Separated by thousands of miles from their devastated homeland, Britain's community of Gurkha soldiers past and present is rallying to help victims of the earthquake in Nepal.

The 2,500-strong Gurkha brigade, soldiers recruited in Nepal, has been part of the British army for 200 years including on the frontlines in Afghanistan and Iraq.

They are famed for their ferocity and tenacity, and they use as their symbol the curved, machete-like kukri knives which they carry in battle.

As well as serving soldiers, there are still communities of retired Gurkhas dotted around Britain who often settle near military bases after leaving the army.

"We're trying to raise money but how we're going to do this, I don't know. It's not just one village -- it's villages all over the country," Om Prakash Gurung, chairman of the British Gurkha Veterans Association, told AFP.

"Nepal is a very poor country and our families depend on us -- we're the breadwinners," he said.

Gurung served as a Gurkha for 22 years, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, and now runs a Nepalese restaurant in Nuneaton, central England.

"I feel very sad. When I watch television, I think 'what can I do?'" he said, adding that he and other members of the town's Nepalese community were trying to keep in touch with their families every few hours.

More than 5,000 people have died and the United Nations says a total of eight million have been affected by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake which struck mountainous Nepal on Saturday.

- Family on the street -

Dozens of serving Gurkhas flew out from Britain late Monday to help the aid effort, along with 1,100 shelter kits and 1,700 solar lanterns, and more troops could be mobilised to help in the coming days.

A march marking 200 years of Gurkha service to Britain on Thursday is expected to include a commemoration of the earthquake victims.

Meanwhile, former Gurkhas around the country -- who for years have supported relatives at home by sending money back -- are trying their hardest to help their country in its hour of need.

Dhan Gurung was a Gurkha for 18 years and still lives near Shorncliffe Camp in Kent, southeast England, regimental headquarters of the Royal Gurkha Rifles.

He organised a vigil on Monday night attended by 1,000 people carrying candles and waving Nepalese flags and is trying to raise cash for tents, sleeping bags, torches and cooking pots.

Published: 28 April 2015

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The British economy gre far more slowly than expected in the first quarter of 2015, official data showed Tuesday, delivering a blow to the government just nine days before a general election.

Gross domestic product expanded by 0.3 percent between January and March compared with GDP growth of 0.6 percent in the final quarter of 2014, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in an initial estimate.

Analysts' consensus had been for a slowdown in growth to only 0.5 percent in the first quarter, according to Bloomberg News.

Published: 28 April 2015

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Camped outside St Mary's Hospital in London, eccentrics decked out from head to toe in Union Jack colours are counting down to the latest addition to Britain's royal family.

"Diana superfan" John Loughrey cannot hide his excitement, dancing a jig and singing on the pavement.

"Get down here, you're missing something, the atmosphere is electrifying," he said, as hospital patients and staff hurried past, grinning.

"Once the baby is born we will be celebrating! We will be dancing for two hours!" he told AFP.

"This is what you call Shakespeare, this is theatre!"

The same loyal fans all came to the same clinic in 2013 for the birth of Prince George, the first child of Prince William and his wife Kate.

Two years later they are back to witness the birth of George's little brother or sister.

Around a dozen of them could be seen on Friday, preparing to spend a fifth night sleeping in two small two-person tents and on nearby benches.

Among them is Terry Hutt, the famous "Union Jack Man" who at 79 is still a feature at all royal events.

"It's important for me," he told AFP, wrapped in a sleeping bag donated to him by a television channel.

"Someone stole my sleeping bag. Unfortunately that night was freezing," he said, fixing his hat covered in Kate, Diana and Queen Elizabeth II badges.

Next to him are two beaming William and Kate impersonators, posing for a Japanese television station holding a plastic baby doll.

Published: 26 April 2015

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Kenya's Geoffrey Mutai has vowed to finally add the London Marathon title to his honours on Sunday, while three-time winner Paula Radcliffe prepares to bid a tearful farewell to the event.

Radcliffe's last appearance in the race that established her as one of the finest female marathon runners of all time will be the main focus for British fans.

But the battle for supremacy in the men's competition will provide a high-quality distraction from Radcliffe's emotional send-off.

Mutai has crossed the finish line in first place in the Boston, Berlin and New York Marathons, but he has been unable to emulate those triumphs on the streets of London.

In 2013 he dropped out with a hamstring problem at the 30-kilometre mark, while last year he was short of form and had to settle for sixth place.

To end his frustrating wait for a London victory, the 33-year-old will have to see off a star-studded field, including compatriots Wilson Kipsang, the defending London champion, and world record holder Dennis Kimetto.

"I have won in Boston, Berlin and New York, but the win I still want is this one," Mutai said.

"The fact that I have not done well here before is my main motivation now. It is what keeps me running and makes me want to come back.

"The London Marathon is more important to me now than the Olympics because it is more challenging. I will fight until my day comes."

With 2011 champion Emmanuel Mutai, 2014 runner-up Stanley Biwott, and 2014 Rotterdam and Chicago Marathon winner Eliud Kipchoge also on the start line, the race will feature the three quickest men in history and five of the all-time top 10.

Kipsang and Kimetto have never raced head-to-head before, and defending champion Kipsang, who set the London course record in two hours four minutes and 29 seconds last year, said: "I'm expecting a big challenge from Dennis.

"I've beaten him once and he's beaten me once. I have more experience in marathons but he has done very well in the few he's done."

Published: 26 April 2015

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France has many restaurants claiming the "bio" label, but only one to earn a star in the fabled Michelin Guide: Elsa, a Riviera eatery run by an Italian chef, Paolo Sari.

Sari boasts he takes the credo to such lengths that his 40-seat restaurant barely outside Monaco's border is "the only certified 100-percent bio establishment in the world".

Certainly he is inflexible in ensuring his Mediterranean cuisine, mixing French and Italian recipes, is entirely organic and sourced from local and near-local producers.

That means his asparagus comes from a village in Provence, his saffron from a mountaintop village near Nice, and seafood direct from fishermen. His almonds come from Sicily and go to make a diabolically delicious souffle.

Beef, though, is one ingredient that doesn't feature on his menu because there is no organic cattle farm nearby.

"Each ingredient, each supplier, even each transporter needs to have a certification," Sari told AFP.

Organisation is key, with records provided on every menu and the percentage of dishes sold, "because an inspector could come to check at any moment".

Published: 20 April 2015

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When Prince William and his wife Kate emerge from hospital cradling Britain's new royal baby for the cameras, the picture will be on the front of newspapers worldwide. But don't expect many photographs after that.

The second in line to the throne and his wife have fought hard for the right to bring up their family in private, despite being one of the most famous couples in the world.

Their first child, Prince George, is approaching his second birthday but has only appeared in public a few times -- outside the hospital when he was born in 2013, at his christening and on a tour of Australia and New Zealand last year.

The media are generally prepared to accept such scarce appearances by George and the new baby, expected this month.

"People have quite an outdated view of the British royal press pack," said Richard Palmer, royal correspondent for Britain's Daily Express newspaper.

"I think they still think we're hiding in hedgerows and doing things that people did 25 years ago.

"But the reality is the British press is pretty respectful to the royal family at the moment -- some might say it's a bit cowed."

"Readers don't want you to go too far," added Simon Perry, chief foreign correspondent of US celebrity magazine People.

"I don't think there is an appetite for people to be pursued or intruded upon in an excessive way."

- William 'blames press' over Diana -

The death of William's mother Diana, Princess of Wales, was a turning point in the royal family's relationship with the media.

She was being followed by paparazzi photographers when her car, driven by a chauffeur who had been drinking, crashed in Paris in 1997.

William "thinks the press were to blame" for Diana's death, said Judy Wade, Hello! magazine's royal correspondentKate is also suspicious of the media after incidents including the publication by a French magazine of paparazzi photographs of her topless on holiday in 2012, Wade added.

Although Britain has no overarching privacy law, newspapers now hardly ever publish paparazzi photographs of William, Kate or George, even though they are periodically published by magazines elsewhere and circulate on Twitter and Facebook.

Published: 20 April 2015

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Japan's top whaling negotiator said Tuesday Tokyo would try again to justify its "scientific" Antarctic Ocean hunt after a panel of experts said the government had not proved why it needed to kill the mammals.

Joji Morishita, Japan's commissioner to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), said he and his fellow officials would do their best to meet demands for evidence their hunt is scientific, with the Japanese government determined to restart what it claims is research.

"We respect their recommendations and we will make the best effort to respond to their recommendations, in good faith and in a sincere manner," Morishita told journalists in Tokyo.

"Our draft research plan is a draft from page one to the end, so all parts of the research plan can be improved, amended or changed in the course of the discussion."

Despite international disapproval, Japan has hunted whales in the Southern Ocean under an exemption in the global whaling moratorium that allows for lethal research.

It makes no secret of the fact that meat from the animals -- killed ostensibly for research -- is processed into food.

The International Court of Justice -- the highest court of the United Nations -- ruled in March last year that the research was a fig leaf for a commercial hunt and ordered that it end.

After that ruling, Japan said it would not catch whales during this winter's Antarctic season but has since expressed its intention to resume "research whaling" in 2015-16.

Japan tinkered with its programme and submitted a new plan to a panel of experts from the IWC. Amongst other things, the plan reduced the annual catch target to 333 from 900, and put a 12-year limit on the research.

- Sustainable hunting -

That panel on Monday said there was not enough evidence supporting why the whales need to be killed if Japan really wants to find out what they eat and how old they are.

"I believe our experts did a very scientific and technical job as... expected," Morishita told reporters.

Published: 14 April 2015

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After 21 blissful months of one-on-one care, world media attention and carefree splashing in the Buckingham Palace pool, Prince George is facing a spot of upheaval in his gilded life -- a sibling.

Later this month, the royal toddler's mother Kate is expected to give birth to a little brother or sister who will be fourth in line to the throne.

In his latest official photos, the son of Prince William and his wife Kate appears confident and curious -- a blond tot with an impish smile.

Shielded from the cameras, the prince's rare public appearances are exhaustively reported in British media and "Gorgeous George" is a social media star.

The little boy who has helped sustain the image of a British royal family once battered by scandal has been seen at public events just three times.

The first was in July 23, 2013 when he was shown to the world wrapped in a white blanket in the arms of his radiant parents -- aged just 27 hours.

"He's got a good pair of lungs on him," the young father told a crowd of some 200 journalists outside the same private maternity ward in London where Kate plans to give birth later this month.

George's second public engagement came three months later at his Christening, followed by a family tour of Australia and New Zealand in April 2014 where the chubby-cheeked royal stole the show.

In New Zealand, he was seen playing with other babies in the residence of his great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth's governor-general.

On a visit to a Sydney zoo, he showed particular interest in a bilby -- an endangered animal.

- Presents for George -

Besides these appearances, the royals have occasionally released official photographs of the baby prince born third in line to the throne.

George has been seen in the garden at Kate's parents' home after the birth; sat with the family in a Kensington Palace window ahead of his first overseas tour; playing with butterflies at the Natural History Museum to mark his first birthday; and sitting on the Kensington Palace steps for Christmas 2014.

Conscious of the role that he will have to play one day, William and Kate have said they want the prince to have as normal a childhood as possible.

George's first birthday was celebrated far from the cameras with a cake baked by his mother.

The family have a Spanish nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, and a dog, Lupo, a black cocker spaniel.

But any similarities with other children end there.

Published: 12 April 2015

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Thieves may have got away with a record haul of diamonds after a brazen heist in London's diamond district netted an estimated £200 million worth (275 million euro, $300 million) of gems, media reported Wednesday.

Burglars broke into a vault at a safe deposit centre in Hatton Garden, where many jewellers had left their stocks over the long Easter weekend, and cracked open 70 secure boxes, the police said.

Earlier reports put the number of boxes raided at 300.

A security guard heard an alarm go off on Friday, a bank holiday when the shops would have been closed, but shut it off when he failed to spot any sign of a disturbance, media reported Wednesday.

The Sun newspaper quoted a Hatton Garden insider saying: "It is estimated that around £200 million in diamonds, jewels and cash were stolen."

Hatton Garden is the centre of London's jewellery industry and has been home to hundreds of shops and manufacturers since the 19th century. The De Beers diamond company also has offices there.

One jeweller, Michael Miller, feared he may have lost up to £50,000 of uninsured jewellery and watches in the raid, only discovered Tuesday after the holiday break which coincided with Passover, when many of the area's Jewish diamond cutters and dealers were also away.

"There is a double-door entry and a locked system to go in. You have to go through two doors to get in the place and then get into the vault," he told reporters.

He added: "I have a collection of watches I was going to give my son and that is irreplaceable."

Published: 12 April 2015

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Former redhead Sansa remains a brunette. Tyrion grows a beard. East and West shall meet. And, once again, more will die gruesome deaths.

Welcome to season five of the cult TV series "Game of Thrones," which premieres Sunday worldwide to a rapturous global following.

So popular is the medieval-flavored saga of blood, sex and treason that HBO is airing the new season simultaneously in 170 countries.

New York fans who tune in Sunday at 9:00 p.m. will thus see the same action as counterparts in London who stay up into the wee hours of Monday.

The globe-girdling simulcast is HBO's response to "Game of Thrones" being the world's most pirated TV program.

The season four finale was illegally downloaded eight million times, according to file-sharing news site TorrentFreak, a nightmare for HBO's marketers but a tribute to the show's appeal.

Adapted from the "A Song of Ice and Fire" fantasy saga by George R.R. Martin, "Game of Thrones" revolves around a ruthless power struggle between noble families who covet the Iron Throne in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.

Lovers, warriors, princesses, eunuchs, dragons and zombies, among many others, take their turn in a multi-plot narrative in which the only common denominator is death.

So much so, in fact, that it had the second-highest body count of any US television show in 2012, with an average of 14 deaths per episode, according to Funeralwise.com. (Gladiator schlock-fest "Spartacus" was first at 25.)

Going into season five, the plot "just keeps getting bigger and bigger," said David Benioff, who co-created the show with Dan Weiss.

"For four seasons, you've had all these characters who've been separated by geography — from Daenerys and her band of warriors roaming around to everyone in Westeros," he said.

"Now, these storylines are starting to merge. It's going to be a big East-meets-West season."

Published: 11 April 2015

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