Pope asks forgiveness for priest sex abusers

Pope sorry for clergy who sexually abused.

Pope Francis made his strongest condemnation yet of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy on Friday, asking for forgiveness and pledging to impose penalties on "men of the church" who harm children.

"I feel compelled to personally take on all the evil which some priests -- quite a few in number, obviously not compared to the number of all the priests -- to personally ask for forgiveness for the damage they have done for having sexually abused children," the Pope said in remarks quoted by Vatican Radio.

"The church is aware of this damage, it is personal, moral damage carried out by men of the church, and we will not take one step backward with regards to how we will deal with this problem, and the sanctions that must be imposed," Francis continued.

"On the contrary, we have to be even stronger. Because you cannot interfere with children."

The U.S.-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said it may be the first time a pope has spoken of sanctioning "complicit bishops."

"But that is all it is: talk," said Barbara Dorris, SNAP's outreach director.

"We beg the world's Catholics: Be impressed by deeds, not words. Until the Pope takes decisive action that protects kids, be skeptical and vigilant."

The Pope's new comments, made Friday to members of a Catholic nongovernmental organization, the International Catholic Child Bureau, represent a shift from his previous statements on sexual abuse.

In an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Serra in March, Francis struck a defensive tone, saying, "The Catholic Church is perhaps the only public institution that has moved with transparency and responsibility. No one has done more. And yet the church is the only one that has been attacked."

Advocates for victims of sexual abuse had slammed those remarks, calling them another example of the church prioritizing its reputation over the protection of children.

'Highest priority'

Early this year, a United Nations panel slammed the Vatican's handling of child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church and accused the church of protecting itself rather than the victims.

The Vatican said in February that it would study the report, which claimed clerics were involved in the sexual abuse of "tens of thousands" of children.

And in late March, Francis appointed an eight-member committee -- a mix of clergy and laypeople, including a sexual abuse survivor -- to advise the church on how to protect children, punish abusers and train church staff.

"Pope Francis has made it clear that the church must uphold the protection of minors amongst her highest priorities," Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said in a statement announcing the committee members.

However, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests dismissed the new panel, saying it was "based on a deceptive premise" and perpetuated the "self-serving myth that Catholic officials need more information about abuse and coverups."

Rocked by scandal

Pope Francis took over the helm of the Catholic Church just over a year ago from Benedict XVI, whose papacy was marked by the emergence of repeated allegations of sexual abuse by priests.

Benedict said many times that abusers should be prosecuted, but victims' groups again said he did too little.

Benedict spoke with some victims of sexual abuse by priests on papal visits to countries including the United States and the United Kingdom, where he expressed his "deep sorrow" about the scandal. The Vatican selected those he met.

In April 2013, a month after taking office, Francis recommended that the church's doctrinal office "act decisively with regard to cases of sexual abuse," the Vatican said at the time.

This would be "by promoting measures for the protection of minors, as well as in offering assistance to those who have suffered abuse, carrying out due proceedings against the guilty," it said.
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Court upholds ruling against SeaWorld over trainer safety

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday upheld a federal occupational safety agency's finding against SeaWorld Entertainment Inc following the workplace death of one of its killer whale trainers.

By a vote of 2-1, the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that SeaWorld had violated its duties as an employer by exposing trainers to "recognized hazards" when working with killer whales. The ruling means the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) can require SeaWorld to limit the interactions trainers have with killer whales.

The federal agency had fined the company $75,000, a sum later reduced to $12,000, after trainer Dawn Brancheau died in February 2010. She drowned after being pulled underwater by Tilikum, a 12,000-pound (5,400-kg) bull orca at the SeaWorld site in Orlando, Florida.

OSHA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Labor, had told SeaWorld it could resolve the problem by requiring trainers to be protected by physical barriers or by adopting other abatement measures.

SeaWorld, which operates 11 parks around the United States, said in a statement that it already has introduced new safety procedures, including removing trainers from the water during shows. Even after the court's ruling, "there will still be human interactions and performances with killer whales," the statement said.

The company said it had yet to decide on whether to appeal the decision.

The Labor Department said in a statement that courts have "consistently upheld our position that killer whales pose a danger to employees who are not adequately protected."

"BLACKFISH"

Human-orca interaction has long been filled with controversy, revisited last year with the release of the movie "Blackfish" about Brancheau's death and Tilikum's career as an entertainer and stud for other captive whales. SeaWorld has criticized the film as "inaccurate and misleading."

Rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) welcomed the court decision. Jared Goodman, the group's director of animal law, said it "brings to an end the days of trainers standing and riding on orcas for human amusement."

SeaWorld had appealed over the federal agency's application of federal safety law to an unusual workplace situation it had not regulated before.

The appeals court concluded that OSHA did not overstep its authority in bringing the action against SeaWorld.

"Statements by SeaWorld managers do not indicate that SeaWorld's safety protocols and training made the killer whales safe; rather, they demonstrate SeaWorld's recognition that the killer whales interacting with trainers are dangerous," Judge Judith Rogers wrote on behalf of the court.

She played down SeaWorld's concerns about the impact on its operations, saying that improved safety "does not change the essential nature of the business."

Judge Brett Kavanaugh wrote a dissenting opinion noting that people who work in dangerous fields in the sports and entertainment context are aware of the risks.

OSHA has "departed from tradition and stormed headlong into a new regulatory arena," he said.

The case is SeaWorld v. Dept. of Labor, 12-1375.
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School recruiter, 26, is named as bus crash victim

ORLAND, Calif. (AP) — A university recruiter was identified Friday as one of 10 people who died in a fiery crash that occurred when a FedEx tractor-trailer crossed a freeway median and slammed into a bus carrying high school students in California.

Arthur Arzola, 26, of Rancho Cucamonga was pronounced dead at a Sacramento hospital, coroner's officials said. None of the other people killed have been named.

Arzola was one of three adult chaperones killed on Thursday while accompanying 40 students from Southern California to Humboldt State University.

Arzola was an admissions counselor for the Northern California university who lived and recruited students in the Los Angeles area.

In his online bio for the job, he called himself thoughtful, compassionate and friendly, and said he liked to walk on the beach when he visited Humboldt.

A university statement praised him for his passionate commitment to helping low-income and first-generation students get into college.
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Obama blasts 'least productive Congress in modern history'

HOUSTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sharply criticized what he called the least productive U.S. Congress in modern history on Wednesday in a fund-raising speech that he used to try to energize Democrats to vote in November congressional elections.

Obama blasted Republicans in the U.S. Senate for blocking a Democratic-supported bill earlier in the day aimed at addressing a gap in pay between male and female workers. Republicans argued that pay discrimination is already illegal.

Obama also cited Republicans' refusal to agree to an immigration overhaul and an increase in the minimum wage as examples of what he called obstruction by his political opponents.

"This has become the least productive Congress in modern history, recent memory. And that's by objective measures - just basic activity," Obama said.

Obama was speaking to 60 contributors at the luxurious Houston home of trial lawyer John Eddie Williams. The event raised money for both the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Tickets for the event ranged between $16,200 and $64,800.

He also attended an earlier event benefiting the Democratic National Committee.

Obama is struggling to get Democratic voters excited about mid-term elections in November that will set the tone for the remainder of his presidency.

Usually the party that controls the White House during mid-term elections loses seats, and Republicans believe they will be able to build on their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and may oust Democrats from control of the Senate.

The president's political standing is also ringing alarm bells. After the disastrous rollout of his signature healthcare law last October, his job approval rating has fallen below 50 percent.

Obama said Republican "obstruction" this year may be a good political strategy if Democrats do not vote in the mid-terms. Democrats are active in presidential campaign years, he said, but "we have this congenital disease, which is in mid-term elections, we don't vote at the same rates."

"We need you to take these mid-terms as seriously as any presidential election that you've ever been involved in," said Obama.

Obama is spending two days in Texas. On Thursday he will speak in Austin at the presidential library of Lyndon B. Johnson to mark the 50th anniversary of the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act.
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Daughter: Beating victim now speaking in hospital

DETROIT (AP) — A suburban motorist who was brutally beaten by a Detroit mob after he stopped to check on a child struck by his pickup truck now is able to speak to relatives in a hospital, his daughter told The Associated Press Friday.

Doctors removed 54-year-old Steve Utash from a ventilator Thursday, Mandi Emerick said.

He had been in a drug-induced coma following an April 2 attack on the city's east side in which at least six people pummeled the Clinton Township tree trimmer as he tried to help a 10-year-old boy who stepped into the path of his truck.

"He looked at me and said my name and said, 'You're my daughter,'" Emerick told The AP. "He's not really there still. Sometimes he's able to understand and sometimes he talks just to talk.

"The doctors have said, 'Don't get discouraged.' It's really early. They say it's really good he is able to respond to commands."

Emerick first posted her father's medical progress on the gofundme.com website, where the family has received more than $160,000 in donations to help pay medical bills.

Utash suffered severe head injuries after being punched and kicked by the mob on the pavement outside a gas station. The boy he stopped to help, 10-year-old David Harris, was treated for a leg and other injuries.

Detroit police investigated whether the attack was racially motivated. Utash is white; his alleged attackers are all black. Of the five people arrested and charged, an ethnic intimidation charge has been filed only against a 16-year-old boy. He also was charged with assault and faces a hearing Saturday in juvenile court.

Utash remains in critical condition. The attack haunts him, according to Emerick.

"He says 'Help me! Get them off me!'" she said. "He gets worked up."

The family has been told it's too early to tell if Utash will suffer from memory loss of if he has any long-term damage.

"It's going to be a long time. It's going to be a long process," said Emerick. "We're taking it one day at a time."

Emerick, her siblings, other family members and friends attended a prayer service Thursday night at a Detroit church aimed at healing any racial divisions mounting from the attack.

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White House says Iran official will not get visa for U.N. ambassadorship

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Friday that an Iranian official who was in the student group that took U.S. diplomats hostage in 1979 will not be issued a visa to allow him to become Iran's ambassador to the United Nations.

President Barack Obama had come under strong pressure from the U.S. Congress not to allow Hamid Abutalebi into the country. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the United Nations and Iran had been told "that we will not issue a visa to Mr. Abutalebi."

The decision effectively bars Abutalebi of taking up the U.N. position.

The announcement came a day after the U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate in voting to bar the Iranian from entering the United States.

The legislation, which would need President Barack Obama's signature to become law, would deny admission of anyone as a representative to the United Nations who has engaged in terrorist activity against the United States.

"We concur with the Congress and share the intent of the bill," said Carney.

The U.S. government objects to Abutalebi because of his suspected participation in a Muslim student group that held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days starting in 1979, when the group seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, the Iranian capital.

After hearing about the former hostages' anger over Abutalebi, members of Congress jumped to pass legislation banning him, seeing the issue as a chance to look tough on Iran weeks after a new sanctions bill stalled in the Senate. Bills passed unanimously in both chambers this week in a rare show of partisanship.

"We have been very clear with the Iranians that this nomination was not viable," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said at a regular briefing.

However, the move prompted some concerns.

One congressional staffer said it could set a precedent for U.S. politicians or interest groups to pressure presidents to deny visas for political reasons. It could also prompt visa fights in other countries where international organizations have headquarters, according to the staffer, who requested anonymity to speak freely on the controversial issue.

The United Nations had said it hoped the issue could be resolved bilaterally. Iran has said that, "It has been a usual practice in the Iranian Foreign Ministry to formally appoint Ambassadors for all foreign postings, once all formalities pertaining to this process are completed."

The United Nations and the Iranian mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the U.S. decision.

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NATO to Russia: pull troops at Ukraine border

NATO's chief urged Russia on Friday to pull back its troops from its border with Ukraine.

Russia should contribute "to a de-escalation of the situation" and engage in a direct dialogue with the Ukrainian government, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said during a visit to Sofia, Bulgaria.

NATO is "not discussing military actions" but is focused on protecting its allies, and it "will take all steps necessary to make sure that this collective defense is effective," Rasmussen said.

Meanwhile, the organization is reinforcing support to its allies, "from the Baltic to the Black Sea," to deal with the instability created by Russia, Rasmussen said via Twitter.

NATO released additional satellite images Friday purportedly showing the Russian military buildup and rebutted Russian claims that other satellite photos released a day earlier were outdated. NATO said the photos were recent, gathered between late March and earlier this month.

"It is clear that the military buildup of forces occurred in early March 2014," NATO said.

Meanwhile, the destroyer USS Donald Cook has entered the Black Sea on a mission to demonstrate the U.S. "commitment to our allies and to enhance security readiness in the region," Navy spokesman Lt. Shawn P. Eklund said Friday.

Russia has called the U.S. military move, however, part of a systemic NATO buildup in the Black Sea.

An international crisis arose in Ukraine after Russia annexed its Crimean Peninsula in March under a pact signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin with the Prime Minister of Crimea and the mayor of the city of Sevastopol. Earlier, in a Crimean referendum, 96.7% of ballots favored Crimea leaving Ukraine and being annexed by Russia.

The United States now estimates there are up to 40,000 Russian troops near the border, based on classified and commercial satellite imagery.
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Oscar Pistorius: I didn't hear Reeva scream

Oscar Pistorius: "At no point did Reeva shout out or scream"
Oscar Pistorius has told his murder trial that girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp did not scream or shout as he grabbed a gun and fired shots that killed her.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said it was "improbable" that she would stand in the bathroom saying nothing while Mr Pistorius was just 3m (10ft) away shouting at her to call the police.

Mr Pistorius said he could not explain why she had not shouted out.

The athlete, 27, denies murder saying the killing was a terrible accident.

He admits killing Ms Steenkamp but says he fired his gun after mistaking her for an intruder.

He believed she had been in bed when he grabbed his gun, made his way to the bathroom and fired shots through the door.

The prosecution says he killed her after an argument.

On the third day of his cross-examination, Mr Nel pressed the Olympic sprinter to explain the final moments leading up to the shooting.

He asked why he had not checked whether Ms Steenkamp had heard his calls for her to phone the police, or why he had not taken her to safety instead of going to confront the supposed intruder.

Mr Pistorius said it was his personality to confront what he believed was an intruder.

The trial has been adjourned until Monday morning.

'She was scared of you'

Later, Mr Nel questioned Mr Pistorius's account that he had not heard Ms Steenkamp shout or scream during the whole incident.

He said it was the "most improbable" part of the account.

"At that stage when you shouted at Reeva to phone the police, she was 3m away from you in the toilet, but she didn't say anything," he said.

"Why would she not say anything?"

Reeva Steenkamp's mother, June, has said Mr Pistorius tried to say sorry to the family privately

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel began the day asking Mr Pistorius about his alarm system at home
Mr Pistorius said he did not know.

The prosecutor accused him of lying, and said he had shot Ms Steenkamp while she was talking to him from the bathroom.

"She wasn't scared of an intruder," he said. "She was scared of you."

He went on: "Are you sure that Reeva did not scream after the first shot?"

Mr Pistorius took a long time to answer, and broke down into sobs.

"At no point did Reeva shout out or scream," he said.

Mr Nel then disputed his claim, saying he would not have been able to hear if he had just fired his gun.

Prosecution witnesses have testified to hearing a woman scream, but the defence disputes their testimony.

'Fixated' on intruder

Mr Nel repeated a line of attack he had used on Thursday, testing the defendant's version of events, and accusing him of lying.

Mr Pistorius told the court he had heard a window opening and closing, and had immediately got out of bed and grabbed his gun.

"I told Reeva to get down and phone the police," he said.

Mr Nel asked if he had not looked at Ms Steenkamp, or asked if she had heard the noise.

"On the morning of the 14th I was sure of what I heard," he said.

"My whole being was fixated on this person that I thought was in the bathroom."

The double amputee faces life imprisonment if convicted of murdering the 29-year-old model.

If he is acquitted of murder, the court must consider an alternative charge of culpable homicide, for which he could receive up to 15 years in prison.

Mr Pistorius also faces charges of illegally firing a gun in public and of illegally possessing ammunition, both of which he denies.

There are no juries at trials in South Africa, and his fate will ultimately be decided by the judge, assisted by two assessors.
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NATO pics 'show Russia buildup' near Ukraine

NATO has released satellite photos that show the extent of Russia's military mobilization on its border with Ukraine -- including fighter jets, tanks, artillery and thousands of soldiers who are prepared to invade within 12 hours if called upon, say officials.


The photos appear to confirm Western leaders' fears that Russia may be preparing for a ground invasion of eastern Ukraine, despite NATO's call for Russia to withdraw its forces from the border.

What do the photos show?

The photos, which private satellite imaging firm DigitalGlobe says it took between March 22 and April 2, purportedly reveal dozens of Russian "fast jets," helicopters and infantry units that were not spotted in photos of the same areas last year.

NATO estimates there are up to 40,000 troops massed at various locations along the Ukrainian border, and says it has spotted Russian forces at more than 100 different sites.

The photos of military equipment and infantry personnel should be greater cause for concern than the ones of the fighter jets, according to experts who have examined the photos for CNN.

The photos of tanks, artillery battalions, and infantry brigades near Novocherkassk -- just 50 kilometers from the Ukrainian border -- show Russia's preparation for a potential invasion, says Igor Sutyagin, a research fellow for Russian studies at RUSI, a defense and security think tank.

Another photo shows more than a dozen MI8 Hips or MI24 Hinds attack helicopters sitting in a sparse air field at Belgorod, a Russian facility just 40 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

"Moving these helicopters closer to the operational area would make sense in the event of an invasion," Sutyagin says.

Another photo purportedly shows a build-up of Russian Su-27 Flanker, Su-24 Fencer, and MiG-31 Foxhound fighter jets at the formerly vacant Buturlinovka air base, 150 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
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National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) registration is now at Calabar Municipality Local Government Area

General well known facilities were people do go and make their NIMC registrations done, is mainly known in State headquarters Office at Calabar highway Road.

Meeting with one of the representative at Calabar Municipality LGA "Mrs. Cynthia Ogbeche", who review more reasons why the work offload from the "State headquarters Office in Calabar highway" was brought down to Calabar Municipality LGA.

She said "the exercises of this NIMC registration programs is to cover the whole "Cross River State" for people above 18years to be registered within a space of time, which are in process, this exercises are almost place in the whole "Cross River State LGA"

The program also reflect on terminating the old national ID card to be replace with NIMC card which is due for process after 10years.

Many people around the state love going to the state headquarters for their registrations of NIMC to be done while the exercises is now available close to there resident.

She said "I she asked a client who claim to come all the way from state headquarters office" to do the registrations in her office, "why the stress?" While going this far when this exercise is so close to you?

The person in question's answered that they are huge crowed of people waiting to be registered since early in the morning at the state headquarters office and he can't wait due to is nature of job, and he doesn't know that the registrations exercises are done just four building away close to him.

In a chat with "Mrs. Cynthia Ogbeche" she said the numbers of people coming to get registered at there unit is very low, and she expect much more turn up from the people around that area to turn up by next week.

She concluded by saying "if you check Cross River State censors list" you discovered that Calabar main town has the highest populations of all, and this brought a verify notice to the government in extending this exercises through other Government Ministry place of work around Calabar Main town for people to get registered.
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Australian PM 'confident' ping from black box

Are signals from Flight 370's black box?

The painstaking search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 got a vote of confidence Friday that the effort is headed in the right direction, but officials noted that much work remains.


"We have very much narrowed down the search area, and we are very confident that the signals that we are detecting are from the black box," Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said during an official visit to China, where he met with President Xi Jinping.

Abbott was referring to the plane's flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder. Locator beacons attached to them are designed to emit high-pitched signals, or pings.

Over the past week, four such pings have been detected by a ping locator towed by the Australian vessel Ocean Shield.

"We are confident that we know the position of the black box flight recorder to within some kilometers, but confidence in the approximate position of the black box is not the same as recovering wreckage from almost 4½ kilometers beneath the sea or finally determining all that happened on that flight," he said.

A fifth ping, detected Thursday by a sonobuoy dropped by an airplane, is "unlikely to be related to the aircraft black boxes," Australian chief search coordinator Angus Houston said Friday.

"On the information I have available to me, there has been no major breakthrough in the search for MH370," Houston said in a statement. "Further analysis continues to be undertaken by Australian Joint Acoustic Analysis Centre."

Friday is Day 35 in the search, and the batteries powering the flight data recorders' locator beacons are certified to emit signals for only 30 days after they get wet.

That has injected the search effort with a heightened sense of urgency.

The signal is "starting to fade, and we are hoping to get as much information as we can before the signal finally expires," Abbott said.
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Omagh bomb: Seamus Daly charged with 29 murders

Vincent Kearney gives a brief background to the bombing
A 43-year-old man has been charged with the murders of 29 people who were killed in the 1998 Omagh bomb.

The Real IRA attack was the worst single atrocity of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The victims included a woman who was pregnant with twins.

Seamus Daly, from Culloville, County Monaghan, was arrested by serious crime branch detectives in Newry on Monday.

He was one of four men ordered to pay more than £1.5m in damages to the victims' families in a civil case.

Denied involvement

Mr Daly is expected to appear in court on Friday, charged with the murders.

He will also be charged with an attempted bomb attack in Lisburn, County Antrim, in 1998.

No-one has ever been convicted of carrying out the Omagh bombing in a criminal court.

However, relatives of some of the victims brought a landmark civil action against five men they claimed were responsible, including Seamus Daly.

The court ruled that he and three of the others were responsible, and they were later ordered to pay more than £1.5m in damages.

Seamus Daly has always denied any involvement in the bombing.

Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan was killed in the bombing, described the decision to bring charges as an "important and positive development".

He added: "We have put the police under pressure to pursue the investigation."
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MP Nigel Evans cleared of sexual assaults

Former deputy speaker of the House of Commons Nigel Evans has been cleared of a string of sex abuse charges, including one of rape.

The rape claim was one of several allegations made by seven men during a five-week trial at Preston Crown Court.

The former Conservative MP was said to have used his political influence to take advantage of his alleged victims.

But the defence pointed out inconsistencies in various witness accounts.

'Months of hell'

The jury unanimously found Mr Evans not guilty of one count of rape, five sexual assaults, one attempted sexual assault and two indecent assaults.

Following the acquittal, fellow MPs issued messages of support for Mr Evans, with some questioning why he was ever charged.

The 56-year Ribble Valley MP, currently sitting as an independent, burst into tears as the verdicts were announced.

Speaking outside the court, Mr Evans said he had been "through 11 months of hell".

The MP said: "This isn't a time for celebration or euphoria.

"As William Roache said on this very spot, there are no winners in these cases, so no celebration.

"Nothing will ever be the same again."

Prime Minister David Cameron was one of many of Mr Evans's Westminster colleagues to comment on the acquittal.

Mr Cameron said: "I very much welcome what he said on the steps of the court and I think everyone should pay heed to that.

"I'm sure he will want to get on with working with his constituents in the Ribble Valley and, as for the future, I'm sure it's something he'll be discussing with the chief whip when he returns to Parliament."

Labour MP for Huddersfield Barry Sheerman said of Mr Evans: "He may have been a bit daft on occasions but never malign."

Michael Fabricant, who was sacked as Conservative party vice-chairman on Wednesday, wrote on Twitter: "Wonderful news that Nigel Evans has been acquitted on all counts. The party whip must now be restored to him without delay!"

Conservative MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire Stephen Crabb tweeted: "So pleased for my friend Nigel Evans today. A good man. Horrid experience to go through."

Dinner party

Fellow Conservative MP Peter Bone said police and prosecutors faced "serious questions" over their handling of the case.

He tweeted: "Good day for Nigel Evans but why was he charged in the first place? Serious questions for the police and CPS to answer! So pleased for Nigel."

A CPS spokesperson said: "The complainants in this case provided clear accounts of the alleged offending and it was right that all of the evidence was put before a jury."

Lancashire Police said all the evidence had been carefully scrutinised and the force remained committed to investigating accusations, no mater how historical and regardless of the status of the alleged offender.

Mr Evans's trial had heard he raped a man after a dinner party at the MP's home in Pendleton, Lancashire, in March last year.

The 56-year-old MP said the sex with the complainant, aged 22, was consensual.

In 2003, Mr Evans was said to have indecently assaulted two men in their 20s when he approached them in public places while drunk and put his hand down their trousers.

The jury heard in his defence that these were examples of "drunken over-familiarity" and Mr Evans had no recollection of either event.

The MP gave up the Tory party whip to become deputy speaker, and could potentially have it returned following his acquittal.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: "We are very pleased Nigel Evans has been cleared of all charges after this very difficult time."

Mr Evans, who was born in Swansea and lives in Pendleton, Lancashire, became deputy speaker in June 2010, a politically neutral role.

He resigned from the post after he was charged in September 2013 but continued to represent his constituents as an independent.
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EBOLA VIRUS MAY HAVE SPREAD TO MALI

Potential outbreak occurs as Guinean capital remains shaken by dozens of deaths

Mali on Thursday identified its first possible cases of Ebola since the start of an outbreak in neighboring Guinea, adding to fears that the deadly virus was spreading across West Africa.

More than 90 people have already died in Guinea and Liberia in what the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders, has warned could turn into an unprecedented epidemic in an impoverished region with poor health
services.

Foreign mining companies have locked down operations and pulled out some international staff in mineral-rich Guinea. French health authorities have also put doctors and hospitals on alert in case people traveling to and from former colonies in the region pick
up the disease.

Three people in Mali had been placed in
quarantine, and samples were sent to health officials in the United States for tests, Malian government officials said in a statement aired on public television late Thursday.

"Three suspected cases of hemorrhagic fever have been detected in the country. Samples have been taken and sent abroad for analysis," the country's Health Minister Ousmane Kone told Agence France-Presse.

Pending results from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, where the samples were sent, the patients were isolated and were receiving appropriate medication.

"A high-speed intervention team has been created to follow the evolution of the situation on the ground," read the statement that aired on television. It added that the health of the three suspected victims was showing signs of improving.

The latest outbreak originated in Guinea two months ago and has since spread to neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Gambia placed two people in quarantine, although that country's Health Ministry recently said the cases were negative.

Guinea's Health Ministry said two more
suspected victims of the virus had died,
bringing its death count to 86.

Liberia also reported three new deaths
among its suspected 14 cases, raising its death toll to seven.

"We need to fight to contain it. A medical team from MSF came today to help train some of our health workers," said Walter Gwenegale, Liberia's health minister.

The disease, which has killed 1,500 people since it was first recorded in 1976 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, causes vomiting, diarrhea and external bleeding. It has a fatality rate of up to 90 percent.

Many health systems in West Africa are
poorly equipped to deal with an epidemic, and aid workers have warned of the difficulty of fighting infections scattered across several locations and in densely populated areas such
as Guinea's capital, Conakry.

Some blame the government for not
immediately quarantining an individual who carried the virus from the remote south, where the bulk of the 137 cases are reported, to the capital.

There have now been 16 cases in Conakry, among them five deaths, a spokesman for the World Health Organization said Friday.

"How can we trust them now? We have to look after ourselves," Dede Diallo, a Guinean who has stopped working and kept her children at home since the outbreak, told Reuters.

Conakry's luxury Palm Camayenne Hotel, popular among businessmen and politicians, is running at less than a third of occupancy, according to a receptionist.

Flight data told a similar story. A round-trip Brussels Airlines flight between the Belgian capital and Conakry on Thursday had just 55 people arriving and 200 leaving, an airline employee said.

Regional airline Gambia Bird delayed the start of a route to Conakry due to begin last weekend, while Senegal has closed its border with Guinea because of the outbreak.
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Can we live without processed food?

Cakes and doughnuts are forbidden but not all processed food is a bad thing
The white stuff you sprinkle on your food is back in the headlines. Whether it's salt or sugar, it seems many of us may be consuming too much. So how easy is it to live without processed food for a week? Helen Briggs finds out.

Sunday

The first day of my new regime involves rifling through kitchen cupboards to see what I'm permitted to eat. The definition of processed food varies, but according to the US Food and Drug Administration it comprises:

Any food other than a raw agricultural commodity and includes any raw agricultural commodity that has been subject to processing, such as canning, cooking, freezing, dehydration or milling.
So out with pasta, oil, tinned tomatoes and many other staples.

Unlimited fruit and vegetables are an easy option, along with the humble baked spud.

But what about protein? I don't eat meat so that means soaking and cooking my own lentils and chickpeas, rather than buying them tinned.

Monday

It's a work day, so I have to pack an entire day's supply of rations. I can't rely on my usual soup or salad as it's bound to contain something processed, like stock cubes or mayonnaise.

So, I load up with fruit - banana for breakfast; apple and oranges for snacks.

Then, horror of horror, I'm struck by qualms about coffee - does it count as processed?

Victoria Taylor, senior dietician at the British Heart Foundation, has agreed to help me with my quest, so I ping off a panicky email.

Thankfully, she grants me a concession - I can have coffee as long as I buy the coffee beans and grind them myself.

Another thing to add to my to-do list, then.

Tuesday

Tired this morning after an evening up late soaking chick-peas, boiling lentils and grinding coffee beans.

My children are peering into dirty saucepans: "What's all this burnt gooey stuff, Mummy?"

My rucksack is bulging with pots of things - home-made chick-pea salad, nuts, bananas, bunch of grapes, and yet another variety of home-made salad.

I am starting to crave sugar, and patrol hungrily around the canteen in search of anything non-processed.

Wednesday

A new routine this morning. To analyse what I'm eating, Victoria has asked me to weigh all my food three days a week.

To add to the grinding, soaking and boiling, I now need to put everything on the scales.

On the plus side I think my diet is having some effect - I feel healthy and full of energy.

Birthday cake is tricky on a no-processed food diet

Lentils and beans cooked at home are a healthy option
Thursday

I've discovered that adding herbs to things is a good way to get flavour without using salt, sugar or sauces.

Mint tea has become a speciality - fresh mint in the bottom of a mug, topped up with hot water, and you're good to go.

I am also saving a fortune on ditching take-out coffees (although I have to confess to the occasional illicit non home-ground Americano).

Friday

I like to think I'm pretty good at checking food labels. But a cursory glance, before chucking it into the supermarket trolley, is no longer good enough.

I am finding out that sugar or salt can be sneaked in to many things you wouldn't expect.

The unprocessed pistachio nuts, complete with shells, I pick up in the supermarket queue actually have added salt.

And sugar can be hard to spot on food labels, listed as high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, malt syrup, maltose and evaporated cane juice, among other things.

Saturday

In the UK, cooking food at home is becoming a thing of the past.

In the last decade, money spent on take-aways and eating out has gone up by almost a third.

I spend my Saturday the old-fashioned way - batch-cooking meals that can be eaten over the course of the next few days.

Sunday

A family birthday so eating out is unavoidable.

The waiter is starting to get impatient with my questions. Is the risotto made with home-made stock? Does it have any added sugar/salt/artificial things?

Eating out is a minefield when you're forbidden from adding anything to your food.

Whether it's a take-away sandwich, a morning cappuccino or a birthday celebration in a restaurant, finding out exactly what is in your food is a nutritional nightmare.

The verdict

The week has been enlightening - and it's definitely something I will do again.

But without a lot of forward planning and preparation, it's impractical for many.

I could have opted for a more varied diet such as grilled fish and steamed vegetables, but without my own personal chef or a job working from home, that was beyond me.

So how did I do? According to Victoria Taylor, not too badly. She says based on a comparison with my "control" week, my salt and saturated fat intake were both reduced by half.

The main reason for me - as a non-meat eater - was giving up bread and cheese, which, while not conventional processed foods - can be relatively high in salt and saturated fat.

"Although Helen wasn't feasting on foods we typically think of as processed, like ready-made meals, pizzas or crisps, her experiment does show how it's often the everyday foods like cheese and bread that make a big difference to the amount of saturated fat and salt we are eating," she says.

"Processed foods aren't always a bad thing but this does highlight the importance of clear food labels.

"Colour coded labels which give at-a-glance information are an easy way to work out if the food you're eating is the healthy choice."
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Doctors implant lab-grown vagina

Scans of the pelvic region were used to design a tube like 3D-scaffold for each patient.

Four women have had new vaginas grown in the laboratory and implanted by doctors in the US.

A tissue sample and a biodegradable scaffold were used to grow vaginas in the right size and shape for each woman as well as being a tissue match.

They all reported normal levels of "desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction" and painless intercourse.

Experts said the study, published in the Lancet, was the latest example of the power of regenerative medicine.

'I feel fortunate'

In each woman the vagina did not form properly while they were still inside their mother's womb, a condition known as vaginal aplasia.

Current treatments can involve surgically creating a cavity, which is then lined with skin grafts or parts of the intestine.

The scaffold is made of a biodegradable material
Doctors at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Centre in North Carolina used pioneering technology to build vaginas for the four women who were all in their teenage years at the time.

Scans of the pelvic region were used to design a tube like 3D-scaffold for each patient.

A small tissue biopsy was taken from the poorly developed vulva and grown to create a large batch of cells in the laboratory.

Muscle cells were attached to the outside of the scaffold and vaginal-lining cells to the inside.

The vaginas were carefully grown in a bioreactor until they were suitable to be surgically implanted into the patients.

One of the women with an implanted vagina, who wished to keep her name anonymous, said: "I believe in the beginning when you find out you feel different.

"I mean while you are living the process, you are seeing the possibilities you have and all the changes you'll go through.

"Truly I feel very fortunate because I have a normal life, completely normal."

'An important thing'

All the women reported normal sexual function.

Vaginal aplasia can lead to other abnormalities in the reproductive organs, but in two of the women the vagina was connected to the uterus.

There have been no pregnancies, but for those women it is theoretically possible.

The scaffold is placed in an incubator
Dr Anthony Atala, director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest told the BBC News website: "Really for the first time we've created a whole organ that was never there to start with, it was a challenge."

He said a functioning vagina was a "very important thing" for these women's lives and witnessing the difference it made to their lives "was very rewarding to see".

This is the first time the results have been reported, however, the first implants took place eight years ago.

'Most important questions'

Meanwhile researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland have used similar techniques to reconstruct the noses of patients after skin cancer.

The other side of the scaffold is coated with smooth muscle cells before it is incubated a second time
It could replace the need to take cartilage from the ribs or ears in order to rebuild the damage caused by cutting the cancer away.

Prof Martin Birchall, who has worked on lab-grown windpipes, commented: "These authors have not only successfully treated several patients with a difficult clinical problem, but addressed some of the most important questions facing translation of tissue engineering technologies.

The steps between first-in-human experiences such as those reported here and their use in routine clinical care remain many, including larger trials with long-term follow-up, the development of clinical grade processing, scale-out, and commercialisation."
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Reincarnation Isn't Kind to Trump, Zuckerberg and Gates in Luxury Magazine Ads

Enjoy your money now.

Donald Trump, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg get reincarnated as an owl, a llama and a sheep, respectively, in AlmapBBDO's unusual campaign for Top Magazine, a luxury fashion and lifestyle title in Brazil.

"In his next life, even Donald Trump could come back as an owl," we're told. "The time to enjoy your money is now."

The visuals are most amusing. Gates keeps his trademark glasses, while Zuck's wooly locks and dental work survive the transformation. And of course, Trump's hair is still atrociously—wait for it, because it's worth the wait, here it comes—feathered. (OK, it wasn't worth the wait.)

Belgium's TMF channel tried a similar theme in 2008, showing Amy Winehouse as a sad sheep in a most unsavory barnyard scenario. And a South African employment site once suggested that lawyers, tobacco execs and paparazzi would return as ticks, maggots and dung-heap flies. By comparison, Top's beastly trio really don't fare so badly at all. C'mon, Zuck, why the long face?

Credits below. Via Ads of the World.

CREDITS
Client: Top Magazine
Agency: AlmapBBDO, Brazil
General Creative Director: Luiz Sanches
Creative Directors: André Kassu, Marcos Medeiros, Bruno Prosperi
Art Director: André Sallowicz
Copywriters: Dudu Barcelos, Filipe Medici
Illustrators: Surachai Puthikulangkura, Supachai U-Rairat
Photographer: Surachai Puthikulangkura
Graphic producers: José Roberto Bezerra, Alberto Lago
Account Executives: Gustavo Burnier, Filipe Bartholomeu, Johana Quintana, Matheus Trigo
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UEFA Champion league draw is out no team is favour to win easily to the finalise Who is lift the UEFA Champion League trophy?

The Blues are set to face loan star Thibaut Courtois and summer transfer target Diego Costa, while Pep Guardiola's holders will take on Cristiano Ronaldo and Co.

Chelsea face Atletico Madrid, while Real Madrid will meet Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals.

Jose Mourinho's men have been drawn against Diego Simeone's surprise packages, who boast Blues loanee Thibaut Courtois and summer transfer target Diego Costa.

Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, will resume hostilities with the club he battled against for four seasons as Barcelona manager when his Bayern Munich side take on Real Madrid.

Bayern are hoping to become the first club to retain the Champions League in the tournament's modern format, but will face a tough examination from a team boasting Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.

Chelsea, meanwhile, are looking to regain the trophy they won in miraculous circumstances against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in May 2012.

Both semi-final first legs will take place in the Spanish capital on April 22 and April 23, with the return matches to take place a week later.

SEMI-FINAL DRAW

REAL MADRID VS BAYERN MUNICH

ATLETICO MADRID VS CHELSEA
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Twitter's Secret to Growth Is 580 Million Users Waiting to Reengage

Twitter's Secret to Growth Is 580 Million Users Waiting to Reengage
Forecast shows 255 million on board, more on sidelines

Twitter is signing up 50 million new users a month, a rate at which would put the network at more than 1 billion users sometime next year, if not for the fact it loses or suspends more than half those accounts—30 million a month—for violating its policies, according to the latest data from Twopcharts.

The Twitter tracking firm revealed new user statistics that shed light on the social network's greatest threat and ultimately its most hopeful area for growth. Even after Twitter cuts through the spammers, the fake accounts and the impersonators, it still has more than double its current user base—580 million potentially reenergized people—lying dormant on the platform waiting for a reason to reengage.

Last month, Twopcharts estimated there have been 1.5 billion signups in Twitter's eight-year history, but 500 million were deactivated or deleted as a result of spam and other transgressions. Twopcharts periodically reveals such numbers about Twitter housecleaning and what portion of the network falls off the radar. Now, the 580 million inactive legitimate users could represent Twitter's best future growth prospects, according to Twopcharts and analysts at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Twitter's troubles retaining new users and keeping them interested have been well documented. Active usage is growing as Twitter addresses its core problem with a redesign and new features like adding emojis that appeal to broader online audiences. Twopcharts said user growth was 5 percent quarter over quarter and 25 percent year over year in the first quarter, helping the network top 250 million monthly active users for the first time.

Twitter officially releases results later this month, but SunTrust released a report today on user and revenue forecasts. Here's a look at the numbers:

In 2010, only 5 percent of newly registered accounts were suspended, now about 50 percent of them get deactivated.

This means, Twitter attracts 50 million signups a month, but only nets about 20 million new users.

Of those, only 25 percent of new users are active after 12 months, which accounted for the net growth of 56 million last year.

There are still 975 million registered accounts on the platform.

255 million of those are monthly active users, whether tweeting or passively viewing, and 140 million accounts are considered abandoned or place holding. That leaves 580 million inactive users that could be brought back into the active fold.

Only half of all active users, 126 million, actually tweet at least once a month, and the remaining 129 million just watch. And 43 million users tweet daily.

Facebook was still growing users at a rate of 50 percent or more even when it had around 500 million active users, twice as much as Twitter, growing at 25 percent year over year today.

Facebook has 201 million users in the U.S. compared to Twitter's 54 million.

SunTrust forecasted $217 million in ad revenue in the first quarter, a 116 percent increase year over year.
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Four Ways to Avoid Being Sued by a Celebrity Over a Tweet

Legal experts share tips for brands as Heigl takes Duane Reade to court.
 
Katherine Heigl wants $6M in damages from a Duane Reade tweet Photo: Getty Images

When you're the social media manager for a brand, a celebrity being photographed with your product is probably the best and worst thing that can happen to you. It's a PR dream and an intellectual-property nightmare.

As New York pharmacy chain Duane Reade learned this week, cavalierly pushing out a celebrity photo on Twitter can have some severe repercussions. The store's tweet featuring a paparazzi photo of Katherine Heigl shopping at a Duane Reade has resulted in a lawsuit from Heigl, who's demanding $6 million in damages.

"Courts are perfectly willing to treat these kinds of tweets as advertising and promotion,"
said University of Maryland Law Professor James Grimmelmann. "That means that despite the spontaneity of what comes up in social media, brands need to be thinking about it with the foresight that they use with advertising in newspapers and magazines."

So how can other brands celebrate their A-list customers in social media without landing in court? We asked experts on copyright law in the digital age to share a few tips that could potentially save your company millions of dollars (or at least save you from being publicly shamed by the celebrities in whose glow you were attempting to bask).

1. Get permission (which you're probably not going to do, so skip to No. 2).

Obviously, the smartest way to go when sharing a photo you don't own is to get written permission from the copyright holder and the person in the photo. Journalism outlets, even those of the tabloid variety, can run celebrity photos under the protection of the First Amendment, but marketers usually play under a different set of rules.

"Most states recognize at least some form of a right of publicity," said Courtney Barclay, a professor at Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications.

"Whenever that image, voice or likeness is used for any sort of promotional gain, be it a tweet or a traditional ad on TV, if that's done without that person's permission, they have right to damages."

Barclay, an expert in privacy and advertising law, said she would recommend any business to get permission before sharing a photo on Twitter or Facebook. While social network terms of service often allow the sharing of copyrighted photos (such as through retweeting) Barclay says that permission does not extend to commercial use.

"Get consent. If you want to put that image up, try to take social media out of the equation," Barclay said. "Whatever you would do to use that photo in a print ad, it's the same process, because at the end of the day, it's the same legal claim.

2. Retweet without commentary.

The second most conservative approach for brands who want to share a photo of a celebrity is to simply retweet or otherwise share the original with little or no change to the phrasing.

In the case of Duane Reade's Heigl tweet, if the brand felt it vital to share the paparazzi photo, it could have done so by retweeting a post from the original source, gossip hub Just Jared. Instead, the chain added a long self-congratulatory message and even hashtagged itself.

The First Amendment generally protects brands' ability to share information, experts say, but as this sharing tilts toward promotion or implied endorsement, those protections evaporate quickly.

Brands could get away with "the straight retweet without any added commentary," Barclay said, though she warns it's still far better to get permission.

3. Say you're flattered, and be transparent.

In contrast to Samsung's Ortiz-Obama selfie, which confused consumers and may even lead to a White House selfie ban, brands should be very clear about their relationship to any celebrity photo they're sharing.

"Think about how to phrase the tweet or the post in a way that makes it clear that the origin was something else, that this is a candid paparazzi shot, for example—something that makes your distance from the celebrity clear and your distance from staging the photograph clear," said James Grimmelmann, an expert in digital intellectual property who teaches at Maryland's Francis King Carey School of Law.

To Grimmelmann, this is where Duane Reade likely got itself into trouble.

"One of the problems with the Duane Reade tweet," he said, "was that the phrasing of the tweet is close to indistinguishable from what they would have written if it were an endorsement."

A safer approach, he said, would have been for the brand to act "surprised and delighted" by the photo rather than crafting a promotional-sounding note like the one Duane Reade published: "Even @KatieHeigl can't resist shopping #NYC's favorite drugstore."

"If the brand can make it clear that they're not involved with it, that they're flattered by it and that they're not going to use this as the centerpiece of a marketing campaign," Grimmelmann said, "not only will you be on the right side of the law, you're less likely to tick off the celebrity."

4. If they ask you to take it down, take it down.

According to a report today in Us Weekly, Heigl's people asked for the chain's tweet to be removed before pursuing legal action. "They called and asked for it to be taken down, and Duane Reade ignored them," an unnamed source tells the magazine. "She tried repeatedly to have this settled without a lawsuit."

As word of the lawsuit spread across news and gossip sites alike Thursday, the original tweet remained live on Duane Reade's feed, leading some to wonder if the brand was digging in its heels. As of this morning, though, the tweet had been deleted.

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This Japanese Vitaminwater Ad Set in New York City Is So, So Bizarre With music from Das Racist's Heems

It's usually off-putting when inanimate objects have faces, but in this new Japanese Vitaminwater commercial, which features a person with a boom box for a head and spinning turntable eyes, that wasn't weird enough.

Nope, they had to go all out for a new coconut-flavored drink, and it's one of the weirder (but not gross!) things I've seen.

They had to have Heems from Das Racist rapping as Turntable Head dashes around to some of New York's latest trendy spots. It's all part of the New York remix, which is New York culture's way of giving old things new life, says Heems. (Ugh.)

Apparently the new coconut flavor is Queens-born Vitaminwater's own New York remix.

OK then!
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Latest Galaxy S5 Rumor Fact Check: Here’s what we thought we knew

Rumors are a funny thing: When they're right, people brag, but when they're wrong, we just forget about them. On page one, we told you what we now know about the Galaxy S5 as it was revealed by Samsung, but here is a look at all the rumors and speculation that circulated the Internet before it was announced. We've marked each rumor as true or false.

TRUE: Samsung Unpacked event Feb. 24, hints at Galaxy S5 launch

The annual release schedule for smartphone flagships has become pretty standard in recent years. The Galaxy S2 was unveiled in February and released in May 2011. The Galaxy S3 was revealed and released in May 2012. The Galaxy S4 was shown off in March and released in April 2013. However, it looks like Samsung is pushing its next phone forward after disappointing S4 sales.

Following speculation the Galaxy S5 would debut at, or just before, Mobile World Congress at the end of February, Samsung has sent out invitations to the first official Unpacked media event of the year. It'll take place in Barcelona on February 24, which is also the first day of MWC 2014. Although it hasn't been confirmed the S5 will be the star of the show, the use of the number 5 at the end of the invite's title drops a substantial hint of what's to come.

If the earlier leak is correct, and it wasn't far off with the date and time, then we should expect the S5 to go on sale in April, which is more or less in-line with the Galaxy S4. It could be slightly earlier though, as according to this Korean news source, production of the phone was rumored to start at least a month earlier than the Galaxy S4.

HALF TRUE: Samsung may add Magazine UX, and redesigned interface to the Galaxy S5

Clarification by Jeffrey VC on 3-5-2014: The GS5 has a new interface, but Samsung didn't add its Magazine UX to the phone. The new interface actually looks closer to Google's vision for Android and has less bloatware than previous Samsung phones. We were impressed with it at MWC.

At CES 2014, Samsung launched a new range of tablets under the Galaxy Note Pro name, and one of the headline features was the introduction of the Magazine UX software. It's a major alteration, and could be designed to usher in a new Samsung-backed operating system underneath in the future – like the aforementioned Tizen – all with limited disruption for the user. There's a good chance we'll see something similar on the Galaxy S5.

At the time, Magazine UX was viewed as evidence Samsung wanted to get rid of Android, but since then, bridges have been rebuilt between the two firms, thanks to the sale of Motorola to Lenovo, and the signing of a 10-year patent sharing deal. 

All this may be too late to alter much on the Galaxy S5 though, particularly if a series of leaked images from the @evleaks Twitter account turn out to be accurate. One of the screenshots shows an icon labelled, "Magazine," hinting the Note Pro tablet's Magazine UX will be included. The swish new version of TouchWiz, Samsung's much-maligned Android UI, appears to use elements familiar to Windows Phone users, and even those who've experienced HTC's BlinkFeed home screen. Here, it looks colorful, visually interesting, and less cluttered than the current version.

To go along with this, a second event invitation may have included our first look at Samsung's redesigned TouchWiz icons. Flatter and more minimalist than before, similar examples then turned up on a leaked screenshot, supposedly taken from a new Samsung device.

FALSE: High-end Prime and basic Standard versions of the S5

Clarification by Jeffrey VC on 3-5-2014: There is only one version of the Galaxy S5 announced so far.

KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has speculated we'll see a pair of Galaxy S5 smartphones announced, and like Samsung has done in the past, the two models will have key differences. He calls one the S5 Standard, but says this isn't the final name, and lists the spec as a 5.2-inch 1080p screen, a Snapdragon 800/Exynos 5 Octa processor, and 2GB of RAM. 

The relatively ordinary Standard could be joined by the S5 Prime, which could share a 5.2-inch screen but up the resolution to 2560 x 1440 pixels, boost the RAM to 3GB, and the processor could be swapped for the latest Exynos 5 Octa. Kuo also adds the S5 will have a plastic body, a 16-megapixel camera, and a 2850mAh battery.

The good news is, KGI expects both the Prime and the Standard to be sold internationally, with the worldwide version of the Prime still using the Exynos 5430 octa-core chip. Rumors surrounding this chip suggest it'll be an iPhone 5S rivaling 64-bit chip.

As the phone's release gets ever closer, the leaks keep on coming. A picture, supposedly taken of the S5′s packaging, seems to confirm many of the above specs again. A 5.25-inch AMOLED screen with a QHD, that's 2560 x 1440, resolution is top of the list, along with a 2.5GHz quad-core processor and 3GB of RAM. A 3000mAh battery, GPS, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, and HD Voice support are also mentioned. The one difference is the camera, which will apparently have 20-megapixels, rather than the 16-megapixels we were expecting.

Not long after the iPhone 5S was revealed Samsung's mobile head, JK Shin told the Korea Times, "our next smartphones will have 64-bit processing functionality." According to Digital Daily in Korea, the new Exynos processor is a 14nm chip with 64-bit support and ARM's Cortex A53/A57 Big.Little octa-core configuration. However, KGI doesn't agree with all of this, and its report says the chip will be built using a 20nm process, and will be a 32-bit chip. We would expect at least 3GB of RAM to back that up, as does KGI, but Samsung is already producing 4GB LPDDR3 mobile DRAM, so that's always a possibility.

Mobile industry watcher Eldar Murtazin has sent out a tweet containing the S5′s possible spec list. It's stated the phone will have a 5.24-inch display with a 1440p resolution, adding up to a pixel density of 560ppi, and come with either a Snapdragon 805 or Exynos 6 chip. A 16-megapixel rear camera, a 3.2-megapixel front camera, a 3200mAh battery, and a choice of 32GB or 64GB internal memory are also mentioned.

TRUE: A 16-megapixel camera, but no optical image stabilization

Clarification by Jeffrey VC on 3-5-2014: The Galaxy S5 has a 16-megapixel camera and no optical image stabilization. 

There were early suggestions that the Galaxy S5 would sport a 13-megapixel camera, possibly with optical image stabilization, but now we're hearing different. ET News predicts that Samsung will opt for a 16-megapixel sensor that's capable of better low-light performance than the competition. Leakster @evleaks has published a test picture supposedly snapped with the Verizon version of the S5. The camera's EXIF data reveals it has 16-megapixels, but little else.

However, a 16-megapixel camera isn't set in stone, as a leaked picture of the S5′s packaging lists it as coming with a 20-megapixel camera instead. In December last year, a report stated Samsung was planning to add a 16-megapixel camera to one in four of its 2014 smartphones, and was developing a 20-megapixel camera for use in 2015. As neither source is official, things may have changed, so both megapixel counts remain possible options.

Regardless of its size, the new sensor will be produced in-house and feature Samsung's ISOCELL technology which, "substantially increases light sensitivity and effectively controls the absorption of electrons, resulting in higher color fidelity even in poor lighting conditions."

Hope of the Galaxy S5′s camera having optical image stabilization have also taken a hit, as a rumor states Samsung is still having trouble sourcing the components, at least in a size that would be suitable for the usually slimline device. Optical image stabilization was thought to have been dropped from the Galaxy Note 3 due to a shortage of the modules.

FALSE: The S5′s 1440p resolution screen could be made by Sharp

Clarification by Jeffrey VC on 3-5-2014: The Galaxy S5 has a standard Full HD, or 1080p, screen much like the Galaxy S4. No phone has a 1440p screen yet.

We're expecting 2560 x 1440 pixel resolutions to become the standard on top-of-the-range Android smartphones during the next couple of years, so it makes sense Samsung's flagship will be one of the first to showcase a 1440p display, and most current rumors back this up.

Both Samsung and LG have confirmed such a screen is in the works, and one has already made its debut on the Vivo XPlay 3S. However, a rumor spread through the Chinese website IT168.com suggests Samsung has chosen a 1440p LPTS screen produced by Sharp for the S5, as it has had difficulty making AMOLED screens at such a high resolution. However, a Korean news source, quoting a Samsung Display executive, says the company has finished working on a 1440p screen of its own and it would be fitted to a smartphone soon. 

FALSE: Multi-person video conferencing, using both cameras

Clarification by Jeffrey VC on 3-5-2014: This feature was not announced.

A patent uncovered by GalaxyClub.nl hints that Samsung may be updating its ChatON messaging service to include multi-person conference calls. The listing, which includes the screenshot you see here, indicates the software may enable both front and rear video cameras, along with multiple streams visible along the bottom of the screen. It sounds a little like Google's own conference call system available through Hangouts, which can support ten different feeds at the same time. Should the software being included with the Galaxy S5, it may come as either a part of ChatON, or a new TouchWiz feature.

FALSE: This one comes in metal

Clarification by Jeffrey VC on 3-5-2014: This one does not come in metal. Samsung stuck with a plastic shell, like previous Galaxy phones.

The idea that Samsung might break with tradition and produce a flagship with a metal body instead of plastic first surfaced way back in June. It was a vague notion to begin with, but in August the S5 metal chassis rumor got some meat on its bones when Korean news site ET News suggested magnesium and aluminum as possible materials.

Criticism of the Galaxy range has long focused on what some perceive as a "cheap, plastic feel" and many other flagship smartphones in the same price bracket have opted for aluminum designs. Should Samsung decide to switch to metal it would likely mean a heavier, more expensive device, and it could spell the end of the removable battery.

It's worth noting that this new metal Samsung phone could be the mysterious Galaxy F, a stop-gap in the flagship calendar that may land a few months before the S5. A further report does seem to indicate the Galaxy F may be closely related to the Galaxy S5, and could be more technically impressive, with a flexible screen similar to the Galaxy Round fitted. Another model, perhaps the Galaxy S5, would keep the standard Super AMOLED screen and plastic body shell.

A report at GalaxyS5Info agrees the phone could have a flexible screen, and also reckons that the faux leather polycarbonate of the Note 3 could make an appearance on the S5. There's also a chance that the S5 could use carbon fiber in its construction. Android Beat reported a partnership between Samsung Petrochemical and SGL Group (one of the largest producers of carbon fiber in the world). It's an extremely light and extremely strong material, so it could be ideal.

Japanese mobile industry news source EMSOdm.com has chipped in, saying the Galaxy S5 will have a metal unibody, which will be unlike any other Samsung phone to date. The company charged with producing the first run of cases is Catcher, which also builds the HTC One, the iPad, and the MacBook Air. Catcher was previously linked with Samsung and the Galaxy S5 back in September, but with cases for a device expected to arrive during the second half of 2014.

Despite all this talk, a metal Galaxy S5 is a sure thing yet. During CES 2014, Samsung's head of technical management told TrustedReviews.com, "I don't believe Samsung will go down the route of making a metal device just because others are," adding the firm wanted to offer customers, "the best materials." Plastic, he says, is, "Very light and very durable," and also, cheap to produce. 

This isn't a denial on Samsung's part, more a clarification of why it would choose to alter materials used to build the S5, but it certainly hints that it'll be sticking with plastic for some time yet. This fits in with another recent rumor, which said Samsung was experimenting with a diamond metal coating for future phones. This process increases durability, provides a metal-look, and can be applied to polycarbonate. Will this be the route Samsung takes for the Galaxy S5?

FALSE: Brand new GS5 design

Clarification by Jeffrey VC on 3-5-2014: Nope. The GS5 has a slightly new design, but it's almost identical to the Galaxy S4 and GS3. It does not look like these pictures.

Even if the Galaxy S5 doesn't end its love affair with plastic that doesn't mean it won't look different from its predecessors. The Galaxy S line has stuck to a certain design aesthetic, the S3 and S4 are especially alike, but if the patent that Patent Bolt turned up is anything to go by then the S5 could ditch the home button and adopt a new angular form factor.

FALSE: Model numbers reveal multiple versions headed to North America

Clarification by Jeffrey VC on 3-5-2014: Nope. We haven't heard about this. It will come in 16GB and 32GB variants, and possibly have slightly altered specs for different carriers, but there is currently only one GS5.

A host of model numbers which potentially relate to the Galaxy S5 have been leaked online, each indicating the phone will also be known as the SM-G900. Each variant is identified by a surprisingly informative suffix, for example, we can assume the SM-G900A_NA_ATT is an S5 headed to AT&T in North America, while the G900v_NA-VZW will be off to Verizon. A T-Mobile, Sprint, and US Cellular edition of the S5 is also listed, along with various models set for release internationally. 

FALSE: Eye scanning security?

Clarification by Jeffrey VC on 3-5-2014: The Galaxy S5 has a fingerprint scanner on the Home button but no eye scanning.

According to AndroidSAS, the Galaxy S5 could one-up the fingerprint scanner on the iPhone 5S and take the lead in biometric security with an eye-scanning sensor. The idea is that S5 owners will be able to scan their eyes in order to unlock their smartphones. This would supposedly offer a higher level of security, but the sources are unnamed and there's nothing to substantiate the rumor. We'll be sure to keep an eye on this one.

TRUE: Fingerprint scanner, or not?

Clarification by Jeffrey VC on 3-5-2014: Yep, the Home button of the GS5 has a fingerprint scanner. You slide your finger down to unlock the phone.

We've already seen a report from the Korea Herald in which a Samsung official is quoted as saying "We never officially admitted that Samsung was weighing the fingerprint system and Knox for Galaxy Note 3 for security functions. We are not yet developing the technology."

Analysts at KGI don't agree, and included biometric fingerprint scanning in a recent list of expected S5 specs. Of course, if the eye scanning rumor has any truth to it then fingerprints are probably out the window.

FALSE: Galaxy S5 could run Tizen OS

Clarification by Jeffrey VC on 3-5-2014: Maybe a future Galaxy will run Tizen, but the GS5 is Android and the GS6 is too.

Samsung has not given up on its own Tizen operating system. The International Business Times reckons the company may release a Tizen version of the Galaxy S5. Would Samsung release two different versions of the S5, one with Tizen and one with Android 4.4 KitKat? It doesn't seem likely, and we don't think Samsung is ready to ditch Android for its own platform yet. Maybe the Tizen version may be limited to specific markets, if it exists at all. We'll have to wait and see.

HALF TRUE: Stronger, more efficient battery

Clarification by Jeffrey VC on 3-5-2014: The GS5 has a 2800mAh battery, which is 200mAh larger than the battery in the GS4. So expect slight improvements. Samsung has also included a very cool new super battery saving mode that turns the screen black & white but greatly extends battery life.
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The Galaxy S5 is ready for launch: Here’s everything we know about it (Updated)

On Monday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Samsung unveiled its highly anticipated new smartphone, the Galaxy S5. Rolling out its Unpacked event with a full orchestra and impressive display, Samsung placed the Galaxy S5 center stage, and it certainly has big shoes to fill considering last year's record-breaking release. Here's the thing, though, Samsung also claimed back in January that its goal was to go "back to basics." We'll let you decide if that's what the company has done with its new flagship smartphone. 

Updated on 04-10-2014 by Andy: Samsung is ready to launch the Galaxy S5, so we've added in the first TV commercial for the device, along with news on the Download Booster app which is missing from AT&T versions of the phone, plus a selection of videos showing just the phone's toughness.

Samsung prepares to launch the Galaxy S5 at 11:11 a.m. on April 11

Samsung has confirmed through its official mobile Twitter account that the Galaxy  S5 is ready to go on sale. The message reads "Get ready for the worldwide exclusive Galaxy S5 launch event," and includes an image of a map showing the phone's progress through the world over the next 24 hours or so. Samsung calls this the S Carpet (groan), and the journey begins in Australia, before spreading through Asia, the Middle East, Europe, America, and finally, Canada. 

To celebrate the launch, Samsung has also posted the first U.S. TV commercial for the device, which you can check out below.

Mostly minor hardware upgrades

At 5.1-inches diagonally, the Galaxy S5 is only slightly larger and slightly more impressive in terms of hardware than its predecessor, the Galaxy S4. Samsung must have been displeased about something with the Big.Little octa-core processor that it tried out in last year's International Galaxy S4, because the S5′s processor is still quad-core, clocking in at 2.5GHZ. Beyond that, the S5 retains the same 16GB of storage and 2GB of RAM as the Galaxy S4, showing no real advancement in the core hardware tech. On the bright side though, the battery has been juiced up to 2800mAh in capacity, meaning better battery life than ever, the S5′s camera is up to 16 megapixels, and , like the Note 3, the S5 includes USB 3.0 support.

Screen described as the best ever tested by display experts

According to the experts at DisplayMate, where smartphone screens are put through their paces, the Galaxy S5′s 5.1-inch, 1080p screen is "the best performing smartphone display we have ever tested." That's high praise, and the company produced an exhaustive 7,000-word report on the subject, where it's stated the screen is the brightest DisplayMate has tested, with the lowest reflectance, and the highest color accuracy. It's also described as a major improvement over the Galaxy S4′s display.

Adding DSLR features to a smartphone

These days, smartphones give us less and less of a reason to carry around a point-and-shoot camera, and the Galaxy S5 does a lot to continue that trends thanks to an even more powerful camera app. This one not only adds special High Dynamic Range (HDR) functionality to allow your phone to adjust a photo based on the amount of light available, but also a special blur effect popular on DSLRs called selective focus. Selective focus allows users to decide what on the image should be in focus, say as a person or a face, and blur the background around them. These are certainly interesting features in concept, but we'll see how they turn out in practice.

It's resistant to dust and water (but don't risk it)

Remember the whole Galaxy S4 Active debacle? This time around Samsung has brought dust and water resistance right into its flagship device, offering an IP67 rating just like the Galaxy S4 Active of last summer. While Samsung bragged left and right about it being "whatever-proof" and "summer proof," we should forewarn you that IP67 is hardly rugged, and at best good for a shallow dunk in water (technically up to 3.3 feet deep). We have no idea what the Samsung Galaxy S5 warranty will be, but we warn users to think of this as "insurance" against exposure to water, rather than an invitation to go swimming with your phone. 

Ultra Power Saving Mode is pretty cool

Power saving mode is something all Android devices come with, but at times it can be very disappointing feature. Some power saving modes turn off your cellular mode, conserving power but also defeating the purpose of having a phone in the first place. The one Samsung has developed aims to change that. According to the Unpacked keynote, the Galaxy S5, when in Ultra Power Saving Mode, can last a whopping 24 hours on standby with just ten percent of battery life remaining. That alone is impressive, especially because it leaves your cellular radio on, letting you still receive calls and SMS messages, even while your phone sits on the bleeding edge of a dead battery.

It has a fingerprint reader and heart rate sensor

Nobody should be surprised that Samsung was looking for a way to one-up the iPhone 5S and its built-in fingerprint reader. Not only is Samsung's fingerprint reader stashed in the Home button of the device allowing for easy unlocking (just like the iPhone 5S), but it's also capable of confirming payments. We're not sure how this will work yet, especially since it sounds like storing credit card information is involved, but we hope Samsung will address the risks of keeping such sensitive information just a swipe away, as well as the problems that can come with accidentally swiping a payment.

Galaxy S5′s heart rate monitor
Along with the fingerprint reader, Samsung stashed a heart beat sensor – yes a heart beat sensor – onto the back of the phone near the LED flash. The idea is that this can be used to monitor your heart rate before and after a workout, which is what Samsung brags as being a big part of the latest version of S Health. Unlike the new Galaxy Gear though, it seems a little awkward to take your heart rate while standing still, holding a finger up to your phone's back. Still, we're sure there's a few gym rats who'd love to have this kind of technology always at their fingertips.

Special modes for children, privacy and faster downloads

Smartphones are not transformers, nevertheless, it seems Samsung is big on the whole "transforming" aspect of its new flagship smartphong, enabling special modes depending on who's handling the device. The first mode they spoke of is Privacy mode, which allows users – thanks to the help of the built-in fingerprint reader – to restrict access to things like images and other content unless you are actually using the device (or at least as long as your finger is in easy reach.)

The other mode, which is certainly something new for a smartphone, is a special "Kids Mode" that will allow parents to give kids their devices without fearing the worst. The Internet is littered with stories about kids who have inadvertently spent thousands of dollars after parents handed over their iPad, but Samsung hopes to help curb this fear with a special mode that lets you decide what apps a child user can access, as well as choose cute and fun theme modes with custom apps and content just for kids. For those who don't have kids, we recommend testing it out on your friends.

The last feature is a special download booster, which is supposed to allow simultaneous downloading from LTE and 3G networks in order to speed things up a bit. We don't know how much this feature will affect battery life, or those with capped data, but it's an interesting feature nonetheless.

No download booster for AT&T Galaxy S5 phones 

Early reports from owners who have received their Galaxy S5 phones early, are saying the AT&T model isn't coming with the Download Booster application installed. This feature combined Wi-Fi and 4G LTE connections to speed up large downloads, but is missing from the device's quick launch menu, and app tray. According to Android Police, the feature will return in a future software update, but for now, it looks like AT&T devices won't have the feature enabled. It's not clear whether this was Samsung's or the network's decision.

T-Mobile confirmed in its original press release for the Galaxy S5 that the Download Booster would be included on its phone, along with devices connected to MetroPCS too, so it may be AT&T's choice not to install the app on its phones.

See some Galaxy S5 phones tortured

The Internet is full of horrid videos which you wouldn't usually want to watch, and the Galaxy S5 has attracted some sick individuals to take their flashy new devices, and torture them on film. It's all in the name of science, of course, but those of a fragile nature may want to look away. The contain violent images involving knives, hammers, and boiling water. 

Why? The boiling water is used to test the Galaxy S5's water resistance, and it does very well, while the other video shows how it stands up to some heavy duty abuse. Take a look, so you don't feel the need to do any of these things to your own phone.

When is it coming … and for how much?

Arrival in the U.S. is slated for April 11, with pretty much all the major carriers on board. You can find all the details on how to pre-order, or buy, a Galaxy S5 in the U.S. in our special post on the subject here. Additionally, it also contains details of the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, and Gear Fit's availability.

What do you think? Are you excited for the arrival of the S5, or is it too much of an incremental improvement on its predecessor?

Updated by Jeffrey Van Camp on 3-05-2014: I've merged what we now know about the Galaxy S5 since it's debut on Monday, 2-24-2014 with a fact checked version of our rumor roundup for the phone, which was published up until the device's release. Andy Boxall and Joshua Sherman contributed heavily to this article, as have other mobile team members like Simon Hill.
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