Elvis's secret UK visit

Veteran rock star Tommy Steele has admitted he took Elvis Presley on a secret tour of London in 1958.

For more than 50 years, Presley fans have believed the only time he ever set foot in the UK was during a stop-over at Prestwick Airport in March 1960. But theatre producer Bill Kenwright revealed Steele's secret on Radio 2.

In a note passed to the Daily Mail, Steele said he "swore never to divulge publicly" what took place and he "regrets" that news leaked out. The 71-year-old, who is currently appearing in a production of Dr Dolittle in Woking, said: "I can only hope he can forgive me.

"It was an event shared by two young men sharing the same love of their music and the same thrill of achieving something unimaginable." Speaking to Radio 2 presenter Ken Bruce, Kenwright revealed Presley struck up a friendship with Steele after ringing him up.

Don’t be surprised now if you hear that somebody saw Elvis the other day walking around Trafalgar square!

Soyuz returning to Earth

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft is due to return to Earth within hours after successfully undocking from the International Space Station (ISS).

The Expedition 16 crew includes South Korea's first astronaut, 29-year-old Yi So-yeon, who spent about 11 days at the station conducting scientific tests. Also on board are Yuri Malenchenko from Russia and Peggy Whitson from the US. The landing capsule of the Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft is due to land in the Kazakh steppe at about 0830 GMT.

Yuri back in space! Well not the ...original Yuri but still a Yuri!!!

A drug against damage from radiation

A drug which may protect the body against damage from radiation has been developed by US scientists.

It is hoped it could make radiotherapy safer for people with cancer and could also be used in the event of a "dirty bomb" or nuclear disaster. Known as CBLB502, and so far tested in animals, it switches on a biological mechanism that helps healthy cells survive blasts of radiation.

The findings published in Science are set to be tested in clinical trials. Radiation kills cells by causing damage which encourages cell suicide, or apoptosis. But healthy cells may be killed alongside tumour cells in the process which is why radiologists need to target the tumour as specifically as possible.

'Ex-slave' takes Niger to court

A former slave is suing Niger's government, accusing it of failing to implement laws against slavery introduced in 2003.

Hadijatou Mani took the case to the Community Court of Justice of Ecowas, the Economic Community of West African States, based in Nigeria. This is the first such case brought by a former slave in Niger.

The government says it has done all it can to eradicate the practice and says the problem has been exaggerated. Ms Mani appeared in court with her lawyers, family members and anti-slavery activists. The government was represented by a high-powered team including the prime minister, justice minister and speaker of parliament. The case is due to last for five days.

At last it started, for decades slavery has been the cancer of Niger and yes in the 20th century and the 21st century. There are even books from ex-slaves who were sold in UK and France.

Diana unlawfully killed

Princess Diana was unlawfully killed due to the "gross negligence" of driver Henri Paul and the paparazzi, an inquest jury has found. The jury reached the same verdict for her companion Dodi Al Fayed.

The jury also specified that Mr Paul's drink-driving and the fact that neither Mr Fayed nor Diana were wearing seatbelts contributed to their deaths. The inquest into the 1997 Paris crash that killed them and Mr Paul lasted six months. The jury returned joint verdicts of unlawful killing through grossly negligent driving - or gross negligence manslaughter.

Princes Diana was killed when Mr Paul crashed a hired Mercedes into a pillar in the Alma underpass in Paris in the early hours of 31 August, 1997. Mr Fayed's father Mohamed al Fayed left the High Court without commenting as did Diana's sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale.

Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker thanked the jury for their "considerable devotion" to duty over the past six months and said it was "almost astonishing" that they had been present on every day without having any absences.

WHO 60th anniversary: our health, our future

Today marks the 60th anniversary of WHO. This special occasion presents WHO with an opportunity to celebrate achievements in global public health over the last 60 years, demonstrate the impact of WHO's work and address challenges for the future.

WHO's 60th anniversary celebrations (WHO60) consists of a variety of activities and events that will continue to unfold throughout the year, covering a range of public health issues and particularly emphasizing issues linked to WHO's six-point agenda.

WHO: www.who.int/en/

Solar System's 'look-alike' found

Astronomers have discovered a planetary system orbiting a distant star which looks much like our own.

They found two planets that were close matches for Jupiter and Saturn orbiting a star about half the size of our Sun. Martin Dominik, from the St Andrews University, UK, said the finding suggested systems like our own could be much more common than we thought. And he told a major meeting that astronomers were on the brink of finding many more of them.

The St Andrews researcher said this planetary system, and others like it, could host terrestrial planets like Earth. It was just a matter of time before such worlds were detected, he explained. "We found a system with two planets that take the roles of Jupiter and Saturn in our Solar System. These two planets have a similar mass ratio and similar orbital radius and a similar orbital period.

"It looks like this may have formed in a similar way to our Solar System. And if this is the case, it looks like [our] Solar System cannot be unique in the Universe. There should be other similar systems out there which could host terrestrial planets."

About time!

Microsoft gives Yahoo three weeks

Microsoft has given Yahoo a three-week deadline to respond to its offer to buy out the internet company for $44.6bn.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said his company would take its case directly to Yahoo's shareholders if Yahoo's directors did not respond by 26 April. Microsoft made an unsolicited bid on 31 January, but Yahoo's board rejected it as substantially underrating its value. Yahoo has since explored alliances with other firms, but no offer has surfaced.

In a letter, Mr Ballmer acknowledged that such negotiations were underway, but wondered why Yahoo was not talking to Microsoft too. "This is despite the fact that our proposal is the only alternative put forward that offers your shareholders full and fair value for their shares," he wrote. "During these two months of inactivity, the internet has continued to march on, while the public equity markets and overall economic conditions have weakened considerably," he added.

Mr Ballmer said his company's offer - 62% above Yahoo's market value at the time - had grown stronger as time had passed. "We believe that the majority of your shareholders share this assessment," he wrote, adding that Microsoft would take its case directly to them and work to elect a new board of directors if they did not respond within three weeks.

Last month, Yahoo estimated it would almost double its operating cash flow over the next three years and generate $8.8bn in revenue after costs in 2010. "Yahoo provides meaningful strategic value and warrants a significant acquisition premium above its equity value in a potential change of control transaction," it said.

The only thing you can add to that is …Bill Gates obviously thinks that he plays monopoly and the scary thing is that he …wins!

Ben Hur dies

Charlton Heston, who won a best actor Oscar for his starring role in the epic Ben Hur has died, a spokesman for the star's family has said.

Heston died on Saturday at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife Lydia, whom he married in 1944, at his side. Heston also portrayed Michelangelo, El Cid and other heroic figures in movie epics of the 1950s and 1960s.

He stepped down as president of US gun lobby, the National Rifle Association (NRA), in 2003, citing ill-health. The previous year, he had revealed he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease.

Heston was born John Charles Carter in Evanston, Illinois.

Sarkozy aide 'misquoted'

Pity, because I don’t misquote when I read all these things going on in Tibet! Bloody petit policies; did the Chinese promised to buy airplanes from France?

France's human rights minister has denied setting conditions for President Nicolas Sarkozy's attendance at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. Rama Yade said Le Monde newspaper had misquoted her as listing "conditions" for Mr. Sarkozy's presence at the event. "The word 'conditions' was never used," she said. Le Monde stood by its story.

Ms Yade had been quoted as saying Mr. Sarkozy would miss the event unless China freed political prisoners and agreed to talk to the Dalai Lama. Le Monde had quoted Ms Yade as saying: "Three conditions are essential for him to attend: an end to violence against the population and the liberation of political prisoners; light shed on the events in Tibet; and the opening of a dialogue with the Dalai Lama."

And he people of Tibet continue ...misquote and let’s hope that somebody will have the balls to say something and mean it!

Swedes find Viking-era Arab coins

Swedish archaeologists have discovered a rare hoard of Viking-age silver Arab coins near Stockholm's Arlanda airport.

About 470 coins were found on 1 April at an early Iron Age burial site. They date from the 7th to 9th Century, when Viking traders travelled widely.

There has been no similar find in that part of Sweden since the 1880s.

Most of the coins were minted in Baghdad and Damascus, but some came from Persia and North Africa, said archaeologist Karin Beckman-Thoor.

High-ranking Finnish peacekeepers involved in bribes?

The state prosecutor is charging two high-ranking Finnish peacekeeping officers with turning a blind eye to bribes collected by two junior peacekeepers in Afghanistan.

Furthermore, they are accused of neglecting to disclose information during the preliminary investigation. I suppose they did so respecting the fact that Finland is ranking on the top of the less corrupted countries!!!

Two other high-ranking Finnish officers working in Afghanistan, who were previously named in the case, were not charged. Recently, the two junior peacekeepers were sentenced to unconditional prison sentences. The men accepted bribes worth tens of thousands of Euros from Afghan companies from the years 2004 to 2006 in exchange for lucrative construction deals.

According to the sentenced men, taking money for such deals is the custom in Afghanistan. However, they said they did not demand payment.

So it was bribe for the non-corrupted Finns, it was …multiculturalism!

Dancing with the …whales!

Julia Petrik, had to cut through ice one foot thick to get in to the -2C (28F) water off the north-west coast of Russia.

Miss Petrik, 38, one of the world's top free divers, swims underwater with no air tanks and can hold her breath for up to two minutes.

After entering the water she grabbed hold of a passing Beluga Whale for a lift - a moment captured by British photographer Dan Burton.

Street art to Tate's walls

A series of giant graffiti-style murals are to be painted on the walls of London's Tate Modern gallery for its summer season.

The works, which will adorn the river-facing wall of the building, will be created by six artists including Blu, who is interested in death.

The artworks will be displayed for three months from 23 May.

Only Tate could be open to any kind of contemporary art!

U2 and Live Nation

U2 have signed a 12-year deal with concert promoter Live Nation to handle the band's merchandising, digital and branding rights.

The deal follows the ground-breaking recording and touring contract Madonna signed with the company last year. U2, however, will continue to release records through Universal Music. "We've been dating for over 20 years now," said singer Bono. "It's about time we tied the knot." Live Nation has managed U2's tours since 1980.

Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed. In the end is all about money!

Jules Dassin dies

American film director Jules Dassin has died in an Athens hospital after a short illness, at the age of 96. Blacklisted in Hollywood after WWII, he went to Europe where he married the late Greek actress and later culture minister Melina Mercouri.

Melina Mercouri starred in Mr. Dassin's most famous film, Never on Sunday. After her death in 1994, Mr. Dassin fought to realize her main goal: the return of the Parthenon, or Elgin, marbles from Britain to Greece.

A spokesman for Hygeia hospital in Athens said Mr. Dassin had been admitted for treatment two weeks ago. "Greece grieves the loss of a rare human being, an important creator and a true friend," Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said in a statement.

Art is going to miss a great creator!

The Ovi magazine today

Noam Chomsky on the Politics of the Essence of the Human Mind by Emanuel L. Paparella

Noam Chomsky is considered one of the pivotal linguists of our time. He follows a long heritage on the nature of language which begins with the ancient Greeks and continues with Giambattista Vico in the 18th century.

Whither Democracy in America? Part 3: Myths and Lessons of Athenian Democracy by Dr. Habib Siddiqui
The word democracy derives from the ancient Greek dēmokratia (literally, rule by the people) formed from the roots dēmos "people," "the mob, the many" and kratos "rule" or "power."

"Charles Darwin and a pool party" by Alexander Mikhaylov
"Perhaps no person can be a poet, or can even enjoy poetry, without a certain unsoundness of mind." - Thomas Babington Macaulay

"I wish" by Bohdan Yuri
"Poets are mysterious, but a poet when all is said is not much more mysterious than a banker." - Allen Tate

'Killing Fields' journalist dies

A Cambodian-born US journalist whose enslavement and escape from the Khmer Rouge became the subject of the famous film, The Killing Fields, has died.

Dith Pran died at a hospital in New Jersey from pancreatic cancer at the age of 65, according to his former New York Times colleague, Sydney Schanberg.

They were in Cambodia in 1975 to report the fall of Phnom Penh to Khmer forces.

Mr. Dith was not allowed to leave, and had to endure four years of torture and starvation before escaping to Thailand.

In 1980, Mr. Schanberg described his colleague's ordeal in a magazine article, and later a book, called "The Death and Life of Dith Pran". It became the basis for the Oscar-winning Hollywood film, The Killing Fields.

Pran was a true reporter, a fighter for the truth and for his people!

Don’t forget, summer time

Don’t forget, summer time at 3 AM Sunday morning when the clock is shifted one hour forward. The shift to summer time will bring some interruptions in banking services and affect rail travel.

The annual switch to summer, or daylight saving time is established practice within the European Union and takes place on the same day and at the same stroke of the clock in all member countries.

Blade runner composer’s birthday

Vangelis Papathanasiou, born March 29, 1943 and he is mostly known through just his first name, has made a remarkable career in music composition.

The musical talents of Vangelis first became obvious at a very early age. His parents tried to encourage him to study with a professional teacher, but he did not respond well to formal education, as he was generally unwilling to follow instructions. At the end of his school years, he and some friends formed a band called "Formynx", which became popular. In 1968 Vangelis moved to Paris.

Together with Demis Rousos and Lucas Sideras, he formed "Aphrodite's Child". This group scored an immediate world wide hit with their first release, "Rain and Tears". Later on, the band split and he continued solo in Paris writing music for movies.

His career launched and Vangelis received an array of awards, among them an Oscar in 1982 for the soundtrack of the film "Chariots of Fire". The music of Vangelis is too diverse to be described as pop, rock, classical, jazz, or new age.

Explaining his music, Vangelis says, "All I try to do is let people know what I think through my music. I just bring the music to you and it is up to you to do what you want with it".