Чехия: самые многолюдные демонстрации с 1989-го

В столице Чехии Праге состоялись массовые антиправительственные демонстрации, которые оппозиционеры называют самыми многолюдными в истории страны после падения коммунистического режима в 1989 году.

Чешские демонстранты утверждают, что в акциях протеста приняли участие 120 тыс. человек, однако власти оценивают количество протестующих в 90 тысяч.

Также как в 1989-м, участники демонстрации трясли ключами, призывая правящую правоцентристскую коалицию запереть за собой двери и уйти в отставку.

Демонстранты, среди которых было немало студентов и пенсионеров, скандировали "Остановите воров!" и "Долой правительство!". Они прошли через центр Праги по Вацлавской площади – главной в чешской столице.

Оппозиция недовольна предложенными правительством жесткими мерами экономии и распространением коррупции.

France votes in first round of presidential poll.

Polls have opened in France's presidential election, taking place amid widespread disaffection caused by the eurozone crisis and unemployment.

Centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy is seeking re-election, saying only he can preserve a "strong France".

But he is facing a tough challenge from Socialist Francois Hollande, who has said it is "the left's turn to govern".

There are 10 candidates in all, and if none wins more than 50% of the votes there will be a run-off round on 6 May.

Polls in mainland France and Corsica will be open from 08:00 to 18:00 (06:00-16:00 GMT), with voting stations in big cities remaining open for another two hours.

The first official results will be released after the last stations close at 20:00 (18:00 GMT).

President Sarkozy, who has been in office since 2007, has promised to reduce France's large budget deficit and to tax people who leave the country for tax reasons.

He has also called for a "Buy European Act" for public contracts, and threatened to pull out of the Schengen passport-free zone unless other members do more to curb immigration from non-European countries.

Mr Hollande, for his part, has promised to raise taxes on big corporations and people earning more than 1m euros a year.

He wants to raise the minimum wage, hire 60,000 more teachers and lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 for some workers.

If elected, Mr Hollande would be France's first left-wing president since Francois Mitterrand, who completed two seven-year terms between 1981 and 1995.

French presidents are now elected for five years.

Солист Bee Gees Робин Гибб вышел из комы

Вокалист легендарной британской группы Bee Gees Робин Гибб, впавший в кому в середине апреля, начал отвечать членам его семьи.

62-летний музыкант начал кивать и давать знаки в ответ на вопросы своих близких, сообщают его официальные представители. Они не дают других подробностей.

Семья Гибба не отходила от его постели в течение всего периода, когда он находился в лондонской больнице.

Супруга музыканта рассказала, что его брат и коллега по Bee Gees Барри Гибб пел для него в больнице, пытаясь установить с ним контакт. Дети Робина Гибба также проигрывали для него музыку.

Солист Bee Gees, который с прошлого года борется с раком печени и кишечника, заболел пневмонией, что и стало причиной резкого ухудшения его состояния.

Гибб попал в больницу в 2011 году из-за проблем с желудком и кишечником. Он сообщил в интервью Би-би-си, что у него нашли опухоль в толстой кишке, которая была удалена.

Charles Colson, Nixon aide involved in Watergate, dies aged 80

Charles Colson, an adviser to President Richard Nixon who was involved in the Watergate scandal and later became an evangelical preacher, has died aged 80.

He was known as the "hatchet man" for Mr Nixon and served seven months in jail for his role in discrediting a political opponent.

Later, he started a prison ministry and campaigned for penal reform.

The father of three died in hospital in Fairfax, Virginia, of complications from a brain haemorrhage.

Charles "Chuck" Colson had a reputation as a hard-nosed political operator and was once described by President Nixon as the son he never had.

He helped the Republican candidate to a landslide victory in 1972, saying he would "walk over his own grandmother" to ensure Richard Nixon's re-election.

Renewed faith

In 1971, he wrote a now infamous "enemies list" naming his boss's major political critics and opponents.

His role in the Watergate scandal was limited, but he pleaded guilty to obstructing justice after he was involved in earlier efforts to discredit Daniel Ellsberg, who had leaked secret government documents about the Vietnam War, which became known as the Pentagon Papers.

A break-in was organised at the office of Mr Ellsberg's psychiatrist, in a search fordocuments which could be used to blacken his reputation.

President Nixon's right-hand man served seven months in jail, although he was not convicted of organising the Ellsberg or Watergate break-ins themselves.

He came out of prison claiming to be a new man, renouncing the political machinations of his past and embracing his religious faith.

Chuck Colson spent the next 35 years as a leading campaigner for prison reform, founding the Prison Fellowship Ministries in 1976.

He was named as one of Time magazine's "25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America" in 2005, having written over 200 books in his lifetime.

Later in life he lived in Naples, Florida, and in 2000 the state Governor Jeb Bush restored his civil rights, including the right to vote, which he lost after he was convicted.