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Monday, June 6, 2016

Eddie Izzard Joins Calls To Reject Brexit

Eddie Izzard has joined calls for people to vote for staying in the European Union in this month's referendum as he attended an awards ceremony.
The comedian revealed he is worried about what will happen if Britain backs Brexit as he spoke at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards at The Savoy Theatre in London.
Wearing Union Jack and EU flag badges, he told Sky News: "I've had a lot of opportunities of being in the European Union, us being in the European Union. I want all young people to have it.
"The cheap flights to Europe, there are going to be less of those and they are going to go up in price. The roaming charges go down to zero next year - they'll go up.
"The free health care all across 28 countries - that will disappear, quite apart from having to get a visa from European countries if you want to go there, or work permits...
"There are no economic experts from the world who say it's a good idea."
Izzard, who won an outstanding achievement award at the event as he undertakes a tour of 31 cities to encourage people to vote Remain, urged young voters to register before the deadline on Tuesday, saying it really affects them.
Lord Bragg, who hosted the arts awards ceremony, said he felt the same way.
He said: "I want to stay in Europe. Anyone who has reckoned what two world wars mean thinks Europe should stick together and then we don't have another."
Musical theatre veteran Elaine Paige, however, said she looked like she was going to vote to leave the EU.
She said: "I'm of the feeling to leave, but I'm probably a minority in the arts when I say that.
"I think the reason is exactly what Brexit are saying, which is we need to take back control of our economy and democracy."
The awards goers had attended to see winners in a variety of categories pick up awards celebrating a broad range of arts.
Fans of the artist Banksy were disappointed he missed out on the visual arts award to Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, who won for Verses After Dusk.
It had been rumoured that if he had picked up the award for his mock theme park Dismaland, the notoriously elusive artist may have finally been unmasked.
Other winners included:
:: Classical music  - Mark Simpson, The Immortal
:: Literature - Sunjeev Sahota, The Year Of The Runaways
:: Theatre - Hangmen, Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court Theatre
:: Pop - Benjamin Clementine, At Least For Now
:: Comedy - Catastrophe, Channel 4
:: TV drama - Doctor Foster, BBC One
:: Opera - The Force Of Destiny, English National Opera
:: Film - 45 Years
:: Dance - 1984, Northern Ballet
:: The Times Break

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Zuckerberg's social media accounts targeted by hackers

world's biggest social networking site, but not even Mark Zuckerberg is immune to being hacked.
The Facebook founder's accounts on sites including Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest appear to have been briefly compromised on Sunday.
A hacker group called Ourmine, which has more than 40,000 Twitter followers, claimed responsibility.
The group bragged about the alleged hacks in a tweet and invited Mr Zuckerberg to contact them.
"Hey @finkd we got access to your Twitter & Instagram & Pinterest, we are just testing your security, please dm us."
Engadget posted a screengrab of the alleged hack of the Facebook chief executive's Twitter account:
The Twitter account has since had the offending tweets deleted. Mr Zuckerberg has not sent a tweet from the account since 2012.
Developer Ben Hall tweeted a screenshot of Mr Zuckerberg's "hacked" Pinterest page:
Some reports suggested that the 2012 hack of LinkedIn may have been responsible for the breach.
Last month it was reported that 117 million LinkedIn username and password combinations stolen four years ago were being sold on the dark web for 5 bitcoins - worth about $2,300 (£1,595).
The passwords were encoded, but in a form that appears to have been relatively easy to unravel.
It has not been possible to verify whether Mr Zuckerberg's account on Instagram- also owned by Facebook - was hacked. 
The account, on which he has posted just 30 images, has more than 600,000 followers.

Three Killed In Belgium Passenger Train Crash


A passenger train has collided with a freight train in eastern Belgium, killing three people and injuring nine others.
Belgian officials said the train slammed into the back of the goods train, as it was travelling at high speed on the same track.
The Belga news agency reported that several passengers had to be extracted from the wreckage following the "very violent" collision, which derailed two of the passenger train's six carriages.
Nine passengers were injured, with some described as being in a critical condition.
Belgium train crash
A further 27 people were being cared for. The number of injured was originally said to be 40 - roughly the total number on board.
Emergency services and reinforcements remain at the site of the crash, where a crisis centre has also been set up.
The train was travelling from the west to the east of Belgium on the Namur-Liege line when the accident occurred in the municipality of Saint-Georges-sur-Meuse at 9pm (11pm local time).
Belgium train crash
Local mayor Francis Dejon said: "The passenger train is really in a bad way, it's stunning.
"The front carriage is scrunched back up on itself. We were very lucky not to have more victims," he told the Belgian news agency Belga.
"Two of the six carriages derailed and are lying on the tracks," Infrabel and the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB) said in a joint statement.
BELGIUM-CRASH-TRAIN
A person who had been on board described the scene as "chaos" to the local daily newspaper L'Avenir, saying that the front two carriages had been destroyed.
The circumstances of the accident were not immediately clear, with questions remaining over whether the passenger train was able to brake before the crash.
"The priority is to care for the victims," Infrabel and SNCB said, but added that information was already being analysed to determine how the crash took place.
In February 2010, 18 people were killed and 95 injured when two trains collided in a Brussels suburb in one of Europe's deadliest railway accidents of the past decade.
More recently, one person was killed and nearly 50 injured when a train carrying highly toxic chemicals derailed and exploded near the city of Ghent in May 2013.

Turkey's Erdogan says childless women are 'incomplete'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Turkish women to have at least three children, saying a woman's life is "incomplete" if she fails to have offspring.

Erdogan's comments were the latest in a series of controversial remarks aimed at encouraging women to help boost Turkey's population, which has already risen exponentially in the last years.

The president emphasised he was a strong supporter of women having careers, but said that this should not be an "obstacle" to having children.

"Rejecting motherhood means giving up on humanity," Erdogan said in a speech marking the opening of the new building of Turkey's Women's and Democracy Association (KADEM).

"I would recommend having at least three children," added the president.

"The fact that a woman is attached to her professional life should not prevent her from being a mother," he added, saying that Turkey had taken "important steps" to support working mothers.

Stance against contraception

Erdogan had on Monday said that family planning and contraception were not for Muslim families, prompting fury among activists.

In his speech on Sunday he went on to add: "A woman who says 'because I am working I will not be a mother' is actually denying her feminity."

"A women who rejects motherhood, who refrains from being around the house, however successful her working life is, is deficient, is incomplete," he added.

According to the statistics office, Turkey's population rose to 78.7 million last year, a growth rate of around 1.3 percent. The population in 2000 was less than 68 million.

However, Erdogan indicated he wanted more, saying Turkey is a country "with great goals" and to achieve them "every member of the nation should be mobilised".

"Strong families lead to strong nations," he said.

Erdogan has two daughters and two sons with his wife Emine.

His younger daughter Sumeyye, who last month married defence industrialist Selcuk Bayraktar in a high-profile wedding, is the deputy chairman of KADEM.

Erdogan has repeatedly annoyed feminists and women's activists with his comments on sex and family planning, once describing birth control as "treason".

'Gang Fight' Leaves Streets Like 'War Zone'

Three men have been taken to hospital after a fight in a Glasgow street which saw several vehicles torched.
Eyewitnesses described the scene of the fight as being like a "war zone", with the streets gridlocked by emergency service vehicles.
A towering fire was reported at the scene and one boy was seen "covered in blood" on Frankfield Road, off Cardowan Road, on Sunday afternoon.
Police Scotland said all three men taken to hospital are in a stable condition.
A police spokesman added that he thought the disorder was "likely to be rival gangs fighting".
Local resident Frank Kerr, 59, said: "I saw a boy sitting in a paramedic's van. He was covered in blood, but I didn't see what happened to him.
"It's very rare for this neck of the woods. There was a fire at the end of the street, and I heard tyres blowing up.
A police officer carries evidence bags as police investigate what happened
"There were police, fire brigade, ambulances, tow trucks, you name it, everything was here."
He added: "I didn't hear any gunshots, just tyres blowing up with the heat."
Another eyewitness, who did not wish to be named, said he saw two vans on fire with flames "as high as a house".
"I was washing my car and I saw high flames and smoke, then the fire brigade came," he said.
Police Scotland said inquiries are ongoing, adding it could not comment on the nature or the cause of the victims' injuries.
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said: "We got called out to a van on fire. The incident has been handed over to the police."

Muhammad Ali's Body Arrives Back In Hometown


Muhammad Ali's body has arrived in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, where he will be laid to rest on Friday.
The boxing legend's coffin was flown to an airport in the city before being carried into a hearse and driven away.
His family have said a public memorial will be held at a sports arena in the city next week, with thousands of mourners expected to attend.
Louisville mayor Greg Fischer told Sky News he expects an "outpouring of love" for the three-time world heavyweight champion, who died on Friday aged 74.
Muhammad Ali's Body Arrives Back In Hometown
"When a global icon is from your own home city, everybody has got a story, everybody has been touched by him - one way or multiple ways," he said.
"Our city, Louisville, is going to be sending him off with great class, dignity and respect. 
"We hope the world will be inspired to live up to the values of Ali, which were compassion and unity and bringing people together, lifting people up."
Former President Bill Clinton and comedian Billy Crystal are among those delivering eulogies at the ceremony, which will be led by an imam in line with Muslim tradition.
Representatives of other faiths will also attend, and family spokesman Bob Gunnell said: "The celebration will reflect his devotion to people of all races, religions and backgrounds."
A private service will be held a day before the public memorial, which will be streamed online.
Flowers, cards and signs have been placed outside his childhood home in the city, and flags have been flying at half-mast.
Tributes have been paid to Ali from countless figures in sport, showbiz and politics, with President Barack Obama saying the boxing icon "fought for what was right" both inside and outside the ring.
According to Mr Gunnell, Ali's official cause of death was septic shock "due to unspecified natural causes".
Earlier in the week he was admitted to hospital with respiratory issues linked to Parkinson's disease, which he had been diagnosed with in 1984.
Mr Gunnell said Ali's wife and nine children had been hopeful that his stay in hospital would be brief, but were called to his bedside when his condition became more serious.
"They had a full day to say farewell to Muhammad. All family members, all daughters and his son were in attendance, and his wife," the family spokesman told reporters.

Woman Hurt After Plane Hits Cars At Airfield

A woman has been airlifted to hospital after a light plane crashed and collided with parked cars.
The female spectator, who is in her 60s, was injured when the Tiger Moth biplane came down and hit a car she was in and at least one more vehicle during a charity event.
The former RAF aircraft had just taken-off from the runway at the private Brimpton Airfield near Reading, Berkshire, before it crashed around 3pm.
Two male pilots, also in their 60s, suffered minor injuries and were able to get out of the plane.
Plane and car collide
The woman was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford by air ambulance - the charity which the event was raising money for.
Eugene Johnson, a member of the Brimpton Flying Club and retired fire officer, put on a fire-suit and helped tackle a small fuel leak from the plane.
He said: "A 2.55pm a silver Tiger Moth was leaving the airfield and crashed during take-off.
"The accident resulted in a spectator being injured and the two male occupants suffering minor injuries, but they evacuated the aircraft unaided.
"The Air Accident Investigation Branch were informed and the airfield was closed, pending an investigation."
Collision
Mr Johnson said about 100 spectators were at the event.
He added: "Everybody is really disappointed because we go to a lot of lengths to make it a pleasurable and fun event."
Thames Valley Police said officers "were called to an event at Brimpton airstrip at Wasing Lane, Aldermaston, just before 3pm today following a report of a collision between a light aircraft as it was taking off and an unoccupied parked car".
"The plane also made contact with another vehicle, causing a female occupant to be injured.
"The pilot and his male passenger suffered minor injuries which were treated at the scene while the woman was airlifted to hospital."