World Cup: Seven Ways To Predict The Winners

What do Stephen Hawking, Homer Simpson and weather forecasters have in common? They have all tried to use their specialist skills to predict the outcome of a World Cup.

Stephen Hawking says England should play 4-3-3 to stand any chance

Sky News looks at seven ways you might second guess the outcome of Brazil 2014. (Anyone with Three Lions in their heart should probably look away now.)

:: The Simpsons

The Simpsons have it that Germany will win the World Cup

In 2005 the hit cartoon correctly predicted the outcome of the Super Bowl - and now they have tried their luck at the World Cup. A one-off special produced by Fox earlier this year featured Homer refereeing a final between Brazil and Germany, with the Germans apparently beating the host nation 2-0.

:: The mathematical formula

Mathematical formulae have often been proved wrong at World Cups

Professor Stephen Hawking studied England's performances to come up with an equation that shows the Three Lions are more likely to flourish after short-haul flights when the temperatures are low and the games kick off at a familiar 3pm.

The good news is that… No, there is no good news. England face a 5,000-mile flight to a country expecting 30C weather, to play games at 6pm, 4pm and 1pm. There is one straw for Roy Hodgson to clutch: in 2010 German physics lecturer Metin Tolan devised a formula that predicted glory for his countrymen. Happily he was proved 'falsch'.

:: The animal oracle

Paul the Octopus sadly died in 2010

Perhaps Mr Tolan should have visited the Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen. It was here Paul the Octopus was presented with two boxes, each emblazoned with a nation's flag, during the 2010 World Cup.

Paul chose the winner in all seven of Germany's matches and also called a Spain win over Holland in the final. A parakeet and a fish named Koi Hodgson are among those who have tried to mimic Paul, but neither have come close to matching his psychic success.

:: The financial institution

Goldman Sachs does not have a great record predicting the outcome

Goldman Sachs has been issuing World Cup predictions since 1998 and say the winners can be pinpointed by examining how countries are performing in the global markets.

This year they reckon Brazil, Germany, Argentina and Spain will make the semi-finals - and have given England a 1.4% chance of lifting the trophy. Thankfully for Rooney and co, their past predictions have been way off target - guessing none of the semi-finalists in 2002 and just 50% in the last two tournaments.

:: The weather forecasters

Roy Hodgson has already expressed concerns about the heat

Meteorologists predicted World Cup 'El' for England long before Hawking and Goldman Sachs piped up. Climate scientists at the University of Reading have said there is a 60% chance of El Nino conditions in Brazil this summer. This would "increase the risk of uncomfortably hot and dry conditions" during the tournament - a blow to European teams used to playing in cooler conditions.

:: The form book

The 1962 World Cup, won in South America by Brazil

Spain are the reigning champions but, remarkably, no European team has ever won football's greatest prize on South American soil. In fact, on the seven occasions the World Cup has been played in the Americas, either Brazil, Argentina or Uruguay have triumphed. England have never passed the quarter-final stage in those years.

:: The bookies

You probably won't see a bookie on a Brazilian bike this summer

Brazil has its own version of the 'Boris Bike' - and our guess is you won't see a bookie on one. So your best bet might be checking the latest odds. Unsurprisingly, Brazil are the favourites at 3/1, followed by Argentina at 9/2 and Spain at 11/2. England sit alongside Portugal, Holland, Colombia and Italy on 25/1.

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Hi-Tech Nasa Sandals Blasted Into Space

A pair of hi-tech sandals has been blasted into space to help monitor the effects of low gravity on astronauts' bodies.

A crew of Russian, German and US astronauts docked with the International Space Station on Thursday, bringing with them some Nasa-designed footwear called ForceShoe.

The brown strap-on shoes sit atop small monitoring devices which will send data back to control centres on Earth.

They will be used when astronauts use the space station's exercise device, known as Ared, to help better understand the forces placed on space explorers' bodies.

In a statement, Nasa said: "Crew members will be asked to set the Ared to provide specific loads in the same way they would set loads on a weightlifting machine at the gym.

"They will then lift the exercise bar and stand still on Ared while the shoes collect data.

"Dynamic exercise will include squats, deadlifts and bicep curls."

Russian cosmonaut Maxim Surayev, his Nasa colleague Reid Wiseman, and German Alexander Gerst from the European Space Agency opened the hatch of the ISS about two hours after docking.

They hugged the crew of three already on board the international laboratory - US astronaut Steve Swanson and Russians Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev.

The Soyuz craft had blasted off from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan shortly before midnight Moscow time.

The new ISS crewmembers are due to carry out a 167-day mission and return to Earth in November.

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India: Gang-Raped Sisters' Bodies Hung From Tree

Two police officers suspected of gang-raping and killing teenage sisters before hanging their bodies from a mango tree have been arrested in India.

A third man was also held, according to reports, after the discovery of two bodies renewed public outrage over sexual violence in the country.

Villagers in Katra found the bodies hours after the girls, aged 14 and 15, disappeared from fields they used because their homes had no toilet.

Hundreds of people spent Wednesday in silent protest over alleged police inaction in the case.

Indian TV channels filmed villagers sitting under the girls' hanging bodies, preventing authorities from removing them until the suspects were arrested.

Police responded by making three arrests - and four more suspects are being sought.

Police officers at the scene of the hanging

Autopsies confirmed the girls were gang-raped and strangled before being hanged, police Superintendent Atul Saxena reportedly told AP.

A police station chief has been suspended, according to the news agency, after allegedly ignoring a complaint the girls were missing.

India tightened its rape laws last year - introducing the death penalty for gang rape - following the fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in New Delhi.

The case sparked nationwide protests.

A rape is committed every 22 minutes in India, a nation of 1.2 billion people - and activists say many more cases go unreported because of a culture of tolerance.

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Manchester United Owner Malcolm Glazer Dies

Malcolm Glazer, the head of the family that owns Manchester United football club, has died aged 85.

The news was announced by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the American football club he owned for nearly 30 years.

The club said he passed away on Wednesday morning and described him as a "pioneering thinker" and "dynamic business leader".

Mr Glazer, who lived in Palm Beach, Florida, bought Manchester United in 2005 - sparking a number of protests in the city.

After that, the football club won five Premier League titles (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013), as well as the 2008 Champions League title.

But the club had a disastrous season this year, culminating in the departure of manager David Moyes.

His death was announced on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' website

Sky's Sports Correspondent Paul Kelso said Mr Glazer's passing is a "significant moment" for Old Trafford.

Mr Glazer was a "hugely, hugely divisive" and "very unpopular" figure in Manchester, he said.

He said there were some violent protests after his leveraged buy-out, in which he borrowed a huge sum of money to buy the club and paid off the interest with its profits.

The club had no debts before the takeover and now owes nearly £400m.

Kelso said he does not think Mr Glazer's death will have much of an impact on Manchester United because he had been ill for some years and the club is being run by his family.

Mr Glazer once owned 100% of Old Trafford, but then passed his holding to his sons and daughter.

Mr Glazer's takeover sparked many protests by United fans

They own 90%, with the other 10% floated on the New York stock exchange.

Manchester United said in a statement: "The thoughts of everyone at Manchester United are with the Glazer family tonight ... Staff at Manchester United extend deep and sincere condolences to them all at this difficult time."

After his death was announced, fans' tributes - both positive and negative - started to pour in on forums and social media.

Mosley909, a poster on one Manchester United fan site, wrote: "Sad for those who love him and always sad when someone dies, but can't say I'll be shedding any tears."

Another poster, Andy McDonald, tweeted: "Don't understand these 'fans' disregarding Malcolm Glazer, our success was just as much his too. Forever a part of the MUFC family, R.I.P."

Mr Glazer leaves behind his wife Linda, six children and 14 grandchildren.

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Japan Oil Tanker Explosion Leaves Four Hurt

One person is missing and four people have been seriously hurt after an oil tanker exploded off the coast of Japan.

The blast and subsequent fire aboard the 998-tonne vessel Shoko-Maru sent towers of billowing acrid smoke into the sky near Himeji port, around 280 miles west of Tokyo.

The vessel's owner says the tanker was "virtually empty" when it blew up

Coastguard ships battled the blaze on the Hiroshima-based tanker, which has extensive damage to its central section and was listing heavily.

Of the eight people aboard the 260ft vessel, seven have been rescued, four of whom suffered severe burns.

The missing crew member is believed to be the captain.

The cause of the explosion is unclear, a spokesman for the coastguard said.

The tanker had unloaded its cargo of crude oil and was "virtually empty" when the blast happened, according to an official from Syoho Shipping, the company that owns the vessel.

Akihiro Komura said: "I heard a crew member was using a grinder to remove paint and that seems to have triggered the blast, which we believe could have occurred when the remnants of the oil caught fire.

"All the crew members are Japanese nationals. We have confirmed seven out of the eight are alive and one, believed to be the captain, is still missing."

News of the accident caused Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to interrupt a debate in parliament.

"In waters off Hyogo (prefecture), a tanker has exploded and is currently in flames," he said.

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Husband Of Death Sentence Woman Visits Baby

The husband of a Sudanese woman sentenced to death for apostasy - marrying outside her Islamic faith - has been talking about his newborn baby daughter.

Daniel Wani said his wife, Mariam Yahya Ibrahim, and the couple's two children - who are with their mother in a woman's prison - are holding up well.

"As for the new situation, her (Mariam's) psychological condition seems to be slightly better and Martin (her son) is also in good condition and is not naughty as was the case before. And the girl, of course she is still small, she's in good health."

Ms Ibrahim was charged with apostasy earlier this month, as well as with adultery for marrying a Christian man.

Muslim women in Sudan are forbidden from marrying out of their faith, therefore the 27-year-old's marriage is considered to be invalid and she is committing adultery.

Mr Wani with his newborn daughter

Human rights group Amnesty International says Ms Ibrahim was born to a Christian mother and a Muslim father.

As her father was away during her childhood, she was brought up as an Orthodox Christian - she subsequently refused to renounce her Christian faith in court.

Mr Wani is asking for the case to be reviewed.

"I hope they will take another look at the case - they will find many flaws, enough to cancel the judgment or close the case," he said.

Ms Ibrahim's lawyer, Muhannad Mustafa al-Nour, said that, in accordance with Sharia law, Ms Ibrahim would be allowed to breastfeed her baby for the first two years of its life.

"With the birth last night, the authorities will start counting two years of breastfeeding ... After that, she will be sentenced according to the previous judgment.

"But we have an appeal submitted to a higher level court and might go further to higher courts also.

"So we are hoping that the appeal leads to her release. Even if we fail in that, she will not be executed unless all the court levels have their last word," Mr al-Nour said.

Western embassies and Sudanese activists have sharply condemned the case and called on the Sudanese Islamist-led government to respect freedom of faith.

In 2010, Sudan's president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, said the country would adopt a fully Islamic constitution following the secession of the south.

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Porn Star Launches Bid To Become Toronto Mayor

Adult film star Nikki Benz says she has what it takes to become the mayor of Canada's largest city.

The actress went to Toronto's City Hall to launch her bid to unseat Rob Ford, who has been engulfed in controversy since he admitted smoking crack cocaine in a "drunken stupor".

"If Rob Ford can do it, I can do it," she told the Toronto Sun, shaking her blond hair as she posed for photos.

Benz already has a snappy campaign slogan - "Trade in your Ford for a Benz" - and a platform, bringing the porn film industry to Toronto to generate profit.

What she does not have at the moment, according to the Toronto Sun, is proper paperwork.

The newspaper said electoral officials rejected an expired driver's licence as proof of address when she tried to register.

If she does go through with her stunt and register, she will join a motley crew of candidates that reportedly also includes a clown.

Mr Ford has rejected calls to step down in response to his drug and alcohol use.

He has chosen rehab instead and is running for office again at the October 27 election.

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MH370 Families Angry Pings 'Not From Jet'

Families of passengers on board the missing flight say they have been left feeling "helpless" and "angry" after the spokesperson said there is agreement acoustic pings came from a source unrelated to flight MH370.

A US Navy official has claimed underwater signals detected in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane came from a search boat or the ping detector itself.

Sarah Bajc's boyfriend Philip Wood was one of the passengers on board the missing plane. She told Sky News: "We are no further along than we were on March 8. Every single, solitary lead has proven to be false.

Azharuddin Abdul Rahman addresses reporters in Kuala Lumpur

"There is no evidence, not a shred of wreckage, nothing. From a logic perspective we must come to the conclusion that there has got to be another answer.

"From the beginning the Malaysian authorities chose to take on this investigation themselves. Whether we're where we are because they're grossly incompetent or because they're part of some intentional set of actions to lead people astray to cover up what really happened, I don't know.

"But it has to be one of the two. There is no other alternative."

Steve Wang, whose 57-year-old mother was on board the fated flight said: "We all feel quite helpless; we don't know who to turn to now."

Relative Steven Wang has asked for more technical data to be released

"When (Australian Prime Minister) Tony Abbott told the world about the conclusion of the location of the search operation, he was really certain. Now it's not the case at all. 

"What evidence brought him to this conclusion is the question we've been asking all along. What has Boeing done to support this initial conclusion in associate with the detection of the pulse signal? Was it Boeing's conclusion or Australia's?"

Mr Wang, who still has his mother's final voice message she left him just before she boarded the plane, told Sky News that more flight data should be released so it can be independently analysed.

"We ask them to release all the evidence so it can be analysed by more people, not just by Inmarsat or the expert team from Malaysia."

Ocean Shield has now left the search area of 850 sq km (340 sq miles)

Michael Dean, the US Navy's deputy director of ocean engineering said that if the pings came from the plane's black box or voice recorders they would have been found by now.

"Our best theory at this point is that (the pings were) likely some sound produced by the ship... or within the electronics of the towed pinger locator," he told CNN.

"Always your fear any time you put electronic equipment in the water is that if any water gets in and grounds or shorts something out, that you could start producing sound."

The pinger locator was towed by the Australian ship Ocean Shield to listen for underwater signals in the southern Indian Ocean in an area where satellite data indicated the plane went down.

The Bluefin-21 submersible which could have emitted the pings

A series of signals it picked up prompted Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to say he was "very confident" they were from the black box of the plane that vanished en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board.

But Australia's Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has confirmed that Ocean Shield has now left an area of 850 sq km (340 sq miles) that was being scoured for the passenger jet that disappeared without trace on March 8.

A statement released by Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre said: "The ATSB has advised that the search in the vicinity of the acoustic detections can now be considered complete and in its professional judgement, the area can now be discounted as the final resting place of MH370."

Satellite data of the plane's last known movements was recently released

The news will add to the agony of the families of the 239 people who were on the flight and who have campaigned tirelessly for authorities not to give up the search.

Some 47 pages of raw satellite data tracking the last known movements of MH370 were released a few days ago following calls from the families for the information to be made public so it could be verified by independent experts.

Despite today's statement, a US Navy spokesman said Mr Dean's comments were "speculative and premature".

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Ukraine: Insurgents Shoot Down Helicopter

A Ukrainian military helicopter has been shot down by pro-Russian rebels over the eastern city of Slavyansk, killing 14 troops including an army general.

The Ukrainian government said the aircraft was brought down using an air defence missile.

The attack shows the capability the rebels still have in the face of a concerted military offensive by Kiev, said Sky News Moscow Correspondent Katie Stallard.

"This would seem proof the separatists in the region are not giving up and they are still fighting and that they do have very sophisticated equipment," she said.

Slavyansk, a rebel stronghold around 100 miles from the Russian border, has been at the centre of fighting between insurgents and government forces in recent weeks.

Authorities in the capital Kiev have condemned the unrest, which it blames on Moscow.

But Russia claims to have no influence over the militants, who argue they are protecting the Russian-speaking population in the east of the country.

Meanwhile, a rebel leader in Slavyansk said his fighters were holding four observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), but indicated they would be released shortly.

The OSCE said one of its four-man monitoring teams had gone missing in Donetsk on Monday.

Rebels have previously kidnapped military observers from the OSCE who were sent to check on the security situation amid continuing violence after Moscow's annexation of Crimea, and the uprising by pro-Russian separatists.

A pro-Russian rebel mans a barricade near Donetsk airport

The latest violence comes as billionaire Petro Poroshenko was confirmed as Ukraine's new president following elections.

Mr Poroshenko has promised to hold talks with people in the east but also to crush the rebellions, which have seen insurgents seize government offices and clash with Ukrainian troops.

His election coincided with Kiev unleashing its full military force against the rebels, with fighter jets and helicopter gunships used to retake Donetsk airport.

Some rebel leaders said up to 100 fighters may have been killed in the battle.

Russia has called for a halt to Ukraine's military action but acting defence minister Mykhailo Koval said: "Military planes and helicopters will fly until the end of the anti-terrorist operation.

"The armed forces of Ukraine are doing everything possible to ensure no civilians or unarmed people will be harmed."

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American 'Carried Out Syria Suicide Bombing'

A US citizen has allegedly carried out a suicide bombing in Syria, reportedly making him the first American to be involved in such an attack.

The American worked for al Nursa Front, a group linked to al Qaeda, according to CBS News.

In a series of tweets, the group identified him as Abu Hurayra al Amriki, or Abu Hurayra the American, NBC reported.

The man, whose real name has not been released, is believed to have carried out an attack in northern Syria on Sunday.

The area has seen increased fighting in recent weeks.

Photos circulated on extremist Islamist sites showed a bearded man, holding a cat in his arms, who was said to be the bomber.

Western officials are worried citizens travelling to Syria from countries such as the United States or Britain become radicalised and train as terrorists.

Some officials have said such citizens may pose a threat once they return to their home nations.

Around 400 Britons are believed to have gone to Syria over the last two years to train in camps or take part in the fighting, with an estimated 20 having died.

Officials in the UK have advised those who want to support humanitarian efforts in Syria to donate to charities instead of travelling to the country.

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