Violence has been on the rise following a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in northern Iraq. The bloodshed has raised fears that the country could be heading for a new wave of sectarian fighting like that which nearly pushed it to the brink of civil war in the middle of the last decade.

The deadliest attack came when gunmen in a speeding car opened fire on an outdoor vegetable market in the town of Mishahda, killing three civilians and wounding three others. The town is 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the capital.

Also, police said drive-by shooters killed a police officer driving his car in Baghdad's northern neighborhood of Shaab.

In the southern oil hub of Basra, police said gunmen shot and killed Ali Hussein, a Sunni member of the Basra Provincial Council, as he was leaving a mosque after night prayers.

Health officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information to reporters.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility. Insurgents routinely target Iraqi police and government officials in an attempt to undermine Iraq's government. Attacks on civilians are often sectarian in nature.

During a 25-minute webcast Tuesday (May 7), members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportations Subcommittee on Science and Space asked NASA's Tom Marshburn to delve into the science, downtime and other parts of .

"I believe I'm living and working in the first Mars vehicle," Marshburn said during the event. "Everything that we've learned here is going to be used, and needs to be used, in the next generation of [space-traveling] vehicles." []

For example, understanding how to recycle resources efficiently in Earth orbit could lead to life-support systems that helpor farther out into the solar system, Marshburn said.

Life in space also changes the perspective of people living on the , Marshburn added.

"I wish every head of state around the world could come see our Earth from the cupola," Marshburn said of the Earth-observing glass structure on the bottom of the station. "It's a 360-degree view ... I've found that I've fallen in love with the Earth again. It's almost impossible to pull your eyes away from it."

Although looking out the window is one of Marshburn's favorite pastimes on the station, crewmembers are usually too busy to stare back at Earth during their work hours, he said.

Marshburn told members of the subcommittee that his days in orbit are filled with science. The astronauts are responsible for conducting more than 100 experiments on the orbiting laboratory.

"What surprised me was that how busy and vibrant life and the work here is on the space station," Marshburn said. "The space station is a hard place to go to sleep. There's a lot going on up here. There's so much going on up here that it's hard to stop."

But it isn't all work and no play for the astronauts.

The crewmembers hold informal competitions that are very specific to life on the space station, Marshburn added. Oftentimes the six residents of the station will try to float through a module without touching a wall just for fun.

Marshburn launched into space with Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield in December 2012. The three spaceflyers are scheduled to fly back to Earth next week on May 13

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BERLIN (Reuters) - A Nazi-themed staging of a Wagner opera in Germany that caused some members of the audience to become sick with its scenes of murder and a gas chamber has been withdrawn, the opera company said on its website.

After failing to get the director to agree to changes, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Duesseldorf said that the production of "Tannhaeuser" would be given for the rest of its run in a concert version only.

German director Burkhard C. Kosminski's interpretation of "Tannhaeuser" is set during the Holocaust and caused a scandal when it opened on Saturday, prompting some audience members to seek medical treatment, the opera house said in a posting this week on its website.

Management was aware before the premiere that the director's modern take on the opera rooted in German legends would cause controversy, it said.

"We are, however, shocked that some scenes, especially the very realistic shooting scene, caused numerous guests such psychological and physical stress that they had to get medical treatment afterwards," the Deutsche Oper am Rhein said.

"After considering all of the arguments, we have concluded that we cannot take responsibility for our artistic work having such an extreme effect so we cannot allow this production to continue being performed without any changes."

The opera house said while it had discussed the possibility of changing some scenes with Kosminski, he had refused to allow this for artistic reasons. Deutsche Oper am Rhein said it accepted his artistic freedom for legal reasons.

Kosminski was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters but he was quoted by German newspaper Westdeutsche Zeitung as saying he was "shocked" by the decision, adding that he had merely been informed of it by the opera house's manager.

"Ten months ago I presented my concept and explained what I wanted to do. I ensured there was a lot of transparency during the rehearsals too. I am not a scandalous director," he said.

In the bicentenary year of his birth, Wagner is still a controversial figure in Germany given his virulent anti-Semitism and the fact that he was Adolf Hitler's favorite composer.

Last year, a Russian opera singer pulled out of the opera festival at Bayreuth, which was founded by Wagner, over tattoos on his chest, one of which resembled the Nazi swastika.

(Reporting by Michelle Martin; Additional reporting by David Cutler; Editing by Michael Roddy)

Missoni "passed away serenely" in his home in the town of Sumirago, north of Milan, where Missoni SpA is also based, the company said in a statement.

It was another sorrow for the family in a year that marks the 60th anniversary of their company's founding, following the disappearance in January of the Missonis' eldest child, company CEO Vittorio Missoni.

The 58-year-old disappeared with his wife and four others while flying in a small plane during a vacation to a Venezuelan island. They were never found, and the cause of the disappearance remains a mystery.

Known to friends by his nickname "Tai," Ottavio Missoni founded the company in 1953, along with his wife, Rosita Jelmini, who survives him. They went on to create a fashion dynasty, with the couple's three children and their offspring involved in expanding the brand.

"It was Tai and Rosita who founded, along with few others, Italian fashion in the 1950s," said Mario Boselli, chairman of the Milan Fashion Chamber who knew Missoni for decades. "We are speaking of a historical era, the start of ready-to-wear in Italy, that defined the success of 'Made in Italy.'"

Boselli described Missoni as "a pleasure, a marvel of great sympathy and great openness with an enormous human warmth."

Laura Biagiotti, who was among those early designers, said Missoni patterns "became almost a second flag for Italy."

"I have always admired Tai's vital energy, his joy in life, the ability to run a family and a company in a unique environment a little magical, made of creativity, originality and most of all in the spirit of teamwork," said Biagiotti, who also made her name in knitwear, earning the moniker "Queen of Cashmere."

Born on Feb. 11, 1921, in what is now Dubrovnik, a picturesque Adriatic coastal city in Croatia, Missoni was fond of saying he came into the fashion business "by accident."

His wife's family owned a textile factory and produced shawls, and the newlyweds started their own business in 1953 with an artisan's shop producing knitwear in Gallarate, near Milan.

At the beginning, they produced athletic wear, likely inspired by Missoni himself, who had been a track-and-field star specializing in 400-meter relays and hurdles. He won several national medals, and competed in the 1948 Olympics, finishing sixth in the 400-meter hurdles after he hit an obstacle.

At the beginning of that decade, during World War II, he was taken prisoner during the battle of El Alamein, and held for four years by the British.

The brand got its first break in 1958, when the Rinascente department store commissioned 500 colorful vertically striped shirt dresses the first to carry the Missoni label.

Missoni recalled in an autobiography published for his 90th birthday that one evening he and Rosita snuck down to view their creations displayed in the store window. The mannequins wore colorful blindfolds, and Missoni wrote that they heard a passerby remark: "Oh dear, poor things, thank goodness they covered the eyes because if they could only see themselves."

The criticism wasn't shared, and the Missoni brand gained quick popularity with its original striped and zig-zag patterns.

The company expanded, eventually constructing its main factory in Sumirago. But the philosophy of applying an artisan's eye to detail and precision continued to shape its fashion output, on the runways of Milan and in stores worldwide as the brand went global.

The Missonis, who often wore their own creations in everyday life, first showed their collection in Milan in 1966. The next year, a show in Florence of transparent tops sparked outrage, but they were ahead of a fashion trend that would later be picked up by no one less than Yves Saint Laurent, before spreading.

Missoni wrote later that his wife discovered just before the models were to go down the runway at the Pitti Palace that they had forgotten garments that we supposed to be worn under the sheer lame blouses.

"So, she sent them out without bras, and the lights made them transparent. The indulgent smiles and delight of the buyers and the guests contrasted with the protests of the organizers: 'What do they think, that Pitti Palace is the Crazy Horse cabaret?' And we weren't invited to the next shows," he wrote.

But the Missonis had their revenge, creating a literal and figurative splash in Milan the next year when a poolside show ended with everyone in the water.

Missoni recalled that the brand first caught the eye of fashion writers when Anna Piaggi wrote about it for a monthly printed by Mondadori publishing house in 1965. But soon, Missoni was spread across every major fashion magazine from Elle to Vogue, featured in The New York Times and lionized by Women's Wear Daily.

The brand opened its first boutique in the United States in 1970, and by the end of the decade Missoni knitwear was a must-have for the well-heeled. The media dubbed Missoni "the new status symbol of Italian design."

The brand's appeal in the United States has hardly cooled. In 2011, demand was so high for a Missoni limited edition line for Target that the retailer's website crashed.

Missoni's signature fashions have a reputation for wearability and for surviving many seasons of changing trends. Among the exhibits honoring the company was one by the Whitney Museum in New York. New York's Metropolitan Museum has also showcased Missoni creations. The house also has designed costumes for a production of "Lucia di Lammermoor" at La Scala starring Luciano Pavarotti and Luciana Serra.

Ottavio and Rosita turned over the business to their children in 1997. Missoni wrote that "it was time for a change" and that all three children had already "freely and spontaneously" inserted themselves into the company.

The couple's daughter, Angela, is the creative director, while their third child, Luca, has a technical role. The family won the admiration of the fashion community for their perseverance when they went on with their January menswear show just days after Vittorio went missing.

The fashion dynasty is expanding, too: Ottavio and Rosita's granddaughter, Margherita, has promoted Missoni perfume and starred in advertising campaigns.

____

D'Emilio and AP Fashion Writer Daniela Petroff contributed from Rome.

LONDON (Reuters) - In November 2012, Google's Vice President for Northern and Central Europe was called to an oak-paneled conference room overlooking the Thames to testify to a parliamentary committee about how firms like his reap billions in revenue in Britain but pay very little corporate income tax.

Matt Brittin, dressed in a fitted blue suit and open-necked white shirt, smiled confidently as he explained that Google Inc. wasn't liable for taxation on UK sales because these were all handled from its European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. "Nobody (in the UK) is selling," Brittin told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

That's not how Simon Andrews, founder of advertising agency Addictive, has experienced Google UK. "All the people you tend to deal with are in London," said Andrews, whose business plans and buys advertising campaigns on behalf of clients. "You would never know about the Dublin thing apart from if you looked closely at the address on the invoices. All the people are based in London."

The difference is important. For tax purposes, Google, which is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., says it does not have a British presence. From 2006 to 2011, Google generated $18 billion in revenues from the UK, according to statutory filings, and paid just $16 million in taxes. If the UK tax authority were to decide that UK-based employees do sell to British clients, UK law could consider Google to have a tax residence, lawyers and academics say.

Google UK Ltd. employed 1,300 people at the end of 2011, of whom 720 were engaged in "the provision of marketing services" to Google Ireland, according to its accounts. Google's chairman, Eric Schmidt, defended the internet search giant's low tax bills in the UK last month, saying the company's arrangements are within the law.

A Reuters examination of Google's activities in Britain shows many roles that actually target, negotiate and close sales of Google's advertising products to its customers. Research included interviews with more than a dozen customers and former staff, job advertisements, CVs and endorsements on networking website LinkedIn.

There may be a fine line between marketing and sales, but the idea that Google does not sell in Britain raised a chuckle from Andrew Johnson, a manager at digital marketing agency Stickyeyes who is based in the northern city of Leeds. His company, which has annual turnover of around 15 million pounds ($23 million), buys a range of services from Google and he has had meetings with account managers in London. "I suppose it goes back to the famous quote that we're all sales people ultimately because we're all trying to sell something," he said. "But they do lots of sales pitches. That's how we view them. They view them as new product pitches, we call them sales pitches."

On its corporate website, Google UK says London is home base to "a number of EMEA sales & marketing leaders", adding, "Most offices outside Mountain View focus on engineering or sales; we do both."

In late March and early April, the website advertised dozens of London-based sales jobs, whose responsibilities included "negotiating deals", closing "strategic and revenue deals" and achieving "quarterly sales quotas."

The LinkedIn profiles of around 150 London-based employees said they were involved in formulating sales strategy, managing sales teams, closing deals or other sales work. Some employees describe how they meet - or exceed - sales targets.

David Smith is Strategic Partner Lead at Google in London, according to his LinkedIn profile in late April. His profile said his role involves "selling Media Platforms Solutions to existing Publishers, Agencies and Marketers" and noted that "I constantly exceed target." His former boss endorsed this claim, posting a recommendation saying he "demonstrated his ability to grow clients at exponential rates taking one agency from $50k a year to over $1MM annually." Smith, like other Google employees named in this story, did not respond to requests for comment.

Google customers also endorse its London-based sales staff on LinkedIn, at least six profiles show. "An outstanding sales professional" is how David McLeman described Koert Holtgreve, Regional Sales Lead for UK, Ireland & Benelux at Google UK, from the time they worked together. McLeman did not respond to requests for comment.

Lawyers and academics say that if Google's UK staff did agree to sales with UK customers, that could open the possibility of much bigger tax bills. The tax authority in France has already challenged a similar structure that the company used in relation to its French subsidiary. But questions of tax often sit in a legal grey area, where a country's tax authority and the courts ultimately decide.

Google's Director for External Relations Peter Barron said if UK customers want to buy advertising from Google, the company's UK marketing staff would encourage them to do so; but only staff in Ireland sold to UK clients. "We comply with all the tax rules in the UK," he said.

Google has not been accused of violating UK tax laws. Britain's tax authority, Her Majesty's Customs and Revenue (HMRC), and Google's auditor, Ernst & Young, declined to comment, citing taxpayer and client confidentiality.

Margaret Hodge, chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee, which heard Brittin speak in November, said the fact Google told parliament it does not sell in the UK while advertising London-based jobs for salespeople is a "very serious" matter. The discrepancy raises questions about whether Google does operate within the law, she said, and whether it misled parliament - a rare offence which in the past has cost government officials their jobs.

"It's difficult to reconcile the statements made by the witness (Brittin) and the evidence Reuters has uncovered," Hodge said. She said she plans to recall Brittin to appear before her committee. "We will need to very quickly call back the Google executives to give them a chance to explain themselves and to ensure that actually what they told us first time around is not being economical with the truth."

Google director Barron said Brittin firmly rebutted any suggestion he misled the committee. But Barron declined to say whether UK-based employees do actually negotiate terms with clients, or why job advertisements told candidates they would be required to perform such tasks.

"Our advertisements for UK staff sometimes refer to sales skills and many of the roles include Sales in the title as we are seeking to attract people with those skills and that background," he added. "We accept that the wording of some job adverts may have been confusing and we are working to make it clearer."

TANGIBLE PRESENCE

Google makes almost all its money from internet advertising - selling space on its own website, arranging ads on those run by others and offering services, such as tools to monitor internet traffic. Most UK employees work in a multicolored office block just off Oxford Street - the capital's main shopping area - fitted out with exposed air conditioning pipes, buttoned fabric walls, floral wallpaper, outsized lampshades and cafeterias offering free food and drinks.

Brittin told the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee Google declares hardly any taxable profit in the UK because all its profits are derived from the computer codes developed in California.

He said Google employs "a couple of hundred" staff in Dublin who are responsible for selling to UK clients. The London employees are "digital consultants" who simply educate potential clients about how its products work and direct them to Dublin if they express an interest to buy anything.

The UK unit's accounts show it doesn't receive revenue from sales, but fees from Google Ireland and Google Inc., which are supposed to cover costs and include a small premium. Google UK Ltd. reported losses every year between 2006 and 2011, which allowed it to build up tax credits - used to offset future tax bills - of almost $20 million.

Google Ireland Ltd. reported sales of 12.5 billion euros ($16.4 billion) in 2011, but profits of only 24 million euros, and an Irish corporation tax bill of 8 million euros. The low profit comes from the fact it pays most of its turnover to an affiliate in Bermuda, which levies no income tax on foreign-controlled corporations, for the right to use the computer algorithms.

Chairman Schmidt has said he is "very proud" of Google's corporate structure. "It's called capitalism," he told Bloomberg News in December. "We are proudly capitalistic. I'm not confused about this."

COOL STUFF

Matt Brittin's comments to parliament sit uneasily with the recruitment section of Google's website.

There, the company makes a clear distinction between marketing and sales. It divides its roles into three main categories: "Build cool stuff", which includes technical and research roles, "do cool stuff", which includes marketing and administrative functions, and "sell cool stuff".

"Sell cool stuff" includes four sales sub-categories: Sales & Account Management covers revenue-generating roles. Product & Customer Support helps "improve user experience" and collects feedback; Partnerships covers business development; Sales Operations involves supporting sales people. Google's website says the London office is home to teams in all four areas.

In mid-April, the corporate website advertised 39 London-based positions within the sales team. It offered 21 jobs in Sales & Account Management and nine with Partnerships sub-categories - roles for which the ads tell candidates they will need to be involved in negotiating and closing deals. Only seven London-based jobs were advertised within the "Marketing and Communications" subcategory.

OVER-ACHIEVERS

The way Google staff describe their work also differs from Brittin's words.

Account Manager Indi Burton, for example, outlines her role on her LinkedIn profile: "From the initial first call to establish the right contact, I pitch clients over the phone and face to face. Once the client is on board I manage and grow the account and client relationship." None of the people whose LinkedIn profiles are cited in this story responded to attempts to contact them; Google declined to comment on the profiles.

Adrian Joseph, Google's London-based Head Of Search Advertising Solutions for Northern & Central Europe, who describes himself as a black belt in judo and cites table tennis and investing in fine wine among his interests, says on his LinkedIn profile that he has "responsibility for driving all Search advertising revenue."

Jerome Beauguitte, a Senior Account Executive, said his role was to "develop a strategic client acquisition plan targeting top accounts in Europe ... Identify and close enterprise and subscription-based sales opportunities."

Peter Lorant, as Head of Channel Partners (EMEA), said he was "Responsible for channel revenue" and "Over-achieved New Business Quota in 2011 & 2012."

"VERY SALESY"

Johnson, the Google customer at Stickyeyes, said that "smaller spending clients" go through the Dublin call center, but those spending more than 250,000 pounds a year receive dedicated support from Google representatives in the UK. The culture is "very, very salesy," he said. "Anything they've got new that they want you to spend more money on, it's all about selling you their new products."

Two former London-based sales staff also told Reuters the larger customers were dealt with by London.

Marcos Steverlynck worked as a sales and business development professional at Google in London from 2007 to 2011. He said the focus was on closing deals. "It could be either contacting potential partners directly or partners contact you and basically, negotiating the deals with them."

When large, strategic deals had to be escalated for approval, they went to U.S. offices rather than to Ireland, said Steverlynck, who now runs an online art dealership. Google declined to comment on how decisions on big deals were handled.

WHAT IS SELLING?

Google's practice of not reporting sales from UK clients to be assessed for income tax in Britain is based on the legal assumption that it does not have a taxable presence in the country, a "permanent establishment" known as a PE, lawyers and academics say. Tax lawyer Miles Dean, founder and partner of law firm Milestone, said the company can avoid having a taxable presence if all sales to UK clients are made directly with Google Ireland Ltd.

Google declined to say what its staff in Ireland do with contracts agreed with UK clients. When asked if they send out contracts to UK clients that have been agreed in principle by UK sales staff, Barron declined to comment.

A sales contract carrying the name of Google Ireland is not enough to ensure that Google Ireland has no taxable presence in the UK, said Angharad Miller, senior lecturer in tax at Bournemouth University, who worked for 13 years with large accounting firms before becoming an academic. "It can be enough (to establish a taxable presence) that the contract is in substance made in the UK," she said. "If they're closing deals (in the UK), they are living quite dangerously."

Google declined to comment on what impact negotiating sales in the UK would have on its tax status.

Dean, the tax attorney, said it was impossible to tell whether Google's activities were in line with the law without seeing the contract for services between Google Ireland and Google UK, but that negotiating deals could be problematic. "The best advice, in order to avoid a PE, is that negotiation can't take place in the UK," he said.

"Because the more of that decision-making process that you bring into the UK, that management process, and negotiation, is obviously of some relevance in the formation of contracts. That would generally be outside the scope of an agreement between the head office in Ireland and the UK subsidiary or the marketing company," he added.

EUROPE-WIDE ARRANGEMENT

In France, the tax authority is investigating the company's claim that its French unit conducts limited support activities on behalf of Google Ireland. A source close to Google has confirmed news reports that France has demanded 1.7 billion euros in back taxes from the company on the grounds that it is really engaged in sales, not just marketing, in the country.

French tax officers raided Google's Paris offices in 2011 on a "presumption of fraud", according to court documents seen by Reuters and reported in French and international press. That was based in part on evidence including testimony from a Google customer who said advertising contracts came in Google Ireland's name, but were processed by Google representatives in Paris and that he had only had contact with Google France employees. The French tax authority and Google declined to comment on the investigation.

The UK authority has taken a less aggressive approach to big international companies. HMRC declined to say when it last raided the premises of a multinational seeking evidence of tax avoidance or evasion.

Some lawmakers said they were surprised the UK tax authority has not yet challenged the structures used by internet companies such as Google to avoid paying taxes on profits earned from UK customers.

"HMRC has to be much more assertive and aggressive on behalf of the UK taxpayer to ensure that we really do get the proper tax back for the economic activity that takes place in this country," Hodge said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has responded to concern about corporate tax avoidance by saying he wants a change in international rules to ensure companies pay their fair share of tax. HMRC said it used a wide variety of information sources to ensure companies pay the right amount of tax. ($1 = 0.6455 British pounds) ($1 = 0.7634 euros)

(Last year, a Google executive defended its low UK tax bill by telling parliament the company does not have sales operations in Britain. This Reuters examination raises questions about that.)

(Additional reporting by Natalie Huet in London and Jean-Baptiste Vey in Paris; Edited by Sara Ledwith and Simon Robinson)

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ACTIVISION ANNOUNCES THE NEXT GENERATION OF CALL OF DUTY WITH CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS

[More from BGR: ]

Call of Duty: Ghosts will set a new Benchmark for the Next Generation

All-New World, Story, Characters and Experience, All Powered by New, Next Gen Call of Duty Engine from the Developer that started it all, Infinity Ward

For an Exclusive First Look at the Game, Tune in to Xbox: The New Generation Revealed, May 21 at 10AM PDT on Xbox.com, Xbox Live or SPIKE TV

Groundbreaking Title Lands on November 5

Santa Monica, CA May 1, 2013 Prepare for the next generation of Call of Duty. The franchise that has defined a generation of gaming is set to raise the bar once again with the all-new Call of Duty: Ghosts. Published by Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI), and developed by Infinity Ward, the studio that created the original Call of Duty and the seminal Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series, Call of Duty: Ghosts ushers in the next generation of the franchise. The new title delivers a riveting all-new gameplay experience built on an entirely new story, setting and cast of characters, all powered by a new, next generation Call of Duty engine that redefines the series for the next generation.

Infinity Ward set the gold standard for first-person action for a generation, and theyre going to do it again with Call of Duty: Ghosts, said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc. Ghosts delivers an all-new story, all-new characters, an all-new Call of Duty world, all powered by a next generation Call of Duty engine, which is a leap forward for the franchise. Infinity Ward is going all-in to create the next generation of Call of Duty worthy of the worlds greatest fans.

Everyone was expecting us to make Modern Warfare 4, which would have been the safe thing to do. But were not resting on our laurels, said Mark Rubin, executive producer of developer Infinity Ward. We saw the console transition as the perfect opportunity to start a new chapter for Call of Duty. So were building a new sub-brand, a new engine, and a lot of new ideas and experiences for our players. We cant wait to share them with our community.

To see an exclusive first look at Call of Duty: Ghosts tune in to Xbox: the Next Generation Revealed on May 21 at 10AM PDT on Xbox.com, Xbox LIVE or SPIKE TV for the debut of the all-new game from Infinity Ward.

We are consistently thrilled with the overwhelming response received from critics and consumers alike to the Call of Duty series, which has firmly established its home on the Xbox 360 with the games largest and most engaged community, said Don Mattrick, president of the interactive entertainment business at Microsoft. With Call of Duty: Ghosts, we have no doubt that our longtime partners, Activision and Infinity Ward, will raise the bar higher than ever before for this incredible franchise.

Starting today, fans can begin pre-ordering their copy of Call of Duty: Ghosts at retail outlets worldwide.

Theres no other video game property like Call of Duty. Its the biggest game franchise on the planet that has had some of the biggest game entertainment launches in history, said Tony Bartel, president of GameStop. We are very excited for the launch of Call of Duty: Ghosts, as we transition to next generation consoles.

Call of Duty: Ghosts will release on Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation3 computer entertainment system and PC on November 5. Call of Duty: Ghosts will also be available for next generation platforms. For the latest intel, check out: , , or follow on Twitter @InfinityWard. Call of Duty: Ghosts is not yet rated.

This article was

On April 27, NASA's Swift Space Telescope and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope spotted the highest-energy gamma-ray burst (GRB) an explosion of a massive star in the last stage of its life ever before seen.

NASA scientists combined the observations into ato illustrate the surprising brightness of this star explosion. []

"We have waited a long time for a gamma-ray burst this shockingly, eye-wateringly bright," Julie McEnery, a project scientist for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said in a statement. "The GRB lasted so long that a record number of telescopes on the ground were able to catch it while space-based observations were still ongoing."

One of the gamma-rays emitted during the eruption seen in the constellation Leo was three times more energetic than any other gamma-ray burst recorded by Fermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT), the instrument on the spacecraft responsible for detecting these kinds of explosions.

The gamma-ray burst (named GRB 130427A) was also the longest ever recorded, NASA officials said.

"The GeV [energy] emission from the burst lasted for hours, and it remained detectable by the LAT for the better part of a day, setting a new record for the longest gamma-ray emission from a GRB," NASA officials added.

are the brightest explosions yet observed in the universe.

"Astronomers think most [gamma-ray bursts] occur when massive stars run out of nuclear fuel and collapse under their own weight," NASA officials said in a statement. "As the core collapses into a black hole, jets of material shoot outward at nearly the speed of light."

Swift's detection of this burst was delayed. The satellite was moving between cosmic targets at the time of the eruption, but the spacecraft captured the explosion less than a minute after it began. Swift also aided astronomers in placing the gamma-ray burst closer to Earth than most other star explosions of its kind, NASA officials said.

"This GRB is in the closest 5 percent of bursts, so the big push now is to find an emerging supernova, which accompanies nearly all long GRBs at this distance," Goddard's Neil Gehrels, principal investigator for Swift, said in a statement.

Scientists are hoping to find awithin the area of the explosion in order to trace the gamma-ray burst back to its origins.

Observatories on the ground are keeping an eye on GRB 130427A's area of the sky to locate the supernova by mid-May.

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Saudi Arabia's official press agency, SPA, reported that private girls' schools are now allowed to hold sports activities in accordance with the rules of Shariah, or Islamic law. Students must adhere to "decent dress" codes and Saudi women teachers will be given priority in supervising the activities, according to the Education Ministry's requirements.

The decision makes sports once again a stage for the push to improve women's rights, nearly a year after two Saudi female athletes made an unprecedented appearance at the Olympics.

"It's about time," said Aziza Youssef, a professor at King Saud University. "Everything is being held back in Saudi Arabia as far as women's rights."

Youssef said she sees the decision to allow sports for girls in private schools as part of package of wider reforms targeting women, but that continued restrictions on sports is a discrimination that negatively impacts women's health.

Education Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Dakhini was quoted in SPA saying that the decision to allow girls to play sports in private schools "stems from the teachings of our religion, which allow women such activities in accordance with Shariah."

The government had previously quietly tolerated physical education in some private schools, but there is no set curriculum.

The decision, which also orders private girls' schools to provide appropriate places and equipment for sports, is a monumental step that will likely soon affect public schools and universities, which are also gender segregated, Youssef said.

The Saudi government plays a role in private schools, providing text books and directors.

Deputy Minister of Education for Women's Affairs, Nora al-Fayez, was quoted in local press saying recently that there is a plan in place to expand sports education in public schools. It remains unclear if girls would have access to the same level of physical education as boys.

Sports for women in Saudi Arabia have been largely a pastime of elites who can afford expensive health club memberships. They are often attached to hospitals since women's gyms were closed in 2010 on grounds they were unlicensed.

Saudi Arabia allowed two female athletes to compete in last summer's Olympics only after the International Olympics Committee had put intense pressure on the kingdom to end its practice of sending only male teams to the games. Their participation was not shown on Saudi TV stations.

Women's sports remain nearly an underground activity in the kingdom, which is home to Islam's holiest site in Mecca.

Only the largest female university in the kingdom Princess Nora Bint Abdul Rahman Unviersity has a swimming pool, tennis court and exercise area for its students. No other university in Saudi Arabia has sports facilities for its female students and staff.

Women are also bound by strict rules when it comes to their attire, so they cannot, for example, be seen by men while jogging in sweat pants. Almost all women in Saudi Arabia cover their face with a veil known as the "niqab," and even foreigners are obliged to respect local culture and wear a loose black dress known as the "abaya."

Female athletes cannot register for sports clubs or league competitions. They are banned from entering national trials, which makes it impossible for them to qualify for international competitions.

The government has turned a blind eye, though, to tournaments where all female teams play against one another.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah is seen as pushing for these reforms. Other Saudi rulers have also quietly tried to modernize the country, with King Faisal's wife opening the first school for girls in the late 1950s.

But the monarch is facing edicts from powerful and influential senior Saudi clerics who are against all types of sporting activities for women. They argue that in order for a woman to remain protected from harassment, she must avoid public roles.

Despite such rhetoric, thousands of women work as doctors and professors in Saudi Arabia. Women will be allowed to run for office and vote for the first time in the 2015 municipal elections.

There have also been a number of incremental and significant changes that have afforded women new roles in recent months.

A law was implemented last year to allow women sales clerks' jobs, and women now have seats on the country's top advisory council. A woman was licensed to practice law for the first time last month, and a ban was lifted on allowing women to ride motorbikes and bicycles.

But with each move comes restrictions.

Women are only allowed to sell at female apparel outlets, such as lingerie stores. The 30 women who now serve on the country's Shura Council, which advises the king, were segregated from the 130 men in the chamber, and plans for a proposed barrier that would separate the genders remains under discussion. Moreover, there are no guarantees that women who become licensed lawyers will not face discrimination in the courtroom. Lastly, women may be allowed to ride bikes in parks, but they have to be accompanied by a male relative and dressed in the "abaya."

In other areas, women's freedoms are still severely limited. They are not allowed to drive nor are they allowed to travel or attend school without the permission of a male guardian.

A 52-page report on women's sports in Saudi Arabia issued by Human Rights Watch last year urged the government to set benchmarks for physical education, to set a curriculum to follow and to launch a public outreach campaign about girls' rights to physical education.

"Although religious views opposing prohibition on women's participation in sport are less frequently pronounced than those in favor, government policy is only inching toward realizing women's right to sport rather than taking bold steps to realize it," the report said.

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Batrawy reported from Cairo.

of mozambique * Says net interest income grew 7,3% to R5 121m (Q1 2012: R4 774m) * Says elevated consumer indebtedness and unsecured lending continued into

2013, leading to higher retail impairments * Says credit loss ratio increased to 1,22% (Q1 2012: 1,08%) * Says cautious in outlook for the year but remains on track to achieve medium to long term earnings growth target

Echoing results across Europe, British voters appeared to punish the ruling government, fed up with economic doldrums and austerity measures. Britain's nationalist party appeared to be the recipient of a sizeable protest vote against the political elite and the EU, analysts said.

According to returns Friday from 34 contests across England, the right-wing United Kingdom Independence Party, or UKIP, won 139 county council seats, while the mainstream opposition Labour Party gained 291.

The Liberal Democrats junior partners in Britain's coalition government were down 124 county council seats, while Cameron's ruling Conservatives lost 335 seats in Thursday's vote.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage whose party Cameron once referred to as a bunch of "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists" said the results will send a "shock wave" through the British political establishment.

"This is a real sea-change in British politics," Farage told the BBC.

Cameron's popularity has taken a beating as the government sticks to a strict policy of austerity to cut Britain's debts, slashing public sector jobs and welfare payments.

As results streamed in highlighting UKIP's strong showing in the election, Cameron said respect must be shown for those who chose to support the party.

"We are going to work really hard to win them back," he added.

The prime minister now finds himself in the difficult position of trying to shore up right-wing backing ahead of the next general election in 2015, while trying to maintain his own affinity for more left-wing causes.

The results are a mixture of typical midterm protest and "rage against the machine," said Tony Travers, director of the government department at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

"It is a traditional midterm protest vote and it's found its lightning conductor through UKIP," Travers said. "However, there is a more generalized protest that isn't just against this government in its midterm, but is also a protest against mainstream elite politics."

He suggested UKIP's appeal and the local election results bear echoes of the Tea Party movement in the U.S., complete with cries of "we need to get our country back."

"This is a vote against 'they're all the same.'"

While Friday's results will jeopardize the Conservative Party's success in the 2015 general election, Travers was skeptical the local elections would steer Cameron further to the right.

"Cameron is quite awkwardly trapped," Travers said. "The number of options available to him to shift towards UKIP are limited if he's to keep faith with his own commitment to modernizing the Conservative Party," Travers said.

Still, the results in the short term could lend momentum to voices within Cameron's party urging the prime minister to introduce legislation needed to enshrine his pledge for a referendum on European Union membership by 2017.

That promise of a referendum was seen by many as a political play to shore up support for the Conservatives amid growing signs of discontent within the party and voters flocking for the exits.

The heart of UKIP's success lies not only in harnessing anti-immigration sentiment and appealing to socially conservative views on gay marriage, but exploiting Britons frustrations with a stagnating economy.

John Curtice, a politics professor at the University of Strathclyde, said the challenges facing Cameron's Conservatives in clawing back voters were underscored by the response to the prime minister's pledge to change Britain's relationship with the EU.

"It went absolutely nowhere," Curtice said. "What they have to do now above all is restore the public's faith in the competence of the government in particular its economics. That will help to bring these folks back."

But while many called the local elections indicative of a protest vote, UKIP leader Farage dismissed any suggestion the UKIP surge would be a short-lived phenomenon.

"The next big vote is a European election this time next year in which we will be positioned as the only party saying we should divorce ourselves from a political union and have a simple free trade alternative," he told the BBC

Voting took place in 34 council contests across England, plus the Isle of Anglesey in Wales.

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Cassandra Vinograd can be reached at http://twitter.com/CassVinograd