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fc76c543e06c003644ca95197de33dd954774520 | Lord Turner: 'Innovative policies' A row erupted last night after a favourite to take over the Bank of England appeared to suggest that billions of pounds of government debt should be written off. Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority, set alarm bells ringing when he called for ‘more innovative and unconventional policies’ to kick-start the economy. He warned that quantitative easing, the Bank of England’s controversial money printing programme designed to boost growth, now has ‘little impact’. Lord Turner – a frontrunner to succeed Sir Mervyn King as governor of the Bank – did not spell out what was required instead in his Mansion House speech on Thursday night. But it is thought one option could involve the Bank telling the Treasury it does not have to repay all the £375billion of government bonds it has bought through QE – effectively cancelling the debt. Such a move would be seen as creating ‘helicopter money’ – a term for when governments print money to finance spending as though dropping cash out of the sky. Sources close to Lord Turner insisted it was ‘completely wrong’ to suggest he advocated such a policy. ‘Adair [Lord Turner] is not pushing or suggesting any particular policy ideas,’ one said yesterday. But his speech sparked outrage with critics warning that cancelling the debt would shatter the Government’s economic credibility and drive up inflation. It also cast doubt over Lord Turner’s chances of taking over as Bank governor next year. ‘His credentials aren’t good enough to look after petty cash in a tobacco kiosk,’ said Peter Hargreaves, co-founder of stock broker Hargreaves Lansdown. Desperate measures: Critics said if the Bank of England let the Government off its debts it would be disaster for the economy . ‘He’s done a poor job at the FSA and he made the wrong call on the euro. The guy is very intelligent but has no common sense.’ Tory MP Andrea Leadsom warned that if the Bank ‘let off’ the Government over its debts it would be a disaster for the economy. ‘The reality is that if you cancel the debt you debase the currency,’ she said. ‘The whole reason we have kept our credit rating and the market is still buying our debt is that we have credibility and investors believe that the Government is going to pay its way out of our economic woes.’ The Bank of England distanced itself from the idea yesterday, pointing out that Sir Mervyn said in August that ‘cancelling the bonds’ would be ‘appalling behaviour’. The QE programme was launched in 2009 in an attempt to drag the economy out of recession. Critics claim it has destroyed the retirement plans of a million workers by driving down annuity rates. n Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker last night warned of an ‘uncontainable’ backlash if taxpayers are forced to bail out banks again. ‘The objective is to get to a position where public money is never used to provide support for a bank failure,’ he told the Institute for International Finance in Tokyo. If Adair Turner believes the Government should be let off the hook for its QE debt, then it would be very dangerous to let him anywhere near the top job at the Bank of England, writes Ruth Sunderland. He has made no secret of his desire to step into the shoes of Sir Mervyn King, pictured right, and it would make for an eye-catching job application: ‘Hire me, Mr Osborne, and I’ll forget the £375billion of QE money you owe the Bank’. Lord Turner’s aides yesterday denied that he is proposing to cancel QE borrowings. But he has apparently briefed BBC business editor Robert Peston and there was a remarkably well-informed piece this week by a leading Guardian columnist, vaunting Turner as a ‘breath of fresh air’. That article mentioned Turner’s ‘private view’ that the UK should look at ‘monetising’ debt and consider ‘blatantly printing money’. QE involves the Bank creating money and using it to buy up gilts, or government debt, from pension funds and banks. The money that flows into the wider economy then, in theory, stimulates growth. Printing money to finance the Government’s debts may sound like an easy and tempting solution, but many serious economists would condemn it as the fast-track to ruin. It’s not so very different from you or I paying our mortgages by setting up a counterfeiting press in the back bedroom – and similarly, it is probably not even legal. Money printing followed by debt default is behaviour associated with a banana republic. As well as the risk of unleashing rampant inflation, it would jeopardise our reputation on the money markets as a credit-worthy country. Pensioners, who have already seen their life-savings depleted by QE, would suffer even more. It would also make a mockery of attempts to control runaway public spending. Why bother, if the bills need never be paid? It is not only the economics of the madhouse, it is morally bankrupt. | Lord Turner said the Bank of England’s controversial money printing programme had failed to boost growth .
The current chairman of the Financial Services Authority, called for 'more innovative and unconventional policies' to rejuvenate the economy . |
fc77a340fa3e8b4bb8e6443da2303b6ac680f6f1 | By . Daniel Martin, Whitehall Correspondent . PUBLISHED: . 17:43 EST, 8 April 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 17:49 EST, 8 April 2012 . A Tory donor avoided tax by flying outside UK airspace on his private jet at night, a lobbyist has claimed. The millionaire donor is said to have routinely flown out of Luton airport in the evening so he could sleep on his jet. Because he was outside British jurisdiction at night, this allowed him to extend the number of days he could stay in the UK without paying tax. Jet dodge: The millionaire donor is said to have routinely flown out of . Luton airport so he could extend the number of days he could stay in the UK without paying tax . As a non-resident, he could spend just 91 full days in the country each year. The arrangement was revealed by Sarah Southern, the lobbyist at the centre of the recent cash-for-Cameron scandal. The former aide to the Prime Minister made her comments during a dinner with undercover reporters in Zurich earlier this year. The identity of the donor, who would often skip out of the country overnight to avoid tax, is not known. Ms Southern said: 'I love that 90-day thing... because it's a full day. 'I know someone who will sometimes get on his jet and fly out and fly back in after midnight. So he's not been there for a whole day.' She said the donor was so rich that it was worth his while making flights to nowhere to avoid an enormous tax bill. Whistleblower: The arrangement was revealed by Sarah Southern, the lobbyist at the centre of the recent cash-for-Cameron scandal . The lobbyist said that with a fortune like his, 'you can sleep on your jet three times a week. You can do whatever you want. The world literally is your oyster.' She said a helicopter took the donor to Luton airport where he stepped onto his jet and retired for the night in an onboard bedroom. Since 2008, the tax authorities' 'midnight rule' has applied to anyone who is still in the UK on midnight of the 91st day. Before 2010, days travelling in and out of the country were not counted under the 91-day rule. The donor could therefore have saved two days off his entitlement with each overnight trip. The guidelines were changed by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs to include the days that a non-resident is in the country at midnight, even if they have just travelled into Britain that day. Ms Southern told the reporters that she believed the donor's tax arrangements have since changed. Chancellor George Osborne has described aggressive tax avoiders as 'morally repugnant' and has warned tax cheats that the government 'will find you and your money'. The revelations come two weeks after Peter Cruddas, the former Tory party co-treasurer, was forced to resign after he was filmed selling meetings with the PM for £250,000. He told the undercover reporters how he himself had made a fortune by avoiding taxes on financial transactions. The spread-betting tycoon said his firm, CMC Markets, got around tax rules legally by classing transactions as 'bets' rather than conventional trades. He said: 'That's my claim to glory. If you bet on something in the UK you avoid capital gains tax and stamp duty.' | Unnamed donor routinely flew out of Luton airport in the evening .
Dodge allowed him to extend the number of days he .
could stay in the UK without paying tax . |
fc7804c80dcc20d3254dd35db8e78cf8bd6bb7fb | A senior teacher is being made redundant in Dundee after councillors refused to reduce their drinks budget by £44,000. Norma Seith is set to lose her post at the Menzieshill Young Mum's Unit (YMU) - which helps teenage mothers stay in education. Ms Seith is principal teacher and manager of the organisation, which provides support to young 'fragile' women who 'have seen their lives become very, complicated'. Scroll down for video . Teacher Norma Seith is set to lose her post at the Menzieshill Young Mum's Unit in Dundee after councillors refused to reduce their drinks budget by £44,000 . The SNP administration has refused to cut their drinks budget despite the alternative being the removal of Ms Seith from her post. More than 1,000 people have now signed a petition urging the council to reverse their decision and opposition groups rallied round the unit today, proposing a series of alternative savings, The Courier reports. Derek Scott, the Conservative member for Broughty Ferry, suggested slashing food and refreshment for councillors, alcohol purchases and hospitality budgets. He claimed that by saving £44,000 in the entertainment allowance, the council could afford to employ the principal teacher at the YMU. However, his motion was defeated by SNP members who pushed ahead with their proposals — and Labour councillors who declined to vote. Clare McGraw, whose daughter uses the YMU, told members at today's meeting that the unit was crucial in helping those who become pregnant while in education. She said: 'Any changes to the YMU should be done with care and attention, given the crucial support it provides. Protesters who signed a 1,000-strong petition calling for the council to reverse their decision rallied outside the school today . '(Education convener) Stewart Hunter has already said to me that the planning could have been better. 'The principal teacher has been there for 24 years and is essential as a relationship with those involved in the unit. This amounts to a dismantling of the YMU.' SNP finance spokesman Councillor Willie Sawers said: 'This is the ninth year in a row that the council tax has been frozen in Dundee. 'Within the savings proposed for council services, we have made absolutely every effort we can to protect the quality of the services we provide.' On their website, the YMU says it 'caters for the extra needs of pregnant schoolgirls and young mothers with their babies from across the city. 'The unit is staffed by a Principal Teacher, supported by a designated YMU support worker and two qualified Early Years Practitioners.' Ms Seith was unavailable for comment today. Speaking to the Evening Telegraph last month, the teacher spoke of the crucial work that the YMU do in helping young mothers. She said: 'The emphasis is on continuing the girls' education. But there's also input from us on parenting skills, nutrition and many other aspects of motherhood. 'And whilst some girls have been around other children — brothers, sisters, cousins — others are terrified at the prospect of being a mum.' | SNP administration voted to retain alcohol budget over saving senior role .
Means principal teacher at Young Mum's Unit (YMU) in Dundee will lose job .
Norma Seith currently paid £44,000 to manage the unit for pregnant teens .
More than 1,000 people signed petition urging council to reverse decision . |
fc782faaf418d3df8219fbb83c70d6ba142e926b | By . Steve Robson . PUBLISHED: . 11:16 EST, 23 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 15:30 EST, 23 March 2013 . Cyprus has agreed a one-off levy on deposits over 100,000 euros in a dramatic U-turn today as it raced to satisfy lenders and seal an 11th-hour bailout deal to avert financial collapse. According to reports, Cyprus has agreed with EU/IMF lenders a 20 per cent levy on deposits over 100,000 euros (£85,335) at leading lender Bank of Cyprus. A four per cent levy on deposits of the same amount will be made at other lenders, a senior Cypriot official said. Scroll down for video . Tension: People wait to use the ATM machines at a branch of Laiki bank in Cyprus . The official, who spoke on condition . of anonymity, said a Cypriot plan to tap nationalised pension funds, . opposed by Germany, would not be part of a plan to raise billions of . euros in return for a bailout from the European Union. Eurozone finance ministers will meet on Sunday evening for crucial talks to discuss the bailout for Cyprus. Finance Minister Michalis Sarris said . 'significant progress' had been made as Cypriot politicians desperately race to agree on a plan to raise funds, with a potential . bankruptcy just 48 hours away. '#eurogroup tomorrow 6pm will be in . Brussels. #cyprus,' read a tweet from Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch . Finance minister who is also president of the Eurogroup - the 17 . euro-zone national finance ministers. Cyprus has been told it must raise . 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion) in order to secure 10 billion euros in . rescue loans from other European countries that use the single currency, . and from the International Monetary Fund. The country's lawmakers soundly . rejected an unpopular initial plan that would have seized up to 10 . per cent of people's bank accounts, and is now seeking a way to raise the . desperately needed money. Time is running out fast. The . European Central Bank has said it will stop providing emergency funding . to Cyprus' banks after Monday if no new plan is in place. Without ECB's support, Cypriot banks . would collapse on Tuesday, pushing the country toward bankruptcy and a . potential exit from the 17-nation eurozone. Anger: Banking sector workers protest outside of the Cyprus' parliament in Nicosia as lawmakers debate emergency legislation . Anger: Laiki bank employees bank react during a rally outside the Cypriot parliament . Out in force: Cypriot authorities are putting the final touches to a plan they hope will convince international lenders to provide the money the country urgently needs . Banks have been shut all week while the plan is put into place, and are not due to reopen until next Tuesday. Representatives of the IMF, ECB and . European Commission - collectively known as the troika - met with Sarris . and other officials in the Finance Ministry throughout the morning, . negotiating several new laws, including a crucial bill that would impose . some form of a tax on bank deposits. The details were still being worked . out, but officials have said that the tax could apply to deposits in the . country's top two lenders, which were most exposed to bad Greek debt, . or even all banks. Troika consent is essential as they . will determine whether the plan that the Cypriots come up with would . meet the requirements for the bailout before it is presented to the . eurozone finance ministers for final approval. A eurogroup meeting of the finance . ministers is expected to be held in Brussels over the weekend, and . Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades was also to fly there, potentially . as early as Saturday. 'Significant progress has been made . toward an agreement at least with the troika which will report to the . Eurogroup,' Sarris told reporters after the initial morning meeting at . his ministry. 'Two or three issues need further . work, issues on banks, there are different calculations,' Sarris said. 'There is the contribution of experts from the private sector.' Discussions: German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) talks with Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble before discussing a Cyprus bailout plan . The experts would hold consultations . amongst themselves and officials would resume negotiations with the . troika again later Saturday afternoon. 'We have a number of experts that are . working from the private sector, at the Central Bank, at the Ministry . of Finance trying to iron out these details so that when we do reach an . agreement there will be no room for different understanding or . misrepresentation.' Nicosia made a significant step . towards cementing a new plan Friday night, when its lawmakers approved . nine bills, including three crucial ones that will restructure ailing . banks, restrict financial transactions in emergencies and set up a . 'solidarity fund' that will act as the vehicle for raising funds from . investments and contributions. The bank restructuring will include . the country's troubled second largest lender, Laiki, which suffered . heavy losses after being exposed to toxic Greek debt. The restructuring of Laiki and the . sale of the toxic-asset laden Greek branches of Cypriot banks is . expected to cut the amount the country needs to raise to about 3 billion . euros instead of 5.8 billion euros, officials have said. Other banks may also be included in . the restructuring, such as the country's largest lender, Bank of Cyprus, . which was also exposed to Greek debt. 'We have to be clear to protect the financial system and for banks to open Tuesday with a clear picture,' Sarris said. Smiles all round: Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso before their meeting . Decisions: A man walks past an office of VTB Bank in central Moscow. If Russian oligarchs still have money in Cyprus, where a lot of them base their businesses, they aren't letting on . | 20 per cent levy on deposits over 100,000 euros agreed with lenders .
Finance Minister says 'significant progress' has been made towards bailout .
Island is racing to satisfy EU/IMF lenders and avert financial collapse .
Head of Eurogroup says meeting to be held at 6pm on Sunday in Brussels . |
fc787d5f4c97b66875382b47894500fec423c748 | A controversial anti-Islamic ad campaign will appear on the side of buses in Washington D.C. featuring the face of Adolf Hitler. The advert will be on 20 metro buses and depict a meeting between the leader of Nazi Germany and anti-Jewish Islamic leader Haj Amin al -Husseini during World War II. The group behind the campaign, the American Freedom Defence Initiative (AFDI), say they are concerned by the 'global jihad and Islamic supremacism', with the ads calling for an end to U.S. foreign aid to Islamic countries. The controversial ad showing Hitler and anti-Jewish Islamic leader Haj Amin al -Husseini during World War II . The caption by the side of the contentious picture of Hitler reads: 'Islamic Jew-hatred: It's in the Quran. Two-thirds of all US aid goes to Islamic countries. Stop Racism. End all aid to Islamic countries.' The head of the AFDI, Pamela Geller says the ads are in response to previous adverts, which featured on the city's metro buses by the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), that were anti-Jewish. She told the International Business Times: 'My intent is leapfrog over a media that is not even-handed, that is advancing the propaganda against the Jewish state.' The blogger also adds that she has wide ranging support for the ad, which will run for four weeks and says she has provided information that show the claims in the adverts are true. The ads will be on the side of 20 metro buses, such as this one pictured, for four weeks . It is expected that the ad will start running on D.C. metro buses this week. However, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has hit out the controversial campaign. Nihad Awad, National Executive Director of CAIR told WJLA: 'This is a propaganda campaign designed to incite hatred against American Muslims, and this campaign has been based on false information, taking things out of context from the Quran.' The organisation says it is considering the possibility of a response ad, and is offering free copies of the Quran. | The group behind the campaign is the American Freedom Defence Initiative .
Say they are concerned by 'global jihad and Islamic supremacism'
Have called for an end to U.S. foreign aid to Islamic countries .
Used the picture of Hitler and Haj Amin al-Husseini in the ad .
Council of American Islamic Relations is considering response to campaign . |
fc7901efd8ed20ff046fd59883df0cdafe43f86c | Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant passed Michael Jordan for third on the NBA's career scoring list on Sunday night. Bryant entered the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves needing nine points to pass the icon with whom he is often compared. He reached the mark with two free throws with 5:24 to play in the second quarter. Kobe Bryant became the third highest scorer in NBA history on Sunday night . The Los Angeles Lakers star was given a standing ovation in Minneapolis after passing Michael Jordan . The Timberwolves stopped the game, and a Lakers-heavy crowd gave Bryant a standing ovation as Wolves owner Glen Taylor presented him with the game ball. Bryant received a standing ovation and hugs from teammates and the Timberwolves. The 36-year-old Bryant did it in his 19th season and 1,269th game. Jordan's career lasted 15 seasons and 1,072 games. Bryant reached the mark with two free throws in the first half against the Minnesota Timberwolves . Bryant is congratulated by his team-mates after surpassing Jordan's landmark . 1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 38,387 . 2. Karl Malone - 36,928 . 3. Kobe Bryant - 32,298 . 4. Michael Jordan - 32,292 . (At half-time on Sunday) 'I congratulate Kobe on reaching this milestone,' Jordan said in a statement to the Associated Press. 'He's obviously a great player, with a strong work ethic and has an equally strong passion for the game of basketball,' Jordan continued. 'I've enjoyed watching his game evolve over the years, and I look forward to seeing what he accomplishes next.' ESPN noted that Phil Jackson coached both players leading Jordan to titles in Chicago and Kobe to a dynasty in Los Angeles. In the coach's book, 'Eleven Rings,' he wrote that Bryant was 'hell-bent on surpassing Jordan as the greatest player in the game.' Bryant has said Jackson's claims are overblown. Nike, which also has a relationship with both athletes, is releasing a special edition 'Mamba Moment' shoe online for $245 to commemorate the new standings. Bryant now trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points) and Karl Malone (36,928) in career points. NBA legend Jordan is widely regarded as the best player to ever play basketball . Reaction around the basketball world was swift and congratulatory of Kobe's new standing at the top. 'Lake fans, let's tip our hats to the Timberwolves fans for giving Kobe a great standing ovation!' tweeted basketball legend Earvin Magic Johnson. Sports writer Dave McMenamin tweeted: 'The free throws might have been anticlimactic, but the fact he broke it in midst of 11 straight pts for LA was perfect. He's Kobe. He scores.' | Kobe Bryant moved into third place on career scoring list .
Los Angeles Lakers star leapfrogged the great Michael Jordan .
Bryant reached the mark with a pair of free-throws against Minnesota .
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and Karl Malone (36,928) ahead of Kobe . |
fc794c156503d76b2284ea68655e717cdb29d289 | A 2-year-old boy was found alone in a room in a filthy house full of garbage without access to food or water, police said. A family member contacted authorities in Cumming, Georgia, after the boy’s mother, 21-year-old Stephanie Davis, had been arrested on DUI charges. Several deputies found the boy crying loudly in a locked room, covered in excrement, and severely hungry and dehydrated. Squalor: Stephanie Davis, 21, was arrested on DUI charges; authorities found her 2-year-old son locked in a room without food or water . Happier times? A Facebook picture shows her son and an unidentified man in better times, happy and smiling with her son . Davis had apparently called the family . member around 4.40a.m. last Friday after her arrest to let them know that . her son was unattended. When deputies arrived at Davis’ house, they found a dog barking and running around the exterior of the property. The residence itself was locked. According to the Alpharetta Patch, officers from the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Department could also hear the cries of the baby boy. In a news release, Sheriff Ted Paxton said: ‘Because of the extenuating circumstances, one of the deputies pulled the screen off of the window and entered the home.’ He said that the deputy then went through the window and into the room where he hear the child’s cries. ‘What he found was a child that was trapped in his room by a closed door, equipped with a safety device on the inside doorknob that prevented the child from opening the door.’ The sheriff’s report then describes in graphic detail the sordid conditions in which the boy was living, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Fighting spirit: Police said clothes and old food was strewn about Davis' house . ‘The child was dressed in a dirty white (T-shirt). He had removed his diaper himself and it was on the floor, filled to overflowing with feces. The child had feces on his hands, feet, and legs,’ Mr Paxton said. Mr Paxton said that the deputies’ first course of action was cleaning the waste off of the crying child and putting a clean diaper on him. But the sheriff noted that because of the general squalor of the home, it was impossible to find clean clothes for the boy. One deputy took it upon himself to retrieve clothes and food from his own home to give to the child, while others went to find clean water for him to drink. Living in filth: Deputies said there were around 50 bags of garbage on Davis' porch, and the house was in a state of disarray . It is unclear how long the boy was alone and without food or drink, Patch reported. According to the release, the room in which the boy was found had only a mattress and box springs in it. Other rooms were in equal states of disarray. 'I commend the deputies for their response and for the caring actions at the scene. This is a situation that could have ended quite differently.' -Sheriff Ted Paxton . Officers described a pungent odour of urine, rotting food, and feces coming from the house. In their search of the home – which was full of garbage and clothing strewn about the home – they found two dogs, one of which had been barking outside of the house. The other dog was found locked inside a cage. Both were given water and taken to Animal Control. On the porch, there were more than 50 bags full to bursting with garbage, and inside, there was clothing strewn about on the floor of the residence. Deputies also found used razors and towels littering the home, and broken window panes. Davis was charged with cruelty to children in the second degree, as well as reckless conduct. Sheriff Paxton said he was thankful that his deputies found the child when they did. ‘I commend the deputies for their response and for the caring actions at the scene,’ he said in the release. ‘This is a situation that could have ended quite differently.’ | Crying toddler found in locked room 'covered in feces with no access to food or water'
Mother Stephanie Davis, 21, arrested on DUI charges and called relative to check on son .
Family member called police to alert authorities . |
fc7a05f9dcf431f380230c0c0e40729c93d6895d | LONDON, England (CNN) -- The super-yachts of the super-rich could soon become super-green. The solar sail: super-yachts could cut fuel consumption and emissions by using a sail similar to this. Sydney-based technology company Solar Sailor is working on a "solar sail" which could act as both a sail and a solar power source to all sorts of large vessels. Super-yachts owned by billionaires like Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen are currently among the biggest fuel guzzlers on the planet. Some of the ocean-going beasts like Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's "Dubai," the biggest private super-yacht in the world, are over 150 meters long and contain amenities like aircraft hangars, movie theaters, Jacuzzis, and swimming pools. All of these features sap incredible amounts of energy. Fuel consumption estimates on super-yachts have ranged up to one liter of fuel per second when traveling at high power. • See a photo gallery of the world's best super-yachts . Solar Sailor's CEO Robert Dane told CNN the technology could work perfectly with super-yachts. He said the solar sails had the ability to significantly reduce the boats' fuel consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions. "We think it would enable people to have their super-yacht but make little or no carbon footprint, which is the big problem with these vessels," he said. Dane said the technology worked by using a wing that is a solar panel or a sail, pivotally mounted to a vessel so it can be angled to the sun or the wind. The "sails" are controlled by a computer which takes into account the direction and strength of sun and wind to optimize energy collection. A design project is currently underway in the United Kingdom to create a solar sail for the super-yachts, he said. Dane said the company was working with Chinese shipping company COSCO to get solar sails on some of its fleet. "Our aim is for a trail of retrofitted sails to one bulker and one tanker in 2010. Based on the results of this, then we would design 'new-build' vessels," he said. Dane estimated the sail could save about 5 percent in fuel consumption from the solar power and another 20 to 40 percent from wind power when the vessel is traveling at 18 knots. "This might add up to a 10 percent saving overall in the whole journey," Dane said. He said there were further hopes that the technology could be improved by developing systems to raise and lower sails with fewer moving parts and store energy more efficiently. | Solar sails are large solar-paneled wings which can harness sun or wind power .
Sydney-based company Solar Sailor is developing the technology .
The solar sails could be fixed to super-yachts to help reduce their fuel consumption . |
fc7aaf7247006dafca29d7e9b6e8e6340c3774e6 | Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano has admitted that Sergio Aguero could make his life a nightmare as Manchester City chase down a 2-0 Champions League deficit in the Nou Camp tomorrow night. City arrived in Spain this afternoon with a mountain to climb after losing their last sixteen first leg clash at the Etihad Stadium three weeks ago. But former Liverpool player Mascherano told a press conference at Barcelona’s training ground this lunchtime that his international team mate Aguero could change things round in tomorrow’s second leg if he is given the chance. VIDEO Scroll down for Vincent Kompany & Gerardo Martino's pre-match news conferences . Honest: Javier Mascherano admits he is concerned about the threat posed by Sergio Aguero . Final touches: Lionel Messi and his Barcelona team-mates train to prepare for Manchester City . Headline act: Messi makes his way onto the pitch at Barca training before taking on City on Wednesday . High spirits: Neymar and Messi go through their drills . Frustrated: Messi is ready to unleash against City . Centre stage: Neymar will hope to make an impact against Manchester City at the Nou Camp . Ready? Barca boss Tata Martino looks relaxed during Tuesday's training session . Top touch: Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano brings the ball down during the session . Mascherano said: 'I know Sergio well and in my opinion he is one of the best five strikers in the world. 'He is a great player and if he is given space he can be a nightmare to play against. 'We . will try and give him as little space as possible as the last thing we . want is for him to be comfortable. We need to make things uncomfortable . for him. 'I think we will . see a very attacking Manchester City team. They always attack but the . result from the first leg means that they will throw even more players . forward. 'We will try to dominate the possession. That’s the only way to play against really good teams.' Few . people give City much chance of overturning the result from the first . leg, even if Barcelona are getting it in the neck from their critics in . Spain after a weekend defeat at Valladolid saw the slip to third place . in La Liga. One questioner . asked Mascherano how Barcelona had gone 'from the fairy house to the . monster house' in recent weeks while another accused the players of not . training hard enough. He . said: 'Tomorrow is a different thing. It is the Champions League and the . team has to go out there on the pitch and play as we usually do. 'I . believe in what I do and what I see and, at the end of the day, I don’t . know who said we aren’t training hard enough because we are the ones . who are really training and working hard. 'This team and group, we have made this profession dignified. I can look straight into your eyes and say we do things well. Nice shorts: Carles Puyol dons some small shorts and high socks in training . Something to smile about: Neymar was in high spirits as the Barca stars were put through their paces . 'We . cannot play as we did against Valladolid, but we can get back to . winning and our best form and tomorrow is a good chance to do that. 'Right now, it is March and we have two months to end the season by doing something special. 'Now is the time to press the accelerator and achieve our objectives.' One step away: Barcelona look likely to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League . In training: Lionel Messi (right) and Neymar prepare for the Manchester City clash in Barcelona . Barcelona . coach Gerardo Martino has come under great pressure in recent days with . people questioning his right to manage the club. Martino said: 'All I can do is be strong and be powerful. 'We . have lots of things to play for. We are still in three competitions and . I have to be strong and try to get us back to how we were playing when . we went to Manchester City. 'I need to be a leader. If I’m not then I don’t deserve to be a manager.' Mission impossible? Vincent Kompany (left) and fit-again Sergio Aguero (right) have a tough task ahead . Not again: Martin Demichelis was sent off for hauling down Lionel Messi in the penalty area . Sucker punch: Messi netted from the sport but Dani Alves (right) added a second late in the game . | Barcelona await Manchester City in second leg at Nou Camp .
Club president backs manager Tata Martino after shock defeat by Valladolid .
City also coming off back of poor result following Wigan loss at Etihad .
Javier Mascherano and Sergio Aguero both play for Argentina . |
fc7ae474286368f3e77eb9b44cb49c0372ea5c7c | (CNN) -- October 6, 1981, remains etched in the minds of Egyptians who witnessed the assassination of President Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat at the hands of four military officers during an annual parade celebrating the anniversary of Egypt's 1973 war with Israel. In 1979, Sadat signed the Camp David peace treaty with Israel that won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the fury of many Arabs who accused him of betraying their cause. In a tribute to the former "hero of war and peace," as the inscription on his grave reads, Egyptian State TV ran footage Thursday of the assassination, depicting the moment Sadat stood in the pavilion saluting his killers while they fired at him as French Mirage fighters screeched over the parade grounds as part of the festivities. Khaled El Islambouly, the lead gunman, was captured and executed. Sadat's bullet-riddled body was rushed to the Maadi Military Hospital and the president was proclaimed dead at 2.40 p.m. due to "intense nervous shock and internal bleeding in the chest cavity." Talaat El Sadat, a former member of parliament and the nephew of the slain president, recalls the details of that grim day. "The president thought the killers were part of the show when they approached the stands firing, so he stood saluting them," El Sadat told CNN. El Sadat claims his uncle refused to wear bulletproof vests and always confidently argued, "I am among my sons." An investigation uncovered evidence that the killers had plotted the attack with Al Gamaa al-Islamiyya, a Muslim Brotherhood offshoot that had failed ambitions of launching an Islamic revolution in the mid-1980s. Aboud El Zomor, the leader of Al Gamaa al-Islamiyya, was convicted of plotting the assassination and spent almost 30 years behind bars before his release in April, among hundreds of political prisoners detained during President Hosni Mubarak's regime. Three decades later, in his first interview with a U.S. television news organization since his release, El Zomor was unapologetic about being a part of the killing of Sadat. "Our role was related to assisting but not decision-making," El Zomor recalled in his interview with CNN. "All that we did, our role, is that we had ammunition that we sent" to the assassins. "The idea was just to change and provide an alternative leader who could save Egypt from a crisis of the political dead-end we lived in then," El Zomor explained. "I intended complete change, not just the murder of Sadat." He cheered the January 25 revolution that ousted Mubarak on February 11 and felt "jealous" that his own religious revolution did not succeed. He also claimed that Al Gamaa al-Islamiyya has renounced its military arm because there was "no need to fight the oppression of the former Mubarak regime." The fall of regimes almost always comes with the unveiling of secret documents and conspiracy theories. Sadat's assassination was recently revisited by his daughter, Roqaya al-Sadat, a month after Mubarak was toppled. She filed a case in March at the general prosecutor's office claiming new evidence had emerged implicating Mubarak, who was Sadat's vice president. "The lead gunman's machine gun jammed and he reached in the vehicle for another gun," said Talaat El Sadat. He demands an explanation to how guns without their safety pins were smuggled in. "Where was my uncle's elite security all this time?" "The answer (to all of this) is Hosni Mubarak. He benefits the most from the killing, assisted by the Americans and the Israelis," El Sadat said. Meanwhile, the peace with Israel that Sadat worked relentlessly to achieve may be at the brink of collapse. Anti-Israeli sentiment in Egypt in the past few months has been its most violent since the times of Sadat, as highlighted by the pro-democracy protesters who breached the Israeli Embassy on September 9. The same protesters who brought down the Mubarak regime insist on ending the exports of gas to Israel and many call for the cancellation of the Camp David Peace Treaty after an incident on the Israeli-Egyptian border left five Egyptian soldiers dead. | Egyptian president was assassinated in October 1981 .
Sadat's daughter has implicated Hosni Mubarak .
Relations with Israel have deteriorated this year . |
fc7af5f118c56dcb5cfc3a4a803a92f5fe587834 | By . Nelson Groom For Daily Mail Australia . Google has a secret 'air base' in outback Australia which it has been using to test a drone delivery service. The base in Warwick, in southeast Queensland, has been in operation for two years and is part of a plan by the search engine giant to introduce a drone delivery called Project Wing. It is being operated by Google X, the tech research arm of the company, and is considered the company's most ambitious projects to date. Scroll down for video . A vehicle from Project Wing, Googles drone delivery project has been secretly running in the Australian outback for two years . Ground breaking: Project Wing is the first drone-delivery service in the world . In a video released on Thursday to YouTube, the company said Project Wing is a 'developing a delivery system that uses self-flying vehicles'. The Atlantic reported the company chose Australia in order to avoid the harsh 'remotely piloted aircraft policies' that are in place in the United States. The company has already flown first aid kits, water and confectionary to farmers. The drones offer rapid delivery of medicines and emergenciy supplies-such as disaster relief- to Australians living in rural areas. The drones have been used to deliver food, medicine and emergency supplies to Australians living in rural areas, and there are also plans to use them for commerc . Google has chosen to run Project Wing in Australia to avoid the strict drone flying laws in America . The Google drones feature a camera, GPS and radio. They have a wingspan of five feet, and weigh around 8 kg . They also plan to use the drones for the delivery of commercial goods, something Amazon has also been aspiring to. The vehicles, known as UAVs, weigh around 8kg, and have a wingspan of five feet. They contain a GPS, camera and radio. The base has been shrouded in secrecy until now. It is the first example of a successful drone delivery services in the world. | Google testing unmanned drones in outback Australia for two years .
Basing Project Wing in Australia to avoid harsh drone laws in America .
Drones have delivered food, medicine and emergency supplies .
Plans for commercial use in the future . |
fc7b4a29098a99875d9d712a0d17280d72f0a9e3 | (CNN) -- Henrik Stenson capped his recent rise with a record-equaling victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship which propelled the Swede to the top of the FedEx Cup standings. The new world No. 6 carded a five-under-par final round of 66 to finish 22 under for the tournament, tying the record score set by Vijay Singh in 2008. Stenson finished two strokes clear of American Steve Stricker at the rain-delayed event in Boston, putting him in pole position to collect the $10 million FedEx Cup winner's check. "I'm just pleased I won here," the 37-year-old told the PGA Tour's official website. "This was a big goal of mine to win a golf tournament after all those nice finishes. My family is here. I'm going to see my kids in a little bit. It's all good." Stenson has enjoyed a fine couple of months. He finished as runner-up to Phil Mickelson at July's British Open in addition to a third-place finish at last month's PGA Championships. The $1.4 million victory, his third on the PGA Tour, saw him usurp world No. 1 Tiger Woods as the leader of the FedEx Cup standings with just two tournaments left of the series. The Deutsche Bank Championship is the second of four FedEx Cup playoff events. The top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings will now progress to play in the BMW Championships, with the top 30 players then advancing to the series-ending Tour Championship. The player who finishes top of the FedEx Cup standings following the Tour Championship picks up a check for $10 million. Last year's event was won by American Brandt Snedeker. | Henrik Stenson wins the Deutsche Bank Championship by two shots .
The Swede finished a tournament record-equaling 22-under par in Boston .
The win propels the new world No. 6 to the top of the FedEx Cup standings .
The winner of the FedEx Cup collects a check for $10 million . |
fc7b61b4b635506dafe91cc0387eb35ce1748fd6 | Traitor or patriot? Low-level systems analyst or highly trained spy? Slammed by top U.S. government officials and facing espionage charges in the United States, former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden defended his decision to leak documents about classified surveillance programs during an interview with NBC "Nightly News" broadcast Wednesday. "I think it's important to remember that people don't set their lives on fire," Snowden said. "They don't walk away from their extraordinarily, extraordinarily comfortable lives ... for no reason." Speaking to anchor Brian Williams in a Moscow hotel, Snowden said he considers himself a patriot, and he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to reveal secret U.S. government surveillance programs if he didn't have to. "The reality is, the situation determined that this needed to be told to the public. The Constitution of the United States had been violated on a massive scale," Snowden told Williams. "Now, had that not happened, had the government not gone too far and overreached, we wouldn't be in a situation where whistleblowers were necessary." 10 things we learned from his interview . The U.S. government, Snowden said, is using the threat of terrorism "to justify programs that have never been shown to keep us safe but cost us liberties and freedoms that we don't need to give up and our Constitution says we shouldn't give up." NSA analysts, he said, "can actually watch people's Internet communications, watch their Internet correspondence, watch their thoughts as they type," he said, describing such government surveillance as an "extraordinary intrusion ... into the way you think." He didn't specify when such a program would be used by the agency, but said seeing that program when he worked for the NSA astonished him. Snowden has been living for nearly a year in Russia, where the government has granted him temporary asylum. But he stressed he has no ties with the Russian government. "I have no relationship with the Russian government at all," he told NBC. "I've never met the Russian President. I'm not supported by the Russian government. I'm not taking money from the Russian government. I'm not a spy." In fact, Snowden said, he never planned to stay in Russia. "I personally am surprised that I ended up here," he said. "The reality is I never intended to end up in Russia. I had a flight booked to Cuba onwards to Latin America, and I was stopped because the United States government decided to revoke my passport and trap me in the Moscow airport." He hasn't been able to leave Russia since then. Snowden said he would eventually like to return to the United States. "If I could go anywhere in the world, that place would be home," he told NBC. Asked by Williams whether he considers himself a patriot, Snowden didn't hesitate. "Yes, I do," he said. That comment drew a sharp response from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who spoke with the network earlier Wednesday. "Patriots don't go to Russia. They don't seek asylum in Cuba. They don't seek asylum in Venezuela. They fight their cause here," Kerry told NBC. "Edward Snowden is a coward. He is a traitor. And he has betrayed his country. And if he wants to come home tomorrow to face the music, he can do so." In another excerpt from the interview, Snowden sought to bolster his credentials, arguing that the U.S. government has tried to downplay his skills and work experience. "I was trained as a spy in sort of the traditional sense of the word -- in that I lived and worked undercover, overseas, pretending to work in a job that I'm not -- and even being assigned a name that was not mine," Snowden said. "Now, the government might deny these things. They might frame it in certain ways, and say, oh, well, you know, he's a low-level analyst. "But what they're trying to do is they're trying to use one position that I've had in a career, here or there, to distract from the totality of my experience, which is that I've worked for the Central Intelligence Agency, undercover, overseas. "I've worked for the National Security Agency, undercover, overseas. And I've worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency as a lecturer at the Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy, where I developed sources and methods for keeping our information and people secure in the most hostile and dangerous environments around the world." Snowden continued: "So when they say I'm a low-level systems administrator, that I don't know what I'm talking about, I'd say it's somewhat misleading." A spokeswoman for the NSA declined to comment Tuesday on the NBC report. What Snowden leaked sparked a national debate about privacy and security. President Barack Obama and military officials remain in support of mass, warrantless surveillance. But civil libertarians, technology companies and others oppose it, noting the lack of transparency. On Russian TV, Snowden asks Putin about Moscow surveillance . Edward Snowden speaks at SXSW, calls for public oversight of U.S. spy programs . Stories about NSA surveillance, Snowden leaks win Pulitzers for two news groups . | Edward Snowden says NSA analysts can watch people's "thoughts as they type"
"The Constitution of the United States had been violated on a massive scale," he tells NBC .
Snowden says he considers himself a patriot and would like to return to the U.S. someday .
He faces espionage charges in the United States and received temporary asylum in Russia . |
fc7c64903f99e0126a5b5510c77abe30365841f1 | (CNN) -- Have English Premier League club Sunderland's players set a dangerous precedent for under-performing sports teams? After losing 8-0 at Southampton on Saturday, Sunderland's squad has offered to refund the cost of match tickets to their 2,500 traveling supporters who made the 1,026 kilometer round trip from the north east of England to the south coast. "We win and lose as a team, players, staff and fans," Sunderland captain John O'Shea told the club's website.. "However we wanted to acknowledge and thank the supporters who traveled such a long way to give us their backing and despite everything, stayed with us until the final whistle," It's a gesture that could cost the Sunderland squad as much as $100,000, with any unclaimed money to be donated to Sunderland-based charity Grace House, which provides care to children who have life-shortening conditions for which there is no known cure. Saturday ignominious defeat was Sunderland's biggest in 32 years and left the club one spot above the relegation zone after eight games. The 8-0 reverse, which included a spectacular own goal by Santiago Vergini to spark the rout, was one short of the record defeat in the English Premier League, Manchester United's 9-0 rout of Ipswich in 1995. "I've never felt as bad on a football pitch, as a player or as a coach, as I do today," said Sunderland manager Gus Poyet after Saturday's loss. "Even as a fan I've never felt this way, it's embarrassing and unacceptable, I'm really hurt." | Sunderland players offer refund to fans after team's 8-0 defeat by Southampton .
2,500 fans made 1,026 kilometer round trip at the weekend .
The gesture could cost Sunderland's players as much as $100,000 .
Any unclaimed money to be donated to charity . |
fc7d1a6661fd819447450f35127b5d51dc5f95e7 | By . Wills Robinson . PUBLISHED: . 12:59 EST, 25 February 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 14:49 EST, 25 February 2014 . A former soldier has been jailed after sickening CCTV footage captured him kicking a cat to death in a the middle of the street. Anthony Delaney had drunk at least 10 pints of lager at the time of the incident in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, but tried to claim he was putting the animal out of its misery after it had been hit by a car. The 30-year-old was filmed booting the . defenceless cat twice during a night out in September last year. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Sickening: Anthony Delaney found the injured cat lying on a street in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester . Swing: The soldier lines up to kick the cat which had been hit by a car . Savage: The defenceless animal went flying across the floor after Delaney booted it . The horrifying pictures show him setting on the animal as if he was kicking a football. He sent the animal flying through the air and then attacked it again as it lay against a wall. His solicitor was forced to admit that the 30-year-old handled the situation 'appallingly badly'. The cat died just minutes after RSPCA inspectors arrived at the scene at around 5am on Sunday, September 22, last year. The court was told driver Charlotte Lewis-Dobson first spotted the injured animal and phoned the RSPCA before moving her car in front of the cat to protect it from other vehicles. Shockiing: Witnesses watch in horror as the cat was left for dead on the pavement after the horrifying incident . Jailed: Delaney was given an 18-month prison sentence and was banned from keeping animals for five years . She and passenger Nicole Calvert were later confronted by Delaney and his group of friends, who told them ‘you better drive away now’ after pleading with them to leave the animal alone. A statement from Ms Lewis-Dobson said: 'I can’t believe somebody could do that particularly when the cat was injured and distressed. 'It was crying out and wanted to be left alone. Its last few minutes were full of fear and pain.' Delaney was handed an 18-week jail term and banned from keeping animals for five years. Chair of the bench Catherine Elliott said: 'This was a deliberate act of malicious cruelty to an already injured and defenceless animal. Defenceless: The RSPCA released pictures of the animal after the beating. It had also been kicked against a wall during the attack . 'We would be failing in our public duty if we did not pass a custodial sentence.' Delaney was arrested hours later and told police he and friends wanted to put the cat 'out of its misery' and that he carried out the act as he had undergone survival training in the armed forces. He pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary cruelty to an animal at an earlier hearing, ahead of sentencing at Tameside Magistrates' Court. Delaney was handed an 18-week jail term and banned from keeping animals for five years. Chair of the bench Catherine Elliott said: 'This was a deliberate act of malicious cruelty to an already injured and defenceless animal. 'We would be failing in our public duty if we did not pass a custodial sentence.' RSPCA inspector Vicki McDonald said: 'There was an audible intake of breath when the footage of this incident was shown in court. 'This cat had already been hit by a car and two young women had called us, and were waiting with the cat until we arrived. 'When a group of people, including Delaney, showed up and started messing around with the cat they asked him several times to leave him alone but were intimidated into leaving. Delaney then kicked him not once, but twice, like a football across the street. 'It was an absolutely appalling act of the like it’s difficult to believe. This cat should have been shown kindness, not cruelty.' | Anthony Delaney drank 10 pints of lager before the sickening attack .
Tried to claim he was putting the animal out of its misery as it was injured .
Was filmed kicking the defenceless cat twice in Ashton-under-Lyne .
The 30-year-old was handed an 18-week prison sentence .
Former Army soldier was also banned from keeping animals for five years . |
fc7dbbbfa96edd74c493c561118760ce224ff9b0 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 11:04 EST, 8 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 09:02 EST, 9 October 2013 . Arrested: Joseph Callahan, 69, was arrested on Monday, accused of making a terrifying arsenal of guns and bombs at his home in Connecticut . A 69-year-old married Connecticut man accused of stockpiling an incredible arsenal of guns, ammunition and home-made bombs in his $1million mansion was arrested on Monday. No one yet knows what Joseph Callahan had in mind for more than 250 guns, tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition and explosive devices police say they found at his house in Fairfield. But yesterday Callahan, who has a chemistry background, was charged with 11 counts of illegal possession of explosives, six counts of first-degree reckless endangerment and one count of manufacturing bombs. On his LinkedIn page, Callahan says he is president of chemical company Remair. He also worked at gun manufacturer Remington Arms for nearly two decades. The Hartford Courant reported that local police and federal agents raided the five-bedroom property last week after a reported burglary. Instead, officers found 274 firearms, tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition and a large amount of hazardous materials on October 1. Authorities immediately closed down Bronson Road, where the home is located. It then took two days for experts to deal with the dangerous materials and make the area safe. No one was injured in the operation, which included agents from the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, alongside state and local police. Fairfield police chief Gary Macnamara described 'tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition strewn through the residence', as reported by Fox Connecticut. There were also scores of containers of highly explosive material stored at the large property at 1625 Bronson Road. Christopher Tracy, Fairfield's acting fire chief, said in a press release last Wednesday that 'a large amount of various chemicals' were found at the home. Danger: Authorities found larger amounts of explosive materials stashed at the property . Dennis . Schain of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection . added that some of the chemicals may have been used by Callahan in his . rocketry hobby. Then, on Monday, the 69-year-old was arrested. He is reportedly cooperating with authorities and was released from custody to remove the remaining dangerous chemicals. The Courant reported that haz-mat professionals and fire department officers will remain on the scene until Callahan fully complies with the court order to dispose of the material. He is due in court in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on October 16. Scene: The five-bedroom residence in Fairfield, Connecticut, is valued at over $1 million . | Joseph Callahan, 69, accused of having 274 firearms, huge amounts of ammunition and bombs at his Connecticut home .
He works at a chemical company and was previously employed by a firearms manufacturer .
Charged with 11 counts of illegal possession of explosives, six counts of first-degree reckless endangerment and one count of making bombs .
Federal agents and police swarmed the home and secured the area on October 1 . |
fc7de23394eb85fe804ff7b8535c2e022af9ab6d | (CNN) -- Nadya Suleman, the single mother of newborn octuplets, is using the Internet to help support her family of 14 children. She's started a Web site seeking donations. Nadya Suleman, a single mother of 14 children, has set up a Web site asking for donations. The Web site features pictures of a rainbow, child's blocks and all eight of Suleman's newborns. Also prominently displayed on the Web site is a prompt for visitors to make a donation, noting that the "proud mother of 14" accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and PayPal. Suleman, 33, had the octuplets through fertility treatments, despite already having six young children and no clear source of income. In recent television interviews, Suleman has rejected suggestions that she might not be able to care adequately for all 14 of her children. "I'm providing myself to my children," Nadya Suleman told NBC in her first interview. "I'm loving them unconditionally, accepting them unconditionally, everything I do. I'll stop my life for them and be present with them and hold them and be with them. And how many parents do that?" Watch report on who is paying the bills for the octuplets » . Suleman said she plans to go back to college to pursue a degree in counseling, NBC reported. She also said all 14 children have the same biological father, a sperm donor whom she described as a friend. Joann Killeen, a spokeswoman for Suleman, has told CNN that she is being deluged with media offers, but disputed any suggestions that Suleman may have had a monetary incentive for having so many children. Killeen, told CNN's "Larry King Live" that Suleman "has no plans on being a welfare mom and really wants to look at every opportunity that she can to make sure she can provide financially for the 14 children she's responsible for now." Suleman's publicist did say that Suleman gets $490 every month in food stamps. | Nadya Suleman has created Web site to solicit donations to help support 14 kids .
Suleman, a mother of six, recently had octuplets .
Suleman has rejected notions that she would not be able to care for children . |
fc7e4a4ffe2384321720d3ebbc2d2d248b4cd4df | Failed to pay fines and said they would rather go to jail . Part of a conservative breakaway group known as Swartzentruber who live with no electricity or plumbing . By . Associated Press . UPDATED: . 04:28 EST, 13 January 2012 . A group of Amish men were sent to jail today for refusing to pay fines for breaking a state highway law that requires their horse-drawn buggies to be marked with orange reflective triangles. The men, from western Kentucky, have a religious objection to the bright orange signs, which they say are flashy and conflict with their pledge to live low-key and religious lives. Ananias Byler, the first of ten Amish men due in Graves County District Court on Thursday, was sentenced to ten days in jail. Violation: Graves County deputy Zach Dunigan, right, escorts Ananias Byler to the Graves County Jail after he appeared in District Court today . Jail time: These Amish men were arrested for . refusing to put go-slow triangular safety signs on their buggies, . despite a Kentucky state law that requires all slow-moving vehicles to . display the orange badges . Refusal: The men are going to jail for not putting orange reflective stickers on their Amish buggies and refusing to pay fines for not doing so . The men were jailed for being found in contempt of court for refusing to pay the fines. Byler told Judge Deborah Crooks on Thursday that he would not pay the $489 he owes. 'I totally understand your objection,' the judge told Byler. 'But you're in violation, and it's not up to me to change the law. It doesn't really matter what I think about any of this.' The men belong to a conservative breakaway group of Amish known as Swartzentruber. They live simply, with no electricity, plumbing or appliances. But in recent years they have been running afoul of the law for refusing to use the triangles on their buggies, and some were sent to jail last year. Not all Amish groups refuse to use the reflective signs on their carts. But the Swartzentruber community is refusing to put its trust in man-made symbols for their safety. 'I don’t think it’s right to put somebody in jail for practising their religious beliefs,’ said Amish father-of-seven Levi Zook. 'But that’s what we’ll do if that’s what it takes to abide by the Biblical laws.' The men did win one battle during their time in jail - being given sombre blue prison uniforms instead of the regulation bright orange jumpsuits. The Amish men, wearing long dark coats on a snowy day in Mayfield, removed their black wide-brimmed hats before entering the courtroom. They sat quietly until their names were called. Detained: Deputy Zach Dunigan, left, stands outside the Graves County Jail with brothers Jacob Gingerich, centre, and Ben Gingerich, right, today . In court: Amish member Nevin Byler stands in front of Graves County District Judge Deborah Crooks before she sent him to jail . Proper order: The men said the bright orange signs which they hang on the back of their buggies are too flashy and contradict with their simple, religious lives . Jacob Gingerich said he and the other men will continue to refuse to pay the fines. Gingerich owed the most, $627, and was sentenced to 13 days in jail on Thursday. 'We're just not going to pay,' Gingerich, a farmer with 12 children, said before the court appearance. Police and prosecutors say the orange triangles help motorists see the buggies and avoid collisions. 'You get behind one of the buggies at night, you can't see it,' Graves County Sheriff DeWayne Redmon said. 'We're citing them for their own safety as well as the safety of others.' Gingerich and two other Amish men, with help from the Kentucky chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, have sued over the state highway law, saying it infringes on their religious freedom. The Kentucky Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case later this year after the state appeals court rejected the Amish men's argument in June. Gingerich said today that he wished the judge would have waited for the state Supreme Court to hear the case before throwing the men in jail. In court earlier this year: Five of the Amish men also ccused of aggravated burglary and kidnapping . Kentucky lawmakers are considering changes to the highway law to allow the Amish to use gray reflective tape instead of the orange triangles. Of Kentucky's 120 counties, Graves County has recorded the most violations for failure to use the orange triangles in the last five years. The county has recorded 57 of a total of 89 violations statewide since 2007. The Amish community has been increasingly thrust into the spotlight in recent months after a spate of beard-cutting attacks took place around Ohio throughout the end of last year, which resulted in the arrest of a number of men from the Bergholz Clan. | Failed to pay fines and said they would rather go to jail .
Part of a conservative breakaway group known as Swartzentruber who live with no electricity or plumbing .
Men allowed to wear sombre blue suits instead of regulatory orange jumpsuits . |
fc7e774753e14a3854be047f4f76e5801ee768ae | Prince William felt he was being 'used' to further his father's interests and portray Charles in a positive light after Princess Diana's death, an explosive BBC documentary has revealed. Sandy Henney, a former press aide to Prince Charles, described how his image was in tatters when she took up her post in 1993 as he was viewed as a 'bad father' and 'unloving husband'. In her first broadcast interview she described how Prince William was 'angry' about leaked details from his first meeting with Camilla Parker-Bowles and said it was a 'defining moment' for him. 'He (William) was understandably really upset because it was private. And apart from being angry and upset that this had got out, he wanted to know how it had happened,' she told Reinventing the Royals last night. Scroll down for video . Prince William (left) felt he was being 'used' to further his father's interests and portray Charles (right) in a positive light after Princess Diana's death, an explosive BBC documentary has revealed . 'It was a defining moment as he had recently lost his mother and he knew the role of the media in her life.' The Sun's former royal correspondent Charles Rae told the documentary that details of the meeting at St James's Palace in 1998 had been revealed by Prince Charles' former PR man Mark Bolland. 'We got all the details, her [Camilla] drinking the gin and tonic, her having a sneaky fag beforehand because she was nervous and everything else. 'So all the detail came to us and was, if you like, absolutely kosher. Apart from Camilla and William telling us, you couldn't have got it from a better source… It was Mark Bolland.' Mr Bolland has denied he was behind the leak, branding the claims 'rubbish'. It was also claimed that a 17-year-old Prince Harry was left angry when another story about him having smoked cannabis appeared in the press. Sandy Henney, a former press aide to Prince Charles, described how his image was in tatters when she took up her post in 1993 . Royal biographer Penny Junor claims the story was 'not strictly true' and was spun into positive PR for Charles who sent the young royal to visit a drugs rehabilitation centre. 'A deal was struck, the order of events were reversed. It was spun it into a good story about Charles recognising his son had gone off the rails and doing something about it,' said Ms Junor. In the documentary Ms Henney, who worked for Charles from 1993 to 2000, also spoke of how she feared for the future of the monarchy in the face of public anger after the death of Princess Diana. 'I remember briefing one of our private secretaries on the phone and saying, 'I know you're seeing it on television but you really have to be here in London to feel the atmosphere. People here are really antimonarchy',' she said. 'I have to say, yeah, I was worried in terms of where was this going to go?' The programme also investigated the strategy for Camilla Parker Bowles to be accepted as a 'non-negotiable' part of Prince Charles' life - dubbed 'Operation Mrs PB' Tony Blair's spin doctor Alastair Campbell told the programme how he and the then prime minister helped the Queen and senior courtiers map out a strategy to soothe public rage. He said: 'The Lord Chamberlain said to Tony Blair: 'Were going to need some help on this.' I can remember saying it's very very important that she's there speaking not just as the Queen but as a grandmother.' The programme also investigated the strategy for Ms Parker Bowles to be accepted by the public as a 'non-negotiable' part of Prince Charles' life - dubbed 'Operation Mrs PB'. This strategy was masterminded by 'spin doctor' Mr Bolland who was private secretary to the Prince of Wales from 1996 until 2002. 'Spin doctor' Mark Bolland was private secretary to the Prince of Wales from 1996 until 2002 . He was also said to have helped with a book that claimed Princess Diana had the first affair and threatened to have Camilla killed, the author revealed as part of the documentary. Penny Junor, who was accused of smearing Princess Diana with her 1998 book Charles: Victim or Villain, told the show that Mr Bolland was a crucial source. The explosive book prompted public outrage when it was released because it questioned Diana's sanity and suggested she was the first to be unfaithful with a string of lovers, including a policeman. When asked how close she came to the royal family, she told the programme: 'I got very close. Bolland helped me with a lot of the book. 'I'm not saying he was the only source, he certainly wasn't the source for everything. He was the source for some things. It would have been a wholly dishonest book if he had been the only source. 'He was a genius he was very good at what he did. He loved pulling strings and playing with the press. The princes called him Blackadder.' The author, who has described herself as 'the most hated woman in Britain', defended her reasons for publishing the book which attacked Diana. 'The enduring memory that everyone had of Diana was the Panorama interview when she sat looking very forlorn and talked about the three of them in the marriage,' she told the programme. 'I thought he's never going to defend himself. Was he actually a villain who destroyed this beautiful young girl or was he a victim of a failed marriage of a mismatch. I wanted to know what the actual truth was.' After the book was published to coincide with Charles' 50th birthday, the Prince of Wales sought to distance himself and Camilla from the claims. Royal biographer Penny Junor, who has described herself as 'the most hated woman in Britain', defended her reasons for publishing the book which attacked Diana . The author said the enduring memory that everyone had of Diana was the infamous 1995 Panorama interview (pictured) A statement was released which said the book was not authorised, solicited or approved. 'That says what is wasn't, not what it was. I went to them and I said I want to write this book and I got help,' said Ms Junor. The BBC documentary became the subject of a row after it was claimed the Palace was delaying its broadcast by refusing to release archive footage. Clarence House has denied it was to blame for the programme being put back two months beyond its original scheduled time of December last year . Interviewees in the documentary, which was produced by Christopher Walker, said they believed Charles was unaware of some of his team's dealings with the media. Mr Bolland was not available for a comment when contacted. Clarence House declined to comment on the content of the documentary. The second part of Reinventing the Royals will be screened on Thursday, February 27 at 9pm. The explosive book prompted public outrage when it was released because it questioned Diana's sanity and suggested she was the first to be unfaithful, pictured the royal couple in South Korea in 1992 . The documentary claimed William (pictured with his brother in 2008) was upset about a story about his first meeting with Camilla, now Duchess of Cornwall . | Prince William was 'upset' about leaked details from meeting with Camilla .
BBC show reveals he felt he was being 'used' to improve father's image .
Prince Charles' former press aide said royal's image was in tatters in 1993 .
Sandy Henney said she feared for future of monarchy after Diana's death .
Author also claimed Charles' former PR chief helped with explosive book .
Charles: Victim or Villain claimed Princess Diana had the first affair . |
fc7ee22cd74d0befce3eb8e1a18ac533044d6b29 | By . Lucy Waterlow . PUBLISHED: . 10:45 EST, 5 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 12:02 EST, 5 December 2012 . She's an award-winning fashion designer beloved by the stars, but even Stella McCartney doesn't always get it spot on when it comes to style. The mother-of-four went a little too wild for leopard print last night wearing head-to-toe clothing in the design, as well as matching accessories. The outfit was all from her own spring 2013 collection and was worth a total of £2,010. Arty crowd: The designer daughter of Sir Paul . McCartney was attending a dinner in Miami to celebrate the launch of . video artist Bill Viola's new exhibition . The designer daughter of Sir Paul McCartney was attending a dinner in Miami to celebrate the launch of video artist Bill Viola's new exhibition which will be on display at The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) North Miami until March. She used the opportunity to showcase her love of animal print wearing a loose fit 'Viole' leopard print top worth £300 with matching jogging trousers, £625. She also wore £425 canvas wedges in leopard print and carried a fold over tote bag in the same design which costs £660 from her website. Not for all: Last week Stella was crowned the . Designer of the Year and Designer Brand of the Year at the British . Fashion Awards but her style isn't always to everyone's taste . The trend is already catching on as today singer Jessie J was pictured wearing the top and matching leggings as she attended ITV's studios. But she didn't take the style as far as Stella as teamed the outfit with brown boots and a cream furry coat. Last week Stella was crowned the Designer of the Year and Designer Brand of the Year at the British Fashion Awards but her style isn't always to everyone's taste. Trendsetter: Singer Jessie J has already embraced the trend but she didn't don the matching shoes and bag like Stella . When she launched her official Team GB kit for the London 2012 Olympics, many complained that it was 'too blue' and didn't feature enough of the union flag. But her optical illusion collection this year has been a hit with celebs including Kate Winslet, Kate Moss and Yasmin Le Bon, who have all stepped out in the flattering design. As Jessie J has proved, her animal print designs are also sure to be hit - but perhaps not everyone will be brave enough to wear them from top to bottom. Can you see me? McCartney's optical illusion collection this . year has been a hit with celebs including Kate Moss, left, and . Yasmin Le Bon, right, who have all stepped out in the flattering design . | The outfit, all from her own spring 2013 collection, is worth a total of £2,010 .
Designer was out at art opening in Miami last night . |
fc7fe3f46040b73988c630e76f9dd7a6e43c3cc9 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 06:43 EST, 7 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:43 EST, 7 December 2013 . Palestine's first-ever sex shop has opened for business after it was given the green light to start trading by Muslim scholars. The Ramallah-based online store - called Karaz, which means 'cherries' in Arabic - went live this week stocking vibrators, candy G-strings and lubricants, amongst other products. After obtaining a supporting fatwa from local sheiks, the website's founder, Ashraf Alkiswani, now hopes to attract customers from across the Arab world. Love is the universal language: Karaz, . Palestine's first-ever sex shop, based in Ramallah, has opened for . business after it was given the green light to start trading by Muslim . scholars . He told The Guardian: 'It's not about just sex. It's about love and the joy of expressing that love. 'It's about trying to build bridges across gaps that separate the husband from the wife by improving sexual harmony, which in turn will lead to happier marriages, less divorce and less infidelity. 'In that sense, it is a social project.' According to Islamic teachings sex is exclusively reserved for married couples, so the unmarried 30-year-old Palestinian-American businessman admitted he was a little nervous about asking the sheikhs for their approval. But he had two stories up his sleeve which compelled him to start his business, and that he felt sure would win the support of the Muslim scholars. One was of a couple who, on their wedding night, were on the one hand so nervous, and the other so keen, to 'begin [their] sexual journey' that they didn't even think to use foreplay, with the unfortunate result that the bride ended up in hospital with bleeding for three days. The second was a tale of a 25-year-old mother of five who, after being shown how to use a condom with her fingers as an example, went on to have sex with the prophylactic on her hand. Mr Alkiswani says he departed the mosque with the unanimous approval of the sheikhs for his venture. Contrary to the belief of many non-Muslims, the religion's teachings encourage sexual intimacy within marriage - and not just for procreation. Islamic law allows women to divorce their husbands on the grounds of a lack of sexual fulfilment and, as Mr Alkiswani points out, a pronouncement by the Muhammad, the Muslim prophet, says: 'Not one of you should fall upon his wife like an animal; but let their first be a messenger between you.' 'And what is that messenger? Kisses and words,' added the entrepreneur. Modest: The store went live this week stocking . vibrators, candy G-strings and lubricants, amongst other products. Its . appearance is rather different from the sex shops those of us in the . West may have seen . However, befitting the comparatively less wantonly promiscuous nature of Islamic culture, Karaz is not like the sex shops those of us in the West may be used to. 'Pornography and raunchy schematics are not used to sell our products,' the website says. It adds: 'We currently live in a time where love making is cheapened by risqué marketing advertisements. That’s what sets Karaz apart, in a league of its own. 'Our aim is to provide a range of tasteful products to help rekindle the purity and passion between married couples. 'Karaz is proud to help foster healthy relationships and open communication by offering a wide spectrum of marital aids that help husbands and wives achieve and maintain an intimate lifestyle.' | Ramalla-based online shop hopes to attract business across the Arab world .
It stocks vibrators, edible underwear and a range of other erotic items .
But its appearance is rather more modest than sex shops in the West . |
fc7fff452ca20ac280aeab04609ba28cacbe6e62 | Los Angeles (CNN) -- Michael Jackson "had a real monkey on his back" with a longtime drug addiction his family kept secret from the world, and it led to his overdose death, a lawyer for AEG Live said. The concert promoter's defense against the Jackson family's wrongful death lawsuit begins Tuesday and will include testimony from "all of the many, many doctors" who treated Jackson over the past decades, AEG Live attorney Marvin Putnam said. It will also include a parade of Jackson family members, including a return appearance by matriarch Katherine Jackson, who just concluded two days of testimony as her lawyers presented their case. "They kept his private world private as best they could and now they would like to blame somebody else for things that only they knew privately," Putnam said. Michael Jackson's mother and three children contend AEG Live, which was producing and promoting his comeback concerts, is liable in his death because it negligently hired, retained or supervised Dr. Conrad Murray. Jackson's mom faces cross examination in death trial . Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death, which the coroner ruled was caused by an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol. The doctor told investigators he was using the drug to treat Jackson's insomnia as he prepared for his "This Is It" debut in London. Jackson, not AEG Live, chose and controlled Murray, Putnam argued. He said in his opening statements at the start of the trial 12 weeks ago he would show jurors "ugly stuff" about Jackson to prove that AEG Live executives had no way of knowing about the dangerous treatments the doctor was giving in the privacy of Jackson's bedroom. The appearance of Katherine Jackson, Michael Jackson's 83-year-old mother, as a concluding witness in her case gave Putnam a chance to probe what family members knew about Jackson's drug abuse history. "There are a lot of enormous inconsistencies in what is being said and what the truth is," Putnam told reporters Monday after he finished his cross-examination of Katherine Jackson. She "reported to the world and to the press that he never had a problem with prescription drugs," that he never entered drug rehab and that the family never attempted an intervention to stop his drug use, he said. "As we now know, Michael Jackson had a longtime problem with prescription drugs, so what had been told to the world during his lifetime wasn't true." The Jackson family's lawyer, Brian Panish, said AEG Live executives were "in the best position to help Michael Jackson" when they saw his health deteriorating in the last two months of his life. Show director Kenny Ortega sent a series of e-mails to top AEG Live executives warning them that Jackson showed "strong signs of paranoia, anxiety and obsessive-like behavior" at a rehearsal. "I think the very best thing we can do is get a top psychiatrist in to evaluate him ASAP," Ortega wrote. "It's like there are two people there. One (deep inside) trying to hold on to what he was and still can be and not waiting us to quit him, the other in this weakened and troubled state." Production manager John "Bugzee" Houghdahl sent an e-mail to producers saying he "watched him deteriorate in front of my eyes over the last 8 weeks. He was able to do multiple 360 spins back in April. He'd fall on his ass if he tried now." "They knew he was having a problem," Panish said. "He needed them for this concert. They could have easily told him, 'Look, until you go see the appropriate doctor and come back, we're not going on with the rehearsal.' They're the only ones that really had the ability to do something about it and they chose not to." Ortega testified this month that he thought AEG Live should have halted production on the show until Jackson was well. Mother: 'I want to know what really happened' Despite the e-mail evidence and testimony, Putnam insisted Monday that AEG Live executives knew nothing about Jackson's failing health. "They had little interaction with Michael Jackson in terms of the production and promotion of that," Putnam said, adding that the executives "certainly" did not know "that he was having any problems." But Panish said the executives should have known: "He was deteriorating in front of their own eyes." "They watched him waste away," Katherine Jackson testified. Jackson testified in her first day on the stand Friday that she filed the lawsuit "because I want to know what really happened to my son." During cross-examination, the AEG Live lawyer played a clip from an interview she gave to NBC a year after her son's death in which she said Michael Jackson had hired the doctor. In response, her lawyer argued she made the statement before seeing AEG e-mails indicating that the company hired him. Putnam questioned her about a statement she and several of her children signed in 2007 accusing People Magazine of publishing "untrue and inaccurate information" about Michael Jackson's drug use. "We categorically deny ever planning, participating in, or having knowledge of any kind of intervention, whatsoever," the statement read. Katherine Jackson acknowledged, however, that she participated in an attempted intervention with her son at his Neverland Ranch in 2002. "I wanted them to stop lying," she testified, referring to the magazine. "I was worried about all the lies they were telling about the family." "Was it a lie to say your son had a problem with prescription drugs?" Putnam asked. "He did not have a problem," she insisted. Putnam later asked Jackson's mother if she liked to "shut your ears to bad things." "I don't like to hear bad news," she said. Jackson appeared combative at times when Putnam cross-examined her, punching back at his questions. "What does this have to do with my son dying?" she replied at one point. "I think she was badgered, but that wasn't the first time," Panish told reporters later. "In her deposition, she was asked questions like, "Does your husband ever beat you?'" Doctor: Promoter knew about Jackson's drug dependency . For the pretrial deposition, she was questioned for about 12 hours over three days. Putnam denied he was being overly aggressive in his questioning of her. "I just wanted to know the facts from her and there was no reason to be aggressive with her," he said. "She was combative, but you can't blame Mrs. Jackson for that. None of us want to find ourselves in a situation where we're having to confront the very public death of our child." Putnam refused to discuss why he asked Katherine Jackson in the deposition if her husband, Joe Jackson, ever beat her. "What occurred in those depositions was confidential at Mrs. Jackson's request, therefore I am not at liberty to go into to the private matters that we went into in that deposition," Putnam told CNN. However, Katherine Jackson and her lawyer both brought up the question in court Monday. "I am not going to go into what we went into about the very tragic history Michael Jackson had with his parents and father over the period of his life," Putnam said. "That is something we did not go into on the stand because it is not relevant. I'm not bringing that up." AEG Live executive John Meglen is on the witness stand Tuesday as the company's defense presentation begins. Testimony is expected to last into September, the judge told the jury. | AEG Live will question "all of the many, many doctors" who treated Jackson, lawyer says .
AEG lawyer: The Jacksons want "to blame somebody else for things that only they knew"
The lawyer "badgered" Michael Jackson's mom during cross-examination, her attorney says .
AEG's lawyer won't comment on questioning Katherine Jackson about beatings by husband . |
fc803d8dacad0261f32320e14b5f3674ab3a485e | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 13:32 EST, 31 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 14:33 EST, 31 December 2013 . An alleged shark that appeared in a Manhattan Beach, California, wave on Friday as two children played in the water nearby was a dolphin, according to experts. A . local mother was taking a picture of . her 12-year-old son and a friend just as they were about to catch a wave . when the sea creature appeared in the break. The ‘photobomb’ story went viral on Sunday and Monday, as people argued over whether it was a shark or a dolphin. NOT a shark: A Manhattan Beach mother captured this image of what was initially thought to be a shark in the break of a wave next to her son and a friend in the water at Manhattan Beach, California . The verdict has now been delivered with an overwhelming majority of scientists concluding that the sighting was in fact of a bottlenose dolphin. Experts say the tail fin is horizontal, like that of a dolphin and there is no sign of a second dorsal fin, which sharks have and dolphins do not. Bottlenose dolphins are also frequently seen surfing in the faces of waves, while sharks are not, according to Grind TV. Kera Mathes, a naturalist with the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, posted on her Facebook page that the sea creature was definitely a dolphin. Dolphins vs sharks: Dolphins have horizontal flukes, shown here in this image . Big difference: Sharks have a second dorsal fin, seen here in this image, which dolphins do not . ‘I hate that the poor sharks are getting a bad, scary rep for this when it’s a coastal bottlenose dolphin,’ she wrote. Diane . Alps of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Cetacean Society said . in another Facebook comment: ‘Sure looks to be a bottlenose dolphin! Single falcate dorsal fin, horizontal flukes. General body shape looks . dolphin-esque too.’ Florida-based shark connoisseur, David Shiffman, says the creature is obviously a dolphin, based on its flat tail fin. ‘I asked about a dozen shark scientists and a handful of dolphin scientists [sic] to confirm my suspicion that it was a dolphin, and 100 per cent of them identified it as a dolphin. 'It doesn’t have a second dorsal fin and the tail is flat. Dolphin.’ Rant: David Shiffman, a shark enthusiast, took to Facebook to deliver his thoughts on the issue of the 'shark' photo-bomb . It is not the first time a dolphin has been mistaken for a shark. Professional . surfer, Kolohe Andino, was photographed riding a wave which contained a . creature that at first was thought to be a shark at the Hurley Pro surf . contest at Lower Trestles near San Clemente, California, in September . 2012. It was later identified as a bottlenose dolphin based on the shape of its dolphin-like fluke. And . in 2011 in north San Diego County, surfers were sure that a large . critter photographed in a wave was a large great white shark. But that, too, was most likely a dolphin turned sideways as it swam through the wave. Confusion: The bottlenose dolphin has many times been mistaken for a shark . Jaws? Surfers have often been photographed riding waves containing what looks to be a shark . However, there are still some who . believe it is a shark, such as Eric Martin, co-director of the . Roundhouse Marine Studies Marine Lab and Aquarium. And Salvador Jorgensen, a great white shark expert from Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station, told Grind TV that the tail in the picture from the recent shark scare ‘doesn’t really look like a shark tail more than, say, a dolphin sideways in the wave’. But he added that it was ‘impossible to say for sure from the picture alone’. Christopher Lowe, a white shark expert who runs the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach, said the tail looked more like that of a dolphin. | Alleged shark is a bottlenose dolphin say experts .
Verdict based on the tail which is horizontal like a .
dolphin's .
There is also no sign of a second dorsal fin, which sharks have .
The shark-resembling creature swam in a wave behind a couple of children in the water at Manhattan Beach, California, on Friday .
The mother of one of the surfers took a picture of her son and captured the dolphin through the break of the wave .
Picture of alleged shark had gone viral after it was made public . |
fc809f3e0179d338837288c968f718c11a317eff | Republicans will meet . July 18-21 next year in Cleveland, Ohio, to nominate their 2016 . presidential candidate, the party said on Wednesday. The party's presidential nomination convention will take place more . than a month earlier than it in did in 2012 and past election cycles. In the announcement, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, on the verge of an election to a third term as the party's leader, said the 2016 convention would be held in July to allow 'access to crucial general election funds earlier than ever before to give our nominee a strong advantage heading into Election Day.' Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said the 2016 convention would be held in July to allow 'access to crucial general election funds earlier than ever before to give our nominee a strong advantage heading into Election Day' The Cleveland Convention Center is pictured here in June of 2013 just after it reopened with more than 767,000 square feet of new convention and meeting space. Republicans will hold their presidential nominating convention here in 2016 from July 18-21 . The party's 2012 convention was held Aug. 27-30 in Tampa, Florida. Its presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, lost the general election to President Barack Obama. Before settling on July for its confab, the RNC said it could move up it formal nominating process by more than two months to June. An earlier convention date will shorten the presidential primary, ensuring less intra-party bashing before the general election, and give the eventual nominee more time to campaign against the Democratic opponent. Republicans selected Cleveland last year as its convention . site for 2016. Ohio is a crucial swing state in presidential elections. Democrats have yet to name a 2016 convention site, but they are also considering Ohio for their confab. The remaining candidates are Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Columbus, Ohio, and Brooklyn, New . York. Republicans last met in Cleveland in 1936, nominating . Kansas Governor Alf Landon, who was soundly defeated by . President Franklin Roosevelt in the November election. The . party's convention was also held in Cleveland in 1924, when . President Calvin Coolidge was nominated. He won the general . election later that year. Members of the RNC are meeting this week in San Diego, California, where Priebus is expected to easily win election to another term. He will be the first RNC chairman to stay on for a third election cycle in more than 25 years. | The GOP will meet July 18-21 next year in Cleveland, Ohio, to nominate its 2016 presidential candidate .
The convention would be held in July to allow 'access to crucial general election funds earlier than ever before,' the RNC's chief said .
Earlier convention ensures less intra-party bashing and will give the nominee more time to campaign against the Democratic opponenet . |
fc81406e8581e33e5c10944b0b8fbb0643a47e08 | What a disastrous festive period it has been for referees. They have sunk to their worst performance level that I can remember. It does not seem to matter who is appointed to which game as the majority of them cause controversy and ill-feeling. Managers are not even bothering to speak to them after games as limp apologies or poor excuses do nothing to help them in a popular period for sackings. VIDEO Scroll down to see Garry Monk's view on punishments for match officials . Leicester players protest to referee Mike Jones after he awards a penalty to Liverpool at Anfield . Neil Warnock and Alan Irvine have lost their jobs — but the manager with the worst record of all appears safe in his position. Mike Riley heads up the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO), who are responsible for the officiating of top-flight games and he is therefore the man who is in charge of the select group of referees. If any team manager oversaw a festive period including as many errors as these by his players he would be sacked: . The ball hits Wes Morgan (right) in the face but Mike Jones gave Liverpool a penalty for handball . Referee Anthony Taylor failed to send off QPR goalkeeper Robert Green for this handball outside of his area . Gareth Barry (right) sends Abel Hernandez flying during the match between Hull City and Everton . The ball clearly hits the arm of Manchester United defender Chris Smalling on the way through at Stoke . Cesc Fabregas (right) and his Chelsea team-mates complain to referee Anthony Taylor at St Mary's . Papiss Cisse (centre left) and Seamus Coleman (centre right) argue following the incident at St James' Park . Burney's George Boyd celebrates after scoring against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium . Hull City manager Steve Bruce reacts during his side's Boxing Day match against Sunderland . Referee Lee Mason (left) shows Stoke City's Jonathan Walters a yellow card at Goodison Park on Boxing Day . Alarmingly there are more errors than I have listed and in what is a very close and competitive Premier League, these mistakes are starting to affect the look of the table. I'm often asked why isn't there a No 1 referee who we turn to for the big games. Well, that is Riley's call. He was never the No 1 when he reffed and he doesn't like to put one man above another. There's no real hierachy for Premier League referees. Mark Clattenburg, the best referee in the country, was the fourth official at Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace on New Year's Day. Mike Riley (centre) referees the Premier League match between West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur in 2007 . He seems out of favour at the moment - probably because of off-the-field incidents, like breaking protocol by travelling in his own car to referee a match earlier this season because he wanted to watch an Ed Sheeran concert. When he’s on the pitch, he outperforms others . Howard Webb is wasted. He is the obvious successor to Riley, but is currently working as technical director at the PGMO. This is a guy who has taken charge of a World Cup final. Surely he has much more to offer than Riley? When raising the question of blatant errors with some officials, the response to me is worrying. I’m told there is no confidence in the camp as they feel unsupported and not motivated. They tell me to expect more errors. As ever, Riley remains silent and this cannot continue. I took great pride in doing my best to perform in every minute in every match and I am not enjoying highlighting so many errors. But at least I am doing my job. Howard Webb (right) shows a red card to Holland's John Heitinga (left) during the 2010 World Cup final . | It has been a disastrous festive period for English referees .
Mike Riley heads up the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO)
If any team manager had overseen all these errors he would be sacked .
Liverpool penalty for handball when the ball hit Wes Morgan in the face .
QPR keeper Rob Green handling the ball outside his area.
Hull denied a penalty when Gareth Barry fouled Abel Hernandez inside the area – a free-kick was awarded .
Man United benefited from three refereeing mistakes over the festive period including Chris Smalling's handball going unpunished .
Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas (right) was cautioned by Anthony Taylor for simulation when he was clearly fouled by Southampton’s Matt Targett .
Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse stayed on the pitch despite elbowing Everton's Seamus Coleman last weekend .
Burnley's George Boyd scored against Manchester City while offside .
Hull not conceding two penalties for handball offences on Boxing Day .
Stoke striker Jon Walters escaped a red card against Everton . |
fc81492803f38418c7a794744ae9ff867c531ec8 | By . Martin Robinson . PUBLISHED: . 03:14 EST, 20 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 05:25 EST, 20 January 2014 . One of Morrisons' senior executives has been arrested after allegedly buying shares in Ocado before a £216million deal for the online grocer to deliver its food was announced, it emerged today. Paul Coyle, the supermarket's group treasurer and head of tax, was held before Christmas after an insider trading probe by the Financial Conduct Authority. He is accused of buying an unknown amount of Ocado shares before the deal was announced, which sent the price rocketing last March. Arrest: Paul Coyle, Morrisons' group treasurer and head of tax, was held before Christmas after an insider trading probe by the Financial Conduct Authority linked to the supermarket's deal with Ocado . Ten months on Ocado shares are £2.81 higher and it was the best performing company on the stock market in Europe last year. Mr Coyle was arrested in Harrogate by Yorkshire Police, but despite not being charged he has not returned to work, according to the Daily Telegraph. The authorities would only say a 49-year-old Morrisons worker had been arrested as part of an insider trading investigation. Morrisons has refused to comment. If convicted, it can lead to a huge fine and up to seven years in prison. The deal between Ocado and Morrison's allowed the online retailer to turn a profit for the first time, and it will secure at least one new distribution centre from the cash. Ocado plans to build the centre with its new supermarket partner Morrisons, which began sending out deliveries for the first time this month. Morrisons has suffered for not having a delivery service and also had a disastrous Christmas in its stores. Festive sales were down by 5.6 per cent on a year ago and the company now says full-year profits will be at the lower end of forecasts, around £783million. Its shares slumped 7.75 per cent after a trading performance described as ‘quite awful’ by Clive Black, an analyst at Shore Capital Stockbrokers. On the up: Ten months on from its deal with Morrisons, Ocado shares are £2.81 higher and it was the best performing company on the stock market in Europe last year . The company’s growth has been hampered by its relatively small number of convenience stores and its slowness to offer an online shopping service. Chief executive Dalton Philips said it is working hard to catch up and its first deliveries of online orders went out this month, . By contrast, Aldi and Lidl’s efforts to win over upmarket shoppers were met with success. The stores offered higher quality food and drink, from aged fillet steaks at £5 to award-winning mince pies and fresh turkeys. | Paul Coyle held after Financial Conduct Authority insider trading probe .
He's accused of buying shares before Morrisons' deal with Ocado emerged .
Mr Coyle was arrested before Christmas but has not been charged . |
fc81b33c15921d970068684fae8c197273a09961 | (CNN) -- Texas Rangers President Nolan Ryan is calling a Tuesday night incident in which a baseball fan fell about 30 feet from the second deck of Rangers Ballpark trying to catch a foul ball an unfortunate accident. "It's pretty hard to guard against something of that nature," Ryan said at a Wednesday news conference. Some guard railings in the stadium had been raised after a 1994 incident in which a woman suffered multiple injuries after falling 35 feet from the upper deck while posing for a picture, according to a report published in the Star-Telegram on April 15, 1994. Ryan said safety policies in the stadium were reviewed after Tuesday's incident and that the second-deck railings measure more than 30 inches high, above the standardized code of 26 inches. Ryan said the man who fell Tuesday night, Tyler Morris, was in good spirits when Ryan visited with him Wednesday at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Ryan said Morris, a firefighter with the Lake Cities Fire Department in Corinth, Texas, has fractures to the skull, foot and ankle, but hasn't lost his enthusiasm for the team. "I was expecting him to look a lot worse then he did. I think being a firefighter, and being in the shape he is, worked in his favor," Ryan said. He said Morris has some recollection of what happened. "He thought he was going to catch the ball," said Ryan. "He said it hit the tip of his finger. The next thing he knew he was falling." Ryan said Morris remembered hitting the electronic message board at the stadium, but nothing after that. Ryan said he doesn't believe Morris jumped to get the ball, but said he probably extended himself, or reached for it, before falling over the second-deck railing. Ryan also said he and other members of the Rangers organization brought Morris several autographed items when they visited him at the hospital, including the ball that he was trying to catch when he fell. "He was as thrilled to get that as anything else we brought him," Ryan said. "He's a die-hard Rangers fan, and grew up a Rangers fan. He was real appreciative that we came to visit him," Ryan said. Wednesday morning, the Morris family issued a statement that said Morris is expected to make a full recovery, according to CNN affiliate KTVT/KTXA, . Morris is lucky to be alive, according to an off-duty paramedic who was one of the first people to come to the man's aid. "The fall could have easily killed the guy," Derek Dilday said. In an interview with HLN, Dilday said he rushed to the man's aid after witnessing the entire incident. "I turned to my left to watch the foul ball, and I saw this guy reach over the railing. Then I saw his feet go up, he tried to reach back for the railing, but he missed it. He hit the video-tron (electronic message board), then fell the rest of the way like a rag doll." "It was the most shocking thing I had even seen," he said. Dilday said he ran about 50 feet to get to the spot where Morris had fallen. "He was laying in the aisle on his back. There was no external bleeding, which was a good thing. I held his head and tried to keep him still until the medics arrived." Dilday said Morris was having difficulty breathing but was trying to move. "He tried to move his neck, he tried to get up, I kept telling him, 'Stay still, stay still.'" By the time medics arrived, Morris was able to say his name, Dilday said. "He was able to move all his extremities and was responsive to the paramedics," Rangers spokesman John Blake said. Morris fell on top of four other fans, causing minor injuries to them, said Ryan. "One woman had a bruised knee, one man had a bruised shoulder, someone was hit by Morris's shoe," he said. "They chose not to go to the hospital emergency room and were treated in the stadium's first aid area," Ryan said. All stayed for the remainder of the game, he said. The game between the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Indians was delayed for 16 minutes after the fall. The Rangers eventually won, 12-1. CNN Sport's Adam Anshell contributed to this report. | NEW: Rangers call ballpark incident involving a fan an unfortunate accident .
Tyler Morris, a firefighter, gets a hospital visit from Rangers President Nolan Ryan .
Morris fell 30 feet from the stadium's second deck as he tried to catch a foul ball .
Four fans that he fell on were also hurt; they were treated at the ballpark . |
fc81ba39982a6be3e722a24ae911573f9f606283 | By . Lucy Osborne . PUBLISHED: . 19:50 EST, 9 October 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 19:51 EST, 9 October 2012 . Olympic athletes wishing to compete in the 2016 Olympic Games will have to do five days of volunteering if they benefit from National Lottery funding, the Culture Secretary will announce today. Athletes will be required to volunteer in schools or sports clubs across the country to encourage and mentor children and ‘inspire the Olympics athletes of the future’. The programme will provide about 5,000 days of volunteering support. Inspire future athletes: Olympic athletes wishing to compete in the 2016 Olympic Games will have to do five days of volunteering if they get National Lottery funding . It will be unveiled by Maria Miller at the Conservative Party Conference today in her first major speech since being promoted to Culture Secretary last month. She will say: ‘In schools and clubs across the UK our Olympic athletes will be dedicated to helping the next generation shine as they themselves have shone this summer. Driving up sport participation: Culture Secretary Maria Miller will unveil the programme at the Conservative Party Conference today . The Department for Culture, Media and . Sport last night confirmed the new programme, which they said is aimed . at ‘driving up sports participation in schools’. A spokesman for the department said: ‘It . is about mentoring and coaching young people and using the success and . popularity of the Games, and big names of the athletes, to drive up . sports participation and inspire future stars. ‘We want to inspire the next generation of athletes,’ he added. The volunteering drive is expected to be aimed at children at sixth form age who are most likely drop out of sports activities and lose interest in it. The Prime Minister announced in August that UK Sport will receive £500m over the next four years to maintain funding for Olympic sports at same level before the 2016 Games as during the runup to London. Mr Cameron said: ‘There’s a direct link between elite success and participation in sport. I want one of the legacies of these Games to be our athletes triumphing in Rio in 2016, and in future Olympic Games. Guaranteeing this funding will help ensure that happens.’ In her speech, Mrs Miller is also expected to thank the 70,000 Olympic volunteers from this year, who are said to have contributed eight million hours of unpaid work behind the scenes. London 2012 Chairman Lord Coe said the volunteers had cultivated one of the country’s biggest fan clubs, and his reference to them at the Paralympic closing ceremony drew one of the most sustained ovations of the night. Mrs Miller took over from Jeremy Hunt as the Culture Secretary in the cabinet reshuffle last month. Rio runup: Funding will be given to UK Sport over the next four years to maintain funding for Olympic sports at the same level before London 2012 for the next games (pictured are crowds celebrating the announcement that Rio will stage the Olympics) | Olympic athletes will be required to volunteer in schools or sports clubs .
The programme's purpose is to encourage and mentor children .
It will provide about 5,000 days of volunteering support . |
fc821e8264992195b143083b0a7581609b728375 | Laura Trott has a pre-race obsession: Bruce Springsteen's No Surrender. Team GB's 2012 Olympic gold medal whizz-kid listens to the song to rev herself up before each battle in the velodrome, but she might be unique in her track selection. It seems most people prefer plugging themselves into Queen, Madonna, Lady Gaga or Prodigy while working out, according to a new study. Team GB cycling supremo (and double Gold medal winner) Laura Trott warms up before a race, left, and has said that her track of choice is No Surrender by Bruce Springsteen, right . Some 57 per cent of 2,000 fitness enthusiasts surveyed claimed music significantly helped them train. But while British silver-winning gymnast Louis Smith listens to reggae to get into his sporting zone, and American swimmers Michael . Phelps and Ryan Lochte both opt for rapper Lil' Wayne, the general . public are much more keen on pop and house music to get their muscles . moving in the gym. Some 29 . per cent of people surveyed by Tesco Phone Shop said they listen to pop . music while working out, while 26 per cent prefer dance and house music . and 35% choose rock. A calm and collected three per cent . listen to classical music while training, and five per cent opt for an . R'n'B-flavoured sountrack. Three per cent who really like to feel the burn choose heavy metal. Team GB's cycling poster-girl Victoria Pendleton, left, and Chinese swimmer Sun Yang, right, both warm up with some tunes before their events at the London 2012 Olympic Games . Queen's . 1970s classic Don't Stop Me Now topped the individual song polls with . 15 per cent of the vote, followed by Survivor's Eye of The Tiger with 14 . per cent and Tina Turner's The Best with eight per cent. Don't Stop Me Now also scored the most votes with women, while Eye Of The Tiger was most popular song with male voters. Turner's song scored the most votes with the over-55s. Over in Stratford, Team GB's Olympic athletes have . revealed they are more likely to have a pre-match listen to the Chemical . Brothers (Chris Hoy), 2Pac (Mo Farrah) and Phil Collins (Ben Ainslie). Queen's Don't Stop Me Now is the most popular song to listen to while working out in the UK . Dr Costas Karageorghis, a reader in . sport psychology and deputy head of the School of Sport and Education at . Brunel University in London, has spent 20 years conducting scientific . research into the effects of music on sport and exercise. He . said: 'Music and sport have much in common: both are culturally . pervasive, both are about good rhythm and both touch us emotionally. Athletes routinely tap the power of music as part-and-parcel of their . training. 'Our research has . shown that during exercise well-selected music can reduce the . perception of effor by as much as 12 per cent and enhances mood by 10 . per cent. 'As well as using . stimulative music during training, many athletes are discovering the . recuperative benefits of calming music following a tough workout.' Former Aston Villa footballer Ian Taylor, who . has designed a range of workout-friendly iT7 wireless headphones which . use Bluetooth technology, said: 'This research backs up exactly how I . used music when . training. It definitely helped my stamina, improved my concentration and . boosted my performance.' Team USA swimmer Michael Phelps - whose favourite pre-swim singer is Lil' Wayne - gets into the zone before a race at the Aquatic Centre . American diver Katie Bell, left, and British gymnast Louis Smith, right, try to focus between their London 2012 Olympic events with some music . Tina Turner, left, and Lady Gaga, right, both scored highly as motivational artists to listen to while exercising . 1. Queen - Don't Stop Me Now . 2. Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger . 3. Tina Turner - The Best . 4. Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin' 5. Eric Prydz - Call On Me . 6. Irene Cara - Flashdance....What A Feeling . 7. Lady Gaga - Born This Way . 8. Katy Perry - Firework . 9. LMFAO - Sexy And I Know It . 10. Snap! - The Power . Chris Hoy, Team GB cyclist: . Chemical Brothers, Escape Velocity . Mo Farrah, Team GB runner: . 2Pac, Keep Your Head Up . Ben Ainslie, Team GB sailor: . Phil Collins, In The Air Tonight . Michael Phelps, Team USA swimmer: . Lil’ Wayne, I'm Me . Ryan Lochte, Team USA swimmer: . Lil’ Wayne, American Star . | 57% of people say music significantly helps them train .
Don't Stop Me Now by Queen is most popular workout track .
Tina Turner's Simply The Best popular with the over-55s . |
fc827104872903e6925174f79f8b301e8cbe9fa0 | (CNN) -- You've researched, planned and shot an excellent photographic story -- well, unfortunately your work is not done. You will need to edit your imagery into a cohesive body which best communicates the facts, the emotions and core storyline to your viewers. Processing and color-correcting your digital photos comes first. After that, writing captions to go along with your images will add the necessary context. These are some of the visual journalist's toughest tasks. But, don't fret! Here are some key ideas to keep in mind as you start editing, digital post-processing and caption writing: . Editing photos . The skills required to edit your photographic story need to be as sharp as your picture taking. But emotional and physical experiences a photographer encounters while shooting can powerfully influence their edit, and even cloud their judgment. That's why input from other professionals or just friends and family can be helpful. Getting fresh eyes on your photo essay and listening to feedback can really help hone your narrative. Making the first, general edit is relatively easy because it is often clear which images are worth keeping. The real challenge is making the tough decision to remove photographs that you love for the benefit of the story. Editing down to a set of images which reflect a coherent narrative can make those images all the more powerful. Try to cover the following elements in you photographic essay: . Introduction (establishing shot): This is usually a wide shot that shows your audience the setting of your story. Medium shot: This shot helps establish the who and what of your story. Close-up: Get closer to your subject and show the smaller details of your story. Portrait: If your story focuses on a person, make sure you get a portrait shot of them. Interaction: Action shots grab attention and show your subjects in the environment. Signature Shot: Pull out your key-element and decisive-moment shots. Sequence: How you organize your photos will make a big difference in how your story is perceived. Make sure you organize you photos that will tell the story. Rules can be bent and broken, but you need to understand them first. It's helpful to arrange your photographs in a linear sequence: Introduce your viewers to the setting and characters. Move them through the story using interaction, a sequence and key elements. And finally, give the viewer some sense of an ending even if the story has yet to find resolution. Provide a final photograph that encourages the viewer to linger, to contemplate the information they've consumed and either ask questions, guess the meaning or come to an understanding. Digital post-processing . In a news story, what amount of digital post-processing is acceptable? News imagery must adhere to strict journalistic standards. A good general rule is to only use basic techniques that were, in the days of analogue photography, applied in the darkroom. That means minor exposure compensation, burning, dodging, color correction, contrast enhancement and cropping. During post-production, you should always ask yourself, "Am I altering the viewers understanding of the facts? Does my post-production technique remove or destroy information?" If you're using Photoshop filters, heavy color treatments, drastically changing exposure or overly increasing contrast, the answer is yes. Caption writing . A caption is an informative paragraph written by the photographer to accompany the image. Captions are essential to storytelling and communicate important facts. Unfortunately, caption writing is often the most underdeveloped skill of a visual journalist. When crafting a caption it's important to be accurate, informative and complete. Give your audience the basic information -- the who, what, when, where and why of the situation depicted in your image. And write them in present tense whenever possible. Now it's your turn . Give Rond's tips a try in this week's boot camp challenge. And for tips visual storytelling, check out CNN photojournalists Mark Hill, David Holloway and John Nowak's piece on capturing images. | CNN's iReport boot camp challenges iReporters to improve their storytelling .
CNN's Matthew Rond shares his advice on photo post-production .
Show us your editing skills by September 13 . |
fc82c8bc36b2dc43de694b990f1ba94255ba2463 | (CNN) -- Every old-school journalist wants this assignment: test beer to see if it's been watered down, as a recent class-action lawsuit in California claims. CNN conducted an independent lab test of Budweiser and related brands this week. The results? Budweiser contained 4.94% alcohol by volume, compared with 5% stated on the label. Bud Light Lime possessed 4.13%, compared with 4.2% stated on the packaging. And Bud Ice showed 5.35%, compared with the label's 5.5%. When told of the results, a spokesman for Anheuser-Busch, which brews the brands, reiterated the company's stance that the lawsuit is "completely false" and "groundless." Berrong on Beer: Why I drink good beer . "The sample test results you provided are well within the variability of the all-natural brewing process and all in full compliance with all alcohol labeling laws, as we noted," Peter Kraemer, vice president of brewing and supply for Anheuser-Busch, told CNN. Joshua Boxer, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said he wasn't surprised by how CNN's results differed from the brewer's figures. The lawsuit's claims are partly based on internal information from former Anheuser-Busch employees, and the suit will be seeking the beer maker's internal numbers on alcohol content, Boxer said. "That's the proof you should actually be asking for," Boxer told CNN. The plaintiffs' attorneys believe a bottle of Budweiser has 4.7% alcohol instead of the label's 5% figure. Over a year of brewing, that alcohol difference amounts to "tens of millions" of dollars in savings for the company, Boxer said. "The most accurate data, as we discussed, is going to come from Anheuser-Busch because they do their testing six times per second," Boxer said. "And they use different technology, in fact, from the laboratories you used." Earlier this week, two California residents sued Anheuser-Busch, alleging the company waters down Budweiser and other beers "significantly" to boost profits. The class-action lawsuit alleges that the maker of the "King of Beers" has the technology to precisely control the amount of alcohol in its beers but adds water so the alcohol is well below the advertised figure of 5% by volume, the suit said. "There are no impediments -- economic, practical or legal -- to AB accurately labeling its products to reflect their true alcohol content," the 18-page lawsuit said. "Nevertheless, AB uniformly misrepresents and overstates that content." The beer maker has rejected the lawsuit's allegations and now points to media outlets' independent tests to bolster its response. "The claims against Anheuser-Busch are completely false, and these lawsuits are groundless," Kraemer said earlier this week. "Our beers are in full compliance with all alcohol labeling laws. "We proudly adhere to the highest standards in brewing our beers, which have made them the best-selling in the U.S. and the world," he said. The brands that the suit alleges are watered down are those tested by CNN and Bud Lite Platinum, Michelob, Michelob Ultra, Hurricane High Gravity Lager, King Cobra, Busch Ice and Natural Ice. But the suit doesn't provide figures for the allegedly watered-down alcohol content. Nina Giampaoli and John Elbert, who reside in Sonoma County, California, are the plaintiffs who say they stopped buying Budweiser after learning of the alleged mislabeling, the suit said. Their suit, filed last week in federal court in San Francisco, alleges violations of California's consumer protection laws and Missouri's Merchandising Practices Act. "I think it's wrong for huge corporations to lie to their loyal customers -- I really feel cheated," Giampaoli said in a statement. "No matter what the product is, people should be able to rely on the information companies put on their labels." CNN's Brian Todd and Dugald McConnell contributed to this report. | CNN hires an independent lab to test samples of Budweiser and three related brands .
Bud Ice showed 5.35% alcohol by volume compared with the label's 5.5% .
Anheuser-Busch calls results "well within the variability of the all-natural brewing process"
But plaintiffs' attorney says a fraction of less alcohol saves millions over a year . |
fc83065ad22a75f56ca6489afcaa128aa27f69e4 | A strip club will open for the first time in an Atlantic City casino . A strip club will open for the first time inside an Atlantic City casino as gambling venues try to halt a decline in revenue worth billions of dollars. Scores, the famous New York strip club, will open a satellite establishment inside the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort next month. Although burlesque nights are regularly held in the resort city, it will be the first strip club to open inside one of the world famous casinos since gambling was legalized 35 years ago. Bob Gans, the Trump Taj Mahal's managing partner, said a strip club is a 'natural' next step. He said: 'We feel this is the third leg of the Atlantic City triangle: gambling, alcohol and adult entertainment.' Atlantic City has suffered from a drop visitor numbers since 2006 when the first casino opened in Pennsylvania. In the past eight years revenue has fallen from $5.2billion to just over $3billion as it has struggled with new competition. Thousands of jobs have been lost in the decline that shows no signs of ending. In addition to family-friendly . attractions like a revamped Steel Pier amusement park, the return of the . Miss America pageant and free outdoor light shows on Boardwalk Hall, . Atlantic City has been looking for other ways to separate people and . their money. The seaside resort has a century-old reputation as an adult . playground, so it's somewhat surprising it took this long for strippers . to make their way inside the gambling halls. Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort will be the first Atlantic City casino to have a strip club when it opens next month . Mr Gans is investing $25million in the . newest Scores, which will open September 12 with five private VIP rooms, 11 . stripper poles and an ultra-VIP room for celebrities and high-rollers. Cover charges will range from $10 to $30. The club's Diamond Dollars, which cash-strapped customers can charge to . their credit cards, come with a steep 20 per cent markup: $100 worth of . club dollars costs $120. New Jersey laws governing casinos prohibit total nudity so strippers at Scores can only undress to G-strings and pasties - small fabric patches that cover nipples. Lap dances are . prohibited, as is any simulation of sexual activity. Mr Gans is confident Scores will succeed, even in a city with four other strip clubs, including one with all-nude dancers. New Jersey laws governing casinos mean strippers must keep at least a G-string and pasties on . 'There . are 30million people who come to Atlantic City every year. 'You have the safety of a hotel casino, and we have the right brand and . the know-how to do something that hasn't been done before. We can be the . Pied Piper here.' While . Las Vegas is known for its racy offerings, there are no strip clubs . inside any Sin City casinos. One . pool venture did not fare as well. The Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino . partnered with a strip club to run a topless pool at the casino, but . the casino shut it down in 2009 after an undercover bust resulted in 11 . arrests for various prostitution charges. | The strip club will open at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort next month .
First strip club in the city's casinos since gambling legalized 35 years ago .
Casinos seen $2.2billion drop in revenue since 2006 . |
fc838205d61a9e348ab836cb8e1698ea4e80f10b | A U.S. doctor is has warned people against taking health supplements, saying they could pose a risk to health. Dr Paul Offit, who has written a book called 'Do You Believe In Magic? The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine', said that very few alternative health supplements are of any benefit and could in fact carry health risks. He added that people often believe that supplements are harmless but that this simply isn't true - particularly in the case of super-strength supplements which are becoming increasingly popular. Scroll down for video . Eat it, don't pop it: Dr Offit said there is probably a good reason that we don't find super high levels of certain nutrients in nature, and that taking a concentrated supplement is dangerous . 'When you take large quantities of vitamins - 5-fold, 10-fold - greater than the [recommended daily allowance], I think the data is clear - it increases your chances of heart disease, cancer and can shorten your life,' said the doctor in an interview with CBS This Morning. The doctor, who is based at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, went on to explain that he had recently seen a television advertisement that told viewers you would need to drink two gallons of orange juice to get as much Vitamin C as was in the supplement being promoted. He said that there's probably a good reason why nature doesn't provide that much Vitamin C ni one hit. The UK market for vitamins and supplements was estimated to be worth £385million last year, up 2.7 per cent on the previous year. Dr Offit said that certain supplements such as folic acid can be very useful however . Dr Offit went on to explain that he didn't think that multivitamins would do any harm however, although it is not really known whether or not they actually do any good. When asked if he thought it was worth taking any nutritional pills, he said that there were four cases. He recommended pregnant mothers to take folic acid to prevent babies developing spina bifida, a condition that causes the spine to become deformed. He said that Vitamin D was important for babies, particularly in those who are exclusively breastfed and do not get much exposure to sunlight. Elderly women should take calsium and Vitamin D and calcium to help prevent bones thinning and he concluded that omega-3 fatty acid oils might be beneficial to heart health, but that current studies are inconclusive. Dr Offit also blasted the term 'alternative medicine and said: 'There's no such thing as alternative medicine - if it works it, is medicine. If it doesn't work it's not an alternative' When asked what his views on alternative therapies such as acupuncture were, he said that it could be helpful but not because the needles were inserted into the skin. he added that the 'ancient Chinese didn't know anything about the human anatomy'. Finally he said that Apple found Steve Jobs might be alive today if he has sought expert medical help sooner. He explained that the type of pancreatic cancer Jobs had - a neuroendocrine tumour - is cured in 95 per cent of patients by undergoing surgery, but that his choice of esoteric therapies including bowel cleanses and acupuncture ultimately cost him his life. | Dr Paul Offit, who has written a book about 'alternative medicine', says that the trend for super-strength supplements are dangerous .
Said that multivitamin pills are unlikely to do harm but may be of no benefit .
But pediatrician added that in certain cases, such as during pregnancy, certain supplements, such as Vitamin D, can boost health .
Said that Apple founder Steve Jobs might be alive today if he hadn't used 'alternative therapies' as 95% of those with his cancer survive with surgery . |
fc838369a98c45a83b97223bbcd3a1b25a5cb1e2 | By . Sophie Jane Evans . Jailed: Abbi Kinsella was jailed today after stealing her elderly mother's £100,000 life savings - leaving her 'homeless, penniless and in debt' A lottery winner was jailed today after stealing her elderly mother's £100,000 life savings - leaving her 'homeless, penniless and in debt'. Abbi Kinsella, dubbed the 'wicked witch', stole the money from 88-year-old dementia sufferer, Margaret Bowyer, after her winnings ran out. She used £34,000 of the cash to feed her online bingo habit - while thousands more was spent on holidays in the exclusive resort of St Tropez in the South of France. Now, the 54-year-old, who won £175,000 on the lottery in 1999, has been jailed for four years after being convicted of four charges of stealing and admitting one offence of fraud. Stafford Crown Court heard that Mrs Bowyer had sold her own property in Swadlincote, Derbyshire, and banked money from the sale, before moving to Tamworth in Staffordshire. The widow rented a house next door to Kinsella's home, which has a sign outside featuring a black plastic crow above the warning: 'Beware of the witch'. But over the next three years, more than £61,000 was transferred from Mrs Bowyer's bank account to her daughter's, while a number of cash withdrawals were made, totalling more than £38,000. Meanwhile, Kinsella was spending thousands of pounds of her mother's money on online bingo and luxury holidays, as well as £200 on a Sky TV subscription, the court heard. After plundering the account, Kinsella cancelled her mother’s direct debit payments for her rent, gas, electric, water and council tax in April 2011. As a result, Mrs Bowyer was left with £20,000 in unpaid bills - and was eventually evicted from her home in November 2012. The pensioner, who was too ill to give evidence at court, is now in a care home for the elderly. Home: Kinsella, who won £175,000 on the lottery in 1999, stole the money from 88-year-old dementia sufferer, Margaret Bowyer, after her winnings ran out. Above, Kinsella's house (centre) in Tamworth, Staffordshire . Sign: The 54-year-old's house has a black circular sign on the outside wall, reading: 'Beware of the witch' Andrew Wallace, prosecuting, said . Kinsella had 'totally abused her position as Mrs Bowyer’s daughter ..... throwing her mother out on the street, penniless, and then lied about . it'. Meanwhile, Mark Nicholls, . defending, said the mother of two's partner, John Causer, 53, had 'turned his . back on her' and ended the relationship after reading in the press about what she had done. The couple had regularly held fancy dress parties at their modern three-bedroom terrace, according to neighbours, and Kinsella had been known to dress up as a witch. Warning: The sign sits under a black plastic crow . 'It is questionable whether she will ever see her mother in the future,' Mr Nicholls added. Social services referred Mrs Bowyer’s case to the police in November 2012 and her daughter was arrested a month later. When . questioned, Kinsella said she had stopped rent payments going out of . the account in April 2011 because the owner of the property owed them . some money for ‘doing the back garden’. She said she had restarted rent payments in cash, but hadn’t got any receipts for it. During an earlier trial, Kinsella, a one-time Avon lady, had denied stealing the cash, but a jury took just 20 minutes to convict her of four charges of theft from Mrs Bowyer. However, she did admit to making a false statement to her brother, Steve Bowyer, in which she claimed their mother’s money was in a bank account requiring 90 days' notice of withdrawal. Sentencing Kinsella, Judge Mark Eades told her: 'You betrayed your mother’s trust in a callous and unfeeling fashion. You bled her finances dry. We came to your trial here and you gave evidence. 'You lied and lied and lied and lied and as each lie was demonstrated to be false you lied upon lie. You are a serial liar who has no conscience at all. You enjoyed living way beyond your means. 'You had a win on the lottery, you won a substantial sum that you got through very quickly and I dare say you enjoyed the freedom that win gave you. But when that money ran out, it strikes me, you had difficulty coming to terms with the position you were in before your win.' Not at home: Kinsella has now been jailed for four years for four charges of stealing and one offence of fraud . In a Proceeds of Crime application, . Judge Eades ruled that Kinsella had benefited by £100,966 - but because . she has no assets, he ordered her to pay just £1. Following the trial, Detective Constable Mark Woodings, who investigated the case, branded Kinsella's actions 'heartless and callous'. He said: 'The victim is an extremely vulnerable elderly lady. When she became unable to manage her own financial affairs due to the onset of dementia, the family entrusted Kinsella to look after her interests and welfare. 'Kinsella went on to abuse that trust in a most heartless and callous way, stealing every penny of her mother’s life savings. She systematically and repeatedly helped herself to over £100,000 in order to feed a gambling habit and to live a life beyond her means. 'Her actions have left a proud lady homeless, penniless and in debt for the first time in her life. 'The family have found it difficult to comprehend and fully accept the lengths that Kinsella has gone to in order to steal from her own mother.' | Abbi Kinsella stole 88-year-old Margaret Bowyer's £100,000 life savings .
She spent thousands on online bingo, holidays and Sky TV subscription .
She then cancelled her mother's direct debit payments for rent and bills .
As a result, Mrs Bowyer was left £20,000 in debt and evicted from home .
Kinsella denied stealing cash, but found guilty by jury in just 20 minutes .
Mother of two has now been jailed for four years at Stafford Crown Court . |
fc8396775f07d5ab04c42f0fc6576393e97cdae6 | Gus Poyet says he could have been sacked in any other country following the humiliation of an 8-0 defeat. Sunderland face Arsenal at the Stadium of Light on Saturday with Poyet still in charge despite equalling a club-record loss at Southampton last weekend. And the Uruguayan said: ‘In another country, maybe an 8-0 defeat means that you lose your job. In England, that is not the case – at the moment. Sunderland boss Gus Poyet was embarrassed by his side's 8-0 defeat against Southampton . Poyet watched his Sunderland players trudge off the St Mary's turf after their heavy loss . ‘I’ve seen it in the past. I have seen other teams lose 8-0 and nothing happens, and the manager is still managing and the players are still playing. Everybody moves on, which is fine. But I can tell you, that it is only here.’ On Tuesday, Poyet and his players gathered in the auditorium-style meeting room at the club’s training ground and reluctantly worked through the horror of their capitulation at St Mary’s. Some of those culpable tried to offer explanation for their actions, but still the manager could not comprehend the ‘embarrassment’ which had unfolded before him. On Saturday night, having flown back to the North-East amid a muted atmosphere, he remained at home, refusing even to venture out to a restaurant. The following day he again chose to remain indoors – he did not want to see his players – painstakingly poring over the calamitous clips needed for the team meeting. The players, it is said, have been quiet this week and no-one will speak to the press before the game. Such was the margin and manner of defeat, only a reaction against Arsenal can right their wrongs. For now, words can wait. There was, however, a gesture from the squad to supporters amounting to around £60,000 in refunds for their match tickets, but most fans have indicated that they will instead allow the money to go to charity. Sunderland goalkeeper Vito Mannone sunk to the floor after conceding against Southampton . Ronald Koeman, pictured looking over to Poyet, masterminded an 8-0 win over the Black Cats . Rather, it is a performance they want on Saturday afternoon. Poyet, though, preferred not to talk of reactions and cut a confused and disturbed figure when he spoke to the press on Thursday, perhaps that was the lingering effect of shock. ‘I was unpleasantly surprised,’ he said. ‘Why? Because I swear I didn’t expect that to happen to me. The way that we were, the way that we defended, the way the players were on the pitch, the type of group that we want the players to be – everything. ‘It was horrible. I stayed in all weekend. But I am on my own and am a bad cook, so I had to go out eventually.’ In the wake of the defeat Poyet suggested he was not responsible for the depth of his squad. ‘I have four defenders, I play four defenders’ he delivered cuttingly. The club have moved to address that shortfall by bringing in 34-year-old former France defender Anthony Reveillere and he could start against the Gunners. There will also be changes elsewhere with Poyet admitting he can ‘do what he likes’ with regards team selection and no-one could knock on his door to complain. Black Cats boss Poyet may choose to ring the changes for his side's upcoming match against Arsenal . Poyet has brought in France defender Anthony Reveillere in hope that the 34-year-old can bolster his defence . The 46-year-old saw a different side to several players at Southampton, although when asked if he had lost faith in any individuals, he said: ‘No... Not yet.’ The pause was telling. For no matter how hard he strived for optimism, Poyet was repeatedly drawn back to Southampton and the reason as to why his players surrendered in such sorry fashion. ‘I was lucky never to have been in that situation,’ he said. ‘But maybe it’s not luck, maybe I didn’t allow my team-mates to put me in that situation. ‘I think the most I conceded was six, against the dream team of Barcelona. I can tell you they could really play. I don’t want to think about what would have happened if we had been playing them on Saturday, it might have finished 25-0.’ Now 25-0 would have got Poyet the sack. As it is, 8-0 affords him a shot at redemption. Another heavy defeat, however, and local restaurant takings will be down for a second weekend running. It would certainly give the club’s owner food for thought. | Gus Poyet's side were beaten 8-0 by Southampton last weekend .
The Uruguayan was embarrassed by his side's performance .
Black Cats boss Poyet has brought in Anthony Reveillere to bolster his shaky defence . |
fc83b7acfc2ef36b09d2184853cabfa5f654bdc0 | By . Emma Innes . PUBLISHED: . 06:49 EST, 11 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 10:47 EST, 11 May 2013 . X Factor finalist Rylan Clark has spoken out about his mother’s 30-year battle with crippling Crohn’s disease. In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, the Celebrity Big Brother 2013 winner said that his mother’s illness had not only affected her but himself too, admitting that it impacted on his childhood and that he continues to worry about the state of her health today. Rylan said that unlike other mothers, Linda Clark, 60, was unable to go on school trips with him. He added that she was sometimes so embarrassed about the symptoms of her disease that he was not allowed to invite friends to stay at his home for sleepovers. Rylan's mother, Linda Clark, 60 (left), was diagnosed with severe Crohn's disease when she was in her 30s . He said: ‘My mum lost her job because of the disease – it totally dictates her life. ‘When she was diagnosed it really hit her hard because it wasn’t picked up early enough. The earlier you pick it up the easier it is to control. ‘I grew up with the disease as well because she was ill – it is life-threatening. It’s scary.’ 'It could be difficult when I was young because sometimes she couldn’t come on school trips and other times she was so embarrassed about her symptoms that I couldn't have my mates to stay over. The single mother, from Essex, was diagnosed with severe Crohn’s Disease when she was in her early thirties. She has had to undergo multiple operations to remove damaged parts of her bowel and she takes numerous medicines every day. Rylan, 24, said: ‘She tries to keep on top of it and to follow a strict diet but it is always hard to know what foods will cause a flare up.’ Rylan, who won Celebrity Big Brother 2013, says that when he was a child his mother was not able to go on school trips with him . He added: ‘I have always been aware of my mum’s illness but it was when I came into my teens that I realised how serious it was.’ Crohn’s disease is a chronic condition, which affects about one in 1,200 people in the UK, causing inflammation of the lining of the digestive system, although it is most commons in the intestines . It causes symptoms including diarrhoea, intense abdominal pain, weight loss and fatigue. The X Factor finalist says that his mother's life is dictated by the disease and that she has had to undergo multiple bowel operations to relieve the symptoms . The exact cause is not known but it is thought to be genetic and connected to the immune system. It is also known to be exacerbated by smoking. There is currently no cure so medications have to be taken to reduce the symptoms and up to 70 per cent of patients require surgery to repair damaged parts of their digestive system. Some even have to move onto a liquid-only diet if their symptoms are particularly severe. Complications, such as a life-threatening bowel obstruction, can occur. He is helping Crohn's and Colitis UK to raise awareness of the chronic condition - their campaign aims to educate every child and teacher in UK schools about the disease in an attempt to prevent embarrassment . Rylan is aware of the genetic element to Crohn’s disease. He said: ‘I have been tested for it and it is a slight worry but it is my mum that I worry about. ‘I hope that if I get it I will be able to manage it well. I know a lot about it but for now I am happy and healthy.’ Crohn's affects one in every 1,200 people in the UK . The former model is now taking part in an awareness campaign organised by the charity Crohn’s and Colitis UK. He said: ‘When I was growing up I thought my mum was the only person with Crohn’s. ‘This campaign is about raising awareness and we are trying to encourage every school in the country to educate the children and teachers about it – children with the condition shouldn’t have to be embarrassed and they shouldn’t have to explain in front of their class why they have to go to the toilet.’ He added: ‘I will do anything I can to help raise awareness. In the public eye it is not a glamorous disease but we want as many people as possible to know about it. ‘We want people not to be embarrassed, it is not a death sentence and it can be managed.’ For more information visit www.meandibd.org . Crohn’s disease is a chronic condition which affects about one in 1,200 people in the UK. It causes inflammation of the lining of the digestive system. It can flare up anywhere in the digestive system but it is most common in the intestines. It causes symptoms including diarrhoea, abdominal pain, weight loss and fatigue. The exact cause is not known but it is thought to be genetic and is believed to be connected to the immune system. It is also known to be exacerbated by smoking. There is currently no cure so medications have to be taken to reduce the symptoms and up to 70 per cent of patients require surgery to repair or remove damaged parts of their digestive system. Some even have to move onto a liquid-only diet if their symptoms are particularly severe. Complications, such as a life-threatening bowel obstruction, can occur. | Rylan Clark's mother, Linda, 60, has had severe Crohn's Disease for 30 years .
When Rylan was a child she was not able to go on school trips with him .
He was not always able to have friends to stay as she was embarrassed .
Linda has had multiple bowel operations and takes numerous medications .
Rylan is fighting to raise awareness of the inflammatory bowel condition .
It is chronic and causes diarrhoea, abdominal pain, weight loss and fatigue .
It can cause life-threatening bowel obstructions and there is no cure . |
fc85027399b67b5ef27414ce4312a93290709c7f | By . Martin Robinson . PUBLISHED: . 04:42 EST, 7 August 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 08:49 EST, 7 August 2012 . Britain's 'obsession' with wind farms will push up family electricity bills by more than £300 a year, a report claimed today. The Government's green energy plans for the next eight years are a £124billion 'blunder' that will hit every UK household, a senior British economist has also said. In a stark warning Professor Gordon Hughes, who has produced a study on how wind energy will hit energy costs, said that British consumers simply cannot afford to subsidise wind power. False economy? Wind power will add £300 to the average annual electricityl bill, a report claimed today . Prof Hughes is one of the UK's leading . energy economists and works at the prestigious University of Edinburgh. He was also a senior adviser on energy and environmental policy at the . World Bank. By 2020 average electricity bills will be around 58 per cent higher - a £320 increase - just because of the flood of wind turbines planned for Britains's coastlines, fields and seas, he said. Completing the gloomy picture, Professor Hughes believes for all the huge investment in wind farms Britain's greenhouse gas emissions may not even fall. Wind energy provides almost 2 per cent . of global electricity worldwide, a figure expected to approach 10 per . cent by 2020, costing Britain an estimated £124 billion. 'The key problems with current policies for wind power are simple,' he said. Supply: The Government wants to move away from traditional ways of generating energy to reduce greenhouse emissions . 'They require a huge commitment of investment to a technology that is not very green, in the sense of saving a lot of CO2, but which is certainly very expensive and inflexible. Critic: Energy expert Professor Ian Fells says that wind power will be the next big 'political problem' as it is just too expensive . 'Unless the current Government scales back its commitment to wind power very substantially, its policy will be worse than a mistake, it will be a blunder. 'The average household electricity bill would increase from £528 per year at 2010 prices to a range from £730 to £840 in 2020.' The report has been published by former Chancellor Lord Lawson's Global Warming Policy Foundation. Their study has been handed to the House of Commons Energy and Climate Change study for the Economics of Wind Power Committee. Meanwhile, Professor Ian Fells, who is Professor of Energy Conversion at Newcastle University and an advisor the Commons and Lords, also said that windfarms are too costly. Instead he claims that combined gas cycle plants could produce the same amount of green energy for £13billion – nearly 10 times cheaper than wind power. 'Wind energy is the most expensive way of generating renewable electricity,' he said. 'It will also cost jobs. We are already seeing some industrial firms packing up and moving abroad. The increasing price of energy is going to be the next big political problem.' Chart: Wholesale electric gas prices from 2007 until July 2012 show the huge difference in price the big six firms buy and sell to consumers at . Increase: Many more farms like these ones off Whitstable and Herne Bay in Kent will be created and the Government insists this is the right way to go . However, the Government was keen today to defend its green energy policies. 'Wind power is a homegrown, secure and sustainable source of energy with an important role as part of a balanced energy mix,' a spokesman said. 'Over-reliance on any one technology could have serious consequences for consumer bills. That’s why we want to see a diverse energy mix with renewables, nuclear, clean coal and gas all playing a part.' | Report to be handed to Government says that electricity prices for average home will go up 58% by 2020 because of turbines .
Government's green energy plans are an expensive 'blunder', expert professor says . |
fc8556a08523ba1c689c479053f29f2f5e5cf6c8 | By . William Turvill . PUBLISHED: . 16:09 EST, 12 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 17:30 EST, 12 March 2014 . The restaurant manager and barman of an upmarket riverside restaurant stood before a judge today accused of killing a customer. The two men, along with the boyfriend of another colleague, allegedly restrained the man so forcefully that he stopped breathing and suffered a fatal heart attack. Gary Eastley, Jake Corney and Dawid Lamkowski deny the charge of manslaughter. A jury heard that Eastley and Lamkowski . held Marcin Pastuszczak down on the ground outside Boulters Restaurant and Bar in Maidenhead for more than half an hour, before . being joined by Corney. Gary Eastley (right), Jake Corney (right) and Dawid Lamkowski allegedly restrained a 34-year-old man so forcefully that he stopped breathing and suffered a fatal heart attack . When police arrived at the scene in Maidenhead, Berkshire, they turned the unresponsive 34-year-old over and noticed he was not breathing and his lips were blue. They called for an ambulance and tried in vain to revive him. The three defendants and barmaid Tasha Wicks - Corney’s girlfriend - were all arrested even though Mr Pastuszczak was not formally pronounced dead until the following morning. Police later charged the men with manslaughter on the grounds of using unreasonable force against their victim. Prosecutor John Price QC told the nine women and three men on the jury: ‘Prolonged restraint of a person, involving the application of pressure to their trunk or torso, may inhibit the in-and-out movements of the chest which are essential for proper respiration. ‘In other words, an individual may be prevented by such pressure from fully breathing in and out. ‘Mr Pastuszczak had been restrained with such force and for so long a time that ultimately he suffered a cardiac arrest, itself being brought on because during the time he was under the restraint he could not breathe properly.’ He told the jury at Guildford Crown Court: ‘They are charged with the offence of manslaughter because the use of the force by which the fatal restraint was applied by them, was unlawful.’ Mr Price said that following his arrest, bar manager Gary Eastley had told police the victim had grabbed him and had been trying to do the same to barmaid Tasha Wicks and get her telephone number. He said that fearing for his safety and that of colleagues and customers, he had restrained the man, before restaurant manager Lamkowski helped to take him outside. Meanwhile, Miss Wicks made the first of several emergency calls to Thames Valley Police. A jury heard that Eastley and Lamkowski held Marcin Pastuszczak down on the ground outside Boulters Restaurant and Bar (pictured) in Maidenhead for more than half an hour, before being joined by Corney . When police arrived at the scene in Maidenhead, Berkshire, they turned the unresponsive drinker over and noticed he was not breathing and his lips were blue . ‘He continued to struggle violently. He had so much strength. He was lashing out at us,’ Eastley said in a prepared statement to the police. ‘We were simply trying to restrain him, desperate for the police to arrive.’ However, jurors watched CCTV footage from cameras at the restaurant which showed that after the initial restraint inside the bar, Mr Pastuszczak was lying on the floor motionless and was even dragged from the room without appearing to offer any resistance. Accounts by other customers, David Chapman and Laura Tuffrey, on Mr Pastuszczak’s behaviour before and after the initial confrontation contrasted with Eastley’s statement, said the prosecution. Mr Price said earlier CCTV footage also cast doubt on Eastley’s account of the victim’s alleged aggression and behaviour towards him and Miss Wicks. He said: ‘It is submitted by the prosecution that by comparison with other available evidence as to what took place on the first floor, what was said can be demonstrated to be untrue. ‘Things did not happen as he described to the police.’ Once outside the bar the employees got Mr Pastuszczak onto the ground again. Corney then arrived, having heard of the situation in a phone call with his girlfriend. He joined in the restraint, allowing Eastley to return inside and make more calls to the police. The prosecution said it was during this time that Corney could be seen striking a number of blows at the victim. This photograph shows forensic officers on Boulters Lock at the time of Mr Pastuszczak's death . ‘The prosecution submit that Mr Corney had an agenda of his own. It was to punish him. This was not and could never have been lawful,’ said Mr Price. He accepted that by the fateful night of November 8, 2012, 34-year-old Polish-born Mr Pastuszczak had established a reputation as a heavy drinker and troublemaker, which had seen him barred from a number of pubs in the Berkshire town. He had even had a confrontation with Eastley at the bar five months before his death and it was this which the prosecution believes played a large part in what happened. He urged the jury to base their findings predominantly on what happened on the night in question and not previous events. To do otherwise would be, he said, using a footballing analogy, ‘to play the man rather than the ball’, which is what he said Eastley had done. ‘He responded not to the behaviour in front of him but to the reputation,’ he said. Eastley, 26, from Moor Lane, Maidenhead, Lamkowski, 29, from Snowdon Avenue, Maidstone, Kent, and Jake Corney, 23, of Filmer Road, Windsor, Berkshire, all deny the single charge. The trial, before Judge Christopher Critchlow is expected to last about two weeks. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. | Gary Eastley, Jake Corney and Dawid Lamkowski allegedly restrained Marcin Pastuszczak so forcefully he stopped breathing .
The jury heard Mr Pastuszczak was held on the ground for more than half an hour outside the restaurant in Maidenhead, Berkshire .
The three deny a charge of manslaughter at Guildford Crown Court . |
fc85c1fbb192bd6ce4b61a2c1c68677361f31f4d | By . Sam Webb . PUBLISHED: . 07:59 EST, 24 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 08:31 EST, 24 May 2013 . Fraud: Benefit cheat Caroline Hartshorn, who claimed benefits, claiming she could barely walk due to arthritis, was working as a children's entertainer . A benefits cheat who claimed she could barely walk due to crippling arthritis was caught working - as a children's entertainer at a holiday park. Greedy Caroline Hartshorn, 38, claimed more than £5,000 of taxpayers' money in disability allowances on the basis she needed full-time personal care. But the married mum-of-two from Skegness, Lincolnshire, was exposed as a fraud after investigators found she working at a holiday park - as well as three other jobs. She worked as a children's entertainer at The Tavern pub at Mablethorpe Chalet Park during the summer of 2011 and spring of 2012. Between April and June 2011 Hartshorn also worked as a caravan sales assistant, a care assistant and a market manageress. Skegness Magistrates Court heard the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) received an anonymous tip off. The court was told she was overpaid £5,140.35 in Disability Living Allowance between December 2010 and August 2012. Hartshorn, from Skegness, admitted two charges of failing to notify change of circumstances when she appeared at court last Wednesday. JP's gave her a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered her to pay £100 in costs. The court heard Hartshorn was born with arthritis and began to claim for her condition in August 1992 with a care element added from 1995. In 2009 Hartshorn filled in a self-assessment form on which said she could only walk ten yards at a time and needed personal care. But in May 2011 an anonymous allegation was made against Hartshorn which led to a six-week surveillance exercise by authorities which found the evidence which contradicted her self-assessment. But Dave Clapham, defending, said . Hartshorn believed she had informed the DWP her condition had improved . following a knee operation. Hartshorn worked as a children's entertainer at Mablethorpe Chalet Park during the summer of 2011 and spring of 2012 . He said: 'She was born with a condition of arthritis in her joints, a knee operation did alleviate some of the problems with that but there was a part where she could do nothing at all. 'Whilst she could perhaps get about a little there wasn't a diminishment in the pain. 'It's not dishonesty from the start, all of this work has been very short term. She should have notified the authorities, in fact she believed she had. 'The businesses she does run are from home.' Hartshorn refused to comment outside court. | Caroline Hartshorn, 38, claimed she was barely mobile .
But court heard the mum-of-two was working as a children's entertainer .
She also had three other paying jobs .
Hartshorn was caught through an anonymous tip . |
fc8631bb3eb11230bd55723845aa2beb1b9c7439 | By . Aaron Sharp . PUBLISHED: . 10:29 EST, 22 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:11 EST, 22 October 2013 . Germany's central bank has warned of a housing boom in the country with soaring property prices in the country 'difficult to justify'. According to Bundesbank, a surge of foreign investment has seen housing in some of the economic powerhouse's major cities overvalued by as much as 20 per cent. In a monthly report, the country's top financial institution fired a warning that price rises for apartments and flats in the major cities, did not stand up to valuations based on basic methods. In demand: Properties such as these in Kreuzberg, Berlin are said to be popular with foreign investors . The statement will serve to ramp up concern of a real estate boom in Germany. In popular cities such as Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, Frankfurt and Stuttgart, the price of apartments and flats had risen by 25 per cent on average since 2010. The report reads: 'Over the past three years, the prices for houses and apartments (nationally) have risen by a total of 8.25 percent.' The report said that the increase could 'give rise to fears of a broad-based property price boom'. The bank said that property prices were driven up by an increase in demand for German property, caused by slumps in other countries during the economic downturn. It also said that housing had become seen as a more reliable than other forms of investment. But whereas Asian cities such as Singapore and Hong Kong have put legislation in place to tax foreign buyers in a bid to maintain stability in their housing market, Germany have welcomed investment. Depsite the fears of a 'bubble' however, Bundesbank believes that it is very unlikely that higher property prices will lead to financial instability. Steady: The strength German economy under Angela Merkel has been a big pull for property investors . The conditions placed on mortgages in Germany are much tougher than in the U.S. and other parts of Europe, meaning that banks and other lenders would probably not be severely affected by a mini bust. Carsten Brzeski, a senior economist at ING, said that despite the beginnings of regional exaggerations, a bubble does not seem to be in the offing in Germany. He said: 'There are no reasons, yet, to call the latest developments the start of a typical bubble as experienced in other countries before. 'Mortgage growth has remained limited, loan-to-value ratios in Germany have been stable at around 80 percent and the large majority of Germans still prefer mortgages with fixed - rather than variable - rates. 'Even if the Bundesbank's assessment of a fundamental overvaluation looks justified, prices, at least in urban areas, could, in the short run, still further increase on the back of low interest rates and limited supply.' | Investors have flocked to Germany because of strong economy .
Report by Bundesbank has sparked fear of property bubble .
They say prices of flats and apartments in major cities are 'difficult to justify' |
fc865853984b6d585b1652f5ca3217707324132c | By . Darren Boyle for MailOnline . The husband of New Forest murder victim Pennie Davis, 47 left a heartfelt floral tribute to the mother-of-five as he visited the scene with her children earlier today. Pete Davis, who married the victim in May, slowly bent as he laid down flowers at the edge of the police cordon in Beaulieu, Hampshire. Inside he had written the note 'Angel, all my love, always and forever.' Mr Davis returned to the area, where he discovered his wife's body on Tuesday as police began searching a nearby river in a bid to recover the murder weapon. Penelope Davis, pictured, was found stabbed multiple times in a field in Beaulieu Hampshire on Tuesday . Her husband Pete Davis, pictured leaving flowers, discovered his wife's body when he went to look for her . Members of Pennie Davis' family lay floral tributes near the scene where the mother-of-five was murdered . Mrs Davis was killed as she tended her horse in a field in the 7,000 acre Beaulieu Estate on Tuesday afternoon . A specialist search team waded through the River Beaulieu looking for any sign of the murder weapon. Police are still trying to identify the identity of the killer who is still at large following Tuesday's frenzied attack. Mrs Davis' new husband Pete was teary-eyed as he left a bouquet of flowers by the gate to the field with a poignant message to his wife of just four months. It read: 'Angel, all my love, always and forever. Your Pete xxx.' Her five children Sophie, 20, Alex, 19, Georgia, 18, Daniel, 15, and Josef, 13, struggled to hold back tears as they laid their flowers down. Mrs Davis' daughter Georgia left her mother a teddy bear with a poignant poem by the gate. It read: 'Dearest Mum, you were a goddess, an angel, I swear I'll make you proud. I like to think you're sitting there, watching on a cloud. You had so much more to give, you had so much more to do. But now I'll be your legacy, I'll do it all for you. 'You climbed the highest mountains, you walked the longest paths, you'll never be forgotten, forever in our hearts. I love you to the moon and back, Georgia.' Pete Davis, left, arrived at the murder scene before lunch leaving a touching floral tribute to his wife, right . Friends and relatives held each other tightly as they tried to understand what had happened on Tuesday . Mrs Davis was killed as she tended her horse in a field in the 7,000 acre Beaulieu Estate on Tuesday afternoon. The Sainsbury's worker, from Blackfield, Hampshire, leased the paddock from a farm opposite and had moved her animals there just four days earlier. Mrs Davis' youngest son, Josef, left his mother flowers with a note attached. He wrote: 'I know I wasn't the easiest child, but you were always there. Sadly you're gone, you'll always be missed. There's a hole in my heart that can't be filled. But never forget, I love you mum. Josef xxx.' Dozens of police officers searched a river today for a murder weapon just yards from where she stabbed . A specialist sub-aqua team searched the River Beaulieu in a bid to find the knife used by Mrs Davis' killer . The officers searched in a straight line ensuring that every inch of the waterway was inspected . Unfortunately, officers searching the water and nearby fields have yet to find the weapon used by the killer . DS Paul Barton said his team of more than 70 officers are still actively looking for the murder weapon . In the background, the murder probe continued. Police officers, dressed in orange jumpsuits, have been searching the Beaulieu River, desperately trying to find the murder weapon. Another 10 officers, dressed in black and wearing purple rubber gloves, walked slowly in a straight line just yards from where the brutal murder took place. Detectives investigating Mrs Davis' murder believe she was attacked by or more killers, who then abandoned the weapon nearby. Officers have today released details of Mrs Davis' car and revealed more than 150 people have called them in a bid to help solve the murder puzzle. Detective Superintendent Paul Barton said his team of more than 70 officers are still actively looking for the murder weapon. DS Barton: 'We believe the weapon used was a bladed item, possibly a knife, and that it would have most likely been discarded close to the scene. 'Our officers have been working round the clock following up on a number of enquiries and I'd like to thank everyone who has contacted us. 'We've had a fantastic response to our appeal and have received more than 150 calls in the last day.' Teams of officers have been posting appeal posters around the scene in the hope of jogging the memories of drivers and other passersby. Friends and family stand for a moment overlooking the site where Mrs Davis was stabbed repeatedly . A family member inspects some of the inscriptions left in tribute to Mrs Davis who was murdered yesterday . Police today continued their search for the murder weapon or any other clue that could identify the killer . DS Barton said it was 'vital' anyone with information got in touch, ncluding anyone who saw Mrs Davis' green Toyota Land Cruiser on Tuesday. They are also asked to report anyone behavining suspiciously or running away from the scene. DS Barton added: 'Pennie's death has come as a shock to many people in the local community and I want to reassure them that we are doing everything we can to investigate her murder. 'As part of our enquiries, we are talking to people in the area to find out more about Pennie and the circumstances leading to her death. 'Understandably, people will have concerns and suspicions, but I would ask you to contact us with any information and please be aware that speculation, particularly on social media, is not always helpful. 'Pennie's death has also been felt across the wider community of horse riders and owners. 'While we can rule nothing out at this stage, there is no evidence of any harm to Sprattley, the horse Pennie was tending to at the time, or any other horses nearby.' Mrs Davis was discovered by her new husband Pete who is said to be distraught over his wife's murder . Speaking at the scene, Detective Superintendent Paul Barton, said Mrs Davis had been stabbed to death . Pennie's friend Nicola Crawford said she knew Pennie for the past five years and used to cut her hair. She said: 'Pennie started off as a customer but our friendship blossomed from there after I gave her one of my horses, Spratt, who she still had. She was so bubbly, quite loud, but absolutely lovely - she didn't have a bad bone in her body. Pennie was so full of life and I can't imagine why anyone would want to hurt her. 'She was a single mum for a long time, as long as I've known her, and did everything she could for her kids. 'For a long time she was lonely and her horses were her passion, but when she met Pete through a friend, everything seemed to have finally worked out for her.' Nicola Crawford, right, said her best friend Pennie Davies, left had finally found happiness with husband Pete . Ms Crawford said Mrs Davis had recently rented the field where she was murdered to keep her horses because it was near her new £185,000 four-bedroom house in Blackfield. She added: 'Pennie had a tough life but her and Pete were like peas in a pod and spent every possible moment together.He would often go up to meet her at the yard, which is when he would have found her. 'I just don't get what's happened. Pennie was very independent and would constantly visit the horses to give them hay but never spent hours up there as she was a busy working mum.' Mrs Davis, right, with her husband Pete, left, married in May on what the family described as 'a joyful occasion' Grieving: Pennie Davis (second left), 47, with (left to right) Pennie's father (far left), and sons and daughter Alex, 19, Georgia, 18, Josef, 13, Sophie, 20 and Daniel, 15 . Mrs Davis’s first husband David Colwell, 48, said she was a ‘kind hearted’ woman who loved her horses. ‘I was so shocked when I heard the news,’ the builder from Chichester said. ‘I was married to her years ago when I was in my 20s. It took me many years to get over her. It tore me apart. We split up because I think it just wasn’t what she wanted.’ Darren White, the Sainsbury’s Local store manager in Blackfield where Mrs Davis worked, said his staff had been plunged into a ‘day of sadness’. Friends said that Pennie Davis, pictured, was a keen horse woman who really enjoyed riding . Mr Pierce said he believed it was a 2002 transit van because of the shape. 'It is all pretty scary,' he added. Another resident said: 'It's a little strange, they seem to be saying it's murder which is unusual, nothing like that has happened in the 15 years I have lived here.' Police and forensics officers were seen at Leygreen Farmhouse, a B&B about a mile from the centre of the village. They searched nearby hedgerows and carried out door-to-door inquiries. The proprietor did not wish to comment. Village resident Hillary Gibbs said: 'It's horrifying. It's a picturesque village and a tight community. It's come as a dreadful shock.' Anyone with information should contact police on 101 or the anonymous Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111. Pictured, Pennie Davis' home in the Hampshire village of Blackfield. Her home is a short drive from the field . | Penelope Davis, 47, found Tuesday afternoon in Beaulieu, Hampshire .
She had suffered stab wounds and was found by her 'distraught' husband .
Mrs Davis, nee Lambert, had only married her partner, Pete, in May .
Family members visited the murder scene at lunchtime to leave floral tributes .
Mr Davis wrote: 'Angel, all my love, always and forever. Your Pete xxx'
A police sub-aqua team has begun to search a river for the killer's knife .
Detectives are still attempted to establish a motive for the brutal killing .
Police believe one or more people may have killed Mrs Davis .
So far, 150 members of the public have come forward with information . |
fc868cc614d17228bd4e3a91d9ddc3a5fa5c832d | By . Steve Robson . PUBLISHED: . 03:18 EST, 29 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:45 EST, 29 August 2013 . Abuse of trust: Self-taught hypnotist Timothy Porter, 40, performed a vile act on a woman while she was in a trance . A man who hypnotised a married mother and made her perform sex acts is facing a prison sentence. Self-taught . hypnotist Timothy Porter exposed himself and made his patient fondle . her breasts during what was supposed to be a weight-loss session in her . home. The startled victim woke from a trance after something touched her neck and saw the 40-year-old with his trousers down. Fitness . fanatic Porter, a former serviceman who was based at RAF Leeming in . North Yorkshire, had half a dozen treatment sessions with the mother of . three last year. Prosecutors . said Porter’s conduct and conversations became ‘sexualised’ at an early . stage of their meetings. In December, during a visit to the woman’s . home in North Yorkshire – while her children slept upstairs – he put her . into a hypnotic trance. She contacted police after ‘waking’ to find him with his trousers down and ordering her to touch herself. Porter, . now living in Blackburn, admitted causing a person to engage in sexual . activity when he appeared at Teesside Crown Court. He will be sentenced next month after background reports have been prepared by probation workers, and was given bail until then. It is thought Porter is married with a child, and he was accompanied at court yesterday by a woman. He honed his skills 'purely as a hobby' while reaching the rank of corporal in the RAF. Court papers reveal that he was due to leave the RAF around the time of the offence. On . one occasion, he asked his victim if she would like to experience . ‘heightened orgasms’. Porter had claimed that nothing sexual happened . during the visits to his victim’s home in the year leading up to the . offence. After he admitted . the charge, an interim order was made for him to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register. The length of the registration will depend on his sentence. A . source said: ‘It was when she was hypnotised that he started to become a . bit more lewd. 'He says there was nothing sexual in the lead-up to the . one incident, but her account is there was some untoward behaviour. ‘It’s simply not known if there are other clients, but he did bill himself as an amateur hypnotist.’ Advances: Teesside Crown Court that the woman had sought help with weight problems - but Porter also asked her if she wanted to experience 'heightened orgasms' Detective Constable Graeme Bevington that Porter had no formal qualifications as a hypnotherapist and appeared to be entirely self-taught. 'He told us he had performed hypnosis on other people,' the detective said. 'I don't think he has any qualifications, if there are formal qualifications. 'He said he had been practising and teaching himself for a number of years. It is never something he has done as a profession. It was purely a hobby.' Speaking about the victim, Det Con Bevington said: 'She is ok. She is pleased it is over and done with and is now looking forward to moving on. 'She is pleased he has been taken to court and brought to justice for what he has done, because she feels he has abused her trust. 'She was quite nervous about the court process and having to face him in court and give evidence, if he had not pleaded guilty and if it had been a trial.' | Woman had sought help from Timothy Porter, 40, for weight loss problems .
Woke from trance when she felt something touching her neck .
Porter, former serviceman based at RAF Leeming, had his trousers down and told her to fondle her own breasts .
Admits causing a person to engage in a sexual activity without consent . |
fc871319eee0e77834ebf5602f6d16d2d54a5d80 | By . Brendan Carlin, Jo Macfarlane and Ross Slater . PUBLISHED: . 20:45 EST, 24 November 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 21:03 EST, 24 November 2012 . Anger: UKIP leader Nigel Farage condemned 'another appalling case of . discrimination' after a member was prevented from volunteering as a . mentor for young adults by leading children's charity Barnardo's . A row over two UKIP members having their foster children removed took a new twist last night when another woman claimed she had been barred from looking after children because she was a party candidate. Nigel Farage, UKIP leader, condemned ‘another appalling case of discrimination’ after former district nurse Anne Murgatroyd said she had been prevented from volunteering as a mentor for young adults by leading children’s charity Barnardo’s. Ms Murgatroyd, a mother of three, claims she told the charity of her political affiliation and was told it would ‘not be appropriate’ for her to perform the role, which involves supporting children coming out of the care system, because UKIP ‘opposes multi-culturalism’. The charity said there were other reasons for Ms Murgatroyd’s rejection but refused to disclose further details. The claim came as two investigations were launched into a council’s ‘indefensible’ decision to remove three vulnerable children from their foster parents because of their support for UKIP. Social workers at Rotherham Borough Council claimed the married couple’s affiliation with UKIP meant they supported ‘racist’ policies which made them unsuitable carers for the non-British children and there were concerns for their ‘cultural and ethical needs’. But amid widespread condemnation of their actions yesterday, the Labour-run council began an internal review, and Education Secretary Michael Gove announced his own investigation. Last night, Mr Farage said he had ‘no reason’ to doubt Ms Murgatroyd’s story. He said: ‘I met this lady at our party conference. We knew about this story at the time but she chose not to publicise it. She has now decided to make it known, really in support of the couple in Rotherham. Because of all that, I believe her story is genuine.’ Separately, UKIP officials said Ms Murgatroyd informed them of her problems with Barnardo’s several months ago. The latest claim emerged in a series of posts Ms Murgatroyd, who stood as a UKIP candidate for Leeds City Council in May’s elections, made on Twitter. Response: The charity said there were other reasons for Ms Murgatroyd's rejection but refused to disclose further details . She wrote: ‘Barnardo’s would not allow me to be a volunteer befriender of young people leaving care when I told them I was standing for UKIP . . . Barnardo’s rationale for this was that “UKIP opposes multi-culturalism”.’ Responding to a Mail on Sunday reporter, she wrote: ‘I’d almost gone through their process and been accepted when I told them I’d be standing for UKIP in locals . . . They checked with managers, discussed it, couldn’t accept me due to issue of multi-culturalism. ‘Their rationale was that because UKIP opposes multi-culturalism it would not be appropriate for me to mentor young people coming out of the care system. My argument was that, yes, I do oppose forced marriage and female genital mutilation and family killings but that does not make me unsuitable to befriend young people.’ Anne Murgatroyd said the charity told her it would . ‘not be appropriate’ for her to perform the role . Barnardo’s denied ‘blanket banning’ any applicant. It said: ‘The needs of the child must be paramount when making any decision about matching them with carers and the most important thing is to provide a loving and supportive environment. People from all backgrounds work and volunteer for Barnardo’s but there are many factors to take into consideration when assessing suitability to work with children or young people. Cultural context is relevant, but so are family background, health, and any previous experience.’ The foster couple in Rotherham at the centre of a separate storm claimed Howard Woolfenden, the council’s former director of safeguarding children and families, had taken the decision to separate them from the children in their care without prior discussion. They also denied claims their membership of UKIP affected their treatment of the children. The wife said: ‘We were actively encouraging these children to speak their own language and to teach us their language. We enjoyed singing one of their folk songs in their native language. ‘These children have now been placed with families who are also white British. How are these people going to meet the cultural needs of these children?’ The Equality and Human Rights Commission said the decision may have breached the parents’ right to freedom of political opinion. Mr Woolfenden was not available for comment. In a statement, Rotherham council announced an immediate investigation and said: ‘Membership of a political party should not stop someone fostering children.’ Labour leader Ed Miliband called for an urgent probe. by Michael Gove, Education Secretary . Appeal: Education Secretary Michael Gove wants more parents from every background to come forward to adopt . I know how important it is to ensure you choose the right family to look after a child who has been in care. Because I was a child in care. And I was brought up by the right family. Because I was adopted. My mum and dad did an amazing job, providing me with love and security, enabling me to enjoy wonderful opportunities. I can never adequately repay them. But one of the ways in which I’m trying is my work to reform our care system. As Education Secretary I’m responsible for Government policy on child protection, children in care, adoption and fostering. Just last week I laid out how big a job we face to get things right. If we needed any reminder of what we’re up against then yesterday’s reports from Rotherham powerfully demonstrate just how much change is needed, because children still don’t come first. For years now, child protection has been crippled by politically correct attitudes that put the interests and ideologies of adults ahead of the needs of children. On the one hand, we leave children with abusive and neglectful parents for too long, as the case of ‘Baby P’ Peter Connelly exemplifies. On the other hand, we don’t welcome and support people who want to adopt or foster effectively enough. So neglected children are not rescued sufficiently early or placed in loving homes sufficiently quickly. A particular problem has been the way in which rules on ethnicity, race and culture have been applied. When it comes to adoption the perfect has been the enemy of the good. Social workers have put the need to find a perfect ethnic or cultural ‘match’ for children in care ahead of the pressing need to find those children a loving home. So children from black and minority ethnic backgrounds spend longer in care, and get adopted later, than others. We know that the earlier a child is adopted the better, so these PC attitudes, allegedly designed to help children, only end up harming them. And that is why the decision by Rotherham council to take a child away from loving and successful foster parents for ‘cultural’ reasons – because they were members of UKIP – is so especially harmful. It sends a signal to those who want to foster or adopt that they’re not wanted if their attitudes fall outside a tightly circumscribed and politically approved set of views. That’s offensive to any idea of a genuinely liberal society and a tragedy at a time when we need more parents to foster and adopt. And it’s why we are changing the law to stop ethnic and cultural considerations being put ahead of a child’s need for early adoption. I want more parents from every background – gay or straight, black or white, Left or Right – to come forward to adopt because there are so many children whose lives will be transformed immeasurably for the better if they are enfolded in the loving arms of kind parents. It is also an immensely rewarding choice to make. Adoption means taking a child not just into your home but into your heart. It is a relationship which is – in every sense – for good. And there is no more generous gift you can give a damaged, neglected or abused child than a fresh start. To view Mr Gove's speech on child protection click here. | District nurse said charity told her it would 'not be appropriate'
New scandal follows revelation of UKIP parents banned from fostering . |
fc87e2ded9c7fc1a1c4c471a5af1a13f2888e02d | By . Eleanor Harding . PUBLISHED: . 12:16 EST, 21 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 20:25 EST, 21 January 2013 . 'Without warning': Bodybuilder Dale Burns was Tasered four times in less than a minute by police as they struggled to arrest him . A bodybuilder died after being stunned by a Taser four times in the space of a minute as police tried to arrest him. Dale Burns, 27, suffered a fatal heart attack just over an hour after officers zapped him with the electric shock gun ‘without warning’, an inquest jury heard. The taxi driver was also hit with pepper spray while officers held him down and put on handcuffs and leg restraints. The court was told the father-of-two had taken illegal stimulant drugs before eight police arrived at his rented flat in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, following a report that he had damaged a bathroom and was in an agitated state. When Mr Burns advanced towards one of the officers – PC Kevin Milby, who had an X26 Taser – he was stunned four times in just 52 seconds, the court heard. Coroner Alan Sharp said: ‘Dale’s behaviour became more agitated and aggressive. 'He started to throw articles about the room and objects out of the window. There was a risk to passers-by.’ He said after Mr Burns threw a glass out of the window he began to approach PC Milby ‘his eyes rolling to the back of his head and his fists clenched’. ‘He was fearful he would be attacked and feared for his own safety,’ said Mr Sharp. ‘The officer stated that there was simply no time to issue a warning. ‘Barbs lodged in the skin of Dale’s torso, and he received five seconds of electrical charge.’ Mr Burns fell back and knocked his head on his television cabinet, but the shock failed to stop his resistance so three seconds later the officer shocked him again. Pepper spray was then used on Mr Burns before the third shock, 23 seconds later, and then a fourth nine seconds later. Yesterday’s hearing at Kendal County Hall heard Mr Burns had taken the illegal stimulant drug MDPV before the incident, which is similar to speed. 'Gentle giant with a drug habit': Lisa Wilson (right), Mr Burns's former partner and mother of his two children, said he would take pills and inject anabolic steroids as part of his bodybuilding regime, a sport he started to become interested in when he was just 13, his mother Donna Rodden (left) told the inquest . Distressing: At Mr Burns's hearing the jury had to watch distressing CCTV footage of a wild-eyed, semi-naked and agitated Mr Burns, pictured with daughter Honour, in the police van after his arrest for criminal damage . After the shocks were administered, . he was carried downstairs and into the police van, where CCTV footage . showed him naked and struggling. He was driven to Furness General Hospital and was administered with diazepam which sedated him. However, a short while later he suffered a cardiac arrest. Mr Sharp told the jury the drugs were . ‘the primary initiating cause’ of Mr Burns’ death, but there was some . disagreement as to whether the use of the Taser and other restraint . techniques played a part. 'General dissatisfaction': Mr Burns, pictured with son Ethan and daughter Honour, began to suffer from depression from 2009 onwards, his mother said . The X26 Taser transmits up to 50,000 volts and uses compressed air to fire two electric barbs at a target at up to 21 feet. If the Taser shocks are found to be . responsible or partially responsible for Mr Burns’ death, it is thought . he would have been the first person in Britain to die in such a way. The hearing was told Mr Burns worked in railway maintenance for Network Rail, and also as a nightclub bouncer and a taxi driver. He had a daughter, Honour, now five, with his ex-girlfriend Lisa Wilson and a son, Ethan, now three, with partner Sarah Keverne. Miss Wilson agreed with the . description of Mr Burns as a ‘gentle giant with a drug habit’, adding . that he was ‘never aggressive’. His mother Donna Rodden added: ‘Dale . was a big bundle of fun. He was a big gentleman who loved everybody and . wanted to be loved back.’ He developed an interest in . bodybuilding at the age of 13 and won several medals, later taking . steroids as an adult to boost his performance. But he also suffered from depression and began taking recreational drugs including cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis. The inquest continues. | Dale Burns, 27, had taken an illegal drug on the day he died .
He died in hospital around two hours after police were called to his flat .
Officers tried to hold him with handcuff and leg restraints while he was Tasered and pepper-sprayed in the face . |
fc881943c255c1a5ec198bd282f732858ecf33e0 | In a very personal post on his Facebook detailing his latest spat with his former spouse, South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford announced that he and his mistress turned fiancee, Maria Belen Chapur, a woman he once called his 'soul mate,' have called off their wedding plans. ''No relationship can stand forever this tension of being forced to pick between the one you love and your own son or daughter, and for this reason Belen and I have decided to call off the engagement,' Sanford wrote. 'Maybe there will be another chapter when waters calm with Jenny, but at this point the environment is not conducive to building anything given no one would want to be caught in the middle of what’s now happening,' he said, referring to accusations levied against him in court last month by his ex-wife. Jenny Sanford suggested in a court motion that her former husband does illegal and prescription drugs and gets drunk in front of their teenage son Blake. She also asked the court to require Sanford to undergo psychological tests and restrict his visits with his son. Scroll down for video . Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford celebrates a victory in the GOP congressional primary in April 2013. Pictured to his right is ex-fiancee Maria Belen Chapur. Sanford announced today in a public Facebook that he and Chapur had decided to end their relationship . Sanford, center left, and his former fiancee Maria Belen Chapur, right, are pictured here during the New Orleans themed Radio and Television Correspondents' dinner at the National Building Museum last year. They are greeted by Sen. Roger Wicker, standing, and are seated with Dan Glickman, left, Wolf Blitzer of CNN, second from the left . Another section of the motion asks the judge to ban both parents from having overnight guests of the opposite sex who could be considered a 'paramour.' While the court filing submitted by Jenny Sanford's lawyers repeatedly asks the that the judge ban both Sanfords from inappropriate conduct in front of their youngest son, the motion makes clear that it is Mark Sanford's behavior that instigated the legal proceedings. Addressing the issue on Facebook, Sanford said, 'This really is crazy.' 'I have never taken any illegal drug in my life,' he said. 'I did not drink in high school or college and though I do drink now, my consumption is so limited that my friends give me a hard time about it. I will have but one beer or two when out at a social occasion.' Sanford also contended that his longtime girlfriend, with whom he began having an extra-marital affair with in 2008, had never spent the night when his two younger sons were staying with him. And Chapur only stayed over two times when his two older sons were under his roof, he said. 'Though Jenny herself has certainly not lived up to this clause it is clearly aimed at me given near everyone knows about Belen and in that regard it seems designed to create intrigue where none exists,' he charged. Buried in the long Facebook post about his ongoing divorce drama is an announcement that he and Chapur separated as a result of the stress placed on their relationship by his legal battles with his ex-wife. 'Belen is a remarkably wonderful woman who I have always loved and I will be forever grateful for not only the many years we have known and loved each other,' he said, 'but the last six very tough ones wherein she has encouraged me and silently borne its tribulations with her ever warm and kind spirit.' The Argentina native and Sanford had been engaged since August of 2012. The relationship became the subject of intense media coverage after the still-married Sanford revealed in 2009 that the two were having an affair. Sanford said that he and Chapur decided to call of their engagement because the strain placed on their relationship by his ex-wife, Jenny Sanford, pictured here in 2010 at a book signing, was too much to bear . Sanford was serving as South Carolina Governor at the time of the scandal. He got caught with his hands in the cookie jar after claiming that he was hiking in the Appalachian mountains for six days when he was really in Argentina carrying on with his lover. Jenny Sanford separated from her husband soon after the love affair was reported in the press, and the couple was granted a divorce in 2010. After spending several years out of the public eye, Sanford, who was once thought to be a contender for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2012, jumped back into public spotlight when he reclaimed a congressional seat he once held in a May 2013 special election. In a 2,346 word post on his Facebook page on Friday Sanford claimed that he first heard about his wife's new court filings through the media and that he has 'struggled in how to respond' for the past week and a half. The Republican lawmaker said he didn't originally intend to respond publicly to his former spouses claims, but he had 'prayed on it, thought on it and asked the advice of friends' and came to the conclusion his constituents deserved an explanation. 'In as much as you sign my paycheck and you have elected me to represent you in Washington, I think I owe you my thinking on this personal, but now public matter,' he said. Sanford said he had tried to turn the other cheek, as commanded in the Bible, but recently discovered that 'I cannot do this anymore.' 'In all life there comes a point wherein lines must be drawn in the way that we attempt to respond in ways that don’t invite more in the way of conflict and add more in the way of modeling Christ’s humility in giving in every instance. 'I’ll never get that mix right, none of us do,' he said, 'but I believe it’s what we are to pursue in all of our responses to the inevitable reality of conflict in our lives.' The conservative congressman said that in the past he had not hired lawyers to fight is court battles against his ex wife, including during his divorce, and had instead represented himself or relied on the help of friends in order to save his children - and his pocketbook - from unnecessary pain. From now on, he said Friday, he'll be allowing a lawyer to handle the situation 'so that I can focus without further distraction on our boys and my work in Washington.' Even though his ex-wife continues to attack him, Sanford said he would 'never attempt attempt to detract from her or all the positive things she has done in her life.' 'I hope and believe Jenny and I can find a new way,' he said. 'It’s also reminder for every one of you who have been blessed to avoid the agony of divorce, of how important it is you spend time when you have it with those who now bear your name.' | Sanford said in a Facebook post on Friday that he and mistress turned fiancee Maria Belen Chapur had ended their relationship .
The announcement came a week and a half after Sanford's ex-wife suggested her former husband does illegal and prescription drugs .
In the 2,346 Facebook post Sanford claims he has never done drugs and says the accusations made by former spouse are 'crazy' |
fc8847d82e9f7042f51159ccf24dbdb9dc28c247 | By . Kerry Mcdermott . PUBLISHED: . 11:41 EST, 8 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:42 EST, 8 July 2013 . A boy of 15 was stabbed eight times in a frenzied knife attack at a bus stop as he walked his girlfriend home from school. Jake Anderson suffered a punctured lung when Dale Warburton, 17, lunged at him during a confrontation and knifed him in the back and side in Preston. Warburton's knife pierced the schoolboy's shirt, jumper and thick winter coat and the blade bent under the force of the impact, a court was told. 'Dangerous young man': Dale Warburton, 17, left, attacked Jake Anderson, seen right with his girlfriend Katy Singleton, with a knife as the couple were walking home from school in Lancashire . The frenzied attack only stopped thanks to the 'considerable bravery' of two boys who stepped in and grabbed the knife. A court heard Warburton was looking for trouble after sending messages to another girl who was known to both him and Jake. Details of the stabbing . emerged as Warburton was jailed for six years after he admitted . wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of an . offensive weapon. The court was told Jake, who was initially treated for his injuries by the mother of his girlfriend Katy Singleton before being rushed to hospital, has now made a full recovery. Recovery: Warburton has been jailed for six years in the wake of the attack, which left Jake (pictured with his girlfriend) in hospital . Preston Crown Court was told the incident occurred at 3.30pm on January 10 after Jake met up with 16-year-old Katy upon leaving Ashton Community Science College. On their way home he spotted Warburton waiting at a bus stop close to Our Lady's Catholic High School and decided to confront him about the text messages. Warburton tried to board a bus but when the doors did not open he lunged at Jake and stabbed him, the hearing was told. Several other schoolchildren were in the area at the time of the attack, the court heard, which only stopped when two other teenagers, Ryan Hurst and Ryan Clegg, stepped in and overpowered Warburton. 'Anger': Jake, now 16, has said he has suffered with anger problems and stress in the wake of the knife attack . Jake was taken to Katy's house where his mother, who is a nurse, stemmed the bleeding from his wounds and dialled 999. The victim spent two days being treated at Preston Royal Hospital before being discharged. Warburton, from Ingol, Preston was initially charged with the more serious charge of attempted murder, but his guilty plea to grievous bodily harm was accepted. He was told that he must serve at least two thirds of his sentence and will be on licence for an extra five years upon his release. He was given an indefinite restraining order, banning him from contacting the victim. Couple: Jake's wounds were initially treated by his girlfriend's mother, who is a nurse, before he was rushed to hospital . Passing sentence Judge Anthony Russell QC, told Warburton: 'You have shown yourself to be a dangerous young man. 'Although you claim to have changed since your arrest and detention in custody, given the nature of this case and your history I consider public safety to be an important consideration in this case.' He added: 'Your actions in attacking him in the way that you did was out of all proportion to any threat you could have perceived from him and the fact that you had the knife with you is an indication you were looking for trouble. The evidence shows you completely lost your self-control. 'Fortunately others intervened. Ryan Hurst and Ryan Clegg acted with considerable bravery in tackling you and the evidence indicates your attack would have continued had they not done so.' Jake, now 16, said after the case: 'I was so scared at the time - it was the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me. 'If it wasn't for Katy's mum I don't know what would have happened. She knew what to do. She wrapped a towel round my chest really tight to stop the bleeding. 'I kept asking her if I was going to die.'He added: 'I can't find the words to explain how angry I feel towards Dale Warburton. I have had anger problems, stress, my confidence has gone down and I couldn't concentrate in my exams.'Jake's father Craig, said: 'It has been terrible. You get the phone call you dread and they are saying "your son's been stabbed and rushed to hospital".'Now it is all over I'm just really happy about the sentence.' In a message on Facebook Katy said: 'At last he's been sentenced and no-one's got to worry anymore. He's got what he deserves and I hope something happens to him. I love you Jake.'Det Con Nigel Marler from Lancashire Police said: 'This was a violent and aggressive attack, which left the victim with significant injuries. 'I am pleased with the sentence given which reflects the severity of the incident. 'Any act of violence will not be tolerated and we will continue to do all we can to bring any offenders to justice,' he added. | Jake Anderson attacked by 'dangerous' Dale Warburton, 17, in Preston .
Victim had confronted Warburton about texts he sent to a mutual friend .
Attack ceased thanks to 'bravery' of two boys who stepped in to seize knife .
Warburton jailed for six years after admitting causing grievous bodily harm .
Jake suffered a punctured lung but has since made a full recovery . |
fc8856f6daced53eef6dfac2eeb66478a6785306 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 23:30 EST, 6 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 01:35 EST, 7 August 2013 . Cleveland kidnapping victim Gina DeJesus and her parents will watch as officials bulldoze and grind to dust the house of horrors where she was kept in chains for a decade. The city hopes to make the four-bedroom house at 2207 Seymour Street disappear, just three months after DeJesus, Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight were freed from unimaginable tortures inside. The search giant Google has already 'disappeared' the house on its Street View features. Searches for the address now show just a blurred box instead of the house. House of Horrors: The house on Seymour Street where Ariel Castro kept his victims for a decade is being torn down and ground to dust on Wednesday morning . Google has blocked the Seymour Street house from its Street View feature. It is unknown whether the search giant did that on its own or if it was asked to make the house disappear . It is unknown what will be done with the land beneath the house. The city of Cleveland seized the home and donated it to the Cuyahoga Land Bank, a non-profit organization that fights urban blight in the city. The Land Bank has not revealed its plans for the property. Felix DeJesus said he and his wife and daughter Gina will watch the house come down. 'Thank God it will be over with. And tomorrow I will be there to see this house come down,' he told WOIO-TV. On July 26, Castro - a former elementary school bus driver - pleaded guilty to more than 900 counts of kidnapping, rape and assault and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Defiant: Gina DeJesus (left) will be in attendance to watch the house be demolished, along with her parents Felix DeJesus and Nancy Ruiz (right) Ariel Castro has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison after pleading guilty to more than 900 charges . Pictures emerged from inside the home of chains and restraints and makeshift alarms that that he used to keep the young women bent to his sadistic will. On Monday, authorities allowed Castro's children to enter the home and retrieve family photos and other mementos. Neighbors are happy to see the house torn down. 'I want things to be like it were, quiet and peaceful. But to see that house go down it really will be a relief because I am so sick and tired of looking at it,' Henrietta Bell told the Cleveland TV station. The land bank's president, Gus Frangos said that the organization is trying to keep away scavengers who might try to sell the rubble as what is known as 'murderabilia.' In 2011, a website that sells items related to high-profile crimes put on sale 1-gram packages of soil from the home of Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell before a city agency razed the house. Sowell was convicted that year of killing 11 women and was sentenced to death. His case is under appeal. Having fun: Amanda Berry, second left, made her first public appearance on stage with rapper Nelly on July 27 . Appearance: Michelle Knight, pictured right, stepped out in public on Friday to thank neighbors near the home she had been held captive for a decade with the other girls . | House at 2207 Seymour Street in Cleveland will be bulldozed and ground to dust on Wednesday morning .
Plans for the land after the demolition are not known .
City trying to prevent 'murderabillia' sales - scraps of the house being auctioned off as sick souvenirs . |
fc886e77285dfebe09510414fdc7ee5593479902 | Cocaine worth more than £40million has been found aboard a private jet owned by a French tycoon based in London. The vast haul of drugs was found by customs officers in the Dominican Republic on a plane owned by millionaire businessman Alain Afflelou - who was not on board at the time. Officials boarded the Falcon jet minutes before it was due to leave the Caribbean island for Paris and seized 26 suitcases packed with 680kg of the class A drug. Drugs seizure: £40million of cocaine was found on board Alain Afflelou's Falcon jet in the Dominican Republic . Four French nationals, as well as several local police officers, were arrested after the seizure on suspicion of being part of an international drug-trafficking network. Opticians chain owner Afflelou swiftly denied all knowledge of the drugs, stating he had loaned his plane out to Lyon-based Transhelicopter Services company. A spokesman for Mr Afflelou said after the bust on Sunday: 'Alain heard the news last night through the media and he's amazed. Tycoon: Mr Afflelou denied any knowledge of the drugs and was not on board the plane at the time . 'He will now take all the necessary steps to establish what happened. A letter demanding an explanation has also been sent to the French leasing company.' Mr Afflelou, 64, sparked a storm on controversy in December when he announced he was moving to Britain amid plans for massive tax hikes on France's highest earners. The businessman - who has an estimated £190 million fortune - is among a flood of French millionaires including film star Gerard Depardieu and musician Jean-Michel Jarre quitting France ahead of a looming 75 per cent tax on earnings above one million euros. Mr Afflelou sold around 70 per cent of his shares in his retail chain to UK investment firm Bridgeport in 2006, but remained a shareholder with capital. The chain has more than 890 stores in France as well as in other European countries and sells more than a 1.5 million pairs of glasses a yer. A new report revealed yesterday said that repressive tax regimes in France had lost the country up to a million jobs, with entrepreneurs fleeing abroad. Tax hikes and employment regulations imposed by left and right wing governments over 20 years meant there were now 60,000 French businessmen abroad employing around 16 people each . | Vast haul of drugs was found by customs in the Dominican Republic .
It was on a Falcon jet owned by millionaire businessman Alain Afflelou .
Officials seized 26 suitcases packed with 680kg of the class A drug .
Mr Afflelou was not on board and denied all knowledge of the drugs . |
fc88a0f619042f314386783e70f50bc41f73923e | Jose Mourinho has hailed the way Didier Drogba reunited with Chelsea's squad as being like he had 'been on a holiday'. The Ivorian striker joined up with his new - and old - teammates in Ljubljana on Chelsea's pre season tour and looked to fit right in, almost as if he had never left the club two years ago. And Chelsea have announced that the returning hero will be wearing the No 15 shirt this season - the same that he first wore when he arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2004. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Chelsea legend Didier Drogba on his return to the club . Lucky No 15: Didier Drogba hits a shot in the shirt he first started out with at Chelsea - and will now wear again . Hitman: Drogba celebrates a goal against PSG early in his Chelsea career in the shirt he will sport this season . Old school: Drogba will wear the No 15 shirt that he wore in his first two years at Stamford Bridge . Drogba spent two years with that number before switching to the No 11 shirt which he famously wore when ending his first spell at the club during the 2012 Champions League final in Munich. 'When he came in, I think for everybody else it looks like he never left the club,' Mourinho said. 'It was so normal because he knows everybody, everybody knows him. 'He was present even when he wasn't. Chelsea belonged to him even when in the last two years when he wore Galatasaray and Shanghai shirts. 'It looks like he went for a short holiday then came back.' Returning hero: Drogba sat on the bench alongside Fernando Torres and Nathaniel Chalobah in Ljubljana . The boss: Jose Mourinho praised Drogba's return, saying it was as if he had never left the club . Friends all round: Drogba has joined up with the Chelsea squad on their pre season tour of Europe . And Mourinho was keen to make it clear that Drogba will not just be around to make up the numbers. 'I think we need him as a player, we need him as a player for our squad to be the way I like because I like the squad with different qualities. 'Not just as football players, in terms of personalities. I like to have players with different personalities. 'I think as a player and a person he's someone we need to be strong.' Drogba could make his second Chelsea debut against Vitesse Arnhem in Holland on Wednesday. Preferred digits: Drogba later switched over to the No 11 shirt which he wore in the Champions League win . | Legendary striker takes vacant No 15 shirt after Mo Salah moves to No 17 .
Drogba is known to prefer to wear No 11 but that is taken by Oscar .
Blues boss Mourinho paid tribute to striker after 2-1 win over Ljubljana .
He says 'it looks like he (Drogba) never left the club' and says Chelsea need Drogba in their fight for the Premier League .
Ivorian could make his second debut against Vitesse on Wednesday . |
fc88fb1ea0698877958bb5be73199555dd1cc660 | (CNN) -- It's been six years -- 2007, if you're into counting numbers -- since the once sleepy fishing port of Macau surpassed Las Vegas as the world leader in gambling revenue. We love the flash. And the occasional winning night at the tables. But there's a slower side to this city of just less than 600,000 residents, one of cobblestone lanes, colonial mansions, art deco buildings and tranquil parks, all done in a fusion of Chinese and Portuguese motifs. The best part is that Macau (just an hour from Hong Kong by ferry) is compact, making it a breeze to explore. Here's a primer. 1. Baccarat is the game of choice . Macau is the gambling capital of the world. By far the most popular game is baccarat, a relatively simple game with a low house advantage (less than 1%). Baccarat tables dominate the city's 33 casinos. There are plenty of slot machines as well, but they offer a high house advantage and aren't popular. This is the reverse of Las Vegas where gamblers favor slots. Macau's revenue from gambling is $33 billion, more than five times that of the Las Vegas Strip. Tycoon Stanley Ho's 40-year reign as the city's casino kingpin came to an end in 2002 when the Macau government ended the monopoly system. Today, there are six casino operators: SJM Holdings (Stanley Ho), Wynn Macau, Sands China, Galaxy Entertainment Group, MGM China Holdings and Melco Crown Entertainment. 2. Macau was the first and last European colony in China . The Portuguese settled in Macau in the 16th century and the island was handed back to China in 1999. Today, Macau is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) -- as is Hong Kong -- and is governed under the "one country, two systems" principal, which was the brainchild of late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. Although no longer a colony, Portuguese is still an official language and the Portuguese influence can be seen everywhere from blue tiled street signs to tiled floors and beautiful gardens. More: Top-notch hotel under $100: Macau's best boutique stay . 3. It's the world's most densely populated place . Macau has the world's highest population density with 20,497 people per square kilometer. No surprise then that it needed to do something dramatic to make room for new casinos and 30 million visitors that come every year. The solution was a massive land reclamation project that joined the two islands south of the mainland -- Coloane and Taipa. This gave Macau an extra 5.2 square kilometers to create a gambling mecca to rival Las Vegas. It's known as the Cotai Strip -- drawing on the names of the two islands, Coloane and Taipa. The Venetian Resort, City of Dreams, Sands Cotai and Galaxy Macau Resort are all on the Cotai Strip. There's another big one on the way -- Steve Wynn is spending $4 billion on a huge resort called Wynn Palace set to open in 2016. 4. Coloane is still chill . The most southern island, Coloane, remains wonderfully untouched by the casino craziness. This is largely due to strict rules over title deeds that make it difficult to buy property on the island. The low-rise houses and quiet tree-lined streets that give Coloane its charm remain as they have for decades. Coloane is home to Lord Stow's Bakery, birthplace of Macau's much-loved egg tart. Not too sweet, these tarts with their crispy pastry are worth queuing for. Another Coloane favourite is Fernando's. Like the rest of Coloane, it's super laid-back and the food is reliably good. The garlic prawns and suckling pig are must orders. More: Insider Guide: Best of Macau . 5. Heritage is here to stay . Before the big casino operators rolled into town the Macau government did something clever -- it applied to UNESCO for World Heritage status. In 2005, the historic center of Macau was put on the list. The city's historic monuments are one of the city's biggest draws, a wonderful example of the early encounter between Chinese and European civilizations. The old heart of the city is small and a walking tour can easily take in the key sites from the iconic Senado Square, the Ruins of St. Pauls, the beautiful churches and temples and the old city wall. Most of the sites are open daily and free to visit. 6. Macanese cuisine is fusion food . Macanese cuisine is unique to Macau and combines the best of Chinese and Portuguese ingredients and cooking along with influences from Brazil, Goa and other former Portuguese colonies. There's plenty of seafood -- codfish, sardines, crab -- as well as rabbit, duck and chicken. Portuguese influence is seen in the flavoring, with plenty of turmeric, cinnamon, chili and coconut. Dishes are often baked or roasted for a long time to allow the flavors and spices to develop. Macau's caldo verde soup is a popular starter and is similar to the Portuguese original, but uses bok choy instead of collard greens. The national dish is minchi -- minced beef or pork cooked with potatoes, onions, soy sauce and sometimes an egg. 7. Broken Tooth is out and about . He was once Asia's most feared gangster, the leader of the 14K triads, and after 13 years behind bars he's now a free man. Wan Kuok-koi was born in Macau's slums and worked his way up triads. Along the way he broke several teeth in street fights and earned his nickname. As head of the largest triad society in Macau, he and his crew waged a violent turf war against a rival gang, the Shui Fong, in the years running up to the 1999 handover. It was a time of drive-by shootings and car bombs that came to an end only when he was jailed in 1999. Broken Tooth must have had a shock when he was released in December last year. Macau changed dramatically while he was in prison and the swathe of new monster casinos has totally transformed the city. Today, the triads have almost total control of the junket operators and keep a low profile. 8. It's a city of longevity . People in Macau live a long time -- an average of 84.4 years. Macau takes second place in global life expectancy. Only the residents of Monaco -- ironically another place beginning with the letter "M" that's known for its casinos -- live longer (89.6 years). The fantastic economy is thought to have a lot to do with the great life expectancy. This year Macau was named the world's second fastest growing economy (after Mongolia) and more than 50% of Macau's revenue comes from gambling. So while the chain-smoking high rollers might be knocking off years with stressful, risky gambles, the locals are almost guaranteed their golden years. More: 40 Hong Kong dishes we can't live without . 9. One in five locals work in a casino . Macau's casinos employ 20% of the population. When a casino takes on new staff, it checks to see if he or she has family working in the casino and in which section, to avoid the possibility of fraud. Locals rarely visit the casinos to gamble and government employees are forbidden from gambling here. The overwhelming majority of gamblers are from mainland China and Hong Kong. New regulations brought in early this year means that 50% of a casino floor must be non-smoking. The massive open plan Venetian Macau -- the largest casino floor in the world -- uses a smart ventilation system that creates areas of low and high pressure to ensure that the smoke is drawn up into air vents. 10. The beach has black sand . Hac Sa Beach -- which translates as "Black Sand Bay" -- is Macau's largest natural beach. It's on the southeast side of Coloane Island. The beach is a kilometer long and famous for its black sand. It gets its unique color from minerals in the seabed that are washed ashore. The sand isn't as black as it used to be. Erosion was gradually chipping away at the beach so the government decided to top up the beach, but the replacement sand is yellow, which has muted the dark sand. More: World's 100 best beaches . CNN Travel's series often carries sponsorship originating from the countries and regions we profile. However CNN retains full editorial control over all of its reports. Read the policy. | It's the gambling capital of the world, but there are plenty of ways to spend your winnings or forget about your losings .
Macanese cuisine combines Chinese and Portuguese styles .
Macau is the world's most densely populated place .
Residents have one of the world's highest life expectancy rates . |
fc89208566b081a37c07160c5cb50de70e06a6bb | By . Alex Gore . PUBLISHED: . 08:26 EST, 1 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 20:28 EST, 1 March 2013 . Moscow is home to more billionaires than any other place in the world, a newly published rich list has revealed. The Russian capital has 76 dollar billionaires, while New York comes a close second with 70, followed by Hong Kong's 54, Beijing's 41 and London's 40. But despite Moscow being the . location of choice for the super rich, it is Mexico City which lays . claim to the world's richest man, telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim, 73, who is . worth $66 billion (£44bn). Reddies square: Red Square in Moscow, which is home to more billionaires than anywhere else . Personal fortune: Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, left, is the world's richest man, followed by Warren Buffett, right . But none of the richest ten people . live in Moscow. Instead, French capital Paris is the only place to be . home to more than one of the top ten - Bernard Arnault and Liliane Bettencourt. Mr Slim is followed by the $58 . billion (£39bn) of US investor Warren Buffet, 82, $55 billion (£37bn) of . Spanish fashion executive Amancio Ortega, 76, and $54 billion (£36bn) of Microsoft's Bill Gates. Moscow's . richest resident is Alisher Usmanov, a steel magnate and shareholder in . Arsenal Football Club, who has $19 billion (£13bn). The country's second wealthiest individual is energy and metals tycoon - and renowned Faberge egg collector - Vicktor Vekselberg, whose fortune is valued at $18 billion (£12bn). 'Self-made': Moscow's richest resident, steel magnate Alisher Usmanov, left, and Microsoft's Bill Gates, right . Mansion: The west London house bought by the city's richest residents Lakshmi Mittal fro £70m in 2004 . The wealth of country's super rich elite sit in stark contrast to the . majority of the ordinary working Russian, for whom the average wage . stands at around 26,500 (£570) a month. The United States, home to 409 . billionaires, comes out on top in the list of country, and is followed . by China's 317, Russia's 88, Germany's 61 and the UK's 56. But nearly half the world's billionaires live in either the U.S. (28.1 per cent) and China (21.8 per cent). 1. Carlos Slim, Mexico City ($66bn) SM . 2. Warren Buffett, Omaha ($58) SM . 3. Amancio Ortega, La Coruna ($55bn) SM . 4. Bill Gates, Medina ($54bn) SM . 5. Bernard Arnault, Paris ($51bn) SM . 6. Larry Ellison, Woodside ($43bn) SM . 7. Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong ($32bn) SM . 8. David Koch, New York ($31bn) IN . 8. Charles Koch, Witchita ($31bn) IN . 10. Liliane Bettencourt, Paris ($30bn) SM . 1. Moscow, Russia (76 billionaires) 2. New York, USA, (70 billionaires) 3. Hong Kong, China (54 billionaires) 4. Beijing, China (41 billionaires) 5. London, UK (40 billionaires) 6. Istanbul, Turkey (26 billionaires) 7. Mumbai, India (24 billionaires) 7. Shanghai, China (24 billionaires) 9. Paris, France (23 billionaires) 10. Shenzhen & Taipei, China (22 billionaires) *SM - self made / IN - inherited . Asia is named wealthiest continent with 609 billionaires, compared to the 440 living in North America, and the 324 in Europe. The super rich rankings have been compiled by the luxury Chinese publishing group, Hurun Report. The . company looked at the world's 1,453 people with a personal wealth of at . least $1 billion, and listed where they lived and whether their . fortunes are self-made of inherited. Wealth: Paris is the only city to be home to more than one of those featured in the rich list's top ten . It found that the industry to produce the most billionaires was real estate, with 219 people making their fortune from property. All . the Russian billionaires are listed as self-made, unlike other European . countries where many are said to have inherited their wealth. Sao Paolo, Brazil, Geneva, Switzerland, Seoul, South Korea, Tokyo, Japan and San Francisco, Los Angeles,Beverley Hills, Dallas and Houston in the U.S. all featured in the top 20. 1. USA (409) 2. China (317) 3. Russia (88) 4. Germany (61) 5. UK (56) 6. India (53) 7. Switzerland (41) 8. Brazil (33) 9. Chinese Taipei . 10. France (31) & Turkey (31) 12. Canada (22) 12. Japan (22) 14. Austria (17) 14. South Korea (17) 16. Australia (16) 17. Italy (14) 17. Spain (14) 19. Netherlands (12) 20. Indonesia (11) 20. Singapore (11) London's richest resident is Lakshmi Mittal, who is ranked 36th in the world with $18 billion (£12bn). The . steel magnate bought the world's most expensive house in 2004 when he . paid £70 million for a 12 bedroom mansion in Kensington, in the west of . the city. The average age . of the billionaires is 63, with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was the . youngsters person on the list at the age of 28. He was ranked 42nd with . a fortune of $17 billion (£11bn). Listed: Lakshmi Mittal is London's richest resident, left, while Mark Zuckerburg, right, is the youngest billionaire . Hurun Report was set up by British . accountant Rupert Hoogewerf in 1999 and is based in Shanghai, China, . which itself features in the list of top 20 cities. 1. Asia (608 billionaires) 2. North America (440 billionaires) 3. Europe (324 billionaires) 4. South America (49 billionaires) 5. Africa (17 billionaires) 5. Oceania (17 billionaires) The report highlighted how the net assets of the 10 richest people rose 22 per cent over the year - or $250 million a day. But the report added: 'This past year has seen a rebound in the wealth of the private sector' Mr Hoogewerf said the number of . billionaires maybe up to three times higher because some of the world's . super rich hid their fortune. He said: 'Some people deliberately . make their wealth a secret because they gained it through illegal ways. Some others simply prefer to keep a low profile.' | Russian city has 76 dollar billionaires, while New York is second with 70 .
Hong Kong is ranked third ahead of Beijing in fourth and London in fifth .
Mexico City remains home to the world's richest person, Carlos Slim .
Paris boasts more dollar billionaires in the top ten then any other city .
Warren Buffett, Amancio Ortega and Bill Gates also make the top five .
London's richest resident is steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal with $18bn .
The United States is home to more billionaires than any other country .
Asia tops list of richest continents, with North America coming second . |
fc89b29738b18fe4c0ece96bf00f2cbe687e45db | He is typically a stoic Commander-in-Chief. But now, Barack Obama's former top adviser has revealed in a new book what happens when the President loses his famous cool. David Axelrod, Obama's top strategist during his 2012 presidential campaign, claims the 53-year-old once cussed at him in front of others and stormed out of a debate-prep session in a fit of rage. In his book, 'Believer: My Forty Years in Politics', he describes how he attempted to offer Obama some constructive criticism prior to his first debate with Republican nominee, Mitt Romney. Scroll down for video . First-hand account: David Axelrod (left), who was Barack Obama's top strategist during his 2012 presidential campaign, has revealed in a new book what happens when the President (right), 53, loses his famous cool . Under pressure: Axelrod claims Obama (right) cussed at him and stormed out of the room in a fit of rage after he offered the politician constructive criticism before his disasterous 2012 debate with Republican nominee Mitt Romney (left) However, Obama refused to accept his advice, Axelrod writes. Instead, in an unexpected move, the US leader reportedly exclaimed: 'Motherf****r's never happy!' before storming out of the room in front of stunned onlookers, according to Business Insider. 'That was a first,' Axelrod says in his book. 'Obama and I had been working together for a decade, through some pretty hairy moments, but he had never before lost his temper in this fashion.' He added: 'He certainly never attacked me so harshly, especially in front of others.' And perhaps Obama could have done with heeding Axelrod's advice - as his first debate proved to be disastrous, with 67 per cent of viewers declaring that Romney had won it, according to a poll. Only 25 per cent said the same of the President, whose poor performance was watched by more than 60million Americans in October 2012, the poll by CNN/Opinion Research revealed. Video from University of Chicago . Together: Obama (right) reportedly refused to accept Axelrod's (left) criticism. Instead, the Commander-in-Chief exclaimed: 'Motherf****r's never happy', before storming out of the room, Axelrod says . Revelations: 'Obama and I had been working together for a decade, through some pretty hairy moments, but he had never before lost his temper in this fashion,' Axelrod writes in his book (right), 'Believer: My Forty Years in Politics', published last Tuesday. Left, Obama talks to reporters in the Oval Office on February 17 . In his book, Axelrod theorizes that Obama's loss of temper and reference to him as a 'Motherf****r' was actually down to the politician's frustrations with his own insufficient pre-debate preparation. 'My sense was that the president knew he wasn't ready,' he writes. 'His mind-set, his reluctance to embrace the game, had been wrongheaded from the start, and now it was clearly hurting him.' Ultimately, Obama went on to be re-elected President in November 2012, defeating Romney 51.1percent to 47.2percent. He was sworn into the Oval Office for a second term on January 20, 2013. It is not the first time Obama has apparently lost his renowned cool. In 2012, the President failed to keep his temper under control in Connecticut after hecklers interrupted a speech he was giving at a rally in Bridgeport and began chanting at him. Astonished attendees watched as Obama halted his own speech to address the hecklers, who are believed to have been activists seeking more global AIDS funding. 'Excuse me, excuse me,' he said repeatedly, trying to speak over the crowd. When the hecklers kept chanting, Obama fell silent for several seconds, looking visibly angry and raising one hand in frustration as the crowd began to boo around him. Another fit of anger: It is not the first time Obama has apparently lost his famous cool. In 2012, Obama failed to keep his temper under control in Connecticut after hecklers interrupted a speech he was giving (pictured) Silent: Astonished attendees watched as Obama interrupted his own speech to address the hecklers. When they kept on chanting, the President fell silent for several seconds, looking visibly angry (pictured) 'Let me just say this,' he said, addressing the hecklers. 'You've been appearing at every rally we've been doing. 'We're funding global AIDS. And the other [Republican] side is not.' 'So I don't know why you think this is a useful strategy to take,' he finished, jabbing his finger angrily in the direction of the hecklers. The crowd's boos turned to cheers as Obama spoke. 'So, what we would suggest,' he added, 'I think it would make a lot more sense for you guys to go to the folks who aren't interested in funding global AIDS and shout at that rally. Because we're trying to focus on figuring out how to finance the things that you want financed.' Then he turned to another group of hecklers on his other side, adding: 'You guys same thing.' As more chants filled the rally, he said: 'Alright, you guys have made your point, now let's go.' Fighting to regain the momentum of the rally, he held his hands up saying: 'Everybody - we're alright. 'Come on guys,' he said. He then fell silent again, watching with pursed lips as the crowd booed the hecklers once more. The President waited nearly 20 seconds for the noise to stop. Then, he attempted again to continue with his speech. But he was forced to wait in silence for another 20 seconds before finally saying: 'Hey! Listen up everybody!' Mr Obama finally regained control of the rally and continued with his speech. Believer: My Forty Years in Politics was published last Tuesday by Penguin Press. | In new book, David Axelrod claims he attempted to offer Barack Obama constructive criticism before first debate with Mitt Romney .
However, 53-year-old President reportedly refused to accept his advice .
Instead, Obama said of him: 'Motherf****r's never happy', Axelrod writes .
He then 'stormed out of preparation room in front of stunned onlookers'
Debate proved disastrous for Obama; 67% of viewers said Romney won .
Axelrod made revelations in book, Believer: My Forty Years in Politics . |
fc8a09bec70b301fdc49a6f29bdbcf7b5c5450bd | (CNN) -- Obsessed with keeping social order, China is now pushing to revise its laws in ways that will broaden police powers. The National People's Congress last week released a proposed revision of the Criminal Procedure Law that would allow the police to detain suspects for up to six months, at a location determined by the police, in cases that involve state security, terrorism or serious cases of corruption. The existing law requires the police to notify families of detainees within 24 hours. If revised, the law will allow police to secretly detain suspects, if they believed notifying relatives or a lawyer "may hinder the investigation." Critics say the proposed legislation could legitimize and potentially increase the number of secret detentions. "(It) would give the security apparatus free rein to carry out 'disappearances' lawfully," said Sophie Richardson, China director of Human Rights Watch. "Legalizing secret detention puts detainees at even greater risk of torture and mistreatment." Nothing better illustrates such concerns than the case of Ai Weiwei, the high-profile artist who was detained by Chinese authorities in April as he was about to board a flight for Hong Kong. He was released in June -- after 81 days in police custody. He was later accused, but not formally charged, of tax fraud. His family denies the allegation and believes he was targeted due to his social and political activism. In a commentary published last week, Ai complained that "the worst thing about Beijing is that you can never trust the judicial system." Pu Zhiqiang, Ai's lawyer, says the proposed revision has grim implications. "Ai Weiwei and I have been through secret detentions," Pu tells CNN. "The police said they could do so because we're endangering national security. They've always resorted to such measures, but the revision will legalize them, which is horrifying." "While being held in an unspecified location, the detainee will be subject to mistreatment that might not be possible if he or she were in a proper detention center," says human rights researcher Joshua Rosenzweig. In recent days, China's mainstream media have run stories saying that the revisions were meant to improve protection of individual rights, and that police powers to carry out secret detention would be limited to exceptional cases. Xinhuanet.com, citing an article published by Huaxi City Paper, says the concerns and criticisms are "due to misreading of the revision." China's legislature has enjoined the public to comment on the proposed revisions until the end of September, before lawmakers formally take them up. On Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, many netizens are already giving the proposed revisions a thumbs-down. One "laohu lushi" writes: "If you follow the logic of the new amendments, it would be secret detention, secret arrest, secret imprisonment followed by secret trial and eventually secret execution." Yaozhuaide Fenghua asks, "Who has the right to interpret 'suspected of crimes against national security and terrorism?' The officials. How much longer than 24 hours can secret detention exceed? The police decide too. They can extend your detention at their will a month, 10 years -- without telling your family!" In fact, several revisions to the Criminal Law have been recently enacted, including a reduction in the number of non-violent economic crime punishable by death and the addition of some new criminal offenses, including drunk driving and endangering food safety and damaging the environment. "It's fair to say that there are welcome changes," says Joshua Rosenzweig, citing examples such as excluding confessions or testimony obtained through torture. "But the effectiveness of those changes will depend on how uniformly the provisions are enforced." The past 25 years China has come a long way in improving the country's legal system and replacing "renzhi" (rule of men) with "fazhi" (rule of law). China has issued a plethora of laws and statutes covering everything from crimes to intellectual property infringement. The legal profession has regained its status. Chinese leaders see the need for such a legal system to manage China's intractable problems -- including endemic corruption, social injustice, wealth inequality and environmental degradation. Last March Premier Wen Jiabao warned that the party needed to tackle "excessive concentration of power and lack of check on power," if China were to have a socially stable society. Yet, despite guarantees in the country's 1982 constitution that "no organization of individual may enjoy the privilege of being above the law," critics complain that due process is still applied capriciously. In recent months, China's rulers have increasingly relied on criminal and administrative punishment to suppress growing demands for social justice, honest government and political freedom. Jittery over rising social unrest, they have taken tough measures to avert any kind of Middle East-style "Jasmine Revolution," detaining dissidents, harassing their lawyers and supporters and tightening political control. Giving the police more power, critics say, is one such measure. Can the revisions be blocked? "We will voice our opinions, but we are not optimistic it will make an impact," said Pu, Ai's lawyer. "We'll try our best." In China the end can always justify the means. Nowadays, the end is social and political control. | If revised, law will secret detention, if notifying relatives or lawyer will hinder probe .
Activist-artist Ai Weiwei's lawyer says proposed revision has grim implications .
China's mainstream media have run stories saying revisions will help individual rights .
On Twitter-like Weibo, Netizens give proposed revisions a thumbs-down . |
fc8a2854d5e6ea5cb9b4abf82774487380740676 | (CNN) -- Another University of California official expressed dismay about the recent use of pepper spray by police on Occupy Davis protesters. UC Board of Regents chair Sherry Lansing said she was "shocked and appalled" by images of police actions during the protest last week on the campus of University of California Davis. "We regents share your passion and your conviction for the University of California," Lansing said in a video statement released Monday. "And we want all of you to know we fully and unequivocally support your right to protest peacefully." Lansing's statement came the same day that the chancellor of UC Davis made a public apology for the incident. "I am here to apologize," were the first words Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi said through a microphone after climbing onto a small stage erected on the university's "quad" for Occupy supporters. "I really feel horrible for what happened on Friday." Video of police pepper-spraying nonviolent demonstrators at a sitting protest Friday on the UC Davis campus has sparked widespread criticism, including calls for Katehi's resignation. "If you think you don't want to be students in a university like we had on Friday," Katehi said, "I'm just telling you I don't want to be the chancellor of the university we had on Friday." The statement triggered cries of "Resign!" from the crowd. Occupy roundup: A fallout, a silent protest and a new encampment . The university said it has placed two police officers and the police chief on administrative leave in the wake of the incident, while officials investigate officers' use of pepper spray against protesters. Time: Watch video of police pepper-spraying and arresting students . A group of about a dozen protesters sat on a path with their arms interlocked as police moved in to clear out a protest encampment affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement Friday. Most of the protesters had their heads down as a campus police officer walked down the line, spraying them in their faces in a sweeping motion. "I was shocked," Sophia Kamran, one of the protesters subjected to the spray, said Saturday. "When students are sitting on the ground and no way of moving to be violent, being totally peaceful, I don't understand the use of pepper spray against them." The school said 10 protesters arrested were given misdemeanor citations for unlawful assembly and failure to disperse. Eleven were treated for the effects of pepper spray, which burns the eyes and nose, causing coughing, gagging and shortness of breath. The Davis Faculty Association, citing incidents at other campuses, demanded "that the chancellors of the University of California cease using police violence to repress nonviolent political protests." It called for greater attention to cuts in state funding to education and rising tuition. Its board demanded Katehi resign, saying she exhibited "gross failure of leadership." On Saturday, Katehi called the officers' actions "chilling" and said the video "raises many questions about how best to handle situations like this." But she refused calls from faculty members and others for her to step down, saying she did not violate campus policies. CNN's Kara Devlin contributed this report. | The UC Board of Regents chair says she supports the right to protest peacefully .
The UC Davis chancellor apologizes and says she feels "horrible" about the incident .
Video of police pepper-spraying demonstrators sparks widespread criticism .
The school has placed the police chief and two officers on administrative leave . |
fc8ab6a2881f4bc20a032406f5db7b1aee850c51 | (CNN) -- Campus police at the University of South Florida were questioning two men in connection with back-to-back incidents on the school campus Monday. Police take a man into custody at the University of South Florida after receiving reports of a person with a bomb. Investigators were questioning one man following a report of an armed intruder, USF police Lt. Meg Ross said. And a second man was also being questioned following a report of a man carrying a large hunting knife and a puppy, she said. USF police asked the Tampa police's bomb team to respond to the campus regarding a backpack belonging to man in the first incident, said Ross. No one was hurt, she said, and no shots were fired. "We have someone we think may have been involved," Ross told CNN, "but we have to investigate fully." "We have not looked in his backpack," she added. "We have the bomb squad on their way to look at that." Police received a report that a person armed with a bomb and a gun was in the area of the university's library. Authorities later received a report of a subject on a bus in the area of the university's Parking and Transportation Services, Ross said. "We checked the area at the library, did not locate him, but then received a subsequent report of a subject on a bus," she said. The campus stayed on lockdown after police received a report almost immediately after taking the first man into custody of a man wearing a black tank top and a cowboy hat, carrying a knife and a black puppy. "We're questioning him," Ross said. "We do not believe he is related to the first incident with the backpack." Text messages were sent out to 13,000 employees and 45,000 students to warn them after the first incident, and emergency sirens on campus also were activated, officials said. But Ross said that the campus had been given the all-clear, except for the shuttle-bus area -- where the first subject was taken into custody -- while Tampa Police examined the backpack. CNN's Rich Phillips contributed to this report. | Campus police question 2 men after incidents on school campus Monday .
Report of armed intruder on the University of South Florida campus in Tampa, Florida .
Police received a report of person armed with bomb, gun near the library .
USF police say no one was hurt, no shots were fired . |
fc8b5b32fabce5516bbfbfec41a146a2c930d19d | Japanese industrial designer Kenji Ekuan, whose works ranged from a bullet train to the red-capped Kikkoman soy sauce dispenser, has died, aged 85. His office, GK Industrial Design Group, said Monday that Ekuan died of a heart problem at a Tokyo hospital early Saturday. A former monk, Ekuan crafted his iconic tabletop bottle, as familiar as the classic Coca-Cola bottle, for Kikkoman Corp. in 1961. He won international popularity both for the handy, flask-shaped dispenser and of course for the salty brown condiment that flavored many Asian cuisines. Japanese industrial designer Kenji Ekuan, whose works ranged from a bullet train to the red-capped Kikkoman soy sauce dispenser, as familiar as the classic Coca-Cola bottle, has died of a heart problem at a Tokyo hospital early Saturday, aged 85 . Ekuan, who is a former monk, crafted his iconic tabletop soy sauce bottle for Kikkoman Corp. in 1961. He went on to design the Komachi bullet train connecting Tokyo and northern Japan . The Tokyo native has said he wanted to design a small bottle because of his childhood memory of his mother pouring soy sauce from a big half-gallon bottle to a tabletop dispenser. His dispenser has been used ever since, according to the New York Times. More than 300million bottles have been sold worldwide. Other of his renowned works include the Yamaha VMAX motorcycle, the Komachi bullet train connecting Tokyo and northern Japan, the Narita Express airport liner, as well as audio equipment and company logos. His designs originate from the sights of Hiroshima’s devastation after the U.S. atomic bombing of the city 70 years ago. He heard the voices of street cars, bicycles and other objects mangled and abandoned and wished they had been utilized more, he is quoted as saying in a company pamphlet for his Hiroshima exhibit last year. His design principle was a ‘democratization’ of goods and beauty, to make them accessible for everyone. He wanted to become a maker of everyday things. Before entering the design world, however, Ekuan became a monk at a Hiroshima temple to succeed his father, who died due to radiation from the atomic bombing. But he eventually changed his path. He graduated from the prestigious Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1955 and went on to get a degree from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Other of his renowned works include the Yamaha VMAS motorcycle, the Komachi bullet train (pictured) connecting Tokyo and northern Japan, the Narita Express airport liner, as well as audio equipment and company logos . He founded his design studio in 1957, now called GK Design Group, which is made up of twelve firms - four of which are international - that provide product, transportation, environmental and communication design, according to Huffington Post. Last year, Ekuan received a prestigious Italian industrial design prize, the Golden Compass Award, after winning several other international awards. When telling Japan Times about his designs in 2001, he said: 'Design to me has always meant making people happy. 'Happy in the sense of creating items that provide comfort, convenience, function, aesthetics and ethics. 'I used to do a lot of research, fieldwork, wanting to understand the psychology of human needs and response.’ He also designed Yamaha motorcycles, like the one pictured above. His design principle was a ‘democratization’ of goods and beauty, to make them accessible for everyone . Ekuan said he wanted to become a maker of everyday things. He founded his design studio in 1957, now called GK Design Group, which is made up of twelve firms that provide product, transportation, environmental and communication design . | Kenji Ekuan died of a heart problem at a Tokyo hospital early Saturday .
He had success worldwide with his company, GK Industrial Design Group .
His goal as a designer was to be a maker of everyday things .
Before becoming an industrial designer he, like his father, was a monk .
The Tokyo native based soy sauce design off of dispenser his mother used . |
fc8b7db4d7bf0e5847bc39a9c32621b3c3b031a1 | By . Snejana Farberov . Awkward: NFL commentator and Hall of Famer Warren Sapp found himself at the center of a controversy after he failed to leave a tip for a waitress in Florida citing bad service . NFL Hall of Famer Warren Sapp has come under fire for stiffing a waitress at a Florida sports bar Tuesday - but the former player insists he didn't tip the server only because the service was terrible. The kerfuffle over Sapp's tipping habits erupted after a photo of his receipt from Upper Deck Ale and Sports Grille in Hallandale with a '0' scrawled where the tip was supposed to go went viral on social media. To add insult to injury, the famed defensive tackle scrawled across the printout: 'Boys don't tip.' On his Twitter page Wednesday, Mr Sapp defended his actions, writing that he decided to withhold gratuity on his bill totaling just under $70 because his server repeatedly called him and his companion 'boys.' 'No waitress will ever call me a boy twice after the 1st time & I say to her "when u look at me do u see a boy?" #HenceBoysDontTip' he tweeted to his 1.09million followers. Sapp, 41, an analyst for NFL Network, headed to Upper Deck bar in Hallandale Tuesday afternoon to watch the epic World Cup match between Team USA and Belgium. The 6-foot-2, 300-pound Hall of Famer and a friend ordered a pizza, a Reuben sandwich, a platter of wings, a bowl of crab soup and a bucket of beer, which came out to be $69.39. Scroll down for video . Written proff: ESPN's Darren Rovell obtained Sapp's $69.39 bill from Upper Deck Ale and Sports Grille featuring Sapp's message to a server named Corey . In his own words: Sapp tweeted to his followers that he became upset after the server repeatedly called him a boy . Sapp was supposed to leave a minimum of $10.40, but the waitress named Corey came away from the transaction empty-handed. According to the stamp on the receipt, Sapp asked for the check at 3.20pm, about 40 minutes before the start of the game. He later explained on Twitter that he took off early because the 'service was worst.' On Wednesday, the waitress spoke out for the first time since the tip-gate, offering her side of the story. Corey D'Agata, 26, told radio host Andy Slater at 940 WINZ in Miami that she did nothing to offend the legendary football player, Larry Brown Sports reported. ‘We were busy. I walked over to his table. It was him and one other guy and I just said, “Hey, boys, what can I get you to drink?” and he stopped me right there,’ D’Agata recounted. ‘He said, “We’re not boys, I’m a man.” So then I called him “sugar” and “honey.”’ Game day lunch: Sapp and a friend headed to the Hallandale sports bar to watch the World Cup match between the U.s. and Belgium and get a bite to eat . The bar worker said that she was not aware that the term ‘boys’ could be seen as offensive by someone, adding that when she serves female patrons she usually addresses them as ‘girls’ or ‘ladies.’ D'Agata has challenged Sapp’s assertion that the service at the eatery was so bad that he was forced to leave, telling the radio host that he stayed at the bar for the game and took off about an hour after Belgium beat the U.S.2-1. Addressing the matter of the leaked receipt, the 26-year-old blamed her sister for sharing a snapshot of the bill she had sent to her in private on Facebook, where it spread like wildfire before it became a viral hit on Twitter thanks to ESPN's Darren Rovell. He said, she said: The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle insisted that the service at the bar was bad, but the waitress, Corey D'Agata disputed his claims, saying that he did not have a word of complaint . Twitter users were split in their reaction to Sapp's decision to take a stand over the waitress' use of the term 'boys,' with some defending his tight-fisted move while others calling him out for stiffing the server. Shaun King, Sapp’s former teammate on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, told TMZ Sports that the 41-year-old analyst is an excellent tipper so long as the service is good. Meanwhile, Corey D'Agata’s manager at Upper Deck told TMZ Wednesday that the employee will be reprimanded, but he would not say if she stands to lose her job over the incident. | Sapp, 41, withheld gratuity on $69.39 bill at Upper Deck Ale and Sports Grille in Hallandale, Florida, during U.S.-Belgium World Cup match .
The NFL commentator tweeted that he was upset his server called him a 'boy,' but waitress Corey D'Agata insisted she didn't know it was offensive . |
fc8b9ae80498461daec0dd1ccc2f6e00404f3f33 | By . Lizzie Parry . PUBLISHED: . 08:30 EST, 8 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 09:00 EST, 8 January 2014 . Nadia Lee, dubbed the 'Pigeon lady of Pimlico' has been found guilty of flouting an Asbo banning her from feeding the birds in her exclusive neighbourhood . A pensioner nicknamed the ‘Pigeon Lady of Pimlico’ has been found guilty of flouting an ASBO banning her from feeding the birds near her home. Nadia Lee, 67, spent 25 years fattening pigeons in the exclusive London borough, much to the dismay of locals. She became renowned for scooping stricken birds up into her Gucci handbag and taking them to her £750,000 Georgian maisonette where they are rubbed in lavender in a ‘homeopathy treatment.’ But Lee was slapped with the ASBO after neighbours complained their luxury cars were being peppered with droppings and said the feed was encouraging rats. Westminster City Council took action in December 2011, banning her from feeding birds in the local area for three years. But Lee was found to have breached the order on October 14, 2012. A jury at Southwark Crown Court were unable to agree on two further alleged breaches in July 2012, which were discharged. Lee, who suffers from multiple personality disorder, was deemed unfit to plead to the charges. Adjourning sentence for reports, Judge Martin Beddoe said: ‘ASBO or no ASBO, it’s going to be a condition of her bail not to discharge any food stuff in any public place, covered by the area as identified in the existing order.’ Addressing Lee, the judge said: ‘Regressing into a different personality is one thing that has rendered you at least temporarily unfit to be tried, but the extent which you can control your behaviour is another issue. ‘I’m not satisfied there is any evidence you can’t control this behaviour and the court expects you to control it.’ Privately educated Lee, a former secretary and pilot’s daughter, appeared crestfallen as the ruling was passed. Wearing a bright blue scarf, black fleece jacket, jeans and trainers, she sat in stunned silence before being accompanied out of the court by a friend. Lee, who suffers multiple personality disorder, was given the ASBO in December 2011 by Westminster Council . Residents in Cumberland Street, Pimlico complained their luxury cars were being peppered with bird droppings, and said the food was attracting rats . When the ASBO was originally granted, Lee said she had turned into a self-styled ‘bin lady’ after her mother’s death two decades ago. Seven residents and two council officials told how they were unable to enjoy the roof terraces and gardens of their multi-million pound homes because of pigeon dirt. One neighbour, Austen Iverleigh, complained: ‘She generates squalor on an industrial scale. ‘Whenever I have spoken to her, she has been very polite and I am sure that in any other respect, she is a very nice and reasonable person. ‘The problem is the feeding of pigeons on a huge scale, which causes serious disturbance to those around her. I have seen rats in her basement.’ Lee said she catches the pigeons with a net, which she carries with her, . before taking them home. She said: 'If they are too injured, I take . them to a pigeon sanctuary. I love them and they depend on me because I . have raised them all their lives . Egyptian-born Lee told the court: ‘You cannot rescue pigeons without putting down seed and getting them all together. ‘I then catch them in a net, which I carry with me everywhere I go. ‘Then I put them in Gucci bags hanging off my Mamas & Papas pram. I take them home and take the string off their feet, rub them in lavender and treat them with homeopathy. ‘If they are too injured, I take them to a pigeon sanctuary. I love them and they depend on me because I have raised them all their lives.’ Lee, of Pimlico, will be sentenced on February 4. | Nadia Lee was banned from feeding pigeons in the street in December 2011 .
Westminster Council took action after neighbours complained their cars were being peppered with bird droppings .
67-year-old Lee said she rescues the birds, taking them to a pigeon sanctuary in her designer handbag .
Lee will be sentenced on February 4 after being spotted feeding the birds . |
fc8c030497f36baaf33633f76c835fb9d22755b5 | A Canadian judge was left stumped when faced with a tangled family feud stemming from a grisly throat-slashing incident on a Caribbean vacation. Cathy Clayson, a bank manager from Ajax, has accused her estranged husband, Paul Martin, of attacking her with a hooked gutting knife, strangling her and leaving her for dead along a dirt road in Montego Bay, Jamaica, in December 2010. Martin, a 47-year-old school teacher, was acquitted in Jamaica three years ago of wound with intent after spending four months in prison. He said, she sad: Paul Martin (right), 47, was acquitted in Jamaica in 2011 of attempting to kill his wife, Cathy Clayson (left), who is now suing him in civil court in Canada . The husband has maintained his innocence, claiming that his wife attacked him first and injured her own neck in the melee. Last year, Clayson, 38, filed a civil lawsuit against her husband seeking a divorce, more than $300,000 in damages, custody of their two children, ages 6 and 9, an end to Martin's visitation rights and a declaration that her husband had tried to kill her on December 23, 2010. But according to his ruling handed down late last month, Ontario Superior Court Justice Roger Timms could make neither heads nor tails of the couple's puzzling case. 'The parties have both told too many lies. They have both distorted and exaggerated the truth too often,' Timms wrote in his decision from December 30 cited by Toronto Star. 'They have both said too many nonsensical and illogical things.' The judge did suggest that the evidence supports Martin's version of events, and that nothing points to a premeditated attack. Grisly getaway: Clayson claimed Martin (pictured) took her to a secluded spot in Montego Bay on the last day of their 2010 vacation and slashed her twice across her throat . After sidestepping the issue of the attempted murder, Timms granted Clayson full custody of their two children but ruled that Martin should have equal and unsupervised access . Justice Timms' ruling came five months after the conclusion of the civil trial in Oshawa, during which Martin chose to represent himself and at one point cross-examined his estranged wife, marking their first encounter since the alleged attack on the last day of their ill-fated tropical getaway. Cathy Clayson has since retained high-powered attorney Marie Henein, who also represents disgraced former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi in his sex abuse case. Last week, Henein filed an appeal on Clayson's behalf claiming that Justice Timms was biased against the woman. The notice of appeal alleges that Timms ‘misapprehended material facts’ and ‘minimized and justified the numerous inconsistencies and exaggerations’ in Martin’s evidence. During the trial in May, Clayson recounted in court how on December 18, 2010, she and Martin decided to travel to an all-inclusive resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, even though their marriage was on the brink of collapse. On the final day of their vacation, with only three hours left before their flight home, Clayson said her husband insisted they drive to a remote spot to take pictures on a cliff. According to Clayson, Martin pulled over their rental car on a secluded dirt road, took out a hooked knife and slashed her twice across the throat, opening a 4-inch gash. A struggle ensued inside the car, during which the married school teacher allegedly attempted to strangle his wounded spouse. He then left her for dead on the side of the road and headed to a police station, where he claimed the couple had been robbed by bandits. During the trial in May, Clayson recounted in court how on December 18, 2010, she and Martin decided to travel to an all-inclusive resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, even though their marriage was on the brink of collapse . He's at a loss: Canadian Justice Roger Timms wrote in December 30 decision the couple told too many lies, making it impossible to determine what happened . Martin later changed his story, accusing Clayson of attacking him first and injuring her own throat in the process. A Good Samartian discovered Cathy Clayson and took her to the hospital. In his decision partially siding with Martin, Judge Timms wrote that a forensic expert found no blood in any section of the backseat of the rental car, even though Clayson was bleeding from her neck, and that it was 'impossible' for her to get a cut on the inside of her thumb while shielding her neck from the blade with her hand. | Paul Martin, 47, was acquitted in Jamaica in 2011 of attempting to kill his wife, Cathy Clayson .
Clayson claimed Martin took her to a secluded spot in Montego Bay on the last day of their 2010 vacation and slashed her twice across her throat .
Martin said his wife and mother of their two children attacked him first and injured herself in the melee .
Canadian Justice Roger Timms wrote in December 30 decision the couple told too many lies, making it impossible to determine what happened .
Clayson took her husband to civil court seeking $300,000 in damages, full custody of their kids and a declaration that Martin had tried to kill her . |
fc8c0633d5f42e455e528c9974688645b59a3cab | A Chicago man who served 32 years in . prison before being declared innocent in the 1980 rape and murder of a . 3-year-old girl is now facing a new murder charge. DNA evidence prompted the 2012 release of Andre Davis and an innocence declaration in the death of Brianna Stickle of Rantoul. Davis was charged Thursday in the 2013 death of Jamal Harmon. Chicago man Andre Davis, who served 32 years in prison before being declared innocent in the 1980 rape and murder of a 3-year-old girl, is now facing a new murder charge . The 53-year-old Davis is jailed without bond. NBC Chicago reports that roughly 15 months after Davis' release, Harmon was attending a party hosted by Davis' nephew at about 3 a.m. Prosecutors say the 19-year-old Harmon got into a dispute with Davis' nephew over money lost in a dice game. Assistant State's Attorney . Robert Mack said the nephew shot and wounded Harmon, and Davis later cut . the man's throat and dumped his body in an alley. A witness later told police Harmon had made sounds after being shot, letting them know he was still alive. Andre Davis, right, pictured hugging his father Richard Davis inside the Tamms Correctional Center before his release in 2012, is accused of killing a man over a dice game . The unnamed witness and Davis then carried Harmon's body to the trunk of a Cadillac, and Davis drove off telling people he was going to find a place to dump the corpse. The body was found later that day in an alley. Authorities say Harmon suffered three gunshot wounds to the face, lower neck, and left armpit. He had also been stabbed four times. Davis told one witness he cut Harmon's throat, according to prosecutors. In addition to the 1980 case, Davis has faced attempted murder, aggravated battery and weapons charges. | Andre Davis was freed in the 1980 rape and murder of a 3-year-old girl after being cleared by DNA evidence .
Authorities claim he shot and stabbed Jamal Harmon 15 months after being released .
Davis, 53, is being held without bond . |
fc8c0e128c966223184d91995e3616c617fbeec9 | NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (CNN) -- A quiet rendition of "Amazing Grace" capped an emotional candlelight vigil Monday night for slain Yale University student Annie Le, whose body was found on what was to have been her wedding day. Students at Yale attend a candlelight vigil for Annie Le Monday night. Several hundred people turned out on the Yale campus for the vigil, crying and hugging each other. Le's roommate, Natalie Powers, said the 24-year-old graduate student in pharmacology "was as good a human being as you'd ever hope to meet." "She was also really tenacious and had a sense of humor that was never far away, and she was tougher than you'd think by just looking at her," Powers said. "That this horrible tragedy happened at all is incomprehensible. But that it happened to her I think is infinitely more so. It seems completely senseless." Connecticut state medical examiners announced Monday that the body found in a Yale medical research building over the weekend was that of Le, who had been missing for nearly a week. Her body was found Sunday hidden in a basement wall. Bloody clothes were found hidden above tiles in a drop ceiling elsewhere in the same building, investigators said. Le was last seen entering the building Tuesday morning. Thomas Kaplan, editor-in-chief of the Yale Daily News, said Le "really had everything going for her." "She was a top scholar. She was very outgoing, a warm person," Kaplan said. "You know, she was diminutive in stature, but certainly not in personality. And that's what I think just makes this so sad for everyone, regardless of whether you knew her. It's just a tragedy." Le's death is being investigated as a homicide, but Connecticut medical examiners released no further information beyond the identification. A candlelight vigil in her honor was scheduled for Monday evening on the campus. A Yale professor said on Monday that the building has good security and only certain people can enter, let alone access certain areas. Professor Gary Rudnick, who interviewed Le when she applied for admission to the graduate program in pharmacology, said it gives him the sense that there could be a "murderer among us." No suspects are in custody, but investigators are questioning several people in the case, New Haven Police spokesman Joe Avery said. Watch a report about the case » . Kaplan said Le's killing has left Yale students shocked and wary. "Only Yalies had access to that basement, and that seems to point to someone in our community being involved in this," Kaplan said. "That's what is so frightening." Authorities have not described the clothes that were found, nor said to whom they may have belonged. Teams of investigators at a Connecticut State Police lab worked through the weekend processing and examining the blood-stained clothes. Kaplan said a Yale police official told the newspaper the clothes were not what Le was wearing when she entered the building. At a meeting Monday for members of the campus community, Yale officials discussed security and provided an update on the investigation. A faculty member and a student who attended the meeting told CNN that Yale officials said police have narrowed down suspects. Security cameras captured video of Le as she entered the four-story lab building at 10 Amistad Street, about 10 blocks from the main campus, six days ago. After poring over hours of surveillance tapes, authorities said they had not found images of her leaving the building. Rudnick described security in the building as "very good." It had restricted access, and simply having a Yale ID card was not enough to get in, he said. Within the building, one had to have special access to enter certain areas, he said. Le was to be married Sunday on New York's Long Island to Jonathan Widawsky, a graduate student at Columbia University. "Annie has been planning this wedding for over a year with John, and she was very excited. She's been doing a countdown to her wedding day," Jennifer Simpson, a friend in Sacramento, told the CBS "Early" show. "She was doing weather patterns to make sure that the weather would be perfect on her wedding day. She just wanted everything to be perfect, everything down to table napkins, to flowers. Annie was very, very excited about this day." Investigators searched a waste facility Sunday that normally handles garbage from the Yale lab, said William Reiner of the FBI's New Haven office. The search took place at the Resources Recovery Authority landfill in Hartford, near New Haven. "In a situation like this, it's common for us to follow the trash," Reiner said. Yale University President Richard Levin, in a statement to the campus community, said, "Our hearts go out to Annie Le's family, fiancé and friends." The school sent out information Monday from Vice President and Secretary Linda Lorimer saying, "We are cooperating in all possible ways with the police to ensure they find every shred of physical evidence in the building so they can solve this horrible crime without delay. When the building does reopen, there will be extra security both inside and outside the facility for the foreseeable future." Lorimer added, "To augment the substantial security already in place at the Medical School, Yale moved last week to increase security and police patrols on the streets in the area and to add a new bicycle patrol. Yale also added security personnel inside Sterling Hall of Medicine, where Annie Le had her lab." The school has made grief counselors available, as well as a 24-hour help line number. "The university chaplain's office is available to offer pastoral counseling and can put members of the community in contact with those of many faiths and denominations," the message from Lorimer said. Le, a resident of Placerville, California, seemed to have been well aware of the risks of crime in a university town. In February, she compared crime and safety at Yale to other Ivy League schools for a piece for B magazine, published by the medical school. Among the tips she offered: Keep a minimum amount on your person. And she practiced what she preached, Simpson told the "Early" show. "Annie always made sure she was safe," Simpson said. "She doesn't walk around at night by herself. If she had to work late, she would make sure someone could come pick her up or walk with her." When she walked over to the research building on Tuesday, she left her purse, credit cards and cell phone in her office. Vanessa Flores, Le's former roommate, wondered whether the magazine article had something to do with Le's death. "The only thing I can possibly think of right now is maybe a psychopath, an antisocial person who -- I don't know -- maybe got upset about what she wrote about back in February about not being safe, and just kind of wanted to prove her wrong." Le, originally from California, graduated from Union Mine High School in 2003, where she was named "Best of the Best," and "Most Likely To Be The Next Einstein." "She was very smart, well-rounded, liked by peers and very involved in school," high school principal Tony DeVille told CNN affiliate WFSB. Le set the bar high for herself, writing in her profile for the National Institutes of Health that she was interested in studying and researching regenerative medicine and hoped to remain working at at NIH or become a professor. Her friends remembered her as one of the nicest people they had ever met. Laurel Griffeath, a high school friend, told NBC's "Today" show in Le had a beaming personality matched with impressive intelligence, a girl who "had it all." "Annie was just an amazing person, and I know that when tragedies happen, people always say that, but she truly was," Griffeath told the "Today" show. "She was probably the most brilliant person I've ever met in my life, but what made her more amazing was that there was an intersection of intelligence and personality and ability and she worked hard and she was great with people and she cared about people and she was funny and she didn't sacrifice one part of her life for another like a lot of people kind of seem to. "She just really kind of had it all. She was really amazing." CNN's Susan Candiotti, Mary Snow and LaNeice Collins contributed to this report. | NEW: Roommate says horrible tragedy is "incomprehensible"
Grad student Annie Le's remains found Sunday in basement wall in building .
Le, 24, was last seen entering the building Tuesday morning .
Police: No suspects in custody, but investigators questioning several people . |
fc8c21bddeff75a6101a012a1e7d9676c7061c92 | In 2012, audiences were shocked by the graphic violence and gore featured in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, the story of a freed slave who sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner. Now British-born director Steve McQueen, who won critical praise for Shame (2011), and its unflinching look at sex addiction, is dividing viewers with a new film about the horrors of slavery. The movie, 12 Years a Slave, is adapted from Solomon Northup's memoir of the same name, which recounts his harrowing experiences after being separated from his family and sold into bondage. Scroll down for video . Difficult viewing: The sight of slaves being brutalised and chained proved too much for some audience members . A scene from 12 Years a Slave, which takes an unflinching approach to the suffering of American slaves . Northup, born a free African . American, was taken prisoner in 1841 by so-called circus owners who . lured him with a fake job offer. He was drugged, then transported to New Orleans, and sold as a slave to a plantation owner from Louisiana. The . film, which will hit screens in October, stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as . Northup. The all-star cast also includes Benedict Cumberbatch as . Northup's first master, and Michael Fassbender on horrifying form as his . second. Brad Pitt, who also notched up a production credit, features as . a grizzled abolitionist. It caused a sensation at the Toronto . Film Festival this weekend when some viewers were so shocked that they . left the screening - but others were moved to tears and gave the film a . 10-minute standing ovation. Ejiofor, . who is already being tipped for an Oscar, says the film's darkness is . integral to its sombre subject matter - and points to the goodness at . its heart. Savage: The film's most shocking scenes include hangings, murder and torture, including a 10-minute whipping scene . Human tragedy: The film charts Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor)'s struggle to survive and return to his family . Chiwetel Ejiofor (left) says the story is one of 'beauty and hope and human respect' as well as gruesome violence . 'Solomon's story is full of . [violence] but also full of beauty and hope and human respect and . dignity,' he told The Independent on Sunday. 'With [director] Steve there to guide it, we weren't afraid to explore all that, and go to those dark places.' To get to the heart of Northup's . agony, McQueen aims to convey the monstrous indignity and injustice of . slavery. In one bloody scene, the protagonist is beaten 15 times with a . bat before being whipped by his captors. Slaves are shown being hanged, murdered and lashed - including by each other, on their masters' orders. Critics expect the bold film to score Oscar nominations in multiple categories, including Best Picture. Director Steve McQueen (left) elicits great commitment from his cast, but some viewers have winced at his film's brutal scenes. Michael Fassbender (right) gives a powerful performance as a cruel plantation owner. Powerful performance: Chiwetel Ejiofor, left, and a guest arrive at the premiere for 12 Years a Slave. The actor has emerged as a frontrunner for an Oscar nod. British actor Ejiofor is seen as a . dead cert for a best actor nod, while McQueen could be up for best . director and Michael Fassbender . for best supporting actor. Beautiful Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o has also impressed critics with her role as a cotton picker brutalised by her master. McQueen told audiences at Toronto Film Festival he was driven by a desire to depict the truth about pre-abolition America. 'I wanted to see that story on film,' he said. 'It's that simple.' Beautiful Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o (left) impressed critics with her role as a cotton picker, while Sarah Paulson (right) plays the jealous wife of the plantation owner who becomes sexually obsessed with her. McQueen compared his source, . Northup's book, to The Diaries of Anne Frank, saying: 'I was upset with . myself that I didn't know this book and then I realised no one I knew . knew about it. No one. 'As . soon as [my wife] put it in my hand I didn't let it go, it was just . remarkable. I had an idea and then you see it in your hand as a book. Amazing.' Addressing comparisons to Tarantino's Django, the director said the timing of the two films was a coincide. Pictured at the Toronto premiere, Brad Pitt (left) plays an abolitionist in the film, while Benedict Cumberbatch (right) takes the role of Solomon Northup's first slave owner. He recalled bumping into Tarantino recently, saying: 'He said, "I hope that it's okay to have more than one slavery film." 'I said, "Of course, it's like having more than one gangster movie or having more than one western." 'They're two different movies about slavery.' A job well done: (From left) Actors Sarah Paulson, Alfre Woodard, Chiwetel Ejiofor, director Steve McQueen, Michael Fassbender and Lupita Nyong'o of 12 Years A Slave . | Some viewers walked out of 12 Years a Slave due to the violent scenes .
But critics at the Toronto Film Festival gave film a standing ovation .
It is now tipped to win multiple Oscars, including best actor and director . |
fc8c37b8d4149c3e26e5722b5f150f25447427f6 | Britons are falling out of love with plastic surgery. The number of men and women going under the knife fell by almost 10 per cent last year – the biggest drop on record. Much of the slump can be explained by women turning their backs on boob jobs. The annual audit of members of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons shows that demand for breast enlargements has fallen by almost a quarter. Fall in procedures: Surgeons say the breast implant scandal has made people think more carefully having surgery for purely cosmetic reasons . Surgeons say the breast implant scandal in which tens of thousands of women were given cut-price breast implants filled with silicone meant for mattresses has made people think more carefully having surgery for purely cosmetic reasons. Men are also paying for fewer enhancements than in the past – perhaps because the pinched and pulled metrosexual look is no longer in fashion. BAAPS members carried out 45,406 operations last year – almost 5,000 fewer than the previous year. Some 41,364 of the ops were carried out on women – a 9 per cent fall. This was driven by a 23 per cent drop in the number of breast enlargements. In 2014, just 8,609 women had the operation – compared with 11,135 in 2013. And many of those that did have the op choose smaller implants that gave a more natural look. With celebrities such as Jordan, who made her name on the strength of her surgically enhanced bust, also down-sizing, the days of ‘pumped up’ cleavage seem to be numbered. The number of women having nose jobs, tummy tucks, brow lifts and ear corrections has also fallen. Fall: The number of procedures undergone by women in 2014 was 9 per cent less than 2013 . However, there has been a 10 per cent increase in the amount of liposuction done. Some 4,042 men had cosmetic surgery last year – a 15 per cent drop on 2013. Strikingly, the figures for all ten most popular ops fell or remained static. Nose jobs, the most popular procedure for men in 2013, fell by 30 per cent. And the number of operations to reduce male breasts or ‘moobs’ dropped by 10 per cent. Eyelid surgery, in which tired, puffy and overhanging skin is removed, is now the most top reason for men going under the knife – but even it is less in demand than in the past. The lack of male interest has been attributed to changing tastes, with the primped and preened metrosexual look falling out of fashion and manly, rugged races growing in popularity. Surgeons say that women too are taking a more natural approach. Rajiv Grover, former president of BAAPS, said: ‘Aesthetic preferences evolve naturally over time. ‘2014 saw men sporting bushy beards and women bushy eyebrow, as well as a number of “enhanced” celebrities downgrade their implant sizes. ‘In cosmetic surgery, the natural, less-is-more look is definitely on the rise, as patients opt to be “tweaked” rather than “tucked”.’ However, they admit that people are also much more safety conscious. Jackie Lewis, a consultant plastic surgeon at the Cromwell Hospital, in London, said that the breast implant scandal ‘really did frighten people’. As a result, prospective patients are doing more research into the potential risks. Mrs Lewis said: ‘I think people are much more aware of the things that could possibly go wrong. ‘People are a lot more informed and sensible now, which is a good thing.’ BAAPS members do around a third of Britain’s cosmetic surgery, so the true number of operations carried out in 2014 will be around 140,000. | Surgeons say breast implant scandal made women think more carefully .
Men also having fewer procedures as metrosexual look wanes in fashion .
Last year BAAPS members carried out 5,000 fewer operation than in 2013 . |
fc8c49fe747681caf65be22e9b667f26c6f9cd45 | By . Rebecca Seales . PUBLISHED: . 10:08 EST, 26 April 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 11:15 EST, 26 April 2012 . British war heroes wounded in Afghanistan have been honoured . for their bravery in battle by a tribe of Native American Indians. A group of injured servicemen - many of whom lost limbs . fighting the Taliban - had their wounds brushed with a sacred healing feather . and were given a 21-gun salute during a unique ceremony at the Grand Canyon. Elders of the ancient Hualapai tribe in Nevada told the . heroes: 'We are warriors who fought for our freedom. You are warriors . too.' Honoured: Native American Rudy Clark used a Hualapai 'healing feather' on the British war heroes during a ceremony at the Grand Canyon . The group were presented with flags and witnessed a special . tribal dance before posing for photos with their fellow braves on the famous . 'Sky Walk' platform, 4000ft above the Colorado River. Private Alex Stringer, 21, who lost three limbs in an IED . blast in Helmand Province, was among the group, which included guardsmen Colum . McGeown, 28, and Daniel Gill, 24, both of whom lost their lower limbs. Native American Rudy Clark, who as the grandson of a war . chief has the right to speak for the Hualapai Nation (pronounced Walapai), told . them: 'Like you, we are a proud people.' The dream trip was organised by Polo For Heroes, a sister . charity of Help For Heroes. The Britons were mobbed by well-wishers at the . Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, where they were joined by former boxing champ . Steve Collins (a charity trustee) at a gala dinner with American war veterans. Arron Dindyal, 29, formerly of the Royal Anglian . Regiment, says initiatives like Polo For Heroes, which raises funds through polo . events, play a vital role in helping the injured. Mr Dindyal suffered internal injuries and damage to his spine . during a mortar attack in Basra in 2005. Warm welcome: British war hero Alex Stringer is greeted by Hualapai Native Americans at the Polo For Heroes event . He said: 'I have lost all of my large intestine, most . of my small intestine and some of the organs around there including part of the . spleen and part of the stomach. 'Before I was injured I boxed in the regiment and went . running for seven or eight miles every day. To go from that to having colostomy . bags and pipes coming out of you - it shatters your confidence. 'It knocked me for six and I ended up splitting from my . wife for about a year because I couldn't deal with my own mental health. Trips . like this one have helped me get a lot off my chest and to speak about the . demons that I hadn't spoken about before. 'Now I am back with my wife and things have never been . as good. We have two children and another one on the way.' Warriors: The Brits were given a 21-gun salute by their hosts during the unique ceremony . Native American Rudy Clark welcomes the group. He told them: 'We are warriors who fought for our freedom. You are warriors too.' The group of servicemen, which included veterans from Iraq as . well as Afghanistan, will return to the UK today. Mr Dindyal added: 'There are guys on this trip who are . missing limbs and they will tell you, "I knew I got hit, but I didn't feel . pain." Your body shuts it off. 'If all hell breaks loose, you know you have got to . finish your job. That is drummed in during training. That's what helps a lot of . military guys survive.' British Army Captain Andy Haines, the senior UK military . representative on the trip, said: 'It has been an honour and a humbling . experience. The American veterans and the civilian population welcomed us . everywhere we went. 'I can only express how proud I am of all the soldiers, . Royal Marines and Royal Navy personnel. They've suffered extreme pain in their . lives yet they were happy and relaxed.' Polo For Heroes event director Gary Doggett added: 'These young men are a credit to their country.' Brothers in arms: The visitors join their Native American hosts for a photograph at the Grand Canyon 'Sky Walk' | Hero servicemen received a 21-gun salute and were brushed with a sacred 'healing feather'
Hualapai tribal elders: 'We are warriors who fought for our freedom. You are warriors .
too.' |
fc8c86cb4f8045b377fc39693953175fe40f533e | Burnley’s talismanic forward Danny Ings has pledged to remain at the club until the end of the season. The forward’s contract is due to expire at the end of this season and a number of clubs are understood to be interested in attempting to prise Ings away from Turf Moor in the January transfer window. Ings produced another eye-catching performance during’s Burnley’s remarkable 2-2 draw at Manchester City on Sunday and Newcastle United, Southampton, Leicester City, West Bromwich Albion and German side Wolfsburg have all been credited with an interest in the England Under 21 striker. Danny Ings has impressed during his first season in the Premier League . Although Ings is less committal over his plans beyond the end of this season, he insists that he is going nowhere for now and that his focus remains on preserving Burnley’s Premier League status. ‘That was the plan,’ Ings said, ‘I’m contracted until the end of the season and that’s the way it’s going to be. Now I can fight for the team as much as I can and do my best for them.’ The 22-year-old forward, who has been watched extensively by England scouts this season, also maintained he will not be distracted by any offers that may come his way in January. Ings has been linked with a number of Premier League clubs in recent weeks . ‘I won’t be looking at that. I will just take that sign as confidence and take it into my game and do as well as I can for Burnley. ‘Especially for a young lad, it’s quite easy to lose concentration for some people. But I’m not that sort of character. I’ve got a job here to do at Burnley and am contracted until the end of the season - and that’s the way it’s going to be.’ Burnley remain in the relegation zone but only courtesy of goal difference after a recent revival that has seen Sean Dyche’s lose only three of their last nine league games. The 22-year-old's contract expires at the end of this season but insists he will not leave in January . Burnley’s fitness has received particular acclaim after Dyche named an unchanged team for both the Boxing Day match against Liverpool and the draw at City, with the manager also electing not to make a substitution on Sunday. ‘We train as we play on a weekend,’ Ings explains, ‘You can’t just flick a switch and expect to perform, especially in this league. | Danny Ings has impressed during his first year in the Premier League .
The striker has been attracting interest from a number of top-flight clubs .
Ings is entering the final six months of his contract at Turf Moor .
But he has pledged to stay at the club for the remainder of the season . |
fc8d1dafc8f05ba049374541d4bd13734b661774 | By . Ian Parkes, Press Association . Lewis Hamilton heads into Formula One's summer break with a smile on his face after believing he has proven himself in times of adversity. Hamilton could have been cut severely adrift of Mercedes team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg in the championship standings following disastrous qualifying sessions in the last two races. But from 20th on the grid in the German Grand Prix following a brake disc failure, and a pit-lane start in Hungary on Sunday in the wake of a fire sparked by a fuel leak, Hamilton battled through to third on both occasions. Time for a toast: Lewis Hamilton did well to find himself on the podium in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday . Close: Hamilton fought off Mercedes and championship rival Nico Rosberg to secure third place . With eight races of the campaign remaining come F1's resumption in Belgium in three weeks' time, Hamilton's deficit to Rosberg is only 11 points. Hamilton has used the phrase 'damage limitation' all too often this season, but is able to head away on holiday relieved to still be in the hunt for motor sport's prized crown. 'We've had some difficult weekends throughout this season, but if I'm honest, looking back at it now, I wouldn't want it any other way,' said Hamilton on the team's official website. 'Sometimes it's nice to have things easy, but I love a challenge and I love a fight. It's not the times of ease that show who you are - it's the times of adversity. 'I definitely feel like the tough breaks I've had this year have made me stronger, and hopefully I've shown I've got heart. 'To have taken two podiums from two difficult weekends before the break has been really satisfying. 'More than that, it allows me to smile and enjoy this time off knowing I still have an opportunity to fight for this championship.' Hamilton has revealed his holiday time will combine lazing on a beach with working out at the gym, the latter to put on extra muscle lost earlier this season to accommodate the new weight regulations. The recent removal from all cars of a particular suspension system will allow Hamilton 'to bulk up a bit'. Beyond that, it will then be full-attack mode from Hamilton for the final eight races in which he will be hoping for more luck when it comes to reliability. Fight until the end: Rosbeg currently leads by 11 points with eight fascinating races remaining . Spinning off: Hamilton seems to be at ease with his car once again after some questionable recent laps . 'I'm happy with our performance so far this year in terms of the pace we have in the car,' added Hamilton. 'The team have done a great job with that. We just need to work on the reliability, and I know that's the priority for everyone back at the factories. 'I have to say, though, over the last two weekends in Germany and Hungary in particular, the guys have been amazing. 'It's tough for everyone involved when reliability comes into play. 'To see these issues happen after all the long hours and hard work they've put in, I know it hurts them as much as it hurts me. 'To then fight through, get the car back together, get me out there and not give up or lose hope, I can't thank them enough for everything they do and that's what's going to keep me going right through this year. 'There's still a long, long way to go and I know both the guys and myself will keep pushing right to the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi. 'We'll be back stronger than ever in Spa.' Talking it over: Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo came out victorious in the final GP before the mid-season break . Meanwhile, Felipe Massa is convinced Williams can push Mercedes all the way when Formula One returns from its summer break. Williams have been a revelation this year, scoring almost as many points in the first 11 races as they have managed in the previous . four years following the introduction of the new scoring system. Unfortunately for Massa, in his first year with the team after many seasons of service with Ferrari, the Brazilian has been plagued by bad luck . and involved in a number of incidents. It means Massa has scored only 40 of Williams' 135 points in total, compared to the 95 for team-mate Valtteri Bottas. But the 33-year-old has no doubt he and Williams can deliver over the final eight races, in particular in the opening two in Belgium and Italy where the power circuits of Spa and Monza should play to the car's strengths. Keeping cool: Felipe Massa believes Williams can compete with Mercedes when Formula One returns . 'I'm sure we can have a very good second half of the season looking at the behaviour of the car until now,' said Massa. 'Spa and Monza should suit us, maybe Austin and Brazil, and in the last race in Abu Dhabi there are some good straights. 'The car can be competitive at many tracks, not just Spa and Monza, but maybe at those two we can be stronger than the others. 'It won't be easy, but it's not impossible that at these tracks we will have more of a chance against Mercedes.' | Lewis Hamilton just 11 points behind Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg .
British driver finished third in Hungarian Grand Prix last Sunday .
Comfortable in car, insists he can push on to win championship .
Felipe Massa believes Williams will be competitive again upon restart . |
fc8d3fade04c234b4612e1ef4e1bb3608dfa37c8 | (CNN) -- Zlatan Ibrahimovic may have cost Paris Saint-Germain $30 million, but you can get your own chunk of the Swedish striker for just $41. A French restaurateur has unveiled "Le Zlatan", a monstrous 600 gram burger served up in homage to the moody PSG star. While the real life Ibrahimovic can boast eight league titles in four different countries, his meaty equivalent is a mixture of minced beef and onions, bacon and three types of cheeses. The stomach-busting meal is the brainchild of Jean-Philippe Grandin, manager of Doddy's Cafe in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris and an ardent PSG fan. "We have a lot of homemade burgers on the menu, but I wanted to invent an extraordinary burger," Grandin told CNN. "I am a supporter of Paris Saint-Germain and at the restaurant we show all of the PSG matches." Coming inside a chunky custom-made bun, "Le Zlatan" stands head and shoulders above the regular burgers on the menu, weighing in at over one kilogram, including 250 grams of bread and 300 grams of cheese. Grandin says this reflects the supremacy of Sweden international Ibrahimovic, who has also played for Ajax, Inter Milan and Barcelona during a glittering career, over every player in Ligue 1. "In our league we have an extraordinary player, Zlatan Ibrahimovic," added Grandin. "Zlatan is an amazing player, he is the biggest player in the French league." And an extraordinary player deserves an extraordinary burger, which is pitched as a meal for two diners or a culinary Everest for one hardy, and hungry, soul. With Ibrahimovic -- who scored 30 league goals during his first season with PSG -- extending his contract at the Parc des Princes until 2016, Grandin has no intention of immortalizing any other footballers in meat anytime soon. "For the moment nobody can match him," he concluded. "There is just one extraordinary player, so I cannot make another extraordinary burger." | A Paris cafe manager has dedicated a burger to Zlatan Ibrahimovic .
"Le Zlatan" weighs over one kilogram and contains a 600 gram burger .
It is the brainchild of avid Paris Saint-Germain fan Jean-Philippe Grandin .
Ibrahimovic's 30 league goals powered PSG to the 2012-13 French title . |
fc8d67eff196c480f5997e3b5d43cced83619e02 | Boxed macaroni and cheese is off the menu at the White House. Michelle Obama said she banned it from her family's diet after being alerted to its processed ingredients. In an interview for the March issue of Cooking Light magazine, the mother-of-two recalled how her daughters used to love the cheap and easy-to-make meal. However, Sam Kass, the family's former personal chef, vehemently opposed the boxed variety and decided to give a quick tutorial to highlight the 'unhealthiness' of the product. Scroll down for video . Slap up supper: Michelle Obama said she banned boxed macaroni and cheese from her family's diet after being alerted to its processed ingredients . Mrs Obama said that Kass gave her daughter Malia, who was about eight years old at the time, a block of cheese and challenged her to turn it into the same powdery consistency as the ingredient in the mac and cheese box. The youngster apparently spent 30 minutes trying to 'pulverize' the block of cheese into dust with no joy. Mrs Obama said from that point she and her family stopped eating macaroni and cheese out of a box 'because cheese dust is not food, as was the moral of the story.' The Obama's diet is now apparently completely rid of processed foods. However, in the past when Mrs Obama was working, shopping and cooking, she admitted it was tough being so health conscious. 'Sometimes I would use processed food a little bit more. I relied on takeout probably more than I should’ve,' the 51-year-old recalled. But now, as she marks the fifth anniversary of her anti-childhood-obesity initiative Let's Move!, the first lady wants to arm families with the knowledge she didn't have in the past. 'It’s doable - people just need the training and the education. 'What we do know is that the food you cook is healthier, and it can be more affordable, but it takes some skills,' she said. A couple of the first lady's tips include, banishing canned juices, learning how to cut up a whole chicken and making pasta dishes from scratch. In an interview for the March issue of Cooking Light magazine, the mother-of-two recalled how her daughters used to love the cheap and easy-to-make meal . Not for me: Mrs Obama says through a better diet she hopes to still be mobile as an 80 or 90-year-old woman . 'It’s some tomatoes, it’s some basil, it’s boiling pasta, it’s adding in a little flavoring and seasoning, and you have a delicious meal. It’s quick. It’s fast. It becomes faster the more you do it,' she chimed. Growing up in a working class family, Mrs Obama said her mother was very nifty with food. She would shop on a budget and create a menu plan. Leftovers from Sunday roast beef dinners would be used for lunches on Mondays and Tuesdays. Other favorite home-cooked dishes growing up included lemon chicken and lasagna but she was less keen on 'liver Wednesdays.' Mrs Obama says through a better diet she hopes to be an active, globetrotting 80 or 90-year-old woman. 'I want to be able to walk up a temple or a ruin on my own and see the world. And I can only do that if I've been investing in my health now.' The Chicago native also sites physical activity as a key ingredient to success, something which she has introduced through her Let’s Move Active Schools program. Touching further on her eating habits at home, Mrs Obama says that she and Barack have dinner almost every night together around 6:30pm. She concluded: 'We have a bigger table and somebody else is doing the cooking, but the conversation and the mood and the tone are still the same. It’s our most important time of the day.' The March issue of Cooking Light magazine featuring Mrs Obama on the cover is due on newsstands Friday. | The first lady said she banned it from her family's diet after being alerted to its processed ingredients .
It used to be her daughters' favorite foods .
However, Sam Kass, the family's former personal chef, gave a quick tutorial to highlight the 'unhealthiness' of the product .
He challenged Malia to turn a block of cheese into the same powdery consistency as the ingredient in a mac and cheese box .
After 30 minutes of grating she failed . |
fc8dbd06432d0d47c959c2a534d8fe99b6e5e353 | The Baltimore Ravens say they didn't write a script for Ray Rice and Janay Rice during their joint news conference on May 23. In an interview this week on the 'Today' show, Janay Rice said the team suggested to her that she apologize for her involvement in the February incident in which Ray punched her in an elevator. Janay Rice also said the Ravens gave the couple 'a general script' for the news conference. Janay Rice told Today: 'I was ready to do anything that was going to help the situation. Help the way we looked in the media, help his image, help obviously his career. They told us earlier that week we would do the press conference, and I was fine with it.' Denial: Despite what Janay Rice told Today, the Baltimore Ravens deny they ever asked her to apologize during her joint news conference with abusive husband Ray Rice in May . 'I was basically ... not doing what I was told, but at the same time, I didn't think it was completely wrong for me to apologize because at the end of the day, I got arrested, too. So I did something wrong, too. Not taking any light off of what Ray did because I agree with everybody else. It was wrong.' Kevin Byrne, Senior Vice President of Public and Community Relations for the Ravens, said in a statement Wednesday that the team provided talking points to Ray, but not Janay. 'At no time prior to the May 23 session did we provide talking points, a script or suggested script to Janay or speak with her about the press event,' Byrne wrote. 'We did not recommend or suggest to Ray or Janay that she apologize in any way.' After Ray Rice told the Ravens he wanted Janay to speak to the media at the news conference, Byrne said he asked the running back 'on two different days if Ray wanted me to speak with Janay in advance of the press session. Both times, Ray declined and said: 'She's good. She knows what she wants to say.' Janay Rice told Today that the Baltimore Ravens gave both her and Ray Rice a script and told her to apologize at their joint press conference . Meanwhile, Troy Vincent, the NFL's executive vice president for football operations, conceded that the case involving Ray Rice was handled poorly. 'The commissioner (Roger Goodell) has acknowledged those mistakes,' Vincent told a packed hearing by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. 'We failed. This is all part of our evaluation as we look at a new personal conduct policy ... But we learned from those mistakes.' Representatives of the four major U.S. sports were on hand at the hearing on domestic abuse although none of the commissioners were present and only one of the top players' union officials, Michele Roberts of the National Basketball Association. Domestic abuse has been a flashpoint issue ever since the NFL's handling of the Rice case, in which Goodell suspended the former Baltimore Ravens running back for twogames for knocking out his fiancée, who later became his wife. Only when graphic video emerged showing him knocking out his then-fiancee did the Ravens release him and the NFL suspend him indefinitely. Repealing the NFL's tax-exempt status and favorable anti-trust position was discussed by the senators should the league fail to implement an effective domestic abuse policy. Kevin Byrne, Senior Vice President of Public and Community Relations for the Ravens, said in a statement Wednesday that the team provided talking points to Ray, but not Janay . 'When young people see athletes committing acts of violence, and when those acts are excused, glossed over, and given pathetically weak punishments, they learn that domestic violence is not taken seriously,' said Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, said he knew of six NBA players who were charged with domestic violence recently but not sanctioned by the league because there were no convictions. 'The Commissioner (Adam Silver) has acknowledged that we need to do more in this issue in terms of discipline going forward,' said Kathleen Behrens, the NBA's executive vice president for social responsibility. 'Mostly in terms of due process and not really relying on the criminal justice system,' she added. Vincent, who played in the NFL for 15 years, broke down when discussing his childhood. 'Domestic violence was a way of life in my home growing up,' he said. 'My brother and I watched helplessly numerous times as my mother was beaten and knocked unconscious while we dialed 911.' 'We saw how she struggled to seek help and find the courage to say 'no more'.' Domestic abuse has been a flashpoint issue ever since the NFL's handling of the Rice case, in which Goodell suspended the former Baltimore Ravens running back for two games for knocking out his fiancée, who later became his wife.Only when graphic video emerged showing him knocking out his then-fiancee did the Ravens release him and the NFL suspend him indefinitely . | The Baltimore Ravens say they didn't write a script for Ray Rice and Janay Rice during their joint news conference on May 23 .
However, this week on 'Today', Janay Rice said the team gave her talking points and suggested she apologize for her involvement in the incident .
The team denied this Wednesday and said they provided talking points to Ray Rice only . |
fc8dcf94e9285965be1bf19eda98c63a4beacf59 | (CNN) -- Two catchphrases have dominated stories about women in the election cycle this year: "the war on women" and "having it all." It is time to change the conversation. Women are the voters most likely to matter on November 6 -- they make up the majority of undecided voters and they outvote men. But to win women's votes, Mitt Romney and President Obama must talk about what really matters to them. I know something about that from my students. The young women in my classes look to the future and want to know how to create workable lives for their families. They know about the pay gap. They know their earnings will matter to their families. They know their mothers are often starved for time. "How are we supposed to do it?" they ask, over and over. We have not been giving them good answers. Undoubtedly, the issues raised in claims about a "war on women" and the difficulty of "having it all" are important. But those arguments don't fully address my students' questions. In order for the candidates to speak directly to women, they need to talk about jobs, but not just any jobs. What matters are good jobs that make family lives sustainable. Pay equity is the tip of the iceberg. Consider this from the Center for American Progress: Including all workers, the median full-time female worker earned $10,784 less in 2010 than the median full-time male worker. Over a 40-year career, that wage gap adds up to more than $400,000. This pay discrepancy affects the economic well-being of American households. Women comprise two-thirds of American family breadwinners and co-breadwinners. Inequality in pay means families have less money for quality child care, less education, fewer doctor visits and more scrambling to make ends meet, year in and year out. It's not just households and family life that suffer. So does the economy. Studies confirm that stretched workers mean lower productivity. But pay alone won't make the difference. All workers have family responsibilities. When women ask about fair pay, they are also asking about how to get jobs that make it possible to take a sick child to the doctor. They are asking about how to make sure fathers can get away from work early enough to make dinner, too. Flexibility is a universal concern for American workers, not simply a women's issue. As President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers reported in 2009, workplace flexibility increases productivity and reduces turnover and absenteeism. It's good for the economy, and good for families. A Reuters poll this month showed that women make up 54% of the undecided voters and their No.1 concern is family well-being. Contraception and reproductive rights, of course, matter a great deal to female voters. But if that's the only issue the candidates talk about, they ignore the worries that women wake up to every morning as they hustle children through bowls of cereal and pile out the door to work. Here is what the candidates can do: . First, fight for the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would expand 1963's Equal Pay Act and make it easier for women to compare their pay with that of fellow workers. Paycheck Fairness was blocked this year in Congress; it needs to be reintroduced. In our service economy, women still dominate in the lowest-paid jobs. Because women's pay has become more and more essential to their families, those historic inequities matter more and more. Second, fight for workplace flexibility. Family responsibilities burden all workers, men as well as women, regardless of pay. This is a social and economic reality that the nation must face. America needs leaders who will drag our workplaces out of the 1950s and into the 21st century. Finally, support paid sick days nationwide. Forty percent of the people in the work force do not have paid sick days, which puts them in danger of losing their jobs when they are sick; millions more cannot take sick days to care for their children. Support for the Healthy Families Act before Congress is critical. This legislation would grant workers up to seven job-protected paid sick days each year, to use not just when they are ill, but for helping sick family members and preventive care. There is still time, but not much, for me to tell my students that the candidates have some answers to their questions. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Kirsten Swinth. | Kirsten Swinth: Time to go beyond catchphrases "war on women" and "having it all"
Women's votes are crucial for both candidates, she says, but they need to talk about jobs .
Swinth: Women bring home all or a share of household income and family is top concern .
She says pay equity, sick leave and workplace flexibility are priorities in the real world . |
fc8e365afce17ada50c9855d52259a1a1e18f930 | By . Sam Webb for MailOnline . A teenager says he's grateful for 'a second chance in life' after breaking his neck in a freak swimming pool accident. Tristan Green, 18, of Colchester, Essex, was paralysed from the chest down after he dived into a 4ft pool and hit his head on the bottom. He said: 'Some days I don't like the sound of being in a wheelchair but, at the end of the day, I have been given a second chance in life. I could have died.' 'I could have died': Tristan, pictured with his father James, has endured his injuries with stoicism and optimism. The 18-year-old is able to speak about his accident for the first time following windpipe surgery . Tristan with his grandmother. He is set to start a rehabilitation programme that could last nine months . He added: 'It is hard keeping a positive attitude and sometimes I have down days. 'I want to be the big brother my little brother can look up to and I feel like I am not going to be that big brother any more, but that is life.' Tristan has been able to speak about the accident for the first time, after surgeons performed a tracheostomy to put a hole in his windpipe. Speaking from his bed at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, he described what happene on the day of the accident, July 26. He was at a friend's house with his girlfriend and they had been swimming in a pool in the back garden in Colchester . Optimism: The teenager is being fed liquefied food through a tube and admitted he cannot wait to eat a Big Mac as soon as his body is ready to take on solids. Pictured with parents James and Dawn . Tristan pictured before the accident with girlfriend Lauren Faulkner. The full extent of his injuries, which included breaking his neck in two places, and a bruised spinal cord, will not be known for about a year . Tristan said: 'I climbed the ladder up the side to dive into the pool. 'My head hit the bottom of the pool, I jolted my neck, that's when I broke it. 'It didn't hurt. I floated to the top of the water face down and was shaking my head to try and get some attention. 'I couldn't move, I thought I was going to drown.' Sense of humor: Tristan gurns for the camera despite his predicament . Tristan's girlfriend Lauren Faulkner, 18, turned him over and along with her friend and his mother, pulled Tristan from the water and put him in a garden chair. Lauren's father arrived, and spotting a lump on the back of Tristan's neck, decided an ambulance was needed. Medics called the fire brigade because Tristan was sitting in a chair and needed to be moved onto a spine board. Tristan had been trying to get on a plumbing and electrical course before the accident happened . They cut him out and he was flown to Addenbrooke's. Tristan said.'The best part about it was having a helicopter ride up to the hospital.' The full extent of his injuries, which included breaking his neck in two places and a bruised spinal cord, will not be known for about a year. He is on a waiting list for Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire where he could spend up to nine months on a rehabilitation programme. He is being fed liquefied food through a tube and admitted he cannot wait to eat a Big Mac as soon as his body is ready to take on solids. His weight has plummeted 22lbs to 9st. Tristan, who can drink his favourites - Dr Pepper or orange Lucozade - also undergoes daily physiotherapy and is visited every other day by parents James, 38, and Dawn, 42. He also has four siblings, Scott, 25, Zoe, 23, Jodie, 22, and Harvey, two. The nurses have become his friends, keeping his morale going on the days his family have not been able to visit and occupying him with conversation, TV, music and DVDs. Speaking last month, his father, James, 38, said: 'Unless there is a complete miracle, he will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.' He told the Colchester Gazette: 'I look at pictures of me and him playing football and break down. 'We have had some hope because he wiggled his left toe and moved his right foot but it could be 18 months before we know the full effects. 'We need to be supportive for him to get through this.' The Facebook page his family set up, Tristan's Road to Recovery, has more than 2,000 'Likes' and has had global messages of support. Tristan said: 'I am still here and hopefully I can walk again but there is the possibility I am not going to. 'I said to my mum and dad: 'As long as it's a pukka wheelchair. 'I hope I can get some feeling in my legs so I can still play football with my little brother when he is older.' Colchester United gave fan Tristan a signed shirt and he thanked the club and said: 'I want to say a massive thank you to my girlfriend and everyone who has supported me. 'My family, my girlfriend's friend and his mother for helping me out of the pool, the air ambulance and the fire brigade.' Tristan had been trying to get on a plumbing and electrical course before the accident happened. | Tristan Green, 18, hit his head on bottom of pool in freak accident .
He is able to speak for first time since following surgery on his windpipe .
The youngster remains optimistic about recovery from his neck injury . |
fc8e4008e299ab9d740ffc499f8a47455fdfe9b3 | An Islamic group shot dead a Syrian 14-year-old boy in front of his parents for blasphemy after overhearing him say he 'wouldn't even give the Prophet a free coffee.' Mohammad Qataa was shot in the face and neck a day after being seized by members of an Al Qaeda-linked Islamist group in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. A photo released by the Observatory . showed Qataa's face with his mouth and jaw bloodied and destroyed as . well as a bullet wound in his neck. Scroll down for video . A picture taken from a video uploaded on YouTube by the Aleppo Media Centre allegedly shows 14-year-old Mohammad Qataa (right) who was killed by insurgents for apparently insulting the Prophet Mohammad . An image grab taken from Syria's official television channel al-Ikhbariya reportedly shows the body of 14-year old Mohammad after he was shot dead . Today it emerged Qataa was working as a street vendor in the al-Shaa district of Aleppo when three members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a militant . group that started off known as the Nusra Front, overheard him arguing with a friend over a bill. It is thought the boy had given his friend a coffee which the friend wanted to pay for later. 'Mohammad Qataa was working at his street trolley and remarked to his friend that even if the Prophet Mohammad came down he would not give him credit,' said Rami Abdulrahman, who heads the UK-based human rights group, told The Times. The three fighters overheard and accused the teenager of blasphemy and insulting the prophet. The . gunmen took Qataa on Saturday . and brought him back alive in the early hours of Sunday to his wooden . stand, with whiplash marks visible on his body. This picture from a video released by the Aleppo Media Centre reportedly shows Mohammad's parents who watched as their son was shot dead in the street by an Al Qaeda-linked group . Qataa's parents said the youth had taken part in pro-democracy demonstrations in Aleppo . The gunmen belonged to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a militant group that started off known as the Al-Nusra Front (file picture) The United Nations refugee agency is talking to Germany about resettling up to 10,000 Syrian refugees, UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said on Tuesday. UNHCR was also working with other European governments to find ways to resettle some of the 1.6million Syrians who have fled the country, a number the United Nations expects to reach 3.45million by the end of 2013, Edwards said. The UN agency plans to hold a meeting on the subject with governments around the end of June in Geneva, but details and the participants were not yet known, he said. Specific numbers had not yet been discussed with other countries. However, resettlement is only an option for the most vulnerable cases and the bulk of the refugee burden will still fall on four of Syria's neighbours: Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq. People gathered around him and a member . of the fighting brigade said: 'Generous citizens of Aleppo, disbelieving . in God is polytheism and cursing the prophet is a polytheism. Whoever . curses even once will be punished like this.' 'He then fired two bullets from an . automatic rifle in view of the crowd and in front of the boy's mother . and father, and got into a car and left,' the report said. Abdulrahman . said the boy's mother had pleaded with the killers, whose Arabic . suggested they might not be Syrian, not to shoot her son. 'The Observatory cannot ignore these . crimes, which only serve the enemies of the revolution and the enemies . of humanity,' said Rami Abdulrahman. Qataa's parents said the youth had taken part in pro-democracy demonstrations in Aleppo. Since . last year, large parts of the city have fallen under the control of . Islamist brigades, including the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, as well as . other rebel units. Britain and France worked together last . month to lift a European Union embargo on arms shipments to Syrian . rebels, giving them the flexibility to send weapons to forces against . President Bashar Assad. Foreign Secretary William Hague said on . Sunday that no such decision had yet been taken and promised for the . first time to give lawmakers a vote in parliament if and when it was. But . Prime Minister David Cameron's government is split on the issue, with . some ministers fearing such a move could worsen the bloodshed and drag . Britain into a protracted conflict. It also raises concerns that weapons could be used by Islamist extremists to commit atrocities like this most recent execution. And in a surprising development today, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted al-Assad could have avoided the bloody civil war by responding more quickly to demands for change. In comments to Russia's English-language state television network RT, Putin repeated that Russia is not acting as an advocate for Assad but broadly blamed the West for violent upheaval in the Middle East. Meanwhile, two suicide bombers hit a . central Damascus square today, killing at least 14 people, activists and . the state media reported. Activists said one of the explosions took place inside the police station there and that many among the dead were policemen. Syrians stands in front their restaurant after a twin suicide bombing struck the Al-Marja Square in Damascus . Activists said one of the explosions took place inside a police station, killing several officers . Syrian . state TV quoted a security official as saying 14 people died in . explosions caused by two 'terrorist' suicide bombers near a police . station in the bustling Marjeh Square in the heart of the capital. The official said another 31 were wounded. The state-TV Ikhbariya TV station showed footage of broken shop facades and mangled cars in the central square as ambulance workers were seen carrying the wounded on stretchers. The attacks in the capital are the first since government troops, backed by fighters from Lebanon's Shiite group Hezbollah, captured Qusair, a strategic town in the central province of Homs, the linchpin linking Damascus with the regime strongholds on the Mediterranean coast. Following the capture of Qusair, Syrian state-run media and the Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar TV have said the regime is preparing an offensive reportedly named Operation Northern Storm to recapture Aleppo. | Mohammad Qataa was shot in the face and neck by Al Qaeda-linked gunmen .
Teenager was heard arguing while working as street vendor selling coffee .
Britain has been looking to lift embargo on shipping weapons to rebels .
Twin suicide blasts kill at least 14, including police officers, in Damascus .
Russian President Vladimir Putin blames the West for Middle East chaos . |
fc8e50e5bf3b4298ac333b28cb2a0c1987fd38f1 | (CNN) -- Dr. Jason Diamond knows what it's like to be sought after. The Beverly Hills plastic surgeon -- first made famous by reality show "Dr. 90210" -- has operated on a range of A-list celebrities (though he declines to name them). Yet even he was unprepared for the clamor that met him when he first visited Dubai in what was meant to be a one-time gig as a guest surgeon. "For that week, I literally had people waiting until 2am for a consultation. The waiting room was filled 20 people-deep all day long," he recalls. That was in 2009. Since, Diamond has returned to the city every two to three months as part of a partnership with the American British Surgical and Medical Centre. Over the years, he has enlisted the Who's Who of Beverly Hills surgeons to join him at the practice. "Every time I go, I don't even sit down. I'm running around from 7am until midnight. The demand is literally out the door," he says. In the last couple of years, Dubai has become a nip-and-tuck hub. Where once residents from throughout the GCC would venture to Beverly Hills, Brazil or Beirut for treatments, these days, they're staying closer to home to have work done. "In Lebanon, I'd say it's been about a 30-40% drop [in business]," says Dr. Sami Saad, the national secretary for the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) in Lebanon. "A lot of surgeons are leaving. They're moving to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Kuwait. These countries are safer and more attractive for plastic surgeons," he says. The Botox Brigade . Diamond notes that these days, "there is no paucity of plastic surgeons" in Dubai. According to the Emirates Plastic Surgery Society, their membership has jumped from 60 in 2006 to 150 this year. In fact, there are more cosmetic surgeons per citizen in the UAE than in either Brazil or the United States -- two nations lauded for their love of the scalpel. "The market is very saturated," notes Dr. Luiz Toledo, a plastic surgeon who moved his practice to Dubai from Brazil in 2005 who is also on the scientific committee of the Emirates Plastic Surgery Society. "Every day I get emails [from surgeons] saying, 'I heard Dubai is good for business. I want to come and visit, do some work, then come back home.' Everybody thinks Dubai is this mecca full of rich people. They think they'll come over and find gold on the streets. It's not like that; it's hard work," he says. Despite the influx, experts say demand for plastic surgery is on the rise. According to the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), in 2012, medical tourists made up 8.7% of total health sector revenue, with many seeking cosmetic procedures. "The industry is growing very fast," notes Vasilica Baltateanu, founder of Dubai plastic surgery consultancy Vasilica Aesthetics. She says the city's healthcare market is expected to grow 11.4% over the next two years. A beauty smorgasbord . As Dubai is one of the most multicultural cities in the world (200 different nationalities call the emirate home), it's no surprise that surgeons are noticing a broad demographic willing to go under the knife. "Last year, I saw patients from 73 nationalities, which is a record," says Toledo. Though patients come from as far afield as Africa and Eastern Europe, the majority, he says, come from the GCC, with many making the trip from Saudi Arabia. Diamond also reports having operated on many Saudi woman, who traditionally wear a veil in their day-to-day lives. "In America, you're not exposed to too many people who cover their face, and you assume those who do don't care about their appearance because they never show it off. But once you get to know the culture, you realize they're not that different from us. Middle Eastern women love looking good just as much as American women do," he says. And it's not just women investing in their looks. Surgeons in the area have reported seeing a growing number of men in their clinics, as well as teenagers (Baltateanu estimates that 15% of plastic surgery patients in the UAE are under 23). She adds that in her experience, Arab patients are often more gung-ho than their Western counterparts. "In Europe, America and Australia, people will try to adopt their lifestyle first. Liposuction, for instance, would be a last resort after you've tried everything else. Here, it's more, 'I've gained some weight, I'll get some lipo,' and they'll get the treatment four or five times, which is when it becomes dangerous," she warns. Part of her job, she says, is discouraging patients from over-indulging in treatments. | Dubai has dethroned Lebanon as plastic surgery capital of Middle East .
There are nearly 3 times as many plastic surgeons in Dubai as there were in 2006 .
15% of surgeries are performed on men . |
fc8e5f6c56a0f32d1ed860ec67f6794204f16a70 | (CNN) -- "Partisanship ought to end at the water's edge" is a longstanding adage of American politics. But in the hours after the death of the first U.S. ambassador killed in decades, Mitt Romney -- panicked as his poll numbers have slipped -- punched hard against the president, unleashing an unwise, inaccurate and unpresidential attack on the Obama administration. The fog of war applies to the confusion about the timeline of ugly incidents in the Middle East on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But when the U.S. Embassy in Cairo released a statement condemning the obscure and intentionally inflammatory film that had already given rise to riots, the Romney campaign saw an opportunity to amplify its "Obama-Apologizes-For-America" narrative. Politics: Romney's political pretzel over Libya . Despite the fact that U.S. missions in Egypt and Libya came under attack after that embassy statement, with crowds besieging the Cairo embassy and the consulate in Benghazi in the late hours of September 11, the campaign released a statement from Romney saying, "It's disgraceful that the Obama Administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks." This barely qualifies as dog-whistle politics. At a moment when sovereign U.S. soil was under attack by Islamist radicals, the Romney campaign tried to tie the president to those extremists attacking us, saying that he had "sympathy" with their cause. And then, in the clear light of morning, Mitt Romney doubled down on the claim, repeating it -- perhaps for fear of appearing weak -- and his campaign released talking points to hammer home the point. He picked precisely the wrong time, and over the wrong issue, to go "bold." Politics: Arab Spring turmoil evokes political response . This is not just politics as usual but something far lower. By point of comparison, when Ronald Reagan was confronted with the downed-helicopter rescue mission ordered by President Jimmy Carter to save the American hostages in the U.S. Embassy in Iran, he did not see it as opportunity to score political points. Instead, Reagan said, "This is the time for us as a nation and a people to stand united." Likewise, George H.W. Bush, then also running for president, said "I unequivocally support the president of the United States -- no ifs, ands or buts -- and it certainly is not a time to try to go one-up politically. He made a difficult, courageous decision." (Hat-tip to The Atlantic for unearthing these statements.) No wonder a wide array of Republican foreign policy experts rose to condemn Romney's comments, including the longtime speechwriter and senior aide to Sen. John McCain, Mark Salter, who wrote: "to condemn (Obama) for policies they claim helped precipitate the attacks is as tortured in its reasoning as it is unseemly in its timing." I called one of the wise men of American foreign policy, Charles Hill, a longtime first deputy to Reagan Secretary of State George Schultz and now a professor at Yale and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, as well as the author of "Grand Strategies" and "Trial of a Thousand Years: World Order and Islamism." "In my opinion, Obama is rightly criticized for a foreign policy approach that has not been firm enough. But in this case, the Romney statement was overreaction and not proper," Hill said. "Romney should be standing as an American with Americans right now and not trying to narrowly pursue political profit. I would not have advised him to release that statement." On the flip side were conservative populist luminaries like Sarah Palin, who took to Facebook, her only dependable perch these days, to write this: "We already know that President Obama likes to 'speak softly' to our enemies. If he doesn't have a 'big stick' to carry, maybe it's time for him to grow one." Once again, Palin proved that she doesn't have the temperament or the intellect to be within a thousand feet of the Oval Office. Opinion: Libya killings show U.S. at risk n Arab world . It is also noteworthy that the Romney campaign's instinct is to attack the president on foreign policy but then refuse to articulate its own policy positions as a useful point of contrast. This "attack and distract" approach to politics is beneath the office; when you criticize there is an obligation to propose new solutions to the problem. When Romney embarked on his European tour, he frequently cited the tradition of not criticizing a president while traveling overseas as justification for not answering questions about his own foreign policy beliefs. This seemed to many, including me, at the time to be a high-minded excuse to avoid answering specific questions. Now there is no doubt. It was not decency or a desire to get all the facts before condemning the president that restrained his campaign's rhetoric. Many questions still remain. The online "film" that apparently provoked the attack seems thrown together and badly over-dubbed to create maximum insult to Islam. It has been promoted by some of the most discredited conspiracy entrepreneurs on our side of the Atlantic, including the "Reverend" Terry Jones, who advocated Quran-burning in the past. The American principle of defending free speech cannot be allowed to be compromised by fanatics anywhere for any reason. There is, as the president said Wednesday in the Rose Garden, "no excuse" for the actions of this murderous mob in Libya or for the invasion of the embassy in Egypt. Reports are emerging that the Benghazi siege was a premeditated attack by our enemies. Hill describes unsettling parallels: "With the radical Muslims, there's a kind of connection between the crazy guys in Florida who make this film and the crazy guys in Libya who plan these attacks deliberately and use the films as an excuse, a provocation," he says. "There's a kind of demonic conspiracy between these two types of fringe groups, and it makes life less secure for the rest of us." Opinion: Extremists don't speak for Libya . Romney is a good man, but his lack of core political beliefs combined with his otherwise admirable competitiveness has led him to make claims about opponents that are often overheated and unrelated to reality. The dishonest drumbeat that Obama travels around the world compulsively apologizing for America is a core Romney campaign tactic. This time, he went definitively too far -- trying to score petty political points with incomplete information at a time when our nation's embassies were being attacked overseas on the anniversary of September 11. It was disgraceful. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Avlon. | John Avlon: Romney, slipping in polls, wrongly slammed Obama over Egypt, Libya attacks .
He says despite facts to contrary, Romney said Obama was sympathetic to attackers .
Avlon: The move, apparently for political points, was widely condemned even among GOP .
Avlon says politics must yield in crisis, as past politicians have known . |
fc8f4dda3afbe4d3dd138f33ac6e3cb3d8adeb90 | A St Louis County police officer working in Ferguson, Missouri in the aftermath of Michael Brown's shooting death has been suspended from duty after disturbing video emerged of him referring to black people as 'little perverts' and President Obama as an illegal immigrant. Officer Dan Page, who was caught live on CNN News earlier this week pushing the network's anchor Don Lemon and threatening to arrest him, made the hate-filled speech in April of this year during an Oath Keepers of St Louis/St Charles meeting. His offensive remarks weren't limited to black people - he also had vitriol to spew about Muslims, women who have abortions, gay people and people who suffer domestic violence. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Hate-filled rant: Officer Dan Page spoke for more than an hour at an Oath Keepers meeting in April airing his ignorant views on black people, domestic violence, homosexuals, President Obama and Muslims, among others . Excessive force: CNN's Don Lemon was repeatedly pushed and threatened with arrest by Page during a live cross for the network on Monday . The raving speech goes on for more than an hour as Page, brandishing a bible, enlightens his audience with his unique views. Page is the second St Louis county police officer to have been relieved of his duties during the Ferguson protests. Lieutenant Ray Albers, 46, was caught on camera screaming, 'I will f***ing kill you!' and pointing his rifle at civilians. An investigation is underway and he has been placed on indefinite unpaid leave. The incidents have highlighted the racial divide in Ferguson, a largely black town where the police force and local politicians are almost all white. Civil rights activists say Brown's death was the culmination of years of police unfairly targeting blacks. Protests in Ferguson, Missouri, were muted for a third straight evening on Friday as the National Guard began withdrawing from the St. Louis suburb racked by racial turmoil after a white police officer shot dead an unarmed black teenager. Hundreds of protesters marched in the hot summer night near the site of the August 9 slaying of 18-year-old Michael Brown, chanting 'Hands up, don't shoot,' while police vehicles observed the demonstration, without intervening. Clergy volunteers wearing bright orange T-shirts discouraged protesters who wanted to defy police orders to keep moving, while live singing and drums boomed out from a flat-bed truck. Muted: People march down St. Louis Street to the NOPD First District station to protest the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a police officer on August 22, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri . Continuing protests: Police reportedly let protesters march unimpeded in Ferguson in further demonstrations which have drawn attention to the police force in the area . The St Louis County Police released a statement saying the Police Chief Jon Belmar was 'disturbed' by the content of Page's speech. 'We hold our officers to a high standard of honor both on and off duty. While we as a department do not have an issue with officers expressing themselves, this was disturbing and unacceptable,' it reads. 'The officer is a 35 year veteran of this department and has been deployed numerous times in military service. He had passed the evaluations upon returning from deployment and there was no indication of this attitude.' Early in the video, Page tells his audience that the bible is the foundation of the Constitution and that you cannot have one without the other, saying, 'I don’t know what them black little perverts don’t understand down there. But they need me to talk to them. I’ll square them away for you. Take me about a minute. To the letter: Page brandishes the bible in his right hand, which he believes is the basis of the Constitution, which he holds in his left . Offensive: Don Lemon described Page's speech as 'wide-ranging inflammatory remarks' He reads from the Constitution, stumbling over several words, the meanings of which clearly elude him. He rages against hate-crime laws, saying there are 'four sodomites on the Supreme Court' and describing himself as being 'into diversity - I kill everybody!' 'And I’m real good with a rifle. My best shot is 1,875 meters, I got me a gold star on that one. You run from me you’re gonna die tired,' he rants. Page claims to be a Vietnam War Vet and a sergeant major in the U.S. Army who took retirement two years early in 2012 because he didn't want to take orders from President Obama. He refers to the president as an 'illegal alien' and claims to have flown a plane to Kenya to see where 'my undocumented president lives at.' Police Chief Jon Belmar says that while Page has never been involved in an 'officer-involved shooting,' his attitude and description of himself as an 'indiscriminate killer' was extremely concerning. Smiling on the other side of his face: Page has been suspended pending an investigation after the speech was shown to St Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar . 'I personally believe in Jesus Christ as my lord savior, but I'm also a killer. I’ve killed a lot. And if I need to, I'll kill a whole bunch more,' Page tells the OathKeepers. 'If you don't want to get killed, don't show up in front of me, it's that simple. I have no problem with it. God did not raise me to be a coward,' he said before launching into a rant about the government indoctrinating children to spy on their parents in public schools. The OathKeepers is an association of former and present military personnel, police officers and first reponders who 'defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.' Don Lemon, who was repeatedly pushed by Page during a live report from Ferguson Monday, described the video: 'It’s wide-ranging inflammatory remarks about a lot of people, about women, about gay people,' he said. '[Page] talks about the president of the United States. He speaks out against affirmative action, women in the military and on and on.' Following his interaction with Page in Ferguson, Lemon told audiences, 'We’re on national television, so imagine what they’re doing to people when you don’t see it on national television, people who don’t have a voice like we do.' According to St Louis Today, an internal review of Page will begin Monday. | St Louis County police officer Dan Page has been suspended after a video of him giving a hate-filled speech to far-right group surfaced .
Page was seen on CNN on Monday pushing anchor Don Lemon as he reported live from Ferguson .
Page spews vitriol about black people, gay people, President Obama, Muslims and more .
His extreme views include that the government is trying to indoctrinate children to spy on their parents at public schools .
He claims there are 'four sodomites in the Supreme Court' as he rages against hate-laws .
He says, 'I personally believe in Jesus Christ as my lord savior, but I'm also a killer. I’ve killed a lot. And if I need to, I'll kill a whole bunch more'
Page calls Obama 'my undocumented president'
He claims to be a Vietnam veteran and has 35 years with the St Louis County police .
An investigation is pending . |
fc8fc0a6ecde0e2308b25cc9075255348d220680 | Having paintballs shot at you for a living may not sound appealing. But an unusual job advert for a Human Bullet Impact Tester at UKPaintball has attracted more than 10,000 applications from around the world. The firm, which operates at 60 locations across the UK, said it had received expressions of interest for the £40,000-a-year job from as far away as India, the United States, Canada and Croatia. Right on target: The unusual job advert has attracted more than 10,000 applications from across the world . Candidates' comments included: 'I'm a rugby player... so I know physical pain. I can also break watermelon with my head. 'I always dreamed of being face-covered by paint while screaming so I think I can be the perfect tester.' Another hopeful candidate said he was fat - so easier to aim at. Justin Toohig, owner of UKPaintball.co.uk, said: 'This incredible response is the last thing we expected when we posted the advert. Vacancy: UKPaintball, which is no longer accepting applications, posted this notice on their website . 'We couldn't have predicted that so many people in the UK and beyond would want to get shot for a living. 'We've had individuals hoping to secure the job including an ex-Army soldier boasting previous experience of guns and weaponry, a paintballing enthusiast who has indulged in his hobby all around the world and an ex-magician's assistant who was once almost shot for real in an illusion that went horribly wrong. 'It's going to be a real struggle attempting to whittle down the thousands of applicants to just one. We have been so incredibly inundated with amazing candidates wanting the job that we are now considering an X Factor-style bootcamp for the a final 10, to see just who can handle being shot for a living.' | British company UKPaintball posted advert for Human Bullet Impact Tester .
Firm said it had received notes of interest from India, U.S. and Canada .
Boss said he is considering an X Factor-style bootcamp to pick someone . |
fc8fee44806f0651aeb9fc6e92e6049e3bf6b02b | By . Snejana Farberov . A beloved 61-year-old psychology professor has been outed as a killer who murdered his family as a teenager and was committed to a mental hospital for only six years after being found insane. The bespectacled, mustachioed chairman of Millikin University’s department of behavior sciences in Illinois has been identified by a reporter from the Texas newspaper The Georgetown Advocate as James Wolcott, who murdered his parents and older sister in cold blood when he was 15 years old. Following the gristly murders, Wolcott had been found not guilty by reason of insanity. After spending six years in a psychiatric institution, he disappeared. Now and then: Dr. James St James is a well-respected psychology professor in downstate Illinois, has been identified as James Wolcott, who murdered his parents in sister in 1967 when he was 15 years old . Academic haven: St James has been teaching psychology at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, since 1976 . Wolcott later legally changed his name and went on to earn several degrees in psychology and start a new life in academia. St James' outing as a man who committed triple homicide 46 years ago shocked the community of Millikin University - a Presbyterian school in Decatur with 2,380 students - but his colleagues and students have since come out in support of the professor. Despite calls for his resignation, the university released a statement saying that St James will stay on at the school and will teach classes in the fall semester. ‘Millikin University has only recently been made aware of Dr. St. James’ past. Given the traumatic experiences of his childhood, Dr. St. James’ efforts to rebuild his life and obtain a successful professional career have been remarkable,’ the statement to the American-Statesman read. St James declined to comment on the story, deferring to the university’s statement. Speaking of St James’ new life as a respected professor, Douglas M. Benold, who declared him insane during the trial in 1968, told the Chicago Sun-Times: ‘I think that’s wonderful, if it’s for real. Knowing his background, I’m glad he’s there instead of in Georgetown.’ Murder weapon: On the night of August 4, 1967, James Wolcott got high on airplane glue, grabbed this .22-caliber rifle and murdered his parents and sister in cold blood . Gristly: Wolcott walked into his mother's room and shot her in the chest, leaving her for dead . Innocent: Wolcott's second victim was his 17-year-old sister, Libby (pictured), who he shot in the face and chest . First victim: The rampage started with the 15-year-old gunning down his father as he was reading in the living room . Decatur City Council member Jerry J. Dawson, a former Macon County sheriff, said that St. James should have told the school about his past before joining the faculty. ‘I look at this from a law enforcement perspective, and I just have a problem with somebody who didn't disclose this information,’ Dawson said. ‘If I were a parent and my kids were going to Millikin, that's something I would want to know.’ As The Georgetown Advocate's investigation has revealed, in the 1960s, James Wolcott, a brilliant student and accomplished musician, lived in Georgetown, Texas – a small suburb of Austin - with his father, Dr Gordon Wolcott, a biology professor at Southwester University, his mother, Elizabeth, and his older sister, Libby. Terrifying: The large black velvet wall covering in Wolcott's boyhood room was painted with a skeletal face that seemed to stare at the viewer from the depths behind the wall . On the night of August 4, 1967, the 15-year-old got high on airplane glue, grabbed a .22-caliber rifle, walked into the living room where his father was reading and shot him in the chest. Wolcott then walked into the room of his 17-year-old sister and shot her in the chest and face. The bloody rampage, which Wolcott had apparently planned a week prior, concluded with the teenager shooting his mother and leaving her for dead. With his entire family shot, Wolcott stashed the rifle and ran outside, crying and asking passersby for help because someone had just killed his family. James appeared distraught and hysterical when police arrived, but when he was interview by a ranger, he confessed to the murders, describing each killing in detail. By way of a motive, the 15-year-old told investigators that he ‘hated’ his family. Wolcott was arrested and booked into the Williamson County Jail. His murder trial got under way in October 1967. The defendant, now 16 years old, was found to be competent to stand trial as an adult. Wolcott's defense was that he had known for a while that he was suffering from mental illness, which was made worse by his addiction to airplane glue. Doctors later diagnosed his condition as paranoid schizophrenia. Depositions presented during the trial showed that James believed that his family were trying to drive him mad, or destroy him. During his psychological evaluation, the teen stated that his mother chewed her food too loudly and that his sister had a really bad accent. In his talks with a classmate, James also mentioned that his father would complain about his long hair and would not let him go to a peace rally or wear anti-Vietnam buttons. At the end of the six-month trial, an all-male jury acquitted Wolcott by reason of insanity. He was admitted on February 2, 1968, into Rusk State Hospital, where he were to remain until he became sane again. Confession: After initially feigning shock over the murders of his family, the 15-year-old admitted to shooting his parents and sister, telling investigators that he hated them . Getting away with murder: After being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia exacerbated by drug use, Wolcott was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a hospital for six years . The son of James' defense lawyer told the paper that according to his father, one of Wolcott's psychiatrists at the hospital felt sorry for him and invited him to live in his own home. In 1974, Wolcott was released from the institution after being cleared by the hospital administrator. Six years after the murders, it took a jury 10 minutes to declare James sane. Now a free man, Wolcott inherited his slain parents' estate and received a monthly stipend from his father's pension fund. Two years later, James Wolcott legally changed his name to James St James and vanished. With an IQ of at least 134, James St James went on to earn a bachelor's degree, a master's degree and eventually a PhD in 1988. Dr St James joined the faculty of Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. In 1997, the tenured psychology professor received a teaching award and later was offered the position of chairman at the department of behavior sciences. Those who know the well-respected educator still sporting a hippie ponytail on campus say that his students consider St James 'cool,' and his classes get excellent reviews on social media sites. Face to face: A reporter from The Georgetown Advocate is seen meeting with the popular psychology professor to interview him about his dark past . Speaking to the TV station ABC7, Tosha Duzan said that St James was her first professor at Millikin, and that she learned a lot from him. ‘I have this mental image of this man that I've learned from. That hundreds and hundreds of kids have learned from,’ said Duzan, adding, however, that now she also has other images in her mind – the bloody crime scene photos from St James' home in Georgetown, Texas. Millikin student Jentry Grader told Chicago Sun-Times she still respects St. James and hopes revelations about his dark past will not ruin his life. ‘I feel comfortable with him,’ Grader said. ‘And I do not see him as a threat to anyone.’ | On August 4, 1967, 15-year-old James Wolcott shot dead his parents and 17-year-old sister with .22-caliber rifle .
Wolcott admitted to the crimes, saying that he hated his mother because she chewed food loudly and his sister because she had a bad accent .
Doctors diagnosed Wolcott with paranoid schizophrenia made worse by his addiction to airplane glue .
Six years later, Wolcott was released from mental hospital after being declared sane .
Changed his name to James St James in 1976 and went on to earn Master's degree and PhD . |
fc90458de8809acfe557142d0b2591b5e864db78 | (CNN) -- His appointment at Bayern Munich was regarded as a something of coup, but less than a year after his arrival in Bavaria the first cracks have appeared in the relationship between Pep Guardiola and the German club. Widely regarded as the best coach in the world, Guardiola joined Bayern last year armed with a footballing philosophy that had brought him world domination during his time at Barcelona. The Spaniard quickly guided Bayern to victories in the club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup, before securing the German Bundesliga title in record-breaking speed. But after crashing out of the Champions League at the semifinal stage to Real Madrid this week in humiliating fashion, the Spaniard's possession-based style of football has come under criticism. "If we don't win, it does not help me when Bayern Munich's chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and sporting director Matthias Sammer, are backing me," Guardiola told reporters Friday. "If we lose I'm a risk for the club. It's a big club and you always have to win. If this doesn't happen, the club may decide something else." Perhaps more worryingly for Guardiola, honorary president Franz Beckenbauer openly expressed his exasperation after Bayern's Champions League exit. "Bayern are not right," Beckenbauer, who both played for and managed Bayern, told Spanish newspaper Marca. "This is something that we have known for weeks. The disappointment is huge." But Guardiola is adamant he will not alter his approach, insisting it is down to Bayern to decide if they want him to continue as manager. "The club must decide whether the coach is the right man for this team," said the 43-year-old Spaniard. Bayern's 4-0 home defeat by Real raised questions that Guardiola's team is too tactically predictable. "I'm a strong person. There was lot of criticism but that's the nature of the beast. Criticism is normal," Guardiola said. "I can't train the players with other coaches' ideas. Even after the defeat [against Madrid] I'm confident in my own ideas. "Next season, we will play 100% with my ideas. I can't coach this club or its players without believing in my ideas." Guardiola says he is already planning for life in Munich next season, when he will be hoping to repeat his success on the domestic front, while going those extra steps further in Europe. Despite the setback in Europe, Guardiola could yet win a fourth trophy this season with Bayern playing Borussia Dortmund in the German Cup final on May 17. Later Friday, Karl Hopfner was elected as the new president of the Bavarian giants, succeeding Uli Hoeness, who will serve a three and a half year jail term for tax fraud. Hoeness, who was at the meeting ahead starting his sentence, received a standing ovation from the club members and hinted he would return once he is a free man. "I made a huge mistake and I will accept that. When I return, I am not going to retire," said the 62-year-old Hoeness, who was found guilty of evading $39.5 million of taxes at a trial earlier this year. Hopfner, who is 61, has spent over 30 years in a series of senior positions at Bayern. | Pep Guardiola says Bayern Munich must decide if he is right coach for job .
Guardiola has faced criticism recently for his tactics .
The Spaniard wants to stay at Bayern for next season .
Karl Hopfner succeeds Uli Houness as Bayern club president . |
fc9071d6f87bb77f2fc58479276d79ade07bd67d | A veteran Russian cosmonaut and two International Space Station crewmates, one from the United States and one from Germany, returned safely to Earth this morning at 3:58am GMT (10:58pm EST). The parachute landing of their Soyuz capsule in Kazakhstan ended five and a half months in orbit aboard the International Space Station. Maxim Suraev of the Russian space agency, who was commander of the station during the mission, climbed into the Soyuz craft with Nasa astronaut Reid Wiseman and German flight engineer Alexander Gerst from the European Space Agency and departed the orbital outpost last night. Scroll down for video of landing . The International Space Station (ISS) crew of Alexander Gerst of Germany (left), Maxim Surayev of Russia (middle) and Reid Wiseman of the US rest after landing in a remote area near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan . About three and a half hours after leaving the ISS last night, the capsule descended through cold, windy and overcast skies to touch down on the frozen steppes northeast of Arkalyk. Early-morning temperatures in Kazakhstan registered just -5C (23F), mission commentator Rob Navias said on a live Nasa television broadcast of the landing. Recovery teams were standing by to help Suraev, Wiseman and Gerst out of their capsule, the same spacecraft they rode to reach the station on 28 May this year. The crew's last few weeks in orbit were among the busiest of their mission, with the departure of a Dragon cargo capsule sent to the station by private launch company SpaceX and the arrival of a Russian freighter. The Russian cargo ship docked with the station less than a day after an unmanned Orbital Sciences Corp. rocket carrying another supply capsule bound for the space station exploded seconds after liftoff from Virginia. ISS crew member Reid Wiseman of the US rests after landing in a remote area near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan . A search and rescue team approaches the Soyuz TMA-13M capsule with the ISS crew in this image . The three had spent five and a half months in orbit on the ISS before their return journey back to Earth . Prolonged time in zero gravity means the astronauts' bones and muscles are weak on their return to Earth, so they often need to be carried by ground personnel when they first land . 'It's been an honor and a privilege to spend 165 days up here. With that said, I'm looking forward to heading home,' Wiseman said during a change-of-command ceremony carried live from the space station on Nasa television. Two other Russian cosmonauts and the newly named station commander, Nasa astronaut Barry 'Butch' Wilmore, remained aboard the orbital outpost, a £62 billion ($100 billion) research laboratory that flies about 260 miles (418km) above Earth. Construction of the ISS began on 20 November 1998. It supports a crew of up to six, with crews split into groups of three. The station orbits at a height of about 264 miles (425km). It has a total mass of about 990,000 pounds (450,000kg) and has living space roughly equivalent to a five-bedroom house. It completes an orbit of Earth every 92.91 minutes and moves at 17,100 miles (27,600km) per hour. It has now been in space for more than 5,600 days, during which time it has completed more than 88,000 orbits of Earth, and has been continuously occupied for more than 13 years. They will be joined on 23 November by Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, Nasa astronaut Terry Virts and Italy's Samantha Cristoforetti, who will fly aboard another Soyuz capsule launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The space station, which has been permanently staffed since 2 November 2000, is owned and run by a partnership of 15 nations. 'They say this is the most complex machine that humanity has ever built,' Gerst said on Saturday. 'Even after half a year on board, it is impossible for me to fathom how complex it is to actually operate this machine.' During their time aboard the station, the crew participated in research focusing on Earth remote sensing, advanced manufacturing, and studies of bone and muscle physiology. They set a milestone for station science by completing a record 82 hours of research in a single week in July. A key research focus during their mission, Expedition 41, was human health management for long duration space travel, as Nasa and Roscosmos prepare for two crew members to spend one year aboard the space station beginning in 2015. The crew welcomed five cargo spacecraft during its time aboard the orbiting laboratory. Two Russian ISS Progress cargo vehicles docked to the station, bringing tons of supplies in July and October. The fifth and final European Automated Transfer Vehicle, dubbed the Georges Lemaitre after the Belgian physicist who is considered the father of the big-bang theory, launched to the station in July. Wiseman and Gerst ventured outside the confines of the space station for a planned spacewalk to relocate a failed pump module and configure the station for upcoming additions. Wiseman completed a second spacewalk with fellow Nasa astronaut Barry Wilmore. Suraev also conducted one spacewalk during Expedition 41. In addition to being a scientific research platform, the space station also serves as a test bed to demonstrate new technology. The first 3-D printer to be tested in space arrived at the station during Expedition 41. It will be the first step toward establishing an on-demand machine shop in space, which is a critical enabling component for deep space crewed missions and in-space manufacturing. A new Earth monitoring instrument called RapidScat also was installed and activated on the station during the crew’s time in orbit. RapidScat will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, essential measurements used in weather prediction. Having completed his second space station mission, Suraev now has spent 334 days in space. Wiseman and Gerst have spent 165 days in space with the end of their first flights. Expedition 42 now is operating aboard the station with Barry Wilmore of Nasa in command. Wilmore and his crewmates, Flight Engineers Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova of Roscosmos, will tend to the station as a three-person crew until the arrival in two weeks of three new crew members: Terry Virts of Nasa, Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos and Samantha Cristoforetti of Esa. Ground personnel work next to the Soyuz TMA-13M capsule of the ISS after its return to Earth. The scorch marks of the heat it experienced as it returned through the atmosphere can be seen here . Ground personnel carry ISS crew member Reid Wiseman of the US in this image . The International Space Station (ISS) crew member Maxim Surayev of Russia gestures after landing . ISS Expedition 41 Engineer Alexander Gerst (left), from Germany, Commander Max Suraev (centre), from Russia and Nasa Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman, from the US, sit in chairs outside the Soyuz TMA-13M capsule just minutes after they landed . | Three crew members have safely landed in Kazakhstan after a three and a half hour journey from the ISS .
They departed the station in a Soyuz capsule on Sunday evening and returned early this morning .
Maxim Suraev, Reid Wiseman and Alexander Gerst were the three to depart the station .
They travelled in the same Soyuz that took them to the ISS on 28 May this year .
The ISS has been permanently staffed since the first crew arrived on 2 November 2000 .
Three crewmembers remain on the ISS, with another three set to join later this month . |
fc90dc66c30b0436334709745055df278ce816f9 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 14:02 EST, 28 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 15:02 EST, 28 August 2013 . America's 10 richest former presidential candidates have been ranked in order of their wealth and surprisingly, the Clintons aren't even in the top five. Topping the list at No. 1 is Ross Perot - who ran as an Independent in 1992 and 1996 - with an estimated net worth of $4.3 billion, according to research compiled by Wealth-X, a company that helps private wealth firms, luxury brands, and nonprofits find potential clients. Perot made most of his fortune from the sale of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems to General Motors and Dell, respectively. In this file photo, Ross Perot accepts the Reform Party's presidential nomination for the 1996 presidential election. Perot is the wealthiest man to have run for president in the U.S., according to a new ranking . Taking the sixth and seventh slots on the list of wealthiest former presidential candidates are the Clintons, whose net worth is a combined $100 million . Steve Forbes, the chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, comes in a distant second place with his wealth pegged at $430 million . Ross Perot: $4.3 billion . Steve Forbes: $430 million . John Kerry: $280 million . Mitt Romney: $220 million . Al Gore: $190 million . Bill Clinton: $100 million . Hillary Clinton: $100 million . Rudy Giuliani: $80 million . John Edwards: $50 million . Jon Huntsman: $30 million . Steve Forbes, the chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, comes in a distant second place with his wealth estimated at $430 million. Forbes ran two unsucessful campaigns for the Republican nomination in 1996 and 2000. Secretary of State John Kerry came in third place ($280 million) followed by two-time presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ($220 million) and former Vice President Al Gore ($190 million). Taking the sixth and seventh slots are the Clintons, whose net worth is a combined $100 million. The Clintons' wealth was measured as a whole 'to demonstrate the potential financial clout that would be behind Hillary’s presidential campaign if she runs in the 2016 race,' according to Wealth-X. 'The intense scrutiny sparked by being the front-runner Democratic presidential nominee coupled with Hillary's indication that she is out of the gates early have magnified the spotlight on the recent financial vagaries swirling around the Clinton Foundation,' said Wealth-X President David S. Friedman. Secretary of State John Kerry came in third place ($280 million) followed by Mitt Romney ($220 million) Mitt Romney was founder and CEO of private equity fund Bain Capital prior to his political career . Former Sen. John Edwards' (left) wealth was estimated at $50 million and former Vice President Al Gore's (right) was estimated at $190 million . 'Wealth-X’s assessment of the combined fortunes of the Clinton family puts them in our top 10 ranking. It shows that while their foundation may have been suffering from fundraising challenges, their personal fortunes have continued to grow, driven by their personal speaking tours and appearances.' Rounding out the bottom of the list are former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani ($80 million), former Democratic Sen. John Edwards ($50 million) and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman ($30 million). Republican presidential candidate and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman campaigns at Keene State College on January 08, 2012 in Keene, New Hampshire . | The Clintons ranked sixth and seventh with a combined net worth of $100 million .
Ross Perot took the No. 1 spot with his wealth valued at $4.3 billion .
The rankings were done by Wealth-X, a company that helps private wealth firms, luxury brands and nonprofits find clients . |
fc91d6c99b7435237e5c4d1869c2d80078a7e987 | By . Lizzie Parry . A Tesco delivery driver who contracted a fatal disease claims he was infected at work after handling bags saturated with rat's urine. Darren Finn, 39, who was diagnosed with Weil's disease, said the supermarket's distribution centres were overrun with the vermin. The father-of-two, who captured this footage of a rat-infested container of food, was rushed into hospital in November 2012, complaining of debilitating flu-like symptoms. When doctors . examined Mr Finn they discovered he was suffering from kidney failure, . jaundice and a loss of function in his liver but they were baffled by . the cause of his illness. Scroll down for video . Caught on camera: Former Tesco delivery driver Darren Finn captured footage of rats crawling over food and crates at a Tesco distribution centre. He claims he contracted the potentially deadly Weil's disease from bags he carried that he claims were saturated with rat's urine . Infested: Rats can be seen climbing up the crate inside the centre, while others are spotted scurrying between containers . Concerns: Mr Finn, a father-of-two, claims the distribution centre was overrun with vermin . Hospitalised: The 39-year-old fell ill with Weil's disease in November 2012, when he worked as part of Tesco's Harlow Transport Team. Doctors discovered he was suffering kidney and liver failure, and fought to keep him alive . It . took more than a week before he was finally diagnosed with the . potentially life-threatening condition Weil’s disease, by which time he . had grown so ill hospital staff feared he might die. Mr Finn, who lives in Epping, London with his wife and children, believes he contracted the disease while working as a fresh distribution lorry driver for Tesco. The supermarket chain deny the claim, adding they have passed scrupulous Environmental Health inspections. But Mr Finn said the distribution centre was constantly overrun with rats and staff members were not given adequate equipment to safeguard them from illness. He said: 'I have been to hell and back due to this illness. I honestly believed I was going to die when I was in hospital as I was on death’s door - even the doctors were extremely worried. 'Thankfully I managed to pull through but I am not the same as I was before and I doubt I’ll ever be back to what I was before. Problem: Mr Finn said he had been concerned about the sanitation of the company's distribution centers claiming they had consistently attracted a high number of rats due to available food waste . 'The distribution centres and stores . are teaming with vermin and it is the only place I have ever come in to . contact with rat urine so there is no where else I could have got the . disease,' he claimed. Mr . Finn had been employed as a delivery driver for Tesco for more than 10 . years and was part of the company’s Harlow Transport Team. Ordeal: Mr Finn has since left Tesco and is now working for DHL . He . said he had been concerned about the sanitation of the company’s . distribution centers claiming they had consistently attracted a high . number of rats due to available food waste. He said: 'The state of the distribution centers is disgusting. There are rats and vermin all over the place, every time we arrive for a night shift you can see them scurrying around as they are attracted to the food. 'When you pick up the bags they are often wet and with so many rats running around I’m sure there is a lot of rat urine. 'The equipment Tesco give us is simply not sufficient, all we have are the overalls and a pair of cloth gloves that soak in all the moisture. They get soaking so if you have a cut or you rub your eye God knows what you’re going to end up with. 'I was one of the unlucky ones and it almost cost me my life.' Mr Finn, who has left Tesco and now works for DHL, instructed law firm Slater & Gordon to pursue a civil action against the supermarket giant. Tesco have denied liability for his illness. 'I decided to take legal action not just because I want them to answer for what they did to me but to also make sure no one else suffers as I have. Other employees are at risk,' Mr Finn said. Tracey Benson, personal injury lawyer with Slater & Gordon, said: 'Darren has suffered a great deal of pain and distress from this condition which could have easily cost him his life. Denial: A spokesman for Tesco said the supermarket does not accept liability for Mr Finn's illness, adding there is 'no evidence to suggest he caught the disease while working for Tesco' Weil's disease - or leptospirosis - is a type of bacterial infection spread by animals. In 90 per cent of cases the disease causes mild flu-like symptoms, including headache, chills and muscle pain. Where the infection takes hold of a patient's body and is more severe, it can be life-threatening causing organ failure and internal bleeding. The disease is spread in water contaminated with the urine of wild animals infected with the leptospira bacteria. Animals known to carry the bacteria include cattle, pigs, dogs and rodents, particularly rats.Transmission of the disease between humans is incredibly rare. In the UK only 44 cases of the disease were reported in England and Wales during 2011. None were fatal. The infection can be treated with a course of antibiotics. 'The pictures and video he has provided has shown there are a high number of rats scavenging in the recycling and food waste his team was tasked with moving yet they were provided with insufficient safety equipment for the job. 'Employers have a responsibility to protect staff and provide them with the correct equipment to enjoy a safe working environment. 'If they fail to provide this they may be liable if an employee suffers injury or ill health.' A Tesco spokesperson said the company deny any liability for Mr Finn's illness. He said: 'We take any health and safety issues at our sites very seriously. 'Following Mr Finn’s original allegation in December 2012, the Harlow site where he was based was thoroughly inspected by Environmental Health officers who found we had robust pest control routines in place. 'We believe there is no evidence to suggest he caught Weil’s disease while working for Tesco. 'Legal proceedings are ongoing and we are in touch with Mr Finn’s representatives.' | Darren Finn says he captured footage of rats crawling over food and crates .
39-year-old claims he was struck down by Weil's disease in November 2012 .
He claims he contracted the illness from bags soaked in rat's urine .
Father-of-two nearly died after suffering kidney and liver failure .
Tesco deny the claims, adding they passed scrupulous health inspections . |
fc92731c79edc8b96d1b164bf9d0a92ffc320be3 | Vicky Sewart, pictured in her jewellery shop in Plymouth, opted to treat her condition with a health regime involving exercise and special foods . A breast cancer patient refused to take powerful drugs she was offered to stop the disease returning – and chose to depend on a spicy low-fat diet instead. Following surgery, Vicky Sewart, 44, was worried about possible side-effects from taking the medication. So instead, she launched herself into a health regime of exercise and specially chosen foods, including turmeric, which she claims ‘makes cancer cells commit suicide’. Experts have warned there is little scientific evidence to back up her claims. But Miss Sewart believes that the diet she followed after undergoing chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery was a vital part of her recovery from the disease. Her experience will now form part of an academic study into how lifestyle can affect the body’s response to cancer. After she was diagnosed, Miss Sewart did her own research into which foods might have a positive impact on her recovery. And following an operation to remove a breast and lymph node four years ago, she told doctors she would not take Tamoxifen during remission but would be following her own ‘anti-cancer’ diet instead. She said: ‘It’s very unusual for breast cancer patients not to take the drug. ‘When I told the doctors I didn’t want to take it, they just advised me to keep oestrogen out of my body, which is basically what the drug does. 'The doctors absolutely will not say that the diet is going to do anything to help the cancer in any way, other than to say a healthy diet is going to help in the fight against any disease. Recovering: A picture of Vicky in Antigua, 2008. Concerned about the side-effects of medical drug Tamoxifen Miss Sewart, 44, designed a vegan, diary free diet which included a range of superfoods from frozen berries to curry spices . This was four years ago and I think . attitudes are changing a bit now so that these ideas are running . alongside the more usual treatments. 'I believe absolutely enormously that my diet has assisted my recovery.’ Explaining her decision not to take . Tamoxifen, she went on: ‘It was the worry of the drugs and the side . effects, I didn’t want to have to worry about it, I wanted to be free.’ Turmeric, a spice used when making curry dishes . The jewellery designer and gallery . owner started her health regime with a mostly organic vegan diet, . cutting out all dairy products, adding plenty of ‘super-foods’, and . taking moderate exercise. She said: ‘Fresh fruit, vegetables . and juices are great, and frozen berries are fantastic as a super-food. Turmeric kind of makes cancer cells commit suicide and ginger and garlic . are great to cook with.’ For the past four years, Miss Sewart . has provided blood and urine samples and filled in regular . questionnaires as part of national research into how lifestyle can help . prevent the recurrence of breast cancer after surgery. The largest study of its kind in the world, it involves 56 hospitals around the UK and 3,400 patients who have had the disease. The full results will be published next year. Meanwhile, Miss Sewart, from . Plymouth, is hoping to mark her five-year remission next summer and is . due to marry later this year. Describing her experience of cancer, she added: ‘People can die, or come back from it and enjoy life. 'You’ve just got to be thankful you’re still around.’ Vicky Sweart used both frozen berries like strawberries and ginger root in her diet which she claims has helped recovery from breast cancer . However, experts urged other cancer sufferers not to abandon conventional treatments. Sara Hiom, of Cancer Research UK, . said: ‘It’s not recommended that alternative therapies are used in . place of conventional medical therapy. ‘There is little scientific or . medical evidence to indicate that alternative therapies are more . effective than the proven treatments used by cancer specialists on the . NHS. 'We would urge anyone to talk to their specialist if they’re contemplating them.’ Dr Steve Kelly, who specialises in . breast cancer at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, said: ‘Breast cancer . deaths have been going down steadily for over 20 years thanks to . surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. ‘But there are three things patients can do to help themselves. It doesn’t guarantee survival, but it does help. ‘The first is to exercise for 30 . minutes, three days a week. The second is to not gain any weight, and . the third is to reduce fat intake. ‘These things help to reduce the chance of cancer coming back. For this patient, four years on now, it is still early days.’ He added: ‘My job is not to make people have Tamoxifen, but advise people of the risks and benefits. 'Treatment comes down to a patient, and height, weight and exercise levels are helpful in making a decision.’ Tamoxifen is Britain’s most . widely-used breast cancer drug, given to more than half of patients to . stop tumours from returning after surgery. The tablets, which cost as little as . aspirin and are taken for up to five years, also prevent the development . of new tumours in an unaffected breast. The drug, originally developed as a . contraceptive, is the gold standard treatment for breast cancer and has . been given to millions around the world since the 1980s. It works by blocking the female sex hormone oestrogen from fuelling the growth of tumours. Used after surgery, it cuts the odds of the tumour returning by around 30 per cent. However, it does not work in all cases. In contrast, the evidence for curry . spices such as turmeric beating cancer mainly comes from the study of . cells in a dish – while evidence from the treatment of actual patients . is sparse. In laboratory studies it seems to be . able to kill cancer cells and prevent more from growing, particularly in . breast, bowel, stomach and skin cancers. It has also been shown to appear to stop the spread of breast cancer cells to other parts of the body in mice. | Miss Sewart's diet bans dairy and meat and contains frozen berries, vegetables and spices such as garlic, turmeric and ginger .
She says turmeric 'makes cancer cells commit suicide'
Worried about the side effects of cancer recovery drug Tamoxifen and chose to change her diet and exercise routines instead . |
fc92739aeb06ea959cc4f0a6e7722190ef1b4f11 | CANTON, Georgia (CNN) -- Meet Kaden, bomb-sniffing dog in training. Jeff Schettler coaches handlers on how to work with detection dogs, including Kaden, far right, in the field. His name, a Gaelic word meaning "little battle," is fitting for the energetic 12-pound puppy with a perky tail that curls like a cinnamon bun. At 4 months old, Kaden is a playful, black- and white-coated basenji being schooled at Georgia K9 National Training Center. Once fully trained, he will assist federal and local police officers as well as private corporations in nosing out deadly explosives at schools, airports and public events. His detective skills can potentially save thousands of lives in an era where law enforcement agencies are aggressively fighting against drugs and terrorist attacks. "Think about a scenario like the 1996 Olympic bombings," says Kaden's trainer Jeff Schettler, a cheery man who has coached hundreds of dogs to sniff out bombs, drugs, missing people and corpses since the mid-1990s. Demand for these detection canines -- including bomb dogs such as Kaden -- has surged as homeland security and drug crackdowns become a bigger priority for government and law enforcement. The North American Police Work Dog Association says 35,000 dogs are trained to do detective work in the U.S. The association estimates up to 10,000 dogs have been added since the September 11, 2001, attacks. Watch three detection puppies in action » . Official records of training puppies to work as detection dogs date back to the early 1900s in the U.S. In more recent years, police departments realized a dog's nose was a valuable asset. Dogs possess impressive olfactory abilities -- some breeds more than others. For each drop of odor detected by a dog, the human nose would require 1,000 to 10,000 drops of odor, veterinarians say. Can your pooch be a detection dog? » . Other animals may have smelling skills that rival a dog's, such as pigs nosing for truffles in France or honey bees that can sniff out TNT particles, but veterinarians say dogs are the most controllable and sociable for their human handlers. Police dogs remain the most affordable and reliable solution to solving crimes that require scent detection, police officers say. Trained dogs can track down cocaine camouflaged inside car seats. They can find children who have mysteriously vanished overnight. Detection dogs can even weed out pest-infested apples and oranges accidentally left in suitcases at airports. "They are a growing aspect of law enforcement," says Jim Watson, secretary at the North American Police Work Dog Association and a handler for decades. Earlier this month, investigators were baffled during the international manhunt for George Zinkhan, a former University of Georgia professor accused of fatally shooting his wife and two other people. Two weeks into the search, two cadaver dogs, a German shepherd named Circe and an Australian shepherd named Madison, arrived. Within 10 hours, the dogs picked up the scent of Zinkhan's remains in a shallow pit hidden in a thick forest. Once the dogs neared the suspect's body, they gave their handlers personalized signals. Circe barked excitedly. Madison lay down. Trainer Jeff Schettler explains Kaden is an unlikely candidate for police work. Basenjis, a breed that originated in central Africa, are usually used as hunting or show dogs. There are only two other trained police dog basenjis recorded by the North American Police Work Dog Association. Most trainers in the police dog world dislike experimenting with new dogs, preferring to stick to breeds with a proven track record. Most law enforcement agencies rely on Belgian Malinoises and German shepherds for detection work because of their protective yet friendly personalities, but labs, bloodhounds and beagles also can be used. "We're not trying to fix anything," Schettler says. "We're trying to enhance it." Schettler points out some of Kaden's advantages: The dog's weight will peak at about 25 pounds, enabling him seamlessly to sift between cramped luggage and lockers. Kaden is barkless because basenjis have an oddly shaped larynx, ideal for quiet searches. On a recent rainy Saturday morning at the Georgia K9 National Training Center, little Kaden undergoes testing. Passing the exam depends on his whiffing talents. Upon the instructor's command, Kaden's pencil-thin legs playfully trot along the damp grass to an oversize wall scattered with dozens of holes. His instructor has hidden black gunpowder wrapped in pantyhose in one of the holes. If Kaden's nose sniffs out the gunpowder, he will immediately sit. Kaden begins on the left side, quickly taking a zigzag pattern from one hole to another. His pace is methodical, a sniff for each hole. Soon he slows, pauses, inhales again and then sinks his tiny hindquarters to the ground. "What a good boy," coo several of Kaden's trainers, stroking his sleek fur and rewarding him with one of his favorite treats, torn bits of venison jerky. As Kaden nibbles on his treat, Schettler admits there are drawbacks to training basenjis. Basenjis don't have a furry coat to endure cold weather like a German shepherd. Basenjis are also a highly independent, stubborn breed with personalities similar to cats, making them difficult to train. Kaden's personality, however, is contrary to most basenjis. He was culled from a litter in Atlanta at 7 days old because of his unusual sociability with humans. "At eight weeks, he was in the airport going up to people and running around like he owned the place," Schettler says. Training detection dogs such as Kaden often begins during puppyhood so imprinting scent differentiation becomes innate, handlers say. Puppies are selected based on breed purity, confidence, sociability and temperament. In any training program, there are doggie dropouts. In those instances, the puppies become pets. On the job, dogs can suffer from on-site injuries, such as mild sprains and bruises. Some dogs have even been killed when a bomb explodes or buildings collapse. As police dogs age, health problems such as arthritis can send them into early retirement. A work dog's career typically spans about seven years, instructors say. Different breeds specialize in certain detection jobs, says Joseph Morelli, a canine handler for the Connecticut State Police. Morelli says he relies on Labrador retrievers for arson cases. German shepherds at his school are saved for patrolling or drug cases. "People are really starting to see how useful these dogs can be," says Morelli, who has started to train dogs from neighboring states in recent years. "We're really seeing our program take off." | Police dogs can nose out explosives, drugs, bodies and missing people .
Kaden, at 4 months old, is training to become of the the few basenjis bomb dogs .
Training usually begins in puppyhood so handlers can imprint skills .
About 35,000 police dogs work in the U.S., group says . |
fc928438b44216c351e66f192bbbf3a316a7c1e8 | It’s one of the most frustrating challenges every passenger encounters when they board a plane – the mad dash to find a generous spot for their hand baggage. Placing luggage in the overhead lockers is often a tight squeeze as passengers skirt the rules with bags that barely fit, and it’s no surprise that some airlines are better than others when it comes to cabin baggage allowances. It turns out Spanish carrier Iberia is the most generous – allowing larger bags with no weight restrictions – while UK airlines Thomas Cook and Thomson and Dublin-based Ryanair are among the stingiest, according to a BBC survey. Room for everyone? Many passengers face a mad dash to find a generous spot for their hand luggage . With passengers bringing on larger and heavier bags to avoid surcharges for checked baggage, the dimensions and weight of allowable cabin luggage vary per airline and the rules aren’t always enforced by airline staff. The BBC’s survey of 17 major European airlines found that Iberia, British Airlines, Jet2 and Monarch Airlines all allow the largest bags – with dimensions of 22 x 17 x 9 inches (56 x 45 x 25 centimetres) for a fully-packed bag – but Iberia is the only one without a weight restriction. Size matters: Some airlines are more generous than others when it comes to cabin luggage allowances . Iberia: 22 x 17 x 9 inches, unlimited weight . British Airways: 22 x 17 x 9 inches, 50lbs . Jet2: 22 x 17 x 9 inches, 22lbs . Monarch Airways: 22 x 17 x 9 inches, 22lbs . Flybe: 21 x 15 x 9 inches, 22lbs . Norwegian Air: 21 x 15 x 9 inches, 22lbs . Lufthansa: 21 x 15 x 9 inches, 17lbs . Scandinavian Airlines: 21 x 15 x 9 inches, 17lbs . Air France: 21 x 13 x 9 inches, 26lbs . KLM: 21 x 13 x 9 inches, 26lbs . Virgin Atlantic: 22 x 14 x 9 inches, 22lbs . Ryanair: 21 x 15 x 7 inches, 22lbs . Air Berlin: 21 x 15 x 7 inches, 17lbs . Germanwings: 21 x 15 x 7 inches, 17lbs . Thomas Cook: 21 x 15 x 7 inches, 11lbs . Thomson: 21 x 15 x 7 inches, 11lbs . easyJet: 19 x 15 x 7 inches, unlimited weight . *easyJet will allow up to 22 x 17 x 9 inches . UK budget airline easyJet will allow a bag up to that size, but it will be placed in the luggage hold at no cost if there is not enough room for it. Otherwise, its dimensions are 19 x 15 x 7ins 50 x 40 x 20cms). The airline doesn’t have a weight limit. Ryanair, its chief rival, found itself near the bottom of the survey. The airline that is notorious for checked baggage fees as high as £75 allows bags as large as 21 x 15 x 7ins (55 x 40 x 20cms) with a maximum weight of 22lbs (10kg). 'Most generous': Spanish carrier Iberia allows larger bags and does not have a weight restriction . Frank Brehany, consumer director of HolidayTravelWatch, told the BBC that airline employees are not doing enough checks at the gate and that is putting the safety of passengers and crew in jeopardy. He said: ‘There have been occasions when consumers have reported an injury as a result of a heavy item falling down on arrival. ‘Others have been hurt because the owner cannot manage the weight of the bag. The weight can even cause the overhead bin to open.’ | Spanish carrier Iberia allows larger bags with no weight restrictions .
Thomas Cook and Thomson found themselves at the bottom of the list .
easyJet allows larger bags in overhead lockers if there is enough room . |
fc92a61b6b1f79334cc9502d7821695e9926ba52 | Robbie Henshaw went toe-to-toe with the mighty South Africa on Saturday as Ireland produced a stunning display to record a surprise 29-15 win against the Sprinkboks at the Aviva Stadium. Henshaw formed one half of a duo with Jared Payne in the middle that put in a brave defensive performance against the second best team in the world. But video footage has now emerged of the young centre being given the fright of his life by Connacht team-mate and prankster JP Cooney. Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw was given the fright of his life when team-mate JP Cooney made him jump . The 21-year-old earned his fourth international cap when Ireland beat South Africa on Saturday . Henshaw let out an expletive-laden cry after the shock of being frightened by Cooney . Cooney hides behind a door and waits for the unsuspecting Henshaw to enter his house in Galway, before jumping out and scaring the life out him. The 24-year-old Cooney recorded the incident, capturing the fear on the face of the petrified Henshaw, who lets out an expletive-laden cry. Henshaw is set to win his fifth international cap when Ireland take on Georgia in Dublin this weekend. Ireland's Henshaw (left) tackles Jan Serfontein of South Africa during the Test on Saturday . Henshaw (centre) produced a brilliant defensive display in the centre to help Ireland to a surprise win . | Robbie Henshaw won fourth cap for Ireland as they beat South Africa 29-15 .
Connacht team-mate JP Cooney scared the life out of the 21-year-old .
Cooney recorded the incident and captured the fear on Henshaw's face . |
fc92b848af75573fad2e9c2622d4b72f1000f310 | Port Sulphur, Louisiana (CNN) -- This Fourth of July weekend New Orleans will be packed with nearly 300,000 people, as the National Education Association holds its annual convention, and folks from across the country descend on the Crescent City for three days of partying and concerts featuring Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson and Earth, Wind & Fire, all headliners at the 16th annual Essence Music Festival. But the residents in this rural town -- as well as others in Pointe a la Hache, the county seat of Plaquemines Parish -- too are concerned about the earth, wind and fire. Yet their thoughts are not about the musical group, but instead, the devastation being wreaked on their way of life in the region as a result of the BP oil catastrophe, the worst environmental disaster in American history. While local, state and federal officials throw as many resources as possible to prevent the millions of gallons leaked thus far from causing more damages to the beaches and coastline of the Gulf Coast, the residents here are under a heavy degree of stress. Some admittedly still facing down post-traumatic stress, a result of Hurricane Katrina five years ago, they now face the possibility of losing their livelihood as the oil makes its way to the east bank of the Mississippi River. The water means everything to the people here. The local economy is based entirely on the money earned from the fishing industry, and since May, the boats have been idled because of the oil disaster. I am here to shoot a special for my TV One Cable Network show, Washington Watch. This town is largely African American, and considering our network targets Blacks, it was an ideal place to focus our attention. But the heartache and strain I am hearing in Pointe a la Hache is the same in other towns, whether the faces are white, Hispanic, or Asian. It really is hard to fathom what this disaster will do to the residents here, many of them third-generation fishermen. The water is all they know, and if they can't make a living doing this, there really is nothing else to do. The countryside of southern Louisiana is gorgeous -- though the heat is stifling and the mosquitoes plentiful --but this is very much a coastal community. There are no massive shopping centers, large manufacturing facilities or high tech parks. The bottom line: No fishing; no money; no life. On Thursday evening, a number of the town's residents filed into the Greater Mt. Sinai Baptist Church in Port Sulphur for a community rally with the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. Prior to the meeting, several of the fisherman vented their frustration to the Rev. Tyronne Edwards, who has been a leading voice on the oil disaster here, and to Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish. Nungesser told the fishermen, many dressed in T-shirts, jeans and work boots, that he feels their pain, and is doing everything he can to fight through the bureaucracy and get resources to the fishermen, namely jobs converting their fishing boats into skimmers to pick up the oil. "This week they [BP] are supposed to put a whole 'nother crew of boats out and rotate some of them off on a 30-, 60-, 90-day [schedule] to get some money for the people that ain't been" working, he said, who added that the outside contractors are being paid $3,000 a day for oil cleanup. "What we are trying to do is get work for all of the fishermen full time." Rev. Edwards, with a black and gold Bible in hand, said it's time for President Obama to come to small towns like Pointe a la Hache and hear firsthand from the men and women who are scraping by, angry with the bureaucracy that is preventing the resources from flowing. He is still seething from a meeting last week with Kenneth Feinberg, the Washington, D.C. attorney President Obama appointed to oversee the $20 billion fund BP established to assist victims of the disaster. "This guy sounds like BP all the way," said Edwards, who didn't like what he said was Feinberg's suggestion to fishermen that it's best they take $100,000 now instead of trying to sue. "He's detached," Nungesser chimed in. It's clear that frustration is running high, and whether it's BP, Gov. Bobby Jindal or President Obama, residents here are in unanimous agreement: they can do more, and it needs to be done now. One fisherman said that Plaquemines Parish is their home and they want to see it thrive, but things are reaching a boiling point. "What do we have to do? Wreak havoc down here to get people's attention because that's what it's coming to." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland S. Martin. | Roland Martin: Residents of small rural town totally dependent on fishing industry .
He says their way of life is threatened by the Gulf oil disaster .
Martin: Stress is intense and people are getting frustrated by pace of cleanup effort . |
fc92fbbadc6ba2e1a480ad50a1e818cffb1f3a00 | UPDATED: . 13:09 EST, 12 September 2011 . Ritesh Brahmbhatt: A crooked solicitor who smuggled drugs and mobile phones into two prisons in his hugely oversized shoes is facing years behind bars . A crooked solicitor who smuggled drugs and mobile phones into two prisons by hiding them in his oversized shoes is facing years behind bars. Ritesh Brahmbhatt, 31, was caught out by sniffer dogs as he entered north London's Pentonville jail in size 12, wide-fitting shoes stuffed with contraband. A search found that he was carrying three-inch packages containing skunk, . the illegal stimulant 'meow meow' and even electronic scales in his slip-ons. The lawyer was planning to pass the items to inmate David Sterling, 28, who was wearing a full-length Muslim robe. Blackfriars Crown Court had heard how the black, metal-buckled slip-ons three sizes too big for Brahmbhatt were purchased just days before in a branch of High and Mighty, which specialises in outsize menswear. Brahmbhatt, who is currently . suspended by the Solicitors' Regulation Authority, admitted two plots . between March 1 and September 17, 2009. He also admitted a further charge of . conveying a mobile phone into Winchester prison while on bail for those . offences, on February 2 this year. Jurors heard evidence he had been . planning another smuggling operation just five months after he was . caught the first time, and returned to the same shop to put in an . order for more massive shoes. Prison officer Lucy McLaren noticed Brahmbhatt's suspiciously high . number of legal visits to Sterling and arranged a surprise sniffer dog operation. Ms McLaren said: 'He came up the . stairs towards and looked shocked to see we were doing a search as they . would normally be done out-of-hours. 'I told him we were going to be conducting a dog search on all visitors and there would be a slight delay. 'He went very pale and started to pat his jacket pockets as though he'd forgotten something.' Accomplices: Danielle Porter (left) and Desmond Brown were convicted of conspiracy to convey articles including drugs, mobile phones and components into prison . The handlers told the officer both . dogs had given their signal that he 'had been near or was in possession . of a controlled substance'. She said that when she told Brahmbatt . he was embarrassed: . She said: 'He asked me to close the door so that none of . his colleagues could see that he was being held. 'Mr Brahmbhatt at first didn't want to remove his shoes, . 'However eventually he took them off. There were two packages inside his shoes. His right shoes held a clingfilm package containing a . mobile phone, earphones and accessories, a pair of electronic scales and . a small quantity of mephedrone, commonly known as meow meow. A second package containing 25g of skunk cannabis was found in his left shoe. Officers also found 27g of skunk and 53g of cannabis in his trousers. Prisoner Desmond Brown, 26, his girlfriend Danielle Porter, 24, and 26-year-old Calvin Chance were involved with the operation alongside Sterling and Brahmbhat. Caught out: A search found three-inch packages containing skunk, 'meow meow' and electronic scales in his slip on shoes (file picture) Nearly £20,000 passed through bank accounts belonging to Brahmbhatt, Porter, and two others before the racket was smashed. Rufuz D'Cruz, prosecuting, said: 'Ritesh Brahmbhatt entered into a crude criminal conspiracy to smuggle prohibited items into prison with his clients, Sterling and Brown, who at that time were serving prisoners, and Chance and Porter. 'Over that six month period in 2009, Brahmbhatt, Chance and Porter worked on the outside, covertly conveying into prison drugs, mobile phones and mobile phone parts, during the course of a series of visits to both Sterling and Brown.' Brahmbhatt who worked for Holloway law firm Mordi and Co, had 'abused his position of trust' as a lawyer to use legal visits to bring in items in return for cash bungs. Sterling and Brown, Bromley-by-Bow, east London, Porter, of, Barking, Essex, and Chance, Leytonstone, east London, all denied two charges of conspiracy to convey articles including drugs, mobile phones and components into prison and were unanimously convicted. Brahmbhatt, of Ilford, admitted two conspiracies, each relating to drugs and phones, in to prison, and a further charge of conveying a mobile phone into Winchester prison. They are all awaiting sentencing. | Ritesh Brahmbhatt, 31, caught out by sniffer dogs as he walked into Pentonville in huge slip-ons . |
fc93dd00260aaf80e8f380f42c9d43d801d89aff | (CNN) -- When I was growing up, to open my parents' refrigerator was to take a magical journey deep into a strange land of Tupperware that ultimately ended in sadness, confusion and some sort of round, congealed blob of food that may or may not have dated to the Carter administration. "Mom, what is this?" "Does it look like it might cause infection?" "Kinda." "It's soup." Yes, we were a leftovers house. Be it chicken or rice, you were gettin' it twice! Though, in all fairness, mom has always been a great cook. So, it was definitely tolerable. Nevertheless, Day 7 of lasagna never quite had the same pizazz as Day 4. And opening that container on Day 60 risked introducing a newly formed, unknown invasive species into the ecosystem. "What the hell was that?" "Might've been a raccoon ... might've been a casserole." But, hey, you just can't let good food go to waste. And that's why developers at a trending new startup are working on an app called Leftover Swap that might just revolutionize what we do with our extra grub. But probably not. Essentially, they're creating Craigslist for your unfinished pizza. Yes, Casual Encounters just got even weirder. Here's how it works: When you have something remaining from your meal, you snap a photo, post it on your profile and then wait for someone nearby to claim it or offer a trade. "Your chicken salad for my mac-and-cheese?" "Deal! Meet me in the park at 7. Come alone. I'll be the one with all the open sores." "Wait. What?" Bryan Summersett and Dan Newman are the cofounders of Leftover Swap, and they came up with the idea three years ago while roommates at the University of Michigan. Naturally, at the time, even they thought it was a little crazy. Newman told NPR, "It was an outrageous joke in 2010, but in 2013, it's very plausible and something that people would use today." I swear I'm not trying to sound insensitive -- seriously -- but the only people I can actually see using this would be homeless dudes who happen to have cell phones. Otherwise, there's just too much risk. And for what? Tater tots? Actually, that sounds delicious. I'd travel a few blocks for tots. (Blocks for Tots also sounds like the world's laziest charity walk. Motto: We're here to help, but only for about 10 minutes.) Of course, Newman and his business partner are well aware that Leftover Swap is going to be a hard sell. He admits, "It's obviously not for everybody. But for as many people who seemingly have a problem with it, there's people who love the idea." And maybe there will even be an upscale vintage section so my mom can finally get rid of any petrified brisket lurking in the back of the fridge. You know, somewhere on the lower shelf next to the Thanksgiving turkey. From 1984. Yet, despite any eager users that may exist, Newman and Summersett also don't have delusions of grandeur. When they release the app at the end of August, it will be available for free download. They're less interested in making money and more concerned about doing something positive. Newman says, "In the U.S., we produce so much more food than we consume, and so much is going to waste." On the other hand, some of that food is also presently being enjoyed by an unbathed man who's just emptied his cat's litter box. Not with his hands, but still ... And now he can't wait to share his half-eaten burrito! Yes, Casual Encounters definitely just got even weirder. Follow Jarrett Bellini on Twitter. | Leftover Swap is an app that will allow users to share, trade away uneaten food .
Developer: "So much is going to waste"
Bellini: It's sort of like Craigslist for your pizza . |
fc93e5398a13a1e05764e6d6e8c1ea31a3b448da | Jaguar will go retro when it unveils its 'new' model tomorrow - a revived E-Type race car which will cost wealthy collectors $1.7million. The legendary E-Type from the 1960s is the Jaguar's best-known car and the Lightweight model is its most sought-after. Only 12 of the 18 planned cars were ever built between 1963 and 1964 - and earlier this year Jaguar stunned the auto industry by announcing they were to build the remaining six. Scroll down for video . Jaguar will unveil the revived E-Type Lighweight model race car in Pebble Beach, California, tomorrow which will cost wealthy collectors $1.7million . Between 1963 and 1964, just 12 of the 18 planned E-Type Lightweight model race cars were ever built - with Jaguar stunning the auto industry this year by announcing plans to build the remaining six . The manufacturer, fresh from announcing profits of $16million per day will unveil the beautiful new model in Pebble Beach, California tomorrow. Each of the six cars will be built to a specification originated from the last Lightweight E-type produced in 1964. The cars, which won't be road legal, will be hand-crafted at the original home of the E-type, Jaguar's Browns Lane plant in Coventry, England, as part of Jaguar Heritage's first recreation project. Under the aluminium body is a 3.8-litre engine which will develop around 340bhp. With the right gearing, the E-Type will be capable of more than 160mph. Under the aluminium body is a 3.8-litre engine which will develop around 340bhp. With the right gearing, the E-Type will be capable of more than 160mph . The cars, thought to cost around $1.7million, will be sold as period competition vehicles and all will be suitable for historic motorsport purposes . Each new E-Type will be powered by a recreated version of the original XK-based straight-six engine, with an aluminium block, a ‘wide angle’ aluminium cylinder head, and a dry sump lubrication system . The cars, thought to cost around $1.7million, will be sold as period competition vehicles and all will be suitable for historic motorsport purposes. John Edwards, managing director, Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations which runs the Heritage side, described the E-Type as 'an incredibly exciting project'. He said: 'Special Operations' remit is to indulge our most discerning and enthusiastic customers' passion for our cars - including those from our past. 'This is why our Jaguar Heritage division exists. The E-type is an iconic car, and the Lightweight E-type the most desirable of all. 'To be able to complete the intended production run of 18, some 50 years after the last Lightweight was completed, was an opportunity we couldn't miss.' Between 1961 and 1975, Jaguar built around 72,500 E-types with the stylish motor regarded as one of the prettiest cars ever built. For the recreation, Jaguar used state-of-the-art scanning technology to digitally remap the inner and outer surfaces of a Lightweight bodyshell . All of the new E-Types will be built by hand at Jaguar’s new Heritage customer workshop facility, at Browns Lane factory, Coventry, England and all will feature the aluminium body panels that made the lightweight so special at the time . The car's body has 230 individual components and to accurately reproduce the car, Jaguar recorded dimensions and shape down to a fraction of a millimetre . Between 1961 and 1975, Jaguar built around 72,500 E-types with the stylish motor regarded as one of the prettiest cars ever built. The new models will be able to reach speeds of 160mph . The Lightweight E-Type was raced by the likes of likes of Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart and Roy Salvadori and now command a $6.6million-plus price-tag. It was around 114kg lighter than a standard E-type, thanks to its all-aluminium body and engine block, lack of interior trim and exterior chrome work and a host of further weight-saving features including lightweight, hand-operated side windows. For the recreation, Jaguar used state-of-the-art scanning technology to digitally remap the inner and outer surfaces of a Lightweight bodyshell. The car's body has 230 individual components and to accurately reproduce the car, Jaguar recorded dimensions and shape down to a fraction of a millimetre. Ian Callum, Director of Design, Jaguar, said: 'With the Lightweight E-type, our focus as a design team has been to ensure justice was done to the original work of Sir William Lyons and Malcolm Sayer. 'Meticulous attention to detail has been everything to us in re-creating this car, just as it is in our contemporary Jaguars. 'I believe the result is a new Lightweight E-type that is as stunning now as the originals would have been when they were new.' Each new E-Type will be powered by a recreated version of the original XK-based straight-six engine, with an aluminium block, a ‘wide angle’ aluminium cylinder head, and a dry sump lubrication system. Two fuel injection options will be offered with the new cars and three Weber carburetors will be fitted as standard. But a Lucas fuel injection system will be available as a cost option. Both variants have been homologated for FIA historic motorsport, and Jaguar says that no matter which fuel injection is chosen, power output will be 'well over 300' bhp. All six vehicles will be built as perfect reproductions and to the exact specifications of the original 12 cars first produced in 1963. Customers will also be able to specify a range of bespoke options for their individual cars. | The revived Jaguar E-Type Lightweight model race cars will be unveiled tomorrow in Pebble Beach, California .
Only 12 of the 18 planned iconic cars were ever built between 1963 and 1964 .
And the 'missing’ six Lightweights are due to be revealed 50 years later - with the original chassis numbers .
They will not be road legal, cars will be sold as period competition vehicles for historic motorsport purposes .
With the right gearing, the 3.8-litre engine E-Type costing $1.6million will be capable of more than 160mph . |
fc942d1b6f49207e454cf65fed5e85e9aad383f2 | (CNN) -- U.S. Coast Guard officers continued to search for survivors Tuesday after a boat carrying 28 Haitian migrants ran into trouble in the Bahamas while on its way to the United States, leading to at least 11 deaths. Thirteen people are believed missing, the U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday. Four of those on board made it safely to shore Monday and raised the alarm with the Bahamas police force, U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Jon-Paul Rios said. The hunt for survivors continued early Tuesday, with U.S. Coast Guard officers scanning the seas from the air and Bahamian police conducting surface searches. The Haitians' vessel ran aground and broke up near Hawksbill Cay in the Bahamas, the Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard sent three aircraft, one of them a rescue helicopter, to the scene after Bahamian authorities asked for help and recovered 11 bodies there, Rios said. Rescued Haitian migrant boat refugee becomes Coast Guard rescuer . Capt. Brendan McPherson, 7th Coast Guard District chief of response enforcement, said it was a "tragic and preventable loss of life," in a statement Tuesday. "As we continue our efforts to locate any survivors, the Coast Guard urges family members everywhere to plead with loved ones overseas who might wish to immigrate to the U.S. to only do so through safe and lawful means," he said. The United States has long been a destination for migrants from Haiti, with many sailing via the Bahamas or the Turks and Caicos Islands. Boats overflowing with migrants fleeing persecution under the regime of Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier began landing on U.S. shores in the 1970s. Others sought refuge after the collapse of the Duvalier dictatorship in the late 1980s, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Council urges probe of sinking refugee boats . In the early 1990s, tens of thousands more Haitians migrated to the United States after the coup d'etat deposing President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The January 2010 earthquake that devastated the capital, Port au Prince, and surrounding communities did not result in an immediate wave of mass migration to the United States, as some had feared. Nonetheless, about 587,000 Haitian-born people were living in the United States as of 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, about half of whom are naturalized U.S. citizens. That number had climbed from 408,000 in 2000 and 218,000 in 1990, according to a 2010 report by the U.S.-based Center for Immigration Studies, citing earlier census figures. At least 16 dead after migrant boat sinks near Dominican Republic . Nearly half the migrants from Haiti have settled in Florida, with New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts also attracting sizable communities, the CIS report says. A fifth of Haitian immigrants and their young children residing in the United States live in poverty, it adds. The Haitian diaspora has traditionally helped its Caribbean homeland recover from natural disasters, with large sums sent back to Haiti in remittances, the Migration Policy Institute says. The United Nations estimates the January 2010 earthquake affected nearly 3 million people and killed about 220,000. More than 1.5 million people were left homeless in a country that was already the poorest in the Western Hemisphere and racked by crisis. CNN's Nick Valencia, Laura Smith-Spark and Catherine Shoichet contributed to this report. | NEW: The search for survivors continues after a boat carrying 28 Haitian migrants sinks .
The boat, bound for the United States, ran aground off Hawksbill Cay, the U.S. Coast Guard says .
Eleven bodies have been found and 13 people remain missing; four made it to shore .
About 587,000 Haitian-born people live in the United States, 2010 Census figures show . |
fc94803af8b72e2f987bfb13a002f70544bed689 | By . Associated Press . New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called on Sunday for a more aggressive foreign policy that defends American values abroad — even in 'in some very messy, difficult places'. 'The rest of the world watches in desperation and hope that America will realize and act upon once again its indispensable place in the world,' Christie, a prospective Republican presidential contender, said in a keynote address at This World: The Values Network's second annual Champions of Jewish Values International awards gala in New York. 'We must lead.' New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called for a more aggressive foreign policy that defends American values abroad on Sunday night at the 2nd Annual Champions of Jewish Values Gala in New York. 'We must lead,' he said . Celebrity Rabbi Shmuley Boteach of New Jersey shakes keynote speaker Chris Christie's hand. Boteach's organization honored Christie on Sunday despite Christie's recent remarks on 'occupied territories' that unsettled some Jewish Americans . He charged that America must represent the strongest military and economic power, but also 'the strongest moral power for what is good and what is right in the world.' The appearance offered Christie a second chance to impress deep-pocketed Jewish donors after stumbling in a recent speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition. Sunday's event also featured Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, This World Executive Director and Celebrity Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and major political donor Sheldon Adelson. The gathering comes as donors — none bigger than Adelson — begin to size up the crowded field of potential Republican presidential candidates ahead of the 2016 contest. While billed as a nonpartisan affair, there were political references throughout the evening. Asked if he was running for president, Perry told reporters: 'I'm being governor for the next nine months. To be real honest with you I don't know what I'm gonna do after that.' Christie did not talk about his own presidential prospects in a speech that offered aggressive rhetoric but few specifics. He didn't mention Israel, but insisted that America's leaders must send 'clear and consistent signals' to those nations it supports and those it doesn't while promoting America's values. 'We need to stand once again loudly for these values,' he said. 'And sometimes that's going to mean standing in some very messy, difficult places. Standing long and hard for those things that we believe in.' He added: 'We will either lead or disappoint. Those are the only two choices. Unfortunately, today, in my opinion, America is disappointing. But it's not too late.' Christie was seated at the same table as Adelson, who figures to play a prominent role in the selection of the next Republican presidential nominee. It was their second meeting over the last two months. At a Las Vegas gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition in late March, Adelson met with Christie and several other possible Republican contenders: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. At the time, Christie, a Catholic, said he was overwhelmed by displays of religious tolerance during a recent trip to Jerusalem. 'I took a helicopter ride from occupied territories across ... and just felt, personally, how extraordinary that was to understand the military risk that Israel faces every day,' Christie said. The comment about 'occupied territories' drew sharp criticism from some in the audience. The Israeli government and by extension most of Israel's supporters in the U.S. don't consider the West Bank and East Jerusalem to be occupied territory. After the speech, Christie met privately with Adelson to explain that he misspoke. With a net worth estimated at nearly $40 billion, Adelson may be the Republican Party's most influential donor. He is known for his devotion to Israel, in addition to an aggressive American foreign policy. Adelson donated more than $90 million to Republican candidates and their allies in the 2012 election. Chris Christie, center, and his wife Pat, right, walk with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Executive Director of This World: The Values Network, as they attend This World's second Annual Champions of Jewish Values Awards Gala in New York on Sunday, May 18, 2014 . | New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was the keynote speaker at the Champions of Jewish Values International awards gala in New York City on Sunday night .
Christie told attendees that the U.S. must stand up for its values abroad .
'And sometimes that's going to mean .
standing in some very messy, difficult places. Standing long and hard .
for those things that we believe in,' he said .
Sunday's speech was Christie's second appearance before a gathering of Jewish donors this year . |
fc948f0c537c024c89776c20bd1c85fe2748b150 | By . Rob Waugh . PUBLISHED: . 08:09 EST, 2 April 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 09:15 EST, 2 April 2012 . IBM is designing a computer which will digest twice as much information every day as the entire internet, sifting through radio waves from space in an effort to unravel the origin of the universe. The machine will be attached to a 1,900 square mile array of telescope antenna, and will be built to 'suck in' in radio telescope data which will 'see' 13 billion years into the past, back to the dawn of the universe and the Big Bang. The machine will be millions of times more powerful than the fastest PCs today - and will deal with 100 times more information than the output of the Large Hadron Collider. The machine will be attached to a 1,900 square mile array of telescope antenna, and will be built to 'suck in' in radio telescope data which will 'see' 13 billion years into the past, back to the dawn of the universe and the Big Bang . The amount of data gathered by the Square Kilometre Array's dishes will be twice the traffic on the entire internet - and 100 times bigger than the output of the Large Hadron Collider . In Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy an alien civilisation builds a huge computer to 'answer' the great question of the universe. Sadly, the answer turns out to be '42' Ton Engbersen of IBM resarch says, 'If you take the current global daily Internet traffic and multiply it by two, you are in the range of the data set that the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope will be collecting every day.' Upon completion in 2024, the telescope will be used to explore evolving galaxies, dark matter and even the very origins of the universe dating back more than 13 billion years. IBM is to investigate using 3D 'stacks' of computer chips to achieve the enormous computing power required by the Square Kilometre Array. This extremely powerful survey telescope will have millions of antennas to collect radio signals, forming a collection area equivalent to one square kilometre but spanning a huge surface area - approximately the width of the continental United States. The SKA will be 50 times more sensitive than any former radio device and more than 10,000 times faster than today’s instruments. The SKA is expected to produce a few Exabytes of data per day for a single beam per one square kilometer. After processing this data the expectation is that per year between 300 and 1500 Petabytes of data need to be stored. In comparison, the approximately 15 Petabytes produced by the large hadron collider at CERN peryear of operation is approximately 10 to 100 times less than the envisioned capacity of SKA. This extremely powerful survey telescope will have millions of antennas to collect radio signals, forming a collection area equivalent to one square kilometre but spanning a huge surface area - approximately the width of the continental United States . IBM is researching technologies such as '3D' computer chips to achieve the huge computing power required for the Square Kilometre Array . The directors of the Square Kilometre Array project are to . meet in Amsterdam on 3 April to discuss the location of the huge . telescope, scattered across 1,900 square miles of Earth's surface. It . will start building in 2016. 'It . will have a deep impact on the way we perceive our place in the . universe and how we understand its history and its future,' says Michiel . van Haarlem, interim director general of the SKA project.'We know we are going to discover things.' The . SKA will consist of thousands of dishes across 1,900 miles, with a . total surface area of one square kilometre, that will provide so much . data that one astronomer has declared it will completely change our view . of the universe. Dr Ian Griffin, from the UK . Association of Science and Discovery Centres, told MailOnline: ‘The SKA . project will provide astronomers with a fantastic new tool which may . well revolutionise our understanding of the universe. ‘With its huge area the telescope . will show incredibly fine detail in galaxies, help test the theory of . relativity by studying exciting and mysterious objects like black holes . and allow astronomers to learn more about the early history of the . universe.' Numbers game: This artist's impression shows the SKA's dishes, which will scan space for electromagnetic radiation - and hopefully reveal the universe's secrets . Sensitive: The SKA's dishes will be able to detect an airport radar on a planet 50 light years away . The final location for the Square Kilometer Array has yet to be decided . The . scientific community also believe that the SKA represents our best ever . chance of finding out if there’s life beyond our solar system. To . do this will require ground-breaking technology. The SKA’s 15m-dishes, . which will detect electromagnetic radiation emitted by objects in space, . will be the most sensitive ever built - able to detect an airport radar . on a planet 50 light years away. These . dishes will be complemented by low and medium frequency aperture . arrays, which provide a large field of view and are capable of observing . more than one part of the sky at once. Medium frequency aperture arrays: These are capable of scanning more than one part of the sky at once . Space-aged kit: An artist's impression of SKA's low-frequency aperture arrays . Good spread: This graphic illustrates how the dishes and apertures will be arranged as they scan the heavens . Heavens above: SKA will peer deep into space telling us about black holes, how stars are born and if there is alien life out there . It will be carried on enough optical fibre cable of such quantity that it could be wrapped twice around the world. As yet, a location for it hasn’t been decided, but Southern Africa and Australia are both n the reckoning. They . all offer areas with ideal conditions for telescopes, which must be . well clear of electronic interference, such as that generated by mobile . phones. It’s hoped that construction will begin in 2016, with the dishes coming online eight years later. A prototype of SKA called KAT-7, which consists of seven 16-metre dishes, is undergoing testing in South Africa's Karoo desert. Spaced out: The KAT-7 prototype in South Africa's Karoo Desert . | Machine will process more than an 'exabyte' of data every day - more than the entire internet, and enough to fill 15 million 64GB iPods every day .
More powerful than a million of today's fastest PCs .
Attached to huge radio telescope built to 'see back' to dawn of universe 13 billion years ago .
Machine will output 100 times more information than Large Hadron Collider . |
fc94ab0524b100f2d6cccbd5995d07ca6811c8b0 | A Harvard University student group plans to hold a re-enactment of a satanic ritual on the school's historic campus, drawing criticism from local Roman Catholic officials, who expressed 'deep sadness and strong opposition' to the plan. The Harvard Extension Cultural Studies Club said in a statement posted online that it plans to host 'a historical re-enactment of a black mass ceremony that has a narrator providing historical context and background.' It said the event was intended to be educational and would be preceded by a lecture on the history and origins of the black mass, a ritual that parodies the Catholic mass, in which bread and wine are consecrated and consumed. Satanic verses: A narrator will provide historical context and background on the ritual as it happens at the Queen¿s Head Pub at Harvard¿s Memorial Hall (pictured) The re-enactment will be performed by the Satanic Temple, a Satanist group that attracted attention earlier this year after it proposed the placement of a seven-foot (2.1-meter) tall statue of Satan next to an existing Ten Commandments monument in Oklahoma. 'Our purpose is not to denigrate any religion or faith, which would be repugnant to our educational purposes, but instead to learn and experience the history of different cultural practices,' the club said. The Archdiocese of Boston has voiced sharp criticism of the planned re-enactment, calling on its faithful to pray for those involved and on Harvard to disassociate itself from the event. 'The Catholic community in the Archdiocese of Boston expresses its deep sadness and strong opposition to the plan to stage a "black mass" on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge,' the Archdiocese said in a statement posted on Facebook. Controversial: Satanic Temple, a Satanist group that attracted attention earlier this year after it proposed the placement of a seven-foot tall statue of Satan (pictured) next to an existing Ten Commandments monument in Oklahoma . It said the church was clear in its teachings about Satanic worship, and that such activity 'separates people from God and the human community, it is contrary to charity and goodness, and it places participants dangerously close to destructive works of evil.' A spokesman for the Archdiocese, Terrence Donilon, added in an email on Friday: 'In the strongest terms possible we reject any attack on the Eucharist,' the ceremony in which bread and wine are consecrated and consumed. The reservation-only event is scheduled for Monday night at the Queen’s Head Pub at Harvard’s Memorial Hall, according to a flyer provided by the student group on Friday. A Harvard spokesman did not immediately respond to an email message seeking comment. | The Harvard Extension Cultural Studies Club is planning to hold a black mass .
The club says the event will be a 'historical reenactment' with 'historical context and background'
It will be preceded by a lecture on the origins of the black mass .
The Catholic church has voiced strong opposition to the planned event .
The reservation-only event will be held Monday night at the Queen’s Head Pub at Harvard’s Memorial Hall . |
fc951a6b5174b0f11e47aac9ca26a8ef85f7050a | The Cleaning Guys have dealt this toxic chemical spills, horrific crime scenes and industrial accidents, but company officials admit none of it had prepared them for their newest job - sanitizing the apartment where U.S. Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan spent three days before being admitted to the hospital. The Dallas-based company has stepped up to clear the soiled bed sheets and clothes that contain Duncan's sweat and other bodily fluids - after his girlfriend revealed they are still in the apartment five days after he was admitted to the hospital and confirmed to have Ebola. 'Obviously, I think anyone involved would be worried -- not necessarily worried, but cautious. We've had a lot of discussions and team meetings about how we're going to attack the situation,' Cleaning Guys vice president Brad Smith told ABC News. Scroll down for video . Big mess: The Cleaning Crew arrived on scene Friday to decontaminate the apartment where Thomas Duncan stayed while infected with Ebola . Suited up: six to eight Cleaning Guys crew members suited up in full hazmat gear to clean the apartment and removed contaminated bedding . 'But we run into hazardous chemicals and things that could hurt us probably more often than most.' Officials hired the Cleaning Guys on Friday after another company backed out of a contract to clean the apartment at The Ivy Apartments in Dallas. The owner of that company had claimed he didn't have the proper permits to transport hazardous materials on state highways. Mr Smith told ABC that Duncan's sheets, blankets and and other belongings in the apartment will be triple-bagged and packed away by the company's crew. They will then be handed over to another company that will incinerate everything. Six to eight cleaners will work in the apartment and anyone who goes in will be suited up in hazmat gear that includes a full face mask, a respirator and a face shield. Ebola has been proven to live in clothing and surfaces for at least six days in ideal conditions. Duncan's girlfriend, Louise Troh, has been quarantined in the apartment she shared with the Ebola patient - along with her 13-year-old son and two nephews. She shockingly revealed to CNN on Thursday that the sheets he sweated in were still on the bed and towels and other clothing with his bodily fluids had not been picked up. Sealed off: Workers used plastic tarps to seal off the apartment where Duncan had been staying . None of the 100 people Duncan had contact with while contagious are showing signs of infection - though about a dozen people are under close observation. The family must be relocated before the cleanup full can begin, a spokesman for the city of Dallas said. He had no information on where the family will go. Visitors from the American Red Cross were seen Thursday bringing food to the apartment door. The North Texas Food Bank said it sent three days of cereal, tuna, produce and other supplies. Outside, the management of the 300-unit complex in northeast Dallas was passing out flyers about Ebola to residents. Private security guards and local sheriff's deputies blocked off the entrance to dozens of reporters. Apartment manager Sally Nuran said employees were power-washing sidewalks and scrubbing common areas, though she believed Duncan had not visited most of the complex in his short time there. | The Dallas-based company specializes in cleaning up hazardous waste, industrial accidents and crime scenes .
Workers arrived on scene Friday - after Thomas Duncan's girlfriend revealed his sweat-stained sheets were still on the bed five days after he was admitted to the hospital . |
fc951f55ff49cf50f5bc51864b66bcc5bdcb9b5a | Mike Ashley's dramatic bid to oust Rangers chief executive Graham Wallace could thwart an initial £16million proposal being tabled by an alliance of potential investors including Dave King. A statement from former director Paul Murray and shareholder George Letham – two figureheads of the investment group – confirmed last night they have been in detailed discussions with the Ibrox board. Sportsmail believes their proposal involves an up-front investment of around £16m – close to the current market value of the club - in return for a 51 per cent stake acquired via a new share issue. That would see them take control of the boardroom, with further investments then staggered to move closer to the £30m-plus King has previously stated it will take to restore Rangers. Mike Ashley is flexing his muscles with regards to Rangers, and is putting investment in the club at risk . ‘We confirm that we are in discussions with the Board regarding a proposal to provide the Club with a funding package to be provided by like-minded individuals including Dave King,’ said a statement from Murray and Letham. ‘The discussions should remain private and confidential and we will provide more details in due course.’ The potential success of those talks has, however, been thrown into serious doubt by Ashley’s bid to remove Wallace and ally Philip Nash as directors. Both are perceived as being favourable towards the plan the King group are putting forward. Ashley raised his stake at Ibrox to 8.9 per cent last week and is now seeking an extraordinary general meeting at which a resolution to axe Wallace and financial expert Nash would be voted upon by shareholders. Rangers were last night assessing whether the request from the Newcastle United owner was ‘properly constituted’. Should it be deemed valid and an EGM ballot take place, the board have vowed to fight Ashley’s motion. Rangers CEO Graham Wallace (right) has been targeted by controversial billionaire Ashley . The move has been described by one source close to Ibrox as a ‘full-fronted attack’ on the only two members of the board with previous experience of running football clubs – Wallace through his time as chief financial officer at Manchester City and Nash via spells at Liverpool and Arsenal. It also provides clear evidence that Ashley will fight to have an influential say in the future of Rangers as he seeks to protect his commercial interests. His Sports Direct firm already have retail contracts in place, while he also owns – but has yet to activate – naming rights for the stadium. Ashley has amassed an estimated £4billion from his business interests and would seem to be confident of landing the backing of more than 50 per cent of shareholders for his proposed shake-up. Sandy Easdale, chairman of the football board at Rangers, has previously spoken of his support for Ashley’s greater involvement. He carries the voting rights for a 26.15 per cent chunk of Ibrox shares. A spokesman for Easdale would only say that he was watching the latest development ‘with interest’ but the backing of his voting block would see Ashley move within 15 per cent of his target. Ashley currently owns 8.9 per cent of the Scottish club, but is interested in increasing that stake . Hedge fund Laxey Partners are the largest single shareholder at Rangers with a 16.3 per cent stake. Non-executive director Norman Crighton is their representative and approved the Stock Exchange statement which said the board was ‘united’ in its support for Wallace and Nash. However, observers will recall Laxey effectively switching sides during the boardroom battle that eventually ended in victory for the incumbents at the club’s previous AGM. This year’s AGM must take place before December 31, but Ashley’s decision not to wait for that meeting could be viewed as a bid to cut off the King group at the pass. The Londoner declined to invest in last month’s stop-gap open offer that raised £3.13m. However, he then more than doubled his stake with an £850,000 purchase from fund managers Hargreave Hale – a decision which kept his money away from a Rangers board battling another imminent crisis. The Ibrox cash reserves are expected to run dry before the end of the year. Rangers currently sit second in the Scottish Championship, six points behind Hearts . It’s understood Ashley held talks with the Rangers board about providing a loan prior to the open offer. Those discussions reportedly broke down over a demand to include trademark rights as a condition. Closing off King could, though, leave finance from Ashley as the clearest option left available to Rangers. In terms of purchasing shares, the tycoon is currently limited to a 10 per cent stake at Ibrox through an agreement struck with the SFA as part of their rules on dual ownership of clubs. There could be an application for the board of the governing body to consider raising that limit, provided it was backed by a detailed business case. Responding to the EGM demand from Ashley, the Rangers board said yesterday: ‘If valid, the board intends to seek to have such notice withdrawn in order to avoid the cost and disruption of an ad hoc general meeting particularly given the company’s forthcoming annual general meeting, further details of which will be announced in due course. ‘The board is united in its support of the executive team. If the notice is valid and is not withdrawn, the directors intend to recommend that shareholders vote against the proposed resolutions. A further announcement will be made shortly.’ | Dave King and alliance of potential investors tabled £16million offer .
Rangers could take the offer, but Mike Ashley has other ideas .
Ashley attempting to oust Philip Nash and CEO Graham Wallace .
Both men are supportive of King deal .
If King deal doesn't happen, Ashley is only source of finance for Rangers . |
fc9557ed5ed5fd5d470e37b8f3dcdd8f69e2ec4c | Arsenal mischief makers Jack Wilshere and Wojciech Szczesny reflected their side's high spirits on Friday as they attempted to recreate Daniel Sturridge's famous goal celebration. As Sturridge closes in on a return to the Liverpool side after injuring his thigh on international duty, England team-mate Wilshere and Gunners goalkeeper Szczesny joked as they mimicked the former Chelsea star's moves. Sitting in what appears to be a canteen area, Polish shotstopper Szczesny chuckles as he films whilst ordering the 23-year-old midfielder to 'dance!'. Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere gets into the rhythm as he attempts to recreate Daniel Sturridge's dance . The England star and his Gunners team-mate smiled whilst the midfielder rippled his outstretched arms . Looking laid back in his club issue beanie hat Wilshere obliges by shaping up to do Sturridge's trademark dance, albeit with considerably less conviction. Sturridge has not played for his club since a 3-0 win over Tottenham in August and has only recently returned to Merseyside after treatment in the US. Liverpool await Sturridge's return with bated breath whilst their available strikers struggle for goals. Other than Sturridge, Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini are the only Reds front men to have scored a league goal this term - netting just three Premier League goals between them all season. Daniel Sturridge and Mario Balotelli (right) warn Premier League defences they will be back in tandem soon . The England international has only recently returned to training after a long spell out with a thigh injury . | Jack Wilshere and Wojciech Szczesny posted a Vine of the famous dance .
Daniel Sturridge has been out injured since August due to a thigh injury .
The Liverpool striker is nearing his highly-anticipated return for the Reds .
Click here for Arsenal transfer news . |
fc959da93ac1f87286b5cbe1b907f851ad8dc4c4 | A former woodwork teacher repeatedly molested children aged between three and 16 while reading passages from the bible and posing as a churchgoer. 79-year-old Stephen Gough admitted to nine acts of child sex abuse charges on Wednesday at Waitakere District Court in New Zealand. He received three-and-a-half years behind bars for his disturbing crimes. The judge said that Mr Gough carefully orchestrated his acts and used the children as 'sexual toys'. A former woodwork teacher repeatedly molested children aged between three and 16 while reading passages from the bible and posing as a churchgoer . The court heard that Gough, who needed the help of a walking stick to get up on the dock, repeatedly committed the heinous crimes against three girls and one boy over an 11-year period. Gough gained the trust of community members by being heavily involved in his local community and in the church. It was revealed that Gough would read passages from the bible to the innocent children while sexually abusing them, between 1976 and 1987. The court also heard that Gough watched children showering by carving out a peep hole under a house. His crimes only came to light after his victims came forward last year. 79-year-old Stephen Gough admitted to nine acts of child sex abuse charges on Wednesday at Waitakere District Court in New Zealand . Police believe more victims may come to light after Gough has been sentenced and are encouraging people to come forward. Police say new charges against Gough will be considered if further victims identify themselves. Speaking at the sentencing, Judge Glubb said Mr Gough's actions were 'a total disgrace'. 'This is a very sad day. It represents an appalling track record of invasive offending against very vulnerable young children,' he said. As Gough was led away from the dock, one of his victims screamed out in disgust. 'Burn in hell you piece of s***,' the victim said. According to reports, Mr Gough believed he had been cured of his sexual addiction, having completed three rehabilitation programs for his urges. The court took this into consideration when sentencing Mr Gough. The court heard that Gough, who needed the help of a walking stick to get up on the dock, repeatedly committed the heinous crimes against three girls and one boy over an 11-year period . Speaking to the New Zealand Herald, one of Gough's victims described how the vile man had ruined her life. She told the newspaper that her mother knew exactly what was happening to her and never did anything about it. She also revealed that she has tried to end her own life on numerous occasions since she was abused as a young girl and has developed an alcohol addiction and eating disorder from her trauma. 'Two months ago I tried to take my life... it was pretty bad,' she said. They thought I was going to die this time. It's pretty hard. 'He has totally and completely ruined my life, I'm a complete mess. I drink to forget... I've been to rehab four times, I got sectioned last year because of my drinking. I'm so f***ing angry.' the victim said. She encouraged any other victims to come forward now that Mr Gough's name has been made public. She also thanked the police for helping bring Mr Gough to justice. | A former teacher molested children while reading the bible .
79-year-old Stephen Gough was sentenced to three-and-a-half years .
Gough admitted to molesting children aged between three and 16 .
He committed his crimes over an 11-year period .
The judge said Mr Gough used the children as 'sexual toys' |
fc95d687b222ca33447092fb4f8deb712c35a8e5 | By . Lawrence Booth . Follow @@the_topspin . If the adornments to Moeen Ali’s left wrist have been causing flutters at the ICC, it was the stuff propelled by his right one that briefly did for the Indians in Southampton on Tuesday. While the world of cricket was having its say on the rights and wrongs of the ‘Save Gaza’ and ‘Free Palestine’ wristbands worn by Moeen on Monday, the man himself was busy profiting from the tourists’ apparent urge to self-destruct on the third afternoon of this south coast slow-burner. Moeen is very much England’s fifth bowler, an off-spinner so tantalisingly poised between frontline and part-time that Alastair Cook doesn’t seem sure how to handle him. To judge by events either side of tea, the confusion had spread to India’s middle order. Hands free! Moeen Ali got over his wrist bands controversy to chip in with two wickets at the Ageas Bowl . Slap on the wrist! The ICC has banned Moeen Ali from wearing pro-Palestine wristbands while playing for England . In the penultimate over before the break, the supremely gifted Rohit Sharma took leave of his senses — as he has been known to in the past — and drove Moeen straight to Stuart Broad at mid-off. Then, in the third over after tea, Ajinkya Rahane spoiled the effect of a gutsy half-century by top- edging an inviting long hop straight to midwicket. From 210 for four, India — a nation that traditionally produces some of the world’s best players of spin — were 217 for six, still 359 behind. Moeen’s brief England career has already raised the possibility of an identity crisis. Is he the master of self-denial who almost saved a Test by himself against Sri Lanka, or the flighty No 6 with an issue against the short ball? And are his off-breaks designed to hold up an end — or take wickets? Some of the names among his 12 Test victims so far suggest the part-time tag is too hastily applied. He has removed Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara twice, plus five of India’s top eight on show in this Test. As for chips to mid-off and miscued half-trackers, didn’t Shane Warne take the occasional wicket with a bad ball? ‘He picked up a couple of freakish wickets,’ said Stuart Broad. ‘But that was off the pressure he developed. And he was unlucky not to have Ajinkya Rahane caught down the leg side. Hopefully the wicket will deteriorate in the second innings, and Moeen could be a bit of a handful. Self destruct mode: Rohit Sharma shows his frustration after losing a 'freak wicket' against Moeen Ali . High five: Moeen Ali celebrates after India batsman Rohit Sharma is caught out by Stuart Broad . ‘We’ve been so fortunate having Graeme Swann play over 60 Tests for us. When you’re playing with him, perhaps you don’t realise what role he played. But Moeen’s developing every game as a spin bowler.’ England will miss Swann for a while yet, and Moeen’s misfortune has been to invite unfair comparisons with his country’s greatest modern off-spinner. But Swann would have settled for Moeen’s spell either side of tea of 12-0-33-2. The jury may be out on Moeen’s batting, if only because he keeps getting in a tangle against the bouncer. But his off-breaks are getting into a groove. And if that means the odd lucky break, Swann would definitely approve. Practice makes perfect: Moeen Ali is developing as a spin bowler in every games, says Stuart Broad . | England restricted India to 328-8 on day three of the Third Test .
Moeen Ali took 'freak wickets' from Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane .
ICC banned Ali from wearing 'Save Gaza' and 'Free Palestine' wristbands .
Stuart Broad insists the spin bowler is getting better with every game . |
fc9661e4ed8e34ade66326f09e580c66d532d3c9 | A British jihadist fighting for ISIS in the Middle East has revealed he hopes to be given the opportunity to murder a Western hostage 'as a brother did with James Foley'. Speaking via video link from an unknown location likely to be somewhere in northern Syria, a man calling himself Abu Anwar Al-Brittani told CNN that he would be 'honoured' to become an executioner for ISIS, adding that he considered Foley's murder a 'blessed act'. Foley - an American photojournalist captured in Syria in 2012 - was filmed being beheaded by an Islamist militant with a southern English accent in a sickening video released last week. Scroll down for video . Anm ISIS fighter calling himself Abu Anwar Al-Brittani (right) told CNN that he considered James Foley's murder a 'blessed act'. He was joined in the video by fellow British militant . Execution: James Foley - an American photojournalist captured in Syria in 2012 - was filmed being beheaded by an Islamist militant with a southern English accent in a sickening video released last week (pictured) Video link: Speaking to CNN's Atika Shubert (left) British militant Abu Anwar Al-Brittani (right on screen) said he would be 'more than honoured' to partake in an execution like that of American journalist James Foley . In a clear sign that footage of Foley's brutal death is being used to further radicalise jihadists fighting in Syria and Iraq, Abu Anwar said he now also hopes to be 'given the chance' to execute Westerners. Speaking exclusively to CNN's Atika Shubert, the British militant said: 'I would be more than honoured to partake in an execution like this. I hope God gives me the chance to do such a thing as the brother did with James Foley.' When asked who his desire to execute extended to, Abu Anwar replied: 'Whether it be on someone like James Foley, or a soldier of Bashar [al-Assad], or a soldier of America, my hands are ready to do this blessed act.' Abu Anwar is one of an estimated 500 British Muslims believed to have travelled to the Middle East to fight for ISIS - roughly the same amount currently enlisted in Britain's army. Abu Anwar appeared in the video alongside fellow British jihadist Abu Bakr al-Brittani. Force: Abu Anwar Al-Brittani and Abu Bakr Al-Brittani are two of an estimated 500 British Muslims believed to have travelled to fight alongside ISIS (pictured) - roughly the same amount currently enlisted in Britain's army . Debate: CNN also spoke to the radical preacher Anjem Choudry (right in white shirt), whose banned East London based group al-Muhajiroun has previously been called a 'gateway to terrorism' for British Muslims . Masked gunmen of the Islamic State group shoot seven men kneeling on the ground in front of them in Raqqa province, Syria . In a chilling statement, Abu Bakr threatened to return to Britain and wage jihad there if he is ever unable to stay with ISIS, which rebranded as the Islamic State after declaring itself a Caliphate. Asked what would happen if the U.S. defeated the Islamic State, Abu Bakr said: 'If there’s no other chance than to come back…then I’ll have to do that…I’m ready to take that step to come back if your armies, if your countries don’t stop attacking us [ISIS].' When asked what he felt about the Muslim Council of Britain condemning Foley's murder, Abu Anwar told Shubert that he considers those working for the organisation traitors to the Islamic faith. 'The Muslim Council of Britain, they are apostates, they are not Muslims. They have always fought against Islam with the British government,' he said. 'They’ve tried to stop young men going to Afghanistan, Iraq, Sria and they work in these so-called anti-extremism projects. They are not Muslims,' he added. Sympathiser: One of the men filmed alongside Choudry and calling himself Abu Baraa (right) said he 'would absolutely love to' leave Britain and join the Islamic State in Syria, but fears being arrested if he tried to do so . Fanatics: Islamic State fighters parade with group's black flags. A UN human rights report says the militant group conducts a regular Friday ritual of executions, amputations and lashings in areas it controls . An Isis fighter armed with a knife and an automatic weapon stands next to captured Syrian army soldiers and officers, after a bloody battle for the air base inTabqa . CNN also spoke to the radical preacher Anjem Choudry, whose banned East London based group al-Muhajiroun has previously been called a 'gateway to terrorism' for many young British Muslims. Speaking with Nick Paton Walsh, Choudry and four of his current band of followers refused to condemn the brutal murder of Foley - with one simply making the bizarre statement that he would rather have his own head cut off than be sent to U.S. prison Guantanamo Bay. Identifying himself only as Zakariyah, the man said that Foley - who before his beheading was held hostage by militants for two years simply for covering the Syrian conflict as a journalist - would have had a greater understanding of his incarceration than the suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. A fighter from the Islamic State waves the group's flag from the top of a damaged government fighter jet following the battle of the Tabqa air base . Dead Syrian government forces are pictured on the ground in Raqqa . Members of the Islamic State group praying inside the captured air base, in Raqqa, Syria . Describing ISIS not as terrorists but as a Utopia, one of the men said he 'would absolutely love to' leave Britain and join the Islamic State in Syria, but fears being arrested if he tried to do so. Listing his excuses for not leaving 'police state' Britain, the man calling himself Abu Baraa added that he was concerned his relatives would be rounded up if he tried to leave the country and join the brutal Islamist group, arguing: 'But what is wrong with going there to live under Islam?'. Choudry goes on to say that he believes the territory under the control of ISIS will spread to Europe and the U.S. 'within decades'. Fighters from the Islamic firing a captured tank, in Raqqa, Syria . Munitions captured by the Islamic State group in the battle for the Tabqa air base in Raqqa, Syria on Sunday . Munitions captured by Isis. One of the interviewees has described the group not as terrorists but as a Utopia . | Man calling himself Abu Anwar Al-Brittani called Foley murder 'a blessed act'
Appeared via video link from unknown location thought to be in north Syria .
He was joined in video by another British militant called Abu Bakr Al-Brittani .
Abu Bakr said he would return to fight in Britain if he ever left Islamic State .
Chilling warning underlines threat ISIS poses to security of Western nations . |
fc969dd640341d476cd5d7ee5909cf2ee92570b5 | A Kentucky mother who was reported missing when she failed to pick up her child from school on Friday was found three days later, locked alive in the trunk of her daughter's car. Aundrea Stone, 44, of Louisville was last seen at the Jay's Food Mart in Okolona, but when she got back into her car she found another man inside who reportedly forced her to drive around Kentucky and Indiana for a few days. A Good Samaritan named Tiasha Chaplin rescued her Monday afternoon after hearing a thumping sound and a woman's voice coming from Stone's green Mazda, parked in a downtown Louisville lot. Found: Aundrea Stone was reported missing when she didn't show up to pick her daughter up from school on Friday. Three days later, she was found alive in the trunk of her daughter's car . Imprisoned: Stone allegedly doesn't remember much from her three days missing, but was able to tell police that a white man in his 30s forced her to drive around Kentucky and Indiana . 'We (were) walking passed a car and heard a 'thump, thump.' We thought it was a prank,' Chaplin told WLKY. Chaplin initially called 911 but when she passed by the car again and heard the noises getting louder, she decided to act. The woman broke a window of the car to pop the trunk and found a barely conscious Stone inside. Stone was rushed to the hospital where doctors treated her for dehydration, at least one broken arm and head trauma. However, they don't believe she was in the trunk for more than a few hours. Life saver: Good Samaritan Tiasha Chaplin (left) saved Stone's life when she heard thumping from Stone's green Mazda, and used a brick to break the windows and pop the trunk . Horrifying: Inside, Chaplin found Stone barely conscious. The woman was rushed to the hospital where doctors treated her for dehydration and at least one broken arm . So far, Stone hasn't been able to tell police much about her captor, describing him simply as an armed white man in his 30s who was wearing a hoodie and looked 'scraggly'. Local police say she remembers little from her three days missing. When Stone was taken to the hospital, she allegedly kept saying 'He hurt me, he hurt me' repeatedly, her pastor Carl Fletcher said. 'She's dealing with some slight trauma but she's alive and she's gonna recover from everything that's happened to her,' Fletcher added. Reeling: Stone's (right) pastor Carl Fletcher (left) says she is still dealing with the trauma of the incident but has been supported by her family visiting the hospital . Stone has been able to see her family while recovering, and may be released from University Hospital as early as Wednesday. Louisville police spokesman Dwight Mitchell also explained why police didn't open the trunk themselves when initially called to the scene. 'When the first officer came there, was there about 15 minutes. He checked the car thoroughly, ran the plates did not hear anything at that point and subsequently had cleared the scene,' Mitchell said in a press conference. | Aundrea Stone, 44, was reported missing on Friday when she failed to pick her daughter from class .
A Good Samaritan found her Monday trapped in the trunk of a parked car .
Stone was barely conscious when she was rushed to the hospital for dehydration and a broken arm .
She told police that she got into her car on Friday after shopping at a corner store and was met by an armed white man .
Stone says he forced her to drive around, but remembers little else from her three days missing . |
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