Nasa team find 'new way' to spot osteoporosis

Nasa scientists believe they have found a way to spot osteoporosis bone loss at the earliest disease stages.

 

For many people, breaking a bone is their first clue that they have the condition

Currently, the condition can go undetected for years and may only be diagnosed with scans after weakening of the bones has led to a fracture.
The new test - designed partly with astronauts in mind as they too can suffer bone loss due to the microgravity of space - looks for traces of bone calcium in the urine.
The work is published in PNAS journal.
The technique developed by scientists at Arizona State University working with the US space agency analyses calcium isotopes - different atoms of the element calcium, derived from bone and each with their own specific number of neutrons.

The balance or abundance of these different isotopes changes when bone is destroyed and formed and can therefore indicate early changes in bone density.

To put it to the test, the researchers studied a dozen healthy volunteers whom they confined to bed rest for 30 days. Prolonged bed rest triggers bone loss.
The technique was able to detect bone loss after as little as one week of bed rest - long before changes in bone density would be detectable on conventional medical scans such as dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).
And, unlike other biochemical tests for bone loss that look for blood markers of increased bone turnover, it can give a direct measure of net bone loss.

 

Weightlessness triggers bone loss

 

Lead researcher Prof Ariel Anbar said: "The next step is to see if it works as expected in patients with bone-altering diseases. That would open the door to clinical applications."
As well as being useful for diagnosing osteoporosis it could help with monitoring other diseases that affect the bones, including cancer.

Nasa nutritionist Scott Smith said: "Nasa conducted these studies because astronauts in microgravity experience skeletal unloading and suffer bone loss. It's one of the major problems in human spaceflight, and we need to find better ways to monitor and counteract it."
Dr Nicola Peel of the National Osteoporosis Society in the UK said: "It is always exciting to see new techniques being developed with the potential to increase our understanding of the evolution and mechanism of bone disease.
"This approach of using calcium isotopes is very interesting and appears to have potential to detect very early changes of bone loss.
"This could therefore have a future role in the clinical evaluation of patients."

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How To Have Pets In Apartments

Should living in a highrise apartment block prevent you from living with your beloved furry friend? 

 

 

After extensive research, it has been found that pets might even benefit strata communities, and new resources are now being put into place so that residents can have it all – their dream home and their household pet.

22% of Austalian households are now living in a strata property, a system in which each resident has legal ownership of a ‘portion’ or ‘lot’ of a portion of a building or structure, whether it be in a high rise unit, a townhouse or a villa.

"There is a clear trend in Australia away from the detached home on a quarter acre block in suburbia to higher density, often high rise, living that is close to employment and amenities such as shops and restaurants. With this, comes a demand from residents for access to all the lifestyle choices they would have in any other living environment," says Susie Willis from the Petcare Information and Advisory Service.

"The majority of Australian households own a pet, most often a dog or a cat, and many of the people who are choosing a high rise lifestyle also have pets, or would like to own a pet," says Susie.

Plus, research shows that pets can even help strata communities to flourish. Dogs can help their owners to get to know others within the apartment building and local neighbourhood, and can be valuable in creating a strong apartment community. Pet owners were keen to ensure that their pets fitted in well with others in the community, and regularly helped one another with advice on training and caring for pets.

So, in recognition of the trend towards pets living in higher density environments, the Petcare Information Advisory Service (PIAS) and Strata Community Australia (SCA) have developed a Pet Application Form and a Pet Keeping Agreement. The forms provide a clear application process and also allow pet owners and owners corporations to understand and agree on the conditions for owning a pet in a strata property.

The Pet Application Form provides an opportunity to present the owners corporation with relevant and specific information about your pet including training, overall health and references. This not only makes it easier for potential pet owners to apply to keep their pet on the property, but also for the owners corporation to have all the information they need to make a decision.

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Home Dismantled To Free '50 Stone' Teenager

The 40-stong team took eight hours to free 19-year-old Georgia Davis from her home so she could go to hospital

A teenager thought to weigh more than 50 stone had to have part of her home dismantled because she was too big to get out of the house.

A 40-strong team of doctors, paramedics, fire crews, council workers and scaffolders worked to free Georgia Davis - once known as Britain's fattest teen.

Ms Davis attended a US 'fat camp' in 2008 weighing 33-stone

The 19-year-old, who needed to go to hospital after falling ill, is thought to have been conscious during the procedure.
It took experts eight hours to remove a wall, leaving a 10ft by 10ft hole in the top floor of the terraced house in Aberdare, South Wales.
A bridge was built from the roadside to the gap in the wall to enable the emergency services to remove Ms Davis.
The Welsh Ambulance Service sent a specially reinforced vehicle for obese patients - known as a 'bariatric ambulance' - to the property.
A joint statement by the emergency services involved said that after visiting the house on Wednesday, the decision was made to "remove a female from the premises".

If you get to the point where I was, you can't stop eating. It is like heroin - you need help

Georgia Davis in 2008

The following day, "all agencies, including Rhondda Cynon Taf council's emergency planning and social services team, returned along with a number of specialist teams from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service and a scaffolding company to secure the removal of an area of the premises," the statement said.
The Cwm Taf Health Board said in a statement that Ms Davis was transferred to Prince Charles Hospital.
"This young lady has had a settled night and has been seen this morning by the consultant in charge of her care," the statement said.
"Initial assessments have been undertaken and she will be undergoing further assessment during the day to assist in her plan of care."
In 2008, Ms Davis - then 33 stone - was sent to a 'fat camp' in the US to lose weight.
After nine-months she had managed to reduce her weight to 18 stone, but has since spoken publicly about her struggle to keep off the weight.

A bridge was built from the roadside to the top floor of the house

Before going to the US, she compared her desire for food to an addiction.
"If you get to the point where I was, you can't stop eating," she said. "It is like heroin - you need help. I really didn't want to be that person anymore.
"I wanted to change and I've wanted to change for a long time."
Ms Davis started overeating at the age of five, after her father died from emphysema.

The rescue team included doctors, paramedics, fire crews and scaffolders

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Russia: Ten jailed for Nevsky Express train bomb

A Russian court has jailed 10 people, four of them for life, for the bombing of a high-speed train in November 2009 in which 27 people died.

 

After investigators arrived at the scene, another device detonated, wounding an investigator

 

Another 130 people were hurt in the blast which hit the last three carriages of the Moscow-to-St Petersburg Nevsky Express.
Nine of the 10 convicted are from the same family. They were arrested in the North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia.
Four were found guilty of murder. The others face 7 to 8-year jail terms.
The train was derailed by the blast.
As officials inspected the scene, near the town of Bologoye, around 400km (250 miles) north-west of Moscow, another explosion wounded an investigator.
Within days of the 2009 attack, an Islamist group in the North Caucasus said it was behind the bombing, claiming it had been ordered by Russia's most wanted man, Chechen separatist leader Doku Umarov.
Mr Umarov has been linked to a string of attacks including a January 2011 Moscow airport bombing in which 36 people died.

Gang leader

In March 2010, Russian forces launched a raid on the Ingush village of Ekazhevo. The authorities said they killed eight suspected militants, including the man they named as the gang's leader, Said Buryatsky, who was also known as Alexander Tikhomirov.
Of the ten men detained in Ekazhevo, nine were from the Kartoyev family.
A court in the central city of Tver on Tuesday found three members of the family and another man, Zelimkhan Aushev, guilty of murder, organising an act of terrorism and illegal arms trafficking, jailing them for life.
Six other Katoyev family-members face up to eight years in prison.
Lawyers acting for the 10 accused said they would appeal against the convictions, Ria news agency says.
The case was held behind closed doors, Russian media report, and the defence has questioned the forensic evidence used against the men.
As well as facing life terms in jail, the four men were ordered by the Tver regional court to pay 134m roubles (£2.7m; $4.3m) in compensation to Russian railways.
 

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Launch success for SpaceX mission

Watch the launch from Cape Canaveral

California's SpaceX has launched on a mission to re-supply the space station - the first cargo delivery to the orbiting outpost by a private company.

The firm's Falcon rocket, topped by an unmanned Dragon freight capsule, lifted clear of its Florida pad at 03:44 EDT (07:44 GMT; 08:44 BST).
The initial climb to an altitude some 340km above the Earth lasted a little under 10 minutes.
Within moments of being ejected, Dragon opened its solar panels.
It also unpacked its navigation equipment.
It will take a couple of days to reach the station. The plan currently is for the vessel to demonstrate its guidance, control and communications systems on Thursday, at a distance of 2.5km from the International Space Station (ISS).

If those practice proximity manoeuvres go well, Dragon will be allowed to drive to within 10m of the station on Friday. Astronauts inside the platform will then grab the ship with a robotic arm and berth it to the 400km-high structure.
They will empty Dragon of its 500kg of food, water and equipment, before releasing it for a return to Earth at the end of the month.
For Elon Musk, the CEO and chief designer at SpaceX, Tuesday's lift-off was a special moment.
"Every bit of adrenalin in my body released at that point," he told reporters. "There's so much hope riding on that rocket, so when it worked, and Dragon worked and the solar arrays deployed, [company employees] saw their handiwork in space and operating as it should - it was tremendous elation. It's like winning the Superbowl."
The mission has major significance because it marks a big change in the way the US wants to conduct its space operations.
Nasa is attempting to offload routine human spaceflight operations in low-Earth orbit to commercial industry in a way similar to how some large organisations contract out their IT or payroll.
The carriage of freight will be the first service to be bought in from external suppliers; the transport of astronauts to and from the station will be the second, later this decade.
The US space agency hopes these changes will save it money that can then be invested in exploration missions far beyond Earth, at destinations such as asteroids and Mars.

 

 SpaceX mission control celebrates a successful ascent to orbit for Falcon and Dragon

 

"Although there's a lot ahead to complete this mission, we're certainly off to a good start," Charles Bolden, the Nasa administrator, told reporters.
"It's a great day for America… It's actually a great day for the world. There are people who thought we'd gone away, and today says we've not gone away at all," he said, alluding to the retirement of the agency's space shuttles last year.
SpaceX has many new systems it has to demonstrate in the coming days, and has tried to lower expectations ahead of the mission, repeating often that its aim is to learn things it did not previously know.
Nasa has set the California company a series of development milestones. Only when those have been met fully will a $1.6bn ISS re-supply contract kick in.
The agency is also looking to engage a second cargo partner. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Virginia is slightly behind SpaceX in its development schedule, although it started work on its Antares rocket and Cygnus capsule system later. Orbital expects to fly a first mission to the vicinity of the ISS later this year or early in 2013.
"We're really at the dawn of a new era in space exploration, and one where there's a much bigger role for commercial space companies," Mr Musk said.
"I think perhaps there's some parallels to the internet in the mid-90s where the internet was created as a government endeavour but then the introduction of commercial companies really accelerated the growth of the internet."

Out with the old: Since the retirement of the shuttles last year, the US has relied on other ISS partners for cargo and crew transport

Tuesday's Falcon launch was also notable for the small and rather unusual payload that piggy-backed the ride to orbit.
This was a container holding the cremated remains of more than 300 space enthusiasts, among them the late Star Trek actor James "Scotty" Doohan.
The ashes had been placed in the Falcon's discarded second stage.
They will continue to circle the planet for about a year before falling back to Earth and vaporizing.

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Bank Of England Cuts UK Growth Forecast

The Bank of England has slashed its growth forecasts for the next two years and warned inflation will not fall as quickly as hoped, blaming the ongoing threat posed by the eurozone crisis.

Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King said there is the "risk of a storm heading our way from the Continent" as he said the situation in the eurozone is the greatest threat to Britain's recovery.
Sir Mervyn announced that growth forecasts for the next two years have been cut from 1.2% to 0.8% for 2012 and from around 3% to around 2% in 2013.
The Inflation Report predicted Britain's economy will not return to a "pre-crisis level before 2014, some six years after the start of the recession".

The Diamond Jubilee celebrations are expected to hamper economic growth

The squeeze on consumer spending will also keep its grip as inflation falls slower than expected.
It is now not forecast to reach the Government's 2% target for the "next year or so" and is due to end the year at around 2.5%.
Sir Mervyn said the recovery is likely to be "slow and uncertain" as the economy continues to face "strong headwinds".
The battle to escape recession will be hampered by the loss of output due to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the Bank said.
The four-day holiday weekend may encourage some people to take longer breaks or encourage businesses to arrange extended closures, resulting in an expected GDP reduction of 0.5%.

[Sir Mervyn King] added a couple of new scapegoats: the euro crisis and, unlikely as it may seem, the Queen.

Ed Conway, economics editor

There was a similar impact with last year's Royal Wedding, when growth was reduced by around 0.4%.
This time it is expected to make it harder for the UK economy to pull out of recession in the second quarter of the year.
Sky News economic editor Ed Conway said: "This double dip recession is going to be going on for a little bit longer yet."
However, the third quarter of 2012 is set to receive a boost by increased spending around the London Olympics and as it picks up from the fall in output from the Jubilee.
The Bank said it did not have a "meaningful way" of factoring into its projections an extreme financial event like the collapse of the euro but made clear the single currency posed the biggest risk to the UK recovery.

The London Olympics will be a welcome boost to the UK economy, says the BoE

"We are navigating through turbulent waters, with the risk of a storm heading our way from the continent," Sir Mervyn said.
Alluding to Manchester City's victory at the weekend, he added: "Uncertainty can sometimes add a certain spice to life - as we saw vividly in the conclusion to the Premier League season at the weekend - but it has the opposite effect on the economy. We don't know when the storm clouds will move away."
Howard Archer, European economist at IHS Global Insight, said the Bank had not given any strong indication over whether it was likely to inject further stimulus into the economy.
The programme of asset purchases, known as quantitative easing (QE), has been paused after pumping £325bn pounds into the economy since March 2009.
"We suspect that the Bank of England would prefer not to do more QE, but is prepared to act if underlying economic activity fails to improve," Archer said.
Prime minister David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband clashed over the economy in the Commons during PMQs on Wednesday lunchtime.

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The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating

Nutritionist and author Jonny Bowden has created several lists of healthful foods people should be eating but aren’t. But some of his favorites, like purslane, guava and goji berries, aren’t always available at regular grocery stores. I asked Dr. Bowden, author of “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth,” to update his list with some favorite foods that are easy to find but don’t always find their way into our shopping carts. Here’s his advice.

1. Beets: Think of beets as red spinach, Dr. Bowden said, because they are a rich source of folate as well as natural red pigments that may be cancer fighters.
   How to eat: Fresh, raw and grated to make a salad. Heating decreases the antioxidant power.
2. Cabbage: Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.
   How to eat: Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches.
3. Swiss chard: A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes.
   How to eat it: Chop and saute in olive oil.
4. Cinnamon: May help control blood sugar and cholesterol.
   How to eat it: Sprinkle on coffee or oatmeal.
5. Pomegranate juice: Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants.
   How to eat: Just drink it.
6. Dried plums: Okay, so they are really prunes, but they are packed with antioxidants.
   How to eat: Wrapped in prosciutto and baked.
7. Pumpkin seeds: The most nutritious part of the pumpkin and packed with magnesium; high levels of the mineral are associated with lower risk for early death.
   How to eat: Roasted as a snack, or sprinkled on salad.
8. Sardines: Dr. Bowden calls them “health food in a can.” They are high in omega-3’s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese as well as a full complement of B vitamins.
   How to eat: Choose sardines packed in olive or sardine oil. Eat plain, mixed with salad, on toast, or mashed with dijon mustard and onions as a spread.
9. Turmeric: The “superstar of spices,” it may have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
   How to eat: Mix with scrambled eggs or in any vegetable dish.
10. Frozen blueberries: Even though freezing can degrade some of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, frozen blueberries are available year-round and don’t spoil; associated with better memory in animal studies.
    How to eat: Blended with yogurt or chocolate soy milk and sprinkled with crushed almonds.
11. Canned pumpkin: A low-calorie vegetable that is high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin A; fills you up on very few calories.
    How to eat: Mix with a little butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.

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Woman Arrested After Five Children Die In Fire

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after five children died in a house fire.

Emergency services were called to the semi-detached council house on Victory Road in Allenton, Derby, just before 4am.
Eight people - two adults and six children - were taken to the Royal Derby Hospital.
The sixth child, aged 13, has been transferred to hospital in Birmingham for specialist treatment. The two adults were not seriously injured.

    Locally named resident Mick Philpott and six children, in a photo posted online last month

Derbyshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Steve Cotterill announced the arrest at a news conference but stressed that detectives were keeping an open mind about the cause of the blaze.
"At the moment we are keeping a very, very open mind as to the cause of the fire."
The woman was arrested "elsewhere in the city", he said.
He added: "It appears at this stage of the investigation that the children were in bed asleep upstairs and the parents were downstairs.
Mr Cotterill said the father had made a "valiant attempt" to save the youngsters.
He has been named locally as Mick Philpott.

                                 The fire occurred in Victory Road, near Derby


On April 22, father-of-11 Mr Philpott updated his open access Facebook profile and revealed how much he adored his children.
He said: "These children are my life, much more than life itself.
Mr Philpott made national newspaper headlines several years ago over his attempts to get a larger council house for his family.
"All I've ever wanted is to do right by my family. My children are the most important thing in my life."
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service chief fire officer Sean Frayne said 30 firefighters were sent to the pre-dawn scene.
"When the first crew arrived on scene, they were faced with a fire at the front of the building," Mr Frayne said.
"They quickly made their way past the fire to search the rest of the premises, having been told that persons were inside the house."
A neighbour, who gave her name only as Kaye, said she saw flames coming out of the house and "loads of ambulances", described it as a "horrible, horrible" scene.
"I just saw the babies going to the ambulance because it was parked outside our house," she said.
The ages of the children who died ranged from five up to 10 years old.
All five went to St George's Catholic Primary School in Littleover, Derby, a school spokeswoman confirmed.
A statement from the school said: "We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and community at this sad time.
"Whilst this is under police investigation, we are unable to make further comment."
:: Anyone who can help the inquiry into the incident have been asked to contact the police on 101.

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Eurozone economy to shrink by 0.3%, EU Commission says

The eurozone economy is forecast to shrink this year as its debt crisis continues to bite.

 Olli Rehn: "The European economy is estimated to be currently in a mild but short-lived recession"

The European Commission's spring forecast confirmed its prediction of a 0.3% contraction in 2012 in the economies of the 17 countries that use the euro.

It predicted growth of 1.0% for the eurozone in 2013.
European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn said "a recovery is in sight" for the eurozone.
But he added: "The economic situation remains fragile, with still large disparities across member states."
For all 27 countries in the EU, the Commission is predicting zero growth for 2012, with 1.3% growth next year.
Growth figures for the first quarter of 2012 will be released by the European statistics agency Eurostat on Tuesday 15 May.
"Economic activity in the EU contracted in the last quarter of 2011 and is estimated to have also done so in the first quarter of 2012," the Commission said in its statement.
Two consecutive quarters of economic contraction are generally taken to indicate a recession is underway.
But the Commission believes that a gradual recovery will start in the second half of the year.

'Longing for the turnaround'

Among the individual member states, the only one predicted to see an economic contraction in 2013 is Spain, which is forecast to decline by 0.3%.
The Commission predicts Spanish unemployment will continue to be the highest in the EU, with the jobless rate hitting 24.4% this year and 25.1% in 2013.
The unemployment rate in the eurozone is forecast to be 11% this year and in 2013, and 10.3% in the EU for both years.
The Commission describes Greece as "an economy longing for the turnaround".
It predicts a contraction in the Greek economy of 4.7% this year and zero growth for 2013, with unemployment at 19.7% in 2012 and 19.6% the following year.
"The recovery, which was previously expected for this year, will be further delayed with, at best, an insignificant improvement in activity in 2013," the Commission said.

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Fuel tanker driver strike averted in narrow vote

A strike by fuel tanker drivers has been averted after they narrowly voted to accept a deal, the Unite union says. 

                                         Fuel tanker drivers narrowly backed the deal by 51% overall

Drivers from seven haulage firms backed the deal by 51% overall, while drivers in four of the companies voted to reject it.
It means the long-running dispute over terms and conditions, that resulted in panic fuel buying in March is over.
Unite said the vote left no room for "complacency" and called for quick implementation of proposals.
It added the dispute had highlighted "deep-seated problems" in fuel supply and called on the Commons energy select committee to launch an investigation into the industry.
The deal was brokered during talks at the conciliation service Acas, with a 69% turnout in the ballot.
Drivers from the distribution companies BP, Norbert Dentressangle and Sucklings voted in favour, and drivers from Turners, Hoyer, Wincanton and DHL voted against the deal.
Members of the Unite union at Hoyer had recently voted against strikes but in favour of other forms of industrial action when they were re-balloted on 8 May. The vote was held because some workers had not received papers earlier in the dispute.

'A wake-up call'

The government was blamed for sparking panic buying when the row flared up in March.
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude came in for criticism after advising motorists to top up their tanks with petrol and store fuel in jerry cans.
Unite assistant general secretary Diana Holland said: "This narrow vote in favour lifts the threat of strike action but leaves the companies with no room for complacency.
"The progress made through negotiation is testament to the brave stance members have taken in the face of growing insecurity and attacks on their profession."
The narrow vote in favour should be "a wake-up call for an industry riddled with deep-seated problems", she added.
Ms Holland also warned the "calamitous" comments made by Mr Maude underlined the UK's "unstable, short fuel supplies".
"It is not a jerry can in the garage we need, but a review of whether the industry is structured in the national interest.
"We trust that Energy Secretary Ed Davey and other ministers will take a more constructive approach in helping us bring stability and security to a nationally vital industry."

Very hard' sessions

Acas chief conciliator, Peter Harwood, said: "Acas is very pleased at the outcome of the Unite ballot.
"The dispute was a very complex one and both the employers and the trade union representatives worked very hard during long sessions at Acas to shape a solution that addressed the issues facing the sector."
Responding to the news, AA president Edmund King said: "UK motorists greatly appreciate the tanker drivers' decision not to put them through another round of panic-buying trauma."
And Simon Walker, director general of the Institute of Directors, added he was pleased the strike had been averted.
"Our members were very worried that their hard work would be undermined by a dispute that they had nothing to do with", he said.
"Just the threat of a strike caused a lot of disruption, but at least businesses across the country can get back to focusing on what they do best - driving the economy forward and creating jobs."
 

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Breivik trial: Shoe thrown at Norway mass killer

Police Supt Rune Bjorsvik tells the BBC's Caroline Hawley the incident was not a surprise due to the emotional testimony

A brother of one of those killed by Anders Behring Breivik has thrown a shoe at the defendant, interrupting his trial in the Norwegian capital Oslo.


"You killed my brother! Go to hell!" the relative screamed in the courtroom.

The shoe missed Breivik, hitting his defence lawyer.

Breivik, 33, admits killing 69 people at a youth summer camp on Utoeya island and eight in a bomb attack in Oslo on 22 July 2011. But he denies criminal responsibility.
 
Emotional outburst

The shoe-throwing incident on Friday brought spontaneous applause from members of the public in the courtroom.

Someone was heard shouting: "Bravo!"


The shoe-thrower - who was not identified - was later led out of the room by the security staff. Some reports say he is from Iraq.
Throwing shoes is seen a form of protest and public insult in many countries, but the practice came to the fore when a shoe was hurled by an Iraqi reporter at the then US President George W Bush in Baghdad in 2008.
The police superintendent in charge of the Oslo courtroom, Rune Bjorsvik, later told the BBC's Caroline Hawley that his colleagues "quickly took care of the man".

"It's not very surprising," he said, adding that "there are lots of emotions in the courtroom".

It is believed to be the first such public outburst in the courtroom since the trial started.
The shoe hit defence lawyer Vibeke Hein Baera, who was sitting closest to the public gallery during the presentation of autopsy reports.
In response, Breivik said: "If someone wants to throw something at me, do it at me while I'm entering or leaving, and not at my lawyer."
Breivik - who remained expressionless throughout Friday's proceedings - also revealed that during the shootings on Utoeya someone had tried to stop him.
"Someone threw an object at me and it hit me in the face. I just thought I would mention it," he said, without specifying what the object was.

'Empty eyes'

The trial later resumed with more testimony from survivors.

Eivind Rindal described how he desperately tried to escape by running through the forest on the island.

"I saw people stumbling, falling, people around were confused."
He said he had initially wanted to hide in one of the caves along the west part of the coast, but later changed his mind because "the path down to them [caves] was filled with people".
Mr Rindal said Breivik had then shot at him and some other people as they tried to escape in a rowing boat.
"I saw a perpetrator who moves calmly, no fumbling, very focused on his targets."
He said the most dramatic moment of the entire experience was to look into the eyes of the other survivors and see how empty they were and how their entire world had been shattered.
On Thursday, another survivor said she was so close to Breivik that she heard him walking quietly around "doing away with people".
Many relatives were earlier in tears as the court heard coroners' reports about the victims.
Breivik says he was fighting to defend Norway from multiculturalism and immigration.
He claims that the Labour Party youth meeting at which he committed the massacre was a "legitimate target" because of its support for multiculturalism.
The trial's outcome hinges on whether the court finds Breivik to have been sane or not, as it could determine whether he is sent to prison or to a psychiatric institution if found guilty.
The trial is expected to last another five or six weeks.

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Roy Lichtenstein sale sets new record

     The hammer drops on Roy Lichtenstein's Sleeping Girl and Andy Warhol's Double Elvis 

A work by Roy Lichtenstein has sold at auction for nearly $45m, a new record for the US Pop Art icon.
Sleeping Girl, from 1964, went for $44.9m (£27.8m) at Sotheby's New York sale of post-war and contemporary art.
The same sale saw Andy Warhol's Double Elvis, a life-sized silver silkscreen image of Elvis Presley depicted as a cowboy, fetch $37m (£23m).
The artwork, one of 22 Warhol dedicated to the famous singer, had been expected to sell for as much as $50m (£31m).
The sale came a day after another New York auction saw a 1961 painting by Mark Rothko set a new record for a contemporary artwork sold at auction.
Orange, red, yellow sold for $86.9m (£53.8m) at Christie's.
And last week, Sotheby's sold a version of Edvard Munch's The Scream for $119.9m (£74.3m), making it the most expensive artwork to go under the hammer.

                           Al Weiwei exhibited his sunflower seed exhibition in London in 2011

Wednesday's sale also saw dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei sell a portion of his porcelain Sunflower Seeds installation for a record $782,500 (£484,919).
The lot comprised about a tenth of the 100 million seeds displayed at Tate Modern in 2011, where safety fears about ceramic dust saw them cordoned off from visitors.
A Francis Bacon work from 1976 went under the hammer as well, fetching almost as much as the Roy Lichtenstein canvas.
Yet while Figure Writing Reflected in Mirror sold for an impressive $44.8m (£27.8m), it only amounted to half of the record price set in 2008 when one of Bacon's Triptychs sold for $86.3m (£53.5m).
Tate Britain announced this week that it will host a major retrospective of Lichtenstein's work in spring 2013.

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Syria unrest: Damascus 'suicide blasts' kill dozens

Lyse Doucet at the scene: "The blasts took place in the early morning rush hour, when children were going to school"

Twin suicide car-bomb attacks have killed at least 55 people and wounded 372 in Damascus, Syrian officials say. 


The blasts happened near a military intelligence building during morning rush hour. State TV showed burnt cars and two deep craters in the road.
The government and the opposition blamed each other for the attack - the deadliest in Damascus since the start of Syria's uprising 14 months ago.
The two sides are supposed to observe a ceasefire monitored by a UN team.

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The foreign-backed terrorist groups carried out two coinciding explosions... with more than 1,000kg of explosives”

End Quote Syrian interior ministry

• Dangerous escalation
• Pressure increases
• In pictures: blasts

However, violence has continued unabated across the country, with the restive city of Homs shelled again overnight.

International peace envoy Kofi Annan - who brokered a six-point peace plan - said the Damascus blasts were "abhorrent" and counter-productive.
The US also condemned them. A statement by the state department said indiscriminate killing could not be justified, and urged the Syrian government to "fully and immediately implement the Annan plan" to prevent further escalation.
Body parts Central Damascus is under the firm control of government forces, but the city has been hit by several bombings in recent months, often targeting security buildings or military convoys.
Thursday's attacks occcurred in the southern suburb of al-Qazzaz shortly before 08:00 (05:00 GMT), as people were going to work.

The interior ministry said "foreign-backed terrorists" carried out the attacks, using two cars "loaded with more than 1,000kg of explosives and driven by suicide bombers".

The explosions damaged the facade of a 10-storey military intelligence building involved in the crackdown on the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
It is part of a broader military compound of the Palestine Branch, one of the most feared among the more than 20 secret police organisations in the country, correspondents say.
The unit was originally set up in the 1950s to interrogate suspected Israeli spies. But over the past decade, it has evolved into the country's counter-terrorism unit, and is infamous for interrogations and torture, they say.
Large crowds gathered despite the security cordon, shouting slogans and chants in support of President Assad.
All the while, the emergency teams looked for body parts and bulldozers were at work clearing away some of the debris. The whole area looks like a wasteland, says the BBC's Lyse Doucet at the scene.
One Damascus resident, who gave his name as Ahmad, told the BBC the blasts were the biggest explosions he had ever heard.
"The whole of Damascus heard them. At first, I thought they were air strikes," he said.
The Norwegian head of the UN observer mission in Syria, Maj Gen Robert Mood, visited the site. He said the Syrian people did not deserve this "terrible violence".

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Mother Suspected Of Killing Her Two Children

    Police officers stand guard in Killarney Road, Wandsworth, south west London

A mother has been arrested on suspicion of killing her two children - including a newborn baby - at home in south west London.

The bodies of a 10-week-old boy and a 14-month-old girl were discovered at the house in Killarney Road in Wandsworth on Wednesday at 7.25pm.
Paramedics pronounced the children dead at the scene.
A woman in her mid-30s was arrested at the semi-detached property and is being questioned at a south London police station, Scotland Yard said.
An investigation is under way, spearheaded by detectives from the force's Child Abuse Investigation Command, and enquiries being made into the full circumstances of the incident.
Officers are investigating the possibility that the suspect was suffering from post-natal depression.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Post-mortem examinations will take place in due course. Next of kin are aware."
Neighbour Jackie Cook, 52, said: "It's such a tragedy, I can't believe it.
"Last night there were police swarming everywhere. There were ambulances and
police cars all along the road.
"I think they only moved a couple of weeks ago."
Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, said the family seemed "very nice".
She said: "It's a lovely area. We're very shocked."

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