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Apr 12 2024 Kyoto University

Mother Nature is an artist, but her craft of creating animal faces requires more than a paintbrush and palette. Such highly complex shapes originate from their respective transient neural crest cells. 

These embryonic pluripotent cells within the facial primordium-;the early development form-;may be necessary for forming proper facial structures. However, analyzing the molecular mechanisms in such early stages of development poses many technical challenges.

Now, a group of Kyoto University researchers have produced neural crest cell-rich aggregates from human pluripotent stem cells and developed a method to differentiate them in cell populations with a branchial arch-like gene expression pattern.  After the cell populations differentiate into precursors of maxillary and mandibular cells in response to external signaling factors, these populations spontaneously form patterns of the facial primordium."

Yusuke Seto of KyotoU's Institute for Medical and Biological Research

This cartilage-like structure, reminiscent of Meckel's cartilage, is formed locally within the aggregates.

"We aim to establish a model for studying early facial development by using the properties of human pluripotent stem cells to generate in vitro tissue resembling the bronchial arch of the primordial face," adds Ryoma Ogihara, also of the Institute. Related StoriesSpace travel alters human vascular cell function, study findsResearch explores the health benefits of resistant starch in plant-based dietsFeeling lonely? It may affect how your brain reacts to food, new research suggests

Researchers are examining the various developmental processes that cause interspecific and individual differences in facial structure to explain conditions such as craniofacial disorders.

"Using our in vitro model could help us better understand and control signal integration during the fate determination of the branchial arch and cartilage formation in the face and elsewhere. We hope our technology can contribute to the development of cellular materials for new regenerative medicine," adds Mototsugu Eiraku, also of the Institute. Source:

Kyoto UniversityJournal reference:

Seto, Y., et al. (2024). In vitro induction of patterned branchial arch-like aggregate from human pluripotent stem cells. Nature Communications. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45285-0.

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Entertainment

Kid Cudi says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs broke into his house and ‘messed with his dog’

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Kid Cudi says Sean 'Diddy' Combs broke into his house and 'messed with his dog'

Kid Cudi has told a court Sean “Diddy” Combs broke into his home, “messed with” his dog and opened some of his Christmas presents during a break-in in December 2011.

The 41-year-old rapper was giving evidence on day nine of the trial, after briefly dating Diddy’s former girlfriend Cassie the same year.

Cassie and Diddy dated for 11 years, from 2007 to 2018, and Cassie has testified the rapper physically abused her during most of their relationship.

Cudi described Cassie phoning him early one morning, sounding “stressed, nervous and scared”, telling him Diddy had “found out about us”.

He said Diddy later called him from his home and told him, “I’m here waiting for you”.

After dropping Cassie at a West Hollywood hotel, Cudi said he returned to his home and found no one there, but said his dog had been locked in the bathroom.

He described his pet later becoming “jittery and on edge all the time”.

He also said someone had opened Christmas presents he’d bought for his family.

While Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, said he initially wanted “to fight” Diddy, he later thought through “the reality of the situation,” and called the police to report the break-in.

Earlier this week, Cassie finished giving four days of evidence, becoming emotional at times, and testifying that Combs had threatened to blow up Cudi’s car and hurt him after he learned she was dating him by looking at messages on her phone during a “freak off”.

Prosecutors say Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, forced women to take part in days-long, drug-fuelled sexual performances known as “Freak Offs” from 2004 to 2024, facilitated by his large retinue of staff.

Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty.

The rapper faces five criminal counts: one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

Diddy and Cassie on a red carpet in 2016. Pic: zz/JMA/STAR MAX/IPx/AP
Image:
Diddy and Cassie on a red carpet in 2016. Pic: zz/JMA/STAR MAX/IPx/AP

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial: Day 9 – As it happened

The month after the break-in, Cudi’s Porsche was firebombed in his drive, with a hole cut into the roof and a Molotov cocktail dropped into the driver’s seat.

Cudi said he realised he had to talk to Diddy, before things “got out of hand,” meeting up with Diddy, who he said was weirdly “calm” and staring out the window with his hands behind his back “like a Marvel super villain”.

Cudi says Diddy told him he had still been dating Cassie during his relationship with her, with Cudi replying: “[Cassie] told me you were broke up and I took her word for it.”

Shaking hands at the end of the conversation, Cudi said he asked Diddy about “burning” his car, and Diddy replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about”. Cudi later said he believed that to be a lie.

Cudi says he saw Diddy once a few years later at Soho House in Los Angeles with his daughter, and Diddy told him: “Man, I just want to apologise for all that bullshit”.

Sean "Diddy" Combs listens as George Kaplan (not seen) testifies at Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York City, New York, U.S., May 21, 2025 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg
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Diddy sketched in court while listening to Kaplan’s testimony. Pic: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg

Read more:
Everything you need to know about the Sean Combs trial
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

During his cross-examination, the defence suggested Cassie had been “living two different lives”, and “played” both Cudi and Combs.

Cudi concluded his time on the stand, saying his relationship with Cassie ended because he wanted “to give her space” and “the drama was too out of hand”.

Celebrity make-up artist Mylah Morales also gave evidence, describing a fight between Cassie and Diddy in 2010, which she says left Cassie with a “swollen eye, busted lip, and knots on her head”.

Former make up artist for Cassie Ventura, Mylah Morales testifies on the witness stand during Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering trial in Manhattan federal court,Thursday, May 22, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
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Celebrity make-up artist Mylah Morales. Pic: AP

Morales said while she had heard the row, she hadn’t physically seen it as she wasn’t in the room.

She told the court, “I feared for my life”, explaining that she took Cassie to her apartment for several days to recover, but that Cassie refused to go to hospital as she was afraid of Diddy’s reaction.

The defence attempted to damage Morales’s credibility by listing her TV appearances, which included programmes on CNN, and with Don Lemon and Piers Morgan, attempting to paint her as attention-seeking.

The day also saw Combs’s former assistant George Kaplan complete his testimony.

George Kaplan leaves Federal Court after testifying at the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs, in New York, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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George Kaplan, former assistant to Combs. Pic: AP

He talked about two occasions when he had been asked to carry cash for Diddy, who he said never paid for things himself in the moment, recalling one time in 2015 when he looked after $50,000, and another when he was asked to pick up $10,000.

Kaplan described seeing “regular” physical violence between Cassie and Diddy, including an incident in 2015 with whisky glasses on a private plane, when he heard glass breaking and saw Diddy standing over Cassie in the plane’s central aisle.

He says he also saw Diddy hurling “decorative apples” at another of his girlfriends, Gina, late the same year, handing in his notice the following month.

Also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, Combs turned artists like Notorious BIG and Usher into household names, elevating hip-hop in American culture and becoming a billionaire in the process.

Diddy has been held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since September and faces at least 15 years or possibly life in prison if convicted.

The trial is set to last for around six weeks in total and will go into its third week next week.

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Bono calls for Israel to be ‘released from Benjamin Netanyahu’ in plea to ‘stop war’

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Bono calls for Israel to be 'released from Benjamin Netanyahu' in plea to 'stop war'

Irish rock star Bono has called for Israel to be “released from Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right fundamentalists” during an awards ceremony.

The U2 frontman’s comments at the Ivors mark the first time the human rights activist has spoken out in public against the Israeli prime minister since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023.

Bono, who received the Peace Summit Award at the 2008 Nobel Peace Laureates summit, also called for Hamas to release its remaining Israeli hostages.

It comes as Western leaders have been criticising Mr Netanyahu and the Israeli authorities over the renewed offensive in the Palestinian territory and the risk of famine due to an 11-week aid blockade, which is slowly easing.

Gaza war: Follow latest updates

Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson, said on Thursday evening at London’s Grosvenor House: “Peace creates possibilities in the most intractable situations.

“Lord knows there’s a few of them out there right now. Hamas release the hostages. Stop the war.

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“Israel be released from Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right fundamentalists that twist your sacred texts.

“All of you protect our aid workers, they are the best of us.”

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Bono, 65, made the call for peace as he and fellow U2 members each received an award from pop star Ed Sheeran.

Read more from Sky News:
What we know about Washington DC shooting victims
UK calls for investigation over West Bank gunfire

The group became the first Irish songwriters to be awarded an academy fellowship at the 70th year of the awards.

U2 then performed their song Sunday Bloody Sunday, which references the 1972 Bloody Sunday shootings in Londonderry, where members of the British army’s Parachute Regiment opened fire at civil rights demonstrators.

The group ended the evening with a performance of their 1988 song Angel Of Harlem.

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Netanyahu hits out at Starmer, Macron and Carney

Also on Thursday, Mr Netanyahu said UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was “on the wrong side of humanity” after he called for an end to the war in Gaza.

In a video he shared on social media, the Israeli prime minister also attacked the leaders of France and Canada for their criticism of Israel’s actions in the conflict.

Mr Netanyahu specifically linked the criticism from the UK, France and Canada to the killings in Washington DC of Israeli embassy workers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim on Wednesday night.

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UK signs deal to hand over control of Chagos islands

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UK signs deal to hand over control of Chagos islands

The UK has signed a long-awaited deal to hand control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

It means Britain will give up sovereignty of the Indian Ocean territory and lease back the vital UK-US Diego Garcia military base – at a cost of billions of pounds to the taxpayer.

Politics Live: Starmer signs deal to hand over UK control of Chagos Islands to Mauritius

In a news conference, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the base is of the “utmost significance to Britain”, having been used to deploy aircraft to “defeat terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan”, and “anticipate threats in the Red Sea and the Indo-Pacific”.

He said the base was under threat because of Mauritius’s legal claim on the Chagos Islands, which has been recognised by multiple international courts.

“If we did not agree this deal, the legal situation would mean that we would not be able to prevent China or any other nation setting up their own bases on the outer islands, or carrying out joint exercises near our base,” Sir Keir said.

“We would have to explain to you, the British people and to our allies, that we’d lost control of this vital asset.

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“No responsible government could let that happen, so there’s no alternative but to act in Britain’s national interest by agreeing to this deal.

“We will never gamble with national security.”

FILE - This image released by the U.S. Navy shows an aerial view of Diego Garcia in the Chagos Island group. (U.S. Navy via AP, File)
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Aerial view of Diego Garcia in the Chagos Island group. Pic: AP

The deal means the UK will lease the base from the Mauritian government over 99 years.

Confusion over costs

Sir Keir said the average cost per year is £101m but the net overall cost is £3.4bn, not £10bn, and all public sector projects are measured in net costs.

However, there is confusion over the government’s calculations as the full agreement between the UK and Mauritius reveals the UK will pay:

• £165m a year for the first three years;
• £120m for years four to 13;
• £120m plus inflation for every year after to year 99;
• £40m as a one-off to a fund for Chagossians;
• £45m a year for 25 years for Mauritian development.

If inflation were to remain zero for the next century, this would work out to around £10bn over 99 years.

Assuming an average of 2% inflation, Sky News analysis suggests costs could rise as high as £30bn.

Downing Street stood by its figures, saying government accounting principles were applied to adjust for long-term costs and the value of the pound today is worth more than the pound in the future.

Officials denied suggestions from journalists that was financial sophistry, insisting it was “standard practice”.

Sir Keir said that had he not struck the deal today, Mauritius would have taken the UK to international courts and probably won, with extra penalties implemented.

However the Tories – who started negotiations in government – have branded the move a “surrender tax”.

Keir Starmer
Image:
Keir Starmer

Sovereignty row

The Chagos Archipelago was separated from Mauritius by the UK in 1965, when Mauritius was a British colony.

Mauritius gained independence from the UK in 1968 and since then has been trying to claim the archipelago as Mauritian.

In the late 1960s, the US asked the UK to expel everyone from the archipelago so they could build a naval support facility on the largest island, Diego Garcia. It is leased to the US but operates as a joint UK-US base.

The UK has been under pressure to hand back control of the territory, after the UN and the International Court of Justice sided with Mauritius.

The treaty said the deal would “complete the process of decolonisation of Mauritius”.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said that “surrendering” the Chagos Islands to Mauritius “is an act of national self-harm”.

“It leaves us more exposed to China, and ignores the will of the Chagossian people. And we’re paying billions to do so,” she said.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage echoed those comments, accusing Sir Keir of caring more about foreign courts “than Britain’s national interest”.

The location of the Chagos Islands
Image:
The location of the Chagos Islands

‘Deal inherited from Tories’

However, Sir Keir said he “inherited a negotiation in which the principle of giving up UK sovereignty had already been conceded” by the Tories.

He said “all of the UK’s allies” support the deal, including the US, NATO, Five Eyes and India, and that those who are against it include “Russia, China, Iran…and surprisingly, the leader of the opposition, and Nigel Farage”.

Defence Secretary John Healey, who was also at the news conference, added that the last government failed to strike a deal despite 11 rounds of talks, leaving Labour to “pick up the challenge”.

He said ministers “toughened the terms and the protections and the control that Britain can exercise through this treaty”.

Under the deal’s terms, a 24-nautical mile buffer zone will be put in place around the island where nothing can be built or placed without UK consent.

The UK will retain full operational control of Diego Garcia, including the electromagnetic spectrum satellite used for communications which counters hostile interference.

Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, said he welcomed the “historic agreement”, saying it “secures the long-term, stable and effective operation of the joint US-UK military facility at Diego Garcia, which is critical to regional and global security”.

“We value both parties’ dedication. The US looks forward to our continued joint work to ensure the success of our shared operations,” he said.

The agreement had been due to be signed on Thursday morning but was temporarily blocked by an injunction hours before. A High Court Judge subsequently discharged the injunction at midday.

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