Eurovision's Next Winner?

A few months ago Lena Meyer-Landrut, 18, was singing in the shower. Now she has an album, three hit singles and is to represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. She's already had three Top Five hits in the German charts this year. Lena has won German hearts, but can she charm Europe?

Like some otherworldly space ship, the cast and crew of the top-ranking German-language television show, "Wanna Bet?" has landed on the outskirts of Salzburg in Austria. The show, one of the most successful in Europe, offers an entertaining mixture of ordinary people making outlandish bets (hence the title) and celebrity interviews and performances. And today the show's hundreds of crew members and technicians are invading the city. Security staff patrol the area, would-be audience members queue at the front entrance to the venue. Backstage, some of the highest-profile members of the entertainment industry are all hands on deck.

Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, the singer behind some of the most popular operatic albums in Europe, has just finished her sound check. Oscar-winning British actress Emma Thompson is picking up her backstage pass. Pop singer Shakira, rock icon Beth Ditto of the band Gossip and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber are in hair and make-up. And Lena Meyer-Landrut is sitting on a sofa in her dressing room, awaiting her turn. In a black cocktail frock, grey knit cardigan and large, black glasses, with a somewhat wide-eyed look, Meyer-Landrut comes across more like an intern for the show than someone who is about to perform on it. Link

Armed man shot by garda in Cork pub after refusing to drop weapon

BARRY ROCHE and OLIVIA KELLEHER

THE GARDA Ombudsman’s Office last night began an investigation after a gunman was shot by gardaí when he failed to drop a weapon after entering a pub in Cork city and demanding to see the owner.

The man, who was in his 20s, was shot in the stomach and rushed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. His condition was described by a HSE South spokeswoman as “serious”.

The incident happened at about 6.40pm when the man, armed with a loaded shotgun, entered the Mo Chuisle Bar near the bottom of Blarney Street on the northside of the city and demanded to see the owner of the pub.

Gardaí were alerted and members of the armed regional support unit were mobilised. They entered the pub where it is understood that three armed members of the unit challenged the man and ordered him to drop his weapon.

The man refused to do so and one of the officers discharged a single shot from his Sig 9mm automatic weapon, wounding the man in the stomach whereupon the loaded shotgun was confiscated and the man was rushed to hospital. Link

Malawi gay jailing alarms West, rights groups

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

BLANTYRE - The United States, Europe and rights groups expressed outrage and alarm Friday at Malawi's jailing of a married gay couple, and urged the small African country to repeal its laws banning homosexuality.

A top Malawi daily also slammed the maximum sentence delivered Thursday of 14 years in jail with hard labour, although there was no official reaction from other African countries, most of which also make being gay a crime.

"Unfortunately, the maximum sentence, though it is within the prescribed law, goes a long way to portray us as a cruel nation and no wonder the sentence has attracted a lot of criticism," the independent Nation newspaper said.

"There is something grossly wrong," the paper said.

Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, and Steven Monjeza, 26, were arrested in late December after holding Malawi's first same-sex wedding. They were accused of violating "the order of nature".

The United States said it was "appalled" at the sentence. Link

Experts testify on grim ecological fallout from Gulf oil spill

By Paul Courson, CNN

Washington (CNN) -- The damaging effects of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will be felt all the way to Europe and the Arctic, a top scientist told a congressional panel Friday.

Other scientists and researchers -- invited to brief members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee -- warned that the thousands of barrels of oil still gushing into the Gulf are contributing to a potential ecological disaster of unknown proportions.

The briefing was part of an ongoing effort to draw on a broad range of expertise for what has been, in the eyes of many observers, a frustrating and ineffective cleanup effort.

"This is not just a regional issue for the wildlife," said Carl Safina, the president of the Blue Ocean Institute. Noting common migratory patterns, he warned that multiple forms of marine life from across the Atlantic Ocean "come into the Gulf to breed".

Safina blasted BP, the company in control of the well responsible for the spill. Link

Debt crisis shakes markets

By Agencies

LONDON: Europe struggled Friday to rein in a debt crisis that is wreaking havoc on global markets as Germany approved a giant euro bailout plan but pushed for debt-ridden countries to declare bankruptcy.

A late rally for banks prevented European shares closing at their lowest in more than eight months, though euro zone sovereign debt crisis persisted and drained investor confidence worldwide.

US stocks, however, pushed higher, led by bank shares a day after the US Senate passed the most sweeping overhaul of financial regulation since the 1930s. But worries about euro zone sovereign debt crisis continued to take a toll on investors' appetite for risk, US Treasuries debt prices rose through most of the morning as fears that global fiscal tightening would crimp an economic recovery drove a bid for safety, but turned as stocks rose.

European finance ministers meeting in Brussels came under intense pressure for quick solutions to restore confidence and avert an economic slump, with proposals including heavy penalties for euro states that break debt rules.

"Panic seems to be taking over" on the markets, said Manoj Ladwa, a trader at London-based financial spread betting company ETX Capital.

At City Index, another spread better, market strategist Joshua Raymond said that "the markets are a whole mess of uncertainty and fear right now."

German lawmakers on Friday backed the $1 trillion rescue plan for the euro zone. Skittish trading on a day when many US equity options and some options on stock indexes expire contributed to market volatility.

The price of spot gold, which hit a record high one week ago, was down for a fifth consecutive day, while crude oil pared earlier losses, a day after touching a seven-month low.

The euro traded up 0.70 percent at $1.2552, on pace for its first weekly gain against the greenback in six weeks. Bearish sentiment against the currency had become so extreme in the midst of the Greek-led debt crisis that investors started to buy the euro zone currency in case of intervention.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares fell 0.5 percent to a close of 970.00 points, after falling as much as 3 percent to 946.01 — its lowest since early September. Frankfurt’s DAX index ended at 5829.25 points, down 38.63 or 0.66 percent, shedding 227.46 points since last Friday. In Paris, the CAC-40 index closed at 3430.74 points, down 1.78 or 0.05 percent, losing 129.62 over the week.

The Nikkei average posted its biggest weekly drop since January 2009, as investors reduced holdings of riskier assets including equities on deepening worries about disunity in the euro zone on its debt crisis. The index ended down 2.45 percent or 245.77 points at 9,784.54, its lowest close in more than five months. On the week, the Nikkei fell 677.97 points.

Speaking on a visit to Brussels, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said Beijing was "following carefully" the development of Europe's debt crisis.

Several European states have racked up huge debts and deficits as a result of the global economic crisis and the current turmoil kicked in as investors lost confidence in governments' ability to repay. Link

Skydiver preparing for 120,000-foot supersonic fall

From Dugald McConnell and Brian Todd, CNN

New York (CNN) -- An Austrian daredevil is planning to become the first person to break the sound barrier in a free fall, without riding in a vehicle.

This summer in New Mexico, Felix Baumgartner hopes to make the highest, longest and fastest fall ever.

His attempt will take him to an altitude where the atmosphere ends and space begins -- where blood boils at body temperature, and the air temperature could be as low as minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

The first step in the attempt will be riding a helium balloon to an altitude of 120,000 feet above sea level -- almost 23 miles -- higher than anyone has ascended in a balloon before.

Then, wearing a pressurized suit and oxygen tanks, he plans to jump out of his capsule for a five-minute fall back to Earth. Within the first 30 seconds, he expects to be falling faster than the speed of sound, which at that altitude is around 690 miles per hour. Crossing that barrier would mark a new test of the limits of the human body. Link

Wealthy Paris residents accused of nimbyism

All four of the social housing projects for the 16th arrondissement have been suspended after locals mobilised and took to the courts

Lizzy Davies in Paris

On the western outskirts of Paris, nestling between the greenery of the Bois de Boulogne and tree-lined Hausmannian grandeur, a building site lies strangely still in the sunshine and birds settle on the freshly cleared land. Though the permit proclaims the imminent birth of a complex of apartment blocks, the graffito daubed on the metal barriers tells a different story. It reads: "Here 135 HLM".

In this most chic of Parisian neighbourhoods, where a fifth of the inhabitants qualify for wealth tax because they have assets exceeding €790,000 (£688,000) and the streets are dotted with Jaguars and sumptuous villas, the acronym HLM – meaning housing at moderated rents – is not a common sight. And, as the city hall attempts to make social accommodation more of a feature of the seizième's manicured landscape, it is realising it has a fight on its hands. The residents are in revolt.

In recent months, all four of the social housing projects envisaged for the 16th arrondissement – including the one by the Bois de Boulogne, which plans to create 135 extra flats for people in need of affordable housing – have been suspended after locals mobilised and took to the courts. While they deny their outrage has anything to do with fears about their future neighbours – and everything to do with "bizarre" architectural styles and the preservation of green spaces – others are not so sure.

"These are fallacious arguments," said Jean-Yves Mano, housing spokesman for Paris city hall and the local opposition Socialist councillor. "They just don't want to have people in social housing around them. It is as if they don't want people from the banlieue invading the 16th and disturbing the peace and security".

In a recognition that housing is vital to efforts to fix the French capital's chronic geographical and social divide, the city aims to boost the proportion of HLMs from 16% to 20% by 2014. That will require an extra 6,000 logements a year. The authorities are keen for the genteel western and central parts of Paris to take their fair share. At the moment, however, just 2.5% of the seizième's housing is social. In the north-eastern 19th arrondissement, the figure is 35%. Link

Pentagon's Clapper may lead intelligence agencies

By KIMBERLY DOZIER (AP)

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's top intelligence official emerged as the leading choice Friday for what's fast becoming known as one of the most thankless jobs in Washington — director of national intelligence. The position has a great title, but the office has just claimed its third victim.

James R. Clapper, now the defense undersecretary for intelligence, is the White House's leading candidate to replace retired Adm. Dennis Blair, who is resigning, two current U.S. officials and one former military official say. Another candidate is Mike Vickers, the Pentagon's assistant secretary for special operations, officials say, but a Defense Department official says he has not been contacted for an interview.

With three previous intelligence directors all saying the same thing — the job description itself is flawed — who would want it?

Candidates who were considered but apparently are no longer in the running include Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and John Hamre, a national security veteran who heads the private Center for Strategic and International Studies. The word on both, officials say, is that they thought about it but didn't want the job.

The popular refrain from across the IC, as the intelligence community calls itself, is that the DNI has "all the responsibility and none of the authority". Link

Pakistanis arrest man in connection with Times Square case

By the CNN Wire Staff

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani authorities have arrested the son of a prominent catering company owner in connection with the attempted Times Square bombing case, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Friday.

Salman Ashraf was taken into custody a few days ago, the officials said.

His father, Rana Ashraf Khan, who owns Hanif Rajput Catering, said that he was shocked by the news of the arrest and that his son had been missing for the past 12 days.

Salman Ashraf had been talking to the Taliban about fingeringPakistani military and other VIPs at diplomatic and other government events, according to a U.S. official with knowledge of the case.

Another U.S. official said there were indications that the company was going to be used as a cover for an attack in Pakistan. Link

Twelve killed as Ethiopian forces enter Somaliland town

MOGADISHU — Ethiopian forces clashed Friday with residents of a border town in Somalia's breakaway Somaliland region in a rare incursion that left at least 12 civilians dead, officials and witnesses said.

Angry residents violently confronted the Ethiopian forces who had crossed into Buhudle district of Somalia's northern semi-autonomous region two weeks ago.

"A firefight started this afternoon between the Ethiopian forces and residents in Buhudle. The information we are getting indicates that 12 civilians were killed and there is still sporadic gunfire in the city," Buhudle commissioner Osman Yousuf Mohamed told AFP by phone.

"The fighting erupted after the Ethiopian forces seized some public transports vehicles from the city. Many people were angered by the move and they clashed with the Ethiopian troops, stirring heavy fighting," he said, Buhudle residents told AFP that the Ethiopian forces moved in more troops Friday afternoon after some of their forces were also killed in the clashes.

"More than 10 civilians died and many others were injured. I also saw three Ethiopian troops who were killed in the clashes," said Jama Hussein, a local resident.

"The Ethiopian forces deployed more troops and it looks like they are facing resistance," said another witness, Abdurahman Bare.

The two countries normally have friendly ties, with landlocked Ethiopia providing trade and security assistance to Somaliland in return for using Somaliland's port of Berbera.

Somaliland, which sits on the northwestern part of Somalia, unilaterally broke away from the rest of the Horn of Africa nation in 1991, four months after the overthrow of former Somali dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

It has been spared much of the violence that has ravaged rump Somalia, where an Islamist insurgency is battling to overthrow the Western-backed government of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. Link

Carrying any porn? Australian Customs want to know

SYDNEY — Visitors to Australia now have another question to answer in addition to declaring whether they are carrying any firearms, weapons or illicit drugs. Are they bringing in any pornography?

The additional query was introduced in September 2009, Customs said Friday, adding that it was designed to pick up prohibited items such as child pornography at the border.

But the Australian Sex Party described it as a "monstrous invasion of people's privacy" which would leave the laptops and mobile phones of anyone entering the country open to scrutiny.

"If you and your partner have filmed or photographed yourselves making love in an exotic destination or even taking a bath, you will have to answer 'Yes' to the question or you will be breaking the law," president Fiona Patten said.

The change means that travellers must declare X-rated erotic material that is legal in Australia and potentially have these items examined by Customs officers, she said.

"Is it fair that Customs officers rummage through someone's luggage and pull out a legal men's magazine or a lesbian journal in front of their children or their mother-in-law," Patten asked.

Customs said many items of pornography were legitimately bought, possessed and viewed and these items would be returned to the passenger.

But offensive material containing child pornography, bestiality, explicit sexual violence and graphic degradation needed to be detected.

"The inclusion of the question on the passenger card is intended to give a traveller the opportunity to declare adult material if they are uncertain as to whether their material would be deemed prohibited," a Customs statement said.

"Declaring the goods will minimise any action that would be considered against someone possessing such goods, unless it involves child pornography."

Customs said the assessment of adult material would be done by officers trained to be tactful and discreet, and the question was only designed to pick up offensive items. Link

Cricket-Prospect of floodlit tests fades further into distance

By John Mehaffey

LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) - Floodlit day-night test cricket receded further into the distance on Friday when the International Cricket Council (ICC) said at least 18 months' research needed to be done on different coloured balls.

"We are not as clear as we thought we were," ICC general manager of cricket Dave Richardson told Reuters after a two-day meeting of the ICC's cricket committee at Lord's.

"Some are saying the orange ball is better, others are saying the pink ball is better, there are some who are saying this shade of pink is better than that shade of pink".

"There's a lot of anecdotal evidence so we are at the stage where we say 'let's get the scientists to tell us'".

Richardson told a news conference earlier that he hoped the research would be concluded in 18 months' time to allow the ICC to trial the coloured ball in domestic cricket. Link

Parking garage shooter guilty

Dewayne E. Burton shot the victim over a racial epithet

By Michael Van Cassell

CHEYENNE -- A 24-year-old man pleaded guilty recently to shooting another man last year in a downtown parking garage over an alleged racial epithet.

Dewayne E. Burton of Cheyenne pleaded guilty May 14 to attempted voluntary manslaughter for shooting then-32-year-old Gabriel Apodaca.

Burton entered a plea agreement with prosecutors that lowered an original charge of attempted homicide to the crime he admitted committing last week.

Prosecutors will ask Burton be sentenced to 10 to 14 years in prison. Before the agreement, Burton faced 20 years to life in prison.

His attorney, Dion Custis, said the plea agreement "sufficiently addresses the facts of the case".

"I think it's a good plea agreement," Custis said.

In court, Burton did not specifically admit he shot Apodaca, instead agreeing to what authorities found in their initial investigation.

Investigators interviewed witnesses who said Apodaca called Burton and his friend the N-word in the early morning hours of Sept. 12, and that they began to fight, according to court documents. Link

W.Va. mine blast survivor's rehab slow, uncertain

By The Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A few days before the Upper Big Branch coal mine blew up, James Woods had a nightmare -- he was pinned down, held by his arms, unable to move.

It was, his daughter believes, "God's way of telling him that something was going to happen''.

Woods awoke from a coma in a Charleston hospital bed, and tried to yank out feeding and ventilator tubes. Doctors were forced to tie down his arms for more than a week.

His dream was right on the mark.

Twenty-nine men died inside Massey Energy Co.'s mine in Montcoal, an hour south of Charleston. One other man was briefly hospitalized, and Woods was pulled out barely alive.

More than a month after the accident, the devout Christian, devoted family man and determined prankster is a fraction of his former self, unable to converse and seemingly lost in a brain that was starved of oxygen from carbon monoxide exposure. Link

Pomerleau gives $1 million to YMCA

A $1 million “challenge gift” from Antonio “Tony” Pomerleau will allow the Greater Burlington YMCA to enhance and expand its presence on College Street.

The YMCA announced the gift Thursday night, on the eve of its 144th annual meeting. Pomerleau pledged to match other gifts to the Y up to $1 million.

“It’s a very important first step in making our vision of staying in downtown Burlington a reality,” said Mary Burns, president and CEO.

“This is the most generous gift we have ever gotten,” said YMCA board chairman Spencer Knapp, speaking at a celebratory gathering at the Burlington Country Club. “It’s so great that Tony gets the message”.

The message, as Pomerleau understands it, is that the YMCA “has done a great job for underprivileged children”. Link