News Headlines - 27 January 2012

▽RBS Boss Under Pressure To Forgo ￡1m Bonus - Sky News
http://news.sky.com/home/business/article/16157663
The political row over bankers' bonuses is heating up, with the boss of taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland coming under increasing pressure to turn down his ￡1m bonus.
Stephen Hester is set to receive a pat on the back worth ￡963,000 - and the Chancellor has defended the payout, saying "the alternatives would have been worse".

▽Violence surges in Syria as U.N. Security Council meets - Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/surge-in-violence-killings-across-syria-un-security-council-set-to-meet/2012/01/27/gIQAKiVJVQ_story.html
Violence surged in Syria on Friday, with government forces using heavy artillery to bombard several towns, while the United Nations debated a resolution on ways to end the bloodshed, intensifying the diplomatic pressure on Damascus.

▽434 People Killed in Iraq Since U.S. Pulled Out - New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/28/world/middleeast/suicide-bomber-attacks-funeral-procession-in-iraq.html
Since the United States military withdrew from Iraq in the middle of last month, 434 Iraqis have been killed in attacks across the country, according to security officials, one of the highest tolls for that amount of time in the past few years.

▽Facebook Plans IPO Filing as Early as Next Week - Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-27/facebook-may-file-ipo-to-raise-up-to-100-billion-as-early-as-next-week.html
Facebook Inc., the world’s largest social-networking service, is aiming to file for its initial public offering as early as next week, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

▽Demi's plight in frantic 911 call - The Sun
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/4092836/Demi-Moore-news-Demi-Moores-neighbour-made-a-frantic-911-call-for-the-star-to-be-rushed-to-hospital-She-said-she-was-convulsing.html
The bombshell ten-minute audio recording of the call suggests the star had smoked an unspecified substance before collapsing.