Quincy Actor Jack Klugman Dies Aged 90

Jack Klugman, who starred in TV's The Odd Couple and Quincy, M.E. has died at the age of 90.

Klugman seen at a charity benefit in 2004

His son Adam said he passed away on Monday afternoon in Los Angeles.

"He had a great life and he enjoyed every moment of it and he would encourage others to do the same," he said.

In the 1970s sitcom The Odd Couple, Klugman played sloppy sports writer Oscar to co-star Tony Randall's Felix, a fussy photographer.

In Quincy, M.E., which aired from 1976 to 1983, Klugman played an idealistic, tough-minded medical examiner.

He lost his voice to throat cancer in the 1980s but trained himself to speak again.

"The only really stupid thing I ever did in my life was to start smoking," he said in 1996.

He said of seeing people smoking in television and films: "It disgusts me, it makes me so angry. Kids are watching."

He returned to acting in a 1993 Broadway revival of Three Men On A Horse.

Klugman then split his time between TV, movies and the New York stage.

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India Rape Protests: Injured Policeman Dies

An Indian policeman who was injured in clashes during a protest over a gang-rape in New Delhi has died.

The 47-year-old police constable, Subash Tomar, was deployed at the India Gate monument on Sunday to control the protests.

He was beaten up by a mob and rushed to hospital by the police.

"The protesters pelted stones at Tomar, he was unconscious for two days and today he died," New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said.

More than 50 policemen were injured in Sunday's violence as police struggled to quell increasing outrage over sex crimes following the gang-rape of a student.

Tomar's cousin Ajay who was in the hospital to claim the body said he had joined the police in 1985 and never spent a single festival with the family.

"My cousin was always out on streets maintaining law and order. The mob attacked him for no reason. They just killed him," said Ajay Tomar.

Much of central Delhi remains sealed off after the wave of violent protests over the gang-rape of a 23-year-old student in the capital and a surge in violence against women.

Protests have taken place across India over the last week to denounce the police and government.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appealed for calm in the city.

His pleas were echoed by the victim's father.

"Please pray for my daughter and do not resort to any violent activity. She needs your support and your prayers," the father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the Hindi-language News 24 network.

"My daughter is fighting for her life, but she is very strong and has a strong will to live."

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Timberlake Video: Mocked Homeless Man's Appeal

A homeless man from Los Angeles who featured in a mock video produced by one of Justin Timberlake's friends for his wedding wants the star to visit him on Skid Row.

The man, who goes by the name "Eddie", has lived for six or seven years in the neighbourhood which has a large homeless population.

The video, initially posted on the Gawker website, featured a series of LA vagrants, street musicians and others talking into a camera, sending wishes to Timberlake and actress Jessica Biel on their recent Italian nuptials.

Eddie was paid $40 (£25) to appear in the video but said he did not realise it was going to make fun of him.

High-profile lawyer Gloria Allred is representing Eddie who has written an open letter to Timberlake asking to arrange a meeting with him "very soon".

Gloria Allred

He said he wants to talk to the actor-singer "so you can understand my situation, and so that we can talk about this situation involving so many others who are homeless".

Ms Allred challenged Timberlake and his friends to "take action to provide meaningful assistance to 'Eddie' and others like him".

"This issue is not just about fans being upset or anyone being offended by a video," she said. "It is about people being down on their luck and in desperate need of help by those who are in a position to provide it."

Timberlake posted an open letter in October on his website about the video, saying: "I had no knowledge of its existence. I had absolutely ZERO contribution to it."

The video was titled Greetings from your Hollywood friends who just couldn't make it.

"I think we can all agree that it was distasteful, even though that was not its intention," Timberlake added.

Eddie said Timberlake's letter showed he has a "good heart, but (does) not really understand the situation I face or that (is) faced by the thousands living on the streets of Los Angeles and around the country".

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Steve Jobs' Yacht Row Settled With Payout

Steve Jobs' yacht is free to set sail after the late Apple co-founder's estate paid a deposit to resolve a dispute with the designer.

The boat, which reportedly cost more than £80m to build, was impounded after Philippe Starck said Mr Jobs' estate still owed him around £2.5m for his contribution to its design.

Mr Starck said he was to be paid a fixed sum of £7m, while lawyers for Mr Jobs' estate said he was to be paid a percentage of the project's cost - equal to £5m.

"The Venus is no longer impounded, we have found a solution," said lawyer Gerard Moussault.

"A security deposit was paid into a bank account, but I cannot say for how much."

The designer was supposedly "very close" to Mr Jobs during the period the design was agreed and construction went ahead.

That was said to be one of the reasons there was no formal agreement on the job.

The Dutch-built yacht was unveiled in October, just over a year after Mr Jobs died of respiratory problems related to his pancreatic cancer.

Seven iMacs are installed in the bridge

Although the boat is no longer impounded, it remains in Amsterdam harbour because of bad weather.

The yacht will reportedly be taken to the United States, where Mr Jobs' family, including his widow Laurene Powell Jobs and their three children Reed, Erin and Eve, are to take charge of the boat.

The aluminium-hulled 70-metre (230-foot) yacht was built by shipbuilder Royal De Vries in Aalsmeer, just south of Amsterdam, with the interiors designed by Mr Starck.

He described the vessel as "sleek and minimalist", with teak decks.

The bridge features a control panel made up of an array of seven iMac computers.

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Manila Christmas Eve Fires Tear Through Slum

At least eight people have been killed and thousands more left homeless after two fires broke out in Manila in the Philippines.

One of the blazes sparked a riot in a slum with emergency workers being showered with rocks as they drove in to help people.

Fire marshall Santiago Laguna said the clashes left one man dead and two suspected rioters were arrested.

"They (residents) started grabbing hoses from our firefighters, who could not do anything as they feared for their own safety," Mr Laguna said.

He said a man was beaten up and later died from his injuries as the blaze consumed the shantytown in the San Juan district. Arson is believed to be the cause of the blaze.

Mr Laguna said residents were apparently angered by the delayed arrival of firefighters. The emergency workers could not get their fire trucks through narrow streets jammed with parked vehicles.

The shantytown blaze left some 2,000 families homeless, Mr Laguna said, adding that equated to around 8,000 people without a roof over their heads at Christmas.

In the separate fire seven charred bodies, all believed to be from one household, were recovered after one of the fires ripped through a row of old apartments in northern Manila.

"They are all believed to be from a family that owned the apartment row and lived in one of the units where the fire was suspected to have started," fire officer Francisco Mabunga added.

The cause of that blaze, which broke out as the metropolis of 14 million people held Christmas Eve parties that lasted until dawn, is under investigation, officials said.

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Pope Benedict Celebrates Christmas Mass

The Pope has marked Christmas with a Mass in the Vatican and asked if people still have room for children, the poor and God in their technology-driven lives.

The pontiff also prayed that Israelis and Palestinians live in peace and freedom, and asked the faithful to pray for strife-torn Syria as well as Lebanon and Iraq.

The Pope's Christmas Eve ceremony began at 10pm local time with the blare of trumpets, meant to symbolise Christian joy over the news of Christ's birth in Bethlehem.

As midnight neared, church bells tolled throughout Rome, while inside the basilica, the voices of the Vatican boys' choir resounded joyously.

Christmas Eve Mass at the Vatican traditionally began at midnight, but the start time was brought forward years ago to give the 85-year-old pontiff more time to rest before his Christmas Day speech.

A smiling Benedict, dressed in gold vestments, waved to applauding church-goers as he glided up the St Peter's Basilica aisle toward the ornate main altar on a wheeled platform guided by white-gloved aides.

In his homily, Benedict urged people to reflect upon what they find time for in their busy lives.

He said: "The great moral question of our attitude toward the homeless, toward refugees and migrants takes on a deeper dimension. Do we really have room for God when he seeks to enter under our roof? Do we have time and space for him?

"The faster we can move, the more efficient our time-saving appliances become, the less time we have. And God? The question of God never seems urgent."

He continued: "Let us pray that Israelis and Palestinians be able to live their lives in the peace of the one God and in freedom."

On Christmas Day, the Pope delivered the Vatican's traditional message from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.

He again spoke of political turmoil across the world, encouraging Arab spring nations, especially Egypt, to build just and respectful societies.

He also prayed that China's new leaders respect religion, a reference to persecution Chinese Roman Catholics have at times endured under communism.

In his "Urbi et Orbi" speech, which traditionally reviews world events and global challenges, the pontiff prayed that "peace spring up for the people of Syria, deeply wounded and divided by a conflict that does not spare even the defenseless and reaps innocent victims."

He also called for easier access to help refugees and for "dialogue in the pursuit of a political solution to the conflict."

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Mandela In Hospital: 'Looking Much Better'

South African President Jacob Zuma has visited Nelson Mandela in hospital and says the 94-year-old is "looking much better".

Mr Zuma said the ex-president was in good spirits on Christmas morning.

Family members, including his wife Graca Machel, are spending the day with Mr Mandela at his bedside.

According to Mr Zuma, doctors are "happy" with Mr Mandela's progress.

The anti-apartheid icon was admitted to hospital on December 8 with a lung infection.

Since then he has also undergone surgery to remove gallstones.

Officials have previously said Mr Mandela was improving, but note that doctors are taking extraordinary care because of his age.

On Monday, Mr Zuma's office, which is tasked with issuing updates on Mr Mandela's condition, said doctors had confirmed that he would not be home for Christmas.

But there was no indication of when he might be discharged.

His grandson Mandla Mandela earlier told eNCA television that the family was saddened by his absence from home this Christmas.

"We are greatly saddened by his absence ... we didn't anticipate that he would be away for so long," he said from Mvezo village, where he is the local chief.

He said the family was hopeful that the much loved elderly statesman will be home soon, adding that his presence was enjoyed by the family and the community of Qunu, the rural village where he grew up and later retired to.

Before his retirement in 2004, Mr Mandela used to host a Christmas feast for impoverished children in Qunu, which was a highlight for many.

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Four Brits Injured In Burma Plane Crash

Three people have been killed and at least 11 injured, including four British nationals, after an Air Bagan flight made an emergency landing on a road in Burma.

The plane was carrying Christmas tourists, including 51 foreigners and six crew members, from Rangoon, via Mandalay to Heho airport in Shan state.

The fatalities were all Burmese citizens: a tour guide and an 11-year-old child on board the plane and a man riding a motorcycle on the road where the plane came down.

Airport officials in Heho said that injured passengers were taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Taunggyi for treatment.

Air Bagan said the emergency landing was made on a road about two miles from Heho airport.

"While descending, the plane mistakenly landed ... due to fog beside the runway," state television reported. It said the aircraft made a hard landing on a road and then came to a stop in a nearby rice paddy field.

"The rear end of the plane broke and caught fire," state TV said, carrying a statement posted on Deputy Information Minister Ye Htut's Facebook page. Rescuers brought the fire under control about 45 minutes later, he said.

Witnesses said smoke filled the plane when it hit the ground and was still rising from the plane's badly charred wreckage hours later.

Air Bagan is one of several domestic carriers seeking to profit from a tourist boom in Burma as it emerges from decades of military rule.

It is owned by tycoon Tay Za, who is known for his close links to the former junta and has been blacklisted by the US Treasury which once described him as "a notorious regime henchman and arms dealer".

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Firefighters Shot Dead In House Blaze 'Trap'

Two volunteer firefighters have been shot dead and two others injured when a gunman opened fire as they were responding to a house fire in New York state.

The gunman, named as William Spengler, opened fired on the four men as they arrived shortly after 5:30am on Monday to put out the blaze in Webster, said police chief Gerald Pickering.

Spengler set fire to a car and house to lure the firefighters to his house on the shore of Lake Ontario.

"It does appear it was a trap," an emotional Mr Pickering said at a news conference.

Spengler, 62, had served more than 17 years in prison for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death with a hammer in 1980 at the house next to where the attack happened.

Police said Spengler died at the scene after shooting himself in the head.

Webster is northwest of New York City

One of the firefighters who died, Mike Chiapperini, was also a town police lieutenant, but it was not clear whether he returned fire.

The other firefighter who was killed was named as Tomasz Kaczowka.

The two wounded firefighters, named as Joseph Hofsetter and Theodore Scardino, remained in a critical condition in hospital.

Police were concerned that Spengler's sister, Cheryl Spengler, was in the house where the fire started, reports said.

Spengler reportedly lived there with his sister and mother, Arline Spengler, who died in October.

The gunfire initially kept firefighters from battling the blaze

An off-duty police officer who was driving past the scene also has injuries from shrapnel, Mr Pickering said.

The fire spread and destroyed six other homes in the quiet lakeside town, around 340 miles (550 km) northwest of New York City.

The gunfire initially kept firefighters from battling the blaze.

The neighbourhood's residents were evacuated and searched by police, and a SWAT team was called to the scene.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the shooting was a "senseless act of violence" and offered his condolences to the victims' families.

"New York's first responders are true heroes as they time and again selflessly rush toward danger in order to keep our families and communities safe," he said.

Monroe county sheriff Patrick O'Flynn said: "It's sad to see that that this is becoming more commonplace in communities across the nation."

The shooting in Webster comes 10 days after the shooting rampage at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 20 children and six adults were killed.

The Newtown massacre has revived debate in the United States on the country's gun laws, which are far more lax than in most other developed nations.

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Piers Unrepentant In Face Of 60,000 Petition

Piers Morgan has renewed his call for a ban on assault rifles as the number of Americans signing a petition to get him out of the country rises.

More than 60,000 people have now signed the petition on the White House website, ensuring the Obama administration will respond.

But Morgan, famous for his sharp tongue and straight talking interview style, has nudged back on Twitter, saying: "Merry Christmas! Even to those who want me deported."

He has also repeated his view that assault rifles should be banned in the US following the latest shooting in which two volunteer firefighters were shot dead in New York state.

The pair were killed, and two others injured, by a gunman who set fire to a car and a house and ambushed them when they arrived at the scene.

The CNN host and former Daily Mirror editor tweeted: "Americans murdered with assault weapons in movie theaters, temples, schools, shopping malls - now, as they put out fires. Where does it end?

"Come on America, ENOUGH: Ban assault weapons & high-capacity magazines, and enforce background checks on 100% of gun sales. Do it now."

Mr Morgan's outspoken views on gun control have sharply divided opinion in the States.

Lanza used a Bushmaster rifle, similar to this one from Rock River Arms

The petition was launched after he interviewed Gun Owners of America executive director Larry Pratt last week in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting.

Mr Pratt suggested some of the victims could have been saved if the teaching staff had been armed, and were therefore able to stop gunman Adam Lanza.

Mr Morgan, who repeatedly interrupted Mr Pratt and shouted over him when he was talking, appeared incredulous when he claimed more guns were the answer.

Gun control advocates also want high-capacity magazines banned

"You're an unbelievably stupid man, aren't you?" Mr Morgan asked him during the heated debate.

"You have absolutely no coherent argument. You don't actually give a damn about the gun murder rate in America."

Following the interview, a Texas journalist went on the White House website and posted the petition to eject him.

It alleges Mr Morgan "is engaged in a hostile attack against the US Constitution by targeting the Second Amendment".

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