John Avildsen, Oscar-winning director of Rocky, dies aged 81


John G. Avildsen, the Oscar-winning director of Rocky and The Karate Kid, has died at the age of 81.
Avildsen's son Anthony told US media the filmmaker had died of pancreatic cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Rocky - starring Sylvester Stallone as a rags-to-riches boxer - became the highest grossing film of 1976, despite having a relatively low budget.
It won an Oscar for best picture, as well one for Avildsen as director.
Stallone, who wrote the film, led the tributes to its director, posting on Instagram: "R. I. P. I'm sure you will soon be directing Hits in Heaven- Thank you , Sly."
Avildsen directed the box-office winner The Karate Kid, released in 1984, as well as The Karate Kid Part II in 1986 and The Karate Kid Part III in 1989.
He also guided Jack Lemmon to his only best actor Oscar for his role in the 1973 film Save the Tiger.
"Throughout the decades, his rousing portrayals of victory, courage and emotion captured the hearts of generations of Americans," Paris Barclay, president of the Directors Guild of America, said in a statement.
BBC NEWS

Egypt Hisham Barakat killing: 30 sentenced to death


A court in Cairo has recommended the death penalty for 30 people convicted of involvement in the killing of Egypt's top public prosecutor.
Hisham Barakat was assassinated in a car bomb attack in June 2015.
He was the most senior state official to be killed by militants in recent years.
Mr Barakat had sent thousands of Islamists to trial since the overthrow of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood-backed government in 2013.
Hundreds of Islamists were sentenced to death or life imprisonment, as part of a crackdown on supporters of the banned group.
Egypt blamed the Brotherhood and Gaza-based Hamas militants for Mr Barakat's killing, although both groups have denied they were involved.
Last year the Interior Ministry released a video showing several men confessing to the killing, and saying they went to Gaza for training from Hamas. Some of them later denied the allegations in court and said they had been tortured.
The court's recommendations will now be sent to Egypt's highest religious authority, the grand mufti.
All death sentences have to be sent to the grand mufti for his opinion on whether they should stand. But even when the grand mufti gives his approval, convictions are still open to appeal.
BBC NEWS

Carrie Fisher died from 'sleep apnoea and other causes'


Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher died from sleep apnoea and "other factors", the Los Angeles County coroner says.
Her death certificate said in January that the 60-year-old, best known for her role as Princess Leia, had suffered a cardiac arrest.
But in a statement the LA coroner said the exact cause was unknown.
Sleep apnoea is a common condition in which a person stops breathing during sleep, either for a few seconds or minutes.
As well as listing sleep apnoea as a cause of death, the coroner's statement cited other factors, including heart disease and drug use.
In a statement released to People magazine after the coroner's ruling, Fisher's daughter Lourd said: "My mom battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life. She ultimately died of it.
"She was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases."
Her manner of death would be listed as undetermined, the coroner's statement said.





















Fisher had been on tour promoting her book The Princess Diarist when she was taken ill on a flight from London to Los Angeles on 23 December.
She never regained consciousness and died on 27 December at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre.
The daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher made her film debut opposite Warren Beatty in 1975's Shampoo.
She also appeared in The Blues Brothers, When Harry Met Sally and Hannah and Her Sisters, and provided the voice of Peter Griffin's boss Angela in the adult animated sitcom Family Guy.
But her enduring fame is thanks to her role as Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy. She will appear in the latest Star Wars sequel, The Last Jedi, which is to be released in December.

USS Fitzgerald crash: Seven navy crew missing off Japan

Seven US Navy crew members are missing after their ship collided with a merchant vessel off the coast of Japan.
Among the injured is the USS Fitzgerald's commanding officer, who was taken to hospital by helicopter.
The destroyer collided with the container ship about 56 nautical miles (104km) south-west of Yokosuka.
Aerial images showed heavy damage to the Navy ship's starboard side after the collision at about 02:30 local time on Saturday (17:30 GMT Friday).

What happened?

The collision occurred near Yokosuka, a Japanese port city that is home to the US 7th Fleet, which comprises up to 80 submarines and ships and including the USS Fitzgerald.
It is unclear where the 154-metre (505ft) guided missile destroyer ship was heading at the time.
The ACX Crystal, a 222-metre (730ft) Filipino-flagged container ship, was travelling between the Japanese cities of Nagoya and Tokyo.
Marine traffic records suggest the ACX Crystal made a sudden U-turn roughly 25 minutes before the collision with the USS Fitzgerald. It is not clear why it changed course.
Marine traffic records suggest it was travelling at 14.6 knots (27km/h) at the time of the collision.

Marine traffic records for the USS Fitzgerald are not publicly available.

How bad are the damage and injuries?

Japan's coastguard is co-ordinating the search with US teams for the seven missing crew members. As of late afternoon local time, the 7th Fleet said the crew members were still unaccounted for.
The Navy ship's commanding officer, Cdr Bryce Benson, was in a stable condition after being transferred to US Naval Hospital Yokosuka, according to Navy officials.
Two other sailors were flown to hospital by helicopter for treatments for "lacerations and bruises", the 7th Fleet said on Twitter.
By mid-afternoon local time, it said that all flooding on board the USS Fitzgerald was under control. It is not at risk of sinking.
The ship has now returned to Yokosuka - under its own power, but with limited propulsion.
The Japanese coastguard said the ACX Crystal weighed just under 30,000 tonnes, about three times that of the USS Fitzgerald.
It sustained lighter damage to its port bow, and has now reached Tokyo.
The Associated Press agency said there were no injuries reported among the 20 Filipino crew members on board the container ship.

What is the fallout?

Relatives of those on board the USS Fitzgerald have been posting on the US 7th Fleet's Facebook page, requesting information on their loved-ones. An information hotline has been set up.
The collision took place in waters that get heavy traffic and that have experienced prior collisions, Japanese broadcaster NHK said. Ships travelling to and from Tokyo, as well as crossing the Pacific in both directions, pass through the bay where the crash happened.
NHK said that an association of commercial ship captains is calling for the creation of east-west lanes in the area to avoid collisions.
In a statement released on social media, US Navy operations chief Adm John Richardson said: "As more information is learnt we will be sure to share it with the Fitzgerald families and when appropriate the public. [...]
All our thoughts and concerns are with the Fitzgerald crew and their families."

One of the most advanced warships in the world - Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, BBC News, Tokyo

The area where the collision took place is extremely busy, with shipping heading in and out of Tokyo bay.
However, the USS Fitzgerald is one of the most advanced warships in the world - with highly sophisticated radars systems.
At the moment the focus is on the search for the missing sailors. Later will come the investigation into how one of the world's most sophisticated warships failed to avoid colliding with a 30,000-tonne cargo ship on a calm, clear night.
BBC NEWS

'Illegal immigrants' found in East Grinstead lorry


Sixteen suspected illegal immigrants, believed to be Iraqi nationals, have been found in the back of an "exceptionally hot" lorry.
The people inside waved to catch the attention of passing motorists, who flagged down the driver on the A22 in East Grinstead just before 09:30 BST.
Thirteen men, two women and a child were inside. Two of the men were taken to hospital suffering from dehydration.
The driver was arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration.

'Life-threatening situation'

The 63-year-old driver pulled over in a bus stop close to the junction with Dorset Avenue.
The nearby Trinity Methodist Church was then used as a refuge centre until immigration enforcement officers arrived.
Sgt William Keating-Jones, of Sussex Police, said: "The vehicle was exceptionally hot and it was important we reacted quickly.
"This was a great multi-agency response to a potentially life-threatening situation, with emergency services, immigration officials, volunteers and even local residents all pulling together."
BBC NEWS

London fire: Queen reflects on 'sombre national mood'


The Queen has said it is "difficult to escape a very sombre national mood" following tragedies in London and Manchester in recent weeks.
The monarch said the UK had "witnessed a succession of terrible tragedies"
Her message comes as residents caught up in the Grenfell Tower fire which killed at least 30 people, condemned the "chaotic" relief effort.
Some say they no longer want Kensington and Chelsea council involved in any way.

'United in our sadness'

The statement from the Queen on her official birthday came after Prime Minister Theresa May pledged to "get to the bottom" of the west London tower block fire.
Mrs May was jeered when she visited the North Kensington estate on Friday, and is facing mounting criticism for her response to the disaster.
She now plans to meet victims, volunteers and community leaders in Downing Street later.
The Queen and Duke of Cambridge had earlier met volunteers, residents and community representatives during a visit to the Westway Sports Centre.
She also visited some of those injured in hospital following the bomb at Manchester Arena little under a month ago.
In an unprecedented statement, the Queen said she had been "profoundly struck by the immediate inclination of people throughout the country to offer comfort and support to those in desperate need".
"Put to the test, the United Kingdom has been resolute in the face of adversity," she said.
"United in our sadness, we are equally determined, without fear or favour, to support all those rebuilding lives so horribly affected by injury and loss."

A rallying cry for unity
By Peter Hunt, BBC royal correspondent
In a long reign, the Queen has issued countless statements. They can sometimes be formulaic and lack the ability to resonate.
This is not one of them.
After the attacks in Manchester and London, the Queen - and more importantly her senior advisers - have grasped quickly that the reaction to the Grenfell Tower fire has not just been one of shock and grief.
There's also intense anger. It has been focused on the divide between rich and poor and it has been directed at an establishment that includes the monarchy, though the institution itself has not been the subject of criticism.
In such circumstances, as Head of Nation - a focal point at times of tragedy - the Queen has decided she cannot remain silent.
She, and those around her, will be acutely aware of the potential for growing disquiet in the days ahead.
And so, a 91-year-old monarch with little concrete power but considerable patronage and status, has decided to act.
This is a regal rallying call for unity.

The fire broke out at the 24-storey block, which contained 120 one and two-bedroom flats, shortly before 01:00 BST on Wednesday.
It tore through all floors of the building and took more than 200 firefighters 24 hours to bring it under control.
Cladding installed on the tower during a refurbishment in 2015 had a polyethylene - or plastic - core instead of an even more fireproof alternative, the BBC's Newsnight understands.
The Department for Communities and Local Government said that cladding made up of aluminium panels over a polyethylene core "would be non-compliant with current Building Regulations guidance" and should not be used on buildings taller than 18m.
It said it could not comment on the type of cladding used on Grenfell Tower - that would be subject to investigations.
Protests were held in London on Friday as residents demanded more support for those affected by the fire.
Between 50 and 60 people stormed Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall, as members of the public said the homeless needed help "right now".
There were also angry scenes outside the Clement James Centre, in North Kensington.
Dozens of demonstrators surged towards the entrance and scuffles broke out outside as organisers appealed for calm.


The BBC's Matthew Price said locals had told him they wanted the prime minister to remove Kensington and Chelsea council from the relief effort.
He said senior members of the residents' association described an "absolute chaos" of "no organisation" from officials.
He added: "They do not believe they are capable of managing the response. Such is the total and utter lack of trust."
Reverend Mike Long, from Notting Hill Methodist Church, told BBC Radio 4's Today that people in the community were furious.
"People are incredibly angry, they're bewildered, they're confused, they have lots and lots of questions," he said.
"They feel they're not being listened to and what they have been saying has not been listened to, and they don't know how to be able to express those things at the moment."
Mrs May has faced criticism for not meeting survivors in the immediate aftermath, unlike Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
Mr Corbyn has called for empty local homes to be requisitioned if necessary.
The prime minister has committed £5m for clothes, food and emergency supplies but was heckled with chants of "coward" after meeting survivors of the fire on Friday.
First Secretary of State Damian Green has defended her, saying the criticism was "unfair" and she was "as distraught as all of us".
The £5m Grenfell Tower Residents' Discretionary Fund includes the aim to re-house residents within three weeks as close to where they lived before as possible, to pay for temporary housing in the meantime and to provide extra financial assistance.
On Friday night, hundreds of mourners stood arm in arm at a vigil and held a two-minute silence for victims of the fire.
Many wept openly as candles illuminated the road outside the Latymer Christian Centre, yards from the site of the blaze.
It came after emergency services spent a third day searching for bodies in the burnt-out tower in North Kensington.
In latest developments:
  • A minute's silence was observed by the Queen at the Trooping the Colour parade to remember the victims
  • Mrs May's new taskforce, made up of central government and Kensington and Chelsea council representatives, is due to meet
  • Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, is leading an adoration and mass in memory of the victims at St Pius X Church
  • The Hammersmith and City Tube line, which runs close to the tower, is partly suspended following a request from police and fire chiefs
The Confederation of Fire Protection Associations-International - a global body of fire protection organisations - said the speed at which the fire spread at Grenfell Tower was "eerily similar" to other high-rise fires in Australia and the United Arab Emirates.
It said it was "deeply concerned" that there were many high-rise buildings around the world with flammable materials installed.
So far in the investigation:
  • Six victims of the blaze have been provisionally identified by police
  • Three have been named so far, including Syrian refugee Mohammed Alhajali, 23., five-year-old Isaac Shawo, and artist Khadija Saye
  • Of those killed, one died in hospital
  • Fire chiefs say they do not expect to find more survivors
  • A total of 24 people remained in hospital - 12 in a critical condition
  • A criminal investigation has been launched
  • UK councils are carrying out urgent reviews of their tower blocks, according to the Local Government Association
  • The British Red Cross has launched an appeal to raise money for those affected
       The emergency number for people concerned about friends and family is 0800 0961 233
           BBC NEWS

Apple to scan iPhones for child sex abuse images

  Apple has announced details of a system to find child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on customers' devices. Before an image is stored on...