Report: Scammers claim that mother and daughter went missing on Costa Concordia

Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran off the West coast of Italy aground on the island of Giglio is located on the side, half under water and is in danger, slide into deeper waters.

Here, an idea is stellar, amounted to: pretend to be a grandmother, claimed that your daughter and granddaughter of missing wreckage from the Italian coast in the Costa Concordia. Then send a "friend" to a savvy New York lawyer, to tell the story, and then change the story as often as possible. Finally, you have a 5-year old blow your entire coverage.

This story is reported as the first officially falsely stating of the death of the disaster. Allegedly Peter Rónai, a personal - injury lawyer New York, the six Hungarian survivors from the liner represented was a Hungarian woman by e-Mail. The e-Mail claimed that the woman's missing daughter, Eva, and 5-year-old granddaughter of the nave. The emailer wanted Rónai meeting with Eve's friend, thing to do is to discuss. According to which New York Daily News had the Italian media accused the liner stowaways wear, so the fact that the mother and the daughter not on the list of the passengers were "manifest" not count off.

(Photos: save Italy affected Costa Concordia cruise ship)

RONAI, who met in Budapest, was with the supposed friend - and then the story kept changing. The friend is apparently called the next day to say the granddaughter was not missing, blamed a misunderstanding. If Rónai asked to speak the 5-year old girl said that she had seen her "Mama" on this day in the Park on the swing. Then Rónai told ABC News that the "missing MOM" showed up and their story changed. No longer she may was dead - it was just injured when jumping from the cruise ship, but showed no signs of pain.

RONAI says the couple said, pull the scam to make money. Police arrested them; RONAI told ABC that they were recorded in the prison, but they face now criminal indictments.

Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement one confirmed the incident. "On the basis of today officially confirmed information it has become clear that claims about the missing woman were unfounded," read the statement.

"People terrible things for money will do", said Rónai. And this can only be the first in the list of disturbing stories.

More: Ship cruise Captain pleaded not to Reboard

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Fans remake star wars, 15 seconds at a time

If there is a group over the Internet with boundless energy and endless enthusiasm for creative projects there, it is Star Wars fans. Two years ago, as Casey Pugh fans of George Lucas franchise asked to help newly StarWars: A new hope in 15-second intervals, the response was overwhelming. Mini movies began in Gießen, Germany on the world. Now, Pugh has be together the pint-sized, crowdsourced, fan-generated scenes in Star Wars uncut: the Director's cut, which has just been released.

If you haven't seen Star Wars uncut crowdsourced is work wonders. On the site, cut Pugh Star Wars: A new hope in little tidbit and charged fans from the Galaxy (also galaxies far far away), select a clip and help the film, 15 seconds to a time edit. Allowed to Star Wars uncut, which Central and style, which they want if to use their scenes remake. In the last two years, the fans from around the world have unique, contributed remarkable and inspired remakes of the classic sci fi film. For the Director's cut Pugh sew, along with Aaron Valdez video editor and sound designer and mixer Bryan Pugh, their favorite 15 seconds posts. Which brings Director's cut every style of animation and live action fan content you can think of to a two-plus hour film. The resulting film is a remarkably faithful reproduction of original KE George Lucas, with the exception that you can watch it in its entirety on YouTube.

The project was a labor of love for Pugh, but it has serious Awards, including an Emmy Award 2010 for outstanding creative achievement in interactive media gathered.

More: Star Wars on Earth: a Galaxy very nearby

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Vanilla ice cream, hipsters

The rapper "ice ice baby" goes indie rock for a sketch on the soup, and it is strange to convince.

1990S hip-hop icon vanilla is ice still rolled into his 5.0 with its cloth top to allow the blow to his hair. But he has a sharp left turn from hip-hop and ended up in indie-rock area.

It can sell an elaborate scheme to its ice cube trays (alias ice ice baby makers) and on the invoice at Coachella, but vanilla (can we call it vanilla?) knows that in these difficult economic times, indie-rock fans are willing and able to throw some bills to buy records. E! show that the soup with vanilla make ice for a sketch, checked you after moving his recent hip in L.A.'s Echo Park and reinvention as an indie artist. If you "ice ice baby" a cappella with a toy hear bells, will you know, that it is the right step for the rapper, clearly knows how to laugh at themselves.

More: Vanilla ice cream "off the hook" real estate advice

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Welcome to the Club: latest AKC breed is Treeing Walker Coonhound

Treeing Walker Coonhound is now the Center race are officially registered Club of the American Kennel. The race five of his colleagues Coonhound - American English Coonhound, joined black and Tan Coonhound, Bluetick Coonhound and Redbone Coonhound - on the AKC list of breeds registered earlier this month, after he listed as Foundation stock service since 1995.

What do we expect from the new dog on the block? According to the AKC Treeing is known for his sharp hunting instincts, confident and sociable Walker Coonhound attitude and bark that can run for miles.

(Photos: 15 of the American Kennel Club of the most recent registered breeds)

Treeing Walker Coonhound was by Walker Foxhound, a descendant of Foxhounds bred the earliest English, which brought to America were. Around 1945 breeder caused by the English dog Treeing Walker create a dog bred to a fast, reasonable Hunter with superior treeing ability be.

In fact, the term "barking up the wrong tree" hunt of Treeing Walker, was coined, whose primary mission is to seek, on a tree and alerting his goal (probably a raccoon) you its owner.

Photos: The world's most expensive dog breeds

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Read while eating for January: new school

Monday's links remixes, to think Twitter error and Smartphones threatened. Rune Stoltz Bertinussen / Scanpix / ReutersA general view of the Aurora Borealis, close to the city of Tromso in Northern Norway, on 25 January 2012.

This is the remix: Why must every single pop song have a remix these days? Because the technology makes it possible. (IL)

You roll the dice: An unlikely industry remained strong despite the video game boom: Board Games. (Almost company)

Cost of Fame: Do you want a rock star to be? That will cost you $100.000. (time)

Twitter misfire: A social media campaign of by McDonald's went, big time, once Twitter users of chimed inch (the daily what)

Adorable moment: If you missed it, President Obama embraced Republic Gabrielle Giffords before last night State of the Union, and the photo immediately went viral. (LIVE)

Celebrated snapshots: Photographers use the pictures, to which they primarily made famous. (Flavorwire)

Slow motion panic: Portlandia examines the inner monologue of smartphone users, their best friends tech-drop. (BuzzFeed)

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Wednesday words: the State of the Union (Mormon) and more

The NewsFeed of the peak of our vocabulary includes new, funny and surprising words (and some who run off just fun in the old tongue) useful.

State of the Union video vocab: Skutnik

No, there is no Russian satellites. A Skutnik is an average Americans who often to something heroic has been invited by the President's guest at the State of the Union (or other joint session of Congress). The eponymous hero was a man named Lenny Skutnik. 13. January 1982 a plane in the Potomac had crashed. Go at the top of the work, Skutnik passed the site and the dove in icy waters, to save a woman, while others watched. Ronald Reagan an invitation that exemplary human being extended in 1982, and Skutniks have a feature on the SOTU since then.

In the year 2011 for example invited Barack Obama Daniel Hernandez, the intern, that Republic Gabby Giffords breastfed head injury after she was shot last January. This year, many of his guests were more political. It was a young man with cancer that could afford treatment for the Obama of the health care reform. There was a General Motors plant manager, a symbol of a job of that saved the auto bailout. The most famous Billionaire Warren Buffett sat there Secretary, whose Coronation was a higher rate than their boss (and good fodder for political metaphor).

(Photos: 30 years Skutniks: special guests in the State of the Union)

Presidential usage: the pulpit

Last night was Obama with his pulpit, a term the Oxford English Dictionary describes as "every problem out to talk about a public office or position of the authority which the occupant is an excellent opportunity,." Good old Theodore Roosevelt was the first person, this term to use. Teddy said, spun round in his swivel chair over a century before, and said: "I suppose my critics call to preach, but I have as a pulpit!" A pulpit is a platform from the preacher delivering a sermon. And back in the day, tyrant first-class, sweaters or capital (as in "capital, my good chap!"). In the today's tongue we could translate this as "the badass pulpit."

Culinary category of the week: "Mormon food"

On the front page of the New York dining section today is times it a story about Mormon kitchen, which reporter Julia Moskin describes as "Part of a larger Western tradition of hearty meals, seasonal food and food preservation, which is ideal in accordance with modern farm to table." This turgid definition to contrast with the stereotype is that tariff is Mormon all Jell-o, casseroles and mashed potatoes/cream insert food here. One could note that many other groups of Methodists to Midwesterners, these dishes (and then need, NAP) enjoy several years events. On a side note: Aunt Linda, please keep this twice baked potatoes come.

Last days of plate: Funeral potatoes

Famous saints of the last fare is "funeral potatoes," a cheesy, creamy potato casserole, traditionally for grieving families after a lover on cooked died (because nothing says "It pains me" as strength), although they easily "party potatoes" or "holiday potatoes," to leave. In the times article, the author describes an updated version that the younger generation is used by Mormons. It has in addition to the traditional cheddar Gruyère, but used mostly the same ingredients. Hey, no one said change was simple – and churchin' until the cheese is a good first step.

Conservative style: the missionary haircut

Since we already on the subject of the Mormons are, it seems appropriate, their characteristic appearance give a shout out. That requires "Missionary haircut", that hair combed and parted on the one hand be short. If you heed the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah, it has to 'report' with this haircut and the correct missionary clothing, traditionally a white, short sleeve button up, trousers and tie. It may not be an exciting look, but Walt Disney would certainly agree. (See next item.)

Magic facial hair category: Disney Bart

There is a certain dress code that "Actors" that costumed work in theme parks, and not costumed, must comply with. Walt's soldiers essential and tidy be (or they may be forced from the Jolly Roger with their pink slip). Things that are forbidden are great earrings, red fingernail Polish, bright eye shadow and two-coloured hair. The remuneration of the bare weapons made big news in the last year, and this week the Kingdom relaxed a regulation, so that men moustache, beards and Goatees, the "fully, properly maintained and groomed on no more than a quarter inch in length are grown." The news came as a cruel mockery, whose Haare is growing, in the face in all actors incomplete.

(More: Disney theme park employees allowed to grow beards and Goatees)

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Panama Canal strike called off

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22 January 2012 Last updated at 23:22 GMT The canal is a vital artery of world trade Thousands of workers on a project to expand the Panama Canal have agreed to end a strike that had paralysed construction for a week.

The stoppage was called off after the consortium in charge of the works agreed to increase the minimum wage.

The $5.25bn (£3.4bn) project to widen the Panama Canal and double its capacity is due to be complete in 2014.

The waterway linking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans already handles around 5% of world trade.

The multinational consortium Grupos Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) said workers had accepted a 13% increase to the minimum wage and would go back to work on Monday.

Union leaders said their members had accepted the deal, which increases the minimum hourly wage from $2.90 to $3.34.

The company had already agreed to give back pay for overtime and Sundays.

Centenary

The Panama Canal expansion project involves building a third set of locks and the widening of navigation channels so that some of the world's biggest ships can pass through.

The project is due for completion in 2014 - a century after the canal was first opened by the US.

Panama has been running the 82km (51 mile) waterway since 1999, when the US handed over control.

The canal is Panama's main source of revenue, and the government says its expansion will give a major boost to economic growth.

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China's appetite for work and wealth

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China's huge population and booming economy is turning into a new world power, but what is creating that success, how secure is it, and what does it mean for the UK and other Western economies, asks Newsnight's Jeremy Paxman.

There was a minor riot in Beijing last week. The Apple store was attacked.

Its offence? Not being willing to sell sufficient numbers of the iPhone 4S.

Buyers had queued all night and things turned ugly when it became clear that many of those in line had not the faintest idea what an iPhone was.

They belonged to teams hired by middlemen who knew that every handset bought was immediately resalable for an additional hundred pounds.

The teams of the tech-unsavvy were identifiable to each other by home-made armbands, and when the store realised what was happening it suspended sales. That was when the eggs started flying.

In London they riot to steal things. In Beijing, they riot because they cannot buy them.

China proclaims itself a secular country. But that is not what it looks like. For a first-time visitor to China, the most astonishing aspect of the country is the worship of wealth.

The mayor of London may like to be seen riding around on a bicycle. The mayor of Beijing - once the greatest concentration of cyclists in the world - wouldn't be seen dead on one.

Even China Daily, a sort of hymn-sheet to the Communist Party, reads like the FT much of the time.

Flaunting wealth

It reported last Monday (16 January) that there were more Rolls Royces bought in China last year than anywhere else on earth.

Audi now sells more of its brand here than in Germany. The company confidently expects to exceed its target of one million sales between 2011 and 2013, "as long as we can grow annually at 8 percent", as a senior executive asserted blithely. The target was set less than a year and a half ago.

Chinese cities are matching Western rivals for conspicuous consumerism

It is all surface froth, of course. There will still be one billion, 299 million Chinese who do not buy an Audi. But it is the flaunting of wealth that is so shocking, because the whole economy floats on a sea of migrant workers willing to go anywhere for a day's pay.

You can hear them hammering on the construction sites and see them clambering across the half-built highway towers from dawn until long after dusk.

Victorian Britain was perhaps rather similar, and the smog of Charles Dickens' London finds its counterpart in the murk which envelopes Beijing on windless days and tears at your throat like sandpaper.

Work ethic

Beijing itself - once, apparently, a charming ancient city - has been torn down and replaced with a traffic-jammed assortment of functional concrete blocks interspersed with the occasional quite stunning pieces of modern architecture.

The old men of the politburo must look out on it all from the backs of their limousines and smile. Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution sent intellectuals to live as peasants. Embracing capitalism has created a class of urban plutocrats.

China is the great emerging force in the world, and the sense of apprehension everywhere else must be good.

It is customary to attribute China's new wealth solely to its abundance of cheap labour. But it would have been impossible if the country's potential entrepreneurs had not possessed the sort of work ethic which drove the captains of Victorian industry.

People seriously want to get rich. It may not be especially attractive. But it is more than enough to see off soft, Western welfare states which have sold their future for the sake of cheaper televisions and trainers.

China is moving into hi-tech industries such as animation

Dozy Western governments seem to believe that it does not matter much, because somehow their comfortable democracies will coast along on the fruits of intellectual invention.

These governments bask in the belief that we can outsource metal-bashing and shirt-stitching because the brains which devise the products nestle inside Western heads.

How much longer can this complacent illusion last? In the 1960s there was a common belief among the English middle class that things made in Japan were "Japanese junk". The Sony Walkman and infinitely more reliable televisions than any manufactured in the country that invented the damn things soon ended that complacency.

The main television station in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, has a spanking new news studio infinitely superior to any the BBC can boast.

Chinese airlines (many of which know a great deal more about service than their western counterparts) fly Airbus and Boeing, but soon, the country will be making its own passenger aircraft.

What reason is there to assume that banking or any of the creative industries are beyond their ability?

Predicting the future is a job for clairvoyants, not journalists. But I cannot see any easy way for the current imbalance of trade to be equalised. Rather the reverse.

Untouchable elite

There is, though, one worry the so-called communists in the Chinese government might want to trouble themselves with.

One night, while eating in a smart Beijing restaurant I teased my host by asking whether the other diners were party officials. His instant - and serious - reply caught me out.

"Oh no," he said, "they always eat in the private rooms at places like this."

All the best restaurants have these private rooms, so the rich and powerful do not have their meal spoiled by the offensive sight of their fellow citizens.

Many of these private rooms serve delicacies the Chinese people can only dream of. Come to think of it, they probably do dream of them. I'm talking abalone, sea slug and puffer fish.

I certainly don't know enough about China to assert that this sort of behaviour cannot last. But I do know that it would not be tolerated in western Europe. Revolutions have been sparked by less.

The vast majority of the Chinese people do not yet seem even to have their noses pressed to the window-panes. They are too busy hoping to get rich, or just trying to make ends meet.

But the one-child policy is openly flouted by the rich, who simply pay the fine or arrange for the birth to take place in Hong Kong. If a poor person's child falls ill and the parents cannot afford health insurance, they will not get hospital care.

The overseas bank accounts of the mega-rich are an open secret. Stories of corruption, even of car accidents in which young people run someone over and expect to get away with it because their parents are senior in the party, are legion.

Having said which, everyone we met was charming, friendly and helpful. Not a single young person talked, even in their cups, of revolution

Right now, there are too many people doing too well for such thoughts. But it does not take a clairvoyant to ask how long it can last.

Watch Jeremy Paxman's reports from China on Newsnight at 10.30pm on BBC Two starting Monday 23 January 2012.

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Libya ruling council deputy quits

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22 January 2012 Last updated at 15:12 GMT Abdel Hafiz Ghoga has been accused by protesters of being an opportunist The deputy head of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) says he has resigned amid growing protests against him.

Abdel Hafiz Ghoga told Al-Jazeera TV that he was resigning in the national interest.

Several hundred protesters stormed the NTC headquarters in the second city Benghazi on Saturday.

Observers say it was the most serious show of anger at the new authorities since Col Muammar Gaddafi was ousted.

Mr Ghogha, an NTC spokesman, has become a focus for protesters demanding more openness from the NTC.

They accuse him of being an opportunist, who switched allegiances from the regime of Col Gaddafi as the uprising gained strength.

"My resignation is for the benefit of the nation and is required at this stage," Mr Ghoga told Al-Jazeera.

"Unfortunately, the consensus has not continued to maintain the highest national interests. The atmosphere of deprivation and hatred has prevailed... I do not want this atmosphere to continue and negatively affect the National Transitional Council and its performance," he added.

'Bottomless pit'

The NTC headquarters in the eastern city of Benghazi - from where the uprising against the Gaddafi regime began - has been the focus of protests in recent weeks.

The protesters want more transparency from the NTC

But Saturday night's protest turned violent, with the AFP news agency reporting that some protesters threw homemade bombs while others armed themselves with stones and iron bars before ransacking the building.

Many protesters believe the revolution that toppled Col Gaddafi is being taken away from them by people only interested in the money, the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Libya says.

The head of the NTC, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, spoke to protesters on Sunday and urged them to have more patience.

"We are going through a political movement that can take the country to a bottomless pit," he said. "There is something behind these protests that is not for the good of the country."

"The people have not given the government enough time and the government does not have enough money. Maybe there are delays, but the government has only been working for two months. Give them a chance, at least two months."

According to Reuters news agency, when asked if Mr Ghoga would step down, Mr Abdel Jalil said he would not.

Our correspondent says Mr Ghoga's resignation adds to a current feeling of instability and flux in the country, and a sense that the NTC is not really in sole control.

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Why do we give food meaning?

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23 January 2012 Last updated at 10:32 GMT By Anna-Louise Taylor BBC News Dishes eaten at Chinese New Year carry great significance, as does the way a Burns Night supper is presented. But these are not the only meals which represent something to diners and the reasons we attach meaning are as myriad as the food itself.

It seems odd that a small parcel of tasty filling encased in a light dough wrapper can represent so much.

But the jiaozi dumpling symbolises prosperity to diners, who traditionally sit down for a family feast on the eve of Chinese New Year. It also means wealth when the dumpling is crescent shaped, like the gold ingot once used in ancient China as money.

Chinese chef Ching-He Huang says the centuries-old "lucky" food traditions come from superstitions about feeding the spiritual world, legends and history.

"For example, the bamboo glutinous rice, zongzi, was eaten to commemorate a famed poet. These rice dumplings were thrown in a river so the fish would feed on the rice instead of his corpse, because he threw himself into the river and he was a well-loved poet and patriot of the people," she says.

Fuchsia Dunlop, BBC journalist and author of the Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, says many of the meanings given to Chinese food are homophones of their names in Mandarin.

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Auspicious dishes such as whole steamed fish are stalwarts in my family of Cantonese eaters, but we also adore the northern Chinese tradition of eating dumplings (called jiaozi in Mandarin) to ensure a plentiful and prosperous year ahead.

In a time of austerity, I can't think of anything better - or more economical - to eat and make than dumplings.

Read more from Charmaine Mok

BBC Food: Chinese NY recipes

"In the Chinese language, so many different characters have the same sound and it is ripe for word play. For instance nian gao - which is a new year's cake - also means tall or high, so it is eaten to represent doing better or reaching higher every year," she says.

Oranges or tangerines are eaten to promote wealth, as the Mandarin word for them sounds similar to gold. Fish, which is a staple of many suppers, is known as nian nian you yu, which is a homophone of "surplus". It symbolises abundance and it must be whole to symbolise completeness and good fortune. Noodles represent a long life and autumn moon cakes are eaten to celebrate the roundness of the moon.

"The lunar new year is the biggest festival of the year in China," says Dunlop. "An important element of it is for the whole family to be together, with people coming back to the provinces to share in the holiday."

It is this togetherness that has perpetuated the popularity of the meal, says Huang.

"It's a celebration of past, present and future. A big family gathering and a great excuse to eat great food. Eating is a social occasion in China because Chinese food is cooked in a way that is specifically for sharing, with lots of dishes at the dinner table."

So a chicken must be served whole to symbolise family unity and togetherness, and whole roasted animals symbolise fidelity. Sweet, steamed cakes are also eaten as the sweetness symbolises a rich, sweet life and the round shape signifies family reunion.

The BBC's Sharanjit Leyl looks at the significance of food during China's New Year celebrations

Prof Michael Owen Jones wrote in a research paper for the American Folklore Society that people "define events through food". He says individuals may also define themselves by the food they prepare, serve and consume, while symbols can evoke emotions.

If people do associate food with feelings and identity, celebratory meals will always remain part of human culture.

But history and custom also play a large part. Food historian Annie Gray says food symbolism has a lot to do with religion and eating "celebration" food at the end of periods of fasting.

This is how pancakes started to be eaten on Shrove Tuesday - to use up rich foodstuffs before the Christian period of fasting known as Lent. Easter food also developed this way.

"Easter fell at the end of what was known as 'the hungry month' in Medieval England - a period of fasting," says Gray. "People were able to get lamb, symbolising the lamb of God. Hens also began laying eggs, which symbolise rebirth and immortality again after winter."

Continue reading the main story Steamed fish - the Mandarin word for fish is "yu" and the phrase "nian nian you yu" is a popular Chinese New Year greeting. "Yu" also means abundance, so the phrase means: "Every year may you have abundance" "Fa cai" or "black moss" also sounds like "fa cai" - to prosperApples - because the Mandarin word for apple is "ping", and "Ping an" means peaceNian gao - sweet sticky glutinous rice cake, dipped in egg batter. Nian gao is also part of the phrase "nian nian sheng gao" meaning "every year you rise up the ranks". "Nian" also means "sticky", so you will stick with loved ones through thick and thinAfter Henry VIII came to power and separated the Church of England from the Catholic Church, fasting became more about promoting trade with "fish days". But she says that in England, "even after the Reformation we kept hold of these traditions".

"Chocolate eggs didn't come in until the 1870s. It was in the 18th and 19th Century that a lot of religious 'giving up' ended. Christmas became about using up things people couldn't preserve over new year."

She says many people now "have very little religious motivation" when eating certain food, often what is eaten now "is about supermarkets and shops pushing certain products".

"Not many people have original Easter foods anymore, like the traditional lamb on a Sunday. Turkey only became traditional (at Christmas) in the 1960s."

The ritual during festivals can also give the dishes meaning, such as on Burns Night in Scotland.

Burns Night suppers began in 1801, when friends of the late Scottish poet Robert Burns gathered together to celebrate his life and his poetry. They recited his Address to a Haggis and feasted on the offal, oatmeal and spices wrapped in a sheep's stomach. It started what has since become a national tradition, although there are some variations to how the supper is celebrated.

Prof Gerard Carruthers, Glasgow University's co-director of the Centre for Robert Burns Studies, says haggis was actually invented by the Chinese, but took on its "power" after Burns died.

"Burns's poem to the haggis - it's comical, but also serious. In the 18th Century, he felt people were too luxurious and eating too many luxuries, so his message was 'keep it simple'."

Scottish chef Shirley Spear says haggis is a very rustic Scottish dish.

"Burns was a farmer's son and the haggis and vegetables served with it have strong association with the land. It's a symbol of a humble life. Burns became a world renowned poet but had humble beginnings. It also symbolises his approach to life, meaning every person is worth his own salt. It's about the simple man."

The ritual of piping in the haggis, reciting the poem and plunging the knife in to the dish before serving it out stems back to peasant one-pot dishes which are shared, she says.

The stabbing of the haggis also mimics the idea of Scottish aggression and military power, says Prof Carruthers.

"The early Burns suppers were at a time when Britain was at war with France, so the idea was: 'Let's have a bit of fun in gloomy times.' Burns's poem is about celebrating the haggis, but this stabbing also had Masonic undertones. All these things are in the mix."

But over the course of time, symbolism can change and food myths can spring up, says Gray. Many of which need "debunking". Take simnel cake, which is usually baked and eaten during the Easter period.

"People associate with it servants having a day off, also that it was made for Mothering Sunday and had balls on the top to represent Jesus and his disciples. None of it is true."

So where do such myths come from? They can usually be traced back to one era - the Victorians, she says. They were "very good at telling tall stories".

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Sailor recalls North Korean capture of US ship

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23 January 2012 Last updated at 08:36 GMT By Chloe Hadjimatheou BBC World Service From spy ship to tourist attraction - the USS Pueblo is now run as a museum in Pyongyang There is only one US Navy ship in the world held by a foreign nation - the USS Pueblo, a spy ship which was captured by North Korea on 23 January 1968. Its crew were held prisoner by North Korea for exactly 11 months before being released.

The ship is now moored in a river in Pyongyang and serves as a tourist attraction.

Guided tours are offered by officials who recount how the brave seamen of the People's Army thwarted the US imperialists by capturing the ship in "their territorial waters" - a claim always denied by the US, which says the Pueblo was well within international waters.

In early January 1968, disguised as a scientific vessel, the ship set sail from Japan carrying high-tech communications equipment and a crew of more than 80, many of whom were experts in decoding the messages they hoped to intercept from the North Korean military.

As long as the Pueblo stayed in international waters no one imagined that the North Koreans might try to capture it; so the crew were totally unprepared when the unthinkable happened.

Burning secrets Skip Schumacher was Operations Officer on the Pueblo when it was captured

The Pueblo was off the coast of Wonsan - North Korea's most active and largest cargo and military port - when a local harbour patrol vessel sent a message warning the crew that they should allow them to board.

When the Americans refused, the North Koreans opened fire.

"We didn't have anything to fire back with, the whole notion was that we were to be an unarmed trawler-like vessel; that was our disguise," recalls Lieutenant Skip Schumacher, the Operations Officer on the ship, who was 24 years old at the time.

The captain of the Pueblo tried to buy the crew some time by heading out to sea but the ship's maximum speed was only 15 miles an hour (24km an hour), and no match for the North Korean fleet.

The crew's main concern was to destroy all sensitive material on board before it fell into enemy hands, but without access to modern paper shredders, they had to burn documents in metal barrels or cans - a slow and painstaking process.

The North Koreans - understanding exactly what was going on - opened fire each time they saw smoke emerging from the ship.

In just over an hour, one sailor was dead and about a third of the crew were injured. The captain of the ship, Commander Lloyd M Bucher, decided he had no choice but to surrender.

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• The USS Pueblo is still an officially commissioned US vessel, and is one of the oldest in the US Navy

• It is moored along Taedong River in Pyongyang

• The capture of the ship came to be known as the "Pueblo Affair", the "Pueblo incident" or the "Pueblo crisis"

• The Pueblo had two 50-calibre machine guns on board. They were on the deck, but there were strict instructions that they be covered at all times

• The ship is named after Pueblo County in Colorado

• There are still efforts to get the Pueblo returned. Over the years there have been a number of discussions between US and North Korean officials on the issue

Source: USS Pueblo Veteran's Association

The crew of the Pueblo were taken ashore, transported to Pyongyang and put in prison.

North Korea's immediate concern was to extract confessions from the crew. They began with Commander Bucher, beating him severely when he refused to admit that the ship had violated territorial waters and that it was a spy ship.

Lt Skip Schumacher recalls the methods they used to finally wear him down.

"They put a gun to his head and said: 'That's it, we're going to kill you.' And they clicked the revolver on an empty chamber, but he still refused," he says.

Finally, when the interrogators threatened to shoot his crew one by one starting with the youngest, Commander Bucher gave in and signed the confession.

Each of the senior crew members was made to sign a similar admission of guilt and these were published as triumphant justification for the capture by the North Korean government.

Back in the United States the news of the Pueblo's capture was greeted with anger and dismay but since there was no intelligence on where the men were being held, a rescue mission was not possible. So the slow process of negotiations began.

Finger of defiance

In Pyongyang the men were being made to write endless confessions of guilt, but they were also busy planning their own acts of defiance - using the North Korean propaganda machine to their own advantage.

On one occasion a group of eight sailors were photographed by the North Koreans to show how well the crew was being treated. In the photograph every sailor held up his middle finger - a lewd gesture that was not recognised by their captors.

"We told them the finger was a Hawaiian good luck sign so they thought that was wonderful," Lt Schumacher remembers.

The photograph was published in Time Magazine, which praised the crew for their courage.

Continue reading the main story Lieutenant Skip Schumacher was interviewed for the BBC World Service programme WitnessWitness airs every weekday, and tells history through the eyes of the people who were thereWhen that issue of the magazine made its way to North Korea and when the captors realised they had been made fools of, they reacted with anger and violence.

"They wanted to know all the double entendres and the slang language that we'd used during the 10 months we had been in captivity, and they beat us up very badly," said Lt Schmacher. "It was really quite brutal."

He said it was then that they began to lose hope.

"It finally dawned on us that there was nothing to prevent the North Koreans from sending us to work in the mines or even just taking us out into the parking lot and shooting us," he recalled.

"It was a traumatic experience not knowing your fate."

Free at last

Then just when the crew were at their lowest, they were told they would be released. The negotiations - and a series of US confessions and apologies - had worked.

Continue reading the main story There were 83 crew members on board. 82 of them were freed on 23 Jan 1968. One crew member, Duane Hodges, was killed during the seizing of the PuebloThe men were freed on 23 December 1968, exactly 11 months after their captureThe captain (shown in photo above) of the ship was nicknamed Pete, a name he choose for himself as a child after seeing a character in a cowboy movie by that nameIn 1970 Commander Lloyd M. Bucher told his version of events in the book Bucher: My Story. He died in 2004

Source: USS Pueblo Veteran's Association

But before they left, there was one last act of defiance.

When the North Koreans ordered Commander Bucher to record a thank you message to his captors, he included the word paean which translated as "to praise" in the Korean-English dictionary but sounds like the phrase "to pee on".

Skip Schumacher recalls with humour and pride their final act of resistance as the men walked across the "bridge of no return" at Panmunjom - a village at the border between North and South Korea - to freedom.

"Blasted on the loud speakers for all to hear came the booming voice of Commander Bucher wishing to pee on the North Korean navy and most of all pee on Premier Kim ll-sung!"

Back in the US, Commander Bucher faced a court of enquiry for his surrender to the North Koreans; a court martial was recommended but charges were never pressed.

It was 1989 before the men received medals in recognition of their ordeal.

But there are still some in the US Navy who believe the crew should have fought to the death rather than allow themselves to fall into enemy hands.

Lieutenant Skip Schumacher was interviewed for the BBC World Service programme Witness. You can listen to the programme or browse the archive.

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Brazil police storm illegal slum

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22 January 2012 Last updated at 22:57 GMT Thousands of police were involved in the operation to evict slum residents

Brazilian riot police have stormed an illegal settlement of landless workers in Sao Paulo state to reclaim the land for its private owners.

Several cars were set alight as residents tried to defend their homes in the Pinheirinho slum in Sao Jose dos Campos, and 16 people were arrested.

Police say they are now in control of the area after encountering less resistance than had been feared.

Some 6,000 residents are being evicted from the eight-year-old settlement.

Eviction

Around 2,000 police officers were involved in the operation to reclaim the private land, which had been occupied by landless workers and turned into a community.

Local government officials and social workers have been going door-to-door to evict families and help them move to alternative accommodation.

Some are being put up in temporary accommodation, while others are being offered transport back to their original home villages.

The evictions follow a legal battle between the residents and administrators for the bankrupt property company that owned the land.

Activists who supported the residents briefly blocked a main road in protest against the eviction.

The Pinheirinhos squatter camp established by a land invasion in 2002 had developed into a settled neighbourhood, complete with shops and churches.

A decade of strong economic growth and social spending has helped millions of Brazilians out of poverty into the expanding middle class.

But millions of others are still poor, and extreme inequality persists.

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Arctic freshwater bulge detected

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By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News UK scientists have detected a huge dome of freshwater that is developing in the western Arctic Ocean.

The bulge is some 8,000 cubic km in size and has risen by about 15cm since 2002.

The team thinks it may be the result of strong winds whipping up a great clockwise current in the northern polar region called the Beaufort Gyre.

This would force the water together, raising sea surface height, the group tells the journal Nature Geoscience.

"In the western Arctic, the Beaufort Gyre is driven by a permanent anti-cyclonic wind circulation. It drives the water, forcing it to pile up in the centre of gyre, and this domes the sea surface," explained lead author Dr Katharine Giles from the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM) at University College London.

Arctic summers have seen a decline in both ice extent and thickness

"In our data, we see the trend being biggest in the centre of the gyre and less around the edges," she told BBC News.

Dr Giles and colleagues made their discovery using radar satellites belonging to the European Space Agency (Esa).

These spacecraft can measure sea-surface height even when there is widespread ice cover because they are adept at picking out the cracks, or leads, that frequently appear in the frozen floes.

The data (1995-2010) indicates a significant swelling of water in the Beaufort Gyre, particularly since the early part of the 2000s. The rising trend has been running at 2cm per year.

Model prediction

A lot of research from buoys and other in-situ sampling had already indicated that water in this region of the Arctic had been freshening.

This freshwater is coming in large part from the rivers running off the Eurasian (Russian) side of the Arctic basin.

Winds and currents have transported this freshwater around the ocean until it has been pulled into the gyre. The volume currently held in the circulation probably represents about 10% of all the freshwater in the Arctic.

Of interest to future observations is what might happen if the anticyclonic winds, which have been whipping up the bulge, change behaviour.

"What we seen occurring is precisely what the climate models had predicted," said Dr Giles.

"When you have clockwise rotation - the freshwater is stored. If the wind goes the other way - and that has happened in the past - then the freshwater can be pushed to the margins of the Arctic Ocean.

"If the spin-up starts to spin down, the freshwater could be released. It could go to the rest of the Arctic Ocean or even leave the Arctic Ocean."

If the freshwater were to enter the North Atlantic in large volumes, the concern would be that it might disturb the currents that have such a great influence on European weather patterns. These currents draw warm waters up from the tropics, maintaining milder temperatures in winter than would ordinarily be expected at northern European latitudes.

Cracks, or leads, in the ice provide vertical surfaces against which the wind can push

The creation of the Beaufort Gyre bulge is not a continuous development throughout the 15-year data-set, and only becomes a dominant feature in the latter half of the study period.

This may indicate a change in the relationship between the wind and the ocean in the Arctic brought about by the recent rapid decline in sea-ice cover, the CPOM team argues in its Nature Geoscience paper.

It is possible that the wind is now imparting momentum to the water in ways that were not possible when the sea-ice was thicker and more extensive.

"The ice is now much freer to move around," said Dr Giles.

Cryosat-2: Esa's newest radar satellite is dedicated to studying the polar regions

"So, as the wind acts on the ice, it's able to pull the water around with it. Depending on how ridged the surface of ice is or how smooth the bottom of the ice is - this will all affect the drag on the water. If you have more leads, this also might provide more vertical ice surfaces for the wind to blow against."

One consequence of less sea-ice in the region is the possibility that winds could now initiate greater mixing of the different layers in the Arctic Ocean.

Scientists are aware that there is a lot of warm water at depth.

At present, this deep water's energy is unable to influence the sea-ice because of a buffer of colder, less dense water lying between it and the floes above.

But if this warm water were made to well up because of wind-driven changes at the surface, it could further accelerate the loss of seasonal ice cover.

The CPOM team is now investigating the likelihood of this happening with Cryosat-2, Esa's first radar satellite dedicated to the study of the polar regions.

"We now have the means to measure not only the ice thickness but also to monitor how the ocean under the ice is changing," says Dr Seymour Laxon, director of CPOM and co-author of the study, "and with CryoSat-2, we can now do so over the entire Arctic Ocean."

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter

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First session for Egypt assembly

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23 January 2012 Last updated at 11:35 GMT The BBC's Jon Leyne says it is "a truly historic moment" for Egypt

The first Egyptian parliament elected since President Hosni Mubarak resigned last February after a popular uprising is holding its inaugural session.

Islamists dominated the elections held for the People's Assembly over the past three months, winning 73% of the seats.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party won 235 seats, the ultra-conservative Salafist Nour Party 121 and the moderate al-Wasat Party 10.

The chamber's first task is to elect a speaker and two deputies.

Monday's session was chaired by Mahmoud al-Saqqa of the liberal New Wafd party, who at 81 is the oldest member of the People's Assembly.

He began proceedings by ordering a moment of silence for the 850 people who were killed during the 18-day uprising against Mr Mubarak.

The former leader is currently on trial, accused of ordering security forces to shoot protesters. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Oaths

The assembly's inaugural session then turned briefly chaotic when several MPs made impromptu additions to the text of the oath they were taking, provoking angry calls to order from Mr Saqqa.

Continue reading the main story

Freedom and Justice Party - 235 seats (47.2%)

Nour Party - 121 seats (24.3%)

New Wafd Party - 38 seats (7.6%)

Egyptian Bloc - 35 seats (7.0%)

Al-Wasat Party - 10 seats (2.0%)

Reform and Development Party - 10 seats (2.0%)

Revolution Continues - 7 seats (1.4%)

Other parties and independents - 42 seats (8.4%); 10 seats also appointed by president/ruling military council

The oath ends with a pledge to respect the constitution and law, but one Islamist added "God's law", while two pro-reform MPs promised to "complete the 25 January revolution" and to respect "the rights of its martyrs".

Several independent MPs and others from liberal and secular groups also wore yellow sashes saying: "No to military trials for civilians."

At least 12,000 people have faced military tribunals since the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces assumed the president's powers.

Held over three phases between 28 November and 11 January, the parliamentary elections were considered the freest in Egyptian history.

The People's Assembly's priority is to select a 100-member panel to draft a new constitution that will be put to a referendum before a presidential election in June, when the ruling generals should step down.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says liberals fear the Muslim Brotherhood and the ruling military council will strike an agreement to entrench the army's privileges and the brotherhood's control over Egyptian society.

Liberal and secular parties polled badly, with the New Wafd securing 38 seats, the Egyptian bloc 35 and the Reform and Development Party 10.

The Revolution Continues, a group formed by youth activists behind the uprising that ousted Mr Mubarak, won only seven seats.

The Muslim Brotherhood's General Guide, Mohammed Badie, said in December the Freedom and Justice Party would form a broad coalition if it won the elections.

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Veteran president 'leaves Yemen'

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22 January 2012 Last updated at 19:08 GMT Ali Abdullah Saleh seized power in 1978 Yemen's veteran President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has left the country to travel to the US for medical treatment, Yemeni officials say.

In a televised "farewell speech" he asked for forgiveness for "any shortcomings" during his 33-year rule.

His departure came a day after MPs approved a law giving him immunity from prosecution.

The law was part of a Gulf Co-operation Council-brokered deal under which he would relinquish power and leave Yemen.

A spokesman for Mr Saleh, Ahmed al-Soufi, said the president had flown out of the country late on Sunday bound for neighbouring Oman, from where he is expected to continue his journey.

Afterwards, a senior official in Washington said the Yemeni president had been cleared to go to the US for medical treatment, the Associated Press reported.

'In your hands' Continue reading the main story Sebastian Usher BBC Arab affairs editor

Yemenis could be forgiven if they had a sense of deja vu. All day there were rumours that President Saleh had flown out of the country or was about to. There was similar uncertainty when he left for Saudi Arabia after being seriously wounded in an assassination attempt last June.

Most people then felt that after months of mass unrest and growing civil conflict, his departure was an admission of defeat and he would not be returning. But he did.

This time, in what sounded like a valedictory speech, he stressed that he was not leaving for good, but would at some point return to lead his political party.

However long it lasts this time, Mr Saleh's absence will be seen as at least providing a breathing space for Yemen to hold new elections next month and try to make a fresh start - although the only candidate is the vice president.

"God willing, I will leave for treatment in the United States and I will return to Sanaa as head of the General People's Congress party," Mr Saleh earlier told party officials in his speech.

"I ask for forgiveness from all my people, men and women, for any shortcomings during my 33-year-long rule," he said.

One official who was at the early-morning event which brought together senior political, military and security officials, quoted Mr Saleh as saying: "Today, I leave the country in your hands.''

The president's aides say Mr Saleh also announced the promotion of Vice-President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi - who is set to replace him as president - to the rank of marshal.

Mr Saleh, 69, was badly injured in an attack on his presidential palace in June after which he spent several months in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment.

Protests continue

The capital Sanaa saw renewed protests on Sunday calling for him to be put on trial.

Demonstrators want Mr Saleh to be brought to justice for offences they say he committed, including the brutal suppression of a year-long uprising that left hundreds dead.

The bill approved on Saturday grants President Saleh full and irrevocable immunity from prosecution for anything he did while in office.

However, it was amended earlier this week to limit the immunity to government and military officials who served alongside Mr Saleh. They could still be prosecuted for actions deemed to be terrorism, or for corruption.

The outcry over immunity for Mr Saleh shows no sign of abating

Angry protesters carried banners on Sunday urging MPs to reverse their decision on Mr Saleh's immunity.

"It is our duty... to execute the butcher", chanted protesters in Change Square - the hub of the democracy movement over the past year, AFP news agency said.

Security forces controlled by the president and his family, as well as armed loyalists, have been accused of killing anti-government protesters.

Earlier this month, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said that anyone who committed abuses during the mass protests which erupted a year ago should not be allowed to escape justice.

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Gabon wary of debutants Niger

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Gabon train in Libreville ahead of Monday's opening Group C clash with Niger Gabon get their African Nations Cup campaign underway on Monday, aiming to emulate co-hosts Equatorial Guinea by winning their opening match.

Unlike the Equatoguineans, who caused an upset on Saturday, Gabon start as favourites against debutants Niger.

Libreville's Stade de l'Amitie has seen frenzied final preparations ahead of Gabon's moment, with soldiers brought in to clean the nearby roads.

"(Niger) is a good [and] very physical team,'' said Gabon coach Gernot Rohr.

Continue reading the main story 23 Jan: Gabon v Niger 23 Jan: Morocco v Tunisia 27 Jan: Niger v Tunisia 27 Jan: Gabon v Morocco 31 Jan: Gabon v Tunisia (Franceville) 31 Jan: Niger v Morocco

"We respect this team and I think this team comes here to (play) an offensive game," added the German.

Doubts surround the participation of Daniel Cousin in Gabon's line-up, with the former Hull City striker still making his return after a few months' lay-off.

"He didn't play for five months but now he's coming back," Rohr told BBC Sport.

"The first time he started a game for us was last Monday - so he's missing a little physical condition."

Gabon's final warm-up game for the Nations Cup came when playing a second consecutive goalless draw, this time against Sudan, in Franceville a week ago.

Despite being drawn in a tough Group C, there is a growing expectation swirling around the Gabon side, stemming from the country's surprise qualification at under-23 level for the London Olympics.

Niger, meanwhile, have a full squad from which to choose as the Mena prepare to make their Nations Cup debut.

The main protagonists in the pool are Morocco and Tunisia, two past winners who meet in the second match on Monday evening at the newly-built stadium in Libreville.

"The match against Morocco is a big game for us and we need the three points,'' said Tunisia forward Amine Chermiti.

"It's important to win to get the confidence to continue. It's important on a North Africa level, as our opponent is a neighbour against whom we have a long footballing history.''

Tunisia will be without Issam Jemaa however, with the Auxerre striker sidelined for the group stages of the competition with an ankle injury.

The North African rivals have not met at the Nations Cup since the final in 2004, when the Tunisians triumphed on home soil.

Under the guidance of Belgian coach Eric Gerets and with talent sprinkled throughout the side, Morocco are one of the dark horses for the tournament.

"We are not afraid," says midfielder Adel Taarabt. "I think we need to concentrate on our group because we have a super team and so we need to show everyone.''

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Greek focus for eurozone meeting

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23 January 2012 Last updated at 12:16 GMT The talks could be crucial to the future of the euro Eurozone finance ministers are to meet later, with the Greek debt crisis likely to dominate proceedings.

On the agenda will be what form Greek debt restructuring should take as part of a second bailout package for Athens.

It comes after negotiators for private creditors left Greece without a deal to write off some of the country's debts.

Separately, IMF boss Christine Lagarde has said the eurozone needs economic growth and bigger financial firewalls to resolve debt issues.

Deadline

The Institute of International Finance (IIF), which represents Greece's creditors, said a technical team would remain to work further on the details.

European leaders agreed in principle last year that private lenders would voluntarily write off 50% of their loans to Greece, but private creditors still need to agree to the terms of the deal.

A 130bn euro ($168bn; £108bn) rescue package from the EU and IMF is crucial if Greece is to meet its next debt repayment deadline in two months.

Without the second bailout Greece will not be able to pay back 14.5bn euros in maturing bonds in March.

If Greece defaults on its debts it could cause further economic havoc in the eurozone, and undermine the common currency.

'Solvency crisis'

Christine Lagarde met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Monday.

After the meeting, Ms Lagarde said that the eurozone needed a "larger firewall" to prevent the debt crisis spreading.

"Without it, countries like Italy and Spain that are fundamentally able to repay their debts could be forced into a solvency crisis by abnormal financing costs," she said.

She suggested "folding" money left in the eurozone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, into the new European Stability Mechanism bailout fund, when the latter comes into force some time this year.

She also said the European Central Bank should "provide the necessary liquidity support to stabilise bank funding and sovereign debt markets."

And she repeated her view that "across-the-board, across-the continent, budgetary cuts will only add to recessionary pressures".

'Market wolf'

A leading Australian economic report warned on Monday of the wider global implications of a eurozone meltdown.

The quarterly Deloitte-Access Economics Business Outlook said it was "marginally" more likely the eurozone would manage to get through its current problems.

For the time being, the report said, the European Central Bank looked able to keep the "market wolf from the sovereign debt door" but that the region was bound for recession.

The euro hit its highest level in nearly three weeks against the dollar on Monday, at $1.2998 on hopes of positive signs from the finance ministers' meeting.

And the common currency was up 0.4% against the pound at 83.42 pence.

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Romney 'to release tax returns'

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22 January 2012 Last updated at 17:19 GMT Mr Romney has emphasised his success as a venture capitalist US Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has said he will release recent tax returns on Tuesday.

Mr Romney, the early favourite in primary elections, appeared embarrassed during the South Carolina campaign by the issue of how much tax he paid.

Last week he said he in effect paid 15%, less than most working Americans.

Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary on Saturday by an unexpectedly wide margin, beating the former Massachusetts governor by 40% to 28%.

The candidate winning South Carolina has gone on to win the Republican nomination in each election since 1980.

Two other candidates, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, polled 18% and 13% respectively.

'Full fair taxes'

Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Mr Romney said the question of tax had become a distraction for his campaign, and he wanted to re-focus on the main issues.

"I will release my tax returns for 2010, which is the last returns which were completed, on Tuesday of this week," he said.

Continue reading the main story Thought to be worth $190-250mFamily received at least $9.6m in income from Jan 2010 to Sept 2011Investments worth up to $32m in offshore holdingsAt least six funds set up in Cayman Islands tax haven, according to AP"And I will also release at the same time an estimate for 2011 tax returns."

"I know people will try and find something, but we pay full fair taxes and I'm sure people will find it's a substantial amount," he added.

Correspondents say Mr Romney has campaigned on the strength of his success as an entrepreneur, but as a wealthy patrician figure he is regarded negatively by some conservatives.

He is a multi-millionaire with three homes and lives mainly on income from his investments, for which only 15% tax is payable.

He has been criticised for describing payments totalling $373,000 (£240,000) in a year for paid speeches as "not very much" money.

Mr Romney had led the Republican field since November and appeared to have won the first two contests of the campaign, in Iowa and New Hampshire.

But the Iowa caucus result was overturned in a recount which gave a narrow victory to Mr Santorum.

Battleground state Continue reading the main story And Mr Gingrich, who polled poorly in both Iowa and New Hampshire, appeared to find his stride in South Carolina, attacking Mr Romney over his business and tax records.

BBC North America editor Mark Mardell, in South Carolina, says a Gingrich win is important, because all along the story of this race has been the search by conservatives for an alternative to Mr Romney.

It is just possible they have settled on Mr Gingrich, and at the very least such a result will puncture the sense that eventually Mr Romney will triumph, our correspondent adds.

The contest for the next state, Florida, is now seen as crucial, being a major battleground state in the US general election, with a diverse electorate and where a lot of money will be spent campaigning.

Primaries and caucuses will be held in every US state over the next few months to pick a Republican nominee before the eventual winner is anointed at the party convention in August to take on Democratic President Barack Obama in November.

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US drone 'kills five' in Pakistan

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23 January 2012 Last updated at 08:03 GMT The US drone campaign has reportedly killed dozens of militants and civilians A drone attack in a volatile tribal region of north-west Pakistan has killed at least five suspected militants, officials say.

The attack took place at Degan village in the North Waziristan tribal area, close to the Afghan border.

Analysts say that the US briefly halted drone strikes in the region in November after a Nato attack accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Attacks by the unmanned aircraft appear to have resumed in early January.

The militants, who are believed to be from Turkmenistan, were killed when missiles hit their vehicle, local administration officials told the BBC.

Witnesses say the vehicle was going from Degan to Datta Khel in North Waziristan and said that it was engulfed by fire after the missile strike. A nearby house was also damaged.

Drone attacks have focused on North and South Waziristan, where US officials believe many al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters find shelter.

The US says the region is home to several militant groups involved in attacks on Nato forces in Afghanistan.

Drone attacks frequently target Pakistan's restive tribal areas, where many insurgents have taken refuge.

The frequency of the attacks has increased since President Barack Obama took office in 2008. More than 100 raids were reported in the area in 2010, and more than 60 took place last year.

The US does not routinely confirm drone operations, but analysts say only American forces have the capacity to deploy such aircraft in the region.

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Sixteen-Year-Old Laura Dekker Completes Globe-Circling Sail

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In this Dec. 19, 2010 file photo, Laura Dekker poses on her sailboat Guppy after arriving at Simpson Bay Lagoon near Philipsburg on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten.

(PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten) — A teenager from the Netherlands sailed into St. Maarten harbor on Saturday, ending a yearlong solo journey around the globe aboard a ketch named “Guppy.”

Dozens of people cheered as Laura Dekker pumped her fist into the air in celebration while sailing past a drawbridge raised for her arrival in the port from which she set out on Jan. 20, 2011.

(LIST: Top 10 Sports Moments of 2011)

Dekker marked her 16th birthday during the trip and claims she is the youngest sailor to complete a round-the-world voyage. The Guinness World Records has said it won’t back that up because it no longer recognizes records for youngest sailors to discourage dangerous attempts.

Several Dutch officials tried to block her trip, arguing she was too young to risk her life. School authorities have complained she should be in a classroom.

The last leg of the journey took Dekker through high seas and heavy winds from Cape Town, South Africa. She hugged her family and wept before addressing the crowd.

Dekker says she was born aboard a boat and first sailed solo at age 6. At 10, she said, she began dreaming about circling the globe. “Her story is just amazing,” said one of Dekker’s fans, 10-year-old Jody Bell of Connecticut. “I can’t imagine someone her age going out on sea all by herself.”

Bell was in St. Maarten on a work trip with her mother, Deena Merlen, an attorney in Manhattan, who wanted to see Dekker complete her journey. The two wore T-shirts that read: “Guppy rocks my world.” “My daughter and I have been following Laura’s story, and we think it’s amazing and inspiring,” Merlen said.

LIST: Top 10 Things You Should Know About Columbus

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Patriots and Giants Prevail: Lessons From A Classic NFL Championship Sunday

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A Super rematch is set: the New England Patriots will play the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, on February 5th in Indianapolis. New York Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes (9) and holder Steve Weatherford (5) celebrate with teammates after Tynes kicked the winning field goal against the San Francisco 49ers in overtime

A Super rematch is set: the New England Patriots will play the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, on February 5th in Indianapolis. (Four years ago, the Giants ruined New England’s bid for a perfect season, as they upset the heavily favored Pats 17-14). If we’re lucky, the big game will come close to matching the drama that unfolded on Sunday.  If anything, the championship games taught us that there’s a reason pro football is the most popular sport in America right now. Despite slightly confusing overtime rules that took referee Ed Hochuli about a half-hour to explain before the coin toss in the Giants-San Francisco 49ers NFC championship game, the NFL kind of rocks.

Here are three more lessons from a classic championship Sunday:

1. Goats Galore. You’ve got to feel horribly for two people this morning: kicker Billy Cundiff of the Baltimore Ravens, and punt returner Kyle Williams from the San Francisco 49ers. In the AFC championship game, all Cundiff needed to do was make a chip-shot, 32-yard field goal with 11 seconds left to send the Ravens-Patriots game into overtime. In the last two years, Cundiff was 16 out of 16 on fourth quarter field goals. But Cundiff hooked it to the left of the goal post, sending the New England crowd into hysterics. “I think we can just keep things simple,” Cundiff said afterwards. “It’s a kick I’ve kicked a thousand times in my career. I just went out there and didn’t convert. That’s the way things go. There’s really no excuse for it.” New England held on to win, 23-20.

After the game, Tom Brady, who threw two interceptions and no touchdown passes, and missed several open receivers throughout the day, told a national television audience that he “sucked.” That’s not totally true. His fourth quarter sneak, in which he hurdled over the offensive into the end zone before the Ravens defense nearly cracked his back, was a gusty, athletic move that gave the Pats the game-winning score.

In the NFC championship game, Williams’ miscues set up two New York scores. With San Francisco leading 14-10 in the third quarter, and having captured the game’s momentum, a punt grazed Williams’ leg, making it a live ball: New York’s Devin Thomas picked it up and ran towards the end zone. Though the Giants couldn’t advance the muffed punt return, the replay confirmed that Williams mishandled it, and the Giants were awarded the ball on the turnover. New York took advantage:  Eli Manning ripped a 17-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham on third-and-15, putting the Giants on top, 17-14.

In overtime, the Giants punted after failing to score on their second possession of the extra session. Williams caught the ball, and ran it back five yards before New York’s Jacquain Williams punched it out of his hands: the Giants recovered the fumble at the San Francisco 24-yard-line. Five plays later, New York’s Lawrence Tynes, whose 47-yard overtime field goal in Green Bay four years ago sent the Giants to the Super Bowl, ended another NFC  championship game with a 31-yard strike through the uprights, pretty much the same distance from which Cundiff missed. The Giants won 20-17.

(MORE: Is Eli Now The NFL’s Main Manning?)

2. A Sterling Swipe. Sterling Moore, welcome to New England sports lore. With under a minute left in the fourth quarter, the Ravens had the ball on the New England 14-yard-line, trailing 23-20. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco took a shot at the end zone, to win the game outright before overtime. His pass sailed into the arms of receiver Lee Evans, who seemed to have the ball, and the Ravens’ Super Bowl trip, secured. But just as his second foot touched the ground, Moore, a Patriots cornerback, whacked the ball out of Evans’ hands. Incomplete pass. After Cundiff missed the game-tying field goal, some commentators took Evans to task for not holding on to the pass. But you have to give Moore, an undrafted rookie free agent cut earlier this year from the Oakland Raiders practice squad, credit. His strength saved the day.

(MORE: Is This The Year The New England Patriots Get Fun?)

3. Harbaugh Hell. The Harbaugh brothers, San Francisco coach Jim and Baltimore coach John, not only both lost in heartbreaking fashion, and came tantalizingly close to coaching against each other in the Super Bowl but they didn’t even get the traditional consolation prize. Until two years ago, the losing coaches in the conference championship games got a trip to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, where they would coach the AFC and NFC All-Stars. But the NFL now schedules the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl, and gives coaching “duties” to divisional round losers.

NewsFeed suggests that the Harbaughs crash the Pro Bowl party. If anyone deserves to drown their sorrows poolside, over Mai Tais, in Honolulu, they do.

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Volkswagen ' canine chorus ' barks 'Star Wars' theme in the Super Bowl ad

Every year, in addition to the battle between the two teams in the field at the Super Bowl is a struggle among the advertisers to see which companies with the most memorable most brilliant and funniest advertising comes. The year's big game is still two weeks way, and still an ad from a car manufacturer already has all but declared the winner for the best Super Bowl commercial. How can someone finally with a pack of dogs barking, the melody of "Imperial March" from "Star Wars" compete?

Last year Super Bowl achieved Volkswagen large among the spectators of all ages with "The force", an ad with a child in the trying his hand on the use of force on different objects and creatures Darth Vader outfit. (It works finally on a Volkswagen Passat, with the help of his father removed starter.)

"The force" 14 million views, leaked a few days before the Super Bowl 2011, before it aired on television, and was finally in top viral campaign, with more than 60 million times online.

(List: the best and the worst Super Bowl commercials of 2011)

Building on the success of the past, not to mention the "Star Wars" theme, Volkswagen has published more than two weeks before the Super Bowl 2012 a teaser ad. It is essentially an ad advertising an upcoming ad.

And it's phenomenally popular, generating advertising everywhere from the Los Angeles Times, U.S. news, time. Less than two days after the ad on YouTube, has surfaced it generates nearly 3 million hits.

Enough with the back story, but. We know that you only that which already want to see.

Here is the ad, called "the bark side" and has the "Volkswagen canine chorus" - dogs dressed up as Darth Vader, Han made sound solo and Princess Leia as are several other "Star Wars" them the famous "Imperial March" theme Bay-characters. Doggie, you pay attention to the wookie E is called a classic Chewbacca-like make howl and the AT-AT-dog at the end.

Brad Tuttle is when a reporter. Find him on Twitter at @ Bradrtuttle. You can also the discussion on time of the Facebook page and on Twitter at @ time further.

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3-Inch Nail Removed from Illinois Man’s Brain

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Christ Medical Center & Hope Children's Hospital / APDante Autullo's X-ray shows a nail embedded in his brain.

(OAK LAWN, Ill.) — Dante Autullo was sure he’d merely cut himself with a nail gun while building a shed, and thought doctors were joking when they told him what an X-ray revealed: A 3 1/4-inch nail was lodged in the middle of his brain.

Autullo was recovering Friday after undergoing surgery at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where doctors removed the nail that came within millimeters of the part of the brain controlling motor function. “When they brought in the picture, I said to the doctor ‘Is this a joke? Did you get that out of the doctors joke file?’” the 32-year-old recalled. “The doctor said ‘No man, that’s in your head.’” As he was rushed by ambulance to another hospital for surgery, he posted a picture of the X-ray on Facebook.

Autullo, who lives in Orland Park, said he was building a shed Tuesday and using the nail gun above his head when he fired it. With nothing to indicate that a nail hadn’t simply whizzed by his head, his long-time companion, Gail Glaenzer, cleaned the wound with peroxide. “It really felt like I got punched on the side of the head,” he said, adding that he continued working. “I thought it went past my ear.”

While there are pain-sensitive nerves on a person’s skull, there aren’t any within the brain itself. That’s why he would have felt the nail strike the skull, but he wouldn’t have felt it penetrate the brain.

Neither he nor Glaenzer thought much about it, and Autullo went on with his day, even plowing a bit of snow. But the next day when he awoke from a nap, feeling nauseated, Glaenzer sensed something was wrong and suggested they go to the hospital. At first Autullo refused, but he relented after the two picked up their son at school Wednesday evening. An X-ray was taken a couple hours later. And there, seeming to float in the middle of his head, was a nail.

Doctors told Autullo and Glaenzer that the nail came within millimeters from the part of the brain that controls motor function, and he was rushed by ambulance to the other hospital for more specialized care. “He feels good. He moved all his limbs, he’s talking normal, he remembers everything,” Glaenzer said earlier Friday. “It’s amazing, a miracle.”

Dante Autullo shows the area of his injury at Advocate Christ Medical Center Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in Oak Lawn, Ill.

Neurosurgeon Leslie Schaffer acknowledged that Autullo’s case was unusual, but not extremely rare. Schaffer said having a nail penetrate the skull is not like being shot in the head, noting that a bullet would break into multiple pieces. “This (the nail) is thinner, with a small trajectory, and pointed at the end,” he said. “The bone doesn’t fracture much because the nail has a small tip.”

Schaffer said the man’s skull stopped the nail from going farther into his brain. He said he removed the nail by putting two holes in Autullo’s skull, on either side of the nail, then pulled the nail out along with a piece of the skull. The surgery took two hours, and the part of the skull that was removed for surgery was replaced with a titanium mesh, Hospital spokesman Mike Maggio said.

Glaenzer said Autullo hasn’t really talked about how scared he was about what might have happened, but he did express a recognition about coming close to death. “He was joking with me (after surgery), ‘We need to get the Discovery Channel up here to tape this,’” she recalled him saying. “‘I’m one of those medical miracles.’”

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Give me an A: CNBC picks of the 10 best NFL Cheerleader squads

As of this year's NFL playoffs down wind, it's time to look at the teams, the all year round the largest sums create: the cheerleader. New England Patriots cheerleaders carry out, during an NFL football game against the New York Giants in Foxborough, Massachusetts on 1 September 2011

Super bowl XLVI is only a few weeks away, and while the teams have yet to decided, there is a big difference between this year and the previous matchup: cheerleaders. Was last year Championship game between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers the first time in the Super Bowl history that no cheerleaders were the crowd from the sideline because none of the teams had a team. Six of the 32 NFL teams are cheerleading-less.

And that's a buzz kill. Not only help cheerleaders to the energy and the general atmosphere of a football match to ignite, but the squad are also instrumental in cheering for their franchise outside the stadium, either through community service, fan interaction or marketing opportunities. And this year, it will certainly spins and crashes, cheers and claps from a high-bay warehouse Super Bowl squad on the sidelines.

With this in mind, CNBCS Darren Rovell and Paul Toscano took a look at the 26 NFL Cheerleader teams to the 10 best choose taking into account both business and leisure travellers. The financial news gurus classified the cheerleader sites, community outreach and audition process.

(Photos: Super Bowl entertainment)

Surprisingly, defeated the New England Patriots cheerleader the iconic Dallas Cowboys squad CNBCS list, at the top, although Rovell and Toscano to point out that cheerleaders "the most prestigious squad in the NFL," as well as the most heavily marketed the Cowboys.

The Patriots cheerleader, on the other hand offer a comprehensive Web site - including 16 squad photos - and community service with their program "Junior Patriots cheerleaders" are very involved in. They shot their 2012 calendars in Aruba also recently. Lucky ladies.

The sunny Miami Dolphins cheerleaders round the top three, a high ranking on the basis of their social media integration, CNBC notes anchoring. Each Cheerleader has Twitter and Facebook directly from the team linked website pages. The Dolphin cheerleaders go to visit military bases and support NFL Mexico in Mexico City. And to think that we still do not know how a League existed.

Here, CNBCS is the complete list:

1. New England Patriots
2. Dallas Cowboys
3. Miami Dolphins
4. Houston Texans
5. Denver Broncos
6. Philadelphia Eagles
7. New York Jets
8. New Orleans Saints
9. Oakland Raiders
10. Atlanta Falcons

More: a cure for title IX suffer: cheerleaders make a sport

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Megaupload Founder Kim Dotcom, By the Numbers

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Natalie Slade / NZ Herald / APThis aerial shot shows Kim Dotcom's house in Coatesville, northwest of Auckland, New Zealand on Friday, Jan. 20, 2012.

When news of the international raid on Megaupload broke Thursday in the U.S., Internet aficionados got a glimpse at the man behind of the largest file-sharing websites in the world. And it turns out the site’s founder, Kim Dotcom, was rich, large, and most certainly in charge. He currently sits in a New Zealand prison awaiting trial, while we attempt to dissect the man who (formerly) controlled the online media empire.

2: Number of citizenships held by Dotcom, Megaupload’s former CEO and current Chief Innovation Officer. He holds passports from Germany, where he was born Kim Schmitz, as well as Finland, but is a resident of New Zealand and Hong Kong.

3: Number of other Megaupload employees arrested along with Dotcom. Bram van der Kolk, Finn Batato and Mathias Ortmann were grabbed by New Zealand authorities Friday.

(READ: Megaupload’s Takedown: How Is Swizz Beatz Involved?)

Greg Bowker / New Zealand Herald / APFounder and current chief innovation officer of Megaupload.com Kim Dotcom (also known as Kim Schmitz appears in North Shore District Court in Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012.

6:45 a.m.: The time of the early-morning raid on Dotcom’s property by New Zealand police. As officers swarmed the property, Dotcom reportedly barricaded himself into a panic room built into his bedroom and armed himself with what appeared to be a sawed-off shotgun, police said.

6’ 7”, 300 lbs: Dotcom’s reported height and weight. The larger-than-life figure was indeed, rather large.

37: Age of Dotcom upon his arrest Friday, January 20, 2012. He turned 38 on January 21 and was reported to have been arrested during or just after his birthday party.

76: Number of New Zealand police officers involved in the raid.

(LIST: 25 Crimes of the Century)

2005: The year Dotcom founded Megaupload, headquartered in Hong Kong. Authorities say that while some of its file-sharing business was legitimate, the site was also a major clearinghouse for illegally pirated movies, TV shows and software

$12,000: The alleged cost per day of the Hong Kong luxury hotel room hosting Megaupload’s main office.

$4.9 million: The estimated worth of the 18 cars seized at Dotcom’s estate. The haul-away included 15 Mercedes-Benzes, a pink 1959 Cadillac, and a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe worth more than $400,000. His license plates told a tale of pompousness, reading KIMCOM, HACKER, STONED, GUILTY, MAFIA, GOD and POLICE.

$24 million: The price tag (in USD) on the 25,000-square-foot sprawling mansion Dotcom leases in Coatesville, New Zealand, 15 miles northwest of Auckland. Costing $30 million New Zealand Dollars, it’s one of the most expensive properties in the country.

$175 million: The total worth of assets owned by Dotcom and his Megaupload employees, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The figure includes vehicles, artwork, bank accounts, and a smattering of giant screen televisions.

$500 million: Monetary damage to copyright holders caused by Megaupload, as estimated by the U.S. Department of Justice.

LIST: Top 10 People Caught on Facebook

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