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MOSCOW—In his four years as prime minister, Vladimir Putin has managed a feat many world leaders would envy—nearly doubling government spending in ruble terms while leaving Russia's budget in the black. But as he prepares to return to the presidency for a new six-year term, the fiscal outlook isn't nearly so bright. Though high prices for oil, Russia's main export, have kept the budget in surplus for the moment, an intense debate is under way inside the government on how to rein in spending and raise revenues. With presidential elections Sunday, that discussion has been kept quiet among promises of billions in new spending and benefits. But hard choices will have to be made soon, according to officials and economists. "We need a direction," Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told a government meeting this week. "The decision on how to move forward should be taken very soon, so that the new government has a precise plan." He said the...

CAIRO—An Egyptian judge is set to lift a travel ban against at least seven Americans accused of violating Egypt's laws on foreign financing of civil-society groups, said lawyers for the defendants, a move that would go toward easing a diplomatic row that has strained Washington's relationship with one of its closest security partners in the Middle East. Lawyers for the American civil-society workers, including at least three who have taken refuge at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to avoid arrest, said each of the accused would pay two million Egyptian pounds ($330,460) in bail in order to leave the country. They didn't say who would supply the funds. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she welcomed the news on Wednesday, but added that she had received no confirmation that the travel ban had been lifted.         More Read

An agreement between the U.S. and North Korea on freezing North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the first diplomatic breakthrough between the two countries since 2007, raised new hopes of broader negotiations on disarmament and peace—along with fears the deal will join others that Pyongyang has broken over the past 20 years. North Korea agreed to freeze the development of its nuclear-weapons arsenal and long-range missile program and to allow international inspectors to return for the first time since talks last broke down three years ago. Washington, in turn, agreed to distribute 240,000 metric tons of food aid and publicly declared Wednesday that the U.S. isn't seeking to overthrow the government of North Korea's new leader, Kim Jong Eun.      Full Read

BEIJING—Authorities in China's restive western Xinjiang region on Wednesday raised the number of people killed in a Tuesday attack there to 20, potentially marking a fresh wave of ethnic unrest just as leaders from across the country are preparing to convene in Beijing for an annual legislative session.  A statement posted Wednesday to a news website controlled by the regional government said 13 people were killed by knife-wielding assailants on a street in Xinjiang's far-western county of Yecheng, near China's border with Pakistan. Seven suspected attackers were shot and killed by police, the statement said, and two others had been arrested. The attack is the worst known case of violence in the region since last summer. The state-run Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday that 10 people were killed in the attack and two attackers were killed by police.        Read Full

By msnbc.com and news services   With rhino horns fetching more than gold ounce per ounce, it's not surprising that poaching has escalated. But South Africa's national park service reported Wednesday that it was shocked when it had to arrest four of its own on suspicion of killing rhinos and selling their horns to criminal syndicates. "The unscrupulous and revolting hands of the poaching syndicates have stretched as far as to taint the hands of those trusted with the great responsibility of being guardians of our natural heritage," South Africa National Parks chief David Mabunda said in a statement . The men were stationed at Kruger National Park, which at 7,500 square miles is nearly the size of New Jersey.  They were arrested Tuesday after two more rhinos were found dead and their horns cut off.       Read More

By Isolde Raftery, msnbc.com staff   Five months before the high school shooting in Chardon, Ohio, Danny Parmertor did what many boys when they turn 16: He went out looking for his first job. He dreamed of saving up enough money to buy a car. It took time, but eventually, Ernst Lanes hired Danny as a lane captain. For the last month, Danny spent his weekends helping bowlers with scoring and making sure their bowling balls fit correctly, said his boss, Joe Ernst. This week, Danny, a junior, was supposed to pick up his first paycheck – $273.50. It wasn’t a lot of money, but he was on his way – maybe just a fraction of the way – to owning his first car.        Full Read

By Elizabeth Chuck, msnbc.com   Barbara Johnson knew last Saturday, the day of her mother’s funeral, would be difficult. But she and her lesbian partner of 20 years had no idea that the priest at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Gaithersburg, Md., would be a source of her grief. Johnson, 51, of Washington, D.C, walked into the church, mourning the mom she described to msnbc.com as “a really cool woman; she was 85 going on 58.” When Johnson and her partner arrived at the church – which her mom had attended, and her dad, too, before he died years prior – they were summoned by Rev. Marcel Guarnizo, a man they were meeting for the first time. He didn’t express his condolences, Johnson said, instead curtly getting down to business.      More Read

The eurozone crisis has sown divisions in the European family, and Greece in particular has often been singled out for criticism. Has Greece been living beyond its means? Are Greeks lazy? On this second point, the statistics tell a surprising story. This week Greece is facing more spending cuts after agreeing to a deal of 130bn euros (£110bn, $175bn) to help it avoid bankruptcy. But the statistics suggest the country has not lost its way due to laziness. If you look at the average annual hours worked by each worker, the Greeks seem very hard-working. Figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that the average Greek worker toils away for 2,017 hours per year which is more than any other European country. Out of the 34 members of the OECD, that is just two places behind the board leaders, South Korea.         Read Here

The White House has called on internet firms to develop stronger privacy protections for consumers. The move comes amid worries that browsing information is being tracked and given to advertisers. State attorneys in 36 states recently sent a letter of concern over Google's plan to share personal information across its products. As part of the announcement, the firms' ad networks said they would support a "Do Not Track" browser option. The US has advocated since 2010 for "Do Not Track", a one-click option to prevent information gathered while web browsing being shared with third parties.      More Read

President Obama's page on Google's social network site has been inundated with messages in Chinese after restrictions in China were removed. Every current topic on Mr Obama's Google+ page attracted hundreds of Chinese comments. Some contributors made jokes; others said they were occupying the site in the style of western Occupy campaigns. Google+ is normally blocked in China along with other social media that the authorities deem unacceptable. Since Google+ was launched in 2011, software known informally as the Great Firewall had appeared to block it within China. But on 20 February 2012 internet-users in many parts of China found they could gain access to the site - prompting some to suggest occupying it, in a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Occupy Wall Street campaign.         Read Full

It's an extraordinary tale of rescue and heroics which could have come straight from the script of the hit television itself. When dementia sufferer David Feltham tripped and fell on his driveway on a freezing cold winter's night, rescue came from a little pooch who bears a striking resemblance to wonder dog Lassie. Little Collie-cross Jack heard the pensioner's desperate tapping on a drain pipe, which was his only way of signalling for help as he lay prostrate in sub-zero temperatures. The heroic dog kept barking at the sound of the tapping until owner and neighbour, John Wheatley, 67, got out of bed - and spotted his friend lying outside.     Read Full

If you've ever been in a quandary about how to keep your beloved pet pooch cool on a sweltering hot day, the answer now could be clear: give the dog a cone. A new brand of ice creams have been launched specifically for man's best friend. And the Billy + Margot range is unlikely to put off even the most assiduous of weight-watching or environmentally friendly dog. The manufactures insist it has been specially tailored to be low in fat, high in nutrients, made with locally sourced ingredients aimed at cutting down food miles and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.       More

At just 22 inches tall, shorter than the length of a broadsheet newspaper, Chandra Bahadur Dangi will tomorrow be officially named the world's smallest man by Guinness World Records.  Dangi, 72, left his home in a isolated Nepalese village to fly to the capital, Kathmandu, to be measured by Guinness World Records officials tomorrow. Guinness World Records said if his measurements are correct, he will beat the current record holder for the world's shortest man, Filipino Junrey Balawing, 18, who is 23.5 inches tall.        Read More

Retired businessman Christopher Tappin arrived in the U.S. late last night to faces charges of plotting to sell missile components to Iran. He is due to stand trial in El Paso, Texas, accused of trying to buy batteries for Hawk missiles from American undercover agents to export to the pariah state. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mr Tappin arrived at the city's airport last night accompanied by U.S. Marshals, though he was able to slip by reporters.     More Read

Whether it's pruning friends lists, removing unwanted comments or restricting access to their profiles, Americans are getting more privacy-savvy on social networks, a new report found. The report released Friday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that people are managing their privacy settings and their online reputation more often than they did two years earlier.  For example, 44 percent of respondents said in 2011 that they deleted comments from their profile on a social networking site. Only 36 percent said the same thing in 2009.      Read Full

This is the shocking moment a crazed commuter launched an apparently random attack on a woman - pushing her on to the tracks of the London Underground. The 23-year-old victim struck up a brief conversation with the thug and following a trivial row over the man's hat, he turned and shoved her on to the rails on the Northern Line at Leicester Square. She only missed the live rail by inches, and was able to pull herself back onto the platform with the help of other travellers before the next train came down the platform. Injuries to her side were so severe, witnesses initially thought she had been stabbed.       Full Read

A town in California is proposing to ban smoking outside, even for residents lighting up on their own property. Smoking is already banned indoors in public places in most of the country, and in California it is illegal to smoke in parks and playgrounds too. The town of Rocklin, near Sacramento, could take the draconian regulations further by extending them to private property as well.       Read Here

The head of Britain's biggest drugs company has accused the Government of systematically delaying the introduction of new cancer drugs in order to save money. GlaxoSmithKline chief executive Sir Andrew Witty warned that ministers were making false economies as they tried to grapple with the deficit in the public finances. In an interview with the BBC, he said that governments across Europe had already cut drug prices by 5 per cent a year - costing GSK around £300 million per annum.      More Read

Dawn is breaking over Heathrow airport and, nearby, it’s time to get up and look for work. Just above where everyone is sleeping, the traffic has already started to thunder along the M4, sending vibrations through to the ground underneath. It’s cold down here on the concrete slabs. There are empty cans of strong lager kicking around the floor, and the living areas, if you can call them such, are filthier than a third-world slum.       Full Read

Was it right, Twitter wondered yesterday, that Marie Colvin, The Sunday Times correspondent killed in Syria, should be referred to as a "female war reporter"? Of course, it's wrong. It doesn't matter a damn whether Colvin was a man or a woman. Until her life was quenched by a Syrian army rocket, she was there on the ground. In Homs. Reporting. That is what mattered. Amid all the sound and heat the Leveson Inquiry has generated over such media transgressions as the phone-hacking of celebrities in this country, it's been easy to lose sight of one of the most important raisons d'être of a vibrant, professional and diverse press, free from state interference. And that's being equipped to cover events in those parts of the world where dictators can have you jailed for saying the wrong thing, where propaganda and news are interchangeable and where the hands of journalists are shackled by "Information Ministries".         Read Full

The bodies were in a field, dumped during the night. They were men who had been arrested and taken away for interrogation after the forces of the Syrian regime began a vicious and vengeful sweep through this region. The families in the village of Kurin have not been able to collect and bury their dead because they would be walking into a trap; any approach so far, they say, has been met with sniper fire. A force of rebel fighters who went to carry out the task twice had to retreat under fire from mortars. Their commander, Abdul Haq, spread his hands in apology. "If we went any further there would be more killed, more for us to try and bring back. We feel we are failing our people, but we cannot match the weapons of the enemy." Yesterday, as the savage strife continued, the Friends of Syria – America, Western Europe and the Arab countries – meeting in Tunis issued yet another ultimatum to Bashar al-Assad and announced that the opposition group, the ...

Rupert Murdoch's former chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, is at the centre of a new inquiry into whether a senior Scotland Yard officer gave her inside information about the progress of the original failed phone-hacking investigation, The Independent understands. Two days before the launch of Mr Murdoch's new Sun on Sunday, the Independent Police Complaints Commission was examining the nature of an apparent link between the senior Metropolitan Police officer and an executive at News International. The unnamed senior officer worked in 2006 on the original phone-hacking inquiry, which failed to follow-up evidence of widespread wrongdoing at NI's now-closed Sunday tabloid, the News of the World. The NI executive was not named by investigators but is understood to be Ms Brooks, who resigned as chief executive last July in the wake of revulsion at the NOTW's hacking of the mobile phone of the missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler. there is no suggestion th...

A third of homes in the UK have broadband speeds well below the national average, according to research from price comparison site uSwitch. While half of addresses get broadband speeds of 6.7Mbps or above, a third struggle to get speeds above 5Mbps, 1.7m speed tests found. The East Sussex village of Winchelsea was the slowest, with an average speed of 1.1Mbps, according to uSwitch. Hereford was the slowest city, with average speeds of 3.1Mbps. The government wants to see super-fast broadband as the gold standard in most UK homes, and has pledged to make the UK the fastest broadband nation in Europe by 2015. By that time, it also promises to make sure that all homes have speeds of at least 2Mbps.         Read More

A moth with a taste for Chardonnay leaves, which has infested vineyards across northern Italy, is a new species of leafminer, scientists say.  The pest was first discovered by Italian scientists in 2006, but they were unable to identify it. Now, by examining a snippet of the moth's genetic code, researchers have confirmed that it is a previously unnamed species. The team published their findings in the journal ZooKeys . The Italian team enlisted the help of insect expert Erik van Nieukerken from the Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity in Leiden. "We first turned to the [scientific] literature to find out what was already known, which was appallingly little for this group [of moths]," Dr van Nieukerken told BBC Nature.          Read Here

Thousands of slum dwellers are facing the prospect of eviction after decades of living by the banks of the Bagmati river in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu. As BBC Nepali's Surendra Phuyal reports, they argue that their enforced departure is being ignored by top political leaders - including senior Maoists who have vowed to champion the cause of the poor. Nowhere can the argument that Nepal's government is abandoning its proletarian principles be more clearly seen than on the banks of the Bagmati river in central Kathmandu. The government is preparing to demolish squatters' settlements that have mushroomed in recent decades on the banks of river, which flows through the heart of the capital. The eviction programme is part of a big project to clean up this once-pristine river, now an open sewer because of massive and unplanned urbanisation.        Full Read

It was a fraud trial involving a huge sum of money - and the verdict triggered a national outcry and a rare promise from China's top court. In 2009, at the age of 28, multi-millionaire Wu Ying was sentenced to death for illegal fundraising. Last week, however, the Supreme Court of China stated publicly that her sentence would be reviewed "cautiously". The discussion that erupted online over Ms Wu concerns not only her fate, but the future of China's legal and financial systems.        More Read

Two U.S. troops have been shot dead by an Afghan soldier as violence rages across the country in response to Korans being burned. The gunmen opened fire after calls from Taliban insurgents to attack U.S. military bases in revenge attacks for U.S. troops setting fire to the Muslim holy books. The attack took place during a protest outside a U.S. military base in the Khogyani district of Nangarhar Province. It is the worst case of violence in three days of unrest that began when Korans – used by former Afghan detainees at Nato’s Bagram air base – were among rubbish taken to a ‘burn pit’ and recovered by Afghans working there.  The protests drew thousands of angry Afghans to the streets, chanting 'Death to America!' for the third consecutive day in violence that has killed 11 people and wounded many more. The violence could intensify during tomorrow after Friday prayers.        More

A 'terrorist sympathiser' linked to a notorious airline bomb plot is claiming he was unfairly sacked as a British Airways baggage handler because of his religion. Counter terrorist police found an apparent plan to groom Shahzada Khan to place a package on a plane bound for America. During an investigation into Rajib Karim, who was jailed for 30 years last March for plotting to place a bomb on an airplane heading to America, police discovered emails between Karim and Khan, as well as emails between Karim and hate-preacher Anwar al-Awlaki. Cracking the heavily-encrypted emails, police suspected Karim and al-Awlaki were grooming Khan to help them smuggle a bomb onto an American-bound plane.       More Read

A man who threw a brick at a victim's head forcing him to fall onto a train track has been jailed indefinitely. Ian Tomlinson, 24, of no fixed address, carried out three attacks on men at Ipswich, Diss and Colchester train stations over a ten-day period in June last year. On one occasion Tomlinson followed his victim off the train at Colchester shortly after midnight. As the man waited on the platform, Tomlinson threw a brick at his head from close range. The victim fell onto the tracks where he lay unconscious and motionless on the high-speed line. As he lay there, Tomlinson climbed onto the track and stole money from him, British Transport Police said.       Read Full

If you’re the sort of person who spends ages looking for your mobile phone, Google may have the answer. And the solution will be right in front of your eyes – literally. The technology giant is close to launching a pair of futuristic glasses that would deliver all the services of a smartphone straight to the wearer’s eye. Featuring a miniature display on one lens, the hi-tech specs allow users to surf the internet or deal with text messages and emails without lifting a finger. The screen is controlled with a ‘mouse’ which is moved simply by tilting your head. And should you still wish to actually talk to someone, it is believed the glasses will let you make calls using an in-built microphone.       Read Here

A 16-year-old boy threw himself to his death from 500ft cliffs at Beachy Head after sending his mother a final text message saying 'I love you, Mum', an inquest heard today. The body of Nikolas Brkic, from St John's Wood in North London, was found at the base of the cliffs near Eastbourne, East Sussex, by coastguard teams on routine patrol. A hand-written note was found on the Croatian-born student, along with his contact details.       Read More

An Indian woman has claimed she was kept as a slave and beaten while working as a nanny for a senior Government lawyer. Widow Pratima Das alleges she was a victim of human trafficking who ended up being abused for four years while at the home of Shibani Rahulan – principal legal adviser at the Department of Health. Mrs Rahulan, however, has denied exploiting the 43-year-old and has produced photos of the nanny at family gatherings and holidays which, she says, prove she was not kept under duress.       Read More

This little fellow looked a bit down in the dumps shivering in freezing cold weather in the mountains of Japan. But these stunning photos captured the moment when it quickly changed to an expression of delight after he jumped in to a hot natural spring to warm up. And if this young monkey's reaction to slipping into a warm bath is anything to go by, these primates really are like humans. The juvenile Japanese snow monkey was photographed enjoying the famous hot springs at Jigokudani monkey park in Nagano. Photographer Ben Torode captured these intimate scenes of grooming and social interaction among the group of Japanese macaques - who are drawn to the welcoming waterhole to warm up during the winter.    Full Read

Judging by the startling difference, you would imagine these photographs were taken months apart. In fact, it was a little over a week. Just 12 days after shivering in -15.6C (3.9F) – the country’s coldest temperature of the winter – Holbeach in Lincolnshire was yesterday basking in 17.7C (64F). The colossal 33.3C temperature swing was reflected in similar scenes played out elsewhere in the country, demonstrating that in Britain nothing changes quite like the weather. Snow and ice has been replaced by blue skies, sunshine and temperatures rivalling the Mediterranean and parts of Africa.  The unseasonably warm weather spread from Bournemouth, where sun-seekers hit the beach, to the Midlands and beyond.      Read Here

Against the picturesque backdrop of the French Alps, a very middle class protest was gathering pace last night. Seven British chalet hosts, including gap year students and an Oxbridge graduate, have barricaded themselves inside a luxury ski lodge in the resort of Les Menuires, claiming they were unfairly sacked and have not been paid. The four women and three men have vowed not to leave the chalet, which is rented out by their former employer, until they each receive their £100-a-week wages.       Full Read

Thousands of serial offenders are being let off with a slap on the wrist – despite each committing more than 15 crimes. Some 4,500 criminals with 15 or more convictions were given a caution last year. Tens of thousands more were handed fines, community sentences or suspended jail terms. Overall, some two-thirds of the worst serial offenders escaped jail, Ministry of Justice statistics show. MPs said the figures betrayed the ‘soft justice’ system and called for more public control over sentences. Tory MP for Clacton, Douglas Carswell, said: ‘From November we get to elect our police chiefs. We now need to ensure democratic accountability over the rest of the criminal justice system.       Read Here

The kidnapper wore a bright red wig and was brandishing what looked like a gun. Stunned nine and ten-year-olds watched from their classroom window as, in a few terrifying seconds, he abducted the school caretaker, bundled him into a car and screeched off into the distance. For a moment it looked as if a major crime had been committed before the eyes of dozens of little innocents. Except that the ‘kidnapper’ was the headmaster, the weapon was a water tap, and the stunt – which the children were not told about in advance – was a bizarre lesson for pupils to write descriptively about afterwards. Yesterday the bogus abduction at Wincheap Foundation Primary School in Canterbury was said to have rendered some children ‘scared stiff’.       More Read

There is just a week to go until Google controversially changes its privacy policy to allow it to gather, store and use personal information about its users. But there is one way to stymie the web giant's attempts to build a permanent profile of you that could include personal information including age, gender, locality and even sexuality. From March 1, you won't be able to opt out of the new policy, which has been criticised by privacy campaigners who have filed a complaint to U.S. regulators.  But before that date you can delete your browsing history and, which will limit the extent to which Google records your every move - including your embarrasing secrets. Here's how:       Full Read

They say cameras add pounds. But TV presenter Sarah Beeny has revealed that it isn't because of the cameras she looks bigger - it's because she's often pregnant while filming. The 40-year-old, mother-of-four says that she prefers to work during pregnancy so she can take time off once the baby is born and enjoy motherhood.      More Read

Thanks to the state of California, smartphone apps will soon have to tell you in advance what they plan to do with your personal data. California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris reached an agreement with Apple, Google, Microsoft, Research in Motion and HP–that’s every company that has a smartphone or tablet platform in the United States–to require privacy policies for mobile apps. That means third-party apps, such as Path and Instagram, will have to warn users ahead of time if the apps will store address books on their servers or share personal data with marketers, among other things.         Full Read

Microsoft’s Windows is a shameless imitation of Apple’s Macintosh. You can debate whether that’s true. You can’t, however, argue that it’s not conventional wisdom: Apple has even joked about it in product launches . But it may be the conventional wisdom of an era that’s passed. Now that we know what Apple is doing with OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion , due this summer, we can compare it to Microsoft’s approach with  Windows 8 , arriving sometime this year. Really, the two companies’ upgrade strategies couldn’t be more different.     More Read

BRITS host James Corden told of his fury after ITV bosses forced him to cut short winner Adele's acceptance speech.  James, 33, was made to interrupt the embarrassed singer in mid-flow so Blur could perform . He said at London's O2: "I can't believe that's what they were asking me to do. I delayed for 15 seconds. They wanted to cut her short as time was running out." And he revealed the chart-topping songbird was "really upset" when he went to her dressing room to apologise. Adele, 23 — who picked up the gongs for Best Female and Best Album at the glittering awards — was cut short as she accepted the second honour. She angrily delivered a one-fingered salute on stage and was so offended that she left the ceremony straight after talking to the media.          Read Here

THIS British teen is pretty handy around the kitchen — managing to hold SIXTEEN mugs in one hand. Chris May, 16, discovered his talent while unpacking the dishwasher at home. He is now hoping to win an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. Bosses are checking if he is the best mug-holder they can find. Chris, from Darlington, County Durham, said: "I was just in the kitchen emptying the dishwasher. "I started hanging mugs off my fingers, not even thinking about it, when my friend Max said, 'Hey, how many mugs you got there?'.        Read Full

A TEAM of robbers dubbed the "Mole in the Wall" gang have struck for the THIRD time by targeting another store's cashpoint machine.   The crooks tried to rob the ATM by digging a tunnel to it but fled when they set off an alarm.  Cops found a hole 6ft deep behind the convenience store in Burnage, Manchester, and a tunnel 4ft long. The same gang is feared to have got away with £6,000 a few weeks ago when they burrowed 100ft to target a cashpoint at a nearby DVD store.        More Read

STUDENT Alanna Wong is 22 but suffers from a super-rare neurological condition that turns her into a TODDLER. She has "lost" six years of her life due to Kleine-Levin Syndrome (KLS) which puts her into a deep sleep for up to 22 hours a day. The incurable condition causes Alanna to have "episodes" in which she becomes baby-like and wanders around like a zombie. She also loses the ability to control her behaviour and speaks in a babbling baby voice. She even forgets how to READ and — feeling like she is in a dream — gets confused by everything around her.         Read More

A TAXI driver was being quizzed last night after two elderly widows were found dead in their homes just 650 yards apart. The cabbie, 43, was arrested on suspicion of murdering 78-year-old gran Margaret Biddolph. Further inquiries then led police to a nearby home, where they found the body of Annie Leyland, 88. Last night they were trying to establish whether her home had been broken into — and if the women knew the taxi driver.       Full Read

A PARROT lost its feathers after it was fed a diet of BEER and CHIPS. Charlie, a two-year-old African grey, has now been nursed back to health by new owner Alison Haybyrnes, and is regaining his plumage. The poor pet had been brought up on a diet of chips, monkey nuts and beer and he was left alone in a dark corner with no interaction or socialisation. The average parrot has a brain like a four-year-old child which means he needs stimulation, love and care. The stress of his situation caused Charlie to pull out his feathers so that when he was rescued he was mostly bald.         More Read

A TEACHER has claimed he is the world's oldest man at 115 - and says he taught Zimbabwean despot Robert Mugabe as a schoolboy. Oscar Munyoro Katsukunya says he was born in 1897 in Kutama, around 30 miles west of the capital Harare. The wheelchair-bound pensioner claims he vividly remembers teaching Mugabe in 1931 at a primary school in Zvimba, where the brutal dictator grew up. At the time, Mr Katsukunya was 34 years old - and Mugabe was aged just seven. Speaking to Zimbabwe Broadcast Corporation, the retired teacher said he remembered Mugabe as "an intelligent young boy". During the interview, the frail family man told how he watched his former pupil develop from a young student into a "freedom fighter".        Read Here

TV's Ulrika Jonsson has come under fire on Twitter for appearing "too thin" on TV's Let's Dance For Sports Relief.  Here she hits back at critics:   LET's make no bones about it: I'm skinny. I'm thin. Far be it from me to try to convince you otherwise. I am, indeed, slighter than I was two years ago. I should have known after donning a skin-tight dress to dance on Let's Dance For Sport Relief that there would, once again, be "concerns" about my size. And yet, I doubt I have the answers anyone wants to hear. I suffer from a chronic back condition which was the cause of the majority of my weight loss.      Full Read

A NINE-YEAR-OLD girl died after she was allegedly forced to "run to death" when she was punished for eating a chocolate bar.  The stepmother and grandmother of the child were last night charged with her murder in Alabama, US. It was alleged Savannah Hardin - who had a bladder condition - was forced to run around the house for THREE hours. She died in hospital around noon on Monday, with preliminary reports showing she was severely dehydrated. Later that night, Savannah's stepmother Jessica Hardin, 27, rang 911 when her stepdaughter started having seizures.       More Read

Fashion retailer Peacocks has been sold out of administration to Edinburgh Woollen Mill, saving 6,000 jobs, but 3,100 staff will be made redundant. It means that 6,000 jobs across the UK will be safeguarded, including around 250 at the head office in Cardiff. The deal will include 338 stores, 57 concessions, three distribution centres and the head office, said Edinburgh Woollen Miill. But 224 stores have ceased trading with immediate effect. The announcement was made by KPMG, joint administrators of Peacocks, who were called in in January. Joff Pope, joint administrator and associate partner at KPMG, said the deal would ensure the continued trading of a well known name on the high street.      Full Read

A former nightclub bouncer has been jailed for a minimum of 35 years for murdering a pregnant teenager two weeks before she was due to give birth. Carl Whant, 27, of Bettws, Newport, raped and stabbed 19-year-old Nikitta Grender at her home, killing her unborn daughter at the same time. He set fire to her flat before returning to a party where he had been all night with her boyfriend. Whant was convicted of murder, rape, child destruction and arson. Ms Grender had already named her baby girl Kelsey-May. Outside Newport Crown Court after the verdict, the victim's uncle, Michael Brunnock, said in a statement: "The last 12 months have been harder for us than you could ever imagine.          More Read

Almost a year after the Japanese Tohoku earthquake and mega-tsunami, the Pacific Ocean is still dealing with the consequences of the catastrophe. A mass of debris was washed out to sea as floodwaters receded from the land, and some of that wreckage continues to float around the ocean. Most of it headed eastwards, according to modelling work by the Hawaii-based International Pacific Research Center. Its staff have given an update to this week's biennial Ocean Sciences meeting . "We can only use our model to make projections," explained International Pacific Research Center (IPRC) scientific computer programmer Jan Hafner. "So far, the debris field has spread in length more than 2,000 nautical miles, and is more than 1,000 nautical miles wide," he told BBC News.        More

Fewer women than men suffering from a heart attack appear to experience chest pain symptoms, according to a study of more than one million people in the US. Overall men have significantly more heart attacks, but under the age of 55 women are more likely to die from one. Without displaying the classic chest pain symptoms of a heart attack, researchers say some women may not be getting the right kind of treatment. The study looked at patients seen at more than 1,000 hospitals. The research found that among younger women - those aged under 55 - the differences in symptoms with men of the same age were striking. Overall, 42% of women did not experience chest pain compared with 30% of men.       More Read

Europe's top human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, has urged Germany to end the practice of surgically castrating sex offenders. The council's anti-torture committee said such voluntary treatment, albeit rare in Germany, was "degrading". In Germany no more than five sex offenders a year have been opting for castration, hoping it will lower their sex drives and reduce their jail term. The committee's recommendations are not binding but have great influence. The committee's official title is the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT).        Full Read

Some 340 people have been injured in a commuter train crash at a station in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. The train is reported to have slammed into the barrier at the end of the platform at the Once station in the west of the city. The injured driver and some passengers were taken away on stretchers, with the first carriage the worst affected. The ministry of transport said it could not rule out fatalities, with many people still said to be trapped.    More Read

At least six people have been killed and dozens injured in Afghanistan after protests spread over the burning of copies of the Koran at a US airbase. One person was killed in Kabul, one in the eastern city of Jalalabad and at least four in Parwan province. US officials apologised on Tuesday after Korans were "inadvertently" put in an incinerator at Bagram airbase. Officials at Bagram reportedly believed Taliban prisoners were using the books to pass messages to each other. The charred remains of the volumes were found by local labourers.      Read Full