Police Search Jackson Doctor's Home In LA

Police have searched the home of Michael Jackson's doctor as part of their investigation into the singer's death.

Michael Jackson and Conrad Murray

Officers swooped on Dr Conrad Murray's gated home in Las Vegas amid reports he gave the star a fatal dose of the powerful sedative propofol hours before his death.

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents and detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) executed a search warrant for Jackson's medical records.

A separate raid took place across town at the doctor's offices.

Dr Murray's lawyer, Edward Chernoff, said: "The search warrant authorised investigators to look for medical records relating to Michael Jackson and all of his reported aliases.

"Dr Murray was present during the search of his home and assisted the officers.

"Investigators left Dr Murray's home around noon, seizing cell phones and a computer hard drive."

Last week, police raided the doctor's office in Houston searching for "evidence of the offence of manslaughter".

The results of toxicology tests on Jackson's body will be released this week, said the Los Angeles Coroner's office.

Pathologists reportedly discovered a deadly cocktail of prescription drugs in his blood.

Propofol is used in hospitals to induce unconsciousness in patients ahead of major surgery.

Police search Murray's home

Experts say the drug should only be administered by a trained anesthesiologist under strict medical conditions.

The possibility that Dr Murray gave Jackson the drug intravenously has sparked speculation that he may be charged over his death.

TMZ.com reported that Dr Murray had told police in an interview he gave Jackson propofol via an IV drip.

It said police believe he may have fallen asleep while the drug was being administered, and woke up to find the singer already dead.

The star's family say they have "unanswered questions" about the death.
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Dealer Ran Cocaine Ring From Prison Cell

A convicted drug smuggler has admitted continuing to run an international cocaine ring by using a mobile phone from his prison cell.

Prisoner George Moon and the package which brought down his cocaine operation

The intercepted package which rumbled Moon's international operation

George Moon orchestrated the importation of drug packages from Panama and Venezuela into the UK and Ireland.

The 62-year-old ran the operation while serving 15 years at HMP Lindholme, near Doncaster, for supplying Class A substances.

Moon and five side-kicks pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court. They were among 13 people arrested in November 2008.

Two men are already serving sentences in Ireland and another, Leo Morgan, has just begun a 10-year prison term in Panama, also for cocaine offences.

The arrests followed an investigation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), which managed to intercept a two-kilo package of cocaine being couriered through Caracas International Airport, destined for an address in Cork.

Officers raided Moon's cell to find a mobile phone on which he had made hundreds of calls to Panama and Ireland, as well as a notebook containing the numbers of co-conspirators.

They believe he had been involved in organising the importation of at least 12 packages of cocaine, all sent via postal couriers.

Moon is currently serving a 15-year sentence for smuggling £3.5m worth of heroin and amphetamines into the UK from Holland by hiding it in a sport holdall in the back of a Heavy Goods Vehicle.

Moon and another man were also charged with smuggling contraband into a prison, in the form of sim cards and heroin.

It is thought that SOCA will now apply for a special order to be placed on Moon, which would make it a criminal offence for him to have possession of a mobile phone in prison.

Last year 4,000 mobile phones were seized from inmates of the UK's prison estate.

George Moon, 62, Lee Standeven, 24, Bilaal Khan, 27, Anthony Parry, 39, Harminder Singh, 25, and Abid Latif Hussain, 22, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import Class A controlled drugs.

Moon and Standeven also pleaded guilty to smuggling contraband into a prison.

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Massa injured in qualifying crash


Felipe Massa will not race in the Hungarian Grand Prix after the Ferrari driver was hurt in a high-speed accident during qualifying on Saturday.

Massa, 28, applied his brakes but went head on into a tyre wall at Turn Four after a piece of debris hit his helmet.

He was treated at the scene by medical teams before being airlifted to hospital, which is standard procedure.

Massa suffered a cut above his left eye which Ferrari called a "superficial" injury after confirming he was "OK".

A statement on their official website reads: "Felipe is conscious and has been brought to a Budapest hospital for routine examinations."

The incident delayed final qualifying by 20 minutes but Massa - who was provisionally 10th on the grid - took no part.

The 28-year-old - winner of 11 grands prix in his career - went off the Hungaroring track at around 125mph, with reports suggesting the debris had fallen off the rear of compatriot Rubens Barrichello's Brawn GP car.

Barrichello told BBC Sport that he believed a rear bar or rear spring had fallen off - "something broke" - after qualifying in 13th, but made no mention of Massa's crash.

Brawn later confirmed that Barrichello's car was missing a part, or parts of its rear suspension.

Massa's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen said: "Felipe was just very unlucky. It was just an unlucky situation."

The incident comes less than a week after Henry Surtees, 18, was killed in a what was described as a "freak" accident during a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch.

The son of motorsport legend John Surtees was struck by a wheel which flew off a competitor's car.

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Alarming Africa male gay HIV rate

HIV rates among gay men in some African countries are 10 times higher than among the general male population, says research in medical journal the Lancet.

The report said prejudice towards gay people was leading to isolation and harassment, which in turn led to risky sexual practices among gay communities.

But the risks are not limited to gay men, as many of the infected also have female sexual partners.

The report called for greater education and resources in the fight against HIV.

The Oxford University researchers found that the prevalence of HIV/Aids among gay men in sub-Saharan African has been "driven by cultural, religious and political unwillingness to accept [gay men] as equal members of society".

Lead researcher Adrian Smith told the BBC there was "profound stigma and social hostility at every level of society concerning either same-sex behaviours amongst men, or homosexuality".

"This has the consequence that this group becomes extremely hard to reach," he said.

Mr Smith said that gay male sex had always been acknowledged as being particularly dangerous in terms of contracting HIV/Aids.

But gay men were also more likely to be involved in other high-risk behaviours, including sex work, having multiple partners and being in contact with intravenous drug use, he said.

Education crucial

George Kanuma, a gay rights activist in Burundi, told the BBC many men "hide their sexual orientation" to get married and have children, but continue to have sex with men.

"Most of them know that you can contract HIV/Aids or any infection when you are making sex with women, but not when you are having sex with another man," he said.

Mr Smith said there was "a desperate need for delivering a basic package of prevention for HIV", including ensuring supplies of condoms.

"There is also a need to sensitise, educate and train those involved in HIV, the interface with men who have sex with men, to educate those involved in care and prevention activities," he said.

The United Nations Aids agency estimates that 33 million people in the world have HIV, of whom two-thirds live in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Iran plane black boxes 'damaged'


Damaged black boxes have been recovered from a Caspian Airlines plane that crashed in north Iran with the loss of all 168 people on board, say officials.

Investigators who scoured scattered body parts and metal fragments for the data recorders hope they will salvage a clue as to the cause of the crash.

The wreckage was spread over a large area of farmland in Qazvin province, 120km (75 miles) north-west of Tehran.

The Tupolev plane was flying from the Iranian capital to Yerevan in Armenia.

Witnesses said the 22-year-old Russian-made aircraft, which had 153 passengers and 15 crew, nose-dived from the sky with its tail on fire.

Flight 7908 crashed 16 minutes after take-off from Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran, officials said.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad offered his condolences to the bereaved families and ordered a transport ministry investigation into the tragedy.

'Heads, fingers, passports'

Farsi Majidi, head of the investigating committee, told Associated Press TV News: "Thank God, we succeeded in finding two of the three flight data recorders or black boxes.

"Although they are damaged we are hopeful that we can extract information from them."

Eight members of Iran's national junior judo team and two coaches were on the flight, heading for training with the Armenian team.

Among the mainly Iranian passengers were about five Armenian citizens and two Georgians.

Search teams picked through an area 200m (660ft) wide in a field at Jannatabad village, where the plane gouged out a huge smoking crater.

A relief worker, standing next to a body bag of human flesh, told AFP news agency: "There is not a single piece which can be identified."

Mostafa Babashahverdi, a local farmer, told Reuters news agency: "We found severed heads, fingers and passports of the passengers."

Witnesses said the Tu-154 had circled briefly looking for an emergency landing site. One man described it exploding on impact.

"I saw the plane crashing nose-down. It hit the ground causing a big explosion. The impact shook the ground like an earthquake," Ali Akbar Hashemi told AP news agency.

At Yerevan's airport, one woman wept as she said her sister and two nephews, aged six and 11, had been on the flight.

"What will I do without them?" said Tina Karapetian, 45, before collapsing.

It was the third deadly crash of a Tupolev Tu-154 in Iran since 2002.

The BBC's Jon Leyne says Iran's civil and military air fleets are made up of elderly aircraft, in poor condition due to their age and lack of maintenance.

Since the Islamic revolution of 1979, trade embargoes by Western nations have forced Iran to buy mainly Russian-built planes to supplement an existing fleet of Boeings and other American and European models.

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Ronaldo Fulfils Real 'Childhood Dream'

The world's most expensive footballer Cristiano Ronaldo said he has fulfilled a "childhood dream" as he was unveiled by new club Real Madrid.

Cristiano Ronaldo unveiled as Real Madrid player
Around 80,000 fans were at the home ground, the Bernabeu, to welcome Ronaldo following his record transfer.

The current world player of the year was signed by the Spanish giants from Manchester United in a deal worth £80m.

The Portuguese international had passed a medical examination earlier in the day to complete his move.

Ronaldo with Portuguese football legend Eusebio
He told supporters: "I am just so happy to be here. For me, I have made my childhood dream a reality, which was nothing less than playing for Real Madrid.

"I didn't expect a jam-packed stadium - this is truly impressive."

Ronaldo then led the crowd into a cry of "Viva Madrid!"

The forward, who signed a six-year contract, has been given the number nine shirt - the same as Madrid great Alfredo di Stefano.

The 24-year-old was greeted by Di Stefano as well as Portuguese legend Eusebio and Florentino Perez, the club president whose re-election prompted his signing from United.

Ronaldo is the jewel in the crown of Perez's self-styled "spectacular sporting project".

After bringing "galacticos" David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo to the club during his previous term, Perez has spent around £185m on Ronaldo, Brazilian playmaker Kaka, French striker Karim Benzema and defender Raul Albiol.

He is hoping the signing of such high-profile players will help Real take the Spanish and European Champions League crowns from arch-rivals Barcelona.

He also aims to boost revenue via the sale of replica merchandise and marketing rights.

Madrid had been chasing Ronaldo since 2006. He won the third of three successive Premier League titles last season.

Fans had queued outside the Bernabeu from early on in the day to catch a glimpse of their latest star.
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New Diabetes Drug Will Help Weight Loss

A revolutionary drug for diabetes sufferers is being launched in the UK.

Obesity

The majority of Type 2 diabetes sufferers are overweight

Victoza is for Type 2 diabetes and only needs to be taken once-a-day.

The drug, also known as Liraglutide, allows the body to only release insulin when blood sugar levels become too high.

It can also be taken at any time of the day and is used alongside other drugs.

Tests suggest the drug can also help with weight loss by making people feel "full" for longer, as well as slowing down the rate at which the stomach empties.

Victoza also lowers blood pressure, lowering the risk of heart disease.

It could help the two million people in the UK who suffer from Type 2 diabetes, many of whom are overweight or obese.

Cathy Moulton, from Diabetes UK, said: "Liraglutide widens the choice of treatment for people with Type 2 diabetes that not only offer improved blood glucose but also aid weight loss.

"Good diabetes management reduces the risk of developing serious complications including heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and amputation."

It is estimated that 500,000 people in the UK have Type 2 diabetes and don't even know it.
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