Google Aims To See Into The Future With Glass

Google has been showing off its wearable technology with a demonstration of Google Glass at the SXSW show in Texas.

Visitors to the show in Austin saw the device, which Google refers to as just "Glass", running a number of apps.

Google's own Gmail was on display, along with a New York Times app, note-taking software Evernote, image annotation tool Skitch and the Path social network app.

The firm believes the internet and computers should one day be accessible anywhere at any time without having to use one's hands.

Glass displays information in a smartphone-like format, is hands-free, can interact with the internet using natural language voice commands and uses Google's Android operating system.

Glass is not emasculating, says Google macho man Sergey Brin

The frames do not currently have lenses fitted to them, but according to The New York Times, Google is considering a partnership with Warby Parker and Ray-Ban for prescription glasses and sunglasses.

With regard to Gmail, Glass wearers can use voice commands to prompt Google's email service to deliver the sender's image and subject line to the glasses' screen.

Users can then tell the app what to write back.

Tech site engadget said the New York Times app would let users ask for news, after which they would receive a headline, a byline, an accompanying image and the number of hours since the article in question was posted.

Users can then tap the eyewear and have it read the story out loud.

Glass will also let people share images with Evernote and Skitch, and show them updates from their Path network.

CNET's Donna Tam said users could also add emoticons to friends' posts and make comments.

Designing hardware that people can wear has proved a challenge, but Google co-founder Sergey Brin claims wearable technology is less "emasculating" than a smartphone.

Glass is expected to go on sale to the general public later this year, but according to Miss Tam, the device has already caused a scene.

She pointed out that a bar in Seattle became the first place to ban Google Glass last week, fearing the wearable device would "creep out" its customers.

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Snow And Ice Cause Chaos On Rail And Roads

Mid-March travel misery has continued for millions with the late blasts of winter closing roads, disrupting flights and cancelling trains.

Ice warnings were in place for much of the country, and drivers in snow-hit areas urged to postpone journeys if possible.

The Met Office issued yellow "be aware" warnings for parts of the South East, South West, northern Scotland and Ireland, as well as western parts of Wales.

In London, police said a man was fighting for his life after being hit by a telegraph pole that is thought to have been blown over during strong winds.

The 27-year-old was resuscitated by ambulance staff and treated for a head injury after the accident in Wandsworth on Monday night. He was taken to hospital, where he was said to be in a "serious condition".

The M20 southbound remains gridlocked due to the severe weather

Temperatures were expected to stay below freezing in many areas for the next few days, with the minimum as low as -7C.

Up to 10cm (4in) of snow was forecast to settle in the worst-affected areas, including Kent, Sussex and southern Hampshire, and over higher ground in areas like the Pennines.

Some of the roads where driving conditions were at their worst included the M20 in Kent and the A2.

The Highways Agency earlier warned motorists heading north from the Dover Ports to take the M20 London bound and to avoid the A2, while those driving in and around West Sussex were advised to avoid the A23 and M23.

Rail services also faced disruption. Southern warned of short-notice cancellations and delays of up to an hour on all services.

Popstars Toyah Willcox and Cheryl Baker were among those trapped

There were delays to Southeastern services between Paddock Wood and Strood in Kent because of a signalling problem, while some Gatwick Express services were cancelled.

On First Capital Connect, journeys between Bedford and Brighton were also subject to short-notice cancellations, with delays of up to 45 minutes.

Ice and snow made roads across much of the South East impassable, with Dover and Folkestone among the worst affected.

The Channel Tunnel reopened after technical issues, with delays back to Junction 10 (Ashford) on the M20.

Eurostar suspended its services for the day because of bad weather in France and Belgium.

A message on its website said: "Our advice to passengers is not to travel today and not to come to our stations. Exchanges and refunds will be available to affected passengers."

Poor road conditions have hampered much of the UK

At the Port of Dover in Kent, cross-Channel ferry operations were operating "as far as possible", but passengers were advised to allow extra time for their journeys amid possible road blockages on the A2 and A20.

Jersey Airport was closed for the day, while travellers heading for Gatwick were warned to allow extra time to reach the West Sussex airport due to snow on the roads in the area.

Speed restrictions were in place on the M48 Severn Bridge in Monmouthshire due to strong winds.

About 500 passengers on a ferry from Ireland to France were forced to spend the night anchored off shore after the vessel failed to dock due to high seas.

A number of French children on a school trip to Ireland were among those on board Irish Ferries vessel Oscar Wilde, which made numerous attempts to dock in Cherbourg in the north-west of France

Police in Sussex said they had attended more than 300 crashes during Monday and overnight across the county, where some motorists were trapped in their cars in the snow for up to 10 hours in blizzard-like conditions.

Residents in Crawley wake up to the snow

The force received nearly 2,500 emergency and non-emergency calls - around 700 more than an average March weekday.

The British Red Cross sent emergency teams out to help those stranded in the freezing conditions overnight on the A23 with tailbacks stretching 30 miles.

A spokesman for the police force said it was stretched to "capacity" recovering abandoned vehicles and helping those stranded.

Chief Inspector Phil Nicholas, from the force's roads policing unit, said: "Today is going to be about helping recover vehicles as many people fell asleep in their cars or abandoned them, so even when the roads did become clearer they were still blocked.

"Although the conditions have improved slightly, we are asking people to not make any journeys unless they are essential."

Cheryl Baker, the 1980s pop star with the Eurovision-winning group Bucks Fizz, was among those stuck on the A23 as she tried to make her way to Brighton to her children. At 10.30am she tweeted: "WE'RE HOME!! Only taken 15 1/2 hours!!"

Snow ploughs and gritters were stuck in the traffic. (Pic: Jonathan Lava)

South East Coast Ambulance Service asked the public to only dial 999 in a genuine emergency because staff were struggling to get into work.

The disruption followed a night of chaos on the roads during which snow ploughs and gritters struggled to get through to clear the roads after a number of vehicles jackknifed causing gridlock.

Temperatures plummeted to as low as -3C (27F), forcing many people to abandon their vehicles for service stations.

Abandoned cars had to be moved to allow the gritters, snow ploughs and emergency teams to pass.

Police community support officer Christopher Kingswood, a former soldier, was forced to put his survival training into use when he became stranded after hours of helping drivers on the A259 and A27.

Unable to reach his home at the end of his marathon shift, he bedded down in a cramped police box, with his head and feet touching both ends, before returning to duty at 7am.

A number of motorists questioned why gritters had failed to keep the roads clear despite clear forecasts of heavy snow.

The Highways Agency said extra gritters had been out on the roads since 6am on Monday preparing for the freezing weather.

Forecasters believe Monday was the coldest March day in 27 years, since March 1, 1986. Saughall, in south Lanarkshire, reached -12C (10F).

Ladbrokes said they have been forced to slash the odds of snow reappearing across Easter weekend, March 29 to April 1.

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Kim Jong-Un Threatens To 'Wipe Out' Island

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has threatened to "wipe out" a South Korean island as diplomatic tensions between the neighbouring countries escalate.

The communist state has been making noises about nuclear war in response to UN sanctions imposed after its third atomic test last month.

It has also announced its unilateral shredding of the 60-year-old Korean War armistice and non-aggression pacts with Seoul in protest at an ongoing South Korean-US military exercise.

While most of these statements have been dismissed as rhetorical bluster, the latest threat to the border island of Baengnyeong, which has around 5,000 civilian residents, appears credible and carries the weight of precedent.

In 2010, the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan was sunk in the area of Baengnyeong with the loss of 46 lives, and later that year North Korea shelled the nearby island of Yeonpyeong, killing four people.

On a visit to frontline artillery units, Kim Jong-Un briefed officers on their mission "to strike and wipe out the enemies" on Baengnyeong and turn the island into a "sea of fire".

Kim waves to troops as he leaves flashpoint Baengnyeong island

"Once an order is issued, you should break the waists of the crazy enemies, totally cut their windpipes and thus clearly show them what a real war is like," Kim was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency.

The leader toured military facilities with officers and was photographed holding a guitar during talks, before departing the Wolnae Islet defence unit in a wooden boat.

An administrative official on Baengnyeong, Kim Young-Gu, said civilian emergency shelters on the island had been fully stocked and all village councils put on high alert.

"It's not like there's a mass exodus of panicked islanders to the mainland. But to be honest with you, we're a bit scared," he told AFP.

The disputed sea border off the west coast was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999, 2002 and 2009.

Residents on a number of frontline islands have reportedly taken to sleeping in their clothes in preparation for a night-time alert.

South Korea's President faces a tricky diplomatic task

The crisis represents an early test for South Korea's new President Park Geun-Hye, who was sworn in only two weeks ago, with concerns about just how far the inexperienced Kim Jong-Un is willing to go.

Defence Ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok said: "If the North provokes us, we will respond in ways that will cause them more harm."

The United States has risked further provoking Kim by slapping sanctions on North Korea's primary foreign exchange bank and four senior officials.

Past sanctions have failed to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear programme, but the international community hopes measures targeting financial lifelines can slow down the process and curb proliferation.

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Snowfall In Western Europe Sparks Travel Chaos

Snow has been causing travel mayhem in parts of Europe, leaving passengers stranded at airports, railway stations, on the roads - and at sea.

Frankfurt Airport - Europe's third busiest - was shut down by heavy snowfall until further notice.

The airport had already cancelled more than 100 flights and reported many delays after the German city saw about 12cm (5ins) of snow.

It was not immediately clear how many more of the scheduled 1,200 flights would be cancelled due to the closure.

Tailbacks on the E429 highway near in Belgium

Travel in France was also affected, with a quarter of flights out of Paris cancelled by the city's two main airports - Charles de Gaulle and Orly.

The nearby Beauvais airport, serving mainly low-cost airlines, cancelled all flights.

At Orly, a Tunisair flight carrying 140 people from Djerba skidded off the runway on landing but no one was injured, an airport source said.

Several roads in the capital were closed too, while the French rail network SNCF advised rail users to stay at home because of "unfavourable weather conditions".

The unseasonable snowfall - coming only eight days before the official start of spring - also knocked out power to thousands of people in France and left hundreds of motorists stranded in their cars.

Many flights hsve been cancelled at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris

About 80,000 homes in the north and northwest of France were without power, following snowfalls of up to 60cm (24ins).

More than 2,000 people were stranded in their cars overnight as heavy snow paralysed roads in Normandy and Brittany, with many spending the night in emergency shelters.

"There are cars in front, there are cars behind. We're in a film, it's like the end of the world," said one trapped driver.

A traffic accident near Lille injured 14 people and a 58-year-old homeless man was found dead, presumably from the cold, outside a building in the town of Saint-Brieuc in Brittany.

Across the border in Belgium, motorists were hit by record traffic jams with many caught in treacherous conditions and battling icy roads, strong winds and reduced visibility due to snowdrifts.

Rail services were also affected - many cancelled - including some of the Thalys high-speed trains to Paris, Germany and the Netherlands, leaving thousands of commuters stranded on snowed-in platforms.

Long traffic jams because of snow and ice also snaked along motorways in the southern Netherlands, hampering travel to and from Belgium after more than 10cm (4ins) of snow overnight.

People walk under heavy snow falls on Place de la Concorde in Paris

Eurostar suspended cross-Channel train services between London and Paris following heavy snow.

"Due to extremely difficult weather conditions in northern France and Belgium, with a major part of the high-speed train tracks closed, Eurostar trains have been suspended until further notice," it said.

"Our advice to passengers is not to travel today and not to come to our stations. Exchanges and refunds will be available to affected passengers."

About 500 passengers on a ferry from Ireland to France were forced to spend the night anchored off shore after the vessel failed to dock due to high seas.

A number of French children on a school trip to Ireland were among those on board Irish Ferries vessel Oscar Wilde, which made numerous attempts to dock in Cherbourg in the north west of France

Passenger Caroline Mulreany told Sky News: "This boat, I feel, is in danger of a serious accident.

"Maybe more help is needed and they are not asking for it. The boat right now is swaying really, really bad and crashing in and out of the water.

"Everyone on board is violently sick and they don't have a doctor or anti-sick tablets."

Pedestrians walk through the snow in Cologne, western Germany

The company said the vessel had attempted to dock four times without success.

"The vessel remains off the port and it is expected that a further attempt will not be made until circa lunchtime today when some weather improvement is expected (or earlier, if possible)," it said.

"To complicate matters further, it is understood that the port area and roads around Cherbourg are gripped by snow and icy conditions.

"Save for the obvious discomfort of being delayed from going ashore, everyone on board is safe and reported to be in good spirits, are comfortable and are being well catered for on board.

In the docking attempt yesterday, one crew member suffered what is understood to be a fractured leg. It was not possible to evacuate him to hospital. He is being attended to by two doctors who were travelling as passengers.

The vessel is not due to make its scheduled return sailing to Rosslare until later today and no Ireland-bound passengers have yet been affected by the delay," it added.

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Christina Edkins: Man Faces Murder Charge

A 22-year-old man is to be charged with the murder of 16-year-old Christina Edkins on a Birmingham bus, police confirm.

West Midlands Police said they have been given authority by the Crown Prosecution Service to charge 22-year-old Phillip Simelane with killing Christina Edkins.

Meanwhile, the force also issued a statement in which Christina's parents said their world had been torn apart by the loss of their "beautiful princess".

Simelane, from Walsall, was sectioned under the Mental Health Act following the stabbing in Birmingham last Thursday and will be charged with murder in due course, a police spokesman said.

Making their first public comment about their daughter's death, Christina's parents Jason and Kathleen described her as a "bubbly, beautiful and intelligent" teenager.

In their statement, Mr and Mrs Edkins said: "We are heartbroken by the loss of our beautiful princess, Christina, and it's hard to find words to describe the pain we're all feeling.

"Her family and friends will remember her as an amazing individual with her whole life ahead of her - a life that was tragically cut short on that Thursday morning.

"Our lives will never be the same again."

The grieving parents added: "We are truly overwhelmed by the kindness that's been shown by friends and neighbours, people who knew Christina well and also those who never got the chance to meet her."

Christina, who lived near Birmingham city centre but was a pupil at Leasowes High School in Halesowen, died from a single stab wound to the chest.

Her parents' tribute said she was "just like most 16-year-olds" and had been studying hard for forthcoming exams while looking forward to her school prom.

The statement continued: "We'd bought Christina's prom dress the week before and recall the day she tried it on... she looked like a princess.

"Christina was studying extremely hard for her exams and weighing up which college to attend.

"In many ways she was like most 16-year-olds - worried about her appearance, what fake tan to wear, how her hair and nails looked and about 'hot boys', as Christina would call them!

"We would like to thank everyone for their kind words, flowers, teddies, balloons and candles... the support has been fantastic and shows what good, kind people there are in this world.

"We'd like to thank West Bromwich Albion for their half-time tribute at the weekend and to the fans for their heartfelt applause, which was very emotional.

"Finally, we'd like to thank West Midlands Police for all the help and support they've given us through this difficult and distressing time.

"We're relieved to hear a man will soon be charged and, hopefully, we can soon get justice for Christina."

Simelane was arrested near the scene of the attack in Hagley Road, Edgbaston, and has been assessed at a secure mental health unit.

Detective Superintendent Rich Baker said: "This was a horrific, random attack and one that's understandably shocked many people.

"I'm pleased to announce we now have authority to charge the suspect with murder.

"I'd like to thank Christina's family for their continued support and patience during our inquiry. Everyone wants to see justice for Christina and her family and from day one we've been determined to help deliver that justice for them."

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'Cannibal Cop' Convicted In Plot To Eat Women

By Sky News US Team, in New York

A New York City police officer has been convicted of plotting to kidnap, cook and eat women.

The jury reached the verdict at the kidnapping conspiracy trial of Officer Gilberto Valle, a 28-year-old father with an admitted fetish for talking on the Internet about cannibalism.

Valle's lawyers argued that he was just fantasising and noted that none of the women were ever harmed.

Prosecutors countered that an analysis of Valle's computer found he was taking concrete steps to abduct his wife and at least five other women he knew.

They said he looked up potential targets on a restricted law enforcement database, searched the Internet for how to knock someone out with chloroform, and showed up on the block of one woman after agreeing to kidnap her for $5,000 for a man, now awaiting trial.

Valle "left the world of fantasy and entered the world of reality", prosecutor Hadassa Waxman said during closing arguments.

She said the officer's arrest near Halloween last year interrupted a ghoulish plan to "kidnap, torture, rape and commit other horrific acts on young women".

The jury heard Valle's potential victims testify that they were trading innocent-sounding emails and texts with him, unaware he was supposedly scheming to make meals out of them.

The government also sought to drive home the point that Valle was more of a threat because he was a police officer.

The trial opened a window on strange online underworld where people share sick and twisted fantasies of torture, murder, dismemberment and cannibalism.

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Sinkhole In One! Golfer Rescued From Pit

A golfer has had to be rescued from a sinkhole that swallowed him up at an Illinois fairway.

Mark Mihal was with three friends playing the 14th hole at Annbriar Golf Course near Waterloo last Friday.

But when the 43-year-old's buddies looked round he was nowhere to be seen. 

They heard him moaning and followed the noise back to where he had been standing.

His wife Lori wrote up Mark's words on his Golfmanna.com website.

A 12ft ladder turned out to be too short for the rescue effort

"I felt the ground start to collapse and it happened so fast that I couldn't do anything," he said.

"I reached for the ground as I was going down and it gave way, too. It seemed like I was falling for a long time.

"The real scary part was I didn't know when I would hit bottom and what I would land on."  

The fall had left him with a dislocated shoulder.

The pit that swallowed him up turned out to be 18ft deep and 10ft wide.

A ladder brought from the clubhouse was too short and Mark only had the use of one arm to pull himself up.

His friend Ed decided he would have to climb into the hole to get him out, spurred on by the recent death of a man in a Florida sinkhole.

"The thoughts of being buried alive were running through Mark's mind because of that horrifying story," Lori Mihal wrote.

Mark and Lori Mihal

"Dirt was falling on his head the whole time he was down below."

The mortgage broker from Creve Coeur, in neighbouring Missouri was eventually hoisted to safety with a rope and taken to a local hospital.

Although he still considers the course one of his favourites, he is having second thoughts about returning.

"It'd be kind of strange playing that hole again, for sure," he told the St Louis Post-Dispatch.

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Chicago Baby Shot During Nappy Change Dies

A six-month-old Chicago girl who was shot five times while her father was changing her nappy has died.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's office says Jonylah Watkins died at Comer Children's Hospital a day after she and her father were shot.

The girl's father, Jonathan Watkins, remains in critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Police say he has an extensive criminal background and is a gang member.

Mr Watkins was changing his daugher in this minivan (Credit: WFLD-TV)

Officers are not sure whether he will decide to cooperate with them.

Police are scouring the South Side neighbourhood of Woodlawn, where the attack happened.

They have surveillance video of a blue van believed to be the gunman's getaway vehicle.

Witnesses said the gunman approached Jonathan Watkins at around 1pm local time and opened fire on him while he was standing beside his minivan and changing his daughter's nappy. She was on the front seat.

Mr Watkins was shot in the side and buttocks, and suffered a graze wound to his face.

It was not  the family's first brush with Chicago's gun violence. The girl's mother, Judy Watkins, was shot in the knee while she was pregnant with Jonylah, according to the woman's mother, Mary Young.

"There's too much shooting over there," Ms Young told reporters. Speaking of her granddaughter, she added: "She's nothing but six months old. How could anybody - what kind of heart?"

Chicago has seen a recent rise in gun violence - much of it gang-related - and registered at least 500 homicides last year for the first time since 2008. In 2011, there were 435 homicides.

Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said homicides were down 26% this year, compared with the same period a year earlier.

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Pope Election: Cardinal Conclave To Begin

The Secret World Of The Conclave

Updated: 8:04am UK, Tuesday 12 March 2013

By Michelle Clifford, Sky News Correspondent

The cardinals heading into the Conclave in Rome know they won't see the world outside the Vatican walls again until they have chosen a new Pontiff.

The highly secretive process has been experienced by few men over the last century. British Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor is one of them.

In 2005 he helped pick Pope Benedict XVI and the memory of that first day is still etched on to his psyche.

"I can still remember walking in and it looked absolutely magnificent in the Sistine Chapel. The wonderful frescoes of Michelangelo. The Last Judgement on the altar. And the wonderful images around the walls," he said.

Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor recalls the enormity of the task ahead of them. Knowing the choice they made would impact the lives of more than a billion Catholics. And in a blink the moment was upon them.

"And then suddenly the junior Cardinal says: 'Everybody out. Extra Omnes,' and so all the servers, the ministers, the people go.

"And he shuts the huge doors with a big thud. And so there's just 115 of us and we all look at each other and think, well one of us is going to come out not with a scarlet cassock but with a white one".

He remembers the process as a solemn and holy one.

Each cardinal felt the weight of responsibility to make the right choice. And the tension wasn't helped during each round of voting by the fact that every man knew there was a chance, however small, that he could be picked.

"The cardinal sitting near me was going rather white. You could tell he was thinking 'gosh, I really don't want this'. And between you and me, I think every cardinal had a name up his sleeve just in case."

He himself had chosen Adrian after the only English Pope and Gregory. He also toyed with Benedict - the name the cardinal he picked for Pope took.

Such is the secrecy around the vote the cardinals go into lockdown inside the Vatican. They vote, eat and live together. And the debate about who should be leader goes on well after they leave the Sistine Chapel each day.

He remembers well the stoves erected in the Sistine Chapel to burn the ballot papers after each round.

Black smoke was sent up if no-one had been elected. But when white smoke emerged from the Sistine chapel chimney the outside world learned what the cardinals inside already knew - a Pope had been selected.

"You could have heard a pin drop as the last votes were counted. It was a very dramatic moment. It felt extraordinary," he said.

The then Cardinal Ratzinger announced the name he had chosen for himself and then disappeared out for a short moment to be transformed.

Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor explained: "There is a tailor outside the door with three cassocks. Small, large and medium. And what is amazing is that he comes back wearing a white cassock and we gave him a great clap and we all went up one by one and kissed his ring.

"And it didn't matter whether you voted for him or not - he is Pope."

Some cardinals say it is a process they would not want to repeat - such is the burden of responsibility.

But Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor would be happy to oblige despite knowing that when he came out his family would ask the same two questions they did the last time.

He said: "My nephew asked what was the food like. I told him good. I then asked him what his other questions was. He said 'How many votes did you get?'"

On that point the Cardinal's lips are sealed.

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Aurora Shootings: Holmes 'Not Ready' To Plead

The judge in the Aurora cinema shooting case has entered a not guilty plea on behalf of 'Batman killer' accused James Holmes.

More follows...

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