condemned a number of blasts in the capital blamed on a left-wing group which opposes the talks with the PKK. He promised to push ahead with "extremely critical and sensitive" peace efforts, which have been going on since October.

Abdullah Demirbas, a district mayor in Diyarbakir, told Reuters news agency there would be more attempts to sabotage talks, but this was a last chance for peace.

"The PKK, Ocalan and the government must be brave... There is massive social support for this process."

In Diyarbakir members of the crowd spoke of their hopes for an end to conflict.

"We are waiting for peace, for better days. We don't want clashes any more," a woman said.

Source: BBC  News

Read More

Skype for Windows Phone 8 Adds HD Video Support

Version 2.4 of Skype for Windows Phone 8 taps into the hardware acceleration in Microsoft's mobile OS to enable high-quality video calls.

Lower-end phones will deliver VGA video. But higher-end devices, such as the Nokia Lumia 920, HTC 8X, and Samsung Ativ S, can amp that up to 720P HD video, Skype said today in a blog about the new version.

The app automatically sets the video quality based on the speed of the Internet connection. Skype callers can jump between portrait and landscape mode and use either the front or rear camera for video chats.

Also, Skype contacts are displayed in the Windows Phone People Hub so users can kick off a call without having to load Skype first. You also can switch between different user accounts for your Skype calls.

Skype said it wanted to improve the quality and reliability of the app. Some users had trouble receiving notifications when the app was closed. That issue reportedly has been fixed in the latest version.

Read More

Luka Magnotta Collapses In Court In Body Parts Case

A Canadian man accused of killing and dismembering his Chinese lover and posting his body parts to politicians has collapsed at a court hearing.

Luka Magnotta, 30, seemed distressed and had asked for a break after prosecutors presented graphic evidence on Tuesday in a Montreal court.

Mr Magnotta, a pornography performer, pleaded not guilty to murdering Jun Lin, a university student, in May.

He is also accused of filming the death and performing sexual acts on the body.

In court on Tuesday, Mr Magnotta held his hand over his mouth and asked a court guard inside his glass defendant's box for a five-minute break.

After the judge agreed to an extended lunch break, Mr Magnotta stood, then collapsed to the floor, prompting the judge to suspend the hearing for the rest of the day.

"He really doesn't feel well and he's not able to continue," defence lawyer Luc Leclair told the judge, the Associated Press reported.

Evidence in the case is subject to a publication ban. But reporters in the courtroom said Mr Magnotta's eyes were closed for much of the hearing and at times he appeared to wipe away tears.

The purpose of the hearing, which has lasted several days, is to determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to bring Mr Magnotta to trial.

The victim's father, Diran Lin, has been present in the courtroom at times but is reported to have left during presentation of the most graphic evidence.

Source: BBC News

Read More

Guatemala Ex-ruler Rios Montt On Trial For Genocide

 The trial of the former military ruler of Guatemala, Efrain Rios Montt, for genocide and crimes against humanity has begun in Guatemala City.

During Mr Rios Montt's 17-month rule in the 1980s, more than 1,700 indigenous people are thought to have been killed.

The UN says it is the first time a former head of state has faced a national court for such crimes - rights activists say the trial is "historic".

The former general denies the charges. The trial is expected to last months.

Shortly before the start of the trial, the defence team of 86-year old was replaced.

His new lawyers filed motions which could have delayed the proceedings, but were rejected by the court.

Gen Rios Montt faces charges of crimes against humanity in connection with the killing of 1,771 indigenous Mayans during his rule in 1982-1983.

"This is the first time, anywhere in the world, that a former head of state is being put on trial for genocide by a national tribunal," said the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in a statement.

Prosecutors said Gen Rios Montt wanted to wipe out the indigenous group, which he suspected of supporting rebel fighters.

The proceedings could last months, with hundreds of witnesses, since the prosecution admits there is no evidence directly linking Mr Rios Montt to the killings.

Their strategy will be to use testimonies to prove that there was an established chain of command.

The former general abandoned politics in 2012, after a number of mandates in Congress.

He has been under house arrest since his immunity from prosecution was lifted at the end of his term.

Gen Rios Montt will also face charges over the forced displacement of 29,000 indigenous Guatemalans as part of what human rights groups have called his "scorched earth" policy.

An estimated 200,000 people were killed or went missing during Guatemala's 36-year civil conflict, which ended in 1996.

Gen Rios Montt's 17 months in power are believed to have been one of the most violent periods of the war.

Source: BBC News

Read More

Bikini Line Waxing And shaving Poses Infection Risk

Men and women seeking a well-groomed bikini line are at greater risk of infections, say researchers.

Waxing and shaving causes micro trauma to the skin, leaving it vulnerable to pathogens like poxvirus, they told a British Medical Journal publication.

The team studied 30 new patients with a poxvirus called molluscum contagiosum who had been treated in a private clinic in France.

They say pubic hair removal is becoming increasingly popular among men too.

Twenty-four of the 30 patients they examined were men.

In all 30 cases, the lesions had appeared in the bikini line area that had been either shaved, waxed or trimmed.

Molluscum contagiousum is highly contagious and easily spread through skin-to-skin contact with someone who is infected or by touching contaminated objects such as a flannel or towel.

It usually clears up on its own and does not cause any symptoms other than raised red spots.

Squeezing the spots that develop is not recommended because it can cause pain and bleeding and it is likely to leave scarring. It also increases the risk of spreading the infection

The researchers say pubic hair removal could also be a risk factor for other 'minor' infections such as genital warts.

Read More

Fujitsu Software Measures Heart Rates Via Camera Phone

A Fujitsu research lab has developed software that can accurately measure a subject's pulse using the small digital cameras attached to smartphones and tablets.

The company said that the technology is based on the fact that the brightness of an individual's face changes slightly as their heart beats, due to their blood flow. Hemoglobin, which carries oxygen around the body, absorbs green light, so analyzing the change in color of parts of the face reveals their heart rate.

As most image sensors capture pixel information in red, blue, and green, they have the capability to detect hemoglobin built in. Fujitsu's technology keeps track of specific regions of the face over time to take pulse measurements.

"The pulse monitor is software based, so it can be added to any smartphone, tablet, or PC," wrote Fujitsu spokesperson Joseph Dean in an email.

The company says the software can take a person's pulse in as little as five seconds. It also automatically screens for instances when the individual is still and facing the camera to increase accuracy.

Fujitsu aims to commercialize the technology within the next 12 months. It will first be released in Japan, and the company is considering launching it internationally as well but has no solid plans.

Dean said the company is still undecided whether it will release the software only on Fujitsu devices or on those made by other manufacturers as well.

The company said possible applications include the ability to unobtrusively measure someone's pulse throughout the day, using the cameras built into their phone, computer, and smart TV. This could then be used to track long-term health patterns over time.

Fujitsu is strong in biometrics, with palm recognition technology that has been built into security systems and bank ATMs. The company is trying to launch a suite of cloud-based services that monitor and analyze users' personal health.

Source: TechHive

Read More

Deepest Ocean Teems With Microbes

The deepest place in the ocean is teeming with microscopic life, a study suggests.

An international team of scientists found that the very bottom of the Mariana Trench, which lies almost 11km (7 miles) down in the Pacific Ocean, had high levels of microbial activity.

The research is published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The underwater canyon was once thought to be too hostile an environment for life to exist.

But this study adds to a growing body of evidence that a range of creatures can cope with the near-freezing temperatures, immense pressures and complete darkness.

Dr Robert Turnewitsch, one of the authors of the paper from the Scottish Association for Marine Science, said: "The deepest parts of the deep sea are certainly not dead zones."

In 2010, the scientists sent an unmanned submersible down into the vast underwater canyon, where it collected samples of the murky sediment that cakes the sea floor.

An analysis of the levels of oxygen in the sample revealed the presence of a large number of microbes.

Dr Turnewitsch explained: "These microbes, they respire as we do. And this oxygen consumption is an indirect measurement of the activity of the community."

Surprisingly, these primitive, single-celled organisms were twice as active at the bottom of the trench than they were at a nearby 6km-deep (four miles) site.

They were feasting on a plentiful supply of dead plants and creatures that had drifted down from the sea surface, the decomposing matter becoming trapped within the steep walls of the trench.

"The amount of food down there and also the relative freshness of the material is surprisingly high - it seems to be surprisingly nutritious," said Dr Turnewitsch.

The level of material found at the bottom of the trench was so high that it suggests the Mariana Trench - which is in an area of the ocean known as the Hadal zone - could play a key part in the carbon cycle and therefore in regulating the planet's climate.

Dr Richard Turnewitsch said: "The fact that large amounts of organic matter that contain the carbon accumulate and are focused in these trenches also means they play an important role in the removal of carbon from the ocean and the overlying atmosphere.

"The Hadal trenches may play a more important role in the global marine carbon cycle than was previously thought."

Further insight into the Mariana Trench has recently been provided by Hollywood director James Cameron.

In 2012, he made the dive to the bottom in a one-man-submarine, becoming the first person to have visited this deep spot for 50 years.

Speaking to the BBC straight after his solo plunge, he said that the floor of the trench was an alien and barren terrain.

He recently released some of the first scientific results of his dive at the 2012 American Geophysical Union Fall meeting.

Working with scientists from the Scripps Institute, the team found giant amoeba and shrimp-like creatures called amphipods.

Source:  BBC News  

Read More

Barack Obama Heads To Israel For First Time As President

Barack Obama is flying to Israel for his first trip there as US president, amid protests and tight security in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The war in Syria and concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions will loom large in talks, say correspondents.

But US officials are trying to lower expectations that Mr Obama will seek to make significant headway on restarting the Israel-Palestinian peace process.

Settlement supporters are a big force in Israel's new coalition government.

Israelis are more preoccupied with instability in the wider Middle East region than with breathing new life into the peace process, which broke down in 2010 amid a dispute over continued Israeli settlement construction.

Mr Obama is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his three-day visit.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is already in the country preparing for the president's arrival.

At home Mr Obama has been criticized for not having visited Israel in his first term as president, with some saying it shows he is not close enough to the country.

That is despite his administration's repeated assertion that the two countries share an "unbreakable alliance".

Thousands of Israeli and Palestinian security officers have been assembled in Jerusalem and the Palestinians' de facto capital in the West Bank, Ramallah, ahead of his trip.

The state of the economy and social issues dominated Israel's last election, and the president has said he is not going to the region bearing any grand peace plan.

But with warnings that time is running out for a two-state solution, some still think he will try to lay the ground for some greater effort to restart talks, our correspondent says.

The president's relationship with Mr Netanyahu has been notoriously frosty and one recent opinion poll suggested a mere 10% of the Israeli public had a favourable opinion of the US president.

The main event of this trip is a speech to the Israeli people - his main task is to build bridges and improve his image, which could give him more leverage over the new Israeli government, our correspondent adds.

Source: BBC News 

Read More

Earthquake Traps 18 At Rudna Mine In Poland

Eighteen miners are trapped underground at a Polish copper mine after an earthquake caused a tunnel collapse.

A spokesman for operator KGHM said the accident happened 600m (2,000ft) below ground at the Rudna mine, in the western region of Lower Silesia.

He said the rescue operation was "difficult because huge amounts of rocks have to be removed".

There is no contact with the trapped miners because the quake cut communication lines, the company added.

Poland has a large number of mines, many of which are located in the industrialised Silesia region, which is rich in mineral and natural resources.

In 2006, a gas explosion at a coal mine in the region claimed 23 lives.

Read More

US Panel Backs Trial For Anthrax Vaccine On Children

A US presidential commission has paved the way for testing an anthrax vaccine on children, prompting criticism that participants would be "guinea pigs".

But the bioethical issues report said researchers would have to overcome many hurdles before conducting any trial.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius must decide whether to act on the paper's recommendations.

An earlier biodefence commission said in 2011 that a vaccine should be developed for children.

The National Biodefence Science Board said at the time that any such study would need approval from a bioethics panel first.

One anthrax vaccine, BioThrax, is available for sale in the US. Drug-maker Emergent BioSolutions reported $215.9m (£142.8m) in sales of the vaccine in 2012.

Video-game scenario
Panel chairwoman Amy Gutmann said: "We have to get this precisely right," speaking at a news conference on Tuesday.

She added that "many significant steps would have to be taken" before a trial on children would be allowed to proceed.

But Ms Gutmann said the US must "develop the knowledge needed to save children's lives" if an anthrax attack ever occurred.

The chairwoman said striking the right balance of keeping children safe while understanding what a safe dose of the vaccine might be, made this "one of the most difficult ethical reviews a bioethics board has ever conducted".

Some activists said the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues should have rejected the idea of a trial on children altogether.

Vera Sharav, founder of the Alliance for Human Research Protection, said a trial would cause "moral harm" to the nation and suffering for children.

The issue came up in 2011 when a video game called Dark Zephyr portrayed an anthrax attack on a city modelled on San Francisco. It posed the question of whether children should be vaccinated in the event of an attack.

So far, the anthrax vaccine has been given to about 2.9 million adults - mostly members of the armed forces who were thought to be at risk of exposure to biological weapons in Iraq - and studies on animals.

Source: BBC News

Read More

HSBC Faces New Money Laundering Claims in Argentina

Banking giant HSBC, which was hit with a US fine for money laundering last year, is facing fresh accusations of illegal activity in Argentina.

Argentina has alleged that the bank used "fake receipts" to facilitate money laundering and tax evasion, and launder 392m pesos ($77m; £50m).

The country's tax authority said it had filed criminal charges against HSBC.

HSBC said that it would cooperate with the investigation, adding that the allegations were "of great concern".

"We are committed to working cooperatively with authorities to ensure a thorough review and appropriate resolution of the matter," said Lyssette Bravo, a spokeswoman for HSBC.

Last year, HSBC agreed to pay US authorities $1.9bn (£1.2bn) in a settlement over money laundering, the largest paid in such a case.

Argentina laid out its case against HSBC late on Monday.

"On the basis of what's been investigated so far, in six months we've recorded 392 million pesos in fraudulent transactions, generated by evasion and money laundering," said Ricardo Echegaray, head of Argentina's tax agency.

Mr Echegaray added that HSBC also helped clients evade taxes on an additional 224m pesos.

"We hope to recover what is due and see the courts apply an appropriate penalty," he said.

Money laundering is the process of disguising the proceeds of crime so that the money cannot be linked to the wrongdoing.

HSBC, which has previously admitted to having poor money laundering controls, has been taking steps to tighten its operations.

Last year, it said that it had spent $290m on improving its systems to prevent money laundering.

At the same time, it also appointed a former US official, Bob Werner, to work as its head of financial crime compliance, a new position the bank has created.

The bank said that he will be responsible for beefing up its anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance systems.

Mr Werner was previously the head of the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the agency responsible for enforcing the US sanctions on countries, including Iran.

Source: BBC News

Read More

Indian Bill On Tough Rape Laws Passed By Parliament

A bill containing harsher punishments for rapists, including the death penalty, has been passed by India's lower house of parliament.

It comes after the fatal gang rape of a student in Delhi in December sparked demands for tougher laws.

Last month, the government introduced the new rape laws in an ordinance.

After a seven-hour debate on Tuesday, members of the lower house gave their assent to the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill. It now passes to the upper house.

The legislation contains new penalties for stalking, groping, voyeurism and acid attacks.

However, Indian newspapers reported a low turn-out for Tuesday's vote, even though various parties had pledged their commitment to making the provisions in the bill become law.

The lower house, or Lok Sabha, was mostly empty when the vote took place, reports said, with Congress President Sonia Gandhi, her son and party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi - as well as other senior ministers - prominent among the absentees.

One well-known MP - Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav - voted against the bill, arguing that criminalising stalking and voyeurism could result in more false cases being filed against men.

The proposed new law will retain the age of consent for sex at 18 years.

The age of consent had been 16 years for three decades before the government raised it in its ordinance in February.

The government had proposed bringing it down to 16 again, amid fears that a higher age of consent would be "misused" by parents who disapproved of their daughters' consensual relationships with boys.

Some political parties had protested against a return to the lower age limit.

The new laws also prescribe the death penalty - which is carried out very rarely in India - in cases of rape that cause death or leave the victim in a vegetative state.

"[The] time has come to send out a loud, clear and deterrent signal that the society will not tolerate such errant behaviour," Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said, emphasising that the bill was being introduced to plug loopholes in the law.

Under the changes, the minimum sentence for gang rape, rape of a minor, rape by policemen or a person in authority will be doubled to 20 years and can be extended to life without parole.

Under the existing laws, a rapist faces a term of seven to 10 years.

Source: BBC News

Read More

US Investigating Mercedes E-Class Fuel Leaks

 US road safety regulators are investigating fuel leaks on Mercedes-Benz E-class cars after hundreds of complaints from owners of the vehicles.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it would conduct an engineering analysis of the luxury cars after receiving 370 consumer reports on the fuel problems.

"The complainants alleged fuel leaks or a strong odor of gasoline both inside and outside of their vehicle, particularly after refueling," the NHTSA said in a posting on its website Monday.

No accidents, injuries or deaths have been reported in relation to the problem.

The NHTSA did not give the model years of the E-class cars under study.

According to one of the complaints, the consumer noticed a "strong gasoline fuel smell after refueling the vehicle." Taken to a dealership, the vehicle was repaired but the technician noted a fuel leak after the repairs were completed.

Another consumer planned to wait to fix the issue "to see if Mercedes-Benz initiates a recall based on NHTSA recommendations."

Read More

Curiosity Breaks Rock To Reveal Dazzling White Interior

A rock crushed under the Curiosity Mars rover's wheels has dazzled mission scientists in more ways than one.

Mars is supposed to be the Red Planet, but the rock - dubbed "Tintina" - is a brilliant shade of white.

The unusual colour indicates the presence of hydrated minerals that formed when water flowed through the robot's landing site in ancient times.

Water-bearing minerals in Tintina and elsewhere add to the growing catalogue of water evidence at this location.

Rover team members have been presenting mission findings at the 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) in The Woodlands, Texas.

It was also announced that the rover has suffered another computer glitch; Curiosity had already been recovering from a memory problem discovered earlier in the month.

The description of hydrated minerals at Gale Crater follows an announcement last week that Curiosity had found clay minerals in a rock it had drilled. These clays indicate formation in, or substantial alteration by, neutral water.

That is significant for showing that conditions on the Red Planet could have supported life in the distant past, because many rocks studied previously were probably deposited in acidic water.

Speaking here in The Woodlands, near Houston, chief scientist John Grotzinger described Curiosity's landing site as the first truly habitable environment found on Mars.

"What we're really excited about is that this is the first time we've been able to follow through with a whole suite of different measurements that really demonstrate the place we found at Gale Crater was a very viable, habitable environment," he told BBC News.

Prof Grotzinger added that the team "felt really good" about the Martian location.

The one-tonne Nasa rover has been exploring Gale Crater, near the Martian equator, since touching down in August 2012. It drove over Tintina on 17 January, breaking it open to expose the dazzling white interior.

"This is one of the brightest and whitest things we've seen with the Mastcam at the Gale Crater site," said Melissa Rice, from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), in Pasadena.

"This rock, Tintina, has a very strong hydration signal that corresponds to all that white material we see inside the rock. But that hydration signal doesn't show up anywhere else in the image.

"The first time we tried to take the image [of Tintina], it saturated the detector, because we had no idea we'd have something so bright," said Jim Bell, from Arizona State University in Tempe.

Using filters on the rover's Mast camera (Mastcam) and an instrument which shoots neutrons into the ground to probe for hydrogen, researchers have detected more hydrated minerals near the clay-bearing rock than at locations Curiosity visited earlier in its mission.

Melissa Rice explained: "What Mastcam is seeing is water that is bound in the mineral structure of the rocks. This water is left over from a previous wet era and is now trapped and preserved in these hydrated minerals."

The current rover location, a small depression known as "Yellowknife Bay", lies about half a kilometre from the point where Curiosity touched down.

Some of the rocks here are criss-crossed by bright features called "veins.

"With Mastcam, we see elevated hydration signals in the narrow veins that cut many of the rocks in this area," said Dr Rice.

"These bright veins contain hydrated minerals that are different from the clay minerals in the surrounding rock matrix."

She said this hydration signal was consistent with hydrated calcium sulphate and the scientists think that the bright material in Tintina and the material in the veins could be one and the same.

The observations shed further light on the history of water in Yellowknife Bay: "The rocks were emplaced and then they were fractured and then there was a second period of water flowing through the fractures in these rocks, leaving behind these minerals."

Already, Curiosity has seen the remains of an ancient riverbed system at Gale Crater, where water once flowed perhaps a metre deep and quite vigorously.

The picture that seems to be emerging is one where sediments were transported downhill from the eroding crater rim into a network of streams that then flowed into a lake environment represented by the mudstone drilled by Curiosity.

"We really just landed in a terrific place where we are able to see the cross-sections of rocks and link things up pretty well to understand what the ancient environment was like," Prof Grotzinger told BBC News.

"We think it was some type of alluvial fan and we were very near the end of it, perhaps near a body of standing water like a lake or pond."

The conference heard that it was likely this water ultimately came from melting snow, at a time in the past when significant water-ice may have been present at Mars' equator.

On Sunday, the rover suffered another computer problem forcing it to flip into a "safe mode". The software file error is expected to delay the restart of science experiments by a few days.

Studies at the Gale Crater landing site have been on hold since the beginning of March after engineers discovered a problem with Curiosity's computer memory.

Source: BBC News

Read More

Wanted: People Willing To Move To Mars

The man behind the private space project dubbed Mars One is looking for people to travel to Mars, but he's not offering a return ticket.

"The technology to get humans to Mars and keep them alive there exists," Bas Lansdorp told Day 6 host Brent Bambury in an interview that aired this week on CBC Radio.

"The technology to bring humans from Mars back to Earth simply does not exist yet."

Lansdorp said he's looking for people who are utterly dependable, good in groups and "at their best when things are at their worst."

The never-to-return explorers will require eight years of training, and the search starts this year.

The flight is scheduled to leave in Sept. 2022.

Read More

Esa Seeks Help To Control Robot Spacecraft

The European Space Agency is turning to owners of terrestrial robot aircraft to aid those that journey into space.

The agency has released software that makes use of the cameras on the Parrot drone to simulate docking with a virtual space station.

The Parrot drone quadcopter has proved popular with many iPhone owners as it can be controlled via the handset.

Data generated by the agency's app will be analysed to help fine tune navigation software for its own drones.

Users of the European Space Agency's (Esa) app will designate a real-world feature to serve as their docking port.

An augmented-reality marker representing the port or airlock will then be overlaid on the image sent back to their handset by the drone's cameras.

Docking attempts will be scored by how fast the manoeuvre is completed without bumps, scrapes or crashes.

Extra points will be awarded for correctly orientating the drone and a slow final approach.

The Esa said it was not interested in the features drone owners designated as their virtual docking port - it wanted to gather data only about the way humans navigated the robot craft.

In particular it wanted to find out about the tiny corrections people made to keep a drone on course.

"People intuitively assess their position and motion in relation to their surroundings in various ways, based on what they see before them," said Esa research fellow Guido de Croon in a statement.

Data gathered via the app will be used to enable future robot spacecraft to cope with a wide variety of docking situations.

"We can obtain real-life data to train our algorithms in large amounts that would practically be impossible to get in any other way," said Leopold Summerer, head of the Esa lab that developed the app.

Source: BBC News  

Read More

Philippe Verdon: French Mali Hostage Killed By al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda's North African offshoot says it has killed a French businessman captured in Mali in 2011, Mauritania's ANI news agency reports.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) told ANI that it killed Philippe Verdon on 10 March, in retaliation for France's intervention in Mali.

Mr Verdon and another Frenchman were seized in the town of Hombori.

French troops were sent to Mali in January after al-Qaeda-linked militants threatened to march on the capital.

In recent weeks French-led forces have been fighting militants in the remote Ifoghas mountains of northern Mali.

Early on Wednesday the French foreign ministry said it was trying to verify ANI's report.

Philippe Verdon and Serge Lazarevic were said to be on a business trip when they were captured at their hotel in November 2011.

AQIM claimed it was behind the kidnapping and published photos of the pair in captivity.

Besides Mr Verdon, a total of 14 French nationals are being held by Islamist groups in Africa.

Six of them are thought to be detained in Mali. They include four hostages kidnapped by AQIM at a uranium mine in northern Niger in 2010.

France currently has 4,000 troops in Mali, who are assisting thousands of Malian, Chadian and other African troops.

The French government intervened when a coalition of Islamist and separatist rebels, which had seized the north of the country last year, threatened to move on the capital Bamako.

The Islamist groups had taken over major cities, including Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu, and imposed strict Islamic law in the aftermath of a coup in March 2012.

Since the intervention began, this territory has been recaptured but fighting is still continuing in desert mountains.

France plans to withdraw its troops from Mali next month, with West African countries expected to take over in the run-up to elections due in July.

Source: BBC News

Read More

Turkish Capital Ankara Hit By Twin Explosions

Two people have been wounded in explosions at Turkey's justice ministry and the headquarters of the governing AK Party, reports say.

A rocket hit the seventh floor of the AK building, while a bomb was thrown at the ministry, local media say.

Police are said to have made two arrests but no group has said it carried out the attacks.

Kurdish rebels, left-wing groups and Islamist militants have previously bombed targets in Turkey.

The latest blasts follow a police crackdown on a banned Marxist group.

They also come amid reports of a deal between the government and jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Read More

Power At Fukushima Nuclear Fuel Ponds Restored

Power has been restored to all fuel pond cooling systems at the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, operator Tepco says.

A power cut shut down cooling systems for four spent fuel ponds at reactors 1, 3 and 4 on Monday evening, although cooling to the reactors themselves was not affected.

All cooling systems were operational by early Wednesday morning, Tepco said.

Pool temperatures remained within safe levels throughout, it added.

Cooling at the spent fuel ponds at reactors 1, 3 and 4 were all restored by 22:43 local time (14:43 GMT on Tuesday).

The cooling system at the fourth, common, pond was restored at 00:12 on Wednesday, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said.

The cause of the power failure was still being investigated, as Tepco had made restoring power the priority, spokesman Masayuki Ono said, according to Kyodo news agency.

A faulty power switchboard could have caused the power outage, Mr Ono said.

He added that it was the first time so many facilities had been affected by electrical failure at the same time since the plant was brought under control in December 2011.

Restarting cooling to the spent fuel pool at reactor 4 had been of particular urgency for Tepco as it had the highest number of fuel assemblies stored there, Kyodo news agency reported.

The company has been criticised for its delay in announcing the incident, which began at 18:57 on Monday. It took Tepco three hours to announce that the cooling systems had been shut down.

The ponds store spent fuel from the nuclear reactors. They cool the fuel - which generates intense heat - and provide shielding from radiation. The spent fuel remains in the ponds for a year or more.

There was no immediate threat of a radiation release. But if cooling systems had not been restored, it is possible that the water in the ponds could have started to boil.

That could have led to a loss of water and eventually to the exposure of the spent fuel rods to air, releasing radiation.

On 11 March 2011, an earthquake and tsunami crippled the plant. Waves knocked out cooling systems to the reactors, leading to meltdowns at three of them.

Engineers have since stabilised the plant but years of work lie ahead to fully contain the disaster and tackle its effects.

Tens of thousands of evacuees remain unable to return home.

Source: BBC News

Read More

French Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac Resigns

France's Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac has resigned after an investigation was launched into alleged tax fraud.

Mr Cahuzac has denied any wrongdoing following a report by an investigative website that he had an undeclared Swiss bank account until 2010.

He was to be replaced by the Europe Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, said a statement from the president's office.

Mr Cahuzac gained a reputation as a vocal crusader against the use of overseas tax havens.

On Tuesday, prosecutors announced a full investigation into the Swiss bank account that the minister allegedly used to hide assets from the tax authorities.

The website, Mediapart, said it had a recording of a phone conversation between Mr Cahuzac and one of his aides in which the minister allegedly expressed concern about the UBS account which was reportedly used to siphon funds to Singapore.

He has dismissed the reports as "crazy claims" and launched a defamation suit against Mediapart.

"I have never had an account in Switzerland or any other place abroad," said Mr Cahuzac in December.

Read More

Smirking Teenager Jailed for Ohio School Shooting

A US teenager smirked as he was handed three life sentences without chance of parole after admitting killing three students in a high school cafeteria.

Wearing a t-shirt with the word "killer" hand-written on it, TJ Lane, 18, taunted victims of the attack in February last year in Ohio.

Despite evidence he suffered psychosis and hallucinations, he was found competent to be tried as an adult.

Investigators have said the gunman told them he did not know why he did it.

Lane pleaded guilty last month to three counts of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder and one count of felonious assault.

He used a .22-calibre pistol to fire 10 shots at a group of students in Chardon High School's cafeteria, killing 16-year-olds Daniel Parmertor and Demetrius Hewlin, and Russell King, 17. Three others were wounded.

During Tuesday's sentencing, Lane unbuttoned his shirt in court to reveal a white T-shirt with the word "killer" scrawled across the chest.

He also smirked throughout the hearing, including while relatives of his victims spoke, mocking and gesturing obscenely at them.

Dina Parmertor, mother of victim Daniel, said that Lane was "a pathetic excuse for a human being" and wished him "an extremely, slow torturous death".

One of his victims, Nate Mueller, who escaped the shooting with a minor injury, dismissed Lane's courtroom antics as those of "a scared little boy".

At the time of the shooting, Lane was waiting for a bus to a school for children who have not adjusted to traditional school environments.

Lane was not eligible for the death sentence, because he was 17 years old when the shooting occurred. But relatives of the victims pushed for the maximum sentence.

Source: BBC News

Read More

Bulgarian Roma Family Killed in Sofia Shooting

A Bulgarian former army officer shot dead three members of a Roma family who lived next door to him before killing himself, police say.

A fourth member of the family was seriously injured in the attack late on Monday evening.

All the victims were adults aged in their 20s, with six children who were present reportedly unharmed.

The shooting happened in a mainly Roma suburb of the capital, Sofia. The motivation was not immediately clear.

Bulgaria's 700,000-strong Roma minority are often subject to attacks and discrimination.

However, Reuters news agency reported witnesses and police as saying that the 67-year-old assailant had been irritated by the smell of burning tyres coming from his neighbours' courtyard.

Police were deployed to the scene amid fears of revenge attacks.

Read More

India Key Ally DMK Pulls Out of Government

A key regional ally has pulled out of India's ruling coalition over the government's failure to condemn alleged atrocities against Sri Lankan Tamils.

The DMK party's 18 MPs will not support the Congress party-led government. Five MPs who are ministers in the government will also resign from the cabinet.

A senior minister said the government was "stable" and would remain in power.

The DMK is the main opposition party in the southern state of Tamil Nadu which has a large population of Tamils.

DMK chief M Karunanidhi has demanded that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government pass a resolution in parliament condemning alleged atrocities committed by Sri Lankan forces against Tamils during the island's long civil war.

He has also protested against the Indian government's position on a resolution on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka which is before the United Nations Human Rights Council - he wants India to push for stronger language in the resolution, including the use of the word "genocide".

"The issues raised by the DMK haven't been addressed by the Congress, thus this is a government that doesn't benefit the Tamils in any way," Mr Karunanidhi, told a press conference in Chennai (Madras) on Tuesday.

"And even after this, if we continue to extend our support to the government, it is a shame to Tamil Nadu... Thus the DMK has decided, and we are announcing our immediate withdrawal from the central government and the UPA," he said.

"India, despite being the biggest democratic country, hasn't addressed the issues raised by the DMK, and they have chosen to ignore the problems of the Tamils. These are completely anti-democratic acts by them. I totally condemn it," Mr Karunanidhi said.

Immediately after Mr Karunanidhi's press conference, the government said it still had a majority in parliament.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who met Mr Karunanidhi on Monday night to try talk him round, said there was no crisis and the "government is absolutely stable, it will stay in power".

Mr Chidambaram said the government was deciding its position on the UN vote and was consulting its allies on a resolution by parliament.

The government, which needs 271 MPs to stay in power, still has the support of at least 280 MPs. Elections are due next year.

Correspondents say there is no immediate threat to the government, but the DMK pullout will make it more difficult for it to pass legislation - the Congress party is dependent on several regional allies for support in parliament.

The government lost another important ally - the Trinamool Congress party of West Bengal - last September which pulled out over the government's plan to open the retail sector to global supermarket chains and other reforms.

Source:  BBC News

Read More

Syrian Rebels Use Chemical Weapon

Syrian state media say rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad have fired a chemical weapon in the north of the country.

"Terrorists launched a missile containing chemical products into the region of Khan al-Assal in the province of Aleppo, killing 15 people, mainly civilians," Sana news agency said.

The government routinely refers to rebels as "terrorists".

Rebels denied the report, accusing the government of using chemical agents.

"We were hearing reports from early this morning about a regime attack on Khan al-Assal, and we believe they fired a Scud with chemical agents," a senior rebel and spokesman for the Higher Military Council in Aleppo, Qassim Saadeddine, told Reuters news agency.

"Then suddenly we learned that the regime was turning these reports against us. The rebels were not behind this attack."

The Aleppo Media Centre, which is affiliated to the rebels, said there had been cases of "suffocation and poison'' among civilians in Khan al-Assal after a surface-to-surface missile was fired at the area.

But it said this was "most likely" due to use of "poisonous gases" by government forces.

Syria's Information Minister Omran al-Zoabi said that as many as 86 people had been injured in Khan al-Assal, calling the incident a "dangerous escalation" and the "first act" of a newly announced rebel authority.

He also said that Turkey and Qatar, both of which support Syria's uprising, bore "legal, moral and political responsibility" for the attack, state TV reported.

An unnamed Turkish government official denied any links to the reported attack.

"This is a baseless accusation, the Syrian government has accused Turkey in the past as well," the official told Reuters news agency.

Russia, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, condemned the rebels for the alleged use of chemical weapons.

"We are very seriously concerned by the fact that weapons of mass destruction are falling into the hands of the rebels, which further worsens the situation in Syria and elevates the confrontation in the country to a new level," a foreign ministry statement said.

The Syrian government itself has a large stockpile of chemical weapons, and there has been widespread international concern about their security and the possibility that they might be used.

In his first speech after being chosen by the Syrian opposition groups as prime minister of the rebel-held areas, Ghassan Hitto ruled out dialogue with the government.

"We confirm to our people that there is no place for dialogue with the Assad regime," he said in a speech to media and members of the opposition Syrian National Coalition in Istanbul.

Mr Hitto is a Damascus-born IT expert who has lived in the US for many years.

An estimated 70,000 people have been killed and one million have fled Syria since the uprising against President Assad began two years ago.

Source: BBC News

Read More

Gaddafi Cousin Ahmed Gaddafi al-Dam Arrested in Egypt

Egyptian police have arrested a close aide and cousin of the late Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Ahmed Gaddaf al-Dam was Tripoli's special envoy to Cairo for many years and left Libya for Egypt shortly after the 2011 uprising against Col Gaddafi.

Although sought by the Libyan authorities, the charges against him are unknown.

Egyptian security forces surrounded his Cairo home and there was an exchange of fire before he surrendered.

The circumstances surrounding the arrest remain unclear.

Vehicles of the Egyptian security forces had been sent overnight to Mr Gaddaf al-Dam's home in the Zamalek neighbourhood of the Egyptian capital.

Mr Gaddaf al-Dam told foreign media outlets that his guards had clashed with the Egyptian forces as they were unsure of their identity. It is unclear if anyone was injured.

Pictures then showed a smiling Mr Gaddaf al-Dam in a car, waving to the camera as he left the home.

Mr Gaddaf al-Dam played down the arrest, saying he was going voluntarily to Cairo's prosecutor general with his lawyers "to file a complaint".

Mr Gaddaf al-Dam was a high-profile figure under Col Gaddafi, says the BBC's Libya correspondent, Rana Jawad.

After arriving in Egypt in 2011, Mr Gaddaf al-Dam initially claimed he had defected, but took a more neutral stance weeks later, fuelling suspicion in Libya that he was still working for Col Gaddafi - an accusation he has denied in the past.

Libya has asked Egypt to hand over dozens of Libyans affiliated with the Gaddafi regime.

The arrest comes on the second anniversary of the start of the Nato air campaign in Libya that helped rebels in their fight against Col Gaddafi.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who championed the intervention, is in Tripoli for the day, meeting Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan.

Mr Zeidan confirmed Mr Gaddaf al-Dam's arrest and thanked the Egyptian authorities for their "judicial cooperation".

Source: BBC News

Read More

Seven Killed In Blast At Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada

Seven service personnel have died in an explosion at a military ammunition storage facility in the US state of Nevada, says a Marine Corps spokesman.

Monday night's blast occurred during a Marine training exercise at the Hawthorne Army Depot.

At least eight men are in hospital, three in a serious condition and five in a stable condition.

It is not known what caused the blast, but CNN quoted an official as saying that a 60mm shell had exploded.

Those caught in the blast at 22:00 local time (05:00 GMT on Tuesday) were members of the 2nd Marine Division.

Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno said it had received nine patients, one of whom died.

All the patients were men under the age of 30, suffering penetrating trauma, fracture and vascular injuries, said Stacy Kendall, a spokeswoman for the facility.

Marine commander Maj Gen Raymond Fox said in a news release: "We send our prayers and condolences to the families of Marines involved in this tragic incident.

"We remain focused on ensuring that they are supported through this difficult time.

"We mourn their loss, and it is with heavy hearts we remember their courage and sacrifice."

Read More

Cyprus Considers Zero Tax On Smaller Bank Deposits

The Cyprus finance ministry suggests savers holding less than 20,000 euros (£17,000) would be exempt from a bank levy which has caused much alarm.

The plan was changed following outrage that ordinary savers would be forced to pay a levy of 6.75%.

However, President Nicos Anastasiades has said that parliament is still likely to reject the levy.

The controversial tax is a condition for Cyprus to get a 10bn-euro loan from the EU and IMF, to rescue its banks.

The president of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, emphasised on Monday that no other eurozone country would be forced to impose such a levy.

"It won't happen in other countries because the banking sector is not so unbalanced, not overweighed with so many risks," Mr Dijsselbloem told the Dutch parliament on Tuesday.

The new plan would keep the 6.75% levy on deposits over 20,000 euros, with those over 100,000 euros charged at 9.9%.

A crucial vote on the bailout deal in the Cypriot parliament is expected to start at 18:00 (16:00 GMT), but it may be delayed again. Protesters have gathered outside the parliament building ahead of the vote.

Mr Anastasiades has urged all parties to back the bailout, saying Cyprus will be bankrupt if the deal does not go ahead.

The Cyprus central bank chief, Panicos Demetriades, has warned that scrapping the tax on small savers would scupper the plan to raise 5.8bn euros in total from bank deposits. He also predicted account holders could suddenly withdraw 10% or more of the total in Cypriot banks if the levy was imposed.

At the same time, Mr Demetriades said he favoured imposing the levy only on accounts above 100,000.

Late on Monday eurozone finance ministers urged Cyprus to rethink the levy on bank deposits, which had been agreed on Saturday in Brussels. They have warned that Cyprus's two biggest banks will collapse if the deal does not go through in some form.

Fearing a run on accounts, Cyprus has shut its banks until at least Thursday. The local stock exchange also remains closed.

Cyprus' banks were badly exposed to Greece, which has itself been the recipient of two huge bailouts.

Source: BBC News

Read More

Zimbabwe Approves New Constitution

Zimbabwe's new constitution was approved by an overwhelming majority in Saturday's referendum, the electoral commission has said.

The document, which will limit future presidents to two five-year terms, was backed by more than three million votes - nearly 95% of those who voted.

It was supported by the countries' two main political parties who have been in a power-sharing government since 2009.

The constitution's approval paves the way for elections later in the year.

Read More

20 People Killed At Nigerian Bus Station

At least 20 people have been killed in a series of explosions at a bus station in the northern Nigerian city of Kano.

Several buses were destroyed in the attack in the Sabon Gari district - which is home to many Christians from southern Nigeria.

No group has said it was behind the blasts but Islamist militants from the Boko Haram group have attacked Kano in the past.

It is the largest city in the mainly Muslim north of Nigeria.

One eyewitness said that he had seen 20 bodies after Monday's blasts.

Several witnesses told Reuters that one of the buses targeted was full when the explosion happened, and was completely destroyed.

"I ran for my dear life and managed to get out of the park after the second blast," one witness told the news agency. "Many people are lying dead."

In January 2012, about 150 people died in Kano in a series of co-ordinated attacks by Boko Haram.

The group is fighting to overthrow the Nigeria government and create an Islamic state.

It is also believed to have a presence in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Also on Monday, an audio tape emerged claiming to show one of seven French hostages captured by Boko Haram in neighbouring Cameroon last month.

In the tape the group demands the release of its members it says are imprisoned in Nigeria and Cameroon in exchange for the hostages.

Earlier this month, another militant Islamist organisation, Ansaru, claimed to have killed seven foreign hostages seized in the northern Nigerian state of Bauchi in February.

Source: BBC News  

Read More

Baghdad Hit By Deadly Blasts On Invasion Anniversary

At least 48 people have been killed in a series of car and suicide bombings mainly in Shia areas in and around Iraq's capital, Baghdad, officials say.

The co-ordinated attacks targeted markets, restaurants, bus stops and day labourers during the morning rush hour.

Iraq's deadliest day in six months came on the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Violence has decreased in Iraq since the peak of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007, but bombings are still common.

Sunni Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda have vowed to step up attacks on Shia targets and state officials this year in an attempt to provoke sectarian conflict and weaken the Shia-led government.

In a sign of concern over the security situation, the cabinet announced that it was delaying elections scheduled for 20 April in the provinces of Anbar and Nineveh by up to six months.

Police sources said that more than 150 people were also injured in Tuesday's violence, which are reported to have included at least 15 car bombings as well as several roadside bombings and shootings.

Most of the attacks took place in predominantly Shia districts of Baghdad over a period of about two hours during the morning rush hour.

The first occurred at around 08:00 (05:00 GMT), when a bomb exploded outside a restaurant in the eastern district of Mashtal, killing four people and damaging several cars, according to the Associated Press.

Minutes later, two day labourers were killed by a roadside bomb planted where they gather every day hoping to pick up work in New Baghdad, a neighbouring area just to the south.

In the north-eastern district of Sadr City, five people died when a bomb was detonated beside a police patrol, and three commuters were killed by a device stuck to the underside of a minibus in which they were travelling, AP reported.

Another two people were killed by a blast on a commercial street in the area.

"I was driving my taxi and suddenly I felt my car rocked. Smoke was all around. I saw two bodies on the ground," Ali Radi, a taxi driver who was in Sadr City at the time of one of the attacks, told the Reuters news agency.

"People were running and shouting everywhere."

The deadliest of Tuesday's attacks appeared to have taken place near the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in the eastern district of Qahira. Seven people were killed there and another 21 wounded, officials said.

Another six people died and 15 were hurt when a bomb exploded outside a restaurant close to a main entrance to the heavily-fortified Green Zone, which houses government offices and the embassies of several countries. A plume of black smoke was seen over the capital afterwards.

Attacks were also reported in the Shia districts of Husseiniya, Zafaraniya, Shula and Utafiya, as well as the Sunni district of Tarmiya.

A mortar shell landed near a clinic in the town of Taji, north of Baghdad, killing two people, while a suicide bomber targeted a bus stop in Iskandariya, south of the capital, killing five people.

Police also said three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) had been set off and weapons fired in the northern province of Kirkuk.

The attacks came amid heightened security in Baghdad, which saw new checkpoints set up and key roads closed, the AFP news agency reported. Soldiers and police were searching government vehicles which would usually be allowed to pass uninspected, it added.

Tuesday is believed to have been the deadliest day in Iraq since 9 September last year, when 76 people were killed in a wave of attacks, some of which targeted the security forces.

No group has said it was behind Tuesday's violence, but the Islamic State of Iraq, a militant umbrella group that includes al-Qaeda in Iraq, has in recent months stepped up its attempts to revive the insurgency.

Such co-ordinated attacks are not unusual, but it is assumed that the timing may have been chosen to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the invasion, our correspondent adds.

It comes at a time of deep political crisis in the country, with the Prime Minister Nouri Maliki sharply at odds with a wide range of political forces, including the Kurds, most of the Sunni groups, and many factions within his own Shia community.

Source: BBC News

Read More

Dropbox Buys Email App Startup MailBox

Like many of you, when we discovered Mailbox we fell in love—it was simple, delightful, and beautifully engineered. Many have promised to help us with our overflowing inboxes, but the Mailbox team actually delivered.

After spending time with Gentry, Scott, and the team, it became clear that their calling was the same as ours at Dropbox—to solve life’s hidden problems and reimagine the things we do every day. We all quickly realized that together we could save millions of people a lot of pain.

Dropbox doesn’t replace your folders or your hard drive: it makes them better. The same is true with Mailbox. It doesn’t replace your email: it makes it better. Whether it’s your Dropbox or your Mailbox, we want to find ways to simplify your life.

We’re all looking forward to making Mailbox even better and getting it into as many people’s hands as possible. There’s so much to do and we’re excited to get started!

Read More

Paternity Suit Dropped Against Michael Jordan

An Atlanta woman who says basketball legend Michael Jordan is the father of her 16-year-old son has dropped her paternity suit against him.

Pamela Smith, 48, filed a paternity suit against Jordan last month seeking child support. Jordan denies he is the father of the child and has also filed a counterclaim seeking sanctions against Smith for making false claims.

Smith acknowledged in a previous divorce proceeding that her now ex-husband is the father of the child, according to Jordan's lawyers.

The case has not been settled, Smith's attorney, Randy Kessler, told Reuters on Monday. His client has voluntarily dismissed the case "without prejudice" which means she can re-file it later if she chooses, Kessler added.

"She began this case without an attorney and did her best to file what she believed to be a legally appropriate case," Kessler said.

"She then hired our firm just before the first court appearance. Ms. Smith has relied on our advice and determined that dismissal at this time, without prejudice, is in her son's best interests," he said.

In a statement, Estee Portnoy, Michael Jordan's spokeswoman, confirmed that the suit has been dropped and said, "There has been no settlement or money paid to Ms. Smith."

Jordan, 50, is widely hailed as the best basketball player of all time and was a member of six NBA championship teams with the Chicago Bulls. He is majority owner of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats team.

John Mayoue, Jordan's attorney, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on the case.
Last week, Smith asked a Georgia court to force Jordan to submit to a DNA test to prove or disprove whether he is the father.

"My son has the right to know who his father is," Smith told reporters after the hearing. "He has had an issue with it over the years."

Source: Reuters

Read More

Syrian Opposition Names Ghassan Hitto Prime Minister

Syria's opposition National Coalition has chosen a prime minister to head a government for rebel-held regions.

He is Ghassan Hitto, a Damascus-born IT expert who spent decades in the US. He was elected at a meeting of coalition leaders in Istanbul in Turkey.

Mr Hitto's first task will be to form a government to oversee services in areas captured from government forces.

Meanwhile, the US and France denounced a Syrian airstrike on the Lebanese border as a "violation of sovereignty".

Reports from Lebanon say Syrian aircraft fired four rockets at the border between the two countries, near the Lebanese town of Arsal on Monday.

There were no casualties from the raid. Lebanese officials had earlier said it was not clear whether the rockets had landed inside Lebanese territory.

The US described the attack as a "significant escalation" of the conflict. France said the raid constituted "a new and serious violation of Lebanon's sovereignty".

In Monday's vote in Istanbul, Mr Hitto won with 35 out of 48 votes, in what coalition leaders described as a "transparent, democratic" election.

But some senior coalition leaders are reported to have withdrawn from the vote in protest over Mr Hitto's lack of military experience.

Last November, the 50-year-old moved from Texas to Turkey to help co-ordinate aid to rebel-held areas.

Earlier, the commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army said his group would work "under the umbrella" of any new government.

"Any institutions not following this government would be considered to be acting illegitimately and would be prosecuted," Gen Selim Idriss Idriss told AFP news agency.

Large swathes of northern Syria have been seized by rebels in recent months.

They are currently administered by a patchwork of local councils and armed groups who have been running some institutions, such as courts and prisons.

But reports say basic supplies such as electricity and water are limited.

Also on Monday, the US said it would not stand in the way of other countries arming Syrian rebels.

Last week France and the UK said they supported lifting the EU arms embargo on Syria to allow weapons to reach anti-government forces, citing guarantees from rebels that arms would not fall into the wrong hands.

However, other EU countries have expressed scepticism over any such move. The embargo is expected to be discussed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers later this week and a vote is due in May.

US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters on Monday: "The United States does not stand in the way of other countries that made a decision to provide arms, whether it's France, or Britain or others."

But top US military commander Gen Martin Dempsey warned against acting too quickly.

"I don't think at this point I can see a military option that would create an understandable outcome. And until I do, it would be my advice to proceed cautiously," he told the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank.

Last week saw the second anniversary of the Syrian uprising against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, which initially began as a wave of peaceful protests but which is now often described as a civil war.

An estimated 70,000 people have been killed and more than one million people have fled Syria since the uprising began.

Source: BBC News

Read More

Fingernail Display [Watch Video]

Researchers in Taiwan are developing a remote control system that will turn finger-nails into mini-display screens. Using wirelessly-enabled, light emitting diodes, the team says the technology could revolutionise the way we control and use devices such as smart phones and tablets. Ben Gruber reports.

Read More

Police Says UCF Student Had Plotted A Mass killing

A former student at the University of Central Florida had amassed four explosive devices, two guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition before killing himself in the dorm room from which he was soon to be evicted, police said Monday.

UCF Police Chief Richard Beary said writings found in the room indicated that the student, James Seevakumaran, 30, had planned an attack on the campus.

"We think the fast response made him change his mind ... and he took his own life," Beary said. "I think, all things considered, we were very blessed here at the University of Central Florida."

Beary said campus police received a fire alarm call at about 12:20 a.m. Monday. While responding to that call, police received a 911 call from a dorm resident saying Seevakumaran had pointed a gun at him.

Beary said the dorm resident closed his door and hid in his bathroom until police arrived to rescue him. Officers at the scene then found the body of Seevakumaran.

The explosive devices were found inside a bag in the dorm room, Beary said. An assault weapon, another gun and the ammunition also were found.

Beary theorized that Seevakumaran pulled the fire alarm himself to get students out in the open. But Beary credited the quick police response with foiling what could have been a mass killing.

"His timeline got off," Beary said. "We think the rapid response of law enforcement may have changed his ability to think quickly on his feet."

The Orange County bomb squad, police and the FBI removed the devices from Tower 1, a residence hall for about 500 students. Students were evacuated and a parking garage was closed. Both reopened late Monday.

UCF spokesman Grant Heston said Seevakumaran had not enrolled or paid his dorm bill for spring semester, and the school was in the process of evicting him. He said Seevakumaran had never been seen by UCF counseling and had no issues on his record.

Jasmine Derrick, 19, a freshman from Atlanta, said she was studying for a chemistry exam in a lounge across from Tower 1 early Monday when a police officer ordered everyone in the study lounge to evacuate.

"There were police everywhere, students out there half-dressed, no shoes, in the cold," Derrick said. A few hours later, by searching social media and watching the UCF website, she learned the details of what happened.

"Its' terrifying, it's sad," Derrick said. "This is devastating for a parent, to have to bury child."

Simone Hawkins, 19, a freshman psychology major from Chicago, was unable to return to her dorm room after studying early Monday morning because Tower II was in lockdown. She said it took two hours before the school's alert system began providing information to students.

"I feel like they they should have given us more information sooner," she said. "The only way people found out anything was through social media, which can't always be trusted. I just feel it could have been handled a lot differently."

Source: USA Today

Read More

New Israeli Government Sworn In

Israel's new coalition government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, has been sworn in after nearly two months of negotiations between political parties.

Mr Netanyahu will return as prime minister, heading a coalition that includes parties that support Jewish settlements on Palestinian land.

Settlement supporters have secured the defence and housing ministries.

But ultra-Orthodox Jewish factions have been excluded from government for the first time in a decade.

The swearing in began after Israel's parliament voted to approve the new government, after national elections in January gave no party a clear majority.

Speaking to parliament Mr Netanyahu repeated a pledge to make "a historic compromise" in order to make peace with the Palestinians.

"With a Palestinian partner who is willing to conduct negotiations in good faith, Israel will be prepared for a historic compromise that will end the conflict with the Palestinians forever," he said.

Pro-settlement ministers
The coalition includes Mr Netanyahu's Likud-Beitnu bloc, the centrist Yesh Atid party and the right-wing Jewish Home party.

The new line-up includes a strong showing of pro-settlement ministers.

Both the defence and housing ministries, which must approve construction in the occupied territories, have gone to pro-settlement activists.

The new defence minister, Moshe Yaalon, a member of Netanyahu's Likud party, opposes any curbs on settlement-building.

The new housing minister, Uri Ariel, is a Jewish settler and member of Jewish Home.

He said on Sunday the new cabinet would continue to expand settlements "more or less as it has done previously".

This could hamper any efforts to revive peace talks with the Palestinians, which have failed to progress through Mr Netanyahu's last four-year term.

The Palestinians are demanding a cessation of settlement construction as a precondition to return to negotiations.

Palestinians say that the settlements, illegal under international law, will deny them a viable state.

The settlement issue is expected to be high on the agenda when US President Barack Obama visits Israel in two days' time, along with Israeli concerns at Iran's continued nuclear programme.

Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful while Israel and the West accuse it of trying to make nuclear weapons.

Source: BBC News

Read More

Strike Over Bolivia Airport Named After Evo Morales

A general strike is under way in the Bolivian region of Oruro against plans to rename its airport Evo Morales, in a tribute to the current president.

The local assembly, dominated by Mr Morales' supporters, approved the move in February, after the airport gained international status.

But many residents have demanded that it remain named after aviation pioneer and local hero Juan Mendoza.

President Morales said he had never requested the name change.

"I'll never suggest that any building or project be named Evo Morales. I don't know what their goal was, perhaps a political issue, but let them decide between themselves and don't involve me," he told Bolivian media.

The country's largest trade union, students and businesses are taking part in the protests for an indefinite period, which partially paralysed the city and blocked some of the main roads in the region.

Mr Morales' supporters from indigenous associations and activist groups have denounced the protests.

On the state radio, they accused the opposition of defending "the colonial state, prejudiced, pro employers, feudal mining," against the majority.

The row began on 7 February, when the local assembly of Oruro approved a motion to change the name of airport Juan Mendoza to Evo Morales.

In the past weeks, protesters organised three other strikes. Some, including Oruro Mayor Rossio Pimentel, said they were on hunger strike.

Mr Morales was elected in 2005 and is the first indigenous Bolivian president.

His left-wing policies have proved controversial with some middle-class Bolivians, although he remains popular among the indigenous majority.

Source: BBC News

Read More