George Zimmerman released on bail ahead of Trayvon trial
George Zimmerman has been released from prison on bail as he awaits trial for the killing of Trayvon Martin.
The neighbourhood watch volunteer left the Seminole County jail late Sunday night on a $150,000 (£93,000) bond.
He is set to go on trial on second degree murder charges for the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager on 26 February.
He claims he was acting in self-defence, but the case sparked an outcry in the US.
Afghanistan, US Finalize Strategic Partnership Agreement
Afghanistan and the United States have finalized the initial draft of a strategic partnership agreement outlining their relationship following the 2014 withdrawal of Western combat troops from the country.
No details were released about the content of the draft agreement, which will now be reviewed by the U.S. and Afghan presidents, the U.S. Congress and the Afghan parliament.
A statement from Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office says the draft agreement was initialed Sunday by Afghan National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker during a ceremony in Kabul.
U.S. officials say President Barack Obama expects to sign the document before a NATO summit in Chicago next month.
Negotiations on the deal saw progress recently after the U.S. agreed to Afghanistan's demand for full control over the U.S.-run Bagram prison and an end to controversial special forces night raids against Taliban insurgents.
President Karzai has said he wanted a written commitment of $2 billion a year from the United States after the withdrawal.
U.S. officials said they could pay up to about $4 billion a year to fund Afghan forces. But they also said the strategic pact is not meant to be a detailed aid package, but rather a broad framework committing both sides to continue to work together for years to come.
Hollande Emerges as Frontrunner in French Presidential Election
Socialist Francois Hollande has emerged as the frontrunner in France's presidential election after beating incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in Sunday's first round.
First official results give Hollande 29 percent of the vote and the conservative Mr. Sarkozy 26 percent. Both will meet again in a runoff vote on May 6.
Eight other candidates finished far behind. But far-right anti-immigrant candidate Marie le Pen surprised poll-watchers by finishing in a strong third place with double digits.
Hollande is declaring himself the best candidate to become France's new president. He said he wants to unite what he calls a country divided by President Sarkozy's failed policies. He also says he wants to boost taxes on millionaires.
Mr. Sarkozy said he understands French voters are concerned in a time of crisis, including worries about the economy and crime. He challenged Hollande to three debates on social, economic and international issues before the May 6 runoff.
China, Russia Launch Joint Naval Exercises
China and Russia launched joint naval exercises Sunday in the Yellow Sea between the east coast of mainland China and the Korean peninsula.
Chinese state media report that 16 Chinese surface vessels and two submarines, as well as four Russian warships, are taking part in the six days of drills scheduled from April 22 through 27.
The Chinese and Russian vessels gathered at the eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao Saturday — the home of China's northern fleet.
The exercises will include maritime air defense, anti-submarine tactics, search-and-rescue and the simulated rescue of hijacked ships, and anti-terrorism drills.
Formerly Cold War rivals for leadership of the communist world, China and Russia have conducted four bilateral and multilateral military exercises since 2005.
The two countries are also participants in six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program that also include the two Koreas, Japan and the U.S.
Justin Bieber Seen Ring Shopping With Selena Gomez
Are Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez planning for their engagement? The latest rumors hitting the teen couple indeed suggested there could be such possibility. The Chicago Sun-Times has just come out with the claim that the twosome have been spotted doing some ring shopping.
Accordingly, the "Boyfriend" singer and his songstress girlfriend checked out diamond rings in a couple of major jewelry stores. Several sources close to the duo additionally told the Times that "they're convinced an engagement is in the very near future."
Some of Bieber's fans have commented on the rumors. One tweeted, "So many people would flip but if Justin and Selena at some point announced they were engaged I'd be happy. They're so cute! Selena Bieber lol," while another simply warned the pop sensation, "Don't do it."
Rumors aside, Bieber and Gomez have shared a kiss at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 17 night. The teen couple were enjoying the Lakers game when they were caught on "Kiss Cam" and had to lock lips for the crowd.
While they came together, the pair apparently cheered for different team. Bieber tweeted hashtagged "LAKETIME" as support for the home team, while Gomez was rooting for the San Antonio Spurs as she wrote on her Twitter, "LET'S GO SPURS!! LET'S GO!" In the end, the Spurs beat out the Lakers 112 to 91.
US charges British twins over $1.2m 'stock robot' fraud
Twin brothers from England face US civil charges for allegedly defrauding investors out of $1.2m (£745,000) through a bogus stock-picking robot.
Alexander and Thomas Hunter, of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, were aged 16 when, in 2007, they devised the scheme of the robot, dubbed Marl, say US officials.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said the stocks "picked" were actually firms that paid the twins hefty fees.
The Hunters allegedly snared about 75,000 investors, mostly in the US.
In November, Newcastle Crown Court ordered Alexander Hunter to pay back nearly $1m after he admitted providing unregulated financial advice. He was given a suspended 12-month prison sentence.
'Goldman Sachs algorithm'
According to an affadavit filed in a New York federal court on Friday, investors paid $47 for newsletters listing Marl's stock picks and $97 for a "home version" of the software.
"The longer Marl is allowed to run on a computer... The More Advanced He Becomes!" one of the brothers' websites said.
The home version was simply a program that grabbed ticker symbols fed in by the Hunters, who reportedly live with their parents in Whitley Bay.
The twins collected an additional $1.9m from companies that paid to appear in the newsletters and in the software program, according to the US court document.
In one example given by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Marl picked stock in 2008 for a music publishing company called UOMO Media, doubling its share price to 69 cents, and then again a year later, driving it to $1.06. UOMO has not traded above a penny since September 2010.
The twins claimed Marl had a track record of detecting cheap stocks whose prices were on the verge of soaring by 200-400%.
Marl was a supposed combination of the names of its phoney creators, Michael Cohen and Carl Williamson. The Hunters claimed that "Michael Cohen" had developed a Goldman Sachs trading algorithm that reaped billions in profits.
Officials are asking the court to block the Hunters, now 20 or 21, from the securities industry and return money to investors. They are also seeking further financial penalties.
Eric Bruce, a lawyer for the Hunters, did not respond to requests for comment on Friday, reports Reuters news agency.
Marc Anthony seeks out JLO ex husband
Trying to win a joint custody of his four-year-old twins with Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony reportedly has reached out to Lopez's first husband Ojani Noa through his lawyer. Anthony is investigating whether there was a case of infidelity during their seven years of marriage.
According to Radar Online's source, Anthony's attorneys are seeking the truth in the allegations that Lopez spent time with Noa while married to Anthony. The legal team wants to know the nature of their relationship if any contact was indeed made.
"Marc Anthony's lawyers are following up with allegations that Jennifer was seeing Ojani while married to Marc, before and after the twins were born. Jennifer allegedly would go to Ojani's Hancock Park house and spend time with him, without Marc's knowledge," an insider told RadarOnline.com.
Noa would be asked to provide financial information and records related to Lopez because Anthony "believes JLo has money in offshore accounts. Ojani has extensive records still relating to his time with Jennifer. It seems that Marc is going after her money and it's looking like this could be a divorce battle royale!"
Despite the claims, Ojani reportedly lives in a poor condition. "Ojani is basically homeless now and completely broke and unable to find work. He blames Jennifer for this because her lawyers have threatened to sue anyone who has hired or wants to hire Ojani, claiming that any public mention of Ojani being married to her in any form of publicity is a violation of their marital settlement agreement," the source said.
Lopez is now dating dancer Casper Smart. Her rep recently denied that she has spent $2 million on him for lavish gifts.
Studios lose landmark anti-piracy suit in Australia
Major film and television studios have lost a landmark case over illegal video downloads in Australia.
The High Court upheld a previous ruling that internet service provider (ISP) iiNet did not authorise copyright infringement among its customers.
US and Australian studios had wanted iiNet to stop its customers from downloading pirated material.
In 2010, a federal court had ruled in favour of iiNet, saying it did not authorise the downloads.
The court also said that the country's third-largest internet provider did not have the technical ability to prevent the piracy.
The unanimous ruling from the High Court upheld the lower court's decision.
"The High Court held that the respondent, an internet service provider (ISP), had not authorised the infringement by its customers of the appellants' copyright in commercially released films and television programmes," the court stated.
"Rather, the extent of iiNet's power to prevent its customers from infringing... copyright was limited to an indirect power to terminate its contractual relationship with its customers."
The 2010 judgment was the first time a court had ruled on whether an ISP could be held responsible for copyright violations by its users.
The case revolved around thousands of downloads over Perth-based iiNet's network in 2008 using a file-sharing programme.
The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft group, made up of 34 film, TV and music companies, had appealed the lower court decision, saying it set a dangerous precedent.
The group's managing director, Neil Gane, was quoted by news agency Agence-France Presse as saying that the ruling exposed the failure of copyright law to keep pace with the online environment.
"Both judgements in this case recognise that copyright law is no longer equipped to deal with the rate of technological change we have seen since the law of authorisation was last tested," he said.
2012 Billboard Music Awards have been revealed
The first performers for 2012 Billboard Music Awards have been revealed. Justin Bieber, who receives five nods, is tapped as a musical guest along with "American Idol" star Carrie Underwood and British boyband The Wanted.
Another confirmed act who are set to rock the upcoming show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 20 is LMFAO. This year, Redfoo and SkyBlu score a total of 17 nominations, trailing closely behind Adele who gets 18.
In the major categories, Bieber is vying for Top Male Artist, LMFAO are competing for Top Duo/Group, while Adele is battling Rihanna, Lady GaGa, Lil Wayne and Katy Perry to win Billboard's Top Artist of 2012.
In Top New Artist, meanwhile, 2011 "Idol" winner Scotty McCreery has to beat Big Sean, Foster the People, Wiz Khalifa and Eminem's group Bad Meets Evil to take home the coveted title.
American Gypsy Wedding’ The Craziest Boob-ExposingEye-Gouging Catfight Of All Time
Every reality show on the planet should give up NOW — because the girls on TLC’s “My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding” just set the record for the wildest, most ruthless catfight of all time … and it was all caught on tape.
The fight went down last November at a “gypsy” wedding in West Virginia — the smaller girl (Mellie) hails from the groom’s side and the bigger girl (Diamond) was the maid of honor.
Sources tell TMZ, neither side of the family exactly approved of the union — but Mellie took it one step further after the ceremony … running her mouth about how the bride and groom don’t belong together.
Diamond caught wind of it … and FLIPPED — shoving Mellie to the ground outside the church.
At that point, both girls unleashed fist-flying hell — beating the living crap out of each other and pulling at each other’s clothes until they were naked … literally.
If you watch one clip on the website today … make it this one. Trust.
TMZ.com