The event was supposed to be a rare meeting of monarchs to celebrate the 60-year milestone, but it has been overshadowed by strong criticism from campaigners about those invited to the Windsor Castle event, including the King of Bahrain, King Hamad Al-Khalifa.

Calling in to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, dissident Chen Guangcheng told lawmakers he is concerned for the safety of his family and he wants to thank Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her efforts to help him over the past few days.

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Though many are tiring of the blanket media coverage, the wounds from 22 July are still raw. Laying a single rose outside the court on Friday, Halina Burger, an aromatherapist, said the massacre was a shock from which Norway had yet to recover. “It was an attack on all of us,” she said. “An attack on our dignity, our freedom, an attack on everything that is beautiful in this country; the tolerance we have been striving for for so long.”

She hadn’t been following the blow-by-blow reports, she said. “If I followed it minute-by-minute I would be so filled with anger and hatred and disgust, I might just come down here and throw stones at the guy instead and I don’t want to do that.”

Asgeir, a 32-year-old who said he didn’t want to be named for fear of attracting attention from Breivik’s “partisans”, said: “The media are too obsessed with details, and too little concerned with the broad picture. I’m really unsure if the right thing to do is to expose the terrorist’s misconceptions, or to just ignore him.”

Silje Gloppen, a teacher, said however abhorrent Breivik’s views, lessons needed to be learned from him. “Norwegians and, I believe, the rest of the world have to consider the possibility that this man is speaking the truth when he says he believes our ‘Norwegian culture and ethnicity’ is threatened by multiculturalism,” she said.

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The blast struck Kaduna, the capital of Kaduna state, leaving charred motorcycles and debris strewn across a major road in the city where many gather to eat at informal restaurants and buy black market gasoline. Nearby hotels and homes had their windows blown out and roofs torn away by the force of the powerful explosion, which engulfed a group of motorcycle taximen.

The explosion damaged the nearby All Nations Christian Assembly Church and the ECWA Good News Church as churchgoers worshipped at an Easter service, the possible target of the bomber. Witnesses said it appeared the explosive-laden car attempted to go into the compound of the churches before it detonated, but was blocked by barriers in the street and was turned away by a security guard as police approached.

“We were in the holy communion service and I was exhorting my people and all of a sudden, we heard a loud noise that shattered all our windows and doors, destroyed our fans and some of our equipment in the church,” Pastor Joshua Raji said.

While no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, suspicion immediately fell on a radical Islamist sect blamed for hundreds of killings in the oil-rich nation this year alone. And some fear the attack could further inflame tensions around Kaduna, a region on the dividing line between Nigeria’s largely Christian south and Muslim north.

At least 38 people were killed in the blast, said Abubakar Zakari Adamu, a spokesman for the Kaduna state Emergency Management Agency. Others suffered serious injuries and were receiving treatment at local hospitals, Adamu said.

A witness, Augustine Vincent, said he was riding a motorcycle just behind the car when it exploded.

“God saw our heart and saved us,” he said.

Churches have been increasingly targeted by violence on holy days in Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people of Christians and Muslims. A Christmas Day suicide bombing of a Catholic church in Madalla near Nigeria’s capital killed at least 44 people.

Police and soldiers quickly cordoned off the blast site, though citizens looked on at the flames and damage. Authorities said they had no immediately suspects in the attack, though a radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram has claimed similar attacks in the past.

Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is sacrilege” in the Hausa language of Nigeria’s north, is waging an increasingly bloody fight with security agencies and the public. More than 380 people have been killed in violence blamed on the sect this year alone, according to anAssociated Press count.

The sect, employing suicide bombers and assault-rifle shootouts, has attacked both Christians and Muslims, as well as the United Nations‘ headquarters in Nigeria.

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Gen. John R. Allen, the American military commander, and Abdul Rahim Wardak, the Afghan defense minister, signed the compromise agreement in what diplomats described as a breakthrough in negotiations over a long-term military partnership.

The memorandum of understanding officially hands over nominal control of detainees to an Afghan official immediately, but allows for a six-month period of transition to full Afghan control of the detainees, American officials said.

For now, American officials will maintain day-to-day custody of the 3,200 detainees, most of them suspected of being Taliban insurgents, although the Detention Facility in Parwan where they are held would be managed by an Afghan officer. “The Afghan authorities will have no command of American military forces,” said an American diplomat involved in the negotiations.

During the transition, custody of the American-held prisoners would gradually be shifted to Afghan authority, with the first 500 prisoners to be transferred within 45 days, according to American military and diplomatic officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity as a matter of policy.

The move to speed up the transfer is a major concession to the Afghans, but the veto power, which would last as long as American troops are in Afghanistan, addresses American worries that Taliban fighters would be released prematurely and return to the battlefield. In order for a detainee to be released, both General Allen and Mr. Wardak would have to agree, American officials said.

They said the United States will also continue to monitor treatment of the prisoners in an attempt to prevent human rights abuses prevalent in many Afghan prisons.

The compromise was part of an effort to win support for a strategic partnership agreement that would provide for continued American military support even after the end of the NATO mission in 2014. The agreement is considered crucial because the Americans hope to ensure that the Afghan government can hold out against the Taliban and that Al Qaeda cannot re-establish a stronghold.

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On Saturday, the anniversary of the prophet Muhammad’s birthday, Kashgari tweeted three times, expressing his religious beliefs about the founder of Islam. Within hours, he was inundated with violent threats. Despite a full renunciation, a warrant was issued by kingdom authorities for his arrest and the Kingdom’s religious Fatwa Council condemned him as an apostate and an infidel, crimes which are punishable by death.

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Here’s a look back at major events at Sony under Stringer’s rein, during which the stock fell more than 60 percent.

June 2005

Stringer takes over as CEO and chairman after a successful stint overseeing the U.S. business, where he is credited with turning around its fortunes in music and movies.

April 2006

Sony ships the first Blu-ray players to stores. Blu-Ray discs, backed by Sony, become the sequel to standard DVDs, and the company beats rival Toshiba Corp in a war over formats. But analysts say the company could have better prepared for the shift to watching movies over the Internet.

October 2006

Sony recalls hundreds of thousands of notebook computers and laptop batteries after series of reports of overheating.

November 2006

PlayStation3 game console launched in the United States and Japan, which goes on to sell more than 55 million units globally.

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Investors will be clamoring to get ahold of Facebook stock, with many hoping to get in before the company figures things out and the stock takes off.

“I think Wall Street’s reaction will be quite positive,” said Timothy Loughran, a finance professor at Notre Dame. “Lots of investors want to own Facebook.”

And next Monday, January 30, the President will be fielding questions (pre-selected, of course) from average Joes “in the first completely-virtual interview from the White House.”

You can submit questions between now and January 28 at the White House YouTube channel and on Monday, the President will be participating in a Google+ Hangout. “He’ll be answering several of the most popular questions that have been submitted through YouTube, and some of the people who submitted questions will even be invited to join the President in the Hangout and take part in the live conversation,” according to the White House Blog.

The White House officially joined the Google+ social network last Friday, and has already been relatively active with updates and video posts. The Google+ “Hangout” feature lets people hold 10-person video conferences with each other, while Google’s recently announced “Hangouts On Air” allows “public figures, celebrities and other Google+ users with large followings” to broadcast Hangouts live on YouTube as they’re taking place on Google+.
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“I have more work to do on my recovery, so to do what is best for Arizona I will step down this week,” Giffords said, posting the announcement on social media likeTwitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

“I’m getting better. Every day my spirit is high. I will return and we will work together for Arizona and this great country. Thank you very much,” she added.

IN PICTURES: Gabrielle Giffords

Giffords’ office said the congresswoman would submit her letter of resignation this week to House Speaker John Boehner and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer.

Giffords, a Democrat who gained a reputation as a centrist, is serving her third term. She plans to attend President Barack Obama‘s State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday.

Obama said Giffords represents the very best of what public service should be and that her “cheerful presence” would be missed in Washington.

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