Drowning killed Houston but drugs took high toll

  

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Drugs took many things from Whitney Houston — her pristine voice, clean image and her career — and coroner's officials revealed Thursday that cocaine also played a role in the Grammy winner's death in the bathtub of a luxury hotel nearly six weeks ago.

Houston drowned accidentally at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Feb. 11, and autopsy results revealed heart disease and her recent and chronic cocaine use were contributing factors.
The results ended weeks of speculation about what killed the singer-actress at age 48 on the eve of the Grammy Awards and a planned comeback. Instead, Houston now joins the long list of entertainers who have died early with drugs at least partly to blame.
Coroner's officials did not reveal how much cocaine was found in Houston's system, but said there were signs of recent and chronic use. It was unclear whether she suffered a heart attack before drowning, Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said.
"We are saddened to learn of the toxicology results, although we are glad to now have closure," Patricia Houston, the singer's sister-in-law and manager, said in a statement.
Houston's death the night before the Grammys altered the awards ceremony and brought back immediate memories of the singer in her better days, belting out hits and starring in the feature films such as "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale." Years later, Houston's drug use had robbed her of her ability to hit high notes and left her once clean image tarnished.
"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 television interview with then-husband Bobby Brown by her side.
In 2009, after she had divorced Brown, she told Oprah Winfrey that her cocaine and marijuana use took over her life. Both drugs were found in Houston's system after she died, though the marijuana and several other prescription drugs played no role in her death, coroner's officials said.
"I had so much money and so much access to what I wanted," Houston told Winfrey. "I didn't think about the singing part anymore. I was looking for my young womanhood."
Houston's planned comeback after that interview didn't pan out, but she was taking another shot this year with her appearance in a remake of the film "Sparkle."
She stars as the mother of a family of girls who form a singing group and struggle with fame and addiction. She also sang for the film, delivering a soulful rendition of the gospel hymn "His Eye is on the Sparrow."
It is unclear what impact, if any, the autopsy results will have on the film, although untimely death has not been an impediment to the posthumous releases of other actors and entertainers. Heath Ledger's performance in "The Dark Knight" helped propel the film to blockbuster status and earned the actor a posthumous Oscar. He died of an accidental prescription drug overdose in January 2008, months before the film's release.
More recently, Amy Winehouse's duet "Body and Soul" with Tony Bennett earned them a Grammy Award, months after the singer died unexpectedly in London. An inquest determined she died from an accidental alcohol overdose.
A spokesman for Sony Pictures did not return an email message Thursday seeking comment on whether Houston's autopsy results would alter marketing of "Sparkle."
It will be a couple weeks before the exact amount of cocaine in Houston's system is released, officials said.
The drug has been known to cause damage to the heart and could have cause Houston's death, said Dr. Michael Fishbein, professor of pathology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He had no role in the investigation.
He said a likely scenario was that Houston's cocaine use interfered with the normal function of her heart.
"There's no reason to drown in a bathtub unless you're incapacitated," Fishbein said.
Houston's friend and collaborators said after her death that they didn't believe she was still abusing drugs, and she described as being a complete professional on the "Sparkle" set.
Houston, a sensation from her first, eponymous album in 1985, was one of the world's best-selling artists from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, turning out such hits as "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," ''How Will I Know," ''The Greatest Love of All" and "I Will Always Love You."
She was buried last month in a New Jersey cemetery next to her father after an emotional four-hour funeral service that was attended by friends, family and superstars such as Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson and Roberta Flack
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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP
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Associated Press writers Nekesa Mumbi Moody in New York and Alicia Chang in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

woman throws powder on Kim Kardashian

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WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Sheriff's deputies say a woman threw powder on Kim Kardashian in the lobby of a West Hollywood hotel where the television personality was hosting an event.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says deputies were called to the unidentified hotel on North San Vicente Boulevard shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday.

Deputy Peter Gomez says the woman who allegedly threw the powder was detained by hotel security and later released at the scene.

Gomez says Kardashian told the deputies she did not want to press charges against the woman and a non-criminal battery report was taken

Gomez says paramedics were called to the hotel, but Kardashian refused medical treatment.

He says Kardashian returned to her room, removed the powder from her hair and clothing and returned to the event.

9 Boko Haram Members Killed, 2 Arrested-PM News, Lagos

9 Boko Haram Members Killed, 2 Arrested-PM News, Lagos

It was war at Tudun Wada Local Government Area, Kano, northwest Nigeria, Wednesday when the police engaged members of the Islamic fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram in a gun battle and killed nine of them. The lifeless bodies of the suspected Boko Haram sect members.

The terrorists attacked a Divisional Police Officer’s house, police station and Unity Bank.

P.M.NEWS learnt that the dreaded Islamic militants came on three vehicles at about 2 a.m., broke into the armoury of Tudun Wada Police station bombed the station and carted away arms and ammunition.

Security forces claimed no life was lost on their side, as nine Boko Haram men were gunned down while two were arrested alive during a gun battle that lasted for five hours.

Tudun Wada is about 100 kilometers away from Kano metropolis.

The Brigade Commander of 3 Brigade (Bukavu Barracks), Brigadier-General Illyasu Abbah briefed newsmen this evening.

He said the operation was a major breakthrough for Kano Joint Security Task Force.

According to him, the Islamic militants in search of guns and money attacked a Unity Bank adjacent to the bombed police station, “but they did not succeed in breaking into the vault containing about N2 million.

“Within the hours of 2 and 7 a.m. on Wednesday, hoodlums went to Tudun Wada which is about 100 kilometers from Kano. They used explosives to blow up the police station in the area.

“They destroyed the DPO’s house, went to the police station and did the same. They also used explosives to blow up Unity Bank adjacent the police station,” the Army Chief told journalists, adding that the Islamic militants carted away rifles from the bombed police station.

“On getting the information, at about 1:30 a.m. security operatives mobilised, blocked Falgore, Jos and Kano axis because definitely, they came from Kano to operate and move back.”

The Army boss said during the gun-duel, the JTF over-powered members of the sect who came in three cars, and recovered the arms and ammunition stolen from the destroyed police station.

He stated that, “only God knows what these weapons would be used for if they had succeeded in carting them away. This hoodlums lack arms and they have been in desperate mood to get these items. That is why their best place of attack are police stations.”

Items recovered from the Boko Haram militants include, 600 rounds of 5.6 mm bullets, 176 cartridges of Pump Action gun, 147 rounds of 9mm bullets, two AK 47 rifles, three pistols, two assorted rifles, two smoke guns, 21 magazines, two dane guns, one Pump Action gun, six containers of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), 70 Canisters of Tear Gas, one Lap Top, police uniforms and helmets.

NSCDC arrests, parades 87 fake Corps members

NSCDC arrests, parades 87 fake Corps members

87 fake Corps members were paraded at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps’ headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.

The fake Corps members who were mainly females were arrested by the men o f NSCDC at an illegal camp in Loptik Guest House, along Shagari way in Nasarawa Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

They were camped by an acclaimed agent of National Youth Service Corps who was said to be at large.

While parading the fake Corps members, the NSCDC Head of Public Relations, Mr. Emmanuel Okeh said “our intelligence staff who helped in apprehending them pretended to be one of them. They never knew that he was understudying their activities.”

“It was when they were expecting their deployment that we clamped down on them and arrested 87 of them”, according to Mr. Okeh

He revealed that “with them, we got the regular NYSC call up letter and kits, waiting for deployment to their various places of primary assignment.”

Networking paying off

Deputy Commandant in-charge of Nasarawa Command, Walter Okubuiroh said the Corps was able to achieve the feat because of its restrategising and networking which started last year.

“We have kept surveillance in virtually all locations of the state. In most cases, abnormalities and threat to security have been uncovered while arrested persons are handed over to appropriate quarters”, he said.

He said most of the victims were students from distance learning sections of their various universities and were made to believe that they would be given the opportunity to serve like other students of their school.

“Our investigation shows that, initially, they took them around the State somewhere in Nyanya where they camped for four days before they were taken to a hotel in Nasarawa.”

Investigations on course

The Deputy Commandant said investigations were still on-going in order to apprehend the syndicate.

In 2010, 54 fake corps members were arrested in an illegal camp in Nasarawa State.

He said the NSCDC will continue to partner with other sister agencies to get to the root of the situation.

Most of the arrested graduates claimed they fell into the trap because of their ambition to serve their fatherland.

One of them who pleaded anonymity said she graduated from University of Jos for more than two years and has not been called up for service till date.

“I couldn’t get a job because all the employers were asking for my NYSC certificate. I got N50, 000.00 from my brother to get the call up. I was to pay the balance of N30, 000.00 after deployment”, she revealed.

Another lady who spoke to Daily Trust said she never knew that the syndicate was illegal.

NSCDC arrests, parades 87 fake Corps members

NSCDC arrests, parades 87 fake Corps members

87 fake Corps members were paraded at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps’ headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.

The fake Corps members who were mainly females were arrested by the men o f NSCDC at an illegal camp in Loptik Guest House, along Shagari way in Nasarawa Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

They were camped by an acclaimed agent of National Youth Service Corps who was said to be at large.

While parading the fake Corps members, the NSCDC Head of Public Relations, Mr. Emmanuel Okeh said “our intelligence staff who helped in apprehending them pretended to be one of them. They never knew that he was understudying their activities.”

“It was when they were expecting their deployment that we clamped down on them and arrested 87 of them”, according to Mr. Okeh

He revealed that “with them, we got the regular NYSC call up letter and kits, waiting for deployment to their various places of primary assignment.”

Networking paying off

Deputy Commandant in-charge of Nasarawa Command, Walter Okubuiroh said the Corps was able to achieve the feat because of its restrategising and networking which started last year.

“We have kept surveillance in virtually all locations of the state. In most cases, abnormalities and threat to security have been uncovered while arrested persons are handed over to appropriate quarters”, he said.

He said most of the victims were students from distance learning sections of their various universities and were made to believe that they would be given the opportunity to serve like other students of their school.

“Our investigation shows that, initially, they took them around the State somewhere in Nyanya where they camped for four days before they were taken to a hotel in Nasarawa.”

Investigations on course

The Deputy Commandant said investigations were still on-going in order to apprehend the syndicate.

In 2010, 54 fake corps members were arrested in an illegal camp in Nasarawa State.

He said the NSCDC will continue to partner with other sister agencies to get to the root of the situation.

Most of the arrested graduates claimed they fell into the trap because of their ambition to serve their fatherland.

One of them who pleaded anonymity said she graduated from University of Jos for more than two years and has not been called up for service till date.

“I couldn’t get a job because all the employers were asking for my NYSC certificate. I got N50, 000.00 from my brother to get the call up. I was to pay the balance of N30, 000.00 after deployment”, she revealed.

Another lady who spoke to Daily Trust said she never knew that the syndicate was illegal.

Toulouse killings arrest denied

Mohammed Merah was reportedly convicted of bomb-making in Afghanistan

Toulouse Shootings

France's interior minister has denied reports that security forces have arrested the main suspect in the recent spate of shootings around Toulouse.

Claude Gueant said the arrest had not yet taken place.
BFM TV had reported that the suspect, named earlier as Mohammed Merah, 23, a Frenchman of Algerian origin, was detained inside a block of flats that has been under siege all morning.
Merah is suspected of killing three soldiers and four Jewish people.
The killings took place in and around Toulouse in three separate incidents.
Police surrounded Merah's block of flats after two officers were shot at when they tried to get into his flat.

Mohammed Merah

• French citizen of Algerian extraction, aged 23
• Has criminal record in France for non-terrorist crimes
• Has described himself as an al-Qaeda member and has spent time in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Officials say he is heavily armed with a Kalashnikov high-velocity rifle, a mini-Uzi 9mm machine pistol, several handguns and possibly grenades.

Police are hunting for accomplices and have detained several members of his family.
His mother was taken to the scene in the hope that she could persuade him to surrender, but she told police that she had no influence over her son.
Negotiators have been talking to Merah all morning, but Mr Gueant, who is at the scene, said he appeared to have no particular demands.
The suspect has said he belonged to al-Qaeda and acted to "avenge Palestinian children".
He had apparently spent time in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he was jailed for three years for planting bombs.
The prison director in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, Gulam Farooq, told the BBC that Merah was arrested in 2007, but escaped in a Taliban-led break-out in 2008.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has arrived in Toulouse and is expected to speak to the media shortly.
In an earlier televised address, he paid tribute to the security forces who are carrying out the operation and said terrorism "will never be able to fracture our national community".

Utah's Republican governor signed a law

SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - Utah's Republican governor signed a law extending a required waiting period for women seeking an abortion to 72 hours on Tuesday, even though a similar requirement in South Dakota has been blocked in court, a spokeswoman said.

The decision by Governor Gary Herbert is expected to meet with approval from social conservatives in the heavily Republican state just four days after he upset some members of his party by vetoing a bill to curb sex education in schools.
"Governor Herbert is an adamant supporter of rights for the unborn," said Ally Isom, a spokeswoman for the governor. "He felt the bill appropriately allows a woman who's facing that decision to fully weigh her options and the implications of that decision."
The state currently requires a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion.
The law is the latest salvo in the long-running national battle over abortion that has seen a host of states pass laws imposing requirements on women before they can undergo the procedure. In neighboring Idaho, lawmakers are considering requiring women to undergo an ultrasound before ending a pregnancy.
A South Dakota law that passed last year also required women seeking an abortion to wait three days before having the procedure, but the state's Planned Parenthood group sued in federal court saying the law violated the equal protection and due process rights of women.
Chief Judge Karen Schreier of the U.S. District Court for South Dakota preliminarily blocked the requirement in June when she found it imposed an undue burden on women, noting that some low-income abortion patients travel long distances and cannot afford to go home and then return.
A representative for the National Organization for Women could not be reached late on Tuesday to comment on the Utah governor's action.
"We believe that a court will find the 72-hour waiting period (in Utah) is not an undue burden," Isom said.
One difference between the two state laws is that, unlike in South Dakota where lawmakers sought to require that women wait 72 hours after first meeting with the abortion provider, Utah would allow the waiting period to begin after an initial consultation with a health professional. That person need not be an abortion doctor.
The Utah law is due to take effect on May 7 in a state that is one of the most conservative in the nation and has not had a Democratic governor since 1985.
While South Dakota was the first state to pass legislation for a three-day wait in 2011, 26 states require women to wait before receiving an abortion. Most often, that is a 24-hour period, according to reproductive health organization the Guttmacher Institute.
(Writing By Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Eric Beech)

George Clooney arrested outside Sudanese embassy

Actor George Clooney was one of several protesters arrested outside of the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Video showed a smiling Clooney and his 78-year-old father, Nick, arrested by park police outside of the embassy. The pair were handcuffed and taken into custody along with U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), Rep Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), former Rep. Tom Andrews (D-Mass.), Martin Luther King III and NAACP president Ben Jealous.
The group had planned the protest to draw attention to Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir's rocket attacks on his people in Nuba Mountain region.
"[We want] the (Sudanese) government in Khartoum to stop randomly killing its own innocent men, women and children," Clooney said before being led away with the others in a Secret Service van. "Stop raping them, and stop starving them."
Clooney testified in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday about the Sudanese government's bombing and violence against civilians near its border with South Sudan.
"I want to separate what is fact and what is fiction," Clooney, who just returned from an eight-day trip to Sudan with human-rights activist John Prendergast, told the committee. "The government of Sudan, led by Omar al-Bashir, Ahmed Haroun and defense minister Hussein, the same three men who orchestrated the atrocities in Darfur, have turned their bombs on the Nuban people. Now, these are not military targets. These are innocent men, women and children. That is a fact."
Clooney, Rep. Jim Moran (back) and George's father Nick Clooney (right) are arrested at the Sudanese Embassy, March …
"When we got there," Clooney said, "we found children filled with shrapnel, including a nine-year-old boy who had both of his hands blown off."
On Thursday, Clooney met with reporters outside of the White House.
"There is a very, very great possibility of a lot of people starving to death in the next few months if we don't act soon finding some way to get the government of Khartoum to open up some form of a humanitarian corridor," he warned. "Obviously that's not something that we do unilaterally—it will have to be done with the help of many different countries."
And despite Clooney's trip to Washington this week, he downplayed talk of a post-acting political career.
"I don't find that I would be much help in any other position than the one I am in," he said. "I don't make policy. All I can really do is amplify the situation and hope to bring a spotlight to it so that we're talking about it for at least a brief period of time."
Clooney added: "Anytime you're making the names of people who are charged for war crimes famous, I think that's good. I think the name Omar al-Bashir should be famous. I think people should know it."

Row: South Africa bows, apologises to Nigeria

After one week of diplomatic stand off, the South-African government, on Thursday, apologised to the Federal Government for deporting 125 Nigerians from the country on March 2. The Nigerian travellers were deported for allegedly presenting fake yellow fever vaccination cards.

The Nigerian government, which disputed the claim and took reciprocal actions to show its displeasure, said on Thursday that it had accepted the apology.

Nigeria had deported a total of 131 South Africans before the resolution of the row. Some reports had also claimed that South Africa had deported an additional 25 Nigerian travellers in retaliation.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, who announced the end of hostilities, at a Press Conference, in Abuja, said machinery had been put in motion to ensure a permanent truce.

Ashiru said, “Today, I can confirm to you that I have received a letter from the South African Foreign Minister apologising for the course of action and the deportation of 125 Nigerians last week.

“What it means is that, for you gentlemen of the press, we have reached the end of the exchange of statements between the time this incident happened and today.

“On behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria and of course, of the President, I, as the Foreign Minister, will accept the apology; I will be sending a letter back to my counterpart in South Africa, accepting the apology of the South African government.

“And thereafter, we will move quickly to ensure that we put machinery in place so that it will be a lasting solution because we don’t want this to happen again in the course of our bilateral relations.”

While giving an insight into the letter, the Minister said, “In the letter, the South African government promised to dispatch a special envoy as soon as possible to come and visit Mr. President, and to also convey the apology of the South African government.”

According to him, the ministry was already making arrangements for President Goodluck Jonathan to receive the Special Envoy “within the next couple of days.”

He also noted that the South African government and Nigeria’s High Commission in that country issued a joint press statement, in Pretoria, South Africa, earlier in the day.

Ashiru said as part of the truce, other remedial measures, the details of which were still being worked out, would be taken.

He noted, “Other measures will be taken to ensure that our relations are normal and that all the causes of irritation in our relations are removed.”

Also, the minister said, “The major thrust (of the statement) is that, we have both agreed to reconvene immediately, the Bi-national commission between our two countries.”

The Nigeria-South Africa Bi-national Commission is headed by the Vice-Presidents of the two countries.

Issues to be discussed at the Commission’s meeting will include but not limited to political, economic and commercial, immigration, consular, and security matters.

It is expected that after the meeting, a comprehensive framework will be put in place to deter officials from maltreating Nigerians.

Earlier, the Department of International Relations, Republic of South Africa, and the Nigeria High Commission in Pretoria, had issued a joint press statement.

After reviewing the situation, both countries said in the statement:

“The governments of South Africa and Nigeria view these developments in a serious light. Accordingly, the two countries have, through diplomatic channels, consulted at the highest levels on ways of avoiding a recurrence of such developments.

“Furthermore, the South African government has sent a letter of apology to the Nigerian government following this regrettable incident which the South African government believes could have been handled better.

“Amongst other things, the two countries agree that:

“The Bi-national Commission between South Africa and Nigeria should be revived as soon as possible. There is also agreement that the immigration Working Group should also be reviewed.

“The National Department of Health and the Gauteng Health Department should reconsider re-opening the vaccination clinic at the OR Tambo International Airport so that passengers without the yellow fever card can be vaccinated upon arrival at the airport rather than be deported.”

Other issues agreed upon were that, “The South African and Nigerian Health authorities would exchange vaccine batch numbers and details about official institutions that administer the vaccine batch numbers.

“When it comes to mass deportation, it was agreed that senior officials at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (including Protocol) should be consulted by Immigration and Health officials at the Airport before undertaking such action.

“This will provide the Senior Officials the opportunity to consult with the Department before deporting large numbers of people.”

However, Ashiru appealed to Nigerians travelling abroad to obey the laws of the countries they are visiting.

“We should also look inwards when we travel abroad to conduct ourselves properly and at least, to make sure that, whatever you are doing that you are conscious of the fact that you are a Nigerian. And that people are watching you.

“While we as a government have a responsibility to protect you, you also, as Nigerians and travellers, should behave and don’t do anything that will portray Nigeria in a bad light.”

Declaring the dispute over, Ashiru said with the formal apology issued by the government of South Africa, and the acceptance of the same by Nigeria, the matter had been put to rest.

He said “I will finally say, we should put this episode behind us.

“We are going to move forward and make sure we consolidate our relations with South Africa.”

The diplomat noted that the two countries had enjoyed cordial relations over time and as such, it was important that both countries “move forward.”

Also speaking at the event, the Minister of State II, Dr. Nurudeen Mohammed, said the action taken by the Federal Government during the face off marked the beginning of a new era of tit-for-tat diplomacy.

He said, “This government is a government that cares for its citizens; it’s a government that is saying the days of the ‘Big Brother’ is over that the days of tit-for-tat are here.

“If a Nigerian is maltreated anywhere in the world, the Nigerian government will take that incident with all seriousness it deserves. It is not about South Africa as the Minister said.”

Italian, Briton killed during rescue operation in Sokoto

Two Europeans – a Briton and an Italian – kidnapped by Boko Haram in May 2011 were killed in Sokoto, Sokoto State on Thursday during a rescue operation by British and Nigerian special forces.

News of the failed rescue attempt was relayed yesterday by the Prime Minister of the United Kindgom, Mr. David Cameron, in a special statement issued from his 10, Downing Street office.

Chris McManus, from the North West of England, and his colleague Franco Lamolinara were working for an Italian construction firm, B Stabilini, in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State when they were kidnapped by members of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

THE PUNCH

had got a tip late last year that a rescue operation was in the works and that British Special Forces were combing the North for the hostages. The paper then assigned a reporter to do the story.

But the newspaper decided to heed the pleas of a senior government official who pleaded that publishing the story could jeopardise the operations and imperil the lives of the men.

The British Prime Minister said the hostages were murdered by their captors either before the rescue bid or during the operations. Sky News reports that a source told its correspondent that the UK and Nigerian forces could not get to McManus and Lamolinara in time.

“It strongly appears that the hostage-takers shot the hostages,” the sources said.

Sources told Sky News that there were no fatalities on the British and Nigerian forces side, but there were several fatalities among the hostage-takers.

Cameron said the rescue bid was reportedly launched after the UK had received credible information about their whereabouts and that their lives were under increasing threat.He added that the decision to launch the operation was jointly taken by the two countries.

Cameron said, “Since then (May 2011), we have been working closely with the Nigerian authorities to try to find Chris and Franco, and to secure their release.

“The terrorists holding the two hostages made very clear threats to take their lives, including in a video that was posted on the Internet.

“After months of not knowing where they were being held, we received credible information about their location. A window of opportunity arose to secure their release.

“We also had reason to believe that their lives were under imminent and growing danger. Preparations were made to mount an operation to attempt to rescue Chris and Franco.

“Together with the Nigerian Government, today I authorised it to go ahead, with UK support.

“It is with great regret that I have to say that both Chris and Franco have lost their lives.

“We are still awaiting confirmation of the details, but the early indications are clear that both men were murdered by their captors, before they could be rescued.”

He added: “Our immediate thoughts must be with Chris and Franco’s families, and we offer them our sincerest condolences.”

Meanwhile, President Gooodluck Jonathan has condemned the killing of the two kidnapped foreigners and revealed that their killers had been captured.

A statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, quoted the President as describing the incident as sad, unfortunate and regrettable.

The President, on behalf of the Nigerian government extended his condolences to the families of the bereaved and the people and governments of Britain and Italy.

He commended the cooperation and understanding of the British and Italian governments and assured them that the perpetrators, who had all been arrested, would be made to face the full wrath of the law.

Jonathan also promised that the Nigerian government would take every necessary step to continue to protect the lives of foreigners in the country.

In a statement, the McManus family said: “As a family, we are of course devastated by the news of Chris’ death which we received earlier today.

“During this ordeal, we have relied heavily on the support of our family and friends which has never waned and has enabled us to get through the most difficult of times.

“We are also aware of the many people who were working to try and have Chris returned to our family, and his girlfriend. We would like to thank all of them for their efforts.

“We knew Chris was in an extremely dangerous situation. However, we knew that everything that could be done was being done.”

In August, a Nigerian group believed to be a splinter faction of Boko Haram had announced that it had captured a Briton.

The group, which called itself ‘Al Qaeda in the land beyond the Sahel’ released a hostage video to a Mauritanian news agency showing a blindfolded and bearded hostage in a red shirt, guarded by three men with Ak-47 rifles and a cutlass.

In the video, the hostage man asked the British government to meet the demands of the group to save his life. However, neither the hostage nor his captors had given details of the demands.

One of the kidnappers said it would be the “last message” issued to Mr. Cameron about the hostage. The speaker said the British government had failed to answer their demands and it was given two weeks to “take the correct decision.”

Higgs boson hints multiply in US Tevatron facility data

The Tevatron led the high-energy physics world for two decades before its shutoff in 2011

Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• Q&A: The Higgs boson
• Higgs 'may have been identified'
• What does Tevatron closure mean for big US science?

Scientists from the US Tevatron accelerator say they have spotted possible hints of the Higgs boson at a mass similar to that seen at the LHC.

The findings add weight to the idea that the Higgs - purported to give all other particles their mass - exists near a mass of 125 gigaelectronvolts.
However, the new data are not themselves sufficiently statistically assured to rate the find a "discovery".
The results were presented at the Moriond physics conference in Italy.
The Tevatron, based at the US national laboratory Fermilab, was for two decades the world's premier particle accelerator, but was shut down in 2011 after negotiations to extend funding failed.

Continue reading the main story

Statistics of a 'discovery'

• Particle physics has an accepted definition for a "discovery": a five-sigma level of certainty
• The number of standard deviations, or sigmas, is a measure of how unlikely it is that an experimental result is simply down to chance rather than a real effect
• Similarly, tossing a coin and getting a number of heads in a row may just be chance, rather than a sign of a "loaded" coin
• The "three sigma" level represents about the same likelihood as tossing more than eight heads in a row
• Five sigma, on the other hand, would correspond to tossing more than 20 in a row
• With independent confirmation by other experiments, five-sigma findings become accepted discoveries

However, like all particle-smashers, the Tevatron created a tremendous amount of data that remained to be analysed.

The latest data hint at the existence of a particle between 115 and 135 gigaelectronvolts (GeV; this is between about 120 and 140 times as heavy as the protons found in every atom) with a certainty of about 2.2 sigma.
That means that there is about a one in 36 chance that the anomaly they see is the result of happenstance - far less assured than the "five sigma" threshold that physicists use to demarcate a formal discovery.
However, what makes the find more compelling is that the Large Hadron Collider has found a suggestive "bump" in its data at about the same mass, despite being a radically different experiment.
The LHC collides protons together, while the Tevatron used protons and their antimatter counterpart, antiprotons.
Both experiments hunt for the Higgs by looking at what those high-energy particles decay into.
At the Tevatron, the data are from the production of bottom quarks and their counterparts bottom antiquarks, whereas at the LHC the primary search is for the production of the light particles known as photons.
"It's a different accelerator, different detectors and a different decay channel," said Rob Roser, spokesman for CDF, one of the two main Tevatron detectors.

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What is an electronvolt?

• Charged particles tend to speed up in an electric field, defined as an electric potential - or voltage - spread over a distance
• One electronvolt (eV) is the energy gained by a single electron as it accelerates through a potential of one volt
• It is a convenient unit of measure for particle accelerators, which speed particles up through much higher electric potentials
• But because of the equivalence of mass and energy laid out in E=MC2, physicists also speak of the mass of particles in electronvolts

"It adds to the picture, and it's starting to make a compelling case," he told BBC News. "But we can't make quite as bold a statement as we would like.

"I just wish either one of us just had more data right now. It's frustrating."
The two main detectors at the LHC, CMS and Atlas, also presented results at the meeting on Wednesday, but the experiments have precious little further data relative to those presented late last year.
That will radically change later this year as the facility will produce three times the amount of data this year as in 2011.
However, recent analysis of Atlas data has "excluded" the mass range up to 122.5 GeV. The Tevatron data, meanwhile, exclude its presence at the heavier masses of 147-179 GeV, also completely consistent with what the LHC has found.
As has been said before, if it indeed exists, there are few places left for the Higgs boson to hide.
Tony Weidberg, a University of Oxford physicist who works at the LHC's Atlas detector, said that the Tevatron results were consistent with the idea of a comparatively "light" Higgs boson.
"It's interesting because it's another little hint," Dr Weidberg told BBC News. "It makes it a little bit more likely that we're going to end the year with a discovery rather than an exclusion.
"The proof of the pudding will be in the LHC data that we'll get this year; by the end of the year we'll have moved away from hints to either discovery or exclusion - and either of those results is exciting to me."

Angry Nigeria deports 56 more South Africans

•Ashiru

Fed Govt issues five conditions to end diplomatic row

FIFTY-Six South Africans were barred last night from entering Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.




Twenty-eight were stopped on Sunday – in retaliation for the deportation of 125 Nigerians last Friday – as reported exclusively yesterday by The Nation.
The government may also review the status of all South Africans living in this country to ascertain the validity of their visas and work permit.
Besides, security agencies have been placed on the alert to monitor the activities of South Africans.
According to sources, the Federal Government decided to bar the 56 South Africans who flew in aboard a South Africa Airways flight SA060 last night from entering because despite the measures so far taken by Nigeria, the South African government has not shown any remorse.
A source said: "It is sad that South Africa is behaving as if it acted right in deporting 125 Nigerian passengers last Friday.
"We will also push them to the wall, until they apologise to the Nigeria."
"We are prepared for the worst," the source added.
Nigeria has given five conditions to South Africa to end the diplomatic row between the two countries.
South Africa is yet to respond to the conditions, The Nation learnt yesterday.
Foreign Affairs Minister Olugbenga Ashiru was at the Villa last night for a "crucial meeting" with President Goodluck Jonathan, apparently over the face-off.
According to sources, the five conditions are:
•unconditional apology to Nigeria over the deportation of 125 Nigerian travellers last Friday from the Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg;
•compensation for all the victims of the harsh treatment;
•disciplinary action against all the officials involved in the cruelty to Nigerians;
•a review of the Yellow Fever Vaccination Card policy; and
•a commitment that such a diplomatic slip will not re-occur.
A top government source said: "We have given all these conditions to South Africa to restore normal diplomatic and bilateral relationship with it. We believe that the action was deliberately targeted at Nigerians.
"We have made our position known to the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Kingsley Mambolo.
"Without an apology and a review of the policy on Yellow Fever Vaccination Card, among others, we are ready to retaliate in whatever way to prove a point that our sovereignty can no longer be taken for granted."
Asked if South Africa has responded to Nigeria’s demands, the source, who pleaded not to be named because of the "sensitivity" of the matter, added: "Not yet; we are still waiting for them.
"I think they are also consulting in their country, but we are ready for the worst."
Amb. Ashiru was at the Villa for a "crucial meeting" with President Goodluck Jonathan on the row, it was gathered.
"I think the Villa meeting will be for situation status review," another source said.
Unknown to many, there has been a "cold war" between Nigeria and South Africa in the last one year over the Libyan crisis, which led to the ouster of the late Muammar Gaddafi.
Nigeria supported the then rebel-controlled Transitional National Council (TNC). South African President Jacob Zuma backed the late Gaddafi.
The source added: "In the last one year, there has been a cold war between Nigeria and South Africa, beginning with the Libyan crisis. At the time the world was against Gaddafi, Zuma openly identified with the late dictator. He bulldozed his way to head a committee of the AU on Libyan crisis but the report presented to African leaders was wishy-washy and biased.
"Nigeria succeeded in persuading most of the AU states to recognise the TNC. Nigeria’s position was also adopted by the UN.
"South Africa has not forgiven Nigeria for making it to ‘lose out’ in international politics. It was a major foreign policy setback for President Zuma, who is gradually being isolated by world leaders for opposing reforms in Libya.
"Also, Zuma wanted one of his wives to become the President of the AU Commission at the last session in Addis Ababa, but the election was stalemated. His wife could not win at the first ballot and this has angered South Africa, which believes that Nigeria wielded enormous power.
"You can now appreciate why the South African government is being harsh on Nigerian travellers."
Ashiru confirmed the government’s position when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday.
He said: "No nation should take our brotherliness, maturity and friendly business environment whereby companies, including South African countries, are making more profits from Nigeria than in South Africa for granted."
The Minister said the government was determined to maintain the dignity of Nigerians everywhere, adding: "When a Nigerian is deported on flimsy excuses, there will be appropriate reaction. It may not be retaliation but it will be reciprocal, one way or the other.
"Let it be known that South African officials do not have monopoly of deportation of travellers. Henceforth, any deportation of Nigerians will be met with equal measure of reciprocal measure; we will not let it go unreciprocated.
"It will be measure for measure; we will not let it go unreciprocated. The signal must go out not just to South Africa but to the rest of the world that when you treat Nigerians with disrespect, we also will find a way of treating your nationals with disrespect. No country has a monopoly of treating Nigerians with disrespect; we too can hit back."
The Minister said relationships between the two countries at leadership level are cordial, but expressed regret that it did not trickle down the ladder to South African institutions.
"It is unfortunate that those fueling discord and hatred are two major institutions of the state - the police and the immigration," Ashiru said, adding:
"Immigration officials are always unfriendly to Nigerians while the police would arrest Nigerians indiscriminately without genuine reasons."
To buttress the dislike for Nigerians by South Africans, Ashiru said the process of deportation was against international conventions. "It was a shock and I find it difficult to accept that the deportation was on the basis of yellow fever card. Normally, the visa would not have been issued without the yellow fever card.
"Even in the event that the traveller was without the card, normal convention demands that such a person is quarantined and innoculated and allowed to enter after about three hours, if there is no adverse reaction.
"In this case, there was nothing like that. I was not informed of the incident before the deportation and neither was any official from our High Commission informed. Our officials were supposed to witness the deportation process as demanded by protocols."
Nigerian officials who are meeting with their South African counterparts have been instructed to demand an apology as well as punishment for those involved in the deportation.
But Ashiru stressed that the incident was not premeditated by Nigeria’s support for the TNC of Libya.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Hon. Nnenna Ukeje, who said the deportation was an embarrassment to Nigeria, asked Ashiru to update the committee on what led to the deportation and the level of the ministry’s intervention.
Ukeje said: "This is an affront on Nigeria’s brotherliness and by that act, South Africa has overstepped its boundary. It is our opinion that the time has come to review, as a matter of policy, how Nigerians are treated by other countries.
"We have all kinds of foreign companies in Nigeria that enjoy concessions, like Multichoice, MTN and a host of others, and of course there have been arguments about Nigerian companies trying to open up in South Africa having serious problems.
"So, I do not think this is an isolated issue. We have to look beyond the brotherly relationships and actually start to look at what is happening to our people in the hands South African institutions."
Another member, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele, who cited the xenophobic attacks of 2008 and 2009 where Nigerians suffered more than other African nationals in South Africa, said Nigeria should begin to employ the principle of reciprocity when dealing with other countries.
The Foreign Affairs Minister also appeared before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee where he reiterated what he said at the House of Reps.
The minister said it would be premature to list retaliatory measures being planned against South Africa, but noted that one of such actions was the deportation of 28 South Africans on Monday.

Dangote splashes N1 billion on universities

The Pan-African conglomerate establishes an academy for engineers

Dangote Group has injected N1 billion into Nigeria’s education sector, a statement from the conglomerate has said.
According to the statement,  Katsina State University got a donation of N200 million from the sum while N500 million was given for the development of Bayero State University Business School in Kano.
Funding was also provided for the construction of a 500 student capacity hostel complex of the University of Science and Technology, Wudil; gave N118 million for a squash complex project at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka main campus and donated N50 million to the University of Port Harcourt.

To assist with the smooth take-off  of the proposed Otuoke University in Bayelsa State the group donated N100 million.

Dangote Group has also introduced an academy which runs a special training school for graduate engineers.
Haruna Adinoyi, the Head of the Dangote Academy, while speaking with newsmen at the academy’s premises in Obajana, Kogi State said the school also runs vocational training for diploma graduates. He added that the students are retrained for 12months so that they could be employable in the Dangote Industries.

“As it is now most of our graduates are not employable. We want them to be grounded. This is part of our contributions to this country,” he said.
Thirty fresh graduates from engineering fields are currently undergoing a one year intensive training at the Dangote Academy.

Pitt, Clooney, Sheen headline marriage rights play

Pitt, Clooney, Sheen headline marriage

rights play

  

• Enlarge PhotoFrom left to right, actress Yeardley Smith, actor George Clooney, and actor Martin …
• Enlarge PhotoActor Brad Pitt, left, and actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson clap during the curtain call …

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Martin Sheen commanded the stage with his impassioned portrayal of an attorney arguing for gay-marriage rights; Jane Lynch inspired instant response as a vehement same-sex marriage opponent; Brad Pitt dazzled as a judge.

It was all part of the star-studded West Coast premiere of "8," a play about the 2010 federal court fight against Proposition 8, the gay-marriage ban that California voters approved in 2008.
The performance Saturday at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles also featured George Clooney, Kevin Bacon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christine Lahti, George Takei, John C. Reilly, Chris Colfer, Matthew Morrison and Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
The play by Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black made its Broadway debut last year in similar starry fashion. Saturday's benefit performance was broadcast live on YouTube, where director Rob Reiner said it drew 200,000 viewers. He hopes it attracts more than a million before its weeklong online run ends. The play will also be staged around the country with local actors at colleges and community theaters.
"We want as many people as possible to see what happened inside that courtroom," said Reiner, a founding member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which is helping fund the federal fight for marriage equality.
Relying largely on transcripts from court proceedings, "8'' introduces viewers to the couples who challenged the California initiative, the attorneys who argued their case and a bumbling witness who spoke out against them.
One couple has two children together; the other wants to start a family; and a witness testifying in favor of the same-sex marriage ban said under oath that marriage equality was best for couples, kids and the country.
The real-life couples in the case — Sandy Stier (Curtis) and Kris Perry (Lahti), and Jeff Zarillo (Matt Bomer) and Paul Katami (Morrison) — and the attorneys — David Boies (Clooney) and Theodore B. Olson (Sheen) — were in the audience Saturday, along with director Brett Ratner, designer Diane Von Furstenberg and Clooney's girlfriend, Stacy Keibler.
"We did put fear and prejudice on trial, and fear and prejudice lost," Olson said after Reiner brought him on stage.
Olson, a noted conservative litigator, represented George W. Bush during the contentious Florida recount that decided the 2000 presidential election and later served as his solicitor general. Boies, a prominent liberal attorney, led Vice President Al Gore's legal team in the recount.
Last month, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an earlier judge's decision that found California's proposed amendment banning same-sex marriage unconstitutional.
Reiner said he and Black decided to make a play and eventually a movie based on the Prop. 8 trial after proponents successfully petitioned to block cameras from the courtroom.
Saturday's reading was held on a courtroom-like set, with eight chairs on each side and Pitt's judge's box in the center. Sheen and Clooney made for an impressive legal team, while Reilly cracked up the crowd as a verbose marriage expert.
"I knew that Martin Sheen was going to get a huge ovation after that speech because we applauded for him in rehearsal," said Ferguson, adding that he wanted to be in "8'' as soon as he heard about it. "John C. Reilly did a brilliant job with his role but I loved seeing Jane Lynch play such a villainous, homophobic creature. It really felt like she was sticking it to the man."
Reilly said he was moved by the material, and even more so by its message.
"I think America will be a better place and we can hold our chins up a little higher in this country when everyone is treated (equally)," he said. "These aren't gay rights or special rights, they're basic rights that people who love each other should have."
Reilly was thrilled to participate in the play, and even took on a last-minute role change when Pitt signed on. Reilly was to play the judge, but instead jumped into a role that Reiner originally was going to play.
Said the director: "I took one for the team."

S-h-o-c-k-e-r! Osaze, Yakubu, Taiwo, Etuhu play last match for Eagles

Expectations were high before the match.  Nigerians eagerly awaited Stephen Keshi’s first competitive match. Rwandans hoped for a surprise but were more in large numbers to watch the Nigerian stars that they see on supersport. Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Jo seph Yobo  and Osaze Odenwegie were among the Nigerian stars they admire on television.
They expected so much thrills from the Nigerian team but banked on the underdog element of surprise to shock the Eagles. They almost did. Militi Mitchio, their Serbian coach had given them hope.
And in Nigeria the new Eagles coach and his crew had started building a new national team to accommodate home-based players who, for years now, had no place in the Eagles.

Aiyegbeni, Etuhu, Osaze and Taiwo

After holding Nations Cup-bound Angola to a scoreless draw in Abuja they went on to beat Liberia 2-0 in another international friendly.
The local boys impressed in the matches and when Keshi had to invite players for the Nations Cup qualifier he invited 11 pros and 11 local players.
Throughout the training sessions Keshi and his crew confided in close friends that the team that beat Liberia could beat Rwanda but said that a combination of local and foreign-based players would be fielded.  Keshi left the pitch in Kigali with a broader picture of what his team should be like and play like.
He could not have fielded an all home-based team when the likes of Ike Uche, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Dickson Etuhu, Taiye Taiwo, Joel Obi, Ahmed Musa, Joseph Yobo, Vincent Enyeama and Sani Kaita were in the team. It would have been termed a gamble. But after 90 minutes in Kigali, fielding 70 to 80 per cent of local players would no longer be a gamble but the right thing.  This is the true statement from the match in Kigali.
“I’ve seen everything now and I know that every disappointment could be a blessing,” Keshi said about their performance. On getting to their Umumbano Hotel, Keshi and his crew quickly went into a long meeting to review the match that ended scoreless but which the Rwandans were unlucky not to have won. Rwanda grew in confidence after Eagles failed to stamp authority. They missed chances.
Keshi did not mention names after the meeting but it was certain that in his time as coach of the Eagles the likes of Taiye Taiwo, Yakubu Aiyegbeni , Dickson Etuhu and Osaze Odewengie played their last match for Nigeria in Kigali. The same decision may also hang on the likes of Joel Obi who may have to show extraordinary performance in their clubs to justify any invitation especially in African qualifiers.
Two reasons are behind this. African football is different and players who lack commitment and the ruggedness of its game will continue to disappoint in Africa as some Eagles players have shown in many of their outings. The second reason is that Keshi has found the quality in some local players.
In the first half Rwanda had bagged four yellow cards and would not want any expulsion. The referee even made to issue a second yellow card to Mugrneza Jean Baptiste but on realising it would end in a red he withdrew his hand from the pocket.  But Eagles could not capitalise on this.
Etuhu seemed to have vowed never to put pressure on them. All his passes went behind or sideways even when there were  spaces to attack in front. Joel Obi was not impressive either and Nigeria suffered in the midfield. It was also terrible in the attack. Ahmed Musa could not lift his game from the right side of the attack. Osaze Odewengie and Yakubu Aiyegbeni who paired in the central attack struggled, ran for the balls but did nothing with them. The midfield play of Joel and Etuhu did not also help matters.
The only incisive play came from Ejike Uzoenyi, the left midfielder from Rangers and Victor Moses who came in for Ahmed Musa. Uzoenyi dazzled, easily slicing through the Rwandans and tormenting them. Two times he came close to scoring and many times he laid precise passes to his teammates in such a manner that Joel Obi was signalling to others to send balls to the Enugu Rangers player.
The injury he suffered in one moment he dropped to defend  slowed him down in the late minutes when he was stretchered out but later returned as Nigeria had completed their three changes.
Even with injury and limping Uzoenyi controlled the ball well, dribbled and passed it well. Azubike, of Warri Wolves, Godfrey Oboabona Itama, Vincent Enyeama  and Yobo were excellent in the defence but had  Keshi not changed Dickson and brought in Reuben Gabriel from Kano Pillars it would have probably been a sad story for Nigeria.
“I now know more and what I can only tell Nigerians is to watch out. We’ll not disappoint them. There are players who we need to build our team around. Those players are at home,” Keshi said.
Some other officials confirmed that Osaze, Yakubu, Etuhu and Taiye are among those who may be allowed to concentrate at their clubs for now.

Coin shows Cleopatra's ugly truth

Coin shows Cleopatra's ugly truth

The images of Antony and Cleopatra are less than flattering Antony and Cleopatra, one of history's most romantic couples, were not the great beauties that Hollywood would have us believe, academics have said. A study of a 2,000-year-old silver coin found the Egyptian queen, famously portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor, had a pointed chin, thin lips and sharp nose. Her Roman lover, played by Richard Burton, had bulging eyes, thick neck and a hook nose. The tiny coin was studied by experts at Newcastle University. The size of a modern 5p piece (18mm or 0.7in), the artefact from 32BC was in a collection belonging to the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, which is being researched in preparation for the opening of a new Great North Museum. The image of Cleopatra as a beautiful seductress is a more recent image Lindsay Allason-Jones, Newcastle University Clare Pickersgill, the university's assistant director of archaeological museums, said: "The popular image we have of Cleopatra is that of a beautiful queen who was adored by Roman politicians and generals. "Recent research would seem to disagree with this portrayal, however." The university's director of archaeological museums, Lindsay Allason-Jones, said: "The image on the coin is far from being that of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. "Roman writers tell us that Cleopatra was intelligent and charismatic, and that she had a seductive voice but, tellingly, they do not mention her beauty. The Hollywood couple may have perpetrated a Hollywood myth "The image of Cleopatra as a beautiful seductress is a more recent image." The silver denarius coin would have been issued by the mint of Mark Antony. On one side is the head of Mark Antony, bearing the caption "Antoni Armenia devicta" meaning "For Antony, Armenia having been vanquished". Cleopatra appears on the reverse of the coin with the inscription "Cleopatra Reginae regum filiorumque regum", meaning "For Cleopatra, Queen of kings and of the children of kings". The university hopes more forgotten treasures will come to light before the Great North Museum opens in 2009. The Roman coin is on display in Newcastle University's Shefton Museum from 14 February.

Ryan Giggs loses damages claim against the Sun

Ryan Giggs took out an injunction against the Sun newspaper and TV presenter Imogen Thomas

A damages claim by Manchester United and Wales footballer Ryan Giggs against the Sun newspaper has been thrown out by a High Court judge.

Mr Giggs was granted an injunction in April 2011 after a 14 April article in the Sun on an unnamed player's alleged affair with the model Imogen Thomas.
Despite the order, he was widely identified on social networking sites.
The newspaper had argued that the claim was "dead in the water", and it was dismissed at the High Court on Friday.
On 21 February, Mr Giggs consented at the High Court to being named as the footballer behind the injunction, which prevented the publication of details of an alleged extra-marital affair.
Mr Justice Tugendhat had been considering whether Mr Giggs could sue the Sun for alleged breach of privacy.
'Misused information' During arguments at the High Court hearing, Hugh Tomlinson QC, for Mr Giggs, said the Sun "misused" private information in the article, in which the footballer was not identified.
Mr Tomlinson said Mr Giggs was claiming damages for the subsequent re-publication of information in other newspapers and on the internet, and argued that his claim should go to trial.
He suggested the Sun article "generated a large media storm" and said the damages claim was about "providing effective protection" for Mr Giggs's right to privacy - enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights.
Richard Spearman QC, for the Sun's publisher News Group Newspapers, said the article reported Ms Thomas's relationship with a Premier League player and did not identify Mr Giggs.
He said the Sun behaved "properly" and was not responsible for what happened after the article appeared.
'No basis' Mr Spearman said legal action had been "spun along for a long, long time" - an allegation Mr Tomlinson described as being "wholly without foundation" - and told the court: "Going forward, there just is not a basis."
In a written judgment handed down on Friday, Mr Justice Tugendhat said he had decided to "refuse to grant relief" to Mr Giggs.
Mr Giggs was originally granted an injunction on the basis that TV presenter Ms Thomas appeared to have been trying to blackmail him.
However, the 2003 Miss Wales and former Big Brother contestant took legal action against him and, in December 2011, Mr Giggs accepted that she had not been blackmailing him

Red Cross convoy arrives in Homs bringing Baba Amr aid

Footage on state TV on Thursday and Friday showed snow and destruction in Baba Amr and activists' video showed residents in Bab Sbaa

A Red Cross convoy has arrived in the Syrian city of Homs and is set to deliver supplies to the Baba Amr district after a month-long siege.

The Red Cross and Syrian Red Crescent have organised the seven-lorry aid convoy, and are also planning to evacuate the wounded.
The area has suffered heavy bombardment by government forces in recent weeks.
The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) said on Thursday it was leaving the district in a "tactical withdrawal".
Of the 100,000 people who normally live in Baba Amr only a few thousand remain, with the FSA saying it had pulled back to save those still there from an all-out assault.
Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said it had received reports of "a particularly grisly set of summary executions" in Homs.
Also on Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said France was closing its embassy in Damascus.
'No obstacle' Syrian Red Crescent operations chief Khaled Erksoussi told Agence France-Presse news agency the convoy was "carrying food, medicines, blankets, milk for babies and other equipment".

Analysis

Jim Muir BBC News, Beirut

Nobody knows how many civilians were trapped in Baba Amr through weeks of tightening siege and intensifying bombardment. So the first task of the Red Cross and Red Crescent will be to assess exactly what the needs are.
Priority will obviously be given to the seriously wounded or sick, who will be evacuated for treatment in nearby hospitals. Conditions in the shattered quarter must be dire. It's freezing cold and snowing; electricity had been cut off and there has been no fuel for heating. Food, water and medical supplies had also run very short.
Syrian state television carried pictures of Baba Amr and even from afar, it's clear that hardly a building has not been hit during the weeks of bombardment by artillery and tanks.
The authorities have announced that the bodies of the two journalists killed by shelling nine days ago, Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik, have been retrieved. They are to be handed over to embassy officials in Damascus for repatriation.

It has been snowing heavily in Homs, and the lorries' journey from Damascus was slow.

Red Crescent volunteers and ambulances in Homs will join the convoy as it heads into Baba Amr.
The head of the Syrian Red Crescent told the BBC the convoy had been given permission to go into Baba Amr but was still finalising the details.
Many of those still in the district are without power and running low on basic supplies. The ICRC said it feared there could be many people seriously wounded.
But Sean Maguire, a spokesman for the ICRC, said: "If the fighting has truly died down, in theory there should be no obstacle to us going in there and staying there on a day-to-day basis.
"Our colleagues from the Syrian Red Crescent have been distributing food and assistance in other areas of Homs on a daily basis, and we hope to be able to do the same in Baba Amr."

Meanwhile, France has confirmed that two French journalists who had been trapped in Homs are now safely out of the country.
Reporter Edith Bouvier, 31, and photojournalist William Daniels, 34, are now in Lebanon. They are expected back in France later on Friday. Ms Bouvier was badly injured in the bombardment of a makeshift media centre last week, in which two journalists were killed.
Syrian authorities say the bodies of the two, Marie Colvin of Britain's Sunday Times and French photojournalist Remi Ochlik, have been found and will be taken to Damascus to be handed over to the relevant embassies.
A fifth journalist, Javier Espinosa, is reported safe in Lebanon. Inaki Gil, deputy director of the El Mundo newspaper, told AFP he had spoken to Mr Espinosa. UK photographer Paul Conroy had escaped to Lebanon earlier.
'Day of reckoning' A spokesman for the UN human rights office, Rupert Colville, said on Friday it had received reports of "a particularly grisly set of summary executions" involving 17 people in Baba Amr.
Although Mr Colville said the reports were unconfirmed, he said the UN was appealing to Syrian authorities and rebels to desist from all forms of reprisal.

An ambulance convoy carrying Bouvier and Daniels arrives at Beirut's Hotel Dieu de France hospital

In a unanimous statement on Thursday, the UN Security Council had expressed its "disappointment" that UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos had not been granted authorisation to visit Syria, and demanded immediate access for her.
Russia and China, who vetoed two previous Security Council resolutions on Syria, also backed the call.
The council's 15 member countries also said that they "deplored" the deteriorating situation.
The members urged Syrian authorities to grant "immediate, full and unimpeded access" to aid agencies.
The BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Beirut says that because the statement isolated the humanitarian issue, it was very much more difficult for Russia and China to take a different stand - it was the lowest common denominator on which they could all agree.
But he says beyond that there is a fundamental difference, with the West calling for regime change and Russia and China continuing to insist there must be no such foreign intervention.
Nicolas Sarkozy announced on Friday that France was closing its Syrian embassy in protest at the "scandalous" repression by President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron called for the "criminal" Syrian government to be held to account, saying there would be "a day of reckoning for this dreadful regime".
But Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin criticised the West for backing the Syrian opposition.
"Instead of encouraging parties to the conflict, it's necessary to force them to sit down for talks and begin political procedures and political reforms that would be acceptable for all participants in the conflict,'' he said.
But Mr Putin insisted Russia had "no special relationship" with the Syrian government.
The UN estimates more than 7,500 people have died in an 11-month anti-government uprising in Syria.

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