Two Soldier's Shot Dead in Afghanistan

Two UK soldiers from 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment have been shot dead in separate incidents in Afghanistan.


They died while on patrol in the Nad Ali district of Helmand province on Tuesday. Next of kin have been told.

Their deaths bring the total number of UK troops killed in Afghanistan since 2001 to 298.


They follow that of a Royal Marine from 40 Commando who died from injuries sustained in conflict in a UK hospital.


Lt Col James Carr-Smith, spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said: "Both soldiers were part of security patrols that were involved in operations to improve freedom of movement for local nationals in Nad Ali, Helmand province, when they were killed by small arms fire.

"Their bravery and boldness in the face of danger will not be forgotten.


"They died in the course of their duty, amongst their comrades and whilst improving the lives of ordinary Afghans. We will remember them."

Katie Price's Perfume Pulled from Superdrug

Katie Price's perfume has been pulled from Superdrug's shelves because of "ethical" reasons.

It follows a report in The Observer newspaper claiming Indian workers making the bottles were paid less than the minimum wage.


A spokeswoman for the high street shop said that because of their "robust ethical trading policy" it had been decided to remove the fragrances.

Price's spokesperson said production has now been moved to the UK.

Sunday's Observer claimed that workers at a factory in India are paid 26p an hour to make perfume bottles for Price's Stunning and Besotted fragrances.

A Superdrug spokeswoman said: "As a business, we have a robust ethical trading policy so that our customers can be confident that they are buying products that are made in an ethical way.

"Therefore, we have taken the decision to remove Katie Price's fragrances from our shelves at this time while we conduct an investigation."

In a statement, Price's spokesperson said: "Following a press report about the production of Katie Price's perfume bottles by the Pragati Glass Company, we can confirm that this factory in India is no longer used as a source of component.

"The production of the bottle, its packaging, filling and finishing has been moved from India to the UK and France.

Prince of Persia

I was looking forward to this film because of the hype, and I was afraid to be disappointed. But as the film unfolded, I most definitely enjoyed this adventure from beginning to end.
Jake Gyllenhaal plays the titular Prince of Persia, Dastan, who was an urchin picked by the King from the marketplace to be his third son. He and his brothers get caught in a web of political high jinx that cross their paths with Princess Tamina of Alamut (played by Gemma Arterton), and the fabled powers of the Sands of Time.


This is Jake Gyllenhaal's most accessible film so far, and he goes to town with it. OK, granted he does not look the least bit Persian, or of that particular time period, but somehow his charisma was able to carry us on this fantastic ride. I also enjoyed his interaction with the beautiful Arterton, which sparks with humor and romance. She was my favorite part of "Clash of the Titans (2010)," and same here.


I highly recommend this film for a good old-fashioned, action-adventure film set in ancient times. The parkour sequences are definitely of the highest order and very well-edited and photographed. The sets and visual effects are excellent. Best of all, the story is intelligent and well-constructed. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has again delivered a very entertaining summer blockbuster. A very well-executed film of its genre. A must watch!
 
p.s.  Gemma Arterton looks beautiful!
 

Owl adopts ducklings born in 30ft-high nest

A tawny owl is acting as surrogate mother to two ducklings born 30ft (9.1m) up a tree after their natural mother laid her eggs in the wrong nest.

Mary Hartley was expecting to see owlets after four eggs appeared in her nest box in Marple Bridge, Stockport.

But when she checked a nest box camera she was surprised to find two Mandarin ducklings jumping around inside.  Two owlets, also born in the nest, are being cared for by the mother alongside the two-day-old ducklings.

Click here to see the owl and the ducklings

Sir Mick Jagger goes back to exile

Forty years ago, the Rolling Stones decamped to the South of France, living as tax exiles as they recorded their tenth album.

The sessions became notorious for their bacchanalian excesses, taking place amidst a nine-month, non-stop cocktail party in a sprawling villa that had supposedly once been a headquarters for the Gestapo.

The result was a sprawling double album, Exile On Main Street, which has gone down in history as one of the band's best.

Next week, they are re-releasing the record with 10 new tracks - including several recently rediscovered songs. An accompanying documentary, Stones In Exile, will premiere in Cannes, before screening on BBC One on Sunday, 23 May.

Frontman Sir Mick Jagger met up with BBC arts editor Will Gompertz to explain why the band had gone back to the archives - and whether the band would ever get back together. 

Click here to watch Mick Jagger's Interview 

Facebook Downplays Privacy Crisis Meeting

Facebook has downplayed the significance of a company-wide meeting to discuss privacy issues.

The blogosphere described the meeting as a panic measure following weeks of criticism over the way it handles members' data.

Several US senators have made public calls for Facebook to rethink its privacy safeguards.  The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, launched a petition directed at Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.  It called on him to regain the trust of users by giving them control over all the information shared via Facebook.

A number of high-profile users have also deleted their Facebook accounts after the site introduced a new feature that lets non-Facebook websites, or third parties, post the personal views of Facebook users without their consent. 

Industry watchers said the company, which is the world's biggest social network, has shown it has "lost touch" over the issue.

"Most of us got onto Facebook because we want to know what our high school quarterback is doing or to reconnect with old school friends, not worry about how our information is going to be used," Catharine P Taylor, media blogger with news site BNET.com told the BBC.

"They need to get back to basics, throw out their policy and start all over again," she said. "It's way too complex for most people to understand how to change their settings and if they can't make it simple for people to make choices, it will cost them."

A report this week by the New York Times revealed that Facebook's privacy policy has 50 different settings and 170 options.

Peter Rojas, co-founder of the gadget site gdgt.com, told ABC News he quit because he "was spending more time managing my account than actually using my account. "Having to constantly monitor the privacy settings was way too complicated. You can never be sure you caught everything."

On the same day as the all-hands meeting at Facebook, the company launched new security measures to battle spam and other malicious attacks.

The upgrades include being able to approve the devices users commonly use to log in and being notified when that account has been accessed via a device that has not been approved. Another feature is giving users the ability to block suspicious logins before they happen.

"We're confident that these new tools and systems will do a lot to prevent unauthorised logins and the nuisance they can cause," said Lev Popov, a software engineer on Facebook's site integrity team.

"As always, though, the first line of defence is you. We need you to help by practicing safe behaviour on Facebook and wherever you go online."

ACDC Tops Euro Chart for Third Week

AC/DC holds off new entries to the European Albums top ten by Diana Vickers, Mark Medlock and the Deftones to start a third week at No. 1 with the "Iron Man 2" soundtrack (Columbia/Sony Music Entertainment).  The AC/DC album tops the charts again in Norway, Austria, Ireland and Flanders, falls 1-2 in Sweden but moves 2-1 in Switzerland. It also holds at No. 2 in Germany and Wallony, No. 3 in the United Kingdom, No. 4 in Italy and Hungary and No. 5 in Spain.
Lady Gaga 's "The Fame" (Interscope/Universal) is up again on the composite chart, 3-2, improving 11-5 in Switzerland, 7-5 in the United Kingdom, 9-8 in France and 12-9 in Portugal. The equally resilient "The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies)" (Interscope/Universal) by Black Eyed Peas rebounds 7-3 overall, inspired by moves of 12-6 in Ireland, 7-6 in Austria and Wallony and 16-10 in the United Kingdom.

Teenage U.K. breakthrough pop artist Vickers follows her No. 1 single there, "Once" (RCA/Sony Music Entertainment), with a chart-topping debut in her home territory for her debut album "Songs from the Cherry Tree." It sells 35,000 to lead the U.K. market, and opens at No. 7 in Ireland, fuelling a No. 4 start on European Albums.
Amy Macdonald 's "A Curious Thing" (Mercury/Universal) bounces back 10-5 on the pan-European chart, thanks chiefly to an 8-4 improvement in Germany. Slipping one place each Europe-wide are Unheilig's "Grosse Freiheit" (Universal) to No. 6 and Plan B's "The Defamation of Strickland Banks" (679/Atlantic/Warner Music) to No. 7. The Unheilig album remains at No. 1 in Germany while Plan B's falls 1-2 in the United Kingdom on weekly sales of 33,000.

U.S. rock act the Deftones rounds out the pan-European album top ten with a new entry at No. 10 for "Diamond Eyes" (Reprise/Warner Music). Its best European market is Germany, where it starts at No. 8, and it's in at No. 26 in the United Kingdom (on 7,000 sales).
 

The former European Hot 100 Singles chart-topper "Telephone" by Lady Gaga and Beyoncé continues at No. 2, after climbing 3-1 in Wallony and holding at No. 3 in Italy and No. 5 in France.