News that interests the World

But for the huge rallying support world wide for the dead teenager at the time of his death and the ensuing weeks, which even saw President Obama saying that the teen could have been his son, George Zimmerman, the 28-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer, would have never even been prosecuted.

Zimmerman called the shooting self-defense; the Martin family says their son was profiled. It was only after intense condemnation over what appeared to be, 'an unjust killing,' that Zimmerman came out of hiding and was taken into custody. He was later charged with second-degree murder.

Although prosecutors had asked for a bond of $1 million to be set, the Florida judge, Kenneth Lester Jr made it $150,000 after Zimmerman's family testified they did not have the resources necessary to meet the higher level.

However, Zimmerman collected close to $204,000 in donations through his website, but did not disclose the contribution. It is not known yet whether he will have to repay his donations.

A lawyer for the family said, 'All members first go to Saudi Arabia, where Osama's youngest, Yemeni widow, Amal al-Sadeh, and her five children will stay for some days to deal with some family inheritance matters and commitments, then move to Yemen.'

The family members were detained by Pakistani personnel after Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces on May 2 in Abbottabad, 61 kilometres north-east of the capital Islamabad.

A Pakistani court had jailed the adult members of the extended family for 45 days for being found guilty of illegally entering Pakistan. It is only now that they have been able to travel due to documentation problems.

Amid heavy security, the family members were driven from Islamabad to the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi, where they were put on the plane to Saudi Arabia.

Sarah Palin may have dropped out of the Rep.   Primary race long ago due to her 'Tea Party' comments put her foot in her publicity seeking mouth, more than Paris Hilton humanly imagined possible, but Palin still has followers who listen to her opinions on who she thinks is the best Republican candidate and why.

The former Alaska Gov. Palin, with a voice deep within the right-wing conservative element, and described as 'more than just a few lunies', said "Romney has work to do to convince GOP voters he's moved beyond his 'pretty moderate past'... even in some cases a liberal past."

"I am not convinced, and I do not think the majority of GOP and independent voters are convinced," Palin said on Fox News.

Romney has been focusing increased attention on social issues in recent days, perhaps with that goal in mind. He has been particularly aggressive in criticizing Obama's recent decision regarding contraception. That criticism should very neatly sway in favour of a Palin vote, who just happens to be a Catholic.

With unemployment figures around Europe and the UK hitting all time highs we see mass migration to destinations far afield so that people can secure a stable job. People are leaving their homelands realising that to stay would mean many more months, if not years without work.

Many travel within Europe and also the UK seeking a better future however, others are leaving for places like Australia and the U.S. with another figure showing that 10,000 Portuguese have moved to Angola. Spain already at the top of the unemployment league table with Greece’s total set to rise next year.

Germany has the lowest unemployment rate and people from other parts of Europe have taken advantage of this factor. Thus, migration has surged there in the wake of the debt crisis. The number of immigrants arriving from Greece rose by 84 percent, there was a 49 percent increase in Spanish, altogether a total of 67,000 more foreigners moved to Germany than in the same period a year earlier. The country’s jobless figures are the lowest in two decades.

In Ireland it is estimated a total of 50,000 will have left the Republic by the end of this year with Australia and the US being the top destinations.

The number of people out of work in Britain hit the highest level in more than 17 years in October. In addition, the jobless figures look set to rise further as the government lays off workers to reduce public spending and private companies — facing the threat of a renewed recession — or cut back on staff or do not hire.

In the three months to October the number of unemployed Britons rose by 128,000 to just under 2.64 million and 22 percent of 16 to 24-year-olds do not have a job. Experts believe the trend of heading beyond the shores of Europe could increase as austerity measures in the Eurozone bite even deeper.

President Obama has also said that Europe must get its house in order as the European crisis hits growth in the USA. William Dudley, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, told lawmakers that deterioration in the European economy could reduce demand for U.S. products thus hurting growth in the United States. This would in turn impact on U.S. jobs.

Dudley said in prepared testimony. "It is important to recognize that the euro area is the world's second largest economy after the U.S. and an important trading partner for us," he said. "Also, Europe is a significant investor in the U.S. economy, and vice versa. Thus, what happens in Europe has significant implications for our economy."

The European crisis could put more pressure on Wall Street, spreading throughout the U.S. banking system and financial markets. The European crisis is a potential job-killer for the United States and could hit pensions and 401(k)s, Federal Reserve officials told Congress on Friday.

New Zealand's National Party wins election

re-iterating to all who will listen that he "accidently" fell into a waiting life boat and couldn't get back on board again. Tales of great sadness, heroism and courage are gradually emerging from the depths of the Italian coastal waters and from dry land where human chains were used to help deliver people to safety.

Miraculously, only 11 people are known to be dead and 21 are still missing after what some are calling was Capt. Schettino's incredibly stupid bravado which caused the accident in the first place. A very high price to pay for self indulgent baffoonery.

Acts of selflessness where a band member, a Hungarian musician who helped crying children into lifejackets, then disappeared while trying to retrieve his beloved violin from his cabin never to be seen again.

biggest shopping day of the year so as a department store, one has to get in on the act.

Even though London was hampered by a train strike, on this rather auspicious day of the year for the retail sector, that didn't deter the shoppers coming out in their droves to seek out any bargains that were going. Whether it be signs indicationg 70% or 50% off, items were being snatched off the rails as quick as lightning.

Selfridges, one of Britain's most popular department stores, reported its biggest ever first hour of trading on Boxing day Monday morning, while the New West End Company, which represents traders on central London's shopping streets, reported 15 million pounds (US$23.5 million) in sales in the first three hours of trading.

But there are sales and there are indeed give away prices. Some may favour the thought that prices went up before Christmas and what we are seeing now is the true value of the item. Not to those who just have to buy no matter what.

- Anne Hunt -

The fast food industry has a lot to answer for, however, a child's diet is always shaped by their parents and if the grown ups aren't eating what they should, then the child’s eating habits will suffer also.

The main blame can fall on the shoulders of our fast paced existence, with so much expected of us to get through these days, what with the internet and television taking control of our lives. This has meant that sports and exercise has fallen by the wayside, with an excessive amount of time now spent indoors and therefore on our tails. We have become a sedentary generation of inactive followers of down to the minute news and social media anecdotes.

A person is defined as obese if their body mass index (BMI), which is calculated by dividing body weight by body height squared, is 30 or above. And he or she is classed as overweight if their BMI is between 25 and 30. The BMI correlates fairly well with body fat.

Statisticians found the share of overweight and obese people increases with age in all of the 19 member states that data was available for. 34% of children in the UK are now classified as overweight or obese. In Western Europe, around 80 per cent of cases of diabetes are now attributable to weight gain. Problems relating to type 2 diabetes currently cost the NHS £9billion every year, a tenth of its budget.

After the UK, the countries with the highest levels of female obesity were Malta, with 21.1%, and Latvia, where 20.9% fulfilled that criteria.

Meanwhile, after Malta and the UK, the countries with the highest instances of male obesity were Hungary - where 21.4% fall into that category - and the Czech Republic, where 18.4% are classed as such.

Apple and the world has lost an inspirational genius of the 20th and 21st centuries. Steve Jobs gave us everything he could give, but when it came to himself, life became his biggest challenge.

A man who from the earliest age held the world in awe at his enviable talent for looking into the future. He had technology in his grasp and made it hip for all of us to be part of.

After a seven year fight, Steve Jobs died at the age of 56 from the pancreatic cancer that had been dogging him.

Apple's CEO Tim Cook sent out an email to all Apple employees saying: "Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being.

"Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. "Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."

The company set up a homage to Steve Jobs page with a statement which read.

"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives," "The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. "Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts."

The tenacious 56-year-old was part of an era where a number of technology pioneers came out of including Bill Gates who took computers out of the laboratory and delivered the computer into ordinary people's homes.

Working from his garage in 1976 the industrious and innovative young man in his 20's developed and launched the Macintosh computer and Apple Inc was born. Steve Jobs founded Apple along with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. He was known for his intensity and perfectionist qualities and this aspect of his personality, while the main stay in creating the core function of Apple as we know it, became an issue of contention for the company board and he was forced to quit.

Bill Gates' Microsoft overshadowed Apple's star as the programming tools it created helped to drive the popularity of the IBM compatible PC market upwards.

Jobs put himself in isolation as he created the company NeXT in 1986 which dedicated itself to software development and in the same year dived head first into the movie industry where he bought Pixar Studios the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm which relied solely on computer graphics and imagery which has created some of the biggest movie franchises that we know today. This includes, Finding Nemo and Toy Story. His company pioneered the quality of computer graphics that we have come to expect in movies.

David Clark, chief executive of BCS the chartered institute for IT said, "To many, this is what success looks like," "Steve Jobs not only sparked a revolution in technology, but in design entrepreneurship, mainstream business, film and animation. "He was a visionary and pioneer that understood the exponential growth of technology and its impact on our day-to-day lives."

Apple's $429m buyout of NeXT in 1996 and its adoption of the NeXTSTEP operating system that
Mr Jobs developed while in exile helped revive its flagging fortunes.

In recent years during his battle with pancreatic cancer, Mr Jobs inspired the now iconic and 'Dummy Friendly' products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad. When he knew his time was coming to a close and could no longer hold the reins effectively to his monumental stallion, he stepped down as Apple's CEO.

He achieved his dreams and his goals and worked at them to the end. A true inspiration to all of us. He will be sadly missed.