South Carolina primary live – Rick Perry pulls out

Rick Perry with wife Anita and his son Griffin after announcing that he is pulling out of the Republican presidential race. Photograph: ERIK S. LESSER/EPA

7.30pm: Thanks for all your comments today – join Richard Adams for our live debate blog here.

6.15pm: Ewen MacAskill thinks tonight's debate here in Charleston will be for the first time essentially "a two-man affair, a duel between Mitt Romney and Newt Ginrgrich, with the South Carolina primary at stake".

Tonight's debate is on CNN and starts at 8pm. Richard Adams will be live blogging the full excitement – join us back here for then. That's all for now.

5.08pm: Cain entered to a pretty sparse crowd, reports our man on the scene, Adam Gabbatt.

Cain told the audience at the College of Charleston: "I have been asked repeatedly for the last several weeks and couple of months: 'Who am I going to endorse?'

"I have said consistently: 'The unconventional candidate that ran an unconventional campaign and achieved surprising results." The crowd grew quiet. "The media is not going to like it," Cain continued.

Stephen Colbert? A second endorsement for Newt Gingrich? Rick Santorum? Nope.

"Here is my unconventional endorsement. Not a candidate seeking the nomination. Not someone who is not running. My unconventional endorsement is the people. We the people of this nation are still in
charge."

You can even watch the whole embarassing saga on this video shot by Janine Gibson.

4.47pm: Herman Cain has arrived in Charleston for the Stephen Colbert event tomorrow that I mentioned earlier. He did a turn at the Southern Republcan Leadership conference just now – and led the crowd to believe he was going to announce an endorsement. He said it would be "unconventonal" and that the "media would not like it", before saying he was endorsing ... "the people".

Sound of tumbleweed

4.41pm: Whatever happened to Newt's tax returns? He was supposed to be publishing them today. Ah well, he's been a bit busy, what with an ex-wife to trash, er, sorry, not comment on.

4.11pm: Mitt Romney called Rick Santorum earlier today to "congratulate" him on the flipped result in Iowa. But now, after Santorum revealed the call, the Romney camp is denying it was a "concession" call, saying he was just being a "good sport". Fox News anchor Brett Baier quotes Santorum as saying: "Well then, what was he congratulating me for?"

3.38pm: A few commenters have asked why we haven't picked up on Stephen Colbert's campaign in South Carolina. The answer is that it has been a pretty busy day. But here goes: Colbert has announced that he is to hold a rally here in Charleston on Friday with Herman Cain.

The satirist is urging his "supporters" to vote for Cain, whose name is still on the South Carolina ballot, because he had missed the deadline. The event, which starts at 1pm, is called the Rock Me Like A Herman Cain: South Cain-olina Primary Rally.

Stephen Colbert, centre, and John Stewart, on The Colbert Report. During the episode, Colbert legally transferred his super political action committee to Stewart, his friend and Comedy Central cohort. Photograph: Kristopher Long/AP

Earlier this week, the pro-Colbert super pac, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, released an ad in support of Cain, in which Cain did not appear. The ad made it look like Colbert was Cain. If you get my drift.

3.22pm: There's an important update on the quotes critical of Newt Gingrich attributed to Michele Bachmann by a newspaper in Greenville, which I reported earlier today. The Bachmann campaign, according to Politico, says they are "fake". The Greenville News points out in its story that the statement claimed to be untrue was sent from the same email address as the new, official one.

Newt Gingrich: I would ignore supreme court as president

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich listens to a question during the Personhood USA presidential forum in Greenville, South Carolina. Photograph: Chris Keane/Reuters

Newt Gingrich has pledged that on his first day as president he will set up a constitutional showdown by ordering the military to defy a supreme court ruling extending some legal rights to foreign terrorism suspects and captured enemy combatants in US custody.

The Republican contender told a forum of anti-abortion activists ahead of South Carolina's primary election that as president he would ignore supreme court rulings he regards as legally flawed. He implied that would also extend to the 1973 decision, Roe vs Wade, legalising abortion.

"If the court makes a fundamentally wrong decision, the president can in fact ignore it," said Gingrich to cheers.

The Republican contender, who has made no secret of his disdain for the judiciary, said that as president he would expect to have repeated showdowns with the supreme court. He said the court would lose because it is the least powerful and least accountable arm of government.

Gingrich said the first confrontation would be over its historic ruling, known as the Boumediene decision, that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantánamo Bay have the right to challenge their detention in US courts.

"I fully expect as president that there will be several occasions when we will collide. The first one, which is actually foreign policy, the Boumediene decision which extends American legal rights to enemy combatants on the battlefield is such an outrageous extension of the court in to the commander in chief's role.

"I will issue an instruction on the opening day, first day I'm sworn in, I will issue an executive order to the national security apparatus that it will not enforce Boumediene and it will regard it as null and void because it is an absurd extension of the supreme court in to the commander in chief's (authority)."

Gingrich has said before that he regards the president as above the court when the two branches have fundamentally differing views but he went further in committing himself to setting up a constitutional crisis on his first day in office.

The Republican candidate cited what he said were precedents, including Abraham Lincoln's refusal to accept the Dred Scott decision denying that former slaves were citizens.

Gingrich's interpretations have previously been met with disdain. President George W Bush's attorney general, Michael Mukasey, has said that a president selectively ignoring supreme court decisions would turn the US in to a banana republic.

At the same election forum, Rick Perry, the Texas governor, did not go so far as Gingrich but he did say that as president he would seek to pack the supreme court with judges who would overturn the ruling legalising abortion.

"When we have a president that appoints two or three more supreme court justices - that's what the next president of the United States is liable to do - those from my perspective should be individuals who are strict constructionists who look at the constitution and interpret it in a way that our founding fathers wrote it," he said. "Therefore Roe vs Wade would be overturned."

While that comment was less contentious than Gingrich's approach, Perry created his own ripple of controversy by once again speaking ill of a foreign country.

"Think about 35,000 children every day are aborted in China. That country is destined for the ash heap of history unless it changes its values," he said.

Costa Concordia shipwreck's hero and villain lay bare two souls of Italy

The Costa Concordia, shipwrecked at an almost painfully metaphoric moment for Italy. Photograph: Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images

As the 114,500 tonne Costa Concordia loomed out of the night off the coast of Giglio last Friday, two Italian seafarers were unwittingly on their way to becoming nationally – and internationally – notorious for radically different reasons.

After the floating palace of delights hit a rock, the available evidence suggests that its captain, Francesco Schettino, refused to acknowledge the seriousness of what had happened, delayed giving the order to abandon ship and then took to a lifeboat himself, long before the chaotic evacuation was complete. At 1.46am, he was called on his mobile telephone by the local coastguard commander, Gregorio de Falco, who recorded their conversation.

Made available on newspaper websites, the ensuing four minutes, in which De Falco urges, instructs and finally orders his compatriot to do his duty, could scarcely be more emblematic. Writing in Corriere della Sera, the critic Aldo Grasso called the transcript "the document that most exemplifies the two souls of Italy".

On the one hand, a "captain who flees from his responsibilities as a man and an officer"; on the other, a compatriot "who understands immediately the dimensions of the tragedy and tries to call the coward to [fulfil] his obligations".

Looked at rationally, the wrecking of the Costa Concordia ought not perhaps to be made to bear the weight of meaning heaped on it. Even if none of those missing are found, the number of dead will be no greater than in an average week on Britain's roads.

But shipwrecks cannot be assessed rationally. They call to something deep inside us. The shipwreck, wrote Grasso, was "one of the archetypes in all literatures because it illustrates the risks of human existence in the course of the journey through life".

And at this moment in the life of Italy a shipwreck is almost painfully metaphoric. Like Captain Schettino, the former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi delayed taking vital decisions as his country floated progressively closer to a reef marked "eurozone debt crisis".

For Massimo Gramellini of La Stampa, "The ship lying on its side [is a] symbol of the country adrift." On the very day the Costa Concordia hit the rocks, the world's biggest ratings agency, Standard & Poor's, again downgraded Italy's creditworthiness, this time to a level below that accorded to Slovakia and Slovenia.

"We had just come out of the tunnel of Bunga Bunga," noted Caterina Soffici in a blog for the website of the left-leaning Il Fatto Quotidiano. "We were just drawing that little, relieved breath that would enable us to toil again up the hill to international credibility. But [now] … We've gone straight into the Titanic nightmare [and] Italy is once again the laughing stock of foreign newspapers."

Cristiano Gatti, writing in the newspaper of the Berlusconi family, Il Giornale, agreed the world would take delight in an image of "the same old rascally Italians: those unreliable cowards who turn and run in war and flee like rabbits from the ship, even if they are in command". But, he added, the world should also reflect that, at the other end of the line in that shocking, middle-of-the-night conversation, was "an individual of that same, odd and vilified race … a man and officer able single-handedly to save [his country's] pride and dignity".

A mixed sense of relief and admiration for De Falco took shape on the internet, where tens of thousands of Italians turned his peremptory order ("Vada a bordo, cazzo!", or "Get on board, for fuck's sake!") into a trending hashtag. Within hours, T-shirts with the phrase were being offered for sale.

Perhaps the reason why his harangue struck such a chord was that Italians are being called to order by their new government in similarly uncompromising, if politer, terms. The message from Mario Monti and his "technocratic" administration is that Italians can no longer evade their responsibilities by running a vast national overdraft and that the time has come for them all to start paying their taxes. Like De Falco, they are demanding that personal interest be sacrificed for the common good, and so far they have been getting an encouragingly positive response in the form of poll ratings above 60%.

The coastguard commander's elevation to the status of an idol, if not hero, has nevertheless appalled De Falco himself, and worried others.

Some commentators have observed that the very leaking of the recording is proof of Italians' enduring indifference to the law. It was part of the evidence against Schettino and should not have been made available for release unless and until he was indicted.

Moreover, as the author and columnist Beppe Severgnini observed, "Millions of [our] compatriots do their duty, often for little money … Perhaps, if the evidence of this seriousness of purpose becomes a source of wonder, [it means] we have forgotten that."

Visible proof of the courage, dedication and even heroism of Italians has been projected by television into the homes of the nation, and the world, every day since the disaster. It can be seen in the images of fire brigade and Carabinieri divers risking their lives to search a vessel that could shift at any moment, trapping them inside.

It can be seen in the footage of the doctor and the helicopter winchman who were lowered on to the Costa Concordia, leaning at an angle of 80°, on Sunday to treat and then rescue the last passenger found alive.

Many Italians do their best to live up to the examples of men such as Columbus and Garibaldi. Roberto Bosio, an off-duty captain travelling on the liner, stayed behind to man the bridge after it was abandoned. Two other Italian officers remained aboard until the end to try to bring order to the chaos of the evacuation. And among the names on the list of the missing is that of Giuseppe Girolamo, the long-haired drummer in the on-board band, Dee Dee Smith. Witnesses said he had a place in one of the lifeboats, but gave it up to a child.

• This article was amended on 19 January 2012. The original said that Italy is once again the laughing stocking of foreign newspapers. This has been corrected.

Costa Concordia captain tells judge how he left stricken cruise ship

Police divers close to the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship off the coast of Giglio island, Italy. Photograph: Massimo Percossi/EPA

The cruise-liner captain accused of abandoning ship after it struck rocks off the Tuscan coast last Friday has reportedly claimed he could not lead the evacuation because he slipped and fell into a lifeboat while helping passengers leave the stricken vessel.

Captain Francesco Schettino said it was an accident that he left the Costa Concordia, according to Italian press reports. "The passengers were pouring on to the decks, taking the lifeboats by assault," he was quoted as telling a judge during a hearing to determine whether he should be held in custody on charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship.

"I was trying to get people to get into the boats in an orderly fashion. Suddenly, since the ship was at a 60-70 degree angle, I tripped and I ended up in one of the boats. That's how I found myself in the lifeboat," Schettino said.

The death toll among the 4,200 passengers and crew stands at 11, with 21 people still unaccounted for. Eight bodies have been retrieved from the grounded vessel, while three drowned while trying to reach the shore. One of the bodies found on the vessel was identified on Wednesday as Sandor Feher, 38, a Hungarian violinist who worked on board and was last seen helping crying children into life jackets before returning to his cabin to get his violin.

Italian officials said a German woman who was mistakenly listed among the missing had been located alive in Germany.

Schettino, who took command of the newly launched, 114,500-tonne Costa Concordia in 2006, admitted responsibility for crashing into rocks near the island of Giglio, which tore a hole in the liner.

"I don't know why it happened. I was a victim of my instincts," he said. He confirmed he sailed close to the island to salute a retired captain, Mario Palombo.

Schettino said he was not afraid of a drugs test. "I don't do drugs and I had not drunk," he said.

By grounding the vessel close to the shore after it struck the rocks, he claims he saved the lives of many passengers.

A report released on Wednesday by the judge, Valeria Montesarchio, revealed the ship was sailing at more than 15 knots when it struck the rocks.

Schettino left the vessel while 300 people were still on board. After his "gravely imprudent" behaviour, he remained "completely inert" on the rocks as others scrambled to help the evacuation, the report stated.

The judge also revealed that Schettino had told police he would never go to sea again.

The judge interviewed Roberto Bosio, a cruise ship captain who was on board by chance, and who has been hailed a hero in Italy after he reportedly stayed on the ship to take charge of the evacuation.

The judge's decision to free Schettino from custody and place him under house arrest is to be subject to an appeal by prosecutor Francesco Verusio, who said Schettino "doesn't appear unhappy about what he caused," and could flee.

Verusio questioned Schettino's story about falling into the lifeboat. "Even if he fell in the lifeboat, he could have got back on the [Costa Concordia]," he said.

Support for Schettino came from his parish priest, Father Gennaro Starita, who said the captain was being "killed" by a "media circus".

On Giglio, divers searching for passengers on the half-submerged ship were urgently pulled off the vessel on Wednesday after sensors revealed it had shifted about 1.5 metres. A smaller shift on Monday prompted fears the vessel may move from the rocks on which is now lodged and tumble into the 70-metre depths below.

Navy divers had been planning to blow three holes in the hull with explosive charges after five holes were created on Tuesday to allow access to a lower deck, where divers found five bodies.

As hope fades of finding passengers alive, Italy's environment minister, Corrado Clini, said it would take two weeks to empty the ship's 15 fuel tanks of 2,280 tonnes of fuel to avoid the possibility of a leak.

The tiny port on Giglio has this week become a busy hub for 600 rescue workers and journalists, prompting about 700 winter residents to reopen shops and hotels closed until the summer. Relatives of missing passengers visited the porton Wednesday to meet officials and appeal for information.

Posters appeared on the walls around the port asking for news of Giuseppe Girolamo, 30, an Italian musician who was hired to play in a rock band on the Costa Concordia in December. He was reportedly seen boarding a lifeboat on Friday before jumping back on board the cruise ship to help other passengers disembark.

Costa Concordia: captain drank alcohol with 'beautiful' woman prior to crash

Domnica Cermontan, 25, from Moldova said she believed the captain had saved the lives of passengers by grounding the vessel Photograph: Enterprise News and Picture

The captain who steered his 114,000-tonne vessel into rocks off the Italian coast last Friday was drinking wine at dinner with a "beautiful" woman minutes earlier, a witness has claimed.

Francesco Schettino, who is under house arrest accused of manslaughter and abandoning ship after he grounded the Costa Concordia on the island of Giglio following the collision, has told investigators that he had not drunk alcohol that night. But a passenger, Angelo Fabbri, has revealed that he and his wife watched Schettino –who is married with a child – enjoy a gourmet meal with red wine at the ship's most exclusive restaurant.

"Schettino, in a dark uniform, was sat in front of a young woman," Fabbri told newspaper Il Secolo XIX. "She appeared young, initially we thought she could even be his daughter. A beautiful woman, slim, shoulder-length blonde hair, a black dress with bare arms. They were laughing, they were informal, it was very merry," he said. "The wine?" he added. "There is no doubt they drank, at least a whole decanter, the last drops were poured into the commander's glass."

Fabbri described Schettino as a "show-off", and said he, the woman and another officer left the restaurant around 9.05pm. At about 9.45pm, he was back on the bridge, where he steered the ship into rocks while attempting to "salute" a former captain on Giglio. Italian media reported on Thursday that investigators are trying to interview Domnica Cermontan, 25, a Moldovan employee of Costa Crociere, the cruise ship's owner.

A spokesman for the company said it was ready to provide authorities with information about "the woman who on the evening of the incident appears to have dined with Captain Schettino".

In an interview with Romanian newspaper Adevarul, Cermontan said she left the bridge at 11.50pm, at which time Schettino was still there.

Cermontan also told a Romanian TV station she believed Schettino saved the lives of passengers by grounding the vessel. "He has done something extraordinary," she said. Prosecutors believe that Schettino delayed telling the coast guard the ship was holed and then left the vessel while 300 passengers were still on board.

The bodies of 11 passengers and crew have been found by rescuers and 21 passengers remain unaccounted for.

According to audio tapes released on Thursday a crew member on board the ship told coast guard officials 30 minutes after the collision that the Costa Concordia had suffered a mere black out and that there was no emergency on board.

England won't run from truth after Pakistan loss, says Andrew Strauss

Andrew Strauss, left, and Andy Flower watch England's batting crumble against Pakistan again. Photograph: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty Images

Andrew Strauss will demand searching self-examination from every member of England's batting unit, himself included, after a second flop in the space of three days condemned them to a first Test defeat in 10 matches stretching back to December 2010.

After collapsing to 43 for five on the first morning having chosen to bat on a placid pitch, they slumped to 87 for seven in their second innings. Only late-order defiance from Graeme Swann and even Jimmy Anderson averted the team's first innings defeat since they were outclassed by South Africa in Johannesburg almost two years ago.

Pakistan were left needing only 15 to complete a 10-wicket win, the worst possible start to a series of tough challenges in Asia for England this year as they defend their title of the world's leading Test team that they earned by winning seven of their nine matches, and drawing the other two, in a flawless 2011.

"This is just not the time for us to be worrying about world No1 rankings or anything like that," said Strauss. "What we need to do is make sure we don't play the type of cricket we played in this game in the next Test match. That's what our focus is on."

He made clear that before the start of the second Test in Abu Dhabi next Wednesday, it is the batsmen who will be challenged to improve. "We're very disappointed with the way we batted in both innings, but especially the first innings, because that wasn't a 50 for five pitch," the captain said.

"In both innings we didn't apply ourselves as well as we should have done with the bat. You can scratch your head and ask why and come up with so many recriminations and so many questions. The most important thing is that batsmen are very clear about their method and that you use the feeling of disappointment as a good motivation to make sure it doesn't happen again.

"One of the things you've got to be as an international cricketer, and certainly part of the England team, is honest with yourself, and make sure you ask yourself the right sort of questions and come up with the right sort of answers before moving on.

"What is important is that you don't run away from facts, and you don't run away from the truth. As individual batsmen we've got to be honest, and say: 'Did we play well enough? Was our game plan smart enough? Were we switched on enough?' All those questions are important."

The facts show that none of the first three dismissals were down to the mystery spin of Saeed Ajmal but were caused by short, leg-side deliveries from the experienced seamer Umar Gul. Strauss was visibly annoyed to be given out caught behind after the television umpire Steve Davis ruled there was insufficient evidence to overturn the initial decision of Billy Bowden. But he refused to make an issue of it afterwards, conceding that one decision was "of little consequence" in such a crushing defeat and reiterating his support for the system.

Alastair Cook gloved an attempted hook, and Kevin Pietersen, after scratching around for two in 29 balls in the first innings, fell to the ultimate sucker punch, picking out one of two fielders on the leg-side boundary as he tried to get off the mark from his eighth delivery.

Jonathan Trott was the only member of the top eight to pass 20, but he fell for 49 slashing loosely at another short ball from Gul wide outside the off stump. "The key is for the batsmen that are in not to give their wickets away, and that's probably what we did too much in this Test match," added Strauss.

He admitted that England had been "caught off guard", but denied that there was anything wrong with their preparation. "There was nothing that was at the back of my mind thinking that we were undercooked or underprepared," he said. "To that extent we're all slightly surprised by how things turned out. But it's happened, it's done, it's finished. As a group we'll get together and talk about how we could have done things differently or better. I'm certainly very determined to come back strong in Abu Dhabi and I'm sure the rest of the guys are too."

They responded to their last defeat in Perth by skittling Australia for 98 on the first day of the next Test in Melbourne, and going on to clinch the Ashes 3-1 with another convincing victory in Sydney. "That's a good template to use," the captain said. "We treated it like a bit of an aberration in Perth and it would be right for us to treat this as an aberration as well, as long as we make sure we don't repeat those mistakes."

However, winning, or even saving, this series from 1-0 down may prove even tougher than bouncing back in Australia. Pakistan are now unbeaten in six Tests in the desert, and both their previous fixtures in Abu Dhabi, against South Africa and Sri Lanka, have been drawn, on a pitch that has given bowlers less assistance than the one in Dubai, where the teams will return for the third Test early next month.

But Strauss believes his team still have the ability to avoid a first series defeat since they were beaten 1-0 in the West Indies in early 2009, in his first series working in partnership with Andy Flower after he was promoted to succeed Peter Moores.

"There will be a huge feeling that we haven't given as good an account of ourselves as we should have done," he said. "It will be good motivation for us to come back strong in the second Test match. This is an opportunity for us to show our resilience and our character. I know we've got it in abundance but we've got to go out there and show that now. As a side it's important to keep connected to the fact we've done a lot of good things over the last two years and we'll continue to do so."

Golden Globes: Downton Abbey And Winslet Win

Downton Abbey and Kate Winslet helped ensure another night of British success as both picked up awards at the 69th Golden Globes.

The popular period drama bagged the gong for best television miniseries or movie, while Winslet was named best actress in a TV miniseries or movie for Mildred Pierce.

And Idris Elba, best-known for his role as Stringer Bell in hit US show The Wire, won the award for best actor in a TV miniseries or movie for Luther.

Meanwhile, Meryl Streep was among the night's major winners as she was named best actress in a dramatic movie for her portrayal of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

George Clooney won best actor for The Descendants, which also won the prestigious title of best dramatic movie.

As expected, silent-era film The Artist picked up three awards including best musical or comedy and best actor in a musical or comedy for its star, French actor Jean Dujardin.

And Shawshank Redemption star Morgan Freeman won the Cecil B DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.

:: Full list of Golden Globe winners

FILM

George Clooney with his award

DRAMA The Descendants

ACTOR IN A DRAMA George Clooney (The Descendants)

ACTRESS IN A DRAMA Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)

MUSICAL OR COMEDY The Artist

ACTOR IN A MUSICAL OR COMEDY Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL OR COMEDY Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn)

SUPPORTING ACTOR Christopher Plummer (Beginners)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS Octavia Spencer (The Help)

DIRECTOR Martin Scorsese (Hugo)

SCREENPLAY Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)

ORIGINAL SCORE Ludovic Bource (The Artist)

ORIGINAL SONG Masterpiece (WE)

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM The Adventures of Tintin

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM A Separation (Iran)

TELEVISION

The cast of comedy Modern Family

DRAMA SERIES Homeland

ACTOR IN A DRAMA Kelsey Grammer (Boss)

ACTRESS IN A DRAMA Claire Danes (Homeland)

COMEDY SERIES Modern Family

ACTOR IN A COMEDY Matt LeBlanc (Episodes)

ACTRESS IN A COMEDY Laura Dern (Enlightened)

TV MOVIE OR MINISERIES Downton Abbey

ACTOR IN A TV MOVIE OR MINISERIES Idris Elba (Luther)

ACTRESS IN A TV MOVIE OR MINISERIES Kate Winslet (Mildred Pierce)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A TV MOVIE OR MINISERIES Jessica Lange (American Horror Story)

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A TV MOVIE OR MINISERIES Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)

CECIL B DEMILLE AWARD Morgan Freeman

Ex-Jam Frontman Sees Double With Twin Boys

Paul Weller is now the father of seven children

2:09pm UK, Tuesday January 17, 2012

Singer Paul Weller has become the father of twin boys - and named them after a trio of his musical heroes.

The former Jam frontman's 25-year-old wife wife, Hannah, gave birth to John Paul, and Bowie at the weekend, according to a message on his website.

It said: "Both boys are healthy and doing well following the birth and Paul and Hannah are thrilled and over the moon.

Paul Weller performs at the 2010 NME awards

"Paul would like to thank his fans for all their well wishes over the last few months."

The baby boys, named after The Beatles' legends John Lennon and Paul McCartney and David Bowie, take Weller's offspring to seven by four different women.

Paul and Hannah - who is almost 30 years his junior - married in a small ceremony on the Italian island of Capri in September 2010.

The pair met when Hannah provided vocals for his 2008 LP '22 Dreams', and then toured with him and his band.

Weller achieved a string of hits with The Jam including Eton Rifles and Start! before they disbanded in 1982.

He bounced back with The Style Council the following year and then launched a solo career in the early 1990s, achieving hits such as You Do Something To Me, Wild Wood and The Changingman.

His album, Wake Up The Nation, was shortlisted for the 2010 Mercury Prize but lost out to The xx.

For Your Eyes Only: Bond Cars Showcased

Some of James Bond's most famous vehicles have gone on display complete with bullet holes and machine guns for the 50th anniversary of the first 007 feature film Dr No.

The array of vehicles driven by Britain's most famous spy - including ones for land, air, sea and even underwater - are being shown at an exhibition at the National Motor Museum, near Southampton.

Actress Britt Ekland poses on the Aston Martin DB5 car used in the James Bond film Goldfinger

Bond in Motion features 50 modes of transport which have helped 007 get away or catch his villains for the past half-century.

It is the first display of its kind anywhere in the world.

The cars include the iconic Aston Martin DB5 driven by Sean Connery in Goldfinger in 1964 and the amphibious white Lotus, which plunged into the water off the coast of Sardinia in 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me.

Bond girl Jenny Hanley, who appeared in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1969, said it was her favourite.

She said: "How many cars do you know that have parachute escapes and machine guns and bits of metal that come up?

"And the one that I want, the one that goes under water and doesn't leak. I mean, that's got to be the one to have."

Other vehicles featured include a crocodile-shaped submarine from Octopussy, a jet-pack which was strapped onto the shoulders of Pierce Brosnan in Die Another Day and the Little Nellie autogyro from You Only Live Twice.

Legal Web: Spider-Man Producers Counter-Sue

After all its troubles Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark has proved a big hit

2:18pm UK, Wednesday January 18, 2012

The legal saga over Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is developing into quite the tangled web as the producers countersue its former director.

Ousted Spider-Man director Julie Taymor is being counter-sued by the producers of the problem-plagued production, after Taymor filed a law suit late last year, seeking full payment for her work on the musical.

In the counter claim, the musical's producers claim that the director refused "to fulfil her contractual obligations, declaring that she could not and would not do the jobs that she was contracted to do, thereby causing significant unnecessary expense, delay and other harm to the counter claim plaintiffs".

It is alleged that Julie Taymor 'refused to fulfil her contractual obligations'

The countersuit claims she did not develop a family-friendly stage version of the Spider-Man saga and instead "insisted on a dark, disjointed and hallucinogenic musical involving suicide, sex and death".

It goes on to allege that, though Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was intended to be a commercial endeavour, Taymor stubbornly disregarded concerns about ticket sales or public appeal.

The producers claim her actions "caused numerous delays and cost overruns", forcing them to engage "in superhuman efforts to save the musical, including raising tens of millions of dollars - much of it their own - to fund the ever-increasing costs of the production".

And when it became clear that the musical continued to have problems, including a confusing storyline and the lack of an ending, Taymor refused to collaborate with the producers and listen to proposed changes, the claim charges.

The producers argue that the musical succeeded despite Taymor, not because of her, and that their efforts are the only reason that there are profits for the former director to sue for.

"Ironically, it is because the musical is a success and did not close in March 2011 that Taymor is now belatedly seeking to compel payment," the lawsuit claims.

Alleging that Taymor breached her contractual duty as a collaborator on the musical and the co-author of the musical's book, the producers are seeking unspecified damages, plus costs and attorney's fees.

They are also asking for a permanent injunction forcing her to cancel her copyright claim on the original book for the series.

Taymor was forced to leave the production in March 2011 after a host of injuries and other problems forced the musical's production back.

 

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The case against singer Bruno Mars was dismissed after he completed a drug education programme

1:06pm UK, Thursday January 19, 2012

The cocaine possession case against Bruno Mars has been dismissed after he successfully completed court-ordered drug education classes and community service.

Las Vegas judge Jessie Walsh threw out the case after she heard Mars had exceeded the amount of hours he had been told to serve.

Mars, whose real name is Peter Hernandez, was arrested in September 2010 after a bathroom attendant at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel caught him with a "baggy of white powder".

This was later found to be cocaine and Mars pleaded guilty to a charge of possession, receiving a £1,300 fine and 200 hours of community service.

He was also ordered to undergo drug counselling and was told to stay out of trouble during a year of informal probation.

The 26-year-old could have faced up to four years in state prison.

But Mars performed all the requirements and exceeded the 200 hours of service so his original guilty plea was nullified and will not show up on his record.

His lawyer Blair Berk said the singer appreciated the chance as a first-time offender to have the charge dismissed.

"Bruno earned the dismissal. He exceeded the expectations of the court," Berk told reporters after the hearing.

Judge Walsh took over Mars' case after County Clark Deputy District Attorney David Schubert, who prosecuted Mars in 2011, was arrested for buying cocaine himself a few months later.

The singer hit the charts in 2010 after collaborating with rapper B.o.B on Nothin' On You and with Travie McCoy on Billionaire.

He is currently nominated in six categories at the upcoming Grammy Awards next month.

Italian Cruise Ship Costa Concordia Runs Aground

Rescuers on inflatable boats are seen next to the Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground off the west coast of Italy. Emergency workers painstakingly check thousands of rooms on the cruise ship for people still missing after the huge vessel foundered and keeled over with more than 4,000 on board.

Woman Could Hold Vital Clues To Cruise Crash

Nick Pisa, on the island of Giglio

A woman who says she was with the captain on the bridge of the Costa Concordia after it ran aground off an Italian island has emerged as a potential new witness.

Police are trying to track down the woman, who is believed to be Moldovan, saying she could hold the key to how the disaster happened.

Witnesses have said that the young blonde woman appeared to know Schettino and was even seen sitting in a reception room next to the bridge.

Italian media have reported that she was also seen dining with the captain at around 9pm - just under 30 minutes before the ship struck a reef near Giglio on the Tuscan coast.

Costa Cruises denied reports suggesting the woman was not on the official passenger manifest.

Domnica Cemortan says she was not in the bridge at the time of the crash

"Based on the pictures broadcast by the media, the woman... was certainly embarked on January 13 in Civitavecchia and duly registered," the company said in a statement.

"The company is ready to provide the authorities, when requested, with the identity of the person and the number of the ticket purchased."

:: Click here for our graphic sequence to find out how the cruise liner ended up on its side

The woman has not been officially identified but Italian media suggests it is Dominica Cemortan, 25, from Chisnau, Moldavia, who was working as a passenger representative for Costa Cruises.

It has been reported that Schettino may have been trying to impress her - on top of the allegations police are investigating that he took the ship off course to "make a salute".

Ms Cemortan is believed to have given a brief interview to the media after the tragedy where she defended Schettino, saying that his actions had helped save the lives of holidaymakers and crew.

Captain Francesco Schettino is under house arrest

As her name emerged, she reportedly changed her home town on her Facebook profile to Zanzibar in Tanzania.

Her mother has also been quoted in the media saying her daughter had worked on the ship but that her contract had expired, adding that her family had bought her a holiday on board for her birthday.

In an interview with a Moldovan newspaper, Ms Cemortan later confirmed she was on the ship but denied she was in the bridge at the time of the incident.

She said she was called there afterwards and asked by the captain to use her Russian-speaking skills to assist passengers.

The latest revelation comes as divers resumed the search of the 290m vessel for the 21 passengers and three crew who are still missing.

There are growing fears the ship may slip off the rocks it is perched on and sink to the bottom of the sea amid forecasts of bad weather.

Animation Details Cruise Liner's Final Route

Sky News has obtained a report and animated reconstruction of the Costa Concordia's final route based on shipping navigational data.

The animation shows the cruise liner hitting an "exposed rock" before continuing on.

The report - from professional sources - details the vessel's route, which is superimposed over shipping charts of the area.

One of the images depicts the liner, a "safety contour" outline around the island of Giglio and the heading "struck exposed rock with a speed of 15 knots".

The animation based on AIS navigation data shows the ship hitting an "exposed rock"

The report is based on information from the Automatic Identification System (AIS), an automatic tracking system used by vessel traffic services (VTS) to locate and identify ships.

It works by electronically exchanging data with other nearby ships and AIS base stations.

Marine radar is the primary method of collision avoidance for water transport, supported by AIS information.

:: Click here for our graphic sequence to find out how the cruise liner ended up on its side.

The report comes a day after claims emerged that the cruise liner's captain has admitted to investigators he ordered the ship to turn too late.

The ship's captain Francesco Schettino is now under house arrest

According to a leaked transcript being quoted in the Italian media, Francesco Schettino - who has been put under house arrest - admitted making the mistake that led to the Costa Concordia hitting a rock.

"I was navigating by sight because I knew the depths well and I had done this manoeuvre three or four times," he reportedly said.

But this time I ordered the turn too late and I ended up in water that was too shallow. I don't know why it happened."

Schettino has appeared in court accused of causing the accident by coming too close to the shore so he could "make a salute" and also of abandoning ship before the evacuation was complete.

Meanwhile, divers and salvage teams are facing a race against time to recover bodies and siphon fuel from the stricken Costa Concordia.

Earlier, the bodies of four victims - two French, an Italian and a Peruvian - were identified. The bodies of Jeanne Gannard and Pierre Gregoire were pulled from the wreckage earlier this week.

Worsening weather conditions are threatening to shift the ship off the rocks and send it to the bottom of the sea, piling pressure on those carrying out the search for the people who are still missing.

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Frantic Final Moments Of Liner

Dramatic new pictures have emerged of the panicked, final moments of the Costa Concordia as a damning new audio recording reveals the crew initially refused offers of help.

A taped ship-to-shore call, which took place 30 minutes after the liner hit a rock, reveals how senior officers on board were slow to act and intially denied there was anything seriously wrong.

The crew member was recorded telling the coastguard that the ship had suffered a power outage and said there was no emergency on board.

The conversation began at 10.12pm local time.

By then, many of the 4,200 passengers and crew had called relatives on their mobile phones asking them to alert the police, who in turn asked the coastguard to check on the state of the ship.

When asked by the coastguard if there are problems on board, the crew member replies: "We've had a blackout, we are checking the conditions on board."

:: Click here for an animated reconstruction of the Costa Concordia's final route based on AIS shipping navigational data.

Rescue teams work to find passengers and crew identified as missing

Despite further questioning by the port official, the crew member repeats that there has been a blackout, promising to keep the coastguard informed.

Meanwhile, divers are continuing to search for victims on the stricken cruise ship Costa Concordia in a race against time.

Forecasts of worsening weather are threatening to shift the ship off the rocks and send it to the bottom of the sea.

The head of the firefighters' diving team, Modesto Dilda, warned earlier of a "12 to 24-hour window to complete operations" but the chief firefighters spokesman, Luca Cari, has insisted there is no deadline set for completing the search.

Four more of those who lost their lives in the disaster have been identified.

Two bodies pulled from the wreckage earlier this week have been named as missing passengers Jeanne Gannard and Pierre Gregoire, both French nationals.

An Italian and a Peruvian have also been identified as emergency teams continue to look for the other 21 people still missing.

A satellite image of the Costa Concordia (Pic: Digital Globe)

Plans to remove oil from the capsized Costa Concordia have been delayed after the ship shifted precariously on a rocky ledge off the Tuscan coast.

Hopes of finding anyone alive have evaporated and salvage experts are keen to begin pumping 2,300 tonnes of fuel from the vessel's tanks.

Weather conditions had been favourable since the disaster struck - leaving at least 11 dead and 21 missing - but the search was suspended all day on Wednesday when the ship slipped by around 5ft (1.5m).

The search has resumed but with forecasters predicting the sea will get rougher over coming days, those carrying out the search and salvage teams are under mounting pressure.

Environment Minister Corrado Clini told parliament there was a risk the ship could slip down 164ft to 295ft (50m to 90m) from the reef it is resting on, sparking major pollution fears.

He said ship operator Costa Cruises had been instructed to ensure steps are "rapidly completed" to limit the damage if the ship's fuel tanks rupture, including putting in place some 3,280ft (1,000m) of pollution barriers.

:: Click here for our graphic sequence to find out how the cruise liner ended up on its side

Captain Francesco Schettino has been put under house arrest

Mr Clini added that fuel extraction would take at least two weeks - but could not begin until the search for survivors and bodies had been completed.

It comes as authorities named one of the ship's musicians as being among the dead. Hungarian Sandor Feher, 38, was found inside the ship on Wednesday.

The violinist was reportedly seen on the deck helping crying children put on their lifejackets when he decided to return to his cabin to pack his violin.

It follows the ship's captain Francesco Schettino - who has been put under house arrest - appearing before an Italian judge on Tuesday.

He has been accused of causing the accident by coming too close to the shore so he could "make a salute" and also of abandoning ship before the evacuation was complete.

According to a leaked transcript being quoted in Italian media, Schettino has admitted to investigators he made a mistake that caused the ship to hit the reef.

"I was navigating by sight because I knew the depths well and I had done this manoeuvre three or four times," he reportedly said.

"But this time I ordered the turn too late and I ended up in water that was too shallow. I don't know why it happened."

Meanwhile, in a statement Costa Cruises said that it would refund all passengers who were onboard - and that it would also cover all expenses incurred by holidaymakers in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

It added: "Costa Cruises confirms both the constant commitment and care it devotes every day to safety and its dedication to relations with the guests who represent the company's most important asset, as they have done for more than 60 years.

"Costa Cruises would like once again to express its great sadness over the victims and its support for their families."

The statement came as it emerged 35 Russian passengers were planning to sue the company for damages.

Monitors In Syria 'Want To Extend Mission'

Lisa Holland, foreign affairs correspondent

Arab League monitors are likely to recommend extending their mission in Syria and believe they have succeeded in taking heavy weapons off the streets to protect civilians, Sky News has learned.

The chief monitor is expected to publish the report later today or on Friday.

And Sky sources suggest it will say the Syrian authorities have broadly co-operated but that the violence has continued.

The mission has been hit by controversy, with the opposition claiming it serves as a cover for the regime to continue its brutal crackdown against protesters.

Syrian government tanks and armoured vehicles pulled back from the embattled mountain town of Zabadani near the capital Damascus, activists and witnesses said.

But at least nine people were reportedly killed by security forces elsewhere as the month-long fact-finding mission expired.

 

 

Opposition figures claim up to 25 people a day are being killed in the uprising - a figure which is up since the start of the observer mission.

Arab League foreign ministers will consider extending the mission at two meetings in Cairo, Egypt, over the weekend.

The monitors will remain in 17 different places around Syria until the organisation makes a final decision, says Adnan al Khudeir, head of Cairo operations room that handles reports by the monitors.

The monitors have been operating inside Syria since the end of December.

They are likely to highlight some areas where the Syrians have co-operated but the reality is the violence has continued.

They also claim they are breaking down fear amongst protesters about going onto the streets to demonstrate.

The uprising has hit Syria's economy hard, with tourism almost collapsing and trade down too.

Before the protests early last year, it is claimed the hotels were nearly all full but the numbers have fallen dramatically.

Crac des Chevaliers has seen visitor numbers fall since the uprising

At the world-famous Crac des Chevaliers, a 12th-century Crusader castle, there are now only about 10 visitors a day, and fewer than 10 European tourists a month.

It is also claimed some truck drivers are afraid to use trade routes from Turkey. They say the roads are dangerous to use at night due to terrorists.

And at the Mediterranean city of Tartus, the port is quiet.

With trade reduced, this may do more harm to the regime than protests and condemnation from foreign powers.

President Bashar al Assad is continuing to stand firm, despite growing international pressure over the violence in the country.

Tartus is the main Mediterranean port used by the Russian Navy, and Syria still has support from Moscow and China at the UN Security Council.

Russia says it will block any attempts by Western military to intervene in Syria.
And Lebanon and Iraq - Arab League members that both border Syria - still also back it.

See pictures below taken by the Sky News team in Syria.

Leap second decision is postponed

A decision on whether to abolish the leap second - the occasional, extra second added to the world's time - has been deferred.

Experts at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) were unable to reach a consensus, so moved the matter to a meeting in 2015.

The US argued at the meeting that leap seconds were causing problems for communication and navigation systems.

But the UK said that the long-term consequences of losing it were great.

An ITU spokesman said that Canada, Japan, Italy, Mexico and France all supported the United States' stance on losing the leap second, while Germany, like the UK, wanted the extra second to stay.

More countries though, including Nigeria, Russia and Turkey, wanted further study.

As a result, the ITU decided that more research was needed to consider the broader social implications of losing the leap second before a decision could be taken.

The ITU suggested that a study group should investigate the issue, before presenting any proposals at the next World Radio Conference in 2015.

It means that for now, the world's time will continue to be linked to the Earth's rotation.

The next leap second is due to be added on 30 June 2012.

Out of time

The leap second was introduced in 1972.

It was added to keep our modern timekeepers - atomic clocks, which rely on the vibrations in atoms to provide a very accurate measurement of time - in line with our slightly less reliable timekeeper, the Earth.

Because our planet wobbles a little on its axis as it spins, it means some days end up being a few milliseconds longer or shorter than others.

This means that over time, the time based on atomic clocks, and the time based on the Earth's rotation drift further and further apart.

When this difference is deemed by the International Earth Rotation Service, which monitors the Earth's activity, to be approximately 0.9 seconds, a leap second is added to pull the two back into sync.

Sometimes a leap second can be added every year, sometimes not for several, with six-months' notice provided before action needs to be taken.

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What is a leap second? The BBC's Rebecca Morelle went to Greenwich's Royal Observatory to find out

Those who wanted to lose the leap second said that the one-second increments were becoming increasingly problematic for a vast range of modern navigational and communication systems, such as sat-nav, financial services, air traffic control and the internet.

These all rely on having a continuous and stable timescale, so adding a somewhat unpredictable, one-second increment can be disruptive.

The UK, though, says any problems are exaggerated - and that losing the leap second could cause long-term problems, as the time based on the atomic clocks and the time based on the Earth's rotation would move ever further apart.

Over decades, this would amount to a minute's difference, but over 500 years this could be an hour, and over thousands of years, the Sun could be setting when atomic clocks claim it is morning.

Peter Whibberley, senior research scientist at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, UK, who is leading the UK's delegation, said: "This result achieves the UK's aims of securing much broader debate and understanding of the consequences of ending the link between UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) and solar time before a final decision is taken."

More on This Story

Related Stories

• Experts mull leap second's future 19 JANUARY 2012, SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT
• Time to change the world's time? 04 NOVEMBER 2011, SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT
• The bizarre world of time zones 24 MARCH 2011, WORLD
• Extra second to keep UK on time 31 DECEMBER 2008, SCI/TECH
• At the centre of time 20 OCTOBER 2009, MAGAZINE
• UK atomic clock is most accurate 26 AUGUST 2011, SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT

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• World Radiocommunication Conference 2012
• National Physical Laboratory

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Olympic anti-doping lab unveiled as most high-tech ever

A laboratory hailed as the most high-tech in the history of the Olympics has been unveiled.

The lab is the centrepiece of the fight against doping at London 2012.

Organisers said the new Essex-based facility, estimated to be the size of seven tennis courts, will carry out more tests than at any prior Olympics.

The lab will operate 24 hours a day during the games, ensuring that every medallist and more than half of all competitors will be tested.

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has donated and equipped the lab, which the company says is the major part of its £20m contribution to the games.

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• The BBC's home of 2012: Latest Olympic news, sport, culture, torch relay, video and audio

More than 1,000 people - mostly volunteers - will be involved in all aspects of collecting and processing samples.

The key work of analysing and determining if a sample is drug-positive or negative will be carried out by a team of more than 150 anti-doping scientists, flown in from all over the world.

They will be led by Prof David Cowan from King's College London.

He promised "super-fast and super-sensitive technologies to be able to detect the use of prohibited substances".

Speaking at the unveiling, UK Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson promised there would be no place to hide for cheats.

"We cannot absolutely guarantee that these will be a drug-free games," he said.

Despite its distance from the Olympic Park, the lab will return results for some tests within 24 hours

"But we can guarantee that we have got the very best system possible to try and catch anybody who even thinks of cheating."

Even though the laboratory is based near Harlow in Essex, the organisers are promising that all negative results will be turned round within 24 hours.

Positives will be returned in 48 hours, with the exception of the endurance boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO), which will take 72 hours.

Prof Cowan believes that athletes who use the courts to challenge the process of testing will be wasting their time.

"When people try to challenge, they won't be successful," he said. "We are going to be fast, sensitive and efficient, and we are going to be right."

This will be the first time that a pharmaceutical company has sponsored an Olympic anti-doping lab - but according to GlaxoSmithKline chief executive Sir Andrew Witty, there is no conflict of interest.

"Our involvement is the support and delivery of the facility; we have no role in the testing process," he said.

"We're not involved. You can be 1,000% reassured that there's no overlap, no conflict."

Not only is GlaxoSmithKline paying for the new lab, it has also entered into an agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to share information on all their drugs, including products under development.

Sir Andrew now wants other firms to follow suit.

"If we could get that done on a broader basis, it would really close the net on people's potential to come up with molecules that WADA just weren't familiar with," he said.

Pakistan kidnap: Two foreigners seized in Multan

Two foreigners have been kidnapped from the city of Multan in Pakistan's Punjab province, local police say.

The Italian foreign ministry said that one of the two is Italian and that it is in contact with the victim's family.

The two are believed to be foreign NGO workers, with the other victim thought to be German.

The two were working for a development agency helping victims of the 2010 floods, reports say.

"Three armed men entered the house and kidnapped two foreign nationals. One of them is an Italian national and the other we believe to be German," local police spokesman Amir Zulfiqar told Reuters.

"So far we have not established a motive but it is too early to say. We are continuing investigations," he added.