Cory Monteith: Heroin And Alcohol Killed Star

Glee star Cory Monteith died from a heroin and alcohol overdose, according to a coroner.

The 31-year-old actor was found dead in his hotel room in the Canadian city of Vancouver on Saturday.

Barbara McLintock, from the British Columbia coroner's office, said: "There is no evidence to suggest Mr Monteith's death was anything other than a most sad and tragic accident.

Popular musical comedy Glee first aired in 2009

"The cause of death was a mixed drug toxicity, and it involved heroin primarily and also alcohol."

The findings come after a post-mortem examination and toxicological analysis.

Police said the Canadian actor had been out with other people earlier, but was believed to have been alone when he died.

Fans left flowers outside the Vancouver hotel where Monteith died

He was discovered by hotel staff after he failed to check out on Saturday.

The coroner's office said the investigation into his death was continuing, and no other details were available at this time.

Monteith had talked openly about struggling with addiction since he was a teenager, calling it a serious problem and telling Parade magazine in 2011 he was "lucky to be alive".

Monteith was dating Glee co-star Lea Michele

The star, who played Finn Hudson in the TV show and dated his co-star Lea Michele, admitted himself to rehab in April.

He also received treatment when he was 19.

Monteith and the other Glee actors became high-profile celebrities when the hit musical show made its TV debut in 2009.

The Fox network and the producers of Glee, including 20th Century Fox Television, said Monteith was an exceptional performer "and an even more exceptional person".

Gia Milani, who recently produced and directed a Canadian film featuring Monteith, said the actor "seemed healthy" when she last saw him four weeks ago in Los Angeles.

"He looked super fit and he was energetic and excited," Milani said.

She said Monteith showed no signs of a substance abuse problem while shooting the film a year ago.

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Follow The Pope's Tweets To Shorten Purgatory

The Pope is offering time off in purgatory to people who follow him on Twitter.

Purgatory is the place where practising Roman Catholics believe they will go after death, as long as they are "in a state of grace" having confessed and been absolved of their sins.

The "indulgence" offer comes ahead of Pope Francis' trip to Brazil next week.

It applies particularly to those Catholics who click on to his Twitter feed on Catholic World Youth Day, a week-long event that starts on July 22.

A World Youth Day banner in a chapel in a poor part of Rio de Janeiro

Indulgences are given against the time believers may spend in purgatory following their death - the more indulgences they are granted, the less time they get to spend in the "halfway" house between Earth and Heaven.

However, a Vatican official insisted a place in paradise still requires more than a website visit.

"You can't obtain indulgences like getting a coffee from a vending machine," the Vatican's Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

A sand sculpture of Pope Francis at Rio's Copacabana beach

"What really counts is that the tweets the Pope sends from Brazil or the photos of the Catholic World Youth Day that go up on Pinterest produce authentic spiritual fruit in the hearts of everyone."

The Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary, a court set up to deal with the forgiveness of sins, is encouraging people who cannot afford to see the Pope in Brazil to follow him through the TV or internet.

But it stresses events must be followed live, with proper devotion, and a casual websurf will not win any time off for good behaviour.

Indulgences fell out of favour in the Middle Ages because corrupt churchmen gave them in exchange for money.

They were a contributory factor to the setting up of the Protestant church, where the idea was that the believer had a direct conversation with God, rather than through a priest who interceded on his or her behalf.

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Pussy Riot: New Video Attack On Putin

Russian provocateurs Pussy Riot are back in action, releasing a new music video nearly a year after three of their members went to prison for a prank denouncing President Vladimir Putin.

The new video shows the band members in trademark bright-coloured ski masks and short skirts, cavorting on top of an oil rig.

Backed by hectic guitar and a drum fusillade, they liken the president to an Iranian ayatollah.

As they pour oil on a large photo of Igor Sechin, the chairman of state oil giant Rosneft, they shout: "Homophobic reptile - get out of history."

Protesters in France last year calling for the girls' freedom

One member of the collective, who gave only her stage name of Grelka, said: "The main message is that Putin has spread the country's wealth amongst his friends."

She said she hoped there would be a response to the new video, but she did not expect it to amount to much.

"In Russia maybe 1% will support us because society in general is not very interested in politics despite Bolotnaya (Bolotnaya Square where mass anti-Putin rallies took place last year) and other events," she said.

"Comparing it to the West is laughable."

Tolokonnikova remains in prison over an earlier protest

Three members of the band - Maria Alekhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich - were convicted last year of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" for an impromptu punk protest against Mr Putin in Moscow's main cathedral.

They were sentenced to two years in prison, despite widespread criticism - including from the likes of stars such as Madonna - that Russia was suppressing free speech and opposition.

Samutsevich was later released on appeal. A court in the Mordovia province earlier this year denied parole to Tolokonnikova.

Grelka said the members knew they were taking risks by making another video.

"If the response and effect from this action are big, then, well, we understand, what we are going to face," she said.

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British 'Drugs Baron' Owns 10 Luxury Villas

More details have emerged about the wealth of suspected British drugs baron Brian Charrington, who has been arrested at his Spanish villa.

Charrington, from Middlesbrough, was one of 13 alleged drug traffickers detained in a joint operation - seven in Spain and six in Venezuela.

The suspects also included one of Charrington's sons and his girlfriend, who was among those held in South America.

Charrington, 57, was detained at his home in Alicante - one of 10 he is said to own in Spain.

Spanish police said he also has a string of expensive boats and cars.

They described Charrington as "a longtime British criminal who is one of the top 10 most investigated criminals by European police forces".

It added Andrew Moran, a Briton wanted on charges of aggravated robbery, was arrested in May while relaxing by the pool at one of Charrington's properties.

Andrew Moran was staying at one of Charrington's villas

Police say they found 220kg (485lbs) of cocaine and seized assets worth around five million euros (£4.33m) in the operation, which involved Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca).

It is claimed Charrington headed a gang that brought cocaine in luxury boats from South America to Spain for distribution in Europe.

The arrests follow a three-year investigation conducted by authorities in Spain, the UK and South America with the support of Ameripol, an international police agency that includes Caribbean states.

Venezuela's justice minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres said the gang was thought to have smuggled "more or less" 25 tons of cocaine to Europe from South America over the last decade.

"We'll continue investigating and identifying the assets that these people have registered in different parts of the country," he told Venezuela's state television.

Charrington is the third suspected British drugs trafficker to be arrested in recent weeks.

On July 10 Kevin Hanley, who was wanted in connection with a multimillion-pound drug seizure, was caught in a sting operation in Athens.

Two days before convicted drug trafficker Mark Lilley was caught hiding in a panic room in his luxury villa in Malaga.

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Panama: Cuba 'Owns' North Korean Ship Arms

Cuba has claimed it owns the arms that were found on board a North Korean ship that Panama has impounded.

Panama has called for United Nations investigators to inspect the shipment of missile parts found on the Chong Chon Gang as it tried to enter the Panama Canal last week.

The contraband munitions were hidden under thousands of bags labelled "Cuban Raw Sugar", Panama said.

Cuba claimed ownership in a statement on state television, saying the Soviet-era missile system parts were to be repaired and returned - without mentioning where they were being sent.

The weapons were hiding under thousands of bags labelled Cuban Raw Sugar

Cuba said the shipment contained "obsolete" weaponry "manufactured in the mid-20th century", including anti-aircraft missile arrays, nine disassembled missiles, two MiG-21 Bis jets and 15 engines.

"The agreements Cuba has signed in these areas are based on our need to maintain our defensive capacity to protect national sovereignty," the statement said.

"Cuba reiterates its firm and unwavering commitment with peace, disarmament - including nuclear disarmament - and respect for international law."

Portraits of Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung on board the Chong Chon Gang

Cuba is the only one-party Communist regime in the Americas, and is a rare ally of similarly isolated Pyongyang.

North Korea's army chief of staff General Kyok Sik Kim visited Cuba last month and said the two countries were "in the same trench".

The shipment could constitute a violation of the strict UN arms sanctions imposed on North Korea over its nuclear programme and further sour relations between the US and Cuba.

Panama's security minister Jose Raul Mulino said authorities believe the ship was returning from Havana on its way to North Korea.

He said the affair was now a matter for UN investigators.

President Martinelli inspecting the ship

"The Security Council will have to send experts," he said.

The US said it strongly supports Panama's actions over the Chong Chon Gang.

"We stand ready to cooperate with Panama should they request our assistance," said US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell.

The IHS global information company identified the equipment as an RSN-75 Fan Song fire control radar, also known as the SNR-75 Fan Song, for the SA-2 group of surface-to-air (SAM) missiles.

Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli tweeted a photo of the weaponry with the message: "The world needs to sit up and take note: you cannot go around shipping undeclared weapons of war through the Panama Canal."

Panamanian authorities boarded the ship suspecting it was carrying drugs

He said the North Korean captain attempted to kill himself and violence broke out among the 35-strong crew as the ship was raided.

It had been stopped because it was suspected of transporting drugs.

A Panamanian government spokesman said an examination of the ship by weapons specialists may take as long as a week.

Pyongyang has yet to comment on the case.

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India: 22 Children Die After Eating School Meal

Some 22 children, aged between five and 12, have died after eating free meals at a primary school in eastern India.

At least another 35 children remain in hospital in Patna, the Bihar state capital. Ten of the youngsters are in a critical condition. 

They fell ill after eating a lunch of rice and lentils in Masrakh village in the Saran district on Tuesday. Medical teams treating the children say they suspect the food had been contaminated with insecticide.

A family with their son who fell ill after consuming a free school meal

The children were rushed to hospital in the capital, some 50 miles (80km) south of the village. Some of the other sick children were taken to hospital in nearby Chaapra.

Sky producer Neville Lazarus, in New Delhi, said: "Masrakh is in one of the poorest of the poor states in the country and in a remote place, so there weren't proper medical facilities."

The meal was cooked in the school kitchen, and police have seized all the ingredients used. Lazarus said the cook and her two children had also died.

Bihar's Education Minister P K Shahi said a preliminary investigation suggested the food had traces of phosphorous, which is used to preserve rice and wheat.

A woman cries after hearing that her grandson was one of the victims

R K Singh, medical superintendent at the children's hospital in Patna, said: "We feel that some kind of insecticide was either accidentally or intentionally mixed in the food, but that will be clear through investigations.

"We prepared antidotes and treated the children for organic phosphorous poisoning."

Authorities have suspended a food inspector and registered a case of criminal negligence against the head teacher.

The father of an ill child, Raja Yadav, told reporters that his son was vomiting after returning from school.

Free lunches are used as a way of increasing school attendance

"As soon as my boy returned from school, we rushed to the hospital with him. His condition was not good," he said.

Bihar state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has also ordered an inquiry, announced that families of the dead children will be offered financial compensation of 200,000 rupees (£2,200).

Twenty of the children who died were buried near the school on Wednesday morning as angry residents armed with poles and sticks took to the streets in the city of Chhapra to protest against the state government over the children's deaths.

"Hundreds of angry people staged a protest in Saran since late Tuesday night, demanding stern action against government officials responsible for this shocking incident," district government official S K Mall said.

Angry parents take to the streets in protest at the tragedy

Lazarus described the situation as "tense", with locals saying there was a delay in getting medical help to the children, contributing to the high death toll.

Free meals are offered to impoverished students in state-run schools as part of government welfare measures in many of India's 29 states

The lunches are hugely popular with poor families and educators see the meals as a way of increasing school attendance and stemming malnourishment.

But children often suffer from food poisoning due to poor hygiene in school kitchens and the sometimes poor quality food.

More than 130 students were taken to hospital in the western city of Pune last year after eating lunch at school, the Times of India reported.

A probe revealed that the food served to them was contaminated with E. coli bacteria, strains of which can cause food poisoning.

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Edward Snowden 'Could Leave Transit Zone Soon'

Edward Snowden could leave the transit zone of a Moscow airport after Russian authorities review his request for asylum, his lawyer has said.

Anatoly Kucherena told the Interfax news agency he believes Moscow could decide within a week whether to grant the 30-year-old fugitive asylum.

"The question of giving him temporary asylum won't take more than a week," he said.

"I think that in the near future he will have the possibility to leave the Sheremetyevo transit zone."

Snowden has applied for temporary asylum in Russia three weeks after arriving at a Moscow airport from Hong Kong on June 23.

The United States wants him sent home to face prosecution for espionage after he leaked details of the Prism surveillance programme.

Snowden claims he has acted in the public interest

Granting Snowden asylum would add new tensions to US-Russian relations already strained by a number of issues including sanctions against the regime of Syrian president Bashar Assad.

How long the asylum process could take is unclear. The Federal Migration Service is required to consider the application within three months, but could speed up the process.

Snowden is believed to have spent his time since arriving in Moscow in the Sheremetyevo Airport transit zone, which is technically not Russian territory.

Russian news reports have suggested the former National Security Agency contractor could be taken to one of the facilities operated by the migration service for those seeking refugee status.

Vladimir Putin has warned Snowden not to cause any more problems

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Snowden has been warned against taking any actions that would damage relations between Moscow and Washington.

On a visit to the Siberian city of Chita, Mr Putin was quoted as saying: "We have warned Mr Snowden that any actions by him connected with harming Russian-American relations are unacceptable."

Earlier White House spokesman Jay Carney said the wrangle over Snowden should not be allowed to damage relations with Moscow, which had provided the fugitive with a "propaganda platform".

"He is not a human rights activist, he is not a dissident," Mr Carney said. "He is accused of leaking classified information. For those reasons, he should be returned to the United States.

"We want to continue (our) relationship unimpeded by this issue and we believe there is a way to move forward here that allows for Mr Snowden to return to the United States ... and for Russia to resolve this situation that they have been dealing with now for three weeks."

Snowden is refusing to go back to the US, which has revoked his passport. He has been offered asylum in Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua, but says Washington is making it impossible for him to leave Russia.

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Asiana Airlines Drops 'Racist' Names Lawsuit

Asiana Airlines has dropped plans to sue a TV station that used fake and racially offensive names for four pilots of a plane that crashed in San Francisco.

Three people died in the accident involving the South Korean carrier, which said it preferred to focus on supporting passengers and families rather than legal action.

KTVU-TV had already apologised after anchor Tori Campbell read the fake Korean-sounding names live on air, in a report accompanied by a graphic and a photo of the burned-out plane

Tori Campbell apologised immediately after the names were shown

The airline's decision to abandon plans for legal action came as it emerged a Chicago law firm had taken steps to sue Boeing on behalf of 83 people who were aboard the flight.

They allege that a malfunction of the plane's auto throttle may have caused the crash.

Ribbeck Law Chartered filed a petition for discovery, which is meant to preserve evidence, in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago, where the aircraft manufacturer is based.

The firm said in a news release that additional pleadings will be filed against Asiana Airlines and several component parts manufacturers in coming days.

It is claimed there were faults with the aircraft

In addition to potential problems with the Boeing 777's auto throttle, some emergency slides reportedly opened inside the plane, injuring passengers and blocking their exit, while some passengers had to be cut out of their seatbelts with a knife, according to the firm.

"We must find the causes of the crash and demand that the problems with the airline and the aircraft are immediately resolved to avoid future tragedies," attorney Monica R Kelly, head of Ribbeck's aviation department, said in a written statement.

Three Chinese teenage girls were killed when the plane, carrying 307 passengers and crew on a flight from South Korea to San Francisco International Airport on July 6, approached the runway too low and slow.

The plane clipped a seawall at the end of a runway, tearing off the tail and sending the plane spinning down the runway. The impact caused the plane to catch fire.

Boeing spokesman John Dern said the company had no comment.

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Syria: Car Bomb Kills Seven People

Up to seven people, including women and children, have been killed in a car bomb explosion close to Damascus, according to Syrian state television.

The car was parked near the Amari Mosque in Kanaker, a town south of the capital, the channel reported.

The blast occurred as a prominent Syrian pro-government figure was assassinated at his home in southern Lebanon in what some observers say is the latest sign of Syria's civil war spilling over into its smaller neighbour.

Mohammed Darrar Jammo wasshot nearly 30 times in the coastal town of Sarafand, a stronghold of the Shiite militant Hizbollah group, officials said.

The 44-year-old political analyst was one of President Bashar al Assad's most vociferous defenders.

Mr Jammo was a strong supporter of Syria's President Assad

He appeared frequently on TV talk shows where he would staunchly support the Syrian regime's strong-armed response to the uprising and in at least one case branded opposition figures "traitors".

Assassinations of politicians, army officers and journalists who support Mr Assad's regime are not uncommon in Syria, but the killing of a well-known Syrian in Lebanon is rare.

Meanwhile, Turkey has fired into Syria after a teenager was killed by a stray bullet.

The Turkish army said it was retaliating after the 17-year-old died near the border with Syria.

It is not the first accidental death in a border incident - five people were killed last October when shells fired from Syria struck a Turkish village.

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Costa Concordia Captain In Plea Bargain Bid

The captain of a cruise ship that ran aground off the Italian coast, claiming the lives of 32 people, has made a last-ditch attempt for a plea bargain deal at his trial.

Lawyers for Francesco Schettino, who was in charge of the Costa Concordia liner when it crashed into rocks off the island of Giglio last year, said he was ready to plead guilty in exchange for a prison sentence of three years and five months.

But the defence said it held little hope the judge would allow such a deal as the trial resumed in Grosseto, the town closest to where the shipwreck happened, after a week-long suspension because of a lawyers' strike.

The captain, the only defendant, risks up to 20 years in jail if found guilty on charges of manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing the shipwreck.

The plea bargain request was made after an earlier bid for a deal was thrown out by the judge in charge of preliminary investigations into what happened.

Schettino is accused of abandoning ship before all the crew and passengers had been rescued.

The cruise ship captain speaks with his lawyers

His lawyers argue he prevented an even worse disaster by steering the 290-metre (950ft) vessel into shallow waters after the impact and that he was thrown overboard due to the angle of the leaning ship.

The trial began on July 9 but was immediately suspended because lawyers involved were taking part in a nationwide strike against measures to streamline civil trials.

The hearing, which is expected to last for more than a year, is being held in an improvised courtroom in Grosseto's theatre with the panel of judges seated on the stage.

Before proceedings began on Wednesday Francesco Di Ciollo, who represents two Italian families, said: "We're here today to get justice.

"Survivors have to live with anxiety for the rest of their lives. There was darkness, panic … they were stranded inside without a way out."

Grosseto's theatre is serving as a makeshift court to make room for people

The Costa Concordia crashed off Giglio on the night of January 13, 2012 with 4,229 people from 70 countries on board.

Schettino was nicknamed "Captain Coward" for leaving while terrified people were trapped aboard the vessel and then sobbing in the arms of the ship's chaplain.

The 52-year-old has been depicted as a blackguard who was showing off for a blonde female guest when he performed a risky manoeuvre to "salute" the island.

The Concordia crashed as many of the passengers were sitting down to dinner. A delayed and chaotic evacuation saw some desperately throw themselves overboard into the dark sea as lifeboats ran out.

Many of those who jumped into the sea and managed to swim to shore have recalled their shock and amazement that Schettino was already there on shore others were still on the boat.

Schettino's lawyer Francesco Pepe speaks to the media outside the theatre

Most of the last survivors had to be lifted to safety from the capsized wreck by helicopters.

Some lawyers have been arguing the captain should not be the sole defendant and Costa Crociere, Europe's biggest cruise operator, should share the blame.

Massimiliano Gabrielli, who represents members of a group called 'Justice for the Concordia', accused Costa of "choosing to save the ship instead of saving people" - a reference to the delay of over an hour between the crash and the order to abandon ship.

Schettino's lawyers, Domenico and Francesco Pepe, have called for 100 witnesses and pledged to show that "no single person was responsible".

They plan to question Costa Crociere management and ask about materials used to build the ship and the apparent malfunction of emergency doors and back-up generators.

Moldovan dancer, Domnica Cemortan, who was on the bridge with him when the collision occurred, is also concerned he is the only person on trial.

Domnica Cemortan was with Schettino at the time of the crash

Ms Cemortan was travelling as a passenger but had worked in the past as a hostess for the Italian cruise operator.

She attended court on Wednesday to formally ask to join hundreds of other survivors in civil actions attached to the criminal trial that could result in hefty compensation payments.

Five other people have been charged over the disaster, including the ship's Indonesian helmsman and the head of Costa Crociere's crisis unit.

The five have negotiated plea bargains which are due to be ruled on at a separate hearing on July 20.

The Costa Concordia still lies beached on its side, its rusting frame dwarfed by blue cranes and a floating hotel for divers and salvage workers.

The vessel is due to be re-floated but technical difficulties have repeatedly hampered the salvage and there have been warnings it may be more damaged than previously thought.

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