INITZA.COM

Katy Perry’s "Dark Horse" music video has been edited after a petition calling for it to be removed reached 65,000 signatures. The US pop star caused offence to some Muslims who claimed her latest video was "blasphemous.In one scene, a man wearing an “Allah” pendant is struck by lightning and disintegrates into sand. While the music video has not been pulled in its entirety, the pendant has been cut so that only a plain gold chain can now be seen (as above). It remains unclear whether YouTube edited the video or was told to by the singer’s record company as both parties have yet to comment. Shazad Iqbal who started the Change.org petition originally wrote: "Blasphemy is clearly conveyed in the video since Katy Perry – who appears to be representing an opposition of God – engulfs the believer and the word "God" in flames." He went on to argue that using the name of God in an "irrelevant and distasteful manner" would be deemed inapprop...

Following its successful launch three years ago, the IMPALA European Independent Album of the Year Award is back for its fourth edition. This European Mercury-style award celebrates the musical talent and diversity of releases by independent European labels. It promotes exceptional artists and the independent sector alike. Voting is now taking place on the 24-album shortlist to decide who will succeed “Coexist” by The xx. The best album will be selected by a jury of IMPALA Board members, with the winner announced next month. The nominated albums are listed in alphabetical order by artist - name of the album (record label): ·        Agnes Obel – Aventine ([PIAS]) ·        Alborosie – Sound The System (VP Records/Greensleeves) ·        Aino Venna – Marlene (Stupido Productions) ·        Armin van Buuren – Intense (Armada Music) ·        BirdPen – Global Lows (Green l.f.ant)...

Lykke Li is changing . Previously focussing on perfect pop, the Swedish singer is now wishing to attempt something with a little more depth. Speaking to the NME recently (via Pitchfork), she outlined her beliefs in one simple phrase: "I want to be seen as a singer-songwriter rather than a pop artist." Well, the results are almost upon us. New album 'I Never Learn' will be released on May 5th, with Lykke Li stating that it is the final part of an album trilogy which began with 2008's 'Youth Novels'. A clip from 'I Never Learn' has emerged online and quite beautiful it is too. Containing fragments of new music, you can check it out below: Lykke Li is changing .

Amnesty International has called on the US and EU governments to suspend all supplies of crowd-control "weapons and devices" to Israel , until the country reigns in its use of force against Palestinians on the West Bank. In the report "Trigger Happy: Israel's Use of Excessive Force on the West Bank", the organisation criticises what it calls Israel's "callous disregard for human life" in its handling of Palestinian protests against occupation. It points to an increase in the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces - with 27 people killed last year, in comparison to eight in 2012 and 10 in 2011, according to figures from the UN. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) say the report "wholly ignores the substantial increase in Palestinian violence initiated over the past year". However, Amnesty International claims in all the cases it investigated, it found no evidence to suggest those killed were posing a "direct and immedia...

The biopic of musician Gregg Allman, MIDNIGHT RIDER, has been put on hold following the on-set train accident that lead to the death of crew member Sarah Jones. Production company Film Allman, LLC made a statement yesterday following the accident on the 20th February: In light of the tragic loss, we have decided to put the production of MIDNIGHT RIDER on hold. The site of the accident is being treated as a crime scene as investigations take place to discover the cause of the accident and if anything could have been done to prevent it. Legendary cinematographer Haskell Wexler (ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST) has recently written an open letter in which he describes the accident as ‘criminal negligence’: Sarah and the three injured crew members were not victims of an ‘accident’ but of criminal negligence. Something that would not have happened if proper safety rules were in place. Although not affiliated with the production, Wexler describes the long hours that crew members...

Oil prices fell in Asia on Thursday as expectations for reduced demand due to warmer weather outweighed a smaller-than-expected increase in U.S. oil supplies. Benchmark U.S. crude for April delivery was down 31 cents to $102.28 a barrel at 0610 GMT in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract closed up 76 cents Wednesday at $102.59 after the U.S. Energy Department said crude oil supplies rose by 68,000 barrels last week, well below the increase of 1.5 million barrels expected by analysts surveyed by Platts. Supplies at the key storage point in Cushing, Okla., fell by 1.1 million barrels. The inventories figures pointed to resilient demand but oil shed some of those gains Thursday as the approach of spring in the U.S. and weaker Chinese manufacturing could reduce crude consumption. Investors will be watching for new policy initiatives from China's annual legislative session in early March to see what steps the government might take to shore up grow...

Nintendo has announced that it will pull the plug on online multiplayer support for its DS and Wii platforms in May. Titles such as Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros will cease to work online from May 20, when the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is shut down. Other features including matchmaking and leaderboards will also disappear in May. The usual offline content will continue to function as normal, as will Wii apps such as YouTube and the built-in browser. Wii U and 3DS games will not be affected by the move, but online features on titles from last-gen consoles will remain inaccessible when played on the latest devices. Meanwhile, Nintendo is also shutting down its free Video app for the 3DS at the end of March. So far, the move has only been officially announced in Japan, Australia and the US but the closure is expected to take effect globally.

PALM BEACH GARDENS— Phil Mickelson was here for a junior tournament the last time he played the Champion Course at PGA National Resort & Spa. After playing the course, which has undergone significant renovations by Jack Nicklaus, for the first time since then during Wednesday's pro-am, Mickelson, 43, was feeling good about his game and the Honda Classic , which begins here Thursday. Like most courses, it's a little tighter off the tee than I would like," Mickelson said, smiling, "but it's in incredible shape. The greens are beautiful. If you get hot with a putter, you can make a lot of putts. I do like the golf course. I've always liked Nicklaus-designed golf courses. It's a wonderful test of golf and I think that's a real credit as to why such a strong field continues to come here. Besides the fifth-ranked Mickelson, who is playing the Honda for the first time since 2002, when it was held at Heron Bay in Coral Springs, the 144-player field ...

Scientists with NASA's Kepler mission announced Wednesday that the number of verified planets beyond our solar system (also called exoplanets) has increased by 715. These newly confirmed exoplanets orbit 310 stars,many are in multi-planet systems much like our solar system .  Almost 95 percent of these worlds are smaller than Neptune, which is almost four times the size of the Earth. Four of the newly announced planets are less than 2.5 times lager than the Earth and orbit in their sun's habitable zone where the surface temperature of the planet may be suitable for liquid water. "The Kepler team continues to amaze and excite us with their planet hunting results," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "That these new planets and solar systems look somewhat like our own, portends a great future when we have the James Webb Space Telescope in space to characterize the new worlds.” The treasure ...

SYDNEY--Oil Search Ltd. (OSH.AU) said it would raise 1.22 billion Australian dollars (US$1.09 billion) to fund the purchase of stakes in two large natural gas discoveries in Papua New Guinea, boosting its bets on an impoverished country soon to join the ranks of global gas producers. Oil Search, Australia's fourth-largest listed oil producer, said it would buy a 22.8% stake in a license that includes the Elk and Antelope gas fields from closely held Pac LNG Group for US$900 million. The deal injects fresh momentum into the development of the two fields, which could potentially support a new gas-export facility in Papua New Guinea. To feed growing Asian demand, including from Japan and China, international investors are increasingly turning their attention to countries that previously played little part in energy markets. Papua New Guinea, better known for its jungles and tribal society, is due to start receiving a revenue windfall later this year, when Exxon Mobil Corp.'sU...

Oasis have kicked the reunion rumour mill back into gear after posting a teaser on Facebook and Instagram simply stating a date, '26 Feb', and a time, '9am'. The post was met with cries of "Please let this be a reunion!" from fans, though the one saying "If it's just a 'remastered album' we riot" is probably closer to the truth. The six-second video consisting of a montage of shots of the band, was followed up by a perhaps qualifying picture of a Definitely Maybe vinyl, suggesting we are to see a re-issue of the band's classic album to mark its 20th anniversary, possibly with new material. Stranger things have happened than a new tour though, with hip hop duo Outkast reforming earlier this year in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their breakthrough album, Southernplaylistcadillacmuzik. Frontman Liam Gallagher, who has recently been busy touring with his band Beady Eye, previously hinted at a reunion saying Oasis had ...

While the mobile world has been digesting the news of Samsung latest flagship smartphone, there are still many owners of last year’s model wondering when it will be treated to some new firmware. We now have news that the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4 Android 4.4.2 KitKat update download is due to start rolling out today. The Android 4.4.2 KitKat update has been slowly reaching more regions as the update has also been released for both variants of the device now, and US carrier AT&T has promised that its customers that own the device can start to look forward to the new firmware from today. It has been revealed that the new software will only be available via Wi-Fi and the file ranges from 412MB to 824MB in size, and AT&T are advising its customers to back everything up to a microSD card before commencing the update process. The update will bring Samsung Galaxy Gear compatibility along with the ability to drag and drop to uninstall or disable applications. There will also be...

hailene Woodley has revealed that her Divergent co-star Theo James has skills in the kissing department. The Golden Globe-nominated actress got to lock lips with the up-and-coming actor during some romantic scenes in the big-screen adaptation of Veronica Roth's sci-fi novel. "He's an incredibly masculine man with a beautiful soulful heart - and he was a great kisser," she told People. Shailene, who plays Beatrice 'Tris' Prior, was left with scars on her hip and chest after doing most of the stunts herself, including climbing a Ferris wheel, jumping off a train and getting submerged in a water tank. "I love adrenaline and working hard. It was intense, but it was also very fun," admitted the 22-year-old. Kate Winslet, Ray Stevenson, Maggie Q and Jai Courtney also star in Divergent, which will be released in UK cinemas on April 4.

Cairo - Egypt's government resigned on Monday, paving the way for army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to declare his candidacy for president of a strategic US ally gripped by political strife. After the July overthrow of elected Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and subsequent crackdown on Islamists and liberals with hundreds killed and thousands jailed, critics say Cairo's military-backed authorities are turning the clock back to the era of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, when the political elite ruled with an iron fist in alliance with top businessmen. The outgoing government “made every effort to get Egypt out of the narrow tunnel in terms of security, economic pressures and political confusion”, Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi said in a live nationwide speech. Beblawi, who was tasked by interim President Adly Mansour with running the government's affairs until the election, did not give a clear reason for the decision. But the resignation effectively opened th...

Dirk Nowitzki's buzzer-beating shot lifted the Dallas Mavericks to a 110-108 win over the New York Knicks on Monday night. The German watched his jump-shot bounce up off the rim and then fall back through the net as time expired, bailing out the Mavericks after they had squandered an eight-point lead in the final 90 seconds. Carmelo Anthony poured in 44 points in vain for the Knicks as Dallas claimed a ninth win in 11. While the Mavs are soaring, the Philadelphia 76ers are tanking, losing their 11th straight game as they went down 130-110 to the struggling Milwaukee Bucks in a match-up of the NBA's two worst teams. OJ Mayo led the way for Milwaukee - who still have the worse record at 11-45 - with 25 points, 21 of them from three-point range, while Ersan Ilyasova added 20. Jamal Crawford also hit seven three-pointers, finishing with 24 points, as the Los Angeles Clippers took down the New Orleans Pelicans 123-110. Stephen Curry scored 19 points to lead the Golden...

One of the biggest Bitcoin Exchanges, MtGox, has gone offline. The exchange has been hit by technical issues and recently halted all customer withdrawals of the digital currency after it spotted what it called "unusual activity". The move is a setback for backers of Bitcoin, who have been pushing for greater adoption of the currency. Meanwhile, six other major Bitcoin exchanges issued a joint statement distancing themselves from MtGox. "This tragic violation of the trust of users of MtGox was the result of one company's actions and does not reflect the resilience or value of Bitcoin and the digital currency industry," the exchanges, including Coinbase and BTC China, said in a statement. "As with any new industry, there are certain bad actors that need to be weeded out, and that is what we are seeing today. "We are confident, however, that strong Bitcoin companies, led by highly competent teams and backed by credible investors, will conti...

There are opportunities galore, but the yuan, or renminbi, remains a challenging currency in many ways. According to the global transaction services organisation Swift, the yuan was the eighth most used currency for payment in December and overtook the euro as the second most-used currency for trade finance in October. Not bad for a currency that is technically non-convertible, but it needs to become more easily tradable if the financial services sector is really to thrive – and there are growing signs of its internationalisation. Last week, the Xinhua news agency reported that the Shanghai branch of the People’s Bank of China had greenlit five third-party payment firms to process yuan- denominated cross-border payment in Shanghai’s free trade zone. The central bank requirements are that companies that have online payment service licences and are either incorporated in Shanghai or run subsidiaries in the free trade zone and can provide renminbi settlement for cross-border trad...

The Mobile World Congress kicked off today, with plenty of new smartphones and tablets expected to be unveiled during the show. One of the biggest names in the market, Samsung, started things off with a bang, as it officially announced the Galaxy S5 smartphone. If you get flashbacks to the Galaxy S4 and SIII when looking at the S5, you aren't alone. Samsung is sticking with the same rounded rectangle shape on the outside (just with an improved back for extra grip), however it's all the interior components that really set this new flagship phone apart. The S5 features a 5.1-inch, 1920x1080 Super AMOLED display (slightly larger than the S4's 5-inch screen), is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor (faster CPU, GPU, and memory bus speeds), and runs Android 4.4.2, albeit with Samsung's TouchWiz skin on top. Samsung has outfitted the Galaxy S5 with 2GB of RAM, either 16 or 32GB of storage that can be expanded to 128GB via microSD, and 802.11ac MIMO for download...

TRIPOLI  The headquarters of Libya's General National Congress (interim parliament) was evacuated Sunday evening after a shell fell into the building. "The shell landed into the courtyard while lawmakers were discussing the dissolution of militias," Abdel-Rahman al-Sowehli, chairman of the Defense Committee, told Anadolu Agency. A parliamentary source said that the session was suspended following the attack. No casualties were reported. By Mohamed al-Nagem

London Irish director of rugby Brian Smith refused to blame any refereeing decisions for his side's 20-15 defeat at the hands of Leicester. London Irish director of rugby Brian Smith refused to blame any refereeing decisions for his side's 20-15 defeat at the hands of Leicester. Logovi'i Mulipola's second try for the visitors was awarded on the advice of the television match official and late on Irish crossed the line for what would have been a winning try only for the TMO to rule it out for an earlier knock-on. Smith said: "We weren't at our best and that's the reason why we lost. If we had played to our best I might have been jumping up and down about a couple of matters. From the screen I saw, George Skivington seemed to get under Mulipola and I didn't think it was a knock-on at the end as there was an involvement from their player." Irish had to rely on penalties for their points with four successes from James O'Connor and...

Free-scoring Liverpool maintained their push for a Champions League place — and perhaps more — as they beat Swansea City 4-3 in a thrilling Premier League encounter on Sunday. Jordan Henderson scored the winner 16 minutes from time — his second of the game — to keep Liverpool fourth, just four points behind leaders Chelsea. Tottenham lost ground in fifth after they were surprisingly beaten 1-0 at Norwich Daniel Sturridge scored the other goal as Liverpool won the match with their 70th league goal of the season, despite twice conceding a lead, a fact not lost on their manager, Brendan Rodgers. “The strong part of our game came through,” Rodgers said. “Our offensive game is very aggressive and we’ve got goals in the team but we’re disappointed with the goals we conceded. “We know we can score goals and if we’re not having one of our better days we have the character and resilience to keep fighting and we know we have the quality. “We haven’t performed at our level but some of ou...

ZIRCON crystals from Western Australia's Jack Hills region were proposed as the oldest evidence of Earth being ready to support life in the Feb. 23, 2014, edition of the journal Nature Geoscience by an international team of researchers led by University of Wisconsin-Madison geoscience Professor John Valley. The zircons were determined to be 4.4 billion years old. This indicates the Earth’s crust formed about 160 million years after the formation of the universe. The discovery indicates that Earth was capable of retaining water from condensation or from impact from an extraterrestrial source. Two of the necessities for life as it is known on Earth are rock and water. The scientists used atom-probe tomography and secondary ion mass spectrometry to produce the most exact date for the zircons in the early crust sample that have ever been known. Lead isotope analysis and oxygen isotope analysis confirmed the age of the zircons in the Earth’s oldest known crust. The research pro...

While Android is utilized by a cornucopia of handset manufacturers, Windows Phone is primarily a Nokia-only affair. Sure, there are other manufacturers that use Microsoft's mobile OS, such as HTC and Samsung, but let's be honest -- if you buy a Windows Phone, you want a Nokia. For a company like Apple, being the sole manufacturer of iOS is by design. However, Microsoft's business has always been about working with as many hardware partners as possible. Today, Microsoft announces a return to form with nine new hardware partners. However, that is not all -- additional internal hardware is getting support too. Does this signal the possibility of a dual-boot Windows Phone/Android device? "In addition to our great partners HTC, Huawei, Nokia and Samsung, today in Barcelona we announced we're now working with nine new Windows Phone partners, including: Foxconn, Gionee, JSR, Karbonn, Lava (Xolo), Lenovo, LG, Longcheer and ZTE. Collectively, Windows Phone partners mak...

Syria said Sunday it is ready to cooperate with a rare UN Security Council resolution to allow humanitarian access, so long as it respects "state sovereignty." A Saudi source, meanwhile, said Riyadh is in talks with Pakistan to provide anti-aircraft and anti-tank rockets to Syrian rebels to try to tip the balance in their war against the regime. In Damascus, the foreign ministry said the "root causes" of the humanitarian crisis must be treated, singling out "foreign-backed terrorism" and sanctions placed on President Bashar al-Assad's regime by Western and Arab countries. The Security Council, which has been sharply divided over the nearly three-year Syrian conflict, unanimously adopted resolution 2139 on Saturday, calling for humanitarian aid convoys to be allowed access across the war-torn country. According to the ministry statement, carried by state news agency SANA, Syria is ready to cooperate with the UN mission and international humanit...

 (Reuters) - Mexico's most wanted man, drug cartel kingpin Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, was captured on Saturday with help from U.S. agencies in a major victory for the government in a long, grisly drugs war. Guzman, known as "El Chapo" (Shorty) in Spanish, has long run Mexico's infamous Sinaloa Cartel and over the past decade he emerged as one of the world's most powerful organized crime bosses, even making it onto Forbes' list of billionaires. He was caught in his native northwestern state of Sinaloa in an early morning operation without a shot being fired, Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam said, adding that Guzman's identity had been "100 percent confirmed". It is a political triumph for President Enrique Pena Nieto, who took office in late 2012. Pena Nieto confirmed the capture via Twitter earlier on Saturday and congratulated his security forces. The U.S. government also applauded the arrest. Guzman's cartel has smuggled...