China's Shenzhou-9 spacecraft returns to Earth

A Chinese space capsule carrying three crew members has returned to Earth following a 13-day mission.

                
Images of the capsule landing in Inner Mongolia at 10:05 local time (02:05 GMT) were shown live on television.
The astronauts, including China's first woman in space, carried out a successful manual docking with the Tiangong-1 laboratory module.
The mission is a key step towards China's goal of building a space station by 2020.
Premier Wen Jiabao hailed the mission as a "complete success".

  

"This is another outstanding contribution by the Chinese people to humanity's efforts to explore and use space," Mr Wen said in Beijing.

"It feels so good to stand on Earth, and it feels even better to be home," astronaut Liu Wang was quoted by national broadcaster CCTV as saying.
"Tiangong-1, our home in space, was comfortable and pleasant. We're very proud of our nation," female astronaut Liu Yang said.

'Manual docking''
                 The crew of the Shenzhou-9 craft successfully carried out the country's manual docking manoeuvre earlier in the week.
The delicate procedure, which involved bringing together two orbiting vessels travelling at thousands of miles an hour, was mastered by the USSR and US space teams in the 1960s.
The crew also carried out automatic docking of the two crafts during their mission.
The three astronauts returned to the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft on Thursday and performed a manual separation from the space laboratory.

They touched down in Inner Mongolia's Siziwang county, with the capsule deploying a parachute to slow its approach.

All the astronauts were in good health, state-run news agency Xinhua reported. They were shown on CCTV leaving the capsule carried on chairs, smiling as they waved to supporters.
The crew included Jing Haipeng, 45, the mission commander and a veteran astronaut, Liu Yang, 33, and Liu Wang, 43, who performed the manual docking.
Ms Liu, 33, is a major in China's air force from the central province of Henan. On China's Tencent QQ messaging service, she goes by the name "little Flying Knight".
She was recruited into China's space programme only two years ago, but she excelled, the official news agency Xinhua says.

Read More

Timbuktu shrines damaged by Mali Ansar Dine Islamists

Timbuktu, sometimes called the city of 333 saints, is famous for its distinctive architecture

 

Islamist fighters in Mali have damaged the shrines of Muslim saints in the city of Timbuktu, witnesses say.

The fighters, from the Ansar Dine group, which controls much of northern Mali, attacked the mausoleum of Sidi Mahmoud, one of 16 shrines in the city.
Last week, the UN cultural organisation Unesco put Timbuktu on its list of endangered world heritage sites, fearing damage following the coup which toppled the Malian government in March.
Islamists regard shrines as idolatrous.
However, some Muslims, especially Sufis, regard them as an accepted part of Muslim worship.
'Architectural wonders' Witnesses said Islamist fighters began attacking the shrines on Saturday morning, using shovels and pickaxes.
"This is tragic news for us all," Unesco chairperson Alissandra Cummins said in a statement to the AFP news agency. "I appeal to all those engaged in the conflict in Timbuktu to exercise their responsibility."

Ansar Dine spokesman Sanda Ould Boumama told the AFP news agency the shrines would be destroyed, "all of them, without exception".

He went on: "God is unique. All of this is haram (forbidden in Islam). We are all Muslims. Unesco is what?"
"They have already completely destroyed the mausoleum of Sidi Mahmoud (Ben Amar) and two others," Malian journalist Yeya Tandina told the Reuters news agency.
In addition to the shrines, Timbuktu is home to some 700,000 ancient manuscripts held in about 60 private libraries.
On Thursday, Unesco said the city's capture by armed Islamists could endanger its "outstanding architectural wonders".
"It looks as if it is a direct reaction to the Unesco decision," Timbuktu official Sandy Haidara told Reuters.
Timbuktu, an ancient trading city on the edge of the Sahara Desert, is known for its distinctive architectural structures, constructed mainly from mud and wood.
The shrine of Sidi Mahmoud was also attacked in April and set on fire by armed men from Ansar Dine.
Ansar Dine, which has ties to al-Qaeda, seized northern Mali in March, in tandem with ethnic Tuareg rebels.
However, the alliance between the two groups has frayed and the Islamists now say they control the territory after driving out their former allies.
Islamist forces recently seized the town of Gao from the Tuaregs. The 17th Century tomb of Emperor Mohammed Askia, which is in Gao, has also been placed on the Unesco danger list.

Read More

Ministers to order Libor bank rate review

David Cameron said he would not be pushed into making a snap decision about whether to order a full inquiry into the banking industry

An independent review of the workings of the Libor inter-bank lending rate has been announced by the government in the wake of the Barclays fine.

Barclays was fined £290m ($450m) for attempting to manipulate the Libor, and other banks are being investigated.
Barclays boss Bob Diamond has been summoned to appear before the Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday.
Labour leader Ed Miliband has called for a public inquiry into the customs and practices of the banking industry.
Earlier this week, the Financial Services Authority and US Department of Justice fined Barclays, and investigations are under way into HSBC, RBS, Citigroup and UBS.
The independent review, which will examine the future operation of Libor - the daily rate set by the British Bankers' Association (BBA) - will be established next week and report by the end of summer.
It will ensure amendments can be made to the Financial Services Bill which is currently going through Parliament. It will also examine whether to target institutions or individuals and whether to launch criminal prosecutions rather than impose fines.
Andrew Tyrie, the select committee chairman, said Mr Diamond's hearing would focus on the Libor scandal, which he described as "the most damaging I can recall".
"The public's trust in banks has been even further eroded. Restoring the reputational damage must begin immediately," Mr Tyrie added.
Barclays' chairman, Marcus Agius, will appear on Thursday.
'Corrupt elite' Continue reading the main story

Read More

Washington DC region swelters after storm cuts power

The storms formed in the Midwest and then moved east to the mid-Atlantic states

 

Some two million people are without power after violent storms hit the region around the US capital, Washington DC.

The storms swept from the Midwest states to the region around Washington, packing winds of up to 80mph (130 km/h).
The power outages left many sweltering without air conditioning amid a record-breaking heatwave.
At least five deaths have been linked to the storm.
The storm is locally referred to as a "derecho" - a violent, straight-lined windstorm associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms.
It left behind felled trees, streets littered with fallen branches and downed power lines.
Washington's transit authority said most metro lines were back to normal service after the storm disrupted service on all lines during Friday night. But many Metrobus routes were subject to detours or delay due to downed trees and power lines.
Amtrak suspended services from Washington to Philadelphia until at least mid-morning on Saturday, Associated Press reported.
Meanwhile, a heatwave which has seen all-time records smashed with temperatures of 104F (40C) in DC, was set to continue, said the National Weather Service - and it warned that another round of severe weather should be expected.

The storms capped a day of sweltering temperatures 'Quarter-size hail'

The storms started in the Midwest and moved quickly eastward, hitting the mid-Atlantic states on Friday evening.
As well as gusty winds, users of the social network site Twitter reported spectacular, sustained displays of lightning. There were also reports of hail the size of a US quarter coin - just under an inch (2.4mm).
The storms left more than two million people without power, reported Associated Press, which said that a state of emergency had been declared in West Virginia where more than 500,000 were hit by power cuts.
Power companies said they were working hard to restore power to customers, but Pepco and Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) were among those warning that it could be days before all services were reconnected.
Meanwhile, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission imposed mandatory water restrictions for all customers in Montgomery and Prince George counties because the storms cut power to two water filtration plants and other facilities.
It asked customers to stop all outside water use and restrict water use at home.
Weather warning At least five deaths have been attributed to the storms.
In Springfield, Virginia, a 90-year-old woman died when a tree fell on her home, AP quoted police as saying. Also in Springfield, a 27-year-old man died when a tree fell on his car.
And a 25-year-old man died in Anne Arundel county, Maryland, when a tree hit his car, reported the Baltimore Sun news site.
The US National Weather Service warned people in the region to alert to the latest weather warnings on Saturday.
"Another round of severe weather will develop across the Ohio Valley and track into the northern Mid-Atlantic states, where damaging winds will be the primary threat," it said on its website.
"At this time, it appears the greatest risk will stretch from southern Ohio into Maryland and northern Virginia."

Read More

Top of the drops: Rain makes umbrella play music

The hackers had to use a watering can to tune the music-playing umbrella

 

Gene Kelly is not the only one singing in the rain - German hardware hackers have come up with an umbrella that makes music when it is wet.

Berlin-based Alice Zappe and Julia Lager fitted 12 touch-sensitive sensors to the inner canopy of a brolly.
The sensors were connected to a simple circuit board that spotted when each sensor was struck by a raindrop.
It plays a different beep for each sensor to generate a random 8-bit tune in response to the falling rain.
The gadget was put together in a day for a 24-hour hardware hacking event in Amsterdam so had to be relatively simple, said Ms Zappe.
She said the idea for the umbrella came out of a visit to a design exhibition the day before that left the pair wondering how everyday objects could be connected by music.
Many of their ideas, such as a making a web app that recommended food based on the bands someone likes, proved too complicated, so the pair plumped for the musical umbrella.

The first version made extensive use of duct tape to hold the components together

 

The first version of the umbrella has the sensors and wires fixed to the canopy cloth using duct tape.
The sensors are made of a piezoelectric material that generates a tiny charge when it is stressed or distorted.
The charges generated when the piezoelectric sensors were hit by raindrops were picked up by an Arduino microcontroller. This has a simple silicon chip on a circuit board studded with many different connectors that can take in data, analyse it and then produce a response via one of its many outputs.
Arduino microcontrollers are popular with many hobbyist hardware hackers because they make it easy to get different components working together.
One tricky part of the project, said Ms Zappe, was tuning the microcontroller so it generated enough beeps to make a pleasant tune. Too sensitive and listeners would get a frenetic cacophony in the lightest shower. Not sensitive enough and the music would be too plodding and sporadic to be interesting.

Testing the sensitivity of the sensors was tricky, said Ms Zappe, because no rain fell on the day it was being built. A bit of messy experimentation in a kitchen did not really help, she said, so the pair had to go on a foraging trip for a watering can.

"We went out to the city on a quest that cost us hours of precious hackathon time," she told the BBC. "It was ridiculous."
The delay meant there was no time to work on connecting the Arduino to an Android phone because writing software to do that task would have taken too long. As a result, said Ms Zappe, they were forced to fall back on the built-in 8-bit tone generator on the Arduino microcontroller as a musical source.
"We wanted to present something simple that actually works rather than something complicated we wouldn't be able to finish in the given time," she said.
"In the end we were quite satisfied with our prototype although we have to admit it does get a bit annoying after some time," said Ms Zappe.
The pair are now working on an improved version of the umbrella. This will have wires and sensors sewn on to the canopy and be able to play more pleasant sounds.
"It will also allow you to choose from a few different sounds like piano, guitar, drums and bells - and of course 8-bit," she said.

Read More

Flaming Lips set Guinness World Record for live shows

Frontman Wayne Coyne called the record 'an absurd joy'

US rockers The Flaming Lips have set a Guinness World Record for the most live shows in different cities in 24 hours.

The band performed eight times across the Mississippi Delta, as part of MTV's O Music Awards.
Beginning in Memphis, Tennessee, they finished up at the House of Blues in New Orleans, Louisiana, with 20 minutes to spare before the deadline.
The previous record was held by Jay-Z, who played seven shows from Atlanta to Los Angeles in 2006.
The band were joined by various acts during their mini-tour including Jackson Browne, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Neon Trees and Jackass stuntman Chris Pontius.
Speaking on stage after official confirmation of the new world record, frontman Wayne Coyne said: "At five o'clock this morning you thought you were going to crawl in, barely be able to sing and hope you can just survive it.
"But as the day went, everywhere we would go they'd give us energy - now I feel I could go another 24 hours."
However the singer said he was not sure if he would attempt to break the record again if his feat was beaten in the future.
"All those venues we played - when we knew we had to leave after just 15 or 20 minutes - I honestly wish we could have stayed at those and kept playing."
In a statement released later, Coyne added: "To be published alongside the man who ate 22lbs (10kgs) of his own boogers, beside the woman with the longest toenails or perhaps even to be published beside an individual who has had maybe 1,000 cockroaches stuffed into their ears... that, to me, would be one of life's absurd joys."

Read More

Stolen Dali drawing posted back to New York from Europe

Cartel des Don Juan Tenorio was painted in 1949

 

A Salvador Dali drawing that was stolen last week from a New York gallery has been returned - from Europe, by post.

Security footage showed a man take the 11in by 14in (28cm by 35cm) drawing off the wall at a new gallery and place it in a shopping bag.
The Venus Over Manhattan gallery said it received an email days ago saying that Cartel de Don Juan Tenirio was "on its way back to you already".
The drawing was sent from Europe with a bogus address by express mail.
It was in pristine condition, and postal inspectors intercepted it when it arrived at John F Kennedy Airport on Friday before it could be sent out for delivery.
The gallery will now authenticate the $150,000 (£96,027) drawing.

Read More

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes to divorce

It will be Tom Cruise's third divorce

Hollywood A-listers Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are divorcing, bringing an end to a five-year marriage.

The office of celebrity divorce lawyer Jonathan Wolfe confirmed the divorce. "This is a personal and private matter," he said in a statement.
They have a six-year-old daughter, Suri, and Cruise, 49, has two children from his marriage to Nicole Kidman.
Cruise married Holmes, 33, his third wife, in an Italian castle in November 2006.
A spokesman for Cruise told the BBC: "Kate has filed for divorce and Tom is deeply saddened and is concentrating on his three children. Please allow them their privacy."
TMZ News has reported that Holmes filed divorce papers in New York on Thursday, citing irreconcilable differences, and that she is seeking sole custody of their daughter.
Scientology wedding
The divorce brings to an end a relationship that began with very public declarations of affection.

What we can expect next is a lot of wild speculation, especially over Holmes' request for sole custody of their daughter - people may wonder if Cruise's belief in Scientology was a factor in her decision.

Holmes once admitted she had a childhood crush on the Hollywood celebrity, while Cruise famously jumped on a sofa on the Oprah Winfrey Show as he declared his love for Holmes.

"I can't be cool. I can't be laid-back. Something happened and I want to celebrate it," Cruise said in his appearance on the show.
Cruise proposed to Holmes at the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the couple were married by a Church of Scientology minister.
The couple, who have not been seen together since February, are estimated to be worth about $275m (£175m) combined.
Tom Cruise is among Hollywood's highest-paid actors and has starred in blockbusters such as Top Gun, Jerry Maguire and the Mission Impossible series.
Earlier this week he was reported to be in Iceland shooting an upcoming film called Oblivion. He also starred in the recently released Rock Of Ages.
Katie Holmes rose to fame as a leading actress on US television drama Dawson's Creek. She has also appeared in Batman Begins and Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark.

Read More

Apple patent case: Samsung Galaxy Nexus banned in US

Samsung's Galaxy Nexus launched in the US in April

 

A judge in California has blocked US sales of Samsung's Galaxy Nexus smartphones while the court decides on the firm's patent dispute with Apple.

US District Judge Lucy Koh said Apple "has shown a likelihood of establishing both infringement and validity".
Earlier this week, she barred sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the US until the case was resolved.
However, she said that Apple would have to post bonds of nearly $100m (£64m) to enforce the rare pre-trial injunctions.
The bonds serve to secure payment of damages sustained by Samsung should it win the cases.
Samsung, the South Korean electronics giant, said it was "disappointed" by Friday's decision.
"We will take all available measures, including legal action, to ensure the Galaxy Nexus remains available to consumers," it said in a statement.
California-based Apple and Samsung are involved in a variety of legal cases in various countries across the globe amid claims and counter claims of patent infringement.
While Apple had accused Samsung of "blatant copying" of its design and look, the South Korean firm has alleged that Apple infringed its patents relating to the way phones and tablet PCs connect to the internet.
Apple and Samsung are two of the biggest manufacturers of tablet PCs and smartphones in the world.
Sales of the iPad more than doubled to 15.43m for the three months to 31 December 2011.
And in the first quarter of 2012 it sold 13.6m, giving it about 63% of the global tablet market, according to research firm Display Search.
Samsung sold 1.6m tablets over the same period, giving it a 7.5% share.
The success of Apple's iPhone and iPad has seen the firm recently become the world's most valuable company.
Meanwhile, Samsung has enjoyed considerable success in the sectors with its Galaxy range of products.
The demand for tablet PCs and smartphones is likely to grow even further in the near term.
Analysts said that given the growth potential, the two firms were using every possible tactic to ensure that they capture a bigger share of the market.

Read More

Brotherhood's Mursi sworn in as Egyptian president

Supporters cheered President Mursi as his car passed through Cairo

  Mohammed Mursi has been sworn in as Egypt's first civilian, democratically elected president at a historic ceremony in Cairo.

Hours after the ceremony, he was saluted by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, leader of the military council which is handing over power.
Mr Mursi has promised to restore the parliament dissolved by the military.
In a speech at Cairo University, the Muslim Brotherhood politician said the army must respect the people's will.
He will have to sort out a very difficult relationship with an entrenched military, regional analyst Magdi Abdelhadi says.
The regime of former President Hosni Mubarak is still largely intact and many in it will not work with the new president, he adds.
Overthrown in February last year after mass pro-democracy demonstrations, Mubarak was sentenced to life imprisonment at the beginning of this month for failing to prevent the killing of protesters by the security forces.
Egypt, the biggest Arab nation, is a key US ally in the region, as well as one of the few states in the Arab world to maintain diplomatic relations with Israel.
'Full freedom'

Mohammed Mursi took the oath before the Supreme Constitutional Court

Parliament was dissolved by Field Marshal Tantawi's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf), which assumed legislative powers under a controversial "interim constitutional declaration".
The Scaf is due to hand over power to Mr Mursi later on Saturday.
"The army now returns to his original role, protecting the nation and its borders," Mr Mursi said.
Parliament, the new president insisted, had been elected in a free and fair ballot and had been entrusted with drafting a new, democratic constitution.
He hailed those killed in the uprising against President Mubarak. Families of some of the dead were in the hall and they held up photos of their sons and daughters.

In the ceremony before the court, Mr Mursi said the Egyptian people had "laid the foundations for a new life, for full freedom, a genuine democracy, for putting the meaning and significance of the constitution and stability above everything else".

His government would be based on the democratic pillars of "the constitutional court, the Egyptian judiciary, and the executive and legislative powers".
The oath of office had originally been scheduled to take place at the parliament, which is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood-backed Freedom and Justice Party and other Islamists.
Mr Mursi said he was determined that the constitutional court, which had declared November's parliamentary election to be flawed, would remain "independent, strong, effective - away from any suspicion and abuse".
Unlike during the Mubarak days, Cairo traffic was not stopped for Saturday's ceremony - underlining Mr Mursi's wish to be seen as one of the people, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in the city.
Salute Field Marshal Tantawi gave the new president a military salute when he arrived from Cairo University at the Hykestep military area on the outskirts of Cairo.
Mr Mursi is expected to attend a military parade as part of the hand-over of power.

In a statement obtained by Reuters news agency, the Scaf stressed it would keep its promise to hand over power to the new president on Saturday.

"Today is the day to fulfil the pledge, the day that our great army and its national leadership proves that it is the guardian after God," it said.
Maj Gen Mohamed al-Assar, a Scaf member, told Egyptian media earlier that Field Marshal Tantawi would remain as defence minister under Mr Mursi.
When the Scaf leader arrived at Cairo University earlier for Mr Mursi's speech, hostile students standing outside chanted "The people want to execute the field marshal", according to Egyptian news website Al-Misri al-Yawm.
On Friday, Mr Mursi performed prayers at Cairo's al-Azhar mosque, one of the most prominent seats of learning in Sunni Islam.
He has sought to allay fears among some secular and Coptic Christian Egyptians that he will use his presidency to impose Islamic law.
Mr Mursi's campaign has said he plans to appoint a woman and a Coptic Christian as his vice-presidents.
In his speech at Cairo University, he said all Egyptians would be equal before the law.

Read More