The conviction of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in all 10 criminal charges against him clearly demonstrates that the US will not tolerate those who bring drugs and violence into the country to destroy people's lives, America's drug czar Uttam Dhillon has said.
Guzman, 61, was found guilty on all 10 counts at his high-profile drug-trafficking trial at a federal court in New York on Tuesday.
The Mexican, famed for his brazen escapes from Mexican prisons, was accused of being behind the all-powerful Sinaloa drug cartel, which prosecutors say was the biggest supplier of drugs to the US.
He was convicted on numerous counts including the distribution of cocaine and heroin, illegal firearms possession and money laundering.
In 2009, Guzman entered Forbes' list of the world's richest men at number 701, with an estimated worth of USD 1 billion.
While Guzman will be sentenced on June 25, he faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole for leading a continuing ..

US drug czar Uttam Dhillon welcomes Mexican drug kingpin Guzman's conviction

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Upskirting, which involves offenders taking a picture under a person's clothing without their knowledge, has now become a criminal offence in the UK after an 18-month campaign.
Perpetrators of such a crime face up to two years in prison and being placed on the country's sex offenders register after the Voyeurism Bill received Royal Assent from Queen Elizabeth II to become law on Tuesday.
"As the Queen formally agrees to make our bill into an Act of Parliament, we should see this campaign as not only essential legislative change, but also proof that normal people and grassroots campaigning can make a real difference," said Gina Martin, a victim of upskirting, who led an 18-month campaign to ensure it is recognised as a criminal offence.
"It has been a long time coming but we are finally protected in every scenario  as we should always have been," she said.
The new law will come into formal effect from April, two months from Royal Assent being granted.
The UK government said the new law 

'Upskirting' becomes criminal offence in UK

India's Anirban Lahiri is all set to return in action at the star-studded Genesis Open after a month-long break during which he and wife Ipsa were blessed with a baby girl.
Lahiri and his wife announced the arrival of their daughter Tisya, who was born on February 4.
"Tisya's birth was the best thing ever in our lives and we feel really blessed. It does make me more motivated as I am back in action at the Genesis Open," said Lahiri.
The 31-year-old Lahiri, who featured at the Sony Open in Hawaii and Desert Classic, missed the cut in the latter event. He then took time off to prepare for parenthood.
This week's Genesis Open will also feature all the big names including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Phil Mickelson, Xander Schauffele and Jordan Spieth.
Woods will be making his 13th appearance at the tournament, and will play with Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy in the event's opening rounds.
Last year, Bubba Watson joined Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan as three-time victors in ...

'New Dad' Lahiri returns to action at star-studded Genesis Open

An Indian-American man, who apparently tried to crawl under a parked tractor trailer to take a short cut, died after getting run over when the driver suddenly started his vehicle and drove away in New Brunswick in the US, according to police.
The incident occurred around 9:30 pm on February 5 when 30-year-old Neal Patel crawled under the stopped vehicle at the Raceway station on Route 1 near Wooding Avenue to take a shortcut, local media reported, citing police.
The driver suddenly started up his tractor trailer and was unaware that he had dragged Patel about 10 feet and ran him over with his rear tires, according to Police Lt. Robert Dudash.
Patel, a resident of Princeton, New Jersey, was badly injured. He was rushed to the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick where he succumbed to his injuries on Saturday, police said.
The driver, who police located hours later in Philadelphia, returned voluntarily to Edison to assist with their investigation. He does not face ...

Indian-American run over after taking shortcut underneath tractor-trailer

Hearing impairment in older adults may indicate increased risk of faster cognitive decline with age, a study claims.
Researchers from University of California San Diego in the US tracked 1,164 participants for up to 24 years.
All had undergone assessments for hearing acuity and cognitive function between the years 1992 to 1996 and had up to five subsequent cognitive assessments at approximately four-year intervals. None used a hearing aid.
The study, published in the Journal of Gerontology: Series A Medical Sciences, found that almost half of the participants had mild hearing impairment, with 16.8 per cent suffering moderate-to-severe hearing loss.
Those with more serious hearing impairment showed worse performance at the initial visit on a pair of commonly used cognitive assessment tests.
Hearing impairment was associated with greater decline in performance on these tests over time, both for those with mild hearing impairment and those with more severe hearing impairment.
However, ...

Hearing loss may point to greater cognitive decline risk: Study

Pakistan on Wednesday said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman will arrive in Islamabad on Saturday on a two-day visit during which a number of agreements worth billions of dollars investment in the country would be signed.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are likely to sign over USD 10 billion investment agreements, including a multibillion dollar oil refinery in Gwadar, during his visit.
Mohammad, who is also the Gulf Kingdom's vice president of the council of ministers and defence minister, will arrive here on February 16 on his first state visit to Pakistan since his elevation to the position of the crown prince in April 2017, the Foreign Office said.
He will be accompanied by a high-powered delegation including members of the royal family, key ministers and leading businessmen.
During his visit, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will be signing a number of agreements and MoUs in diverse sectors, including investment, finance, power, renewable energy, internal security, media, culture ...

Saudi crown prince to visit Pakistan on Feb 16

Rebel Wilson believes she "misspoke" when she claimed that she will be "first-ever plus-sized girl to be the star of a romantic comedy".
The actor had made the remarks during her appearance at Ellen DeGeneres' show where she was promoting the film, "Isn't It Romantic".
Her comments resulted in a major backlash for the Australian star on social media.
She later apologised only after social media users reminded her that actors Queen Latifah and Mo'Nique had fronted romantic comedies before.
Looking back at the controversy, the 38-year-old actor told Variety, "I obviously misspoke in that situation."
"I was so sincerely sorry. My intention was never to offend anyone. It was purely to lift my fellow plus-sized women up, so I was sad when I had a different reaction from some people," she added,
The film's message, Wilson said, is about body positivity.
"At the end of the day I think this movie is so positive, it has such a sweet message, and the representation in it is really positive," ...

I misspoke: Rebel Wilson on 'Isn't it Romantic' plus-size claims

Scientists have developed new artificial intelligence (AI) based computing algorithms for dating apps and websites that 'think' like humans to pinpoint fake profiles designed to con victims out of thousands of pounds.
The researchers led by the University of Warwick in the UK developed the algorithms as part of wide-ranging research into combating online fraud.
The new algorithms have been designed specifically to understand what fake dating profiles look like and then to apply this knowledge when they scan profiles submitted to online dating services.
They automatically look out for suspicious signs inadvertently included by fraudsters in the demographic information, the images and the self-descriptions that make up profiles, and reach an overall conclusion as to the probability of each individual profile being fake.
When tested, the algorithms produced a very low false-positive rate  -- the number of genuine profiles mistakenly flagged up as fake -- of around one per cent.
"Online ..

Artificial intelligence may help foil online dating scams

US Vice President Mike Pence and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were expected Wednesday in Warsaw for a 60-nation conference that they hope will raise the international stakes for Iran.
But the two-day conference will also lay bare divisions, with major European allies of the United States sending low-profile representatives amid unease over President Donald Trump's strident calls to strangle Iran's economy.
Pence and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will join the Polish government in welcoming officials at a dinner at the Royal Castle in Warsaw's old town, the home for centuries to monarchs.
While much of the schedule remained vague, the main session will take place Thursday when Pence, Pompeo and Netanyahu all deliver remarks and working groups are assigned to discuss areas of concern.
"This is a global coalition that is built to deliver on the important mission of reducing the risk that has emanated from the Middle East for far too long," Pompeo said Tuesday evening as .

US, Israeli leaders head to Poland with eyes on pressing Iran

Five people have died after a small plane carrying them from Kenya's Maasai Mara nature reserve crashed in the west of the country, police said Wednesday.
"There were five occupants in the plane and they did not survive," said Edward Mwamburi, police chief for the Rift Valley region.
He said the Cessna plane was heading from the Maasai Mara to Lodwar, near Lake Turkana.
Emergency services have been sent to the scene.
In June last year, a plane belonging to the FlySAX airline crashed on the edge of the Aberdares mountain range, leaving 10 people dead.
Kenya has a vibrant airline industry, with national airline Kenya Airways operating internationally and locally alongside successful low-cost airlines and charter companies.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in 2014, some 130,000 planes land and take off from Kenya each year, and the country has 35 operating airlines.
The IATA said Kenya's air transport infrastructure quality ranks 6th out of 37 countries ...

Five killed in plane crash in Kenya: police

Consuming low-calorie meals can boost cell performance and provide a protective effect against diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, a study claims.
Researchers from University of Sao Paulo (USP) in Brazil showed that the number of calories a person eats directly influences the performance of different cells.
"We are looking at how changes to the diet affect metabolism and how that ends up changing the odds of having diseases associated with aging," said Alicia Kowaltowski, a professor at the USP Chemistry Institute (IQ-USP).
One of the group's experiments on mice shows how a low-calorie diet can protect the brain from neuronal cell death associated with diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, epilepsy and cerebral vascular accident (CVA).
The mice were divided into two groups. The researchers calculated the average number of calories the group with no caloric restrictions would eat and then fed the other group 40 per cent fewer calories.
After 14 weeks, mice belonging to ..

Low-calorie meals may protect against Alzheimer's, Parkinson's

Seven Myanmar students were sentenced to three months in jail with hard labour for burning portraits of officials in protest over campus safety, a student activist said Wednesday, the latest draconian response to rippling discontent with authorities.
Those jailed were among dozens enacting a mock funeral on December 28 calling for more security at a Mandalay university in central Myanmar after a student's murder near its campus.
They burned paper coffins and portraits of the city's chief minister, Myanmar's security and home affairs ministers, and the head of the university, calling for increased security around the students' compound.
Three people were arrested during the protest and four others were detained a few days later, when they rallied for their peers' release.
The seven students were each sentenced to a total of three months in prison with hard labour for protesting without permission and arson, student leader Ei Mon Khin told AFP by phone from the court.
"They will be ...

Myanmar students sentenced to hard labour over protest

Egypt's Parliament has begun deliberations over constitutional amendments that could allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to stay in office till 2034  12 more years after his current, second term expires in 2022.
The discussions are to lead to a vote later in the day or on Thursday, after which the text of the amendments would be finalized by a special legislative committee for a final decision within two months.
Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Al opened Wednesday's session, according to a statement sent to the media.
The 596-seat assembly has already given its preliminary approval to the changes last week. The amendments are near certain to be overwhelmingly approved by the legislature, packed with el-Sissi's supporters, but will also need to be put to a national referendum to become law.

Egypt's Parliament to vote on extending president's term

China says the US and other countries have not presented any conclusive evidence that Chinese telecoms gear maker Huawei threatens their national security.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Wednesday that critics of Huawei Technologies were fabricating threats and misusing state power to "suppress the legitimate development rights and interests of Chinese enterprises" and are "using political means to intervene in the economy."
Hua's comments at a daily briefing were some of the sharpest yet in a feud over Washington's drive to convince other nations to shut Huawei out of their markets due to national security concerns.
The company insists that it is independent and poses no threat to the security of others.

China: No evidence Huawei a national security threat

Sam Smith has opened up about his struggle with body image and has revealed that he used to ''starve himself for weeks'' before photoshoots.
The "Promises" singer took to Instagram to share the "body trauma" he says he has experienced and now he has "decided to fight the f*** back".
"In the past if I have ever done a photo shoot with so much as a t-shirt on, I have starved myself for weeks in advance and then picked and prodded at every picture and then normally taken the picture down. Yesterday I decided to fight the f*** back. Reclaim my body and stop trying to change this chest and these hips and these curves that my mum and dad made and love so unconditionally.
"Some may take this as narcissistic and showing off but if you knew how much courage it took to do this and the body trauma I have experienced as a kid you wouldn't think those things. Thank you for helping me celebrate my body AS IT IS @ryanpfluger I have never felt safer than I did with you," Smith wrote.
Fans praised the 

I have starved myself for weeks: Sam Smith on struggles with body image

A former boxer who became a hero to some of France's "yellow vest" protesters after being filmed punching police officers during a demonstration in Paris goes on trial Wednesday on charges that carry up to seven years in jail.
Christophe Dettinger, 37, an ex national light-heavyweight champion, was caught on camera on January 5 throwing a flurry of punches at an officer during clashes on a footbridge over the river Seine near parliament.
The footage, which was played repeatedly on TV and social media, also showed the 1.9-metre tall Dettinger kicking another officer on the ground.
The scene caused widespread outrage, with the government describing it as a prime example of the violence that has characterised the yellow vest demonstrations since they began in November.
One of the injured officers was treated in hospital for his injuries.
Dettinger, nicknamed "The Gypsy From Massy" during his days in the ring in reference to the town south of Paris where he began his career, turned ...

French 'yellow vest' boxer on trial for punching police

Actor Chris Evans is in negotiations to star in Antoine Fuqua's reincarnation drama "Infinite".
The project, which hails from Paramount Pictures, will be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Mark Vahradian and John Zaozirny, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Rafi Crohn will executive produce.
Based on D Eric Maikranz's best selling novel, "The Reincarnationist Papers", the film centres on a group of near-immortal men and women who are reincarnated over the centuries and are known as "the Infinite".
To defeat an evil mastermind who wants to destroy the planet, the group must rely on a man who suffers from schizophrenia and will have to learn that all his vivid dreams are actually memories from past lives, in order to defeat the villain.
The book has been adapted by Ian Shorr and John Lee Hancock.
The actor also shared the news on Twitter, where he expressed a fake outrage over a magazine's use of his old unflattering moustachioed picture.
"This is clearly an act of aggression. There .

Chris Evans in talks for Antoine Fuqua's  'Infinite'

Sri Lankan prison authorities are recruiting two hangmen after the president pledged to end a 43-year moratorium on capital punishment and execute condemned drug traffickers amid alarm over drug-related crime in this Indian Ocean island nation.
Interviews of the candidates will be conducted next month and two will be hired, prison department spokesman Thushara Upuldeniya said Wednesday.
The advertisement that appeared in the state-run Daily News on Monday said applicants should have "an excellent moral character" and should pass a test conducted to check the "mind and mental strength." The candidates must be Sri Lankan men between 18 and 45.
Their monthly salary would be Sri Lankan rupees 36,410 (USD 203).
The move to hire hangmen comes after President Maithripala Sirisena said executions will resume in the next two months for condemned drug traffickers, vowing to be tough on drug offenders and modelling his country's drug fight after the Philippines.
Sirisena visited the Philippines .

Sri Lanka recruiting 2 hangmen before resuming death penalty

Mars may have volcanic activity below its surface, according to scientists who argue that without an underground source of heat it would not be possible for the Red Planet to host liquid water.
Previous research has suggested that liquid water is present beneath the south polar ice cap of Mars.
According to the study published in the AGU journal Geophysical Research Letters, there needs to be an underground source of heat for liquid water to exist underneath the polar ice cap.
Researchers from University of Arizona in the US suggest recent magmatic activity -- the formation of a magma chamber within the past few hundred thousand years -- must have occurred underneath the surface of Mars for there to be enough heat to produce liquid water underneath the kilometer-and-a-half thick ice cap.
On the flip side, the team said that if there was not recent magmatic activity underneath the surface of Mars, then there is not likely liquid water underneath the ice cap.
The presence of liquid ...

Mars may have underground volcanic activity

US space agency NASA will make one final attempt to contact its Opportunity Rover on Mars late Tuesday, eight months after it last made contact.
The agency also said it would hold a briefing Wednesday, during which it will likely officially declare the end of the mission.
Opportunity landed on Mars in 2004 and covered 45 kilometers on the planet, securing its place in history after lasting well beyond its expected 90-day mission.
But a giant dust storm last year blocked sunlight from Mars, stopping Opportunity's solar-powered batteries from being able to recharge.
Despite NASA engineers' best efforts to get a response via radio channels, its last communication was on June 10, 2018.
In August, NASA caused an outcry after setting a 45-day deadline before it would declare "Oppy" dead. In October, it extended the deadline to January to reevaluate the situation.

NASA to make final attempt to contact Mars Opportunity Rover

Dutch brewing giant Heineken on Wednesday cheered the fastest sales growth in its core brand in a decade, helped by the roll-out of a non-alcoholic beer.
Despite a fall in overall profits the world's second largest brewer recorded growing sales in major markets last year, although it warned that 2019 could be "volatile".
"In 2018 we delivered another year of superior top-line growth. The Heineken brand grew 7.7 per cent, its best performance in over a decade, with Heineken 0.0 now available in 38 countries," Heineken CEO Jean-Francois van Boxmeer said.
The Amsterdam-based brewer' posted profits of 1.9 billion euros for 2018, down 1.6 per cent on the year before, based on total sales of 26.8 billion, up by 3.7 per cent.
Heineken sales grew by double digits in Brazil, Britain, Germany, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, South Africa and Russia, while China returned to profit, the company said.
Among other brands, sales of Tiger, Desperados, Birra Moretti and Krusovice all grew by volume.
But the .

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