US President Barack Obama has fulfilled a pre-election promise by flying first lady Michelle to New York for a date.

“I promised her during the campaign that I would take her to a Broadway show after it was all finished,” the US president explained in a statement.

Republicans characterised the trip as insensitive and wasteful against the backdrop of US car giant General Motors preparing for an expected bankruptcy.

White House aides and media accompanied the first couple on their private date.

The president and first lady travelled to New York in a smaller plane than the regular Air Force One 747.

Mr and Mrs Obama ate dinner at Blue Hill restaurant, described as a trendy place where the food is grown by owner-chef Dan Barber.

Crowds lined the streets near the theatre for a glimpse of the couple

After dinner they moved on to the theatre.

Taxi drivers stood on the door frames of their vehicles as crowds gathered, up to eight people deep, to glimpse the first couple as their motorcade passed through blockaded streets.

The presidential date ended with a performance of August Wilson’s play, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.

The play is set in a Pittsburgh boarding house during a time when thousands of descendants of former slaves seeking work moved in large numbers from the rural south toward the industrial cities of the north.

The Obamas flew back to Washington on Saturday night.

.

Advice about aspirin use has been conflicting Low-dose aspirin should not routinely be used to prevent heart attacks and strokes, contrary to official guidance, say UK researchers. Analysis of data from over 100,000 clinical trial participants found the risk of harm largely cancelled out the benefits of taking the drug. Only those who have already had a heart attack or stroke should be advised to take a daily aspirin, they found. The Lancet study should help clarify a “confusing” issue, GPs said. The NHS drugs watchdog, the National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), has not made a ruling in this area. But experts in the UK, US and Europe recommend aspirin for people who have not already had a heart attack or stroke, but are at high risk of cardiovascular disease because of factors such as age, blood pressure and cholesterol level. We don’t have good evidence that, for healthy people, the benefits of long-term aspirin exceed the risks by an appropriate margin Professor Colin Baigent, study leader This strategy, known as primary prevention, is based on the result of studies looking at predicted risks and benefits in this population. But the latest research provides clearer evidence because it is based on data from individuals, the researchers said. They looked at heart attacks and strokes and major bleeds - a potential side effect of aspirin - in six primary prevention trials, involving 95,000 people at low to average risk and 16 trials involving 17,000 people at high risk - because they had already had a heart attack or stroke. Use of aspirin in the lower-risk group was found to reduce non-fatal heart attacks by around a fifth, with no difference in the risk of stroke or deaths from vascular causes. But it also increased the risk of internal bleeding by around a third. Balance However, in those patients who had already had a heart attack or stroke and were at risk of having another, the benefits clearly outweighed the chance of adverse events, the researchers said. Study leader Professor Colin Baigent from the Clinical Trial Service Unit at the University of Oxford, UK, said drug safety was vital when making recommendations that affected tens of millions of healthy people. “We don’t have good evidence that, for healthy people, the benefits of long-term aspirin exceed the risks by an appropriate margin.” He added: “I think the guideline groups will find it useful to have the data analysed in that way.” Professor Steve Field, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said the issue had been confusing for GPs and patients. “There is no definitive guidance and it makes it bewildering when you have a series of papers which then hint it would be beneficial to take aspirin.” He added that many patients would buy aspirin over the counter - either on the advice of their GP or under their own steam - because it was cheap. “This important study does suggest people shouldn’t take aspirin unless indicated by disease.” Ellen Mason, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation said: “It is better for doctors to weigh up the benefit and risk of prescribing aspirin on an individual basis, rather than develop a blanket guideline suggesting everyone at risk of heart disease is routinely given aspirin.”

New software has enabled researchers to recreate a long forgotten musical instrument called the Lituus.

The 2.4m (8ft) long trumpet-like instrument was played in Ancient Rome but fell out of use some 300 years ago.

Bach’s motet (a choral musical composition) “O Jesu Christ, meins lebens licht” was one of the last pieces of music written for the Lituus.

Now, for the first time, this 18th Century composition has been played as it should have been heard.

Researchers from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the University of Edinburgh collaborated on the study.

Performed by the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) the Lituus produced a piercing trumpet-like sound interleaving with the vocals.

Until now, no one had a clear idea of what this instrument looked or sounded like.

But researchers at Edinburgh University developed a system that enabled them to design the Lituus from the best guesses of its shape and range of notes.

The result was a 2.4m (8ft) -long thin straight horn, with a flared bell at the end.

Hard to play

It is an unwieldy instrument with a limited tonal range that is hard to play. But played well, it gives Johann Sebastian Bach’s motet a haunting feel that couldn’t be reproduced by modern instruments.

The software was originally developed by a PhD student Dr Alistair Braden to improve the design of modern brass instruments.

But Dr Braden and his supervisor Professor Murray Campbell, were approached by a Swiss-based music conservatoire specialising in early music, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, to help them recreate the Lituus - even though no one alive today has heard, played or even seen a picture of this forgotten instrument.

SCB gave the Edinburgh team their expert thoughts on what the Lituus may have been like in terms of the notes it produced, its tonal quality and how it might have been played.

They also provided cross-section diagrams of instruments they believed to be similar to the Lituus.

“The software used this data to design an elegant, usable instrument with the required acoustic and tonal qualities,” says Professor Campbell.

“The key was to ensure that the design we generated would not only sound right but look right as well.”

He added: “Crucially, the final design produced by the software could have been made by a manufacturer in Bach’s time without too much difficulty.”

SCB has now used Edinburgh’s designs to build two identical examples of the long-lost instrument.

Both were used in an experimental performance of “O Jesu Christ, meins lebens licht” in Switzerland earlier this year.

Written by Bach in the 1730s, it is thought that this is now the only piece of music in existence that specifies the use of the Lituus - and has almost certainly not been performed using this instrument since Bach’s time.

“Sophisticated computer modelling software has a huge role to play in the way we make music in the future,” comments Professor Campbell.

The software also opens up the possibility that brass instruments could be customised more closely to the needs of individual players in the future - catering more closely for the differing needs of jazz, classical and other players all over the world.

A homemade bomb discovered on board an Iranian plane has been defused, semi-official news agencies report.

According to several Iranian news agencies, the bomb was discovered on a plane shortly after it took off from the oil-rich city of Ahvaz.

Plain-clothes security guards, who are believed to travel on every Iranian flight, found it in a toilet.

The incident comes at a time of rising tension in the run up to Iran’s presidential elections on 12 June.

The plane turned back to Ahvaz for an emergency landing when the bomb was discovered.

The flight resumed after the bomb was defused.

The incident follows a bomb attack on a mosque in the south-east of the country on Thursday.

In the latest incident, the plane was also flying from a border province - this time, an area that borders Iraq, and has also had problems with restive minorities.

Tension seems to be rising in the run up to the presidential election in two weeks time, particularly as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is by no means guaranteed re-election.

The prince described his trip as ‘fantastic’

Prince Harry is returning to Britain having finished his first official overseas engagement, in New York. But how successful was it?

Ten-year-old Kiara Molina chatted intently to Prince Harry in a community education centre in Harlem. He smiled, asked encouraging questions, and after the third-in-line to the throne left, she was beaming.

The prince was similarly at ease with Kiara’s classmate Khalil Davis, who had cooked an elaborate dish with anchovies.

“Urgh,” said the prince, much to Khalil’s amusement. But he ate the fishy dish anyway, all on camera.

Harry showed he was a good sport, joining in an obstacle course the children had designed, which culminated in him sitting on a balloon and making it pop.

‘Common touch’

Royal minders beamed with approval. The New York Daily News declared that Harry had “conquered Manhattan with his caring manner, good looks and common touch”.

Only 24 hours earlier ABC News had heralded his arrival in Manhattan with a jokey, “lock up your daughters” introduction. What a difference a day makes.

Harry’s carefully-choreographed appearance at Ground Zero, where he laid a wreath and paid his respects to those who lost their lives on 9/11, was a poignant image, which also served as a coming of age moment.

Instead of tabloid headlines showing the partying prince coming out of nightclubs, there he was, head bowed, at a place Americans regard as sacred ground.

It is the media that stamp an image on me that really isn’t me Prince Harry Prince Harry goes to Harlem

Harry talked to relatives of those who died that day, including Paula Berry, whose husband David was killed. Her three sons lost their father, something Paula told me she felt Harry empathised with, as he too had lost a parent.

Visiting a veterans medical centre in Manhattan was another important encounter for Harry, as it underlined his own army service in Afghanistan.

“Ouch,” joked the prince as one of the veterans gripped his hand with an artificial limb. A lighter moment in a visit where Harry showed himself to be a sympathetic listener.

Palace officials say this visit achieved Harry’s twin objectives of paying tribute to New York and working on behalf of his children’s charity in Lesotho.

It also drew parallels with his mother Diana’s visit here 20 years ago, and her charity work. She captivated New Yorkers, cuddling children with Aids in Harlem and charming her audience at a banquet.

Fantastic trip

At a polo match in Governor’s Island, to raise money for the charity, Sentebale, he founded with the Prince of Lesotho, Harry said: “Prince Seeiso and I both lost our mothers when we were young.

“We set up Sentebale in their memory, and because my mother loved this city, it makes this occasion all the more poignant for me.”

Harry said his trip had been “fantastic”.

Asked if he thought it had changed his public image, he replied: “I do not know what the public image is of me, there’s always the image that has been given to me, but you know, it is the media that stamp an image on me that really isn’t me.”

So Harry heads back to Britain after what has been a successful visit.

His priority now, say palace officials, is training to be an army helicopter pilot. Future overseas visits will have to fit around that schedule.

Seasoned royal watchers say if the royal family is to maintain its position in British life, then the younger royals will have to have a public profile, as that will keep the institution alive and relevant.

Osbourne is seeking unspecified damages in the dispute Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne is suing the band’s guitarist Tony Iommi over royalty payments. The 60-year-old has accused Iommi of falsely claiming to have sole rights to the band’s name which has cost him royalties from merchandise sales. Osbourne is seeking unspecified damages, lost profits and a declaration he is a half-owner of the trademark. Iommi claims Osbourne legally relinquished rights to the band’s name in the 1980s. The guitarist registered the Black Sabbath trademark in the US in 2000. Equal shares Osbourne issued a statement on Friday asking Iommi to “do the right thing”. “Tony, I am so sorry it’s had to get to this point by me having to take this action against you,” he said. “We’ve all worked too hard and long in our careers to allow you to sell merchandise that features all our faces, old Black Sabbath album covers and band logos, and then you tell us that you own the copyright.” Osbourne said he believed all four original members of the band should share Black Sabbath’s name equally adding: “I hope that by me taking this first step that it will ultimately end up that way.” The star’s lawyer has disputed he gave up rights to the band’s name, saying that even if the singer did make such an agreement, he took a major role in the band’s direction and success after rejoining it in 1997. Black Sabbath, who were formed in Birmingham in 1968, have sold more then 100 million albums and are known for hits including Iron Man and Paranoid.

Jolie was filming an action sequence in New York when the injury happened Actress Angelina Jolie was taken to hospital on Friday after suffering a head injury while on set for her latest film, movie bosses have said. The 33-year-old was shooting an action sequence for upcoming thriller Salt in New York when she suffered “a minor bump to the head”. Columbia Pictures spokesman Steve Elzer said Jolie was taken to a local hospital as a “precautionary measure”. He added she was back on set later that day and production had resumed. Salt sees Jolie star as a CIA officer who goes on the run after being accused of being a Russian sleeper spy. It had been reported last year that the role had been initially earmarked for Hollywood actor Tom Cruise, and that the script and title were reworked after Jolie became involved in the film. The movie, which also features X-Men Origins: Wolverine star Liev Schreiber and British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, is due to be released in cinemas in the summer of next year.

More than 18m people tuned in to watch dance group Diversity’s shock victory over singer Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent, early figures show. Viewing figures peaked at 18.5m on Saturday night when the 11-strong group from Essex were announced the winners. ITV say it is the most watched TV show since the Euro 2004 England v Portugal match, which attracted 20.66m viewers. Diversity defied predictions to win the £100,000 prize and the chance to perform at the Royal Variety Show. During the final show, an average of 15m people and a 70% audience share watched the three sets of brothers and four friends perform their routine which judge Simon Cowell described as “sheer and utter perfection”. Susan Boyle had been the favourite to win the talent show Boyle, who sang I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables - the same song that catapulted her to global fame - was gracious in defeat saying that “the best people won” adding: “I wish you all the best.” Saxophonist Julian Smith, 39, from Birmingham finished in third place in the competition. ‘No chance’ At a London press conference on Sunday morning, Diversity remained stunned at their victory with the group’s choreographer Ashley Banjo saying: “I didn’t expect it, really didn’t expect to win at all. “I thought there’s no chance at all - we were just going to do our best.” The science graduate, 20, said he was so convinced that the group would lose, he had a speech prepared congratulating Boyle, and his “legs gave way” when the result was announced. The group added they had not slept since their victory. The group said they were ’speechless’ and ‘gobsmacked’ over their victory Banjo said Diversity were now going to work “just as hard” and produce something “amazing” for their performance in front of the Queen at the Royal variety Show in December. ITV said that out of the nearly four million votes cast Diversity secured 24.9% of the public vote, while Boyle received 20.2% and Smith received 16.4%. It added that it had raised over £1m for the Royal Variety Charity from the revenue from phone votes. Diversity is the second dance act to win the talent contest after 15-year-old George Sampson won the show last year. They will now take part in the Britain’s Got Talent tour along with the nine other finalists next month.

Pakistan’s operation against Taliban rebels in the Swat valley region should be over in the next few days, the country’s defence secretary has said.

Syed Athar Ali told a meeting of Asian nations in Singapore that only “5% to 10% of the job” remains.

The army has said it will pursue “hardcore” rebels after recapturing Mingora, the main city in Swat.

But an army spokesman said it was not possible to predict when the military operation would be completed.

Meanwhile, 40 militants were killed in an attack on a Pakistani army base near the Afghan border, officials said.

Officials said four soldiers were also killed in an eight-hour gun battle at the camp in South Waziristan, a Taliban stronghold.

“Militants came in force and attacked a paramilitary camp and fighting lasted for eight hours,” an intelligence official in the region told Reuters news agency.

‘Elusive enemy’

Having recaptured Mingora, which was home to 300,000 people before the fighting began, Pakistan’s army said essential services were being restored to the city.

“The main cities in the Swat valley stand clear today. The operation is being conducted in the countryside to the right and left of the valley and to the North… so the operation is ongoing and it will take a little more time,” army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told the BBC.

But while Maj Gen Abbas said the remaining militants were being hunted down, he could not confirm when the army’s operation in the area would be complete.

“It’s difficult to give a timeline because this is an elusive enemy that has strongholds in the countryside,” he said.

With journalists barred from the area, it is impossible to verify the situation independently.

Some 2.5 million people have fled their homes since military operations began in Swat more than a month ago.

Bounty raised

Soldiers continued to patrol Mingora’s largely deserted streets on Saturday, securing neighbourhoods and checking houses for booby-traps.

Pakistan has increased its reward for the capture of the Taliban leader in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah, to 50m rupees ($600,000).

The radical cleric is believed to be the architect of a two-year uprising in the valley aimed at enforcing Islamic law.

It is thought that the Taliban responded to the military campaign this week with a major suicide bomb attack on the country’s second-biggest city, Lahore, as well as bombings in two other cities in the north-west.

The US is giving full backing to the Pakistani operations, which are linked to its own offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan, our correspondent says.

The Orlando Magic never gave in. They didn’t buckle when their starting point guard went down with a season-ending injury. They regrouped when their frustrated superstar called out their coach. They stood up to the Boston Celtics. They sent LeBron James home.

They fought — all the way to the NBA Finals.

Kobe vs. LeBron?

Not this year.

Dwight Howard dominated inside for 40 points, Rashard Lewis added 18 and the overlooked Magic wrecked the Kobe-LeBron dream Finals with a 103-90 victory over James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 6 to win the Eastern Conference championship Saturday night.

Fourteen frustrating years since their last appearance, the Magic are back from ruin.

• Series: Magic 4, Cavaliers 2 | Freeman: Poor sport LeBron

“I don’t think people thought we could be at this level,” coach Stan Van Gundy said.

The Magic will be making their first Finals appearance since 1995, one year before Shaquille O’Neal bolted as a free agent for Los Angeles and wrecked the franchise. Six years ago they won just 21 games, a low point that helped them draft Howard with No. 1 pick.

It’s been a long, slow climb back, but Orlando has been rebuilt and will meet the Lakers on Thursday night at the Staples Center in Game 1.

Disney World vs. Disneyland.

Oh, and memo to Nike executives: It’s time to break out the Howard puppet. LeBron’s can go in summer storage.

For now, the only matchup between James and Lakers superstar Bryant will have to be limited to those cute TV commercials.

With the city’s most famous athlete, Tiger Woods, sitting courtside, Orlando dropped a dozen 3-pointers and made believers of all those who wondered if they were better than the Cavaliers, a team that won 66 games in the regular season, or the defending champion Celtics.

The Magic made both disappear.

“For us as a team, we understand how everybody has talked about us for the last couple of years,” Howard said. “We can beat anybody.”

James scored 25 in his worst game of the series, but the 24-year-old MVP was magnificent for most of it, adding to a legacy still in its infancy. But Mo Williams lost his shooting touch and Cleveland’s bench was badly outplayed by Orlando’s reserves.

• Magic crash party | LeBron can’t save Cavs

Afterward, James put on headphones and stormed out of Amway Arena.

He skipped the news conference and briskly walked down the corridor with two security guards as escorts. He plopped into a chair to be scanned for the team’s charter plane ride, grabbed his bags and was gone — a special season ending in stunning disappointment.

Delonte West added 22 and Williams, who guaranteed the Cavs would come back and win the series, 17 for Cleveland, which went 0-5 in Orlando.

“We had one goal and we came up short,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said.

During the closing minutes, James was mocked by Orlando’s crowd singing “M-V-P” as Howard shot free throws.

After Superman muscled underneath for a thunderous dunk with 2:21 left, the crowd moved into finals mode chanting, “Beat L.A.!”

Howard’s one flaw has been his free-throw shooting, but he made 12 of 16 in Game 6.

Inside. Outside. The Magic had it all.

Cleveland might have had the best player. Orlando had the better team.

“Everybody’s hurting,” Cavs guard Daniel Gibson said. “It’s hard watching the dream go away with every 3-point shot they made.”

The Magic’s season hasn’t been without its share of turmoil. Jameer Nelson sustained a season-ending shoulder injury in early February, a setback that at the time seemed as if it would prevent Orlando from doing anything this year.

But general manager Otis Smith acquired guard Rafer Alston from Houston. Alston, a former playground legend, fit in perfectly. In the opening round against Philadelphia, the Magic lost the opener before rebounding and winning a close-out Game 6 on the road.

Then, following Game 5 of the Boston series, Howard called out Van Gundy for not getting him the ball enough and challenged his substitution patterns. The Magic shook off that spat, too, winning two straight, including Game 7 on Boston’s parquet.

In the conference finals, they beat Cleveland with a devastating mix of inside power and outside firepower.

“This team has fought really, really hard,” Van Gundy said. “Our reward is you get to go from preparing for LeBron to preparing for Kobe. I’m not doing that tonight.”

This was supposed to be the Cavs’ season. But there will be no title, and once again Cleveland fans will feel nothing but heartache as they wait for one of their city’s teams to end a 45-year championship drought.

In the first half, the Cavaliers couldn’t stop Howard and the shoot-first-ask-questions-later Magic took turns launching 3s while building an 18-point halftime lead.

“When they get it going, they are really tough,” Ben Wallace said.

On Cleveland’s last possession before the half, James missed a short runner while being knocked to the floor. He sat there in disbelief, looking for a call, looking for help, looking lost.

Cleveland’s coaching staff barked at the officials and Brown was assessed a technical.

When the Cavs came back out after halftime, Howard was practicing free throws. As he walked toward Cleveland’s bench, injured forward Lorenzen Wright, dressed in a suit, jumped up and grabbed the net and tried to knock out one of Howard’s shots.

It dropped in anyway, another symbolic moment.

A little more Magic.