An Iranian opposition party postponed a rally planned for Thursday, a day after security forces crushed a planned demonstration with a show of force.

Riot police patrol a Tehran street earlier this week. Security forces are ever-present, one Iranian says.

The opposition had called for a ceremony to remember the victims of Iran’s post-election protests, but Wednesday night, the Web site of defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karrubi’s party announced it would be delayed. The site did not offer an alternate date.

Also Thursday, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the declared winner in the disputed June 12 election, told President Obama to stop “interfering” in Iran’s affairs, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

“Do you think that this kind of behavior is going to solve any of your problems? It will only make people think you are someone like Bush,” Fars reported Ahmadinejad as saying.

Obama is walking a diplomatic tightrope in finding the right response to the crisis. Since taking office, the U.S. leader has sought rapprochement with Iran, but this week he said he was “appalled and outraged” by the post-election violence.

The White House also has withdrawn invitations to Iranian diplomats overseas for Independence Day celebrations.

The mood in Tehran on Thursday was “defiant but nervous,” said one resident, whom CNN is not identifying for safety reasons.

Life was returning to routine, “but not like before the election,” the resident wrote. Security forces were ever-present, he said. And after days of protest, the city was calmer.

The number of demonstrators venturing into Tehran’s streets had fallen since Sunday, said CNN’s Reza Sayah, who returned Wednesday to the U.S. from Iran.

Sayah said exhaustion from consecutive days of protest may have combined with fear of government reprisals.

Eight members of the pro-government paramilitary Basij have been killed since the unrest started, Iran’s government-funded Press TV reported Thursday, citing unnamed Iranian officials.

The paramilitaries were all killed by gunfire, Press TV reported, “indicating that there were gunmen fomenting unrest among protesters, the officials said.

CNN has received numerous accounts of nighttime roundups of opposition activists and international journalists by government forces.

After opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi met with university teachers Wednesday, police arrested 70 attendees and took them to an undisclosed location, his Web site said.

CNN has not been able to verify the authenticity of the report on the site, Kalameh, which has been known to carry Moussavi’s official statements. The site appears to be blocked in Tehran and is no longer carrying the report of the arrests.

The news agency Fars carried a denial of the arrests Thursday, citing an “informed source.”

The key to what happens next depends on what role Moussavi plays, Sayah said. Moussavi’s supporters say he was robbed of a victory and are demanding a fresh election. The official results gave Ahmadinejad a landslide win.

Meanwhile, Iran’s ambassador to Mexico defended his country’s actions in an interview Wednesday with CNN en Español. Ambassador Mohammad Hassan Ghadiri said there are acceptable ways of addressing electoral fraud, if any had occurred.

“But they go out on the street, they attack buses, they attack banks; that affects the security of the country,” Ghadiri said.

“The minority can’t impose their opinion on the majority. They can’t impose a dictatorship, saying that the majority is not going to govern.”

In the face of protests, authorities offered a partial recount. The Iranian Interior Ministry said Wednesday that it conducted a recount of some ballot boxes in the presence of another defeated candidate’s representatives — and found no discrepancies.

Seventeen people have died in clashes with government forces since the protests began more than a week ago, according to official figures.

CNN has received unconfirmed reports of as many as 150 deaths related to a popular uprising on Saturday alone.

Iran’s government has restricted media access in the country, making it difficult to ascertain exact figures.

On Wednesday afternoon, security forces used overwhelming force to crack down on protesters who had flocked to Baharestan Square near the parliament building in Tehran, according to more than a half-dozen witnesses.

Police charged at the gathering — clubbing demonstrators with batons, beating women and old men, and firing weapons into the air to disperse them, witnesses said.

“They were waiting for us,” one witness said. “They all have guns and riot uniforms. It was like a mouse trap.”

The melee extended beyond the square, one woman said.

“They emptied buses that were taking people there and let the private cars go on … and then, all of a sudden, some 500 people with clubs of wood, they came out of the Hedayat Mosque, and they poured into the streets and they started beating everyone,” she said.

Government-run Press TV gave a starkly different account, saying about 200 protesters had gathered in front of the parliament and 50 others in a nearby square. All were dispersed by a heavy police presence, it said.

Ahmadinejad met with members of parliament Wednesday night, but the influential speaker, Ali Larijani, did not attend, the Iran Labor News Agency reported.

It marked the third time that Larijani, former speaker Gholamali Haddad Adel as well as powerful lawmakers Ahmad Tavakoli and Mohammad Reza Bahonar refused to attend a meeting with Ahmadinejad, the news agency said.

An Egyptian court on Thursday confirmed the death sentences of a business tycoon and a former police officer convicted of killing rising Lebanese pop star Suzanne Tamim.

Hisham Talaat Moustafa, a real estate mogul, has been found guilty of Suzanne Tamim’s murder.

In a case that has captivated Egypt and the region because of the fame of the victim and one of the defendants, a judge sentenced to death real estate mogul Hisham Talaat Moustafa and former officer Muhsen el Sukkari last month. Tamim’s body was found stabbed, with her throat slit, in her apartment in the United Arab Emirates in July 2008.

The court’s latest decision came after a review of the sentence by Egypt’s grand mufti, the country’s highest religious official. Because the two men were sentenced under Islamic law, it is widely expected they will be hanged.

The court usually seeks to get the Mufti’s “advice only on any death sentence, according to the law,” a legal source in Cairo told CNN.

“However, the Mufti’s advice to the court is not binding at all,” added the source, who asked not to be named.

“Even if the Mufti was against the death sentence, that will not have any effect on the judge’s decision, who will have the final say,” the source said.

Since his 2003 appointment as grand mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa has received about 480 cases from the court that included death sentences. He supported the judge’s decision in 478 and opposed twice, but the rule was implemented according to the court conviction.

Moustafa’s lawyer previously told reporters that he would appeal the conviction, saying there was “a 1 million percent guarantee” the sentence would be overturned.

Prosecutors alleged Moustafa, a parliament member for the ruling National Democratic Party, paid el Sukkari $2 million to kill Tamim.

During the trial, Moustafa’s lawyer told CNN his client loved the singer but could not take Tamim as a second wife because his family objected.

Polygamy is legal in Egypt, and it’s not unusual for men such as Moustafa, a married father of three, to take on additional wives.

Prosecutors have said Tamim’s death was a “means of taking revenge” but have not elaborated.

Moustafa and el Sukkari claim the prosecution’s evidence could have been fabricated or tampered with by UAE authorities and should not be used against them.

Although Tamim was killed in the UAE, the Egyptian judiciary tried the case in Cairo because the accused were arrested in Egypt.

After Moustafa’s arrest in September, Egyptian authorities indicted him, stripped him of his parliamentary immunity and jailed him pending trial.

He also resigned as chairman of Talaat Moustafa Group — a conglomerate with construction and real estate arms that was founded by his father, Talaat Moustafa. Moustafa’s brother, Tarek Talaat Moustafa, now chairs the company.

Six countries — France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden — have announced their intention to bid for the 2018 Ryder Cup.

Colin Montgomerie (left) and Corey Pavin will captain the two teams for the 2010 Ryder Cup.

The deadline for the submission of bids is the end of April next year, with the announcement expected in 2011.

Celtic Manor in Wales plays host next year, and the 2014 contest is at Gleneagles in Scotland.

But when both were selected it was decided that after that the European home match would return to the continent if suitable venues could be found.

Valderrama in Spain staged the event in 1997, the only time it has gone to the continent.

European Ryder Cup Director Richard Hills told Press Association Sport: “We have set the date by which bids must be received in order to provide each country with the optimum opportunity in the current economic climate to present their strongest possible bid.

“In setting the sporting and commercial criteria that will be used to assess bids, we have been quite clear that each country bid must be channelled through its National Golf Federation and that no bids from individual venues will be considered.

“Assuming that all necessary criteria are met, the 2018 Ryder Cup will be played in mainland Europe.

“All six bidding nations have, since 1972 when the European Tour officially began, demonstrated their support for the development and growth of the game through not only hosting tournaments but also by nurturing the supply of players on to the world stage.

“Together France, Germany, Holland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden will have hosted a total of 700 tournaments — 491 on The European Tour, 162 on the European Challenge Tour and 47 on the European Senior Tour — by the end of this season. Moreover, 72 different players from those six countries have gained 309 wins on the European Tour,” added Hills.

Defending champion Venus Williams breezed into the third round of the women’s singles at Wimbledon after a straight sets victory over Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine.

Venus secured her 16th successive Wimbledon singles victory against Kateryna Bondarenko.

Williams emerged onto Court One with bandaging around her left knee, but showed no ill effects as she cruised to a 6-3 6-2 victory in bright sunshine in 69 minutes.

It was the 29-year-old’s 16th successive singles victory at the All England Club and she told reporters: “That’s a great stat for me, a great achievement and I want to make it more. Everything was working for me today.”

The 29-year-old insisted that the bandages were only there for knee support. “I felt really comfortable in the strap. It was just for support. That’s all.”

Williams was made to work hard at times by Bondarenko, but on the only occasion the world number 73 threatened her opponent’s serve, the third seed responded with three aces in one game at 115, 114 and 114mph.

The American will next face unseeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro, the world number 34, for a place in the last 16 of the tournament.

In other matches, French Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded five, took just over an hour to dispose of France’s Pauline Parmentier 6-1 6-3 and will next face German Sabine Lisicki.

Top seed Dinara Safina continued her progress with a 6-4 7-5 win over Paraguay’s Rossana De Los Rios. The Russian next plays Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkins, who ended British interest in the women’s singles with a 7-5 6-1 success over Elena Baltacha.

Also through is Australian 18th seed Samantha Stosur, the French Open semifinalist, who struggled past German qualifier Tatjana Malek 4-6 7-6 6-4.

She will next face former world number one Ana Ivanovic, the 13th seed, who claimed a 7-5 6-1 victory over Italy’s Sara Errani.

On a day when not one women’s seed was beaten, there were also victories for former champion Amelie Mauresmo (17), Caroline Wozniacki (9) and Agnieszka Radwanska (11).

The British armed forces are to get new body armour and helmets this autumn.

More than 10,000 enhanced Mark 7 helmets and the new Osprey Assault body armour have been ordered.

The MoD says the new body armour has “all the stopping power of the kit it is replacing, but is lighter, closer fitting and easier to move in”.

It is hoped the new lighter Osprey Assault will go some way to answering soldiers complaints about heavy or ill fitting armour.

The new armour and helmet were unveiled at the MoD’s DVD 2009 event at the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire.

The new helmet will eventually replace the existing Mark. It comes with a new four-point harness to keep the helmet more stable when night vision equipment is fitted to it.

It also has a new gap above the eye to compensate for the helmet tilting forward when a soldier goes into the prone position before firing, and there are plans to fit it with mounting brackets.

While the ballistic protection of the Osprey Assault is the same as its predecessor, the Osprey, the MoD says the overall fit has been tailored to the needs of dismounted troops, particularly those in Afghanistan.

British forces in Iraq were predominantly vehicle based, but in Afghanistan the terrain and conditions means that foot patrols are far more common.

Quentin Davies MP, Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, discusses the new Osprey Assault body armour.

Speaking at the launch of the kit, the MoD’s chief of defence materiel, General Sir Kevin O’Donoghue, said Osprey was a “proven world class system” and the new body armour order would ensure troops would “get the best kit for the job they are doing”.

“Troops will be issued with a new ballistic plate that is much thinner, reducing their bulk and burden and improving their endurance,” he said.

Current Army directives state that all soldiers must wear the latest Osprey body armour and Mark 6 Alpha helmets in any combat situation.

However, there have been a number of deaths due to troops either removing kit or wearing inappropriate gear.

The charges were announced by top officials in Washington

The FBI says it has uncovered a $50m (£30m) scam involving the US healthcare system, making arrests in Florida, Michigan and Colorado.

Fifty-three people have been charged with defrauding Medicare, the government insurance scheme providing care to the elderly and disabled.

Doctors allegedly gave cash to patients to sign paperwork claiming to have had treatments which they were never given.

Medical staff, patients and company executives are among those charged.

A day earlier, police arrested eight people in Miami involved in a separate scheme using fake clinics to generate fraudulent bills of around $100m.

Federal agents say they are investigating almost 2,500 other cases and that fraud is costing American taxpayers billions of dollars every year.

Those in the administration and Congress now working on wider healthcare reforms say building better safeguards will be central to any new system.

President Barack Obama is currently seeking to overhaul the US healthcare system.

The treatment was tested on breast cancer patients

Researchers say a new type of cancer treatment has produced highly promising results in preliminary drug trials.

Olaparib was given to 19 patients with inherited forms of advanced breast, ovarian and prostate cancers caused by mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

In 12 of the patients - none of whom had responded to other therapies - tumours shrank or stabilised.

The study, led by the Institute of Cancer Research, features in the New England Journal of Medicine.

CASE STUDY Julian Lewis, 62, was treated with olaparib after being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. Within a month or two levels of a key chemical marker of cancer went down to a low level, and have now stayed low for more than two years. In addition, secondary tumours in his bones have almost disappeared. He has experienced minor side-effects, such as stomach discomfort and mild nausea, but he said: “I hope to carry on with this for as long as possible. Partly the aim is the obvious one of keeping my cancer cells in check, but there’s a broader goal too: to help find out how long this drug can be used safely in other people.”

One of the first patients to be given the treatment is still in remission after two years.

Olaparib - a member of a new class of drug called PARP inhibitors - targets cancer cells, but leaves healthy cells relatively unscathed.

The researchers, working with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, found that patients experienced very few side-effects, and some reported the treatment was “much easier than chemotherapy”.

Researcher Dr Johann de Bono said the drug should now be tested in larger trials.

He said: “This drug showed very impressive results in shrinking patients’ tumours.

“It’s giving patients who have already tried many conventional treatments long periods of remission, free from the symptoms of cancer or major side-effects.”

Olaparib is the first successful example of a new type of personalised medicine using a technique called “synthetic lethality” - a subtle way of exploiting the body’s own molecular weaknesses for positive effect.

In this case the drug takes advantage of the fact that while normal cells have several different ways of repairing damage to their DNA, one of these pathways is disabled by the BRCA mutations in tumour cells.

Olaparib blocks one of the repair pathways by shutting down a key enzyme called PARP.

BRCA MUTATIONS BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations weaken the cells’ ability to repair DNA damage They are thought to be responsible for about 5% of breast and ovarian cancers, and about 1-2% of early onset prostate cancers Women with a BRCA mutation have a risk of up to 85% on breast cancer, and up to 60% on ovarian cancer Men with a BRCA mutation have a risk of up to 15% on prostate cancer

This does not affect normal cells because they can call on an alternative repair mechanism, controlled by their healthy BRCA genes.

But in tumours cells, where the BRCA pathway is disabled by genetic mutation, there is no alternative repair mechanism, and the cells die.

Cancer cells with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations are the first to be shown to be sensitive to PARP inhibitors.

But there is evidence that olaparib will also be effective in other cancers with different defects in the repair of DNA.

Professor Stan Kaye, who also worked on the study, said: “The next step is to test this drug on other more common types of ovarian and breast cancers where we hope it will be just as effective.”

The researchers say the process of drug evaluation and registration may have to be revamped to take consideration of the fact that new generation cancer drugs target specific molecular defects, rather than types of cancer.

Dr Peter Sneddon, of the charity Cancer Research UK, said: “It is very encouraging to see the development of ‘personalised treatment’, tailored to the requirements of the individual patient, becoming a reality as it offers the opportunity to design new drugs that are truly selective.

“Although development of this drug is in its early stages, it is very exciting to see that it has the potential to work when other treatment options have failed.”

Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire won best picture this year

The best picture shortlist at the 2010 Oscars will be 10 films instead of the customary five, it has been announced.

Official organisers have said the move will recognise a wider range of films and include “more populist movies”.

It is the first time since 1943 that 10 films will be in the running and has been called “a return to the past”.

At this year’s ceremony, a 10-strong shortlist would likely have featured box office smash The Dark Knight and Ben Stiller comedy Tropic Thunder.

‘Singular honour’

Audiences and many critics felt that the latest Batman epic, which won a posthumous best supporting actor award for Heath Ledger, should have been included among this year’s best picture nominees.

But Academy president Sid Ganis said the film “did not come up” in discussions about expanding the category.

Following last year’s ceremony, the show’s producers advised the Academy that efforts were needed to bring the show to a wider audience.

It is believed that if the best picture category were to feature more box office hits, television ratings would improve in 2010.

However the idea of splitting the 10 films into dramas and comedies - in a move similar to the Golden Globes - was rejected.

“It’s about the best picture, not the best something picture. It’s a singular honour,” said Mr Ganis.

But he added that comedies could eventually benefit from the broadening of the best picture list.

Assurances have been made that the 2010 Academy Awards ceremony, which takes place on 7 March, will not be longer due to 10 shortlisted films.

The contenders will be revealed when the Oscar nominations are announced on 2 February.

Williams is on holiday in the Exuma district of the Bahamas

Police in the Bahamas have questioned Robbie Williams over the robbery of two photographers who had taken shots of him while on holiday in Exuma.

The paparazzi said they got into an argument with the pop star’s entourage while photographing him on Sunday.

Hours later, they claimed, four armed men broke into their hotel room and stole $20,000 (£12,294) of equipment.

Police superintendent Ellsworth Moss said Williams, who rose to fame as part of Take That, was not a suspect.

“We don’t think he was the one who actually committed the robbery, but it may have been a spin-off or may have been triggered by what reportedly happened with his party on the beach,” Mr Moss told the Associated Press news agency.

Ongoing investigation

Assistant Commissioner of Police Raymond Gibson said two men were in custody in connection with the case.

He did not disclose further details, saying the investigation was continuing.

A phone call to Williams’ representative in London was not immediately returned.

The 35-year-old star has not released any material since his “experimental” electro-pop album Rudebox in 2006.

He has recently recorded new tracks with Frankie Goes To Hollywood producer Trevor Horn.

A message on Horn’s website says Williams’ new album is due out later this year.