Clerics in Iran accuse Azerbaijan of undermining Islamic values and of staging a 'gay parade' in Baku

Iran has withdrawn its ambassador from Azerbaijan after clerics criticised Baku's hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest, further souring relations between the Islamic Republic and its secular neighbour.

Iran's withdrawal of its ambassador, for consultations in Tehran, comes after months of accusations by the two countries of meddling in each other's affairs. Shia Azerbaijan's hosting of the contest has been condemned by some Iranian clerics and lawmakers who have referred to a "gay parade" ? although no such event is planned.

Ayatollah Sobhani, a senior Iranian cleric, issued a statement urging Muslims in the region to protest at what he described as anti-Islamic behaviour by Azerbaijan's government.

"We heard that the government of Azerbaijan is hosting the international Eurovision Song Contest and that during this contest there will also be a gay parade," the semi-official Fars news agency quoted the cleric as saying.

Iran was angered by subsequent anti-Iranian protests in the Azerbaijan capital Baku, where demonstrators carried pictures of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and banners that read "Azerbaijan does not need clerics-homosexuals!"

The latest spat between the countries that share a religion but have sharply different political systems is part of wider diplomatic tensions. Iran has accused Azerbaijan of assisting Israel in what it says was the Jewish state's assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists.

Azerbaijan, for its part, arrested dozens of people this year on suspicion of links with Iran's Revolutionary Guards and of plotting attacks on targets that included the Israeli ambassador.

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Schmidt warns about rise of censorship and government cybercrime in speech at London's Science Museum

Nations that carry out cybercrimes and wreak online havoc pose the greatest threat to the future of the internet, the chairman of Google has warned.

In a speech delivered at London's Science Museum on Wednesday, Eric Schmidt said the internet would be vulnerable for at least 10 years, and that every node of the public web needed upgrading to protect against crime. Fixing the problem was a "huge task" as the internet was built "without criminals in mind" he said.

"While threats come from individuals and even groups of people, the biggest problem will be activities stemming from nations that seek to do harm. It is very difficult to identify the source of cyber-criminality and stop it," he said.

The Google chairman raised a series of fears in a speech that announced a new initiative to send teachers into UK schools to teach computer science, and called for more people to enter science and engineering to drive industry.

Speaking at the museum, Schmidt said he worried about the permanence of information on the internet and its impact on individuals in future. "The fact that there is no delete button on the internet forces public policy choices we had never imagined," he said. "A false accusation in your youth used to fade away; now it can remain forever."

Schmidt also used his speech to warn about the rise in governments that censor online material, up from four a decade ago to at least 40 today. Through filtering, governments could build their own "Balkanised web", where people saw different information online depending on who and where they were, without anyone knowing what had been censored.

"Make no mistake, this is a fight for the future of the web, and there is no room for complacency," he said.

Last year in the annual MacTaggart lecture, Schmidt was highly critical of Britain's failure to teach computer programming in schools. Continuing the theme at the Science Museum, he blamed a lack of exposure to computer science in secondary schools, where only 4,000 students studied the subject in 2011, making up less than half a percent of that year's A-level results.

A January report from the Royal Society agreed there was a shortage of teachers equipped to teach the nuts and bolts of computer science, from computer architecture to the concept of an algorithm and writing software. Since then, the education secretary, Michael Gove, has scrapped the existing ICT curriculum, freeing schools to teach a broader mix of computer science and programming.

Schmidt conceded that "rebooting computer science education" would not be straightforward, and announced plans to fund a training scheme for teachers to help improve Britain's failing computer science education system.

Working with the charity Teach First, Schmidt said the first batch of 100 "first-rate" teachers would be trained this summer and have bursaries to buy teaching aids, such as cheap Raspberry Pi or Arduino computer starter kits. They will receive on-the-job mentoring and training for a further two years. The Google project aims to help around 20,000 pupils from the most disadvantaged communities.

A vocal champion of engineering, in his speech on Wednesday Schmidt also emphasised the need to dispel the "oily rag stereotype" view of engineers. Research by Intel in the US, he said, found that two thirds of teenagers never considered a career in engineering. But simply learning about their roles in making video games and social networking, and in high-profile incidents such as the rescue of the Chilean miners, made half reconsider.

"Put simply, technology breakthroughs can't happen without the scientists and engineers to make them. The challenge society faces is to equip enough people, with the right skills and mindset, and to get them to work on the most important problems.

"This is where education comes in. Great scientists are a rare breed, so the more who study science, the greater chance of finding those for whom it becomes a vocation. Although there are some signs of progress, so long as more kids aspire to win X Factor than win a Nobel Prize, there's room to improve," Schmidt said.

Last year, Google donated more than £1m to the Science Museum to fund a gallery on the history of communications, from telegraphs to tweets. Part of the money has funded an exhibition devoted to the life and legacy of Alan Turing, often described as the "father of the computer", which opens next month. Among the exhibits will be installations that anyone in the world can control over the internet, including one that allows people to make music through remote controlled robotic instruments.

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Just over a week ago, the jury began deliberations on the ongoing patent infringement case between Google and Oracle. After waiting in the wings, with bated breath, the verdict is finally in, as Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court of Northern California dismissed the jury this afternoon after a unanimous decision that ruled in favor of Google's mobile OS -- declaring that Android did not in fact infringe on the Oracle patents in question. The decision follows an opposing verdict earlier this month, in which the jury in the long-running infringement case found that certain components of Android APIs had too close of a resemblance to code used in Oracle's Java programming tools. However, the jury ended up splitting on the notion of whether or not Google could in fact claim fair use in its defense (which could have then led to a mistrial.)

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? Alan Pardew completes first Newcastle summer signing
? Versatile Amalfitano can play across midfield

The Newcastle United manager, Alan Pardew, made his first summer signing on Wednesday with a deal for the Reims midfielder Romain Amalfitano.

The 22-year-old, who is out of contract at the French club, will officially become a Newcastle player on 1 July.

His arrival was confirmed by the north-east club although no details of the length of his contract have been released.

"I am very happy to be a Newcastle player," said Amalfitano. "I have seen a bit of the city already and it is a change from France, but one I am really looking forward to.

"When a club like Newcastle wants you to play for them, it can only be a good thing. I have taken the opportunity to play in the Premier League and cannot wait to get going."

The Nice-born Amalfitano, whose older brother Morgan is at Marseille, can play either on the right side of midfield or through the middle.

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Joaquin Amador Serrapio said he would assassinate president during a fundraising trip through south Florida in February

A college student has pleaded guilty to posting threatening messages against the Barack Obama on Facebook.

Joaquin Amador Serrapio Jr, 20, could get up to five years in federal prison for pleading guilty to a single count of threatening to kill or harm the president, but likely will get less time, said his attorney Alan Ross. Sentencing is set for 22 August before US district judge Marcia Cooke.

There is no evidence that Serrapio intended to carry out any threat against the president and Obama was never in any danger, investigators said. "He wanted to get a reaction from political supporters of President Obama," Ross said.

Serrapio is a music business major at Miami-Dade College who also fronts for a rock group called the J Valor Band. Using the J Valor page on Facebook, prosecutors said Serrapio posted two threatening messages around the time Obama visited South Florida in February to deliver a speech at the University of Miami and attend two fundraisers.

In the first post on 21 February, Serrapio said: "Who wants to help me assassinate Obummer while hes at UM this week?" On 23 February, the day of Obama's visit, the secret service said Serappio posted a second threat.

"If anyones going to UM to see Obama today, get ur phones out and record. Cause at any moment im gonna put a bullet through his head and u don't wanna miss that! Youtube!" the message said.

Someone who saw the posts contacted the Coral Gables police department and the secret service dispatched two agents to Serrapio's home, where Serrapio and his mother agreed to allow a search. There they found an iPad with one of the Facebook postings on it and a cell phone with a text message from one of Serrapio's friends who had seen the messages. "LOL you can get in trouble for sayin' that," the text said.

Serrapio replied that he was "challenging" the secret service and also issued threats against any agents who came looking for him. "I wanna kill at least two of them when they get here," Serrapio said in that text.

Investigators said the only weapons Serrapio possessed were two pellet guns. He was originally charged with threatening the agents as well, but prosecutor Seth Schlessinger said that charge will be dropped.

Serrapio said during the hearing he had just completed his second year of college. He declined through Ross to comment outside court.

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Caroline Preece Review May 7, 2012

Gearing up for the season finale, The Vampire Diaries returns to form in this week's episode. Read Caroline's review here...

Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs  Ray Cooper  Kit Cope  Wesley Cabbage Correira 

Kaci Ferrell Review May 19, 2012

This week's episode of The Legend of Korra throws up questions of prejudice and oppression. Read Kaci's review, here...

Mikey Burnett  Murilo Bustamante  Grant Campbell  Gesias JZ Calvancante  Luiz Cane 

President Barack Obama is famous for his affinity for his BlackBerry and science fairs, but the tech love goes a lot further than that. Todd Park, the U.S. chief technology officer, today described the President as having a "very high geek quotient" with a "go go go" attitude when it comes to new tech initiatives -- which, yes, he likes in and of themselves, but more importantly as a means to an end. The comments were made during a fireside chat at TC Disrupt in New York, where Park along with U.S. CIO Steven VanRoekel also announced the government's big plans for opening up its data and courting developers.

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? 34-year-old set to go to China on lucrative free transfer
? Shenhua's negotiations with Drogba continuing, says owner

The Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua are confident of securing a move for Didier Drogba, who on Tuesday confirmed he was leaving Chelsea.

The 34-year-old helped the Blues win the Champions League in Munich to bring the curtain down on a trophy-laden spell in west London.

The Ivory Coast international ? signed from Marseille for £24million in 2004 ? is now expected to join up with his former Chelsea team-mate Nicolas Anelka on a lucrative free transfer.

The Shanghai Shenhua owner Zhu Jun told the Oriental Sports Daily: "As of now, Shenhua's negotiations with Drogba are continuing just as planned."

Anelka, 33, joined Shenhua in January and is currently player-coach following the recent sacking of the former Fulham manager Jean Tigana.

Grant Campbell  Gesias JZ Calvancante  Luiz Cane  Dos Caras Jr   Phil Cardella

Startup Alley at TechCrunch Disrupt makes for a pretty grueling experience when so many companies are pitching every passer-by. But Jordan Crook and I went in feet first to check out some of the startups there. In scenes more reminiscent of tag-team pro-wrestling, or perhaps a sort of Startup relay race, we tag-teamed around and interviewed a bunch of them including Jaxx, Screach, Fanitics, Edaman, SnapCrowd, ColourDNA, Atticous and BuzzCard. Check all of Tuesday’s startups out here. We also took a trip over to the Israeli Pavilion to check out the likes of Drippler and Vodio among others. Enjoy!

Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz