Houla deaths: Western states to expel Syrian diplomats

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18252818


Major Western powers say they are expelling senior Syrian diplomats following the killing of 108 people in the Houla region of Syria on Friday.
France, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada and Australia all announced expulsions, with the United States expected to follow suit.
Most of the victims were summarily executed, the UN says.
Eyewitnesses told the BBC that pro-government shabiha militiamen had carried out the killings. Survivors said they had hidden or played dead.


Western leaders have expressed horror at the killings, and have begun moves to raise the diplomatic pressure on the Assad government.

Rare Martian Pink diamond at auction in Hong Kong

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-18245931

A rare pink diamond is expected to fetch at least $8m (£5m) when it goes under the hammer in Hong Kong.
The Martian Pink diamond, about 12 carats in size, is considered extremely rare.
The gem got its name in 1976 when it was sold by famed US jeweller Harry Winston. It was the same year the US sent a satellite to Mars, and the gem was named for the colour of the planet.
It comes from Harry Winston, who was so impressed that the Americans had landed on Mars in 1976 that he looked at his inventory and he found a rough diamond which probably could come out as pink, so he cut it, and he cut it in such a way that the intensity of the thing was larger than any of the other things that he had ever cut before!

Breivik 'cut contact with friends' in run-up to attacks

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18248116

Anders Behring Breivik cut himself off from friends in the years leading up to his deadly attacks, according to the testimony of a former friend.


He became "more serious and less social" and had "lost the spark of life", the witness told the court.
Another former friend told the court Breivik worried about his looks and had a nose job to look more "Aryan".
The second former friend who testified on Tuesday told the court that Breivik had become extremely preoccupied with immigration after 2006, and it had become impossible to talk to him without him bringing up politics
The trial is expected to last until the end of June


what happened here is sickening and a total outrage. what he did was an terrorist attack against his country, they should lock him up for the rest of his life.
they are trying to find out if he is sane or not, but in my opinion you have to be sane in order to execute this type of plan. so please put him away for life!

Portrait of Highland lady kept in cupboard for 100 years restored

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-18210359

A 19th Century portrait that lay in a cupboard in a Highland castle for more than 100 years has been restored and put on public display.


The painting of a woman was in such a poor state it was not known who she was or who painted her.
Writing revealed by the restoration work showed it to be of Eliza Gordon Macpherson, whose family had owned Cluny Castle where the art was found.
It is being exhibited at the Clan Macpherson Museum in Newtonmore.


The portrait was by Sir John Watson Gordon, who was encouraged to paint by two of Scotland's leading painters - his uncle George Watson and family friend Sir Henry Raeburn.


It had lain there undiscovered for over 100 years, long before the residents at the time lived there."
she was discovered 10 years ago in a cupboard at the top of Cluny Castle.

Flame: Massive cyber-attack discovered

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18238326

A complex targeted cyber-attack that collected private data from countries such as Israel and Iran has been uncovered.
Russian security firm Kaspersky Labs said that it has been working since 2010 and it is supposed to be state sponsored.


This new threat appears to collect huge amounts of sensitive information, said Kaspersky's chief malware expert Vitaly Kamluk.
The countries affected by the attack are Iran, Israel, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.


I think a thing like this could be the next "weapon of the future". If people know how to create software that can get to know everything of any computer, they eventually could get to know everything of everybody on the entire world!

Is this what we can expect here in the Netherlands?!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17840447

I think it's crazy that there is  a drop of ten thousand (!) teachers in the UK and the teachers assistants have almost trebled!
We all know that there is a economical crisis but I don't think it's smart to cut on the most important thing for our future (my opinion) education!
if we ever want to get out of this crisis it's important to proper educate our youth, and the only way we can do that is to keep the good teachers on the schools and let them educate the children in the right way!

Can they be stopped?!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17826515

I think this article has 2 sides to it.
of course it's not good for very young children to have access to porn because you don't want them to get in touch with porn. But on the other side, I don't think it smart to ban all of it online.
I think al lot of people like to watch it every now and then, and if they can't watch it, who knows what they might do to see it anyway!
what I should do is to make sure that the family computer is not a laptop and place it in a room where everyone can come whenever they want. if so you'll think twice before putting on some porn!