Venezuela launches massive street security operation

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has launched a massive security plan aimed at curbing street crime.

Under operation "Safe Homeland", 3,000 soldiers will patrol the streets of the capital Caracas and other cities.
President Maduro said the plan would bring peace to Venezuela, which has one of the highest homicide rates in South America.
The opposition has long criticised the government's record on crime, and used it as a campaign issue in recent polls.
The government says more than 16,000 people were killed in crimes in 2012, a rate of 54 per 100,000.
However the Venezuela Violence Observatory, a campaign group, put last year's murder rate much higher - at 73 per 100,000 people.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who is contesting Mr Maduro's narrow victory in last month's presidential election, highlighted crime rates during the campaign.
Under the operation Safe Homeland soldiers will patrol the country's 79 most crime ridden areas - including four in Caracas.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Maduro said his government was "revising every aspect to build a peaceful country."
Last year, the government introduced a new gun law banning the sale of firearms and ammunition.
Crime figures have been rising steadily since the late president Hugo Chavez took office in 1999

Cape Coral council votes to raise tax after lengthy debate

When it came to the public service tax, residents’ responses bounced back and forth like a game of table tennis. A happy medium was found to the tune of 7 percent rather than the full 10.

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Poll: What do you think of the council's decision to raise the public service tax?

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In the end, council members voted as some expected. It was 6-2 in favor of the tax with Mayor John Sullivan and Councilman Chris Chulakes-Leetz dissenting. This adjustment increases the fire services assessment to 70 percent from 60 to try and recoup the 3 percent from the service tax. Council will receive more data on the second part of this revenue diversification effort in June. The final budget for the next fiscal year will be adopted in September.

A diverse group spoke before Cape Coral City Council on Monday night: parents, business owners, retirees, full-time and part-time homeowners, and renters.

Councilman Lenny Nesta motioned to shorten public comment time. It passed with a 5-3 vote, Mayor John Sullivan, Councilman Chris Chulakes-Leetz and Councilman Kevin McGrail dissented.

“If it takes longer than three to five minutes for residents to communicate, their position should not be shut out,” Chulakes-Leetz said. “I’m willing to be here until wee hours of the morning to hear everyone we work for.”

The night still went long with people lining up to speak at the podium.

“It’s a lot of emotion, and I understand the issue about taxes,” said Councilman Derrick Donnell, who felt the tax should remain at 10 percent. “When we finish talking and yelling about it ... this really is not a hard decision for me at all. You understand my vote to support this has come over years (of research).”

By 4:30 p.m. when the meeting began, it was standing room only inside council chambers. The masses were raring to begin but had to abide by the city’s agenda. They waited through two presentations by City Manager John Szerlag and Consultant Michael Burton on the issues and a 20-minute break.

The public service tax is part one of what many are calling a “three-legged stool” needed to balance the budget. The service tax is 7 percent of a household’s average monthly electric bill. The ordinance excludes the first 500 kilowatt hours. The exemption does not apply to commercial properties. The goal is to reach $20 million in additional revenue.

There are unknown variables such as the monthly use of electricity of home and business.

City officials have promised to drop the millage rate by $1 per 1,000 of taxable value. In 2008, Szerlag said the city had a $149 million budget. In 2013, it has $116 million. He said it’s time to catch-up and diversify revenue so the city can once again put money toward capital projects and economic sustainability. Council is committed to an overall average cost of $150 per household, a number many in the crowd were skeptical of. Cape Coral and Palm Coast are the only two of 41 cities in the state of Florida with a population over 50,000 who lack a public service tax.

More than one laugh was heard from the crowd when Burton noted that a “typical residential electric user has a total monthly bill of $145.15 based on usage of 1,200 kWh.” He attributed that average to LCEC reports. Financial Services Director Victoria Bateman encouraged residents to go online to capecoral.net to estimate their taxes and check the formula city staff used.

During public comments, some accused council of not cutting enough, of overspending or exaggerating the consequences with a “sky is falling” approach. They called potential layoffs and loss of services, such as parks and recreation, scare tactics. Councilman Kevin McGrail made the suggestion to lower the service tax slightly to help small business owners and put more responsibility on vacant lot owners.

Deadly clashes in China's Xinjiang

Clashes in China's restive Xinjiang region have left 21 people dead, including 15 police and officials, the local government says.

The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon in Bachu county, Kashgar, a statement on the official Xinjiang government website said.
It began when officials searched homes for weapons, it said. Six "gang members" were among the dead, it said.
There have been sporadic clashes in Xinjiang in recent years.
The incidents come amid rumbling ethnic tensions between the Muslim Uighur and Han Chinese communities. In 2009 almost 200 people - mostly Han Chinese - were killed after deadly rioting erupted.
It is very difficult to verify reports from Xinjiang, reports the BBC's Celia Hatton. Foreign journalists are allowed to travel to the region but frequently face intimidation and harassment when attempting to verify news of ethnic rioting or organised violence against government authorities.
China's propaganda departments have also warned domestic news outlets against conducting their own independent reporting on sensitive Xinjiang stories, ordering them to reprint official stories from China's major state news agencies, our correspondent adds.
'Terrorism' According to the statement, the clash was sparked as officials described as community workers searched homes for weapons and were then taken hostage.
Eight other "gang members" were captured, it said, describing the incident as linked to terrorism.

 There was no information on the identity of the assailants. Ten of the officials and police killed were ethnic Uighurs, it said.
Uighurs make up about 45% of the region's population, but say an influx of Han Chinese residents has marginalised their traditional culture.
Beijing authorities often blame violent incidents in Xinjiang on Uighur extremists seeking autonomy for the region. Uighur activists, meanwhile, accuse Beijing of over-exaggerating the threat to justify heavy-handed rule.
In August 2012, 20 people were jailed on terrorism and separatism charges in the region. 

Bangladesh Dhaka building collapse leaves 70 dead

            Officials have warned that the death toll from the collapse could rise

At least 70 people have been killed and many more are feared trapped after an eight-storey building collapsed in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, government officials say.

Frantic efforts are under way to rescue those beneath the debris. At least 200 were injured by the collapse.
The army is helping with the rescue operation on the outskirts of Dhaka.
Building collapses are common in Bangladesh where many multi-storey blocks are built in violation of rules.
The eight-storey building contained a clothing factory, a bank and several other shops. It collapsed during the morning rush hour.
Many people have gathered near the scene looking for friends and relatives.
The BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan, in Dhaka, says that it is not yet clear what caused the collapse but local media reports said a crack was detected in the block on Tuesday.
Local police chief Mohammad Asaduzzaman told the Reuters news agency that factory owners appeared to have ignored a warning not to allow their workers into the building after the crack was detected.
Police told local media that the rear of the building suddenly started to collapse on Wednesday morning and within a short time the whole structure - except the main pillar and parts of the front wall - had caved-in, triggering panic.
Only the ground floor of the Rana Plaza in Sava remained intact after the collapse, officials said, as army and fire service rescuers equipped with concrete cutters and cranes dug through rubble to pull out trapped people. Many onlookers also joined the effort using their bare hands.
Survivors have described their terror as the collapse began.
"I was in the cutting section of the garment factory and suddenly we heard a huge noise and the building collapsed within a few minutes," a garment worker told private Somoy TV.
"I removed the rubble and came out with two other workers. But at least 30 other workers in my cutting section were still unaccounted for," he said.
In November, a fire at a garment factory in a Dhaka suburb killed at least 110 people and triggered a public outcry about safety standards in the industry.
The last major building collapse was in 2010, when a four-storey building collapsed in Dhaka killing at least 25 people and injuring several others.
Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, providing competitively priced clothes for major Western retailers which benefit from its widespread low-cost labour.

Boston Marathon attack: FBI reveals bomb details

 

 

 The remains of a dark coloured backpack believed to have been used in the attack

Images from the FBI probe into the deadly attack on the Boston Marathon have thrown light on the bombs used.

Images from a joint Homeland Security and FBI bulletin show the remains of a dark coloured backpack and remnants of what appears to be a pressure cooker.

Three people died, including an eight-year-old boy, and more than 170 were injured when two bombs exploded near the finish line of Monday's race.
President Barack Obama will travel to Boston on Thursday for a memorial.
The BBC's Paul Adams, in Boston, says vigils for the victims were held across the city on Tuesday night as Bostonians still wrestled with why anyone would want to attack their much-loved marathon.


'Someone knows'
FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers told a news conference that pieces of nylon had been recovered from the scene, along with fragments of ball bearings and nails that were "possibly contained in a pressure-cooker device".
He said they were being sent to the agency's laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, where experts would reconstruct the devices to determine their make-up and components.

 

He added: "The investigation is in its infancy. There are no claims of responsibility and the range of suspects and motives remains wide open."

Mr DesLauriers urged people to report anyone they had seen acting suspiciously.
"Someone knows who did this," he said.
Associated Press quoted a source close to the investigation as saying that the bombs consisted of explosives placed in 1.6-gallon pressure cookers, one with shards of metal and ball bearings, the other with nails.
The bombs were put into black bags and left on the ground, the source said.
Our correspondent says it has also been reported that a circuit board and battery pack - parts of a triggering mechanism - were also recovered.
Doctors treating the wounded say their injuries indicate that the bombs contained metal shards and other shrapnel. A number of victims have had limbs amputated.
Speaking at the same news conference, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said the Boston community would "recover and heal" from the attack.
"This is one community. We are all in this together," he said.
President Obama will address an interfaith service in Boston for the victims on Thursday morning.
The White House said Mr Obama had cancelled a planned trip to Kansas to speak.

Earlier, President Obama condemned the bombings as a terrorist act.
He said the attack was "heinous and cowardly" but stressed it was not yet known whether an organisation - either domestic or foreign - or a "malevolent individual" was responsible, nor what the motive might have been.
"Everything else at this point is speculation," he said.
"It will take time... but we will find whoever harmed our citizens and we will bring them to justice."
One of those who died has been named as eight-year-old Martin Richard, from the Dorchester area of Boston.
He was at the finishing line with his mother and sister, who were both seriously injured.
"They were looking in the crowd as the runners were coming to see if they could identify some of their friends when the bomb hit," Congressman Stephen Lynch, a friend of the Richard family, told Associated Press.
Flowers and tributes were being placed outside the family's home on Tuesday.

A second victim was named as Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager.

Her father released a statement saying the family was devastated.
Boston University said the third person who died was a graduate student. In a statement on Tuesday, it said it was not releasing the name or any other information about the student pending permission from the family.
However, it said the student was one of three friends watching the race near the finish line. Another of the three was injured and is in a stable condition in hospital, the university added.
The Chinese consulate in New York later confirmed that the student who died was a Chinese national.
The first explosion went off close to the finish line at about 14:50 local time (18:50 GMT) on Monday.
Seconds later, as rescuers were rushing to help the injured, another explosion went off nearby.
Speaking at an earlier press conference, Mr DesLauriers moved to reassure the public, saying there was no longer any "known imminent physical threat" to Boston.
"We will go to the ends of the Earth to identify the subject or subjects who are responsible for this despicable crime, and we will do everything we can to bring them to justice," he said.
Police have asked the public to send in any videos or photographs they may have from the day.
The London Marathon - the next major international marathon - is to go ahead on Sunday, with police saying they have well-rehearsed security plans.

 

 

Germans may find it hard to sell their subs

Germans may find it hard to sell their subs 

 Questions have arisen about the efficacy of German submarines just before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chancellor Angela Merkel sit down for talks in Berlin late this week when arms trade will be a certain, but underplayed, segment of the discussions.

A submarine tender is too lucrative one to covet and like all big ticket military hardware deals, sees tremendous undercutting of the rival’s position. This time the contest among French, German and Russian submarines promises to be no different. The last tender, close to Rs. 20,000 crore, was bagged by the French. The Germans were not considered due to a corruption charge that was rejected by the courts here.

Technical problems

Fingers are being pointed at the poor performance of German submarines in the South Korean and Greek navies. The Hindu has independently verified that allegations about persisting technical problems with the Korean’s HDW Type 214 submarines are correct. The informed sources also confirmed that a prototype Greek submarine of German design too suffered from serious problems.

But the Indian Navy, badly short of submarines and struggling to complete the French Scorpene project, does not have any complaints about its four German submarines. Sources in the Navy said the four HDW submarines were working fine and they were satisfied with their performance. The sources expressed ignorance about HDW submarines malfunctioning in South Korea. But Korean diplomatic sources admitted there were problems.

The German submarines with the Indian Navy seemed to have followed the same trajectory as the VIP AgustaWestland helicopters. Of the 12 choppers, three have arrived while the import of the remaining has been suspended due to bribery charge. Similarly, in the case of the German submarines, two arrived from the OEM and the other two were assembled here. Then the bribery charge struck and the option to build two more was withdrawn.

Vital shortcoming

According to the sources, Korean submarines Son Won II, Jeongji and Jung-geun were immobilised after the first submarine was badly damaged on the high seas. It has also been alleged that the submarines suffer noise problems. This is a vital shortcoming in a submarine which has to be as noiseless as possible to avoid detection. Or, as Navy officials say, they will be as easy to detect as some Chinese submarines that tried to recce the Bay of Bengal. “We picked them up each time they came,” claimed a Navy official.

Independent sources, however, said the noise levels of the German submarines were lower than the requirement but higher than what the manufacturers – ThyssenKrupp Marine Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) – had promised. The sources making the allegations also claimed HDW were fined for the persisting technical problems but none could independently verify the charge.

In the case of Greek submarine Papanikolis, the sources backed their claims with video footage that showed an unusual tilt as it dived. The Germans worked on the Papanikolis but the government has raised other issues.

These problems mean it will not be easy sailing for the German submarines when they make a pitch for the Indian Navy tender.

Currently, the Ministry of Defence is looking at the configuration for supply with circumspection and some more time might be required before a firm decision is taken to call for bids.

Ironically, the allegations against the Germans have originated from one of its close allies, thus indicating the cut-throat competition that is always an integral component of such large military tenders.

North Korea: Putin In 'Chernobyl' Warning

Russia's president says a conflict between the two Koreas could make the infamous nuclear accident "seem like a fairy tale".

 

Vladimir Putin has said a war in Korea could be more devastating than the Chernobyl disaster as Pyongyang was warned against another nuclear test.

The Russian President said he was "worried about the escalation on the Korean peninsula, because we are neighbours".
And Mr Putin, who also praised a US decision to postpone a planned missile test as part of efforts to reduce tensions, said he feared a situation worse than that in Chernobyl after a nuclear accident that was later linked to thousands of deaths.
"If, God forbid, something happens, Chernobyl which we all know a lot about, may seem like a child's fairy tale," he said.
"Is there such a threat or not? I think there is ... I would urge everyone to calm down ... and start to resolve the problems that have piled up for many years there at the negotiating table."
His intervention came after United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the North not to carry out a new nuclear test - saying it would be a "provocative" act.
South Korea raised fears a fourth test was due amid reports of increased activity at the main atomic test site Punggye-ri but later backtracked.
Its Defence Ministry said: "We found there had been no unusual movements that indicated it wanted to carry out a nuclear test."
Mr Ban said: "The Democratic People's Republic of North Korea cannot go on like this, confronting and challenging the authority of the (UN) Security Council and the international community.
"I am urging them to refrain from taking any further provocative measures."
China's Foreign Ministry also said it wanted peace on the Korean peninsula, not war, adding a proper solution to the crisis was the responsibility of all parties.
The Pentagon has already strengthened its missile defences in response to the repeated threats made by Pyongyang in recent weeks.
However, the New York Times has reported a more thorough plan that sets out a limited but forceful response to any future provocation has been drawn up by the US and South Korea.
It said US officials had outlined a "counter-provocation" plan that would see a "response in kind" that would hit the source of any North Korean attack with similar weapons.
Meanwhile, North Korea said it was withdrawing all workers and suspending operations at its joint industrial zone with South Korea, the only surviving symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.
South Korea has appealed for North Korea to allow access to the Kaesong joint industrial park, six miles inside its borders.
The North banned South Korean managers and personnel from crossing the border to enter the complex since last Wednesday.
So far 13 the 123 South Korean firms operating there have been forced to halt production due to fuel and raw material shortages.

Facebook Home isn't where your privacy is

Facebook Home isn't where your privacy is

When Mark Zuckerberg and friends debuted Facebook Home yesterday, they downplayed the ever-growing importance your data has for the company. While the Facebook-obsessed may love Home, chances are your privacy won't feel welcome at all.

Facebook has earned a reputation for developing new products and features that are respectful of user privacy, and then slowly, sometimes with great subtlety and sometimes with mastodon-like lumbering, walking those policies back to a decidedly less-respectful state.

There's little indication that Facebook Home will be any different. At the Facebook Home question-and-answer session that followed Thursday's announcement, Zuckerberg said, "Analytics are made anonymous and used for half a percent of the user base." He added that that's the same as Google and Apple, which sounds reasonable, right?

The catch is that the more you share on Facebook, the more Facebook learns about you, and Facebook Home is designed to make you want to share even more.

Privacy and security researcher Ashkan Soltani agrees, and he explained that Facebook Home bridges the gap between passive data collection and active data-creating activities -- such as when you "Like" something in Facebook. "It's in the middle of every interaction on your device," he said.

"The number of times that you interact with Facebook or a Facebook-related service goes up. The number of times that you voluntarily interact goes up. I don't believe they'll be logging who everybody is, but they will be logging the voluntary interaction, checking in, liking posts," Soltani said.

He compared it to a "pornado," the whirlwind of illicit pop-up ads that would follow your mouse and plague Web sites before pop-up blockers were implemented. "Facebook Home will do that, where you'll always be on Facebook," he said.

For its part, Facebook says there's not much daylight between using Facebook Home and using Facebook.com or your Facebook mobile app. Facebook Home is covered under the same data use policy as the rest of Facebook, and the company said in a blog post addressing data use and privacy concerns in Facebook Home that there's nothing unusual or new about which data it collects.

Like other parts of Facebook, Home collects information when you interact with the service, such as liking or commenting on a post or sending a message. Home also may collect other information about how you use it. For example, Facebook maintains a list of the apps that you have in the Home app launcher. We store this information in identifiable form for 90 days and use it to provide the service and improve how it works.

For devices that come with Home pre-installed, Home can display system notifications, meaning that it will show notifications from apps on your phone. Since these notifications appear in Home, Facebook collects information about the notification (such as which app is generating them) but not the content of the notification itself. We remove identifying information from this data after 90 days.

Once it launches next week, it'll be easy, initially, to not use Facebook Home. I expect that to change, even though the launcher and chat interface are initially limited to HTC First phones and people who download Facebook Home from Google Play and live in the U.S. The purpose of Home is to expand Facebook on Android to become a permanent, pervasive layer between you and your apps. Why would Facebook not want to push that?

Sarah Downey, a privacy expert at Abine, a startup that makes privacy-protective browser add-ons and offers privacy-protective services, said Zuckerberg's assurances are not good enough.

"If the past is any indication, Facebook will expand their data sharing as time goes on and as the hype and scrutiny around the launch fades. They're deliberately underplaying the role data plays here, and there's a monetary incentive for Facebook to be with you everywhere you go," she cautioned.

Chaos over biggest employment tax shake-up in 70 years

Chaos over biggest employment tax shake-up in Seventy years

Businesses and families are heading into a “nightmare” today, amid fears that the biggest employment tax shake-up in 70 years will ensnare companies in red tape.

 Accountants said that many businesses are “completely unprepared” for a wave of bureaucracy coming into force tomorrow when employers will have to report Pay As You Earn (PAYE) information in “real time”.

They also warned that HM Revenue & Customs may not be able to cope as thousands of its staff are going on strike this Monday and its computer systems have been undergoing “essential maintenance” for the past few days.

Under the new Real Time Information (RTI) system, more than a million businesses — as well as charities, churches and families who employ nannies or cleaners —must report immediately any wage payments to the taxman.

Small businesses have a six-month grace period in which they can report once a month, but they will still have to get to grips with complicated new rules and computer software before complying fully in October

" The changes come despite David Cameron’s promise to “cut back on excessive rules” to help “unleash our small businesses”.

The new system is the foundation of the Coalition’s universal benefit welfare reform, because it will allow officials to adjust handouts immediately when their earnings change.
Last night a number of experts warned of impending disaster.
The Chartered Institute of Taxation said that many small businesses were thinking of folding because the system is the last straw in a long line of excessive bureaucracy from the taxman.
It described the RTI as a possible “route to insolvency”.
In a further warning to the Government, Dr Adam Marshall, a director of the British Chambers of Commerce, described RTI as a “massive change to the way that businesses operate across the UK” that may distract them from generating wealth and breaking into new markets.
He urged HMRC not to “underestimate the potential for problems” over the next few months as firms get to grips with the rules.
Among the problems facing the new system is the planned strike of up to 55,000 officials at HMRC, including call centre staff.
The PCS union has targeted the industrial action to upset the start of RTI and the beginning of the tax year. Meanwhile, the HMRC internet “gateway” for workers to access and report their tax information has been under maintenance.
Darren Fell, the managing director of Crunch Accountants, said the system is heading into a “disaster zone” over the weekend and early next week, because there will be a backlog of people trying to use the website as the changes come into force.
“Chaos is what we’re expecting,” he said. “It’s going to have to be the most amazing system in the universe to cope with it without falling apart.”
Some employers are also complaining that the free HMRC software that they must use on their own computers to submit information to the system has been crashing during its pilot stages.
Others say that the new requirements are so complicated that they will have to seek professional help or invest in expensive software, rather than use the free HMRC version.
Chris Mugford, the managing director of The Web TV Company, which produces online videos, has had to employ a bookkeeper for a company of only two people because of the changes.
Many employers are unaware of the changes, even though they are meant to have received a letter from the taxman. One survey estimates that one in five businesses is unprepared, while the Association of Accounting Technicians found that one in three small businesses is in the dark.
Baker Tilly, a firm of accountants, said one message from HMRC about further changes was written in “gobbledegook”.

The scheme has had unintended consequences for many groups that make payments, including pension funds.
Up to 25,000 pensioners with the John Lewis Partnership scheme are losing a month of pension, as their managers told them they must switch from paying at the beginning to the end of the month. It has had to offer its members loans to tide them over.
Companies have been told they do not face fines for late reporting for another year, but they could still be hit with penalties for submitting inaccurate data about their employees.
Tina Riches, an expert at the Chartered Institute of Taxation, questioned whether it was “workable” to make every employer report real-time pay information until October when they will all be subject to the same stricter rules.
“We are hoping they will extend it [the grace period] because we’ve heard of quite a lot of cases of smaller businesses thinking of packing up as it’s just the last straw,” she said. “It’s mainly ones that have odd hours that are just paid when they finish their work, particularly in the pub and hospitality trade. It’s potentially a lot of extra work for them.”
She said many employers still might not know that they should be complying with the new requirements from today.
“It could be a church that employs a cleaner and an organist,” she said. “Anybody that employs somebody under PAYE in their own home, such as a gardener, a cleaner or a nanny.”
Last night, Christopher Millington-Hore, who runs a family firm of accountants, said small business owners were facing an administrative “nightmare”.
Robin Worsnop, chief executive of Rabbie’s Small Group Tours, a tour company, said the new requirements will “add another layer of stress” on payroll day.
HMRC last night said that customers have reported no problems with downloading its software. A spokesman said HMRC believes 85 per cent of businesses are aware of the RTI changes, after an advertising campaign and two letters to all employers. It said the website maintenance should not affect businesses trying to submit RTI information.

Pope Francis to wash offenders' feet on Maundy Thursday

Pope Francis will wash the feet of prisoners in a youth detention center near Rome on Maundy Thursday.

 
Thousands of pilgrims and tourists are arriving in Rome to attend ceremonies during the holy week ahead of Easter.
The washing of feet on the Thursday before Easter is a Christian tradition commemorating Christ's Last Supper.
It is part of a papal calendar of events running up to Easter, the most important festival in the calendar of the Catholic Church.
On Easter Sunday morning, the new Pope will deliver his first "Urbi et Orbi" message to the city of Rome and to the world.
During his inaugural general audience Wednesday, Francis called for an immediate political solution to the conflict in the Central African Republic after last weekend's coup.
Gesture of humility The new leader of the world's 1.2bn Roman Catholics has brought a new sense of simplicity to the Vatican, reports the BBC's David Willey in Rome.
He has decided to live in a small suite in a residence for clerics, eating with other priests in a common dining room, after deciding not to move into the palatial apartments occupied by his predecessors in the Apostolic Palace. 

He has again broken with tradition for the foot-washing ceremony, which is normally performed on lay people in one of Rome's basilicas.
This time the Pope will visit the Casal del Marmo detention centre on the outskirts of Rome.
Pope Benedict XVI visited the centre in 2007, but not for the Holy Thursday Mass. Only for the first two years of his pontificate did he perform the feet-washing himself, after which the task was delegated to priests.
During the service, the pope washes and kisses the feet of 12 people to replicate the Bible's account of Jesus Christ's gesture of humility towards his 12 apostles on the night before he was crucified.
Some of the young detainees volunteered to have their feet washed, while others were given an invitation to help them overcome their embarrassment, the Catholic News Agency quoted the prison chaplain as saying.
On Good Friday evening the Pope will carry a wooden cross and pray at a ceremony at Rome's ancient amphitheatre, the Colosseum, commemorating Jesus' crucifixion.
And on Saturday evening Pope Francis will celebrate the main Easter Vigil Mass in St Peter's Basilica.
Pope Francis - renowned for his modest former life as bishop of the Argentine capital Buenos Aires - refuses to be awed by the magnificent surroundings of his new Vatican City home, visited every year by five million tourists and pilgrims, our correspondent says.
Some past popes vaunted their riches, but Francis wants a simpler church mindful of the plight of the world's poor people, he adds.

KGB DEAD : Russian tycoon Berezovsky dies

Putin foe, exiled Russian oligarch found dead in UK home, family says

London  -- Investigators are searching the London area home where the body of former Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky was found for possible chemical, radiological or biological evidence, police said in a statement released early Sunday.

Circumstances surrounding the death of Berezovsky, one of the most politically influential of Russia's oligarchs until a bitter falling out with the Kremlin, were not immediately known, and authorities in the United Kingdom said it was being investigated.

"His death is currently being treated as unexplained and a full inquiry is under way," Thames Valley Police said in a statement.

Officers, including specialized investigators, are conducting a number of searches "as a precaution."

The body of Berezovsky was still at the house early Sunday after being discovered Saturday afternoon, the statement said.

Police did not detail why authorities were searching for possible chemical, nuclear, radiological or biological evidence.

Berezovsky, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, blamed the Kremlin for the 2006 death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, who died after being poisoned by the radioactive material polonium-210. In a deathbed statement, Litvinenko blamed Putin, an accusation the Kremlin strongly denied.

For years, Berezovsky bankrolled the effort of Litvinenko's widow to push for an inquest into her husband's death.

Berezovsky later sued a Russian broadcaster for libel after it claimed in a report that he was behind the death of Litvinenko. He won the claim against All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK), and the High Court in London awarded him £150,000 ($223,400) in damages.

Death announced on Facebook

The 67-year-old was found by his bodyguard at his home in the affluent community of Ascot, Berkshire, west of London, where he was living in exile, according an official at Bell Pottinger, a public relations firm that represented Berezovsky.

Word of his death first appeared Saturday in a Facebook posting by son-in-law Yegor Shuppe.

Berezovsky made headlines last year after losing what has been called one of the most expensive private lawsuits in history against a former friend and ally, Russian magnate Roman Abramovich.

Berezovsky sued Abramovich, owner of the Chelsea Football Club, for $5.1 billion, alleging that he was forced to sell his stake in the Russian oil company Sibneft for a fraction of its true value.

The judge called Berezovsky's testimony unreliable and, at points, dishonest.

The case raised a public curtain on the world of Russia's oligarchs, those who amassed massive wealth and political influence in the 1990s during the privatization of Russia following the fall of the Soviet Union.

Berezovsky's fortune has reportedly been on the decline in recent years, and it took a huge hit after he lost the case against Abramovich. Analysts put the price tag on legal fees alone at more than $250 million spent between the two figures.

In recent weeks, reports have emerged that Berezovsky was trying to sell pieces of his estate, including an Andy Warhol painting, "Red Lenin," to pay debts.

From math professor to oligarch

Berezovsky began his working life as a math professor and then a systems analyst, according to CNN's Jill Dougherty, who interviewed him many times.

But in post-Soviet Russia, he switched to more lucrative jobs. "He was a smart man," she said. "I'd call him a wheeler-dealer."

Berezovsky went on to sell cars "at a time when that was a luxury," she said. "There were a lot of people who wanted to buy them, and he parlayed that -- as so many of these oligarchs did -- into something much, much bigger."

While Berezovsky's made a good portion of his money from luxury car sales, his wealth and political influence bounded when he bought into Russian media. He invested in the Moscow Independent Broadcasting Corp., which -- with TBS as a partner -- founded Moscow's first independent television station, TV-6.

Under President Boris Yeltsin, the Russian Federation's first president, from 1991 to 1999, "there were really no rules governing anything," Dougherty said.

The oligarchs, among them Berezovsky, wound up lending the fledgling Russian government money "when it was desperate for money," she said. "These guys picked up companies on the cheap -- for pennies on the dollar."

A year or two later, the companies were worth much more and they became wealthy.

In return for backing Yeltsin, Berezovsky gained political influence within the Kremlin.

He later backed Putin for president, pouring money into the latter's political party.

Fall from political favor

But after he was elected, Putin saw that the oligarchs had the potential to gain political power and moved to thwart them, Doughtery said.

It has been widely reported that Putin resented the meddling of the oligarchs, particularly Berezovsky.

"He was obviously very ambitious, and he wanted, I think, to be in political control of Russia during Yeltsin's time, and that didn't work out for him," said Stuart Loory, a former Turner Broadcasting System executive vice president, who was a consultant to Berezovsky during the 1990s.

Berezovsky did not have an easy time of it as an oligarch.

"There were two attempts on his life, one at his country home outside Moscow in a gated community. Somebody planted a bomb in his car and, fortunately, it didn't work very well," he said.

"And the other was when he was leaving his club and there was a car bomb in the car and his driver was killed and he escaped without injury."

Within months of Putin's election in 2000, the government began trying to collect on tax claims against the oligarchs, including Berezovsky.

It was then that Berezovsky fled.

Berezovsky began agitating from Britain against Putin, calling for a coup to oust the Russian president.

In 2003, as Russia was seeking his return, Berezovsky was granted political asylum by British authorities after it was determined he was wanted on political grounds, not criminal, according to published reports at the time.

The case, for a time, strained relations between Moscow and London.

Berezovsky was convicted of fraud and tax evasion in absentia by a Russian court in 2007.

Putin has been told of Berezovsky's death, spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television.

Berezovsky sent a letter about two months ago to Putin asking permission to return to Russia, Peskov said.

"He admitted that he had made a lot of mistakes, asked forgiveness for the mistakes and asked Putin to let him return home," Peskov said, according to a duty officer with the presidential press service.

It's unknown whether Putin responded to the letter, but Berezovsky did not return.

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