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0a1f92e7a3e3bb03e8d91014ce6f486508eb125e | Before coming out as a transgender female, Kellie was better known as international boxing promoter Frank Maloney, who took Lennox Lewis to become the undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the world. Earlier this year she shocked the macho world of boxing by announcing her decision to change her sex and live as a woman. Kellie, 61, is now undergoing a raft of cosmetic treatments to become a woman. This week she had a state-of-the-art semi-permanent make-up treatment at Harley Street clinic Debra Robson LDN. Scroll down for video . Transformation: Kellie Maloney has undergone a two-hour semi-permanent make-up treatment to create more feminine features on her eyebrows, eye line and lips . She underwent the two-hour semi-permanent make-up treatment to create more feminine features on her eyebrows, eye line and lips. The two-hour appointment included an eyebrow treatment, which claims to add a more feminine defined arch, a treatment to accentuate and widen her eyes, and a lip treatment, which promises to re-shape and boost the natural lip colour. During the treatment Kellie said: 'If I hadn’t come-out as a woman, I wouldn’t be laying here on a beauty clinic treatment bed, I would be laying on a slab in an undertakers. That was the choice I had, it was either let it beat me and have the depression kill me or come out and embrace the world.' 'On my way to the clinic today, some girls stopped me and said they really admired what I was doing and how brave I was. But I don’t put it down to bravery, I put it down to being a necessity of what I had to do.' Glamorous: Kellie, 61, is now undergoing a raft of cosmetic treatments to become a woman before her final sex change operation in January . Spot the difference: The two-hour appointment included an eyebrow treatment which added a more feminine defined arch, a treatment to accentuate and widen her eyes, and a lip treatment, which re-shaped and boosted the natural lip colour (left, after, right, before) Kellie admitted that the semi-permanent make-up treatment was going to be a great help for her because she isn't yet an expert at doing her own make-up. And she added: 'I find it really hard to do eyeliner, I smudge it every time, and this will help me so that when I get up out of bed in the morning I don’t have to spend so much time doing my make-up, and I’ve always wanted my eyebrows to have a more feminine arch and look more natural - and hopefully a bit more beautiful. 'When I was Frank I tried to keep my eyebrows quite fine, and I always wanted to have arches. I was quite vain as Frank but now I’m even vainer as Kelly.' Process: Kellie admitted that the semi-permanent make-up treatment was going to be a great help for her because she isn't yet an expert at doing her own make-up . In action: Since coming out as a woman this August, Kellie, pictured being treated by Debra, said she has looked to female role models like Lorraine Kelly, Charlotte Hawkins and Suzannah Reid to model herself and her new look on . To prepare for the treatment Kellie had her eyebrows and lips covered with an anesthetic cream for 20 minutes, then the shape and size of the eyebrows were carefully measured and the outline of the new shape was created with an eyebrow pencil. When Kellie was happy with the shape, Debra started the treatment with a pen device which holds ultra-fine needles. Debra matched the chosen pigments to the natural colour of Kellie’s eyebrows, and with precisely simulated hair strokes, create a defined lift to the arch of the brow - Kellie said this would be similar to that of daughters Sophie, 19 and Libby, 13. Since coming out as a woman this August, Kellie said she has looked to female role models like Lorraine Kelly, Charlotte Hawkins and Suzannah Reid to model herself and her new look on, but she admitted during the treatment that the most important influence on her is from female members of her close family. Helping hand: With the new semi-permanent make-up, Kellie admitted most people don't think she looks like a man anymore . Kellie said: 'To be honest, my three daughters are my role models and they help me! Also my mum has been totally unbelievable since she was told about 15 months ago. Power Brow from £760 . Eye Intensifier (top and bottom lid) £1,000 . Kiss Proof Lip treatment £1,270 . Total: £3,030 . 'My two eldest ones, who are quite big now, don’t call me dad, but my 13-year-old she still does. I still get a few funny looks but as people recognise me as Kellie now so they don’t pay me as much attention.' And she added: 'My mother tells me not to wear heavy make-up every day, she tells me I must let my skin breathe. My mother hardly wears much make-up - a little bit of lipstick and bit of powder, and she’d just wear a bit of Nivea cream and she still uses it today, she’s 81 and she’s got beautiful skin. She looks like she’s in her 60s. We are very close now and she’s very protective of me and she sits and shows me pictures of her when she was younger and she’s stunning. 'When I look at my daughters and I think what fun they have, and how they look, I think I will never experience that, but the experience I have now is like starting all over again. 'My three daughters are very helpful for me getting my style right and I sit and watch the TV presenters, and shows like Sex and The City and Friends and I would model myself on them. 'I would walk along and watch women walking along the street and how they dress. When I first came out, I would never wear jeans. I wanted to look natural but unfortunately I’m very recognisable.' Selfie: Kellie captures a quick snap with Debra mid-way through her treatment . But with the new semi-permanent make-up, Kellie admitted most people don’t think she looks like a man anymore. Kellie added: 'I wonder what my colleagues would think now if they can see the semi-permanent make-up treatment that I’ve had? I’ve heard a few stories from people in the boxing world who think it’s all one of Frank Maloney big stunts and that I’ve fooled you all and I want to stay as Frank. 'But I think to myself they have got to be crazy, no human being would put themselves through some of the treatment that I’ve been having - the hormones, the electrolysis, the operations - this semi-permanent treatment is fine, but the other stuff isn’t nice. 'And I’m going to have surgery in Belgium in November on my nose because my nostrils are too big and they are going to lift the eyes and then on January 13th I’m going to have my operation and breasts done. 'But I’m so pleased with the semi-permanent make-up I’ve had, my face looks so much more feminine now. I’ll definitely come back to have a top up a couple of times a year.' Next step: Kellie is going to have surgery in Belgium in November on her nose because she says her nostrils are too big . Heavyweight: Former boxing promoter Frank Maloney, who is now living as Kellie . | Kellie, 61, had three treatments at Harley Street Clinic .
The two-hour appointment included eyebrow and lip treatments .
Kellie admits semi-permanent make-up will be a great help for her .
She isn't yet an expert at doing her own make-up .
Will have final sex change operation in January . |
0a200d84543cde8dd08c1c4ac1b653e3a5c5e603 | A couple have been given compensation after NHS staff failed to recognise their baby was in distress - leading to her being stillborn. Wendy Pratt, 36, and husband Chris, 46, sued Scarborough Hospital, North Yorkshire, after staff missed vital signs that their daughter was struggling while in the womb. The couple had tried for a baby for six years and had finally conceived after undergoing IVF on the NHS in 2009. But staff at the hospital failed to recognise signs their baby girl Matilda was in distress, leading to her being delivered stillborn in April 2010 at 27 weeks. Wendy Pratt, 36, and husband Chris, 46, sued Scarborough Hospital, North Yorkshire, after staff missed vital signs their daughter was struggling while in the womb . The devastated couple, of Filey, North Yorkshire, instructed medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell and the NHS trust has now made an undisclosed payout. It admitted it had not kept a close eye on Mrs Pratt after her 20 week scan, and that if they had Matilda could have survived. Mrs Pratt said: 'We have been trying for a baby ever since we got married 11 years ago. Once we got married and felt secure we knew we wanted to have babies. 'We tried for six years and then we had our first and only shot at NHS funded IVF treatment. 'We had spent three years on the waiting list and then we got the call. I thought this was going to be our chance. 'It was a feeling of our life is going to change one way or the other. I was really dreading it but after a while I was really excited.' The couple were told there was a one in three chance of conceiving and just eight weeks after treatment Mrs Pratt found that she was four weeks pregnant. Staff at the hospital failed to recognise signs their baby girl Matilda was in distress, leading to her being delivered stillborn in April 2010 at 27 weeks . She said: 'I was 25 at the time and I was young so I had that on my side. The hospital were optimistic but for me it was already six years of being disappointed. 'We were just ecstatic and we really thought that was it and we have made it. It was a relief that we weren't having to face a childless future. 'From that point were never thought anything would go wrong.' Midwifery staff told Mrs Pratt her baby was smaller than expected at 20 weeks and that she would need to be closely monitored. But it was another seven weeks before a CTG [to measure the baby's heartbeat] and a scan was provided for her baby. Mrs Pratt, a writer who formally worked as a microbiologist, said: 'It got to the 20 week scan and everything was fine. Despite midwifery staff telling Mrs Pratt her baby was smaller than expected at 20 weeks and that she would need to be closely monitored, it was another seven weeks before a CTG [to measure the baby's heartbeat] and a scan was provided for her baby . 'They said she was measuring small but said it would just be keeping an eye on it. We went away feeling happy and relieved. 'A couple of days later I started having heart palpitations and my GP signed me off work. I relaxed and put my feet up. I had no caffeine or alcohol and I did everything right because it meant so much to us because we had tried for so long. 'Then we got to 24 weeks and she had always been a very active baby. She had a pattern of movements that I knew really well. The movements weren't as defined, weren't as definite. My midwife said it was fine and that some babies are quiet. 'I trusted my midwife because she was my midwife. I just wish that I hadn't.' But still concerned at 27 weeks, Mrs Pratt explained: 'I listened at home on my Doppler device, which you are not supposed to do, and we listened to the heartbeat and I thought it was slowing.' She returned to hospital on April 17, 2010, where staff performed a CTG and two ultrasounds which showed the baby had restricted growth and poor blood flow through the baby's umbilical cord. 'It was about 1am and they said they were going to call a consultant. I know there was something wrong. The consultant scanned me and kept asking if my dates were wrong. He said there was a problem with the blood flow. 'They admitted me and I didn't sleep at all. I couldn't feel her moving. They took me to a scan and the baby's fingers were moving and the consultant said it looked like there had been an improvement. Family picture shows the grave of Matilda Pratt. The devastated couple, of Filey, North Yorkshire, instructed medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell and the NHS trust has now made an undisclosed payout . 'They sent me home and I was only home for an hour when I said to Chris I didn't feel right and we went back.' Mrs Pratt then readmitted herself because of the continued lack of foetal movements, and another ultrasound was performed that same day. She had seen three different consultants at Scarborough Hospital. On April 20 they were transferred to Leeds General Infirmary for another scan and a CTG. She said: 'We drove ourselves to Leeds and I felt like they were waiting for the baby to die. They didn't even give us an ambulance. 'They were getting me to sign things and preparing me for surgery and were getting ready to spray me with the epidural and her heart started to slow down. 'It was Chris who had to tell me that she hadn't made it. She still had a heartbeat but it stopped during the delivery. It was all really quick.' But the baby's heart rate started to drop as Mrs Pratt was prepared for an emergency C-section. Matilda was delivered by emergency caesarean and could not be resuscitated. She said: 'There is just a catalogue of mistakes that ended up costing my daughters life. Waking up in theatre was a dividing line to my life before and after my child dying.' Mrs Pratt said the couple have since used their compensation for three more rounds of IVF treatment - sadly suffering two miscarriages in 2011 and 2012. Now they're urging others to speak out to make sure the same mistakes don't happen again . The couple decided to take legal action and York Teaching Hospital NHS Trust have now agreed to pay an undisclosed amount after admitting that had they performed a CTG scan after her 20 week scan, Matilda would, on the balance of probabilities, have been born alive. The couple have since used their compensation for three more rounds of IVF treatment - sadly suffering two miscarriages in 2011 and 2012. Now the couple urging others to speak out to make sure the same mistakes don't happen again. 'It's important that people speak out. The NHS is being pushed to its limits and if you keep pushing them then mistakes will happen. 'If people don't speak up then nothing changes.' Sarah Coles, a specialist medical lawyer at Irwin Mitchell's Leeds office, representing the couple, said: 'This is a tragic case that has left Wendy and Chris absolutely devastated by the loss of their longed-for daughter Matilda. They have both found it incredibly difficult to accept what happened and they have needed extensive support to help them come to terms with their loss. 'What is clear is that the midwives made a number of errors and failed to detect and act upon basic signs which highlighted things were not right and ultimately led to Matilda being stillborn. 'Whilst we welcome the admission of liability from the Trust and settlement, it remains very difficult and painful for the family to come to terms with the fact Matilda's death could have been avoided.' York Teaching Hospital NHS Trust have been contacted for a comment. | Wendy Pratt, 36, and husband Chris, 46, sued Scarborough Hospital .
Staff failed to notice their baby was in distress before she was stillborn .
Couple were trying for baby for six years before Mrs Pratt fell pregnant .
Hospital has apologised to couple who settled for undisclosed amount . |
0a2035f3f73b06a5150a6f01cffdf45d027bbbed | By . Katy Winter . Princess Beatrice and Sarah Ferguson enjoyed their second mother–daughter date in a week. The royal pair were seen leaving glamorous 45 Park Lane Hotel restaurant in Mayfair last night, having enjoyed another gourmet dinner. While most of us have to curtail nights out during the week, or risk falling asleep at our desks, the 25-year-old royal is lucky enough not to have to get up for work in the morning. Last night’s dinner marked the third time this week Beatrice has hit the town. Princess Beatrice and Sarah Ferguson enjoy their second mother-daughter date in a week . The royal pair were seen leaving 45 Park Lane Hotel restaurant in Mayfair . Fergie wore a simple grey skirt suit with a light blue shirt and her eldest daughter chose an unusual long sleeved black velvet dress . Again dining with her mother the pair seemed to have coordinated their outfits, both opting for a flash of blue around the neckline. While Fergie wore a simple grey skirt suit with a light blue shirt underneath, her eldest daughter chose an unusual long-sleeved black velvet dress with a plunging neckline emphasised with a bright blue trim. Both wore sheer black tights: Fergie opted for a pair of black ballet pumps to complete her look, while Beatrice adding an edge to her outfit with black patent high heels. Sister Eugenie was not present, in spite of the fact she is thought to be in the capital, having flown back to London from New York earlier this week. On Wednesday night, Sarah Ferguson and Princess Beatrice were joined her ex-husband the Duke of York for dinner at smart Mayfair restaurant ‘Restaurant C’ while last Friday Beatrice was seen leaving fashionable new Marylebone eatery the Chiltern Firehouse, where she had been dining with friends. They seemed to have coordinated their outfits, both opting for a dark ensemble with a flash of blue around the neckline . Similarities between mother and daughter were clear as they walked side-by-side . Mother and daughter walked arm-in-arm as they left Restaurant C on Wednesday night following a meal with Prince Andrew . Princess Eugenie has been back in the UK this week, attending the official opening of the new High Dependency Unit at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital . Younger sister Eugenie has had a busy week too. Taking a break from her job at online auction house Paddle8 in New York, the 24-year-old flew home to open the new Children's High Dependency Unit at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital where she underwent spinal surgery herself aged 12. | Fergie and Beatrice dined at the 45 Park Lane Hotel last night .
Also enjoyed dinner out on Wednesday night with Prince Andrew .
Beatrice flew solo last Friday at meal at A-list hang out . |
0a206cd4530734f9fb332f7b782e712847713cf3 | (Health.com) -- New FDA rules are helping ensure that we get the protection we pay for, and with skin cancer on the rise (one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime), these changes can't come soon enough. Key fixes: Sunscreens will be labeled "water resistant" (as opposed to waterproof or sweatproof); they can no longer be called "sunblocks" (as it overstates their effectiveness); and they can no longer claim to provide instant sun protection or to last more than two hours without reapplication. On top of that, sunscreens can be labeled "broad spectrum" only if they protect equally against UVB (the main culprit of skin cancer) and UVA rays, which cause aging. Unfortunately, the changes won't be on store shelves this summer. Last week the FDA announced it is giving manufacturers six additional months from their original deadline to meet the new requirements. And even with these changes, most of us still have questions. Here are the ones you sent to us, answered by our dermatologists. How much sunscreen do I really need to put on? Anytime you're planning to be outdoors, go with an SPF of at least 30 (45 for a little extra insurance) and put plenty on. The rule of thumb is 1 ounce (the size of a shot glass) on your body, and a teaspoon for your face, but derms advise being even more generous. Reapply every two hours -- more often if you're in and out of the water. Health.com: 7 ways you're aging your skin . Are there any sunscreens good for oily skin? Yes. What you want is an oil-free mineral block in an ultralight gel or liquid. "Mineral sunscreens help mask redness, and because they reflect UV light, they help keep your skin surface cooler," Rodan notes. While you're at it, keep your skin clean by always washing your face after working up a sweat outdoors: Summer breakouts often have more to do with sweating than wearing sunscreen. How do I know if I'm spraying on enough sunscreen? I feel like it all blows away! Spray sunscreens aren't as powerful as lotions, so the trick is to look for one labeled "continuous spray" (no need to pump; it keeps spraying as long as your finger stays on the button) and apply two coats -- not one -- every hour, Rodan says. What should I look for in a sunscreen if I have sensitive skin? All the dermatologists we interviewed recommend mineral-based or physical sunscreens made with micronized titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide instead of chemical sunscreens because they're less likely to irritate sensitive skin. Plus, the latest mineral sunscreens give the gentle protection of a physical sunscreen without leaving a white cast.Health.com: Short-and-sweet skin advice . Is sunscreen really necessary for lips? Absolutely. In the past, it wasn't unusual for lip products to come with little or no SPF. Thankfully, many companies have upped the level of protection in lip balms. That's critical because skin cancers on the lower lip, in particular, are especially aggressive. "These cancers are dangerous, as they're more likely to spread," explains Jeremy Green, M.D., a Miami dermatologist. What's the easiest way to stay protected when I'm working out? Dab an SPF (of at least 30) stick or gel on your face, neck, and chest, and on hot spots like shoulders and the backs of your hands. "The non-tacky sticks are great because they really stay put," says Washington, D.C.--based dermatologist Dr. Tina Alster. For the rest of your body, use a sunscreen spray. If you're swimming or perspiring a lot, opt for one of the new formulas that are marked "water resistant" for up to 40 or 80 minutes. Health.com: Fun-in-the-sun workout . I hate reapplying! Can I throw on a long-sleeved T-shirt instead at the beach? "Most cotton shirts are no substitute for sunscreen," Rodan says. "At best, they give you a UPF (ultraviolet protection factor, the equivalent of SPF for clothing) of 8 -- and if they get wet, that devolves to UPF 2." Instead, invest in a long-sleeved rash guard -- a type of shirt made up of a spandex and nylon mix that was originally used for water sports, but is now popular as a sun protector. Look for one with a UPF rating of 50+. "Those things are lifesavers -- total protection, even when wet," Alster says. Likewise, your sun hat should be floppy, wide-brimmed, and made from a tightly woven material. Will my SPF foundation do the trick for workdays? "You'd have to slap on a heck of a lot to make it truly effective," Green says. A better idea: Layer. Wash your face, swipe on a few drops of antioxidant serum to boost your protection, and apply a tinted moisturizer or foundation with SPF 15 or more. Top it with an ultra fine SPF mineral powder. Green recommends carrying the powder in your bag for touch-ups during the day -- especially if you're lunching alfresco. Copyright Health Magazine 2011 . | Labels will say "broad spectrum" only if they protect against UVB and UVA rays .
If you have oily skin use an oil-free mineral block in an ultralight gel or liquid .
Reapply every two hours -- more often if you're in and out of the water . |
0a20b0feaf34c9942d4f9bb7d3e9b0aebe8419d8 | The Post Office has launched its first festive advert in five years in an effort to bring more people in to its stores. The one-minute advert features comedian Robert Webb as the 'minister of Christmas' walking round a Post Office branch explaining their preparations for Christmas, which include longer opening hours and bigger parcel sizes. As he strolls around the shop, he bumps into singer Pixie Lott, with whom he poses for a selection of 'elfies', as well as Downton Abbey's Jim Carter, Amanda Holden and chef Gino D'Acampo. The advert features comedian Robert Webb as the 'minister of Christmas' and opts for a humorous approach . In the commercial, Webb explains the preparation taking place at a Post Office branch over Christmas . As he walks round the store, Webb bumps in to various celebrities including singer Pixie Lott (pictured) The 'Get Christmas all wrapped up campaign' opts for a more humorous approach than the tear-jerking adverts of John Lewis and Sainsbury's. The advert will make its first TV showing during the breaks of the X Factor on ITV on Sunday evening. The group says that its Christmas campaign is designed to show people what its new branches can offer. The group says its Christmas campaign is designed to show people what its new branches can offer . The advert is the first to be released by the Post Office in five years and takes a light and humorous approach . The number of post offices has halved since the 1960s to about 11,500 across the UK. Peter Markey, chief marketing officer, said: 'It’s the first time that we’ve advertised on TV at Christmas for more than five years. Over a third of our revenues on postage come at Christmas.' The campaign is the first concerted drive by the Post Office to communicate its fusion of the digital and in-branch experience. 'We did a smaller campaign in the summer," said Mr Markey. 'But this is the first where you can really see where we’re going. It’s more consistent in tone.' Post offices have been a staple of British life for decades, providing a place for people to pay their bills, collect benefits, get their car taxed and buy stamps locally. The number of Post Office's in the UK stood at 11,742 at the end of June 2013. But over the past 30 years the number of post offices in the UK has almost halved. In 1981/1982 there were 22,405 Post Offices. In 1991/1992 there were 20,160. By 2001/2002 this had fallen to 17,584. In 2011/2012 the number stood at 11,818. The previous Labour government claimed that 6,000 closures took place before 1997, and blamed changes in behaviour for this decline. In addition, where local post offices used to be the only place to buy stamps, there are now many thousands of outlets across England and Wales where this is possible. The network lost £4 million a week in 2006/07 and doubled its losses in 2005/06, despite an annual £150 million subsidy from the government. About 16,000 branches served less than 30 people a week, and all rural branches were losing money. As such the government decided to close 2,500 branches, . The present Coalition government has made it clear that it wishes to see 'a strong and sustainable future' for the Post Office network with no further closures. Post Office Ltd, which owns and runs the Post Office Network, was separated from Royal Mail Group Ltd on April 1 2012. | Post Office has launched its 'Get Christmas all wrapped up campaign'
Advert features Robert Webb as the 'minister of Christmas' in a store .
Also features celebrities Amanda Holden, Jim Carter and Pixie Lott .
Will make its first TV showing during the X Factor break on ITV on Sunday . |
0a2278bec4a80aec1bc3e9e7a9dac10ac1b6425b | A U.S. Marine is presumed lost at sea after bailing out from a MV-22 Osprey plane after it lost power over the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, the U.S. Navy announced today . The tilt-rotor aircraft - which can take off and land like a helicopter, but fly like a fixed-wig plane - had just taken off from the amphibious assault ship U.S.S. Makin Island when it suddenly lost power. Two crew members bailed out, but the pilot stayed on board and was able to save the $70million aircraft and land it again on the deck of the ship. Numerous ships from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Navy's Fifth Fleet scoured the area in search of the crew members. An MV-22 Osprey plane (like the one pictured right) lost power while taking off from the U.S.S. Makin Island assault ship (pictured) on Wednesday (stock image) One Marine was rescued and is recovering aboard a Navy ship. The other was not found. The service member has not been identified. The Makin Island - which can carry Harrier jets, an assortment of helicopters, up to 22 Osprey planes and nearly 2,000 Marines - is currently stationed in Bahrain to support military operations against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Bahrain is home to the Navy's Fifth Fleet. The San Diego-based warship left for the Middle East on July 25. It carried elements of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is also based in San Diego. The MV-22 (like the one pictured here) is a title-rotor aircraft capable of taking off and landing like a helicopter, but can fly like an airplane . The V-22 is a small, fast transport plane that is able to fly and maneuver like an airplane, but can take off and land on ship decks and makeshift landing pads like a helicopter. Each plane can carry up to 36 troops or a small, specially designed fighting Growler vehicle. Its $35billion development, long delayed and far over-budget, came at the cost of several deadly crashes. More recently, though, the aircraft has had a slightly better record. Two crashes in 2012, however, raised questions. One on a training exercise in Morocco killed two Marines. In another, the aircraft flipped over at a Florida air base and injured all five aboard. | Two Marines bailed out of V-22 when it lost power as it was taking off from the USS Makin Island in the Persian Gulf Wednesday .
Pilot stayed aboard and was able to land the plane on the warship safely .
One Marine was found, the other could not be located after an extensive search involving many ships .
The Makin Island, an amphibious assault craft that can carry up to 2,000 Marines, has been stationed in Bahrain to support the fight against ISIS . |
0a23128a3dc7a202747f1b5eab2fca35fb18d1e5 | The official spokesman of the Islamic State terror group has purportedly issued a chilling message calling on his followers to murder Australians in ghastly ways. In what the Prime Minister's office said was being regarded as a 'genuine threat' by the nation's security agencies, senior IS leader Abu Mohammed al-Adnani on Monday released an audio message specifically calling for attacks on people of a number of nationalities, including Australians. al-Adnani said: 'If you can kill a disbelieving American or European – especially the spiteful and filthy French – or an Australian, or a Canadian, or any other disbeliever from the disbelievers waging war, including the citizens of the countries that entered into a coalition against the Islamic State, then rely upon Allah, and kill him in any manner or way however it may be.' Scroll down for video . Threats: Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, pictured (above) in a terror message posted on YouTube in July 2012. Sick threats: The Islamic State terror group has released videos of a militant beheading three Westerners in recent times. Terror suspect Omarjan Azari, 22, pictured (above) being taken away from court. He was charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism last Thursday. Heavily armed NSW Corrective Services officers prepare to transport accused terrorist Omarjan Azari from Central Local Court after appearing on a charge of conspiracy to prepare for a terrorist act. 'Do not ask for anyone’s advice and do not seek anyone’s verdict.' 'Kill the disbeliever whether he is civilian or military, for they have the same ruling.' In the statement, Al-Adnani purportedly implored his followers to commit a number of graphic crimes against 'disbelieving American (sic), Frenchman, or any of their allies'. 'Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison him.' And in a lengthy series of rhetorical questions addressed to the 'soldier of the Islamic State', he appeared to question Australia's involvement in the Middle Eastern conflict. 'Why have the nations of disbelief entrenched together against you?' he asked. 'What threat do you pose to the distant place of Australia for it to send its legions towards you? What does Canada have anything to do with you?' The militant's message follows the disruption of an alleged Sydney beheading plot in the nation's largest ever terror raids last Thursday. In a statement, a spokesman for the Prime Minister told Daily Mail Australia the government believed the terrorist's statement was real. 'Australian agencies regard the statement issued today by ISIL calling for attacks against members of the international coalition, including Australians, as genuine,' the spokesman said, using an alternative name for the IS terror group. Police remove a sword as part of evidence found at a residential property in the suburb of Marsfield, in Sydney last Thursday. Raids: Australia witnessed its largest ever terror raids last Thursday, when Australian Federal Police and NSW Police agents swarmed a number of properties across Sydney. Raids were also conducted in Brisbane. Addressing the terror threat to the nation, Prime Minister Tony Abbott today said that Australia's 'delicate balance' between freedom and security may have to tilt towards security 'for some time to come'. A U.S. State Department notice described al-Adnani, born under the name Taha Sobhi Falaha, as the 'official spokesman and a senior leader of ISIL'. He is the 'main conduit for the dissemination of official messages', the notice said. Al-Adnani's chilling threat came as the Federal Government outlined its plans for new anti-terror legislation on Monday afternoon. Mr Abbott told Parliament he could not promise that 'hideous events' will never take place in Australia. 'Regrettably, for some time to come, Australians will have to endure more security than we’re used to, and more inconvenience than we’d like,' he said. 'Regrettably, for some time to come, the delicate balance between freedom and security may have to shift.' | Senior Islamic State spokesman specifically names Australia as target in threatening audio message .
Abu Mohammed al-Adnani calls on his supporters to murder U.S. allies in various vile ways .
'Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him'
Prime Minister Tony Abbott's office told Daily Mail Australia the nation's security agencies regard the audio message as a 'genuine' threat .
Message comes amid the Abbott Government's attempts to introduce new anti-terrorism legislation .
Mr Abbott said 'the delicate balance between freedom and security may have to shift' - toward security . |
0a231dca9825438ed419626f8e0b0ef9667dce4c | (CNN) -- While the rest of the world last week was fixating on the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel, waiting to see whether the smoke would be black or white, it wasn't the smoke that intrigued me. It was the stuff that was making the smoke. The cardinals, after casting their ballots in each round of voting for the new pope, burned those ballots, as is tradition. The burning ballots created the smoke the world witnessed billowing from the chimney. The ballots, of course, were made of paper. Which sometimes seems like an endangered species. Had the cardinals voted on iPads, they couldn't very well have tossed the sleek tablets into the chapel's cast-iron stove. Yet an all-but-paperless society is where some experts argue we are headed. The digital upheaval has gathered such force that every business that once depended on paper has felt the earth shift. Newspapers, magazine publishers, book companies, bookstores, offices of every kind ... the transition to digital is beginning to feel as profound as the revolution once ushered in by the invention of moveable type. The Minneapolis Star Tribune recently noted the precipitous decline of the North American paper industry: "River towns in the forest from eastern Washington to the coast of Maine have lost more than 100 paper mills in a wave of consolidation in little more than a decade ... North American demand for three types of [coated] paper [has] fallen 21 percent." The Boston Business Journal last year quoted equity analyst Matt Arnold: "There's a secular shift to paperless. It's an overarching mind-set." All of this echoes a 2011 projection by the research firm RISI, which advises the global forest products industry: "By 2015, most publishing paper end uses in North America, such as magazine, newspaper and book publishing, will fall 12-21 percent, compared to their 2010 levels." The firm went on to project "another 40-50 percent fall over the next 15 years." Thus, there is a special fascination to a promotional campaign developed in recent years by Domtar, one of the world's largest manufacturers of paper. The campaign is not just for Domtar products -- it is for paper itself, no matter where it comes from or who sells it. The theme is: "Paper Because." The campaign, hoping to persuade people, proclaims: . "Paper is good. Pass it on." It offers heartfelt reasons: . "Paper means that you mean business." "Paper is personal." "Sometimes understanding the big picture means spreading it all out on the floor." "Opening a nice envelope is surprisingly exciting." I hasten to say that I'm not knocking those messages -- I agree with every word of them. I just find it illuminating, and more than a little melancholy, that we have reached the point at which those messages are deemed necessary -- the point at which the paper industry feels a need to convince people that paper is important. Before the digital age, the presence of such a campaign would have been puzzling. Tell people that paper is essential to their lives? What else were they supposed to write on -- rocks, using carving tools? It would have been like running promotional campaigns for air, or for water. Such things did not need promotion -- they were indispensable. (And, of course, there is the fact that, as clever and well executed as the "Paper Because" campaign is, I found it and browsed through it completely online, on a screen.) A screen is where you are almost undoubtedly reading these words, too. But before I hit the button to send my editors every column, I print out a copy and do the editing and proofreading by hand, on sheets of paper, with a pen. I love the breadth and scope of CNN's digital reach -- the speed and efficiency with which the stories on this site are delivered around the globe makes me think of it as a planetary paperboy with the strongest arm in the world. But there's something about paper. I'm currently about halfway through a copy of Time magazine, cover date September 25, 1950 (yes, I'm a little behind on my reading, but I'm slowly catching up). I'll often buy old magazines not just because I find them to be a wonderful way to delve randomly into America's history at precise moments in time, but also because, at the end of a day spent staring at shifting, constantly updating images on multiple screens, there is something calming about holding carefully laid out and edited sheets of paper, and luxuriating in the steadiness of it all. Maybe you're the same way. Maybe not. Perhaps the magic of paper, and all it has always represented, is something you could just as well do without -- a source of clutter and mustiness. But as magazines and newspapers and books and business offices and schools make their inexorable leap into the digital future, there's nothing wrong with acknowledging just how nice the tactile, comforting, here-when-you-want-me world of words and pictures on paper has been, even while recognizing and appreciating the marvels of the new way. I'm very glad that you've found your way to these words on whatever screen you may be reading them, and I don't think any of us are fooling ourselves into thinking the paper-to-digital course will suddenly be reversed. To use a phrase connected to another once-ubiquitous part of our daily lives: That train has left the station. But you have to hope that the departure has not been total, or at least that it won't become total for a good, long time. In that promotional campaign, there is one line that is meant to be perky and cheerful -- a line that somehow also sounds kind of bittersweet: . "Hi. I'm paper. Remember me?" The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bob Greene. | Bob Greene: With advent of digital age, paper use and demand has dropped like rock .
In fact, by 2015 paper use could fall 21% -- and then over 40% more in the 15 years after .
He says new ad campaign (you'll likely read online) makes plaintive case for paper's value .
Greene: One can marvel at, use digital media, but save spot in your heart for beauty of paper . |
0a23ba95558bc16e21815b6d1297b60c0e78caaa | PUBLISHED: . 20:42 EST, 2 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:24 EST, 3 August 2013 . Last month, Donna O'Connor received a chilling, late-night text message0 from her 33-year-old daughter who lives in Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighborhood. 'I'm scared,' Dana Bonanno wrote in her text message to her mother. She hasn't been seen since. The late-night text occurred on July 22, but Bonanno wasn't declared missing until five days later - despite repeated calls to police from her mother about her missing daughter. Missing: Bonanno (left) was last seen on July 22, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn . 'I . can’t stop to think about what’s going on and get upset. What good is . that going to do,' O’Connor told IOHUD.com on . Thursday. “We just need to find her.” Police finally went and spoke with Bonanno's roommate in the Greenpoint apartment they shared. The roommate told her she'd last seen Bonanno near their apartment, on Freeman Street. Bonanno moved to Brooklyn in 2012 and became active in the local music scene. The Stormville native also worked at A&E Networks, but was laid off in April. But friends and family say she was still a rather upbeat, happy woman. Last seen: The last place Bonanno was seen was Freeman Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn . 'She’s . a very outgoing and positive girl,' friend Daniel Mandelbaum said. 'That’s why we’re . all so worried. This is completely out of character for her.' Her mother agreed, saying that simply taking off because she was upset about something 'is not typical of her behavior.' Greenpoint is relatively safe section of Brooklyn. However, police were searching for a suspect in a sexual assault case in June. In that case, the attacker assaulted the woman at knife-point. Friends and family have since taken to social media to spread the word about Bonanno's disappearance, and to hopefully generate some tips as to her whereabouts. Bonanno was part of a group of friends called Supporting . Our Underground Properly, which helped promote music events throughout the city. Help: Friends and family want anyone with information about Bonanno to call 646-610-6914 . Another member is Liz Rivera, who is the last person to see Bonanno briefly on Monday afternoon. 'We’re . like a family. We’re always together. She would at least contact one of . us,' said Rivera. 'She . was sad that she was unemployed, but I don’t see her just taking off for . that.' Rivera added that Bonanno has a cat named Love Song and that she would never leave the cat unattended. | Dana Bonanno was last seen on July 22, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn .
Police didn't declare her missing until five days later, despite repeated calls from her mother asking authorities to investigate her disappearance .
Bonanno was active in the Brooklyn music scene . |
0a242913a0623c84ca60947d2c14fe42d213f66e | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 09:48 EST, 30 August 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 09:50 EST, 30 August 2012 . Human rights activists in Pakistan are demanding the release of a Christian girl accused of burning pages of the Koran, after a bail hearing was adjourned. Religious and secular groups worldwide have protested over the arrest this month of Rimsha Masih who reportedly suffers from Downs Syndrome after she was accused of blasphemy by Muslim neighbours. A hospital said in a report Rimsha was about 14 but had the mental capacities of someone below that age and was uneducated. Other media have reported she is 11. Scroll down for video . Reporters and residents gather outside a mosque near the locked home of Rimsha Masih, a Pakistani Christian girl facing the death penalty for burning pages of the Koran . Under the blasphemy law, anyone who speaks ill of Islam and the Prophet Mohammad commits a crime and faces the death penalty, but activists say vague terminology has led to its misuse. Convictions are common, although the death sentence has never been carried out. Most convictions are thrown out on appeal, but mobs have killed many people accused of blasphemy. Rao Abdur Raheem, a lawyer representing the accuser in the case, complained a medical report was conducted without a court order . Human rights groups say the law dangerously discriminates against the Muslim country's tiny minority groups. 'This will go on and on and this little minor girl will rot in jail,' said human rights activist Tahira Abdullah outside an Islamabad court. 'We want her out of jail. We want her under protection.' Rao Abdur Raheem, a lawyer representing the accuser in the case, said the medical report was conducted without a court order, prompting the bail hearing to be postponed until September 1. 'She could get 110 per cent punishment,' he said. Masih's arrest triggered an exodus of several hundred Christians from her poor village on the edge of the capital, Islamabad, after mosques reported over their loudspeakers what the girl was alleged to have done. Christians, who make up four percent of Pakistan's population of 180 million, have been especially concerned about the blasphemy law, saying it offers them no protection. Convictions hinge on witness testimony and are often linked to vendettas, they complain. In 2009, 40 houses and a church were set ablaze by a mob of 1,000 Muslims in the town of Gojra, in Punjab province. Children sit in front of the locked family house of Rimsha Masih who reportedly suffers from Downs Syndrome and was accused by Muslim neighbours of burning Islamic religious texts . Run-down: Children play in a slum area on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, close to the town of Mehrabadi where the 11-year-old girl lives . At least seven Christians were burned to death. The attacks were triggered by reports of the desecration of the Koran. Two . Christian brothers accused of writing a blasphemous letter against the . Prophet Mohammad were gunned down outside a court in the eastern city of . Faisalabad in July of 2010. Sacred: A Pakistani Muslim woman holds up a copy of the Islamic holy text the Koran . 'We are just praying for her and we hope that she will be released soon,' said Christian activist Xavier William. In . January of 2011, Punjab province Governor Salman Taseer was . assassinated by his own bodyguard because the governor had called for . the reform of the anti-blasphemy law. He made a prison visit to Asia Bibi - a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy in a case stemming from a village dispute - and had worked for the reform of the law. Lawyers who once protested in support of democracy showered bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri with rose petals. Two months after Taseer's murder, Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian, was murdered by the Taliban for demanding changes to the blasphemy law. Lawyer Raheem said he did not want to see Masih's case turned into another one focusing on changing the law, and he warned that to do so could again incite a violent reaction. 'There are many Mumtaz Qadris in this country and we will support them,' the lawyer said, referring to Governor Taseer's killer. | Rimsha Masih reportedly suffers from .
Downs Syndrome .
Hospital report said she was 'about 14' but other media have reported she is 11 .
She was accused by Muslim neighbours of burning .
Islamic religious texts . |
0a24dfac1c0b6fb22de2da968ef9ecc222ad5cd0 | By . Michael Zennie . The first alleged client of a Zumba instructor-turned-prostitute in Maine has ended with the alleged John being acquitted. Former Kennebunk High School hockey coach Don Hill has said he was engaged in a relationship with the woman, Alexis Wright, but he never paid for sex. Justice Roland Cole ended Hill's trial Tuesday after barring prosecutors from entering Wright's business ledger into evidence. Acquitted: Donald Hill, the former Kennebunk High School hockey coach was acquitted of paying for sex with the Zumba instructor-turned-prostitute . The trial heated up Tuesday with the defense suggesting the ledger was mishandled as evidence, but Deputy District Attorney Justina McGettigan called the claim 'outrageous.' Mr Hill, who has been divorced for years, was one of 68 people charged with paying for sex with Wright. At least 58 have pleaded guilty or no contest. Wright pleaded guilty and is serving a 10-month sentence, but that didn't stop her from giving her husband an entirely different story. She told him that she had sex with more than 100 men for money because she believed she was working as an undercover agent for the State of Maine investigating 'sexual deviancy' in the sleepy town of Kennebunk. Different defense: He said that he had a relationship with Wright (right) and that he did not pay for sex, though her ledger was not allowed to be submitted as part of the evidence against him . Wright appeared in court last week and gave her married name, Alexis Sandra Trowbridge. It appears her husband, Jason Trowbridge, believes her story and is taking her back. Wright, 30, now maintains she was a . pawn all along. It has emerged that Wright claims that Mark Strong, her . business partner who was found guilty of promoting prostitution, told . her that he was on special assignment for the state of Maine and that he . had hired her as his undercover agent. Wright . claims that Strong, a licensed private investigator, told her that the . brothel she operated out of her Zumba studio was really an elaborate . sting operation backed by the state of Maine. The goal, Wright claims she was told, was to catch sexual deviants in Kennebunk. Strong's attorney said Wright's claims are laughable. Pleading the Fifth: Alexis Wright, serving 10 months in jail, took the stand in August and refused to testify against Hill . Wright is claiming that her business partner Mark Strong, a private investigator, told her that he had hired her as an undercover agent . Wright's husband Jason says he believes his wife's story and is standing by her. Prosecutors say she had sex with more than 100 men for money - sometimes five in a day . 'That this woman, who had allegedly taken on 100 or so men to have sex with for money, was investigating for sexual deviancy, is the pot calling the kettle black,' lawyer Daniel G. Lilley told MailOnline. Lilley said it doesn't appear . prosecutors bought her claim. There was no evidence presented at . Strong's trial that he had said he was working for the government. Wright's . husband Jason Trowbridge, however, does seem to believe her. He stood . by his wife in an interview with a TLC documentary called 'Sex, Lies and Zumba.' 'It . sounds crazy. It just made more sense that's what was going on,' Mr . Trowbridge told the documentary. 'Put the pieces together. That fits the . story. 'People think it's a joke and people might always think it's a joke. I'll stand by her story because that's what I saw.' The attorney for Strong, who was convicted of promoting prostitution and sentenced to 20 days in jail, said Wright's claims are laughable . Wright first made reference to her bizarre claim when she spoke up at her sentencing hearing. She claims that the meticulous records she kept and the fact that Strong had to be watching via webcab during each of her trysts are proof that she thought she was having sex with the men as part of an official government investigation. Wright was called to the stand to testify against Donald Hill, a former high school hockey coach who was one of 68 men arrested and charged with being clients of Wright, according to the Portland Press Herald. Hill, who was forced to quit his job after he was named publicly, maintains that Wright led him to believe he was having a romantic relationship with her. | Divorced former high school coach Donald Hill was acquitted on Tuesday .
Alexis Wright, 30, who plead guilty, is now going by her married name .
Husband Jason Trowbridge appears to be standing by her and has said her believes her story that she was 'rooting out sexual deviants' |
0a24f30069a9a6ab0f76e5a5d822f0568ce0f0d7 | First daughter Sasha Obama cut a stylish figure in jeans and shades as the Obama girls visited the Great Wall of China today. Michelle Obama, Malia, 15, and Sasha, 12, were left alone to explore the Mutianyu section of the historical landmark in the northern Beijing suburbs though Chinese police officers looked on protectively. The three walked a stretch of the wall that looks out to a massive rock inscription on a hillside that reads in Chinese: 'Loyal to Chairman Mao.' The country has been fascinated by Mrs Obama's 'elegance' during the weeklong visit to the country to promote educational exchanges between the U.S. and China. Sasha Obama, left, cut a cool figure in shades as she wandered the Great Wall of China with her mom and sister . U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and her daughters visited the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall in Beijing on Sunday . Mrs Obama has also been photographed at famous spots including the Forbidden City during her trip, which marks the first time a U.S. president's wife has traveled independently to China. The first lady has won compliments for her elegant clothing and her interactions with ordinary people in a country where it is rare to see leaders' spouses or children in public. 'She is very warm and frank, and when she is talking to people she conscientiously listens to what they have to say,' said Wu Qing, a retired professor of Beijing Foreign Studies University who met Mrs Obama on Sunday. 'In China, we usually use weather to express our mood or state of mind, so the fact that the weather has been so nice these few days means she is very welcome in China,' Wu said. Earlier Sunday, Mrs Obama hosted a discussion about education and told Chinese professors, students and parents that she wouldn't have risen to where she was if her parents hadn't pushed for her to get a good education. 'Education is an important focus for me. It's personal, because I wouldn't be where I am today without my parents investing and pushing me to get a good education,' the first lady said. 'My parents were not educated themselves, but one of the things they understood was that my brother and I needed that foundation.' The White House women were left alone to explore the Mutianyu section of the historical landmark in the northern Beijing suburbs . Michelle Obama arrived in Beijing on March 20 with her mother and daughters to kick off a seven-day, three-city tour to focus on education and cultural exchange . She said she and her husband wanted as many young people as possible in the United States and the world to have access to education. She then hosted a roundtable with a handful of Chinese professors, students and parents at an event at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing that was attended by new U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus and closed to the media. On Saturday, Mrs Obama gave a 15-minute speech at China's prestigious Peking University in which she promoted the free flow of information and freedom of speech, the only time during her trip that she has brought up a contentious issue. China routinely filters out information deemed offensive by the government and silences dissenting voices. Those remarks by Mrs Obama were absent from China's state media but were circulating in social media, where they were widely praised. 'I was very impressed by her speech mentioning freedom of speech,' said Zhang Lifan, an independent historian who said he had read about it in overseas Chinese media. 'Although the Chinese constitution guarantees freedom of speech, Chinese citizens don't really enjoy that right. I think she just reminded China in a polite and mild way that not allowing freedom of speech is not conducive to China.' Mrs Obama has also been photographed at famous spots including the Forbidden City during her trip, which marks the first time a U.S. president's wife has traveled independently to China . A Chinese police woman stands guard from the wall as U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and her daughters, Malia and Sasha, visit the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China in Beijing . The trip, the first time a U.S. president's wife has independently visited China, also has given Mrs Obama an opportunity to engage with President Xi Jinping's wife, Peng Liyuan. On Friday, the two first ladies toured a Beijing high school, where Mrs Obama tried her hand at calligraphy and pingpong and visited with students who had built robots. She also met with Xi that evening. On Tuesday, she will visit a high school in the southwestern city of Chengdu. Students who met Mrs. Obama praised her affability. 'She was so approachable,' said Lu Yuhong, 16, who guided the first lady in writing the Chinese character 'eternal' in calligraphy at the Beijing school. Mu Rongduomijia, 16, said she traveled Saturday from the northeastern city of Dalian to Beijing, hoping to hear Mrs. Obama's speech. Instead, she waited outside for glimpses of the first lady's entourage. 'It was touching to see so many people waiting for her arrival and departure, and that's because of her personal charisma,' Mu said, noting she was impressed with the manners of Malia and Sasha. Mrs Obama, Malia, 15, and Sasha, 12, and her mother, Marian Robinson, who is also traveling with them, will visit the cities of Xi'an and Chengdu before returning to Washington on Wednesday. US First Lady Michelle Obama (C) and US Ambassador to China Max Baucus (L) talk with a group of students and teachers at the US embassy in Beijing on March 23, 2014 . The trip, the first time a U.S. president's wife has independently visited China, also has given Mrs Obama an opportunity to engage with President Xi Jinping's wife, Peng Liyuan, right . | The trip to the Great Wall came on the third day of a weeklong visit to China aimed at promoting educational exchanges between the countries .
Mrs Obama, Sasha and Malia were left alone to explore the Mutianyu section of the historical landmark in the northern Beijing suburbs .
Earlier, Mrs Obama discussed the country's censorship saying 'questioning and criticism' of political leaders is crucial .
She described the internet as a 'universal right'
The Chinese have been wowed by the first lady's fashion sense . |
0a25cb5b7515cc4feab5bcdab0b32f72c4bd5cb2 | She was the youngest person to win a Gold Logie back in 1988 - and 26 years on Kylie Minogue will perform on stage at the 2014 award ceremony. Not only was Kylie the youngest Gold Logie recipient at the time - and still is today - she was also the first person to win four Logie Awards at one event. The 45-year-old was just 20 when she scooped up the coveted Australian accolades in 1988, and has since gone on to become an international superstar - with more than 70 million record sales worldwide. Good to be back: Kylie Minogue will be performing at the Logies, 26 years after she became the first person to win four Logies in one year . Young love: Kylie arrives at the 1988 Logies with then-boyfriend Jason Donovan . Then and now: Kylie Minogue showing off her first Logie Award in 1988, above left, and in London last week . TV Week editor Emma Nolan said she was overjoyed Kylie would be singing a song from her new album this year. 'The Logies and Kylie go hand-in-hand,' she said. 'We’re thrilled to see her back. Her special headline performance is sure to be a memorable one.' Fresh from her resounding success as a coach on The Voice UK, Kylie will return to Australian television screens this year as a coach on The Voice Australia with fellow The Voice UK coach will.i.am and returning coaches Ricky Martin and Joel Madden. The performer’s 12th studio album, Kiss Me Once, went straight to number one on the Australian iTunes chart on the day of release. The star-studded event will take place on Sunday, April 27, 2014 at Palladium at Crown, Crown Towers, Melbourne. It will be broadcast on the Nine Network. The 45-year-old singer has released a new album, Kiss Me Once, which is her 12th studio album . Album number 12: Kylie's eyes are closed and lips are painted a deep red on the cover of her latest album 'Kiss Me Once' | Kylie Minogue to perform at the 2014 Logies in April .
She will perform a song from her new album .
The 45-year-old was, and still is, the youngest ever Gold Logie winner . |
0a26adcf099adbe06eb1443b2ff8a4138e0ec8e3 | (CNN) -- Who walked away with Oscars this year? The following is a complete list of winners at the 81st annual Academy Awards. For more on the stars, the speeches and the spectacle, read the full story. Best picture "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" "Frost/Nixon" "Milk" "The Reader" WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire" Director WINNER: Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire" Stephen Daldry, "The Reader" David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon" Gus Van Sant, "Milk" Actor Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor" Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon" WINNER: Sean Penn, "Milk" Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler" Actress Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married" Angelina Jolie, "Changeling" Melissa Leo, "Frozen River" Meryl Streep, "Doubt" WINNER: Kate Winslet, "The Reader" Supporting actor Josh Brolin, "Milk" Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder" Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt" WINNER: Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight" Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road" Supporting actress Amy Adams, "Doubt" WINNER: Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" Viola Davis, "Doubt" Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler" Animated feature "Bolt" "Kung Fu Panda" WINNER: "WALL-E" Adapted screenplay "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," screenplay by Eric Roth, screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord "Doubt," written by John Patrick Shanley "Frost/Nixon," screenplay by Peter Morgan "The Reader," screenplay by David Hare WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," screenplay by Simon Beaufoy . Original screenplay "Frozen River," written by Courtney Hunt "Happy-Go-Lucky," written by Mike Leigh "In Bruges," written by Martin McDonagh WINNER: "Milk," written by Dustin Lance Black "WALL-E," screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon; original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter . Art direction "Changeling," James J. Murakami; set decoration: Gary Fettis WINNER: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Donald Graham Burt; set decoration: Victor J. Zolfo "The Dark Knight," Nathan Crowley; set decoration: Peter Lando "The Duchess," Michael Carlin; set decoration: Rebecca Alleway "Revolutionary Road," Kristi Zea; set decoration: Debra Schutt . Cinematography "Changeling," Tom Stern "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Claudio Miranda "The Dark Knight," Wally Pfister "The Reader," Chris Menges and Roger Deakins WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," Anthony Dod Mantle . Costume design "Australia," Catherine Martin "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Jacqueline West WINNER: "The Duchess," Michael O'Connor "Milk," Danny Glicker "Revolutionary Road," Albert Wolsky . Documentary feature "The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)" "Encounters at the End of the World" "The Garden" WINNER: "Man on Wire" "Trouble the Water" Documentary short "The Conscience of Nhem En" "The Final Inch" WINNER: "Smile Pinki" "The Witness -- From the Balcony of Room 306" Film editing "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall "The Dark Knight," Lee Smith "Frost/Nixon," Mike Hill and Dan Hanley "Milk," Elliot Graham WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," Chris Dickens . Foreign language film "The Baader Meinhof Complex," Germany "The Class," France WINNER: "Departures," Japan "Revanche," Austria "Waltz with Bashir," Israel . Makeup WINNER: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Greg Cannom "The Dark Knight," John Caglione Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz . Original score "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Alexandre Desplat "Defiance," James Newton Howard "Milk," Danny Elfman WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," A.R. Rahman "WALL-E," Thomas Newman . Original song "Down to Earth" from "WALL-E," music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, lyrics by Peter Gabriel WINNER: "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire," music by A.R. Rahman, lyrics by Gulzar "O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire," music and lyrics by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam . Animated short WINNER: "La Maison en Petits Cubes" "Lavatory -- Lovestory" "Oktapodi" "Presto" "This Way Up" Live-action short "Auf der Strecke (On the Line)" "Manon on the Asphalt" "New Boy" "The Pig" WINNER: "Spielzeugland" Sound editing WINNER: "The Dark Knight," Richard King "Iron Man," Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes "Slumdog Millionaire," Glenn Freemantle and Tom Sayers "WALL-E," Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood "Wanted," Wylie Stateman . Sound mixing "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten "The Dark Knight," Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty "WALL-E," Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt "Wanted," Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt . Visual effects WINNER: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron "The Dark Knight," Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin "Iron Man," John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan . | "Slumdog Millionaire" wins eight Oscars, including best picture and director .
Sean Penn's "Milk" role earns him a second best actor Oscar .
Kate Winslet awarded best actress Oscar for "The Reader"
Penelope Cruz and the late Heath Ledger win for supporting roles . |
0a27267deda1388c6c73fffe9cd6ebabaad49e55 | (CNN) -- The eagle eyes of his playing partner's caddie halted Rory McIlroy's charge at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship. McIlory was poised to finish the day one shot behind leader Craig Lee but instead he was handed a two-stroke penalty after Ricardo Gonzalez's bag man threw doubt over McIlroy's play at the second hole. The former world No.1 was subsequently judged to have taken his shot with one foot on the white line that marks the spectator's path on the course. "I hit my second shot on the second hole just into the left rough, but it was in the spectator crosswalk, so I took a drop, which obviously you're allowed to do out of it," McIlroy explained to reporters. "I didn't notice it but my left foot was still on the white line as I played the shot and you need to take full relief. "I dropped it in a really bad lie, so actually had I known, I would have taken a better drop. "It was unfortunate, but that's the rules of this game. I don't feel like I gained any sort of advantage by my foot being on a bit of white paint. "I have to try to make up the shots as early as possible tomorrow. It gives me a bit of extra motivation." Phil Mickelson may have squeezed his way through the cut but the American hit a sweet spot in Saturday's third round. The British Open champion sunk nine birdies and an eagle to move two shots adrift of the lead alongside India's Gaganjeet Bhullar. "I love the fact that I have a chance and that I'm in contention the first tournament out this year," Mickelson said. "I love that I've played better each day. The first day, I felt terrible. The second day, half of it started to come around and today it started to feel pretty good and hopefully I'll be able to build on it again." At the top of the tree, Lee is hoping for a fairytale finish to the Abu Dhabi tournament as he chases his first European Tour win. "The quality of the players behind me is nothing I have been used to before," said Lee, who holds the lead on 12 under par. "It's possible -- and fairytales do happen." | Rory McIlroy handed two-stroke penalty at Abu Dhabi Golf Championship .
The punishment drops former world No.1 three shots behind leader .
American Phil Mickelson finds form to move to two shots off the lead .
Scotland's Craig Lee takes 12-under-par lead into final day in the desert . |
0a276f3878f47c60ac264e708e1c6e374352f92f | (CNN) -- Astronaut Scott Carpenter, the second American to orbit Earth, died Thursday, NASA said. He was 88. "We have lost a true pioneer. I shall long remember him not only for his smarts and courage but his incredible humor. He kept us all grounded," said NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden. "We will miss him greatly." Carpenter was one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts chosen by NASA, which said he died from complications after a stroke. He was a backup pilot for John Glenn ahead of America's first manned orbital space flight in February 1962. Carpenter flew the second American manned orbital flight in May of that year. Flight time was four hours and 54 minutes, according to a NASA biography. Carpenter's spacecraft overshot its landing target by some 250 nautical miles, giving rise to fears about his fate. With Carpenter's death, Glenn is the lone survivor of the Mercury 7, which included Carpenter, Glenn, L. Gordon Cooper, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Walter Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald "Deke" Slayton. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first person to orbit Earth in April 1961. 'Pioneer' of inner and outer space . Carpenter was born in Boulder, Colorado, and attended the University of Colorado, where he studied aeronautical engineering. He retired from the Navy in 1969, after some two decades of service. Post-NASA, Carpenter explored underwater environments as an aquanaut in the Navy's Man in the Sea Project -- at one point living and working on the ocean floor for 30 days straight. He later served as director of the Navy's aquanaut operations. "I still can't make up my mind whether I like outer or inner space better," Carpenter said last year -- adding with a smile, "But there's a difference in glory." Carpenter's memoir, "For Spacious Skies: The Uncommon Journey of a Mercury Astronaut," was published in 2003. He also wrote two novels. "He was one of the good guys and a good friend, a pioneer who made significant contributions to our country," said Dick Gordon, command module pilot for Apollo 12. People we've lost in 2013 . CNN's John Zarrella contributed to this report. | Carpenter suffered complications after a stroke .
John Glenn is the lone survivor of the Mercury Seven .
"We have lost a true pioneer," says NASA administrator .
Carpenter was the second American to orbit Earth . |
0a291ae4baf4cbaf4255c5cb6c1ffd88634ee050 | (CNN) -- The decisive and positive terms of ETA's response to Monday's "Declaration" in Donostia-San Sebastian by the International Conference group is to be welcomed, as is the response of the Spanish government and others. It has taken many years of patient work to get to this point and every effort must be made to build momentum into the process. I first became involved in the efforts to build a peace process in the Basque country at the time of our own peace agreement in 1998. An Irish priest, Fr. Alex Reid, who I have known for almost 40 years, had played a key role in creating the Irish peace process and he was asked by a priest in that region to bring his expertise to bear. In the years since then, Sinn Féin leaders, including myself, have traveled regularly to the region and met representatives from the Basque country and the Spanish state. It is obvious that many of those in the Basque region who we met are committed to peace and that they have consciously sought to learn from the Irish experience. Almost two years ago a new group Abertzale Left, which includes the banned Batasuna party agreed on a new political strategy for progress. For those familiar with the peace process in Ireland the language used by Abertzale Left is strikingly similar to that used in Ireland. Abertzale Left committed itself to using "exclusively political and democratic means" to advance its political objectives. And it seeks to advance political change "in a complete absence of violence and without interference" and "conducted in accordance with the Mitchell Principles." These principles were devised by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell who was chair of the peace negotiations in Ireland. Last Monday I returned to Donostia-San Sebastian in Euskadi for an "international conference to promote the resolution of the conflict in the Basque Country." An international group of leaders -- myself, Kofi Annan, Jonathan Powell, Bertie Ahern, Pierre Joxe, and Gro Harland Bruntland -- had been asked to speak on that issue and to set out our view of the next steps needed to encourage a step change in the Basque peace process. In my contribution I pointed out that violence usually occurs when people believe there is no alternative. Transforming a situation from conflict to peace requires creating an alternative. This is hugely challenging. It demands that we seek to understand what motivates, what inspires, what drives our opponent. Each conflict is different but in the course of our efforts Irish Republicans learned that there are general principles of peace-making and methods of conflict-resolution that can be applied elsewhere and which can help end conflict if applied properly. These elements include: dialogue, tackling the causes which lie at the heart of the conflict, a good faith engagement by all sides, an inclusive process with all parties treated as equals and mandates respected. All issues must be on the agenda -- there can be no pre-conditions, no vetoes, and no attempt to pre-determine the outcome or preclude any outcome. And there should be time frames. Most importantly, participants must stay focused and be prepared to take risks and engage in initiatives and confidence-building measures. But if there is a starting point, it must be dialogue. I emphasized this again and again. This is the foundation upon which any progress will be built. Following our deliberations the International Group expressed the opinion that "it is possible to end, the last armed confrontation in Europe". We called upon ETA to "make a public declaration of the definitive cessation of all armed action and to request talks with the governments of Spain and France to address exclusively the consequences of the conflict." Thursday's statement meets that requirement. The Spanish government has also welcomed the statement. So, a breakthrough has been achieved, but it must be built upon quickly if its potential is to be achieved. The next steps should now focus on promoting reconciliation, addressing the issue of victims and recognizing that a serious effort has to be made to heal personal and social wounds. There are other issues which will need to be addressed and which can act as confidence-building measures within the process. For example, among these are the issue of prisoners and of demilitarizing the environment and of respecting and acknowledging the democratic rights of all political parties and treating them as equals. And there is for the Basque people the key issue of the right of the people of that historic region to self-determination. As we learned from our own experience, making peace is very difficult. But as the peace processes in Ireland and in South Africa demonstrate, no conflict is intractable. If there is political will and imagination and a preparedness to take risks for peace it is possible to rewrite the script, make progress and achieve agreements. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Gerry Adams. | Basque separatist group ETA said Thursday it is laying down its arms .
Gerry Adams says there are key lessons from Ireland's experience with peacemaking .
He says violence usually occurs when people believe there is no alternative .
Adams: Political will, imagination and courage can make peace possible . |
0a2c21f10887cd8b757e45b7143147bd322d474d | Baghdad (CNN) -- Throngs of jubilant Iraqis, some so happy they wept, gathered early Tuesday at Baghdad's al-Shaab Stadium for the country's first international soccer match in years. "I cannot believe my eyes," exclaimed Hussein Jasim, 19. He wept and shouted "Allahu Akbar!" or "God is great!" "I have not seen in my entire life that many Iraqis gathered in one location happy, dancing and chanting," he said. "I am not used to it. ... It's my happiest moment!" A decade after the Iraq War began, Alaa Rahem felt something he hadn't in a long time in this country with tenuous peace -- optimism. "I have been waiting for this moment," he said. "It is time for Iraqis to live together peacefully. Enough killings and destruction. Let's live together peacefully like we are doing now from inside this stadium. I look around me, and I see Iraqis from different sects shouting ... 'Yes! Yes for Iraq!' " It was the first international soccer match in Baghdad since Iraq's 4-0 victory over the Palestinian team during a friendly game in July 2009 -- and the first home game inside Iraq since the international soccer governing association, FIFA, lifted a ban last week. Under that ban, Iraq was forbidden from hosting home games after security and technical issues emerged from its loss to Jordan's team in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil in September 2011. Because Tuesday's game was "friendly," the Iraqi Football Association got to choose their opponent. And it chose Syria. "I don't see why we should not play with Syria in a friendly game," said Iraqi fan Khalid al-Jumaili. "Syria is our neighbor, and they need our support. "Syria opened its borders to all Iraqis over the past years," he said. "It's time for us to pay it back to them and show our support to Syrian people." Choosing to play Syria seemed amusing to one Iraqi fan. "I don't know why we started our friendly game with Syria," Adel Zaalan said, laughing. "I believe Iraq should have started to play a friendly game with a country that does not have internal problems. It would be much more solid start for Iraq." "Don't get me wrong," he continued. "I am not against it at all or against Syrian people, but this could be a good propaganda for Assad regime." There didn't appear to be any Syrian fans waving flags or holding signs with any political message at Tuesday's match. For two years, Syria has been locked in a civil war pitting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad against rebels who are trying to oust him. The rebels and human rights organizations say al-Assad's forces have committed war crimes; al-Assad claims the violence in Syria is the work of terrorists. The United Nations says the war has claimed 70,000 lives. It's highly unlikely Iraq chose to play Syria for political reasons, said CNN contributor James Montague, who wrote the book "When Friday Comes," a rollicking first-person adventure through the intersection of religion, war, politics and soccer in the Middle East. Iraq needed to choose a team that was nearby, and schedules seemed to align for both teams, he said. "And you're not going to ask a marquee team to come to Baghdad," Montague said. They might not be Real Madrid, but the Syrian national soccer team is nothing to sniff at. The team has been enjoying a bang-up year, Montague said. They almost qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and they made the quarterfinals of a major youth tournament last year. Despite the irony of their team's success amid the backdrop of their country's bitter civil war, the players have avoided discussing the situation in Syria, said Montague, who reported for The New York Times on Syria's Olympics qualifying match in Jordan. "There were a lot of interpreters with the squad who seemed to deflect questions, but I have no idea if they were with the [Syrian] regime," he said. "We'll probably never now what's going on behind the scenes until after the war." While Syria descends deeper into conflict, Iraq is slowly recovering after a decade of war that divided the country along sectarian lines. On Tuesday, inside and outside Baghdad's al-Shaab Stadium, Iraqis of all ages and backgrounds agreed on one thing -- their "Lions of the Mesopotamia" were going to win. Six minutes into the second half, the Iraqis scored. Captain Younis Mahmoud, nicknamed "The Ripper," drove the ball into the net. The Lions would take it, 2-1. Mahmoud, who sports a tattoo of Iraq on his arm, is beloved in his home country. He scored the winning goal in the Asian Football Confederation's 2007 AFC Asian Cup when the Lions beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 in a stunning victory that became a national point of pride. Mahmoud's war story is also famous, Montague notes, having moved to Qatar to be with his family despite that he could have easily taken offers from various European teams to join them. Many of Mahmoud's teammates went through hell, some telling of torture by Saddam Hussein's son Uday when they didn't perform well on the field. And then there's the specter of violence tied to matches past. During the semifinal of the 2007 Asia Cup win, two car bombs went off in Baghdad killing scores of people. "The match today is a sign that things are improving," said Montague. "It's also a huge test for the government. But for Iraqis, football is everything. The return of football is a return to normality." CNN's Joe McCurdy contributed to this report. | First international soccer match in Baghdad in years brings Iraqis to tears .
"It's my happiest moment!" an Iraqi fan exclaims .
Iraqi Football Association chose to play Syrians, who are caught up in civil war . |
0a2cd8e99fec7ceafa5b3a9b92bc90966b9ed29e | By . Louise Boyle . Father-of-six Eric Garner, 43, died on Thursday after being put in a chokehold by police and pinned to the ground on Staten Island . A father-of-six died on Thursday after being put in a chokehold by an NYPD officer. Eric Garner, a 43-year-old who weighed 400lb and suffered from asthma, can be heard repeatedly shouting: 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe' in cellphone footage captured by outraged bystanders. Mr Garner was also pinned to the ground by five other cops, one of whom appeared to slam his head into the concrete. The man, whom officers claimed was illegally selling cigarettes in Staten Island, stopped struggling after less than a minute and appeared to be unconscious. Paramedics were called to the scene outside a beauty supply store in Tompkinsville around 5pm. Mr Garner later died at Richmond University Medical Center following a cardiac arrest. Mr Garner leaves his wife Esaw, six children and two grandchildren. His wife told the Daily News: 'When I kissed my husband this morning, I never thought it would be for the last time.' She said that police gave her little information when she went to hospital to identify her husband's body. Mr Garner allegedly had a history of selling untaxed cigarettes, the Daily News reported. But the deceased's family claimed the . 43-year-old father was simply breaking up a fight on Thursday and had no cigarettes . on him at the time. Scroll down for video . Mr Garner, 43, pictured with an unidentified woman, was trying to break up a fight on Thursday when police arrested him, his family said. Mr Garner later died in hospital following a cardiac arrest . The father-of-six was not armed, according to reports. Garner had a court date scheduled in October for selling untaxed cigarettes and pot possession. His . wife said that he had a history of ill health, including asthma and . diabetes, which made it difficult for him to hold down a job. On a video, obtained by the New York Daily News, Mr Garner is seen sitting outside a store when he is approached by plainclothes officers. Mr Garner can be heard telling the cops: 'Every time you seem me you want to mess with me. I'm tired of it. It stops today.' More officers arrive and when Mr Garner refuses to put his hands behind his back to be cuffed, an officer grabs him from behind in a chokehold. Several other officers then wrestle the man to the ground before one appears to pin his head to the concrete. After repeatedly telling the officers 'I can't breathe', Mr Garner goes quiet and stops struggling. Police are seen on the cellphone footage trying to move bystanders away from the scene. Confrontation: Eric Garner was stopped by police on this sidewalk . Residents reacted with fury following Mr Garner's death. After the incident, posters saying 'no justice, no peace' 'and Another innocent black man has been killed by police brutality. The NYPD must be stopped!' appeared in the area. Reverend Lloyd Land, from the First United Christian Church, told Staten Island Live: 'He was a gentle giant. Insofar as violence, I don't believe if you smack him in the face he would hit you back ... The police have no reason to attack him.' An NYPD internal affairs investigation was reportedly underway. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio promised a full investigation into Mr Garner's death. In a statement on Friday, the mayor said: 'On behalf of all New Yorkers, I extend my deepest condolences to the family of Mr Garner, who died yesterday afternoon while being placed in police custody. 'We have a responsibility to keep every New Yorker safe, and that includes when individuals are in custody of the NYPD. That is a responsibility that Police Commissioner Bratton and I take very seriously. We are harnessing all resources available to the City to ensure a full and thorough investigation of the circumstances of this tragic incident. 'The NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau is working closely with the Office of the Richmond County District Attorney, which is leading this investigation.' | Eric Garner, a 43-year-old who weighed 400lb and suffered from asthma, can be heard shouting 'I can't breathe' on cellphone footage .
Moments after officers pin him to the ground, Mr Garner, from Staten Island, appears to be unconscious .
He was taken to Richmond Medical Center where he died following a cardiac arrest. He leaves a wife, six children and two grandchildren .
Mayor de Blasio promised a full investigation into Mr Garner's death . |
0a2dda82fa33400f270da71f56d57502a2bd429c | By . Leon Watson . A bingo player aged 80 has been arrested for allegedly punching another pensioner in the face. The two women clashed at Riva Bingo, Sutton, south London, as they queued for their lunch on Sunday, according to police. The younger woman, 72, urged the older one to hurry up and called her 'stupid old woman', it is claimed. Riva Bingo in Sutton, where an 80-year-old woman was arrest following a punch-up . The older woman reacted angrily to the impudence, and gave her a 'mouthful of abuse', according to police. Not content with her retort, the 80-year old punched the younger one in the face. The younger woman suffered minor bruising. At the time staff, were serving lunch at the bingo hall in Sutton. A spokesman for Sutton Police said: 'Officers from Sutton Town Centre team cautioned the 80-year-old before she was interviewed in her home. 'Police have now decided to take no further action into this matter.' A spokesman for Riva Bingo Sutton was not available. Two women clashed at Riva Bingo, Sutton, south London, as they queued for their lunch, according to police . Meanwhile, a 73-year-old man was taken to the nearby St Helier Hospital after a fight over a greenhouse on an allotment site. An argument broke out between two men and a 64-year-old man is believed to have punched the older gardener at the allotment site in Belmont, on Friday, March 1. Police were called just after 11am and the 64-year-old was arrested and cautioned for common assault. | Police said two women clashed at Riva Bingo, Sutton, south London .
The younger woman, 72, had 'called the older one a stupid old woman' |
0a2e0deac1de0361f2f14285cddd3b1e558cdacd | Jerusalem (CNN) -- Israel has warned Syria's government that any aggression against Israeli citizens will be met with force, as a roadside bomb attack which injured Israeli troops prompted airstrikes on Syrian targets. Addressing a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli strikes on Syrian territory targeted elements "that not only facilitated, but also cooperated with, the attacks on our forces." He added, "Our policy is very clear: We attack those who attack us." The government of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is engaged in a long-running civil war which has seen some conflict spill over into neighboring countries. Four Israeli paratroopers were injured Tuesday when the bomb exploded under their patrol jeep in the Golan Heights, near the frontier between Israel and Syria, the Israel Defense Forces said. Before the explosion, Israeli forces had detected suspicious movements near the border, the IDF said. Israeli forces responded to the blast with artillery fire aimed at Syrian military targets across the frontier, it said. This was followed by airstrikes early Wednesday. "We will not tolerate any violation of our sovereignty and attacks against our soldiers and civilians, and we will act unwaveringly and with strength against all those that are acting against us, at every time and every place," said Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon. "We see the Assad regime as responsible for what is going on in its territory, and if it continues to cooperate with terror organizations that are trying to attack Israel, we will continue to extract a heavy price from him, in a way which will make him regret his actions." A statement from the Syrian army command, broadcast by Syrian state TV, said one soldier was killed and seven others injured in Israeli airstrikes on a checkpoint in the Quneitra area. The Quneitra crossing is the only access point between Syria and Israel and in the past has been fiercely fought over by Syrian rebels and government forces. Israeli artillery, tank shells and armor-piercing shells directed near the village of Seheit had also caused "material damage," the military statement said. The Syrian army accused Israel of violating the terms of a 1974 "disengagement agreement" between the two nations, and of seeking to ease pressure on the "terrorists" it blames for the violence in Syria. "The General Command of the Army and Armed Forces warns that these desperate bids of provocations and escalations by these continuing acts of aggressions can risk the security and the stability of the region and open up all possibilities," it said. Netanyahu, in his Cabinet remarks, said Israel would continue to do all it could to prevent the movement of weapons into Syria. The mountainous Golan was captured by Israel in 1967 during the Six-Day War against Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Syria. A peace deal was reached between Israel and Syria in 1974, and a U.N. observer force monitors the cease-fire line. Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981. CNN's Michael Schwartz reported from Jerusalem and Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London. CNN's Saad Abedine contributed to this report. | Israel's air force strikes Syrian targets, a day after Israeli troops were attacked .
Syrian military says one soldier was killed, seven injured, according to Syrian state TV .
Benjamin Netanyahu warns: "Our policy is very clear: We attack those who attack us"
Israel's defense minister says Israel holds Syrian President Bashar al-Assad responsible . |
0a3040b6c1bba95efca727158f128a19c44ec8ba | (CNN) -- Two snowy owls injured by the downdraft of jets taking off in Boston have been released in a safer place where the likes of saltmarsh sparrows and piping plovers flutter amid marshes, bogs and beach dunes. The pair were released Monday morning at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island in northeastern Massachusetts, after nearly eight weeks of treatment and rehabilitation, said Dr. Flo Tseng, director of the wildlife clinic where the birds were treated. The yellow-eyed, white birds were taken in March to the Tufts Wildlife Clinic in North Grafton, where one was treated for soft-tissue wounds and the other had lifesaving surgery for a broken wing, said Tseng. The owls were rescued by Norman Smith, director of the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Blue Hills Trailside Museum, after they were injured at Boston Logan International Airport. The owls have been a concern for decades at the airport, where authorities use nets to catch the birds before relocating them, Smith told CNN in December. A greater number of owls have been reported at the airport this year, Tseng said. Logan officials have captured and released more than 100 snowy owls this winter, as opposed to just 10 owls last year, she said. The influx is possibly due to an abundance of prey. Logan Airport's likeness to the tundra makes it a favorable place for the birds to land, but a dangerous place to fly, Tseng said. Tufts Wildlife Clinic, part of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, has treated six snowy owls this year. The clinic has a 100-foot flight pen that's used for conditioning, a key part in the owl's recovery, she said. "We go in there and we bug them. We walk down to the end where they're perched and they'll fly down to the other end. So we end up exercising them," Tseng said. Although snowy owls are not an endangered species, their numbers are declining and nobody knows the actual population of these birds, said Smith. Tseng said the rise and fall in the number of owls they treat each year varies. "We try not to get attached because they're wild animals and many wild animals don't make it. It's really hard for them in captivity," she said. Tseng said she believes these two owls are the last the clinic will see this season, because most have already migrated back toward the Canadian Arctic. "They'll probably spend a little bit more time hanging around Plum Island, building up strength before going up north." CNN's Allie Malloy contributed to this report. | Pair of snowy owls released to wild after rehab at clinic .
They were injured by downdrafts at Logan Airport in Boston .
Birds will head north from a barrier island in northeast Massachusetts . |
0a32056044c705689306e67ce0618cbe93e836d9 | Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- NATO aircraft targeted warships overnight, striking eight of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's vessels in Tripoli's seaport, the organization said Friday morning. A Libyan government official said the targets included commercial vessels as well as military ones. "All NATO's targets are military in nature and are directly linked to the Gadhafi regime's systematic attacks on the Libyan people," said Rear Adm. Russell Harding, deputy commander of Operation Unified Protector. "Given the escalating use of naval assets, NATO had no choice but to take decisive action to protect the civilian population of Libya and NATO forces at sea." In a statement, NATO said the attack occurred after two weeks of escalating use of government maritime forces that had disrupted the flow of humanitarian assistance. All the vessels targeted were naval warships with no civilian utility, said Harding. But a Libyan official who led CNN personnel on a tour of the area said the commercial port, not the nearby military port, was hit. From the distance at which CNN was allowed to view the area, it was not clear what sort of vessels were hit. The port's general manager, Mohammed Ahmed Rashed, told reporters that six rockets struck in three strikes that hit five coast guard boats and one navy vessel, which had been in dock for maintenance. The port remained operational, he said. Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim called the attack a "clear attempt to bring the nation to its knees," and said the port serves as the main entry point for food and other critical supplies into the country. "The nation will starve," he said. Still, though the port was in disarray, the damage did not appear major, he said. Ibrahim's claims came as President Barack Obama, addressing a global audience, condemned the use of force against Arab Spring protesters by longtime allies and adversaries alike. "Obama is still delusional," Ibrahim said. "He believes the lies that his own government is spreading around the world and his own media is spreading around the world. They have not proved one single charge against us and they refuse to investigate us." He added, "It's not Obama who decides whether Moammar Gadhafi leaves Libya or not. It's the Libyan people who decide their future." The report of the attack came shortly after at least three explosions could be heard in the city. A government official said five airstrikes had targeted the port and the police academy was also hit on Thursday, during which NATO jets could be seen been flying overhead throughout the day. Libyan state-run television reported the strikes with a "breaking news" font that said, "Military source: Residential and military locations in Tripoli are currently being shelled by NATO forces." Earlier Thursday, crowds of Libyans took to the streets of Tripoli, honking horns and dancing in the streets in support of the country's leader, Moammar Gadhafi. More than 100 people outside the headquarters of state television chanted "God, Moammar and Libya only" and other pro-Gadhafi and anti-rebel slogans. The demonstrations were sparked, apparently, in response to state-run television reports that parts of the rebel capital Benghazi were "rejecting the colonialists and their followers," as the government describes NATO and the rebels. A group of journalists, including a CNN team, was taken by government minders to see the celebrations in Tripoli. Among the crowds composed predominantly of young men were a number of families -- including fathers carrying children on their shoulders. One woman, who brought her 10-year-old-daughter, carried a portrait of the Libyan leader and said they were celebrating their country being united again. Many then drove toward Tripoli's Green Square singing and honking their horns, waving Libya's green flag and portraits of Gadhafi. But CNN journalists in Benghazi saw no indications of counter-revolutionary uprisings or protests there. And the National Transitional Council denied government claims that pro-Gadhafi forces had seized control of the city. And residents of Benghazi said they had not seen or heard of pro-Gadhafi rallies there. Two months ago, Gadhafi loyalists in Tripoli erupted in similar cheers when state media incorrectly reported that Tobruk and Benghazi had fallen to government troops. Gadhafi has been fighting to keep control of his country in the face of an uprising that has led to a number of key cities falling into rebel control. The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court this week requested a warrant for Gadhafi's arrest on charges of crimes against humanity. CNN's Ben Wedeman and Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report. | NEW: Libyan spokesman says media is reporting lies .
Libyan official says commercial and military areas were struck .
NATO says its attack struck eight of Gadhafi's warships .
Libyan spokesman calls Obama "delusional" |
0a33dc04ca17936e33963f3aca15e4b82d3a24b2 | (CNN) -- Just when you thought South Korea had milked the global success of "Gangnam Style" rapper Psy for every drop, along comes the unveiling of Seoul's new tourist police force. The connection? The officers' uniforms were created by Korean fashion designer Kim Seo-ryong, who has made costumes for Psy. Naturally, "Gangnam Style" was played as a group of Seoul police officers performed Psy's famous horse-riding dance during the tourist police inauguration ceremony at Seoul's Gwanghwamun Square on Wednesday. South Korea's Tourism Board (KTO) says the government decided to launch the force, made up of 101 men and women, in response to the rising number of visitors to the capital. "These tourist police officers will be patrolling major tourist areas in Seoul such as Myeong-dong, Insa-dong, Itaewon Tourist Special Zone and Hongdae," said the official announcement. "Aside from maintaining law and order and cracking down on overcharging merchants and taxi drivers, the officers will also be providing tourist assistance in English, Japanese and Chinese." According to the Korea Tourism Organization, complaints from tourists involving shopping rose from 23.6% of all complaints filed by foreign tourists in 2008 to 34.7% last year, while overcharging by taxis and other transportation operators accounted for 15-20% over the last five years, reported Korea's Chosun.com. The tourism police are only on duty in Seoul at the moment, but will be expanded to other regions in the coming years. "At the moment we don't have enough personnel to expand the service to other regions but we are planning on hiring more officers," says Ryou Hyun-cheol, director of foreign affairs planning division at the National Police Agency, in a Korea Times report. "By early next year, we are planning on launching tourism police in Jeju Island. We will also expand the service to cities such as Busan and Incheon." This isn't the first time South Korea tourism officials have used Psy's global fame to promote tourism. And who can blame them, really. To date, the official "Gangnam Style" music video has had over 1.79 billion views on Youtube.com -- making it the most watched video of all time on the site. In April of this year, Psy was hired to be South Korea's tourism ambassador, a gig that had the star appearing in a series of TV commercials to show off the country. According to the KTO, Psy will hold the honorary position for approximately a year. In the TV commercials, which air in 70 countries, the comedic singer helps showcase things to eat and do and places to visit in South Korea, such as the late-night shopping district of Dongdaemun and "Cosmetic Road" in downtown Myeongdong, known for its rows of flashy makeup shops. Psy accepted minimal payment for the gig as officially representing South Korea was meaningful work, he said. Frances Cha also contributed to this report. | Uniforms of Seoul's new tourist police force designed by "Gangnam Style" singer Psy's costume designer .
Tourism force, made up of 101 officers, launched to crackdown on overcharging merchants and taxi drivers .
In April, Psy was hired to be South Korea's tourism ambassador . |
0a341e6407a5455f8dfd4834f0aa2758fd845ce4 | (CNN)The fighting in Ukraine may be escalating, but hopes of a decisive breakthrough in talks and a clear and coordinated Western response -- hopes raised by German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Washington on Monday -- have been dashed, at least for now. Intensifying clashes in eastern Ukraine following a new Russian-backed separatist offensive on January 13 have fueled debate over how the United States and others should respond to the uptick in violence, including growing talk of the U.S. sending weapons. Just last week, a report by prominent former diplomats and highly respected members of the U.S. national security establishment argued for a drastic increase in U.S. military aid to Ukraine, including the provision of lethal weapons. But while Western concern is understandable, Merkel is right that the U.S. sending weapons is not the best way forward. Last week's report, by eight former top U.S. officials, urged the administration to dispatch about $1 billion worth of defensive military equipment to Ukraine, per year. It argued that Russia was sensitive to casualties, and that raising the costs for Moscow militarily would alter its course in the conflict. Yet such an approach seems built on wishful thinking. Russia would counter any American weapons sent with its own, and respond asymmetrically, escalating the conflict. As a result, the policy would be laid bare for what it is -- an unnecessary risk for Ukraine, one that would leave little scope for achieving peace. True, with support, coordination, and heavy armaments from Russia, the separatists have managed to push Ukrainian forces north of the previous line of control, leaving Ukraine's military in a precarious position. And while the separatists have also taken losses, they appear to have an endless supply of tanks and mechanized equipment from Moscow. But a joint press conference Monday between Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama made clear that the way forward will involve another attempt at reaching a ceasefire agreement, backed with the already enacted sanctions and economic pressure on Russia. And while the President kept the option of sending lethal aid on the table, Merkel appeared adamant that this kind of policy is unlikely ever to be realized. Such an approach appears to reflect an understanding among European leaders that the opportunity cost of continuing this conflict could be that Ukraine misses its chance to become a developed member of the European community. As a result, they are unwilling to give war a chance, and Merkel's statements simply reflect a belief that all bets are being placed on sanctions rather than a military solution as the much-needed Western political and economic nation building effort continues in Ukraine. Monday's meeting followed on the heels of Merkel's trip to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. Perhaps wisely, both sides appeared to try to keep expectations low, and they were openly pessimistic about the prospect for peace as Russia presses for political recognition for the separatist enclaves, the withdrawal of heavy weapons, and a redrawing of the border based on separatist gains. Kiev for its part has argued that autonomy should only be granted after legitimate elections are carried out in these regions, and the government refuses to recognize any territory recently lost to separatists. Further undermining the prospects of a deal is the lack of confidence in Kiev that Moscow would follow through with any deal it signs, although the economic damage wrought by sanctions may be creating a genuine desire to end the conflict for Russia's leaders. Russia's end game--federalization of Ukraine, autonomy for the separatists, and a permanent hook over the strategic choices the country makes--simply cannot be agreed to. The question is whether Putin will settle for something more reasonable, and sensible. Will the sanctions currently in place be enough to pressure Russia's ruler into rethinking his policy in Ukraine? Some have speculated that statements last week, suggesting the White House was seriously entertaining the idea of providing weapons, were actually part of a deliberate attempt to ratchet up pressure on Moscow, even though sanctions are clearly the preferred policy. Certainly, Obama's remarks Monday made clear that the United States is somewhat cautious over the risks of sending weapons, and he appeared to note the chain of custody risks, along with the danger of encouraging Ukrainian leaders to take offensive action by sending arms. Obama also seems wary that whatever arms the U.S. sends would be dwarfed by Russia's considerable conventional superiority. As a result, while the debate on weapons for Ukraine is not over, it appears settled for now. Moving forward, the West should consider what could be dubbed a nonlethal-plus option -- significantly increasing nonlethal aid and doubling down on efforts at economic support for Ukraine. In the meantime, fighting is likely to escalate in advance of any peace talks that might occur this week as both sides grapple for favorable conditions on the ground. With that in mind, it is hard to imagine that Russian forces won't intervene further to tilt the balance on the ground against Ukraine. Whether or not Moscow's peace overtures are genuine -- and Putin seeks an eventual end to sanctions -- will become clear in the coming weeks. But either way, Ukraine will have to find a way forward without lethal support from the West. This will, of course, come as a disappointment to Ukrainian leaders. But it is hard to see how adding fuel to an already raging fire would have made an end to this conflict more likely. For now, sober minds have prevailed, and the United States has avoided a dangerous rift with Germany over a policy unlikely to yield any positive results for Ukraine. | Fighting has flared again in eastern Ukraine .
Michael Kofman: Angela Merkel right to oppose sending weapons . |
0a3479b53796863a664c32ca20d8672583335d2a | By . Luke Augustus . Follow @@Luke_Augustus29 . Forget Mad Mario, Italy striker Balotelli wants to be known as the best striker in the world ahead of the Azzurri’s showdown with England in Manaus. The 23-year-old has hit the headlines for various off-the-pitch reasons during his short career to date, but the AC Milan forward wants to make the news for his on-the-field antics in Brazil. Focused: Mario Balotelli wants to lose his "Mad Mario" tag and be known as World Cup winner with Italy . Talisman: Balotelli (right) is expected to start for Italy against England in their Group D opener on Saturday . Seeing red: Balotelli hit the headlines for the wrong reasons at times during his stint at Manchester City . ‘I understand that the press like to write about Mario,' he said. 'Some of the stories are true and some of them are not, it doesn't matter to the media as long as they are writing about me - because obviously that is what people are interested in. 'I don't like to be known as "Mad Mario" I want to be known as the best striker in the world. The former Manchester City enigma is widely expected to start for Italy ahead of their Group D World Cup opener against England in Manaus on Saturday and he hopes the match can be the platform for the Azzurri to win a fifth World Cup. ‘You can achieve that status by having one incredible World Cup - and that starts against England,' he added. 'The most important thing is that Italy do well - but personally I want people to be talking about me after the Brazil for the right reasons - and also calling me a World Cup Winner.’ Following in greatness: Balotelli wants to emulate Italy's 2006 World Cup winning feats in Brazil this year . | Mario Balotelli wants to be known as an World Cup winner and the best striker in the world not 'Mad Mario'
Balotelli added that some off-the-field headlines about him are not true .
Balotelli expected to start for Italy in the World Cup opener against England .
Balotelli wants Group D opener to be the platform to win a fifth World Cup . |
0a3639cb86487e72e2ba084211f99799918aedf8 | By . Matt Blake . PUBLISHED: . 02:50 EST, 29 June 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 13:35 EST, 29 June 2012 . A primary school could collect up to £150,000 from the sale of a painting which has hung in its hall for the past 86 years. Captain of the Eleven by Philip . Hermogenes Calderon, which depicts a fresh-faced Victorian boy preparing . to defend his cricket wicket, . It became one of the most famous images of the late Victorian and Edwardian period after being used in a pioneering advertising campaign to promote Pear's soap. Iconic: Captain of the Eleven by Philip Hermogenes Calderon depicts a well-scrubbed Victorian boy preparing to defend his cricket wicket and was very famous at the time, used in a Pear's Soap advert . The much-loved painting was picked by the soap company as it represented the innocence of childhood, which was a popular theme among the Victorians who viewed children as models of truth and honesty. The little boy was deemed to look cherubic, with his flawless complexion. Painted in 1882, at the height of . Calderon's career, it was included in the famous Pears Annual in 1898 . and then reproduced countless times on posters, postcards and . presentation cricket bats during the 20th century. An English painter of French and Spanish descent Philip Hermogenes Calderon is famous for his portraits and subject pictures. Born in Poitiers, France, his father, the Rev. Juan Calderon, was Professor of Spanish literature. As a boy Calderon wanted to become an engineer but grew fascinated with drawing technical figures and diagrams and decided instead to study art. He attended Leigh's art school in London before heading to Paris to study under Picot in 1851. Calderon was the leader of the St John's Wood Clique - a group of fun-loving Victorian artists living around the St John's Wood area of London who were famous for their love of practical jokes. Other members members included George Dunlop Leslie, Henry Stacy Marks, George Adolphus Storey, David Wilkie Wynfield, John Evan Hodgson and William Frederick Yeames. His first works for the Royal Academy were By the Waters of Babylon (1853), followed by Broken Vows (1857) which shows a woman overhearing her lover betraying her through a garden fence. Originally inspired by the Pre-Raphaelites, his work later encapsulated historical, biblical, and literary themes. An 1891 painting St Elizabeth of Hungary's Great Act of Renunciation won Calderon the Chantrey bequest. Depicting the saint bending naked over an altar watched by monks it was perceived as anti-Catholic and generated a huge amount of controversy. The company brought art to a wider audience with their famous annual, first published in 1891, and would include large lithographs for framing. However, the painting would never have become famous without Thomas Barratt, Pears managing director and Francis Pears' son-in-law, who first spotted the fresh-faced cricketer and realised its potential. Known as the father of modern advertising, he also commandeered Sir John Everet Millais' iconic painting Bubbles, after seeing it in the Illustrated London News in 1886. It then became one of the most recognisable images of the late 19th century and made the artist a global household name. Tracey Harrison, headteacher of Thames . Primary School in Blackpool, Lancashire, said of the school's artistic . treasure: 'It was later bought by a local councillor who presented it to . the school which was in his ward in 1926. 'We have long known it is a valuable painting, but the priority is providing the best possible facilities. 'Ours . is a 19th-century school with some classrooms in need of modernisation . and if the painting reaches its estimate of £100,000 to £150,000, that’s . what the money will contribute to. 'The . painting also needed restoration and as part of preparing it for sale, . Bonhams (the auctioneer) have had it lightly cleaned and details such as . a wall and colourful flower bed behind the boy have appeared.' Although born in France to a French . mother and Spanish father, Calderon was the leader of a group of artists . called the St John's Wood Clique. Their aim was to introduce a fresh . approach to historical painting. He began exhibiting his work at the . Royal Academy in 1853 and became a highly regarded Royal Academician and his most famous work, Broken Vows, is in the Collection of Tate Britain. However the Captain of the Eleven is . already attracting plenty of interest, according to Bonhams’ director of . 19th-century paintings, Peter Rees, in part because of its important . association with early advertising. Home for 86 years: The painting found an unlikely home in the hall of Thames Primary School in Blackpool, Lancashire . He said: 'Pears . pioneered modern advertising techniques using images to reinforce the . qualities they wanted the public to associate with the product.' He added: 'It was bought by Pears’ managing director Thomas Barratt, who was skilled at spotting works that might help in the marketing of their famous brand of clear soap. 'It was given away free as a print in the 1898 Pears Christmas annual and became one of the most reproduced images of the early 20th century, appearing, for example, on presentation cricket bats.' The painting will go to auction next month. | Captain of the Eleven by Philip Hermogenes Calderon depicts a Victorian boy preparing to defend his wicket .
It became one of the most famous images .
of the late Victorian and Edwardian period .
It was used in an advertising campaign to promote Pears soap .
It has hung in Thames Primary School in Blackpool, Lancs, since 1926 . |
0a37124fe35e31ae9fe8dd7715aeed88002e23e9 | A mother and son died in a fire on New Year’s Eve despite friends’ frantic efforts to save them. Neighbours smashed down the door and even ventured inside to try to help Doreen Nicholl, 86, and her 61-year-old son John. But the former dinner lady and her son were killed as the blaze engulfed their home. The victims have been named as John Nicholl, left, and his mother Doreen who died in the tragic blaze . Neighbours tried in vain to arrest two people, in their 80s and 60s, from a fatal house fire in Deptford . An 18-year-old man broke down the door at 9.20pm, while others turned hoses on the flames. Judith Hickson, 64, rushed inside in her pyjamas to the front room where her close friend Mrs Nicholl slept. But another neighbour pulled Mrs Hickson back outside, fearing the house in Deptford, south-east London, would blow up. Mrs Nicholl, a grandmother of four, had lost her husband, Jim, to cancer four years earlier. John had moved in to take care of her. Mrs Hickson, who had an angina attack after the fire, said: ‘I just needed to get to her, I knew exactly where she would be sleeping so I ran inside, but the smoke was too much. Once I was in the corridor, I couldn’t see a thing, it was all orange. ‘David, who lives opposite, had been in and came out spluttering and coughing, but I thought if I could get to her, I could get her out. Then a neighbour grabbed me and pulled me outside, saying the house could blow up. Doreen was an amazing lady, everyone on the street adored her.’ Clare McKevitt, 34, who lives two doors down, used her garden hose to fight the fire. She said: ‘Windows were smashing and there was smoke everywhere.’ Police are investigating how the blaze started. Fire station manager Lee Sparks said: ‘Crews wearing breathing apparatus worked quickly to control the fire and search the house. Sadly, they found two people who had died.’ Firefighters were called to the property in Ashmead Road in Lewisham at about 9.45pm on New Year's Eve . The ground floor of the house was damaged by the blaze and firefighters found the two bodies inside it . Around 20 crews battled to control the fire and have launched an investigation into the cause of the blaze . Two neighbours attempted to save the victims of the fatal house fire on Ashmead Road, London, pictured . | London Fire Brigade were called to the scene in Lewisham at 9.41pm .
More than 20 fire fighters battled for an hour to get the blaze under control .
Two neighbours tried to rescue the victims but were forced to retreat .
Doreen Nicholl, 86, and her son John, 61, died at the scene of the blaze . |
0a375bb7e299e2a109e23053b48c034607a521a8 | The owner of a ladies' clothes shop called Isis has become the victim of a hate campaign after people mistakenly linked it to the jihadist network terrorising the Middle East. Jill Campbell has run the IsisBoutique in Malvern, Worcestershire for seven years but has been forced to issue a statement saying she has no connection to the extremist group. The 54-year-old revealed today that pedestrians walking past her shop and people on social media have subjected her and her staff to abuse due to her shop sharing a name with the terrorist organisation. Staff at the ISIS boutique in Worcestershire say they are being abused because of the business's name . Owner Julie Campbell (right), pictured with sales executive Fiona Budd and a model of Egyptian goddess Isis, say it is bizarre events in the Middle East are affecting her clothes shop . She revealed that one internet troll even threatened to letter bomb her shop unless she changes the name. Mother-of-two Ms Campbell said: 'This terrorism is happening thousands of miles away, and yet my business in Malvern is being targeted, it's bizarre. 'There was a particularly nasty comment on our Facebook page from someone who said we would get a letter bomb in the shop if we didn't change our name. 'Another person posted "Terrorism comes to Malvern" alongside a picture of the front of our shop. 'I overheard another couple talking about the name last weekend when the woman said to her partner "look that shop's called ISIS" and he said "they're the ones who have been beheading everybody". 'I can't believe I have to do this, but I want to make it clear I do not in any way, nor does this business, have any affiliation with, or support for, this vile terrorist group in the Middle East. The shop has been called Isis for seven years but the name only started causing trouble this year . Passers-by are becoming angry because the shop shares a name with the terror group in Syria and Iraq . She added: 'It's been going on for the last couple of months now. Two or three times a week passers-by will make ridiculous and ill-advised comments to us in the shop about being involved in terrorism.' 'It has also filtered onto social media, and we are having to monitor our Twitter account and ask to have tweets removed that are suggesting we are linked to terrorism. 'To see a tiny little business, in a tiny little town in a tiny part of the world become connected with, in some peoples' eyes, international terrorism is madness. 'I'm sure most people in the town know the truth, it's just a few making idiotic comments.' Ms Campbell is also considering putting her plans to open a new shop in the Cotswolds on hold. She added: 'Even though it's absurd, I do unfortunately feel I have to protect my business. 'It's getting out of hand, and I just want it to blow over. Luckily my staff are fine with it, as are existing customers as we are established here.' She has refused to change the name, which comes from the Egyptian goddess of beauty and femininity . She added: 'I was thinking of opening a second shop in the Cotswolds, but with this going on, I'm considering whether to put it on hold now, which is a real shame. 'We had looked at a shop in Stow-on-the-Wold which is 12 miles from the home of David Cameron in Dean so you can imagine the bad publicity if people say ISIS has moved onto the Prime Minister's doorstep. 'People are telling me I should change the name of the business, but why should I? We've been here for seven years, we were called ISIS before all of this, and the name represents our business.' Ms Campbell says she came up with the name ISIS after leaving Oxford in 2007. She added: 'I came up with the name because the river in Oxford is named locally as ISIS and it is also the Egyptian goddess of magic, mystique, beauty and femininity which is everything the shop is all about.' A statue of Isis found off the coast of Alexandria . The goddess Isis was first worshipped in Ancient Egypt as the ideal mother and wife as well as the patroness of nature and magic. She is often depicted as the mother of Horus, the falcon-headed god featured throughout Egyptian theology. Her image as a model of womanhood made her popular both with the slaves, who saw her as a mother-figure, and the wealthy, who saw her as a example to wives. It was believed that the annual flooding of the River Nile came from the tears of Isis as she wept over the death of her brother Osiris. The figure of Isis passed into Roman and Greek mythology and she is still worshipped by some pagans today. Some scholars have suggested images of Isis holding her son influenced images of Mary and Jesus in Christian religion. She was also incorporated into the symbolism of Freemasonry and is referred to in Mozart's opera, the Magic Flute. The goddess also gives her name to the section of the River Thames from its source until it reaches Dorchester-on-Thames. | Shop has sold women's clothes in Worcestershire for seven years .
It was named after Egyptian goddess of magic, beauty and femininity .
She gives her name to section of Thames where shop-owner used to live .
Shopkeeper had no trouble until this year when terror group swept Syria .
She has since had people abusing staff and trolling company online .
One person even threatened to bomb the shop unless it changed name . |
0a38bd97ec582cb23ab56e71449db2a300895036 | An empty fridge is the worst thing to come home to after a relaxing holiday or a flight across several time zones. But for those who don't have the energy or time to stop by a supermarket with luggage in tow, a new service is popping up at airports. With an eye on a small but emerging market, retailers are taking advantage of weary travellers’ hectic schedules by launching click-and-collect services that allow holidaymakers to order groceries from abroad and pick them up when they land at the airport. Special delivery: Finnish grocery chain HOK-Elanto has set up click-and-collect lockers at Helsinki Airport . Airport grocery collection points are a growing trend in Europe and Waitrose has announced plans to set up its own refrigerated lockers at long-stay car parks at London Gatwick Airport. The convenient system is incredibly simple to use – holidaymakers place an order on their smartphone or another device before flying home and, using a code sent to their mobile after paying, retrieve the delivered items without having to divert to a store. London Underground and Network Rail have both announced plans to turn their stations into pickup points for a host of different retailers, from Sainsbury’s to New Look. Last week, Finnish grocery store chain HOK-Elanto and e-commerce firm Digital Foodie launched the helpful service for travellers or employees at Helsinki Airport. An empty fridge is the worst thing to come home to after a relaxing holiday or a long-haul flight . HOK-Elanto’s pickup point is located in the arrivals hall and it operates almost around the clock six days a week, although it is located next to a store that sells fruit and vegetables and other items. Customers are charged a pickup fee of €5 (£3.90) and must give at least three hours’ notice when submitting an order. Each compartment has its own refrigerator or freezer and is opened with a code sent via text message. Land and go: Waitrose has announced plans to offer click-and-collect lockers at London Gatwick Airport . Jukka Ranua, e-commerce manager of HOK-Elanto, said in a statement: ‘With approximately 42,000 passengers arriving daily to Helsinki Airport we know the new pickup service will appeal to many busy travellers.’ Digital Foodie chief executive Kalle Koutajoki added: ‘Our goal is to ease consumers’ chores by offering a tool for more convenient shopping. Coming home from a holiday or work trip is essentially easier without the added hassle of returning to an empty fridge.’ Dutch grocery store chain Albert Heijn became a European pioneer of the service when it set up lockers at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport last year. | Waitrose has announced plans to offer the service at Gatwick Airport .
Holidaymakers place an order and receive a code via text message .
Finnish grocery store chain HOK-Elanto charges a €5 (£3.90) pickup fee . |
0a39e2c45a9851e357b8b97571c044b65b1939a3 | By . Anthony Hay . Follow @@Anthony_Hay . Every day Sportsmail takes a look at the European papers to see what are the biggest stories creating talking points on the continent. Germany's World Cup win over Argentina is the major talking point in newspapers across the globe after Mario Gotze scored a late extra-time goal to help Joachim Low's side bag their fourth World Cup. VIDEO Scroll down to see how the German newspapers covered this year's World Cup final . Hands on the trophy: The Germans lift the World Cup after beating Argentina 1-0 in extra-time . German daily newspaper Der Tagesspiegel have the iconic pose of one of their players lifting the World Cup with the image zoomed into the prestigious trophy. Munich's tabloid newspaper TZ have the words 'at last' splashed over their newspaper as Germany ended their 14-year wait for the World Cup - while Morgenpost fail to hide their delight at their national side adding a fourth star to their football strip. German delight: TZ (left) go with the headline 'at last' after they get their hands on the World Cup once again - while Morgenpost (right) are pleased with the fact that they will have a star added to their football shirt . Catalan-based newspaper Mundo Deportivo simply lead with the headline 'Alem4nia' which translates to 'Germany'. They have used four in their headline to reference the amount of times fellow Europeans Germany have now won the World Cup. Marca have also dedicated much of their front page to Germany's victory but they have decided to take a swipe at Argentina's Lionel Messi. The Barcelona star failed to make any real impact on Sunday night to the delight of Madrid newspaper Marca. They say that Argentina's captain 'disappeared' in his country's quest to win their first World up since 1986. Sport also choose to focus on Messi's disappointing World Cup final and include a small line on FIFA's decision to refuse Barcelona permission to present new signing Luis Suarez at the Camp Nou due to the striker's lengthy ban. Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport congratulate Germany on their triumph and also find room to include Arturo Vidal's quotes on his proposed move to Manchester United. Congratulations: Mundo Deportivo praise the Germans for winning their fourth World Cup while Marca include a shot of Argentina's captain looking disappointed . Transfer update: Corriere dello Sport include a line on Arturo Vidal's rumoured move to Manchester United . VIDEO Argentine fans in tears as Germany clinch title . | Germany won the World Cup after beating Argentina 1-0 after extra time .
Madrid-based newspaper Marca reflects on Lionel Messi's performance .
Corriere dello Sport report on Arturo Vidal's proposed move to Man United . |
0a3ac3b4c51a0a73892149accd8bef450f42a517 | To those who say that playing video games is a waste of time, a man from South Korea has proved otherwise. Dong-hwan 'Violet' Kim has earned nearly $100,000 playing games and now he also has a visa that will allow him to live in America as well. Kim has become the first professional StarCraft 2 player to receive a P-1A internationally recognized athlete visa. The U.S. professional athlete visa is the same kind that many swimmers and gymnasts use to live in in the United States while perfecting their sport. In the zone: This man is a professional. 23 year old Dong-hwan 'Violet' Kim received a P-1A visa in order to move to the US, to train, compete, and even make a living there for the next five years playing computer games . Athlete: South Korean Gamer Kim Dong Hwan, who is a professional gamer is the first StarCraft player to be granted a traditional pro athlete visa in the United States . The news is said to have brought Kim to tears, and is the second ever instance of gamers being recognized as athletes by the US. The visa is for those 'coming to the U.S. temporarily to perform at a specific athletic competition as an athlete, individually or as part of a group or team, at an internationally recognized level of performance,' according to the U.S. government. It will allow Kim to travel and earn money in the US for the next five years according to The Daily Dot. Nice little earner: Violet, as Kim is known, as earned nearly $100,000 by playing video games . StarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game. Set in a fictitious timeline during the Earth's 25th century, the game revolves around three species fighting for dominance in a distant part of the Milky Way galaxy. Many of the gaming industry's journalists have praised StarCraft as one of the best and most important video games of all time, and for having raised the bar for developing real-time strategy games. The game has been praised for pioneering the use of unique factions in real-time strategy gameplay and for a compelling story . Kim was ecstatic. '’I’ve been so jealous when others Koreans traveled to the USA for tournaments. I have been trying to go to USA as well, but I got denied 3 times, and I was almost ready to give up … really almost, it was lots [of] drama … but my manager found out another last way, and we worked hard together. If we got denied this last time too, yea, I would pretty much have to retire .. no more esports,' he said. 'Seven months of work, and 500 pages later, it has paid off, and I couldn't be more thrilled for Dong-Hwan,' said Andrew Tomlinson, founder of Cyber Solutions Agency (CSA), which represents Kim. 'I want to especially thank all those who helped in this long process with us, without your valuable support I am not sure if Violet would still be in eSports.' The idea: StarCraft pits humans and two alien species against each other in a real-time strategy game that requires players to keep track of military operations, resources, and manufacturing . Gaming craft: This is only the second time an eSports competitor has gotten an athletic visa, and now, the government may view them on the same level . Earlier this year, the United States elected to allow professional gamers the right to apply for the same visa that a traditionally-recognized athlete would apply for. The first gamer ever to receive this type of visa was Danny Le, a League of Legends player who was granted a visa earlier this year . Now Kim has also made history, being the first StarCraft player to be awarded the same honor. E-Sports, or electronic sports, refers to competitive video game competitions among professional players. StarCraft 2 is one of the most popular eSports platforms. Some sporting athletes may not put gamers in the same league as them, let alone immigration level as professional athletes, but there's no questioning Kim's passion. While playing Warcraft 3 at home in 2009, he was unaware that his house was on fire until the electricity went out. 'As a young Orc prospect, he had won several games that night when the power went out and he finally opened the door to see the disaster that was consuming his home,' the Daily Dot said. Kim was hospitalized for smoke inhalation but later recovered. He is expected to arrive in the US this month. Access granted: Kim was facing early retirement if he wasn't granted US-entry. Over the course of seven months, he and his manager penned a 500-page application to immigration services . The idea: StarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game. Many of the industry's journalists have praised StarCraft as one of the best video games of all time, and for having raised the bar for developing real-time strategy games . | United States elected to allow professional gamers the right to obtain the same visa that a traditionally-recognized athlete would apply for .
Kim is the first StarCraft player to be given a five-year visa to the USA for him to compete in competitions .
His requests to obtain a student visa were denied three times .
Kim hopes to secure citizenship during the five years he will reside in the U.S. |
0a3ad75d92c5bc2eccf2763df86afe5ddeffed75 | By . Ray Massey, Transport Editor . PUBLISHED: . 10:53 EST, 14 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 21:07 EST, 14 June 2013 . Motor industry bosses must learn to make cars that women want, says Britain’s leading car executive. Firms are failing to make cars that appeal to females - paying more attention to a car’s horsepower than to the effect of high heels on leg-room and whether seats fit women’s backs better than men’s. This is despite the purchasing power of women who, even if they don’t buy a car themselves, are the key influence in seven out of ten car purchases. Dr Andy Palmer, executive vice-president of Nissan, said research showed half of all women are unhappy with their cars and three-quarters feel ‘misunderstood’. A leading motoring expert has claimed that half of all women are unhappy with their cars and three-quarters feel 'misunderstood'. He added there was a need to train more women engineers to design and create the 'female-friendly' cars of the future . There was a need to train more women engineers to design and create the ‘female-friendly cars of the future. And if Britain and Europe didn’t grasp the challenge it will be overtaken by booming China which already educates three times more women engineers than the UK, he said,. Dr Palmer, who lives and works in Japan but whose formative career was in the UK car industry, said: ‘Our industry is failing the largest and most influential customer segment in the world.’ He cited uncomfortable seats that were prone to causing more back pain to women rather than men, the lack of space for prams, and the sexist sales patter of predominantly male showroom sales staff. Engineers must learn to pay more attention to how air conditioning affects a woman’s sandalled feet, or how diamond engagement rings can scratch the car door lacquer. Firms wrongly pay more attention to a car's horsepower than to the effect of high heels on leg-room and whether seats fit women's backs better than men's . And superfluous ‘boy-toy’ gadgets should be replaced by accessories that actually serve a purpose. He added:’Globally, 50 per cent of women are dissatisfied with their car. And a huge 74 per cent of women feel misunderstood by automakers. ‘I know these statistics sound like they are talking about their lovers not their cars, but the reality is our industry is failing the largest and most influential customer segment in the world.’ Dr Palmer, who has been rated by AutoExpress magazine as the most powerful Briton in the global motor industry, said that a step-change was needed and must be more than cosmetic. More women needed to be employed on the shop-floor - as well as the design and marketing departments - to make a real difference. He said: ‘One factor is the lack of women in our business. I’m sure that Nissan is not untypical in employing less than 10per cent female managers in our ranks. ‘But our UK universities produce less than 9 per cent of female engineers each year. That compares with China at about 30 per cent.’ He believes universities could help by running fewer hairdressing courses and training more female engineers who could help to design the female-friendly cars of the future. He said: ‘We need fewer hairdressing courses and more job creation based around those from a technology and mathematical background. ‘If a car company does not have female engineers that is a competitive weakness. Generally the car industry is not seen as female friendly. The best way to address that is to have more females in every part.’ His message was delivered to top car . industry bosses at the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ annual motor industry conference in London. Leading motor industry executive Sue Robinson, director of the national Franchised Dealers’ Association representing 4,000 official car dealers across the UK and part of the of the umbrella Retail Motor Industry Federation said: ’As half the UK’s car buyers are women, it is very important that we recognise that in the manufacturing and buying process. ‘Retailers are working very hard to encourage more women into the industry at all levels from senior management to technicians .’ ‘Women are a powerful force in the car market and the industry has improved to and responded to this.’ More women need to be employed on the shop-floor - as well as the design and marketing departments - to make a real difference, said Dr Palmer . Ford is among those firms that does take women drivers seriously and has its own Women’s Product Panel to advise it. Angela Engel, who chairs the Ford panel, said woman ask questions such as could a door handle be grabbed without a ring scratching the lacquer, will high heels mean knees hit steering wheels, and how easy is it to get in the car when wearing a tight skirt. Renault’s customer knowledge department and General Motors’ interior design department are headed by women. Bentley’s engineers have designed ‘pearl pink’ and ‘dragon red’ options for China’s women. The RAC’s technical director, David Bizley said a boom in women drivers over a quarter of a century - now accounting for nearly half - meant car-makers had to adapt. Of the 27.8million drivers on UK roads in 1989, 11.1 million (40 per cent) were women, the remaining 16.7million (60 per cent) were men. Today, of the 35.2million drivers, 16.3million (46.3 per cent) are women, compared to 18.9million (53.7 per cent) who are men. Mr Bizley said: ‘Until comparatively recently there were always far more male than female drivers, which naturally caused a level of bias in terms of vehicle design. But those days have passed.’ | Firms are failing to make cars that .
appeal to females - paying more attention to a car’s horsepower than to .
the effect of high heels on leg-room .
Dr Andy Palmer, executive vice-president .
of Nissan, said research showed half of all women are unhappy with .
their cars and 75% feel 'misunderstood'
There is a need to train more women engineers to design and create the ‘female-friendly cars of the future . |
0a3b7f6fcfa482750357c34d8f1fd03d1efbbd2b | In a galaxy not so far away, a French inventor has created a replica of Han Solo’s famous spaceship, the Millennium Falcon. The amazing contraption is seen hovering and flying around the ground, complete with the aesthetics and lights inspired by the famous Star Wars ship. It is built around a standard quadcopter drone, which has been boosted to give the Millennium Falcon drone more speed. Scroll down for videos . A French inventor has unveiled a Star Wars-inspired quadcopter (shown). The Millennium Falcon drone is seen taking off and flying around. It has lights on the back to mimic famous spaceship. And it also has a shell and design that matches the original. The drone itself cost about £750, but the modifications were under £20 . Olivier Caron, 40, who goes by Olivier-FR on Reddit and is from Grenoble in France, said that he ‘overpowered’ the quadcopter drone to make it ‘easily capable of 90 km/h (55mph) speed’. Rumours suggest that the California-based firm is looking to release a range of multirotor helicopters late in 2015. The devices would be fitted with GoPro cameras, controlled remotely and are expected to retail for between $500 (£317) and $1,000 (£634). At this price range, the drones would be targeted more towards consumers and hobbyists and compete with market leaders Parrot and DJI, rather than rival the likes of professional devices from senseFly. He added: ‘But with this extra hull it becomes a slow flying pig. ‘Top speed is probably around 30 km/h (19mph), if I try to go faster with more angle it’s making a cool backflip.’ He joked that it could make the ‘Kessel run’ in several thousand years, in reference to Han Solo’s boasting in Star Wars: A New Hope, when he said the Millennium Falcon could make the ‘Kessel run’ - a smuggling route - in ‘less than twelve parsecs’. Olivier said it cost him next to nothing to modify the drone into a new shape. It cost £7.50 ($11.50) for the two foam planks to make the drone, and £9 ($13.80) for the front and rear lights. Olivier joked that his invention could make the ‘Kessel run’ in several thousand years, in reference to Han Solo’s boasting in Star Wars: A New Hope, when he said the Millennium Falcon (shown) could make the ‘Kessel run’ - a smuggling route - in ‘less than twelve parsecs’ Mr Caron said it cost him next to nothing to modify the drone into a new shape.It cost £7.50 ($11.50) for the two foam planks to make the drone, and £9 ($13.80) for the front and rear lights. Of course, the quadcopter itself and the radio set him back about £750 ($1,150), though . He used acrylic paint for the body of the spacecraft, and glue to hold it all together. Of course, the quadcopter itself and the radio set him back about £750 ($1,150), though. He used a drone known as the Prophecy 335, with a custom frame made of carbon and aluminium. The battery usually lasts about eight minutes, but with the added weight of the Millenium Falcon shell it lasted only about five minutes. Next up, Olivier said he was planning to work on a drone version of a Tie Fighter. He used a drone known as the Prophecy 335, with a custom frame made of carbon and aluminium. The battery usually lasts about eight minutes, but with the added weight of the Millenium Falcon shell it lasted only about five minutes . Mr Caron also showed off his creation above a snowy field in Grenoble (pictured), at the foot of the french Alps, making it look somewhat like 'Hoth' from Star Wars . The video shows the replica Millennium Falcon drone zipping around the field at a height of around 20 feet and the rear of the ship is light up just as it is in the films . Mr Caron built the Falcon using different parts bought from various manufacture as well as parts he made by hand. But, aside from the drone, he built the entire thing from scratch . | A French inventor has unveiled a Star Wars-inspired quadcopter .
The Millennium Falcon drone is seen taking off and flying around .
It has lights on the back to mimic famous spaceship .
And it also has a shell and design that matches the 1976 original .
The drone itself cost about £750, but the modifications were under £20 . |
0a3bcbacfb0040800aba71a470c0194d0d7c5a62 | By . Ashley Collman . My fight with Bode: Olympic skier Bode Miller's ex-girlfriend Sara McKenna wrote an emotional essay detailing their bitter custody battle over son Sam . When Sara McKenna learned that her boyfriend Bode Miller didn't want to raise their son together, the two went their seperate ways. The Olympic skier went on to marry Volleyball player Morgan Beck and Mckenna, a former Marine, moved from her home in California to New York to continue her college education. But just two weeks after her son Sam was born, McKenna learned that Miller had filed for custody in California and last September she temporarily lost custody of the boy who went to live with Miller. In an essay for Cosmopolitan magazine, McKenna details the emotional turmoil she went through when she was forced to separate from Sam whom Miller and his new wife started calling 'Nathaniel'. McKenna was working as a firefighter in San Diego when she met Miller through a matchmaker and the two started dating. Three months into their relationship, McKenna learned she was pregnant but when she told Miller he was less than enthused. 'I . told him I wanted to keep the baby. I said he could be involved if he . wanted to and that I would love it if he did. If he didn't want any part . of it, I said that I was going to do it on my own,' McKenna wrote in an . essay for Cosmopolitan. 'I left in tears.' Knowing . that she couldn't continue to balance working as a firefighter and being a . single mother, McKenna decided to move to New York to attend . prestigious Columbia University on the G.I. Bill. Plus sign: McKenna was excited when she tweeted this picture of her positive pregnancy test, but Miller ended up being less-than-enthused at the prospect of fatherhood . When McKenna found out that Miller didn't want to raise their son together she decided to move to New York to finish her education. The Olympic skier went on to marry volleyball player Morgan Beck. Pictured above after his bronze-medal win at the Sochi games . Husband and wife: Miller married Beck (pictured above at Sochi in February) in October 2012 and the two lost a child in a miscarriage the following January . Heroic woman: McKenna is a former Marine who was working as a firefighter when she was set up with Miller through a matchmaker . In . addition to Columbia being a highly-competitive school, McKenna chose . the New York City school because there were breast-feeding rooms on . campus and family networks that would help her to raise Sam. A month before she moved, McKenna texted Miller to let him know her plans but she says he never responded. She was seven-months-pregnant when she arrived in New York and took up her studies one month later. Son . Samuel Bode Miller-McKenna was born on February 23, 2013 and she filed for . temporary custody of the child three days later. But . when Sam was just two weeks old, McKenna learned that her ex-boyfriend . and filed for custody of the child despite never expressing any interest . in being the boy's father. Miller and wife Morgan had also experienced a . miscarriage that January. Chang of heart: When Sam was just two weeks old, McKenna found out that Miller filed for custody of their son in California - sending the papers to her San Diego address where she was no longer living. Father and son pictured together in a shot on Morgan Miller's Instagram . Separated: In September, McKenna lost custody of Sam to Miller and the boy went to live with his skier dad and step-mom in California. Sam and step-mom pictured above . Miller . sent the custody papers to her home in San Diego, despite knowing she . didn't live there, and that set off a complex multi-state custody . battle. Eventually . the case was sent back to California and on September 4, a judge gave . Miller full-custody of Sam calling McKenna's move to New York . 'irresponsible' and 'irreprehensible'. After losing Sam, McKenna's life turned into a 'nightmare' and she quit school and her job. But . she soon realized that being 'catatonic wasn't helping matters'. And . she re-enrolled and continued her studies while relentlessly pursuing a . way to get Sam back for good. All . the while McKenna tracked her son's life with Miller on her ex and his . new wife's social media profiles and noticed they were calling him . 'Nathaniel'. 'I . would look for photos of Sam on Instagram and Twitter and saw that Bode . was calling him Nathaniel. That was really heartbreaking. Our son’s . name is Samuel Bode Miller-McKenna. Calling him anything else is just . confusing. 'There were also tons of photos of Bode’s wife holding Sam like he was her baby. That was very hard to bear,' McKenna added. New name: Miller and his new wife Morgan started calling Sam 'Nathaniel' as evidenced by the baby shower pictures Mrs Miller posted on her Instagram . Step-mom: McKenna says she followed her son's life with her ex on Instagram and found the pictures of Morgan Miller treating Sam like she was his mother 'very hard to bear'. Above a shot of Sam and Morgan on her Instagram . The next time McKenna saw her son was at a court hearing on November 25 where she won back custody of Sam. 'I . was sitting in court when I heard Sam’s sweet little voice down the . hall. As soon as I saw him, I reached out and said, “I missed you!” He . put his arms out for me and said, “Mama!” We still had to deal with a . court hearing that day, but I didn’t care. I could breathe again. I was . whole. The next day was my birthday. I woke up next to Sam, and he . started giggling — that was the best present I’ve ever received in my . life,' she said. McKenna is back living in New York and hopes to work out stable life for Sam where he can see both of his parents. 'That's all I want for our son,' she wrote. The . experience of losing her son has also inspired her studies as she is . now pursuing a law degree to help others in her position. Reunited: McKenna won custody of Sam back in November and the two are back living in New York. Pictured above on the Brooklyn Bridge in a photo posted on McKenna's Twitter account . | Former-Marine Sara McKenna was working as a firefighter in California when a matchmaker set her up with Olympic skier Bode Miller .
Three months after they started dating she became pregnant, but Miller expressed no intention of being the father .
While Miller went on to marry volleyball player Morgan Beck, McKenna decided to move to New York to finish her college education .
But two weeks after son Sam was born, McKenna learned that Miller had filed for custody .
She lost custody of Sam for more than a month this fall, but eventually got him back .
The Columbia University student detailed the bitter custody battle in an essay for Cosmopolitan . |
0a3f2400ba4e5cdf4b3638ae6fb60fdfa12a2680 | Babies born by Caesarean section may be more likely to develop autism, research shows. Research found the procedure appeared to increase the chances by a quarter – although there is no clear explanation. But academics urge women not be alarmed by the findings as the overall risk of autism remains very small . In Britain, up to 1 in 4 deliveries now take place by C-section and rates have risen four-fold since the 1970s. Risk: Research found C-sections appeared to increase the chances of a child developing autism by a quarter . The increase is partly because women who are deemed at risk of having a complicated birth are strongly advised to have the procedure because it is safer. But researchers from University College Cork, in Ireland, looked at a number of existing studies linking Caesareans to autism. They found that on average it increased the risk by 23 per cent, although there was no obvious reason behind it, . The study also tried to look at whether there was a link between C-section and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), although the findings were inconclusive. Professor Louise Kenny, one of the authors and a practising obstetrician, said the link between C-sections and children developing autism remains unclear. ‘Parents should be reassured that the overall risk of a child developing ASD Autism Spectrum Disorder is very small and that when medically indicated it can be lifesaving,’ she said. Rise: C-section procedures have increased four-fold since the 1970s in the UK . But Eileen Curran, lead author of the report, said more research was needed about the possible link, given the numbers of women having Caesareans. ‘Given the accelerating rate of Caesarean section globally, this finding warrants further research of a more robust quality using larger populations to adjust for important potential confounders and explore potential causal mechanisms,’ she added. Previously, experts have said the link could in fact be down to genes which mean babies are more likely to be born with difficult deliveries – and then develop autism. Another possible explanation is that women who have C-sections tend to be older – and their babies are also at higher risk of the condition. They have urged women not to feel guilty that by having a C-section they were in any way harming their child’s development. The increased rate of Caesarean is mainly down to doctors advising women to have them if they are at high risk of complications. These include women who are overweight, are diabetic, have previously had complications in childbirth or who have certain mental health conditions. But some experts have accused doctors of being too willing to carry out the procedure. Women who don’t want to give birth naturally can also choose to have it done privately – some have been accused of being too posh to push. In addition to these planned or elective Caesarean, other women will also have the operation in an emergency if they develop complications during labour. The study looked at both types of procedure. Although it is far safer compared to 50 years ago there is still a risk of infection, blood clot and damage to some internal organs. And in 2012 a study by Imperial College London found that one in 10 developed an infection and needed to stay longer in hospital . A planned Caesarean costs the NHS an average of £2,369, while a natural birth costs £1,665. | Britain has seen huge rise in C-sections which now account for 1 in 4 births .
Doctors encourage procedure when there is a possibility of complications .
Expert warns further research is needed to explain the link with autism . |
0a3f567efff9f0748b2758c9e8c17dc66beade04 | By . Julian Gavaghan . PUBLISHED: . 08:40 EST, 21 May 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 09:49 EST, 21 May 2012 . Tony Blair was heckled by protesters who branded him a 'war criminal' as he gave a graduation speech at an American college. The former British prime minister, 59, had to break off his his address as he spoke to 400 graduates and their guests at Colby College, in Maine. Protesters shouted phrases such as 'warmonger' and 'You're a war criminal' during his speech. One person was arrested. Guest of honour: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair shakes hands with a Colby College graduate after giving the commencement address . Audience: The ceremony was attended by 400 students as well as their friends and family . In his address, Blair appealed for international cooperation and for people to try to understand other cultures. The former premier, who served from 1997 to 2007, backed the U.S. in it so-called war on terror and took Britain to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. His decision to send troops to topple Saddam Hussein prompted widespread criticism, including a massive anti-war march in London which attracted more than one million demonstrators. But, while he has long been dogged by demonstrations in Britain carrying out stunts like trying to arrest him, it is the first time his appearances in the U.S. have been hijacked by protesters. In the States, where initial opposition to the Iraq war was much smaller, Blair had long garnered widespread respect as a dynamic leader who stood by America. Furthermore, Americans usually focus their ire on George W Bush and prefer to see Blair as a man misled by the former president than someone who may have sought to deceive others. Flashpoint: Protesters outside the London Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war where Blair gave evidence in 2010 . Anger: Protesters clash with police as Blair attends his book signing at a bookstore in Dublin in September 2010 . Anger at Blair stems from the fact his Labour government sold the case for war on a so-called 'dodgy' dossier based on false information claiming Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. Much of it was found to be plagarised from a PhD thesis and many protesters claim Blair knew its contentions - such as that Iraq could deploy chemical warheads within 45 minutes - were lies. He and his wife, Cherie, had three children when he entered office. She gave birth to another son, Leo, in 2000 - the first baby born to a serving PM in more than 150 years. Since leaving office he has made a multimillion pound fortune out of corporate consultancy and on the international speaking circuit. He has also taken up a role as official Middle East envoy of the Quartet and, in 2008, launched his Tony Blair Faith Foundation. | Blair branded 'warmonger' during speech at Colby College, Maine .
Such protests are unusual in the states despite his vilification in Britain . |
0a3ff2f0a147c158845afa44d2a012064896566b | By . Lucy Buckland . UPDATED: . 11:57 EST, 16 January 2012 . A father has told a court he was only doing his duty as a Muslim by handing out leaflets calling for gay people to be executed. Kabir . Ahmed, 28, said he handed a leaflet called Death Penalty? to a . policeman and stuffed them through letterboxes across Derby because he . was spreading the word of God as taught by Islam. He . said: 'My intention was to do my duty as a Muslim, to inform people of . God’s word and to give the message on what God says about . homosexuality.' Accused: Kabir Ahmed, left, and Umar Javed, . right, are on trial along with three other men accused of stirring up . hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation . Married . Ahmed, who has a nine-month-old daughter, is on trial with four other . men at Derby Crown Court charged with inciting hatred on the grounds of . sexual orientation, the first prosecution of its kind since legislation . came into force in March 2010. At . the opening of the trial last week jurors were shown the Death Penalty? leaflet, which shows an image of a mannequin hanging from a noose and . says that homosexuality is punishable by the death penalty under Islam. The . leaflet states: 'The death sentence is the only way this immoral crime . can be erased from corrupting society and act as a deterrent for any . other ill person who is remotely inclined in this bent way.' In the dock: Mehboob Hussain, left, Razwan Javed, and Ihjaz Ali, right, all arrive at Derby Crown Court . It . goes on: 'The only dispute amongst the classical authorities was the . method employed in carrying out the penal code,' and then goes on to . offer burning, being flung from a high point such as a mountain or . building, or being stoned to death as suitable methods. Giving . evidence today Ahmed, wearing a pair of grey trousers and a black . shirt, said he had handed one of the Death Penalty? leaflets to PC . Stephen Gregory on July 2 2010 as he was passing by the area of the . Jamia Mosque in Rosehill Street following Friday prayers. He . told the court he felt it was his duty as a Muslim to inform and advise . people wherever they may be committing sins, he would be failing if he . did not. On trial: The five defendants are alleged to have handed out one homophobic document outside the Jamia Mosque in Derby . 'My duty is not just to better myself but to try and better the society I live in,' he said. 'We . believe we can’t just stand by and watch somebody commit a sin, we must . try and advise them and urge them to stay away from sin.' Ahmed . said he had studied the texts of many religions including the Bible and . the Torah and used ideas from each to compare with what Islam says . about things such as drugs, alcohol, prostitution and relationships. Defendants: A sketch taken from inside the court of the five men on trial. (L-r) Ihjaz Ali, Razwan Javed, Kabir Ahmed, Mahboob Hassain and Umer Javed . Ahmed’s . barrister Zacharias Miah asked him if PC Gregory had told him he was . doing something wrong would he have handed over the bag of leaflets he . was carrying and Ahmed replied: 'Of course, without a shadow of a . doubt.' Prosecutor Bobbie . Cheema told the court the Death Penalty? leaflet was not educational or . informative but was simply 'threatening, offensive, frightening and . nasty.' Four other Derby men . - Ihjaz Ali, 42, Mehboob Hussain, 45, Umar Javed, 38, and his brother . Razwan Javed, 28, of Wilfred Street - are also charged with the same . offence. All five men deny the charges. The trial continues. Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons. | Kabir Ahmed, 28, tells court he couldn't 'just stand by and watch somebody commit a sin'
Five men face first prosecution for inciting hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation since law came into force .
Leaflet called Death Penalty? said: 'The death sentence is the only way this immoral crime can be erased from corrupting society' |
0a3fff5779a8f7cfdde5d284a429ab89fd5e85df | A four-month-old baby was starved to death by his parents as his mother repeatedly lied about taking him to see doctors, a jury has found. Amy R. Hockett, 22, was found guilty of murder in the death of Khaiden Hockett, while Joseph L. Pierson, 25, was found guilty of reckless homicide, as he was ruled to be 'mildly mentally retarded'. Khaiden was found unresponsive inside the couple's filthy, feces-ridden home in Richmond, Indiana on February 5, 2012, weighing just six pounds. The case was ruled a homicide, with the cause of death cited as dehydration because of starvation. Guilty: Amy Hockett, left, and Joseph L. Pierson, right, starved their four-month-old son to death as Hockett claimed she was taking the tiny baby to doctors for tests for a range of diseases . His death came despite Hockett claiming doctors were testing her son for diseases including leukemia, blood disorders and kidney stones, and less serious . problems, such as acid reflux. Pierson's attorneys claimed through the trial that she had also lied to him about the baby's medical care, and that he believed the young boy was receiving attention, the Palladium-Item reported. His attorneys said expert testimony showed that Pierson was likely to take the facts at face value and did not have the cognitive abilities to investigate the matter for himself. Khaiden had been born a healthy 8 pounds, 7 ounces in October 2011, and had just one visit to the doctor a week after his birth. After the visit, he began slowly dying, prosecutors said. A video showed to the courtroom revealed piles of clothing, overflowing trash cans, dirty dishes, rotting food and feces littered throughout the couple's home. Khaiden was forced to sleep in a . swing that was soaked with his urine; jurors were shown pictures of the . swing pad covered in yellow and brown stains. Loss: Khaiden was found unresponsive at their home weighing just 6 lbs. He was born weighing 8lbs 7oz . Victim: The baby boy was forced to sleep in a urine-soaked swing at the couple's filthy home . Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Shipman . said the couple did not give the baby food, bathe him or change his . diapers, and he quickly lost weight. When other relatives inquired about his health, Hockett said she had taken him for tests. 'He died because the people who were . supposed to care the most for him didn't,' Shipman said. 'Nobody was there when this . little guy died alone in the back room of the house.' Pierson's attorney, Michael Dean, . argued that the boy died from a lack of medical attention, rather than . starvation, and that his client had been duped to believe he was . receiving such care. 'The entire web of lies started with . family members... all people with more intelligence than Joseph . Pierson,' he said. 'They were able to assess the situation better than . Joseph Pierson, and they all bought it.' Hockett was found guilty of murder, . neglect of a dependent resulting in death and neglect of a dependent. Pierson was found guilty but mentally ill of reckless homicide, neglect . of a dependent resulting in death and neglect of a dependent. Scene: The jury saw images from inside the home, pictured, showing trash, rotting food and feces . Expert witnesses said that while Pierson . was mildly mentally retarded, he did not meet the state's criteria for . being considered insane at the time of the death. Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Shipman told the Indy Star that he was not surprised by the decision. 'Based on the evidence, I can see . where the jury would see Amy Hockett being more responsible for . Khaiden's death,' he said. 'He is mildly mentally handicapped, and I . think that made a difference in what the jury felt.' Hockett faces 45 to 65 years in prison for murder and 20 to 50 years in prison for neglect of a dependent resulting in death, while Pierson faces 20 to 50 years for neglect of a dependent resulting in death and two to eight years in prison for reckless homicide. They could be served concurrently. They will be sentenced on March 7. | Khaiden Hockett was found unresponsive at his home in February 2012 .
As his weight dropped, his mother Amy Hockett, 22, told relatives doctors had taken tests for a variety of diseases - yet he had never been .
Father Joseph Pierson, 25, was also duped by Hockett as he is 'mildly mentally retarded' but did not seek any help for the baby . |
0a4092bef1801863296777ebcfeceb1aec23c78f | PUBLISHED: . 18:10 EST, 25 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 14:49 EST, 27 February 2013 . Parents desperate to conceive feel they have no choice but to travel to Mexican clinics to spend thousands of dollars in cash on a controversial and potentially dangerous blood therapy suspended in the United States. Jennifer Benito-Kowalski and Steve Kowalski tried and failed at great expense to become pregnant using LIT - the technique pioneered by Dr. Beer . Lymphocyte immunization therapy or LIT is fast becoming a last resort for couples for whom IVF and natural conception has failed but because it is not offered by U.S. insurance firms would-be moms and dads are flooding over the border in hope. Pioneered by American fertility physician Dr. Alan Beer, his eponymous Center for Reproductive Immunology in Los Gatos, California, is actively encouraging parents into shady dealings with Mexican physicians during which cash is handed over in turn for access to treatment. Dr. Alan Beer, who died in 2006, theorized that a woman's immune system can become hyper-defensive, mistaking her partner's sperm as a disease and actively stop a fetus from growing. 'Effectively, women become serial killers of their own babies,' he wrote in his 2006 book, 'Is Your Body Baby-Friendly?' reported the San Francisco Chronicle. Beer argued that LIT works by injecting a woman with her partner's blood cells until her immune system fails to see them as foreign - much like an allergy shot in reverse. The science of LIT argues that the therapy blocks prospective mother's antibodies who have been trained to see male sperm as foreign invaders. The course of treatment also is supposed to shift the body's immune response to a state where it accepts foreign cells. Beer claimed the credit for pioneering the treatment in the United States and said that in Mexico, LIT was responsible for achieving an astounding 78 percent success rate in parents who attended clinics there. Dr. Alan E. Beer pioneered the use of LIT before it was suspended in the United States and claimed an extraordinary success rate for pregnancies with it . However, a 1999 study by the University of Chicago with women who had had more than three miscarriages came to different conclusions. Eighty-six subjects over the course of their research underwent a course in LIT and 85 patients received a placebo according to the San Francisco Chronicle. One-third of the LIT patients became pregnant, but 50 percent of the control group also became pregnant. 'This therapy,' the researchers concluded, 'should not be offered as a treatment for pregnancy loss.' So, in 2002 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration suspended it, citing the scientific findings of the University of Chicago that it does not work. However, that move left prospective parents such as Jennifer Benito-Kowalski and Steve Kowalski without another option once natural conception and IVF had failed. Ruling out adoption, and feeling the advance of time, 38-year-old Jennifer and her husband traveled to the Alan E. Beer Center for Reproductive Immunology and Genetic in Los Gatos for help. Despite LIT being illegal in the United States, this has not stopped the doctors at Beer's from directing hundreds of patients to leave the country to undergo the procedure - all paying cash in hand. 'They're couples who are very, very frustrated,' said Dr. Edward Winger, the clinic's director. 'They've been through the system. They've been told, 'Oh, if you just do this, it'll work. Oh, if you just do IVF (in vitro fertilization), it'll work. 'I'm very convinced that this approach of going after the immune system, and making adjustments there, is an approach which is based rationally and does work.' Alan E. Beer Center for Reproductive Immunology in Los Gatos, California is not considered a bone-fide fertility clinic because it does not handle male sperm or female eggs . Encouraged by the physicians at Los Gatos, the Kowalski's approached a clinic just over the Arizona border in Nogales, Mexico, run by Dr. German Quiroga. Subsequently contacted via email by the doctor's assistant, the Kowalski's were asked to travel to meet in a McDonald's in Tuscson and to bring $600. 'It seems so movie-like,' Jennifer recalled later to the San Francisco Chronicle. 'I didn't know what to expect.' The nervous couple were told to leave their hotel the next day and drove to the border where they were instructed they would be picked up. Dr Edward Winger of the Alan E. Beer Center for Reproductive Immunology and Genetics - is a staunch proponent of LIT . A van arrived and inside was Dr. German Quiroga and another couple from St. Louis headed for the clinic in Nogales also. Altogether the group were transported across the border to Mexico to Nogales, known for its booming private cosmetic, dental and fertility clinics. Taken up to Dr. Quiroga's second floor office, he drew out Steve's blood and made a solution from his white blood cells and then gave Jennifer four shots in each arm. The procedure was so fast that later that afternoon they were back in Arizona. Soon after, Jennifer developed red marks and itching on her skin - a common side-effect according to a 2006 survey of 2,600 LIT patients in Germany. Failing to fall pregnant over the . course of the first treatment, the Kowalskis paid for an additional four . to the tune of $3,450, plus travel costs - but they felt this was a . deal compared to the $12,000 average cost of IVF they had paid before. 'You . have a therapy that does not cost nearly as much as what IVF costs,' said Los Gatos clinic director Winger to the San Francisco Chronicle, 'and you can prevent needing a . second failed IVF.' The Los Gatos clinic is adamant it does not receive any money from LIT treatments that their patients seek outside the country. Also, . the Los Gatos clinic does not perform any treatments in which eggs and . sperm are handled, the California Department of Public Health does not . class it as a fertility clinic. However, because of this and their experimental approach to medicine, many experts are unconvinced. 'There's no scientific evidence that's consistent to support this theory,' said the Kowalski's own fertility physician at their local hospital to the San Francisco Chronicle. 'But there have been a handful of patients who conceive after the immunotherapy.' 'It makes no sense whatsoever and it's potentially dangerous,' said Dr. Joseph Hill III, a physician at the Fertility Centers of New England and a critic of Beer. 'I'm surprised anyone in this country is still doing anything along those lines.' The Mexican/American border - Arizona is on the left and Nogales is on the right . Despite all their efforts, last year, after another miscarriage, the Kowalski's decided to use a surrogate in India and halt LIT. 'I don't know if they (Beer's clinic) would have ever said, 'You guys ought to try something else, maybe we can't help you after all,' said Kowalski to the San Francisco Chronicle. However, one patient, Jacquelyn Smit, 41, of Half Moon Bay in California has given Beer's program the thumbs up after she became pregnant with twin boys. She already had a daughter in 2007, but failed to conceive again and miscarried six times in three years. Learning of LIT on the Internet, she went to the Beer clinic who told her she had a two percent chance of falling pregnant without their help. Deciding to follow their advice she made her way to Mexico: 'I don't believe that I would have my twins if I hadn't gone through their protocol,' she said. 'The conception was never the problem,' she added. 'It's holding onto the pregnancy that was the problem. So I think it's the way my body reacted to a pregnancy that had changed.' However, Jennifer could never understand why she couldn't fall pregnant, but is magnanimous about the program. 'I know other women and they do go through the Beer protocol and it works for them,' she said. 'But it didn't work for me.' | Couples at their wits end hoping to conceive are being encouraged to travel to Mexico to undergo a controversial blood therapy .
Lymphocyte immunization therapy or LIT has been suspended in the United States since 2002 .
Couples are paying thousands of dollars to undergo the therapy - just across the border from Arizona . |
0a41dbe82c5702071754f466c399a939cde8811a | Submerged in deep water, one of the last things a diver may expect to find 90ft below the surface is a river view. But that's exactly what awaits those bold enough to dive in Mexico's Cenote Angelita. The eerie landscape of swirling mist looks like a flowing river in the middle of the cave, complete with trees emerging from the surface. Deep below the surface on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula lies a secret tree-lined river flowing in a water-filled cave . The Cenote Angelita - which translates as 'little angel' - is a diver's delight, but can only be attempted by advanced scuba divers . The swirling mist looks like a river marks the bottom of a 90ft pit - but it's merely the halfway point in a difficult dive . The phenomenon can only be seen in person by extremely skilled scuba divers who can cope with exploring the depths of the 180ft pit. For those who aren't, photographer Anatoly Beloshchin filmed his exploration of the cenote - a cave created by the collapse of limestone bedrock which then fills with water - to show the drama of the moment the river comes into sight. Angelita, which translates as 'little angel', lies about a ten-minute drive from the Maya city Tulum, on the east coast of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. Cenotes were often used by the Maya for sacrifices and Angelita has certainly retained its mystique to the present day. For the first 90ft of the dive, adventurers are swimming through fresh water with a clear view of the inside of their surroundings before the 'river' appears below. The mist is actually a thick layer of . hydrogen sulfide, about 6ft deep, which is caused by the clash between . the fresh water at the top of the cave and the salt water that fills the . bottom half. The trees and discarded branches emerge from the depth, but are sitting atop a pile of rubble left when limestone bedrock collapsed to create the cenote . Divers can swim along the 'river' or be more daring and make their way through the cloud of hydrogen sulfide into the salt water below . The scenes, captured by diver and photographer Anatoly Beloshchin, easily look like a secluded forest instead of the middle of a water-filled cave . The chemical compound is often created when the . bacterial breakdown of organic matter happens when there's no oxygen . around and dissolves, according to BookYourDive. It looks like the end of the journey but is only the halfway point of the exploration. Divers can switch on their lights and find their way through the relatively short distance before emerging into the salt water. Those who weren't aware that the pictures were taken underwater could easily believe they were looking at a secluded spot in the middle of a forest. The trees and branches lie on top of the collapsed rubble which fills nearly half of the pit, leaving a narrow passage down the side. Mr Beloshchin said: 'Under me I see a river, island and fallen leaves… Actually, the river, which you can see, is a layer of hydrogen sulfide.' Cenote Angelita was formed by a rock collapse which created the 180ft pit containing fresh water and salt water, as well as the river effect of the hydrogen sulfide . The cave can be found a short drive from the Maya city Tulum on the east coast of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula . | The Cenote Angelita, which translates as 'little angel', reveals what looks like a river winding through a forest to divers .
The swirling mist of the 'river' is actually a cloud of the gas hydrogen sulfide created by the mix of fresh and salt water .
Divers can swim through the cloud, which appears 90ft down, to find another 90ft descent below . |
0a421106fb10078b00663df3e88c5ee6f0437a66 | Torrential rains from a tropical storm flooded large swathes of the Philippine capital and outlying provinces today, leaving three dead and displacing tens of thousands. Schools and government offices were shut in Manila as the Fung-Wong storm raged and authorities said thousands were evacuated from severely inundated communities, where rapidly flowing waters swirled neck-high in places. Radio stations reported residents taking shelter in the second floor of homes where the water had reached the ceiling of the ground floor. Scroll down for video . Flood victims are evacuated in a rescue boat after their homes were swamped by heavy flooding caused by a tropical storm in the Philippine capital Manila . A resident wades through a flooded road in Quezon city, suburban Manila. Tropical storm Fung-Wong caused heavy flooding in many parts of the city today . Footage shows dogs on branches being swept away after attempting to take refuge from the rising floodwaters that tore through the city today . Rescuers evacuate residents after a river overflowed, flooding their homes due to heavy rains brought about by tropical storm Fung-Wong in Tumana village . Flooded streets caused traffic gridlock across the city of 12 million, with many motorists and other commuters unaware of the extent of the flooding due to a lack of reports from local authorities. Manila airport authorities said the rains and radar problems caused delays and the cancellation of at least 28 domestic flights to and from northern and central Philippines. At least three international flights heading to Manila were diverted to Clark International Airport in northern Pampanga province. Thousands of ferry passengers were stranded after services were cancelled and the coastguard also stopped fishing boats from going to sea. Presidential spokeswoman Abigal Valte said that work in government offices in the capital and 15 other provinces has been suspended. The Philippine Stock Exchange suspended trading and some banks sent their employees home by noon. Weather forecaster Dioni Sarmiento said more than ten inches of rain fell over a part of Metro Manila used as a rainfall gauge over a 24-hour period ending early today. That was more than half of the amount of rain that caused massive flooding across the sprawling metropolis of 12 million people in 2009. Filipino government workers push a vehicle at a flooded street in Quezon city, east of Manila. Officials said thousands were forced to evacuate their homes . Residents riding plastic boats seek higher ground after continued monsoon rains triggered by tropical storm Fung-Wong have inundated parts of Marikina in Manila . A man helps a dog escape from the waters in Manila. Schools and government offices were shut in the city which was still reeling from the effects of last week's typhoon . Residents use a rope to cross through deep floodwaters after heavy monsoon rains spawned by tropical storm Fung-Wong flooded Marikina city, east of Manila . A rescuer helps a resident to go to a safer area. The Philippine Stock Exchange suspended trading and some banks sent their employees home by noon . A Filipino rescuer carries an elderly woman during flooding in Quezon city, east of Manila. Tens of thousands were displaced following the monsoon rains . Residents occupy a church converted into an evacuation centre after their homes were swamped by heavy flooding in Quezon city, suburban Manila . Just last week, Typhoon Kalmaegi ravaged the same area, leaving eight people dead and displacing more than 366,000. Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said some parts of the capital were flooded overnight and residents in a number of slum communities were evacuated to safety. But he added that floodwaters were receding because major drainage pipes had been cleared of thrash before the rainy season. He did not say how many have been evacuated in the city. A view of an overflown river with a backdrop of Eastwood financial district in Quezon city, east of the Philippine capital Manila . Residents look out from their shanties during Tropical storm Fung-Wong in Pasay city. Residents were seen taking shelter in the second floor of some flooded homes . Rescuers unload the body of a man who died of natural causes at the height of heavy flooding brought about by tropical storm Fung-Wong flooded Marikina city . A resident stays on a rooftop to escape rising floodwaters in Quezon city. Weather forecasters said more than ten inches of rain fell over one part of the city . Rescuers use a rubber dinghy to rescue trapped residents after heavy monsoon rains caused severe flooding in the Philippines . Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said some parts of the capital were flooded overnight and residents in a number of slum communities were evacuated to safety . 'Our anti-flood infrastructure has been neglected for a long time,' Estrada said. 'You go abroad and you see big houses of the rich along clean rivers. But here, the riverbanks teem with squatter colonies, which don't have septic tanks and treat the river like a garbage can.' Zharina Biong, a staffer of the disaster management unit of Marikina City, part of Metro Manila, said more than 27,000 people, most of them living near the swollen Marikina river, have been evacuated since dawn today. 'We are now on sweeping operations for those trapped by the floods. The rains were so heavy, so fast, some were not able to evacuate,' De Guzman said in an interview with GMA TV, adding the government was sending amphibious vehicles and boats to help get people out. Disaster agency officials said two other Manila districts were flooded and they were monitoring a dam, which was nearly full. The storm, which packed gusts of wind up to 62 miles per hour made landfall in northern Cagayan province around noon today. It was expected to leave Philippine territory by Sunday and make a sharp turn northward toward Taiwan and southern Japan. Flood victims are evacuated in a rescue boat after their homes were swamped by heavy flooding in Quezon city, suburban Manila . Residents make their way through deep floodwaters. The floods have already left three dead and have forced tens of thousands to evacuate their homes . Residents evacuate their homes to escape rising floodwaters in Quezon city. Presidential spokeswoman Abigal Valte said that work in government offices in the Philippine capital and 15 other provinces has been suspended due to the severe flash floods caused by the monsoon rains . 'You go abroad and you see big houses of the rich along clean rivers. But here, the riverbanks teem with squatter colonies, which don't have septic tanks and treat the river like a garbage can,' Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said . Motorists navigate a flooded road in Quezon city. Manila airport authorities said the rains and radar problems caused delays and the cancellation of at least 28 domestic flights to and from northern and central Philippines. At least three international flights heading to Manila were diverted to an airport in northern Pampanga province . Weather forecaster Dioni Sarmiento said more than ten inches of rain fell over a part of Metro Manila used as a rainfall gauge over a 24-hour period ending early today. That was more than half of the amount of rain that caused massive flooding across the sprawling metropolis of 12 million people in 2009 . Filipino flood victims rest inside a gymnasium turned into a temporary evacuation centre away from the floodwaters in Marikina city, east of Manila . Filipino residents wade on floodwater brought by Fung Wong. The storm was packing maximum gusts of wind of up to 62mph as it swept through the northern Philippines . Local residents use umbrellas and raincoats during the heavy rains. Flooded streets caused traffic gridlock across the city of 12 million, with many motorists and other commuters unaware of the extent of the flooding due to a lack of reports from local authorities . Zharina Biong, a staffer of the disaster management unit of Marikina City, part of Metro Manila, said more than 27,000 people, most of them living near the swollen Marikina river, have been evacuated since dawn today . A resident carries a dog as he makes his way along rooftops to escape rising floodwaters in Quezon city, suburban Manila. The storm was expected to leave Philippine territory by Sunday and make a sharp turn northward toward Taiwan and southern Japan . | Schools and government offices were shut in Manila as the Fung-Wong storm raged throughthe region .
Authorities said thousands evacuated from communities where rapidly flowing waters swirled neck-high in places .
Footage shows dogs attempting to take refuge on branches and being swept away in rising floodwaters .
Last week Typhoon Kalmaegi ravaged the same area leaving eight people dead and displacing more than 366,000 . |
0a4230461154984e1925f8ad0fbe1b7c204d0b56 | By . Becky Evans . PUBLISHED: . 06:15 EST, 12 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:15 EST, 12 March 2013 . The world has gone well and truly pear-shaped - if these pictures are anything to go by. A Russian artist has taken the unremarkable fruit and used it for a new photography series in which pears are pictured in crazy and often realistic scenes. Stanislav Aristov constructs the backdrops before placing the fruit in romantic, surreal, funny or just bizarre situations. Pear shaped: Stanislav Aristov shot this lonely-looking such dressed in a 'scarf' next to a wintery scene . Ripe: IT specialist Aristov spends hours choosing just the right pear for his compositions . Loved up pear: The fruit are pictured in a wedding scene complete with veil, corsage and wedding bands . Forgotten fruit: This pear is bathed in the light from a window and appears to be in a dark cell . The 30-year-old from Yekaterinburg, Russia, uses his dark sense of humour to bring the mundane fruit to life. He spends hours selecting the right pear for his pieces before building a background and photographing his unusual subjects. Among the series are images of pears dressed as punks or buskers, romantic couples or even young children. In one, a conspicuous-looking pear is seen lurking suspiciously by a comedy wanted poster. Baby pear: The fruit is dressed in a young girl's pink ribbon and pictured with a green balloon . Washed: A pear is pictured in the driving rain trying to shelter under a small umbrella . Clever pear: The fruit wears glasses as it reads through the oversized book . Disguise: A pear loiters suspiciously in sunglasses and a cap next to a wanted poster in a dark alley . Pear-fect: The well-placed pears cast a shadow in the shape of a heart . Aristov uses over-ripened fruit to portray the elderly in the pictures. In one image, a wizened fruit is pictured staring longingly at a more youthful image of itself and in another a wrinkled pear begging on the street goes unnoticed as other pears rush by. The artist also plays on the shape of the fruit. He morphs it into lightbulbs, uses them to cast interesting shadows and in one picture has a cube-shaped pear. Past its ex-pear-y date: A wizened pear gazes at a black and white image of a youthful fruit . Pear-casso: Arty prints of yellow, green and black and white pears feature in this image . Fruity: Two pears are pictured tucked up under the blankets in bed . Strange fruit: A pear towers above a variety of coloured balls pictured in a bowl . Spooky: The artist uses his dark sense of humour to bring the mundane fruit to life . Stanislav, an IT specialist, said his aim was to try and make the curious creations as realistic as possible. Stanislav, who has also gained praise for a separate photography series using burned matches, wanted to make the pears look like as much like people as possible. He said: 'The idea is to present a human-like pear and make it look as genuine as I can. 'The hardest and most time consuming . thing though is finding the model - the correct pear for the shoot. That . can be quite tricky.' Fused: A pear is shown mimicking an electric light bulb and plugged into a wire . Supear heroes: Three pears hold the a gold globe - which has an apple-like stalk - aloft . Appear-ition: Passing fruit appear as a blur as an old-looking pear begs unnoticed at the side of the road . Dedicated: Aristov builds his own background and says he wants to make them as realistic as possible . Square pear: This surreal image features a cubed pair sitting inside a wooden box . He said another time-consuming aspect of the project is to build the sets. But he said the hard work has been worth the effort after the project was praised. He said: 'The scenery and backgrounds also take quite a lot of time to design and build. 'People generally seem to like my work. They tell me that they find the pieces interesting and very realistic.' Musical pears: A fruit busker plays the violin in a subway - but it does not seem to have made any money . Speared: A demoralised looking pear is held up by four strings attached to its skin . Punk pear: This fruit has broken the rules with an unusual Mohican-style stalk and tattoos . Baby pears: This fruit appears to be looking at neonatal scans of a pregnant pear . Complimented: The artist said people like his work and tell him they find the pieces 'interesting and realistic' Peared up together: This couple lean in to one another as they gaze up at a giant moon and stars . | Russian Stanislav Aristov has turned the humble pear into works of art .
He says he spends hours choosing exactly the right fruit for his composition .
The IT specialist said he wants the pictures to be realistic and human-like . |
0a4324d4a5effa420aa95bb058314eab35c73852 | A Brazilian beauty contest ended in chaos when the furious runner-up wrenched the crown off the winner's head, and threw it to the ground moments after the result was announced. As Carolina Toledo, 20, was being crowned Miss Amazon 2015, runner-up Sheislane Hayalla saw red as audience members in Manaus, northern Brazil, captured the amazing scenes on camera. Other participants looked on in horror as the 23-year-old contestant ripped out the tiara, threw it to the ground, pointed an accusing finger at her adversary and insulted her before storming off stage. Scroll down for video . The astonishing moment a runner-up in a beauty contest grabbed the crown from her rival's head, smashing it towards the floor in a fit of rage at the Miss Amazon competition in Manaus, northern Brazil . Rivals: Miss Toledo (left) had just been crowned Miss Amazon when her competitor Sheislane Hayalla (right) swiped the tiara from her head and threw it to the ground . Distraught organisers rushed to pick up the crown and put it back on law student Carolina's head as security officials rushed backstage to reach her attacker. The amazing incident took place on Friday night at a convention centre in Manaus, the Amazon's largest city and the venue for England's World Cup opener against Italy in June. On Saturday, Miss Hayalla claimed her rival had bought her way to the title, insisting: 'Money talks in Manaus and I wanted to show the Amazon people money doesn't talk here. 'She didn't deserve the title.' The winner declined to comment on the incident and would only say: 'This is an unbelievable feeling. I don't have words to explain the way I feel.' Miss Hayalla can be seen throwing the crown to the floor in a video filmed by a member of the audience . Anger: Defending her actions, Miss Hayalla claimed her rival had bought her way to the title . The Miss Amazon winner will now represent her state in the national Miss Brazil beauty contest. Organisers of the competition are deciding whether to punish the runner-up, who would normally be expected to participate in events throughout the year in representation of her state. Miss Amazon winners normally do well in the national competition. Terezinha Morango, the 1957 winner, went on to win Miss Brazil before coming second in the Miss Universe contest of the same year. Twelve women took part in this year's final. The winner won her place in the final by triumphing in the local Miss Manaus beauty contest. Model and biology student Sheislane had won beauty contests in 2013 and last year. An annual contest to find the sexiest bottom in Brazil was rocked by scandal just under two years ago when two of the candidates were accused of bribing judges to rig the votes. Rivals accused Miss Bumbum finalists Mari Sousa, 25, and Eliana Amaral, 24, of paying thousands of pounds to the event's judging panel for the right to come first and second. Dai Macedo, 25, from the central state of Goias, ended up being crowned the winner with her 42in derriere while Eliana Amaral, from Pernambuco in north Brazil, was awarded second place. | Miss Amazon 2015 runner-up ripped crown of the winning beauty .
Sheislane Hayalla filmed attacking winner Carolina Toledo on stage .
Miss Hayalla claimed her rival had bought her way to the title . |
0a43fa1c464f6bfc04ebe31bc309f31e10c69837 | A shooting sent terrified patrons scrambling from a Miami nightclub early Sunday and left 15 people wounded, including an 11-year-old child, authorities said. When Miami police and rescue crews arrived at a club called The Spot around 1am, they said they found chaos among the large throng of adults and teenagers gathered there. Rescuers found wounded people inside and outside the club, some too hurt to flee, Miami Fire Rescue Capt. Ignatius Carroll said. The first emergency crews arriving on the scene were warned to use caution 'because there was still active shooting taking place in the area,' Carroll said. At least one person was reported in critical condition but the extent of the other injuries wasn't immediately known. Emergency personnel wheel a victim of the shooting in Miami's The Spot nightclub . It's unclear how many shooters there were and what caused the shooting at The Spot in Miami . Some people were running, 'people were screaming, people were saying they were shot,' Carroll said, adding others were yelling for help for friends who had been shot. One male was found unresponsive and not breathing when emergency responders arrived. Five girls between 11 and 17 years old also suffered gunshot wounds, Carroll said. Details were sparse in the hours after the shooting. Investigators sought to piece together what happened in what was described as a scene of confusion. 'The investigators are still interviewing witnesses,' police spokeswoman Frederica Burden said. 'They're going from hospital to hospital.' She said it was not immediately clear who or how many fired weapons and what prompted the gunfire. No arrests or suspects had been reported by Sunday afternoon. Authorities said there were many young people at the site. At least three of those hurt were transferred to a pediatric unit. 'What was very surprising to the responders was that these were kids that were out at 1 o'clock in the morning in a club and this type of violence took place where a bunch of kids were gathering ... it's very disturbing to see that,' Carroll said. A spokeswoman for Jackson Memorial Hospital said she did not have permission from the victims to release their conditions. Emergency personnel tend to the wounded outside The Spot, a nightclub in Miami, where a shooting broke out early Sunday morning . Authorities said they are investigating what type of club The Spot is and why so many underage children were there. 'Was it a private party, was it open to the public, that's what we're trying to figure out,' said Officer Burden. Fire Rescue officials also will follow up with the venue to determine whether it's a teen club, whether it's licensed as a club for regular gatherings or whether this was an informal event, Carroll said. A phone number for the club was out of service. Early Sunday, police and other emergency officials cordoned off the outside of the club with yellow crime scene tape and police crowded the entrance to the club. Emergency vehicles also blocked the roadway for hours. Fifteen people were wounded in the shooting, including an 11-year-old girl . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. | The chaotic scene broke out about 1am on Sunday morning, sending terrified patrons scrambling from the Miami nightclub The Spot .
At least 15 people were left injured, including teenagers .
Police are still investigating what led to the shooting — and why there were so many teens at the nightclub . |
0a45dba311ead135de81f1123d6d524460566280 | By . Tom Mctague, Mail Online Deputy Political Editor . Most Britons would be happy to pay more tax to save the NHS, a new poll has found. Some 57 per cent of the public would be prepared to see taxes rise to protect the NHS, according to a new survey. Just over four in 10 voters said they would not. The revelation comes amid warnings that the NHS could collapse within five years if the Government does not increase spending. A clear majority of the public would be prepared to pay more tax to protect the NHS, according to a new ComRes poll . All age groups are prepared to pay more tax to protect the NHS - except 35-44 year-olds - including three in five Conservative voters and two-thirds of Labour supporters. The public also do not appear to care who provides their treatment - as long as it is free. Some 67 per cent said they did not mind if health services were run by the NHS or by privately owned businesses, provided it was free, while 30 per cent disagreed. A majority of Labour supporters - 59 per cent - say they do not mind who provides NHS services, with the working class least bothered of all. The research, carried out by ComRes for The Independent, also found that voters trust Labour more than the Conservatives on health issues, with 33 per cent backing leader Ed Miliband to protect the NHS, and 29 per cent trusting Prime Minister David Cameron. Tom Mludzinski, head of political polling at ComRes, said: 'Beyond the economy and immigration, the NHS will be the key policy issue on which the 2015 general election is decided, and the fact that most Britons say they are willing to pay more tax in order to protect the NHS just goes to show the peril of being seen by voters to neglect it. 'Although traditionally it has been difficult for the Conservatives to get traction with voters on the NHS, voters seem to trust neither leader particularly to protect what is perceived as a valuable national institution.' Meanwhile, Labour's poll lead has dropped from five to two points since last month, ComRes found. Labour is on 32 per cent, down three points, the Conservatives are unchanged on 30 per cent, Ukip is up four points to 18 per cent, the Liberal Democrats are down one point to a record low of seven per cent. ComRes interviewed 1,005 British adults by telephone between June 27 and 29 to gauge public support for extra health spending and the use of private companies to deliver services . David Cameron is less trusted than Ed Miliband to protect the health service from cuts - but only just - according to the survey . The public's support for higher taxes to pay for the NHS comes after senior MPs said the health service could collapse within five years if the Government does not increase health spending. Over the weekend, former Conservative Health Secretary Stephen Dorrell called on David Cameron to boost the NHS budget as the economy recovered to avoid a crisis. He was joined by the new chair of the Health Select Committee, Tory MP Sarah Wollaston, who warned that it was 'hard to see how we could maintain current levels of service' if spending was not increased. Paul Burstow, a Lib Dem former health minister, meanwhile said that the NHS needed an extra £15 billion over the next five years 'if you don't want the system to collapse during the course of the next parliament'. Labour is intending to make the the NHS a key battleground at the next election and has promised a 'big offer' on health care. It is considering three options to boost NHS spending: a ring-fenced rise in national insurance contributions for employers and workers; delaying the deficit-reduction programme and a budget increase once the nation’s books have been balanced. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is under pressure to increase the NHS's budget amid warnings that the health service is facing a financial crisis . As Chancellor, Gordon Brown raised National Insurance by one per cent in 2002 to help bring Britain’s spending on health up to the European average. Some Labour figures are wary that such a pledge now could undermine Mr Miliband’s 'cost of living' agenda as higher NICs would put more pressure on family budgets. But last night Labour supporters of a major health cash promise took comfort from the ComRes findings. Patrick Diamond, a former Downing Street policy adviser to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, said: 'These poll findings demonstrate there is a real appetite among the British electorate for higher taxes to ensure the NHS remains on a sustainable financial footing. 'The key policy issue is how to make NHS spending more transparent so voters know how well the extra money is being used, combined with measures that widen choice and control over services to maintain the public consensus for a universal, taxpayer-funded NHS.' | Almost six in 10 voters prepared to see taxes rise to protect the NHS .
Three in five Tories would pay more tax and two thirds of Labour voters .
Almost 70% of the public don't care if treatment provided by private firms . |
0a465bba1f822a2b0e7bac0f79691b912a8bba70 | A woman has defended her decision to sent $1.4 million to her online lover in Africa - who she has never met. Twice-divorced Sarah met Chris Olsen online 18 months ago. Though the mysterious man's accent has changed over time, and he keeps asking for money to be wired to various different countries, Sarah insists she is '95 per cent certain' that he is telling her the truth. Despite his numerous attempts to come home so they can be together, she says, he keeps getting arrested on false charges. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Convinced: Sarah told Dr Phil she still believes in love and is certain her online lover is telling the truth . In an interview with Dr Phil, Sarah explained that they speak for hours on the phone each day. She described the moment they met on the internet: 'An attractive person came on there and said "wow you look like you wouldn't hurt a fly". I said "wow this guy's really handsome, I can't believe he's talking to me!"' He told her he was called Chris Olsen, who hailed from Milan but moved to the U.S. 18 years ago. Currently, she says, he is based in Africa on business, and has been for more than a year and a half. When they met he said he was in South Africa. After a brief stint in Nigeria, he relocated to Benin, Sarah explained. Within seven weeks of meeting, he professed his love in a gushing email that referred to her as 'Mrs Olsen'. Romance: She claims they speak for hours on the phone and though his accent has changed from Italian to African she has not wavered in her belief that he loves her . And days later, he sent the first of many requests for money. She has now sent him $1.4 million in total for hotel bills, calling cards, lawyers, an expired visa, stolen credit cards, and bail. Last June, she even had to sell an apartment she owned to wire him $550,000 bail. However, she believes he is trying his utmost to make it home. Sarah concedes that there are suspicious elements to his story: 'When I first started talking to him,' she told Dr Phil, 'He sounded Italian now his accent's kind of changed I don't know if he's adapted to where he's at... in Benin.' But, she concludes: 'I still believe in love.' | Twice-divorced Sarah met man named Chris Olsen online 18 months ago .
Said he is from Italy, moved to U.S. 18 years ago, is in Africa for work .
They have never met, he has been in South Africa, Nigeria and Benin .
She has wired him $1.4m for bail, lawyers, lost credit cards, hotel bills .
Sarah told Dr Phil she believes he loves her and will come home . |
0a471293143e542e3f3ff00265bcadfbc68bda25 | (CNN) -- When 3-year-old Rowan Isaacson darted away from his father and dived into a herd of grazing horses, it easily could have been the end of the small autistic boy. He was babbling under the hooves of a boss mare. Rupert Isaacson says he noticed immediate improvement in his son's language skills when he started riding. "I thought he was going to get trampled," recalled Rupert Isaacson, Rowan's father. But the horse, Betsy, dipped her head and chewed with her mouth in submission. Isaacson, who had trained horses for a living, had never seen it happen so spontaneously. Rowan had seemingly made a connection. The Austin, Texas, family had been struggling with Rowan. His wild tantrums were nearly driving Isaacson and his wife, Kristin Neff, to divorce. All the while, little Rowan was becoming unreachable. "He would just stare off into space," Isaacson said. "I was worried it was going to get progressively worse and that eventually, he might float away from us entirely. Luckily, right about that time is when he met Betsy." Isaacson began riding Betsy, a neighbor's horse, with Rowan. He says he noticed immediate improvement in his son's language skills. Watch Rowan and Betsy » . "He would start to answer. He would start to talk. We would do song games up there on the saddle. I would take books up there in the saddle," Isaacson said. Autism specialists say that horse riding can be effective in gaining access to autistic children. Experts make a distinction between the kind of recreational therapeutic riding Isaacson was using with Rowan and hippotherapy, which is a medical treatment that uses horses and is supervised by a licensed speech-language pathologist. "People perceive it's the interaction with the horse that's making the change. However, the movement of the horse is extremely powerful, and it's that movement that's having neurological impact on the autistic child," said Ruth Dismuke-Blakely, a speech-language pathologist and hippotherapy clinical specialist in Edgewood, New Mexico. According to preliminary analysis of an ongoing study by Dismuke-Blakely, hippotherapy has been shown to increase verbal communication skills in some autistic children in as little as 18 to 25 minutes of riding once a week for eight weeks. "We see their arousal and affect change. They become more responsive to cues. If they are at a point where they are using verbal cues, you get more words," Dismuke-Blakely said. "It's almost like it opens them up. It gives us access." She cautions that a horse's movements can be powerful. For some autistic children, riding too long can overstimulate their nervous system, leading to more erratic behavior. On Betsy, Rowan was at ease. After about three weeks, Isaacson says, Rowan's improved behavior was translating into the home and outside world as well. But not consistently. In late 2004, Isaacson, a human rights activist, brought a delegation of African bushmen from Botswana to the United Nations. Among the men were traditional healers, who offered to work with Rowan. Isaacson says he was skeptical, but he had experience with the bushmen and allowed the healers to lay their hands on his son. "I was kind of flabbergasted at Rowan's response. For about four days while they were with him, he started to lose some of his symptoms. He started to point, which was a milestone he hadn't achieved," Isaacson said. When the tribal healers left, Rowan regressed. Isaacson says he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he were to give Rowan a longer exposure to the two things that he seemed to have responded well to: horses and shamans. "I know it sounds completely crazy," he said. "I just had a gut feeling." Isaacson took his wife and son to Mongolia. "It's the oldest horse culture on the planet. Everyone still gets around on a horse there -- so a nomadic culture. The word 'shaman' comes from there," Isaacson said, explaining his decision. "I just thought, 'Well, what if we went there and rode across the steppe and visited traditional healers? You know, what might happen for Rowan? Might there be some positive outcomes?' " Trekking across the Mongolian prairie on horseback, Isaacson says, Rowan's behavior was changed dramatically. "Rowan was not cured of autism out there," Isaacson stressed. "The word 'cure' is not in my vocabulary for this. Rowan came back without three key dysfunctions that he had. He went out to Mongolia incontinent and still suffering from these neurological firestorms -- so tantruming all the time and cut off from his peers, unable to make friends -- and he came back with those three dysfunctions having gone." Isaacson credits Rowan's improvement to horses and time in nature -- and to shamanic healing, which he says he simply can't explain rationally. Isaacson has written a book, "The Horse Boy," about Rowan's autism. Rowan, now 7, rides Betsy by himself. His parents never abandoned more orthodox treatments for his autism, and Rowan's applied behavioral analysis therapist has him studying math and English at the third-grade level -- a full year ahead of some of his peers. "He's just becoming a very functional autistic person," Isaacson said. As far as the Isaacson family's journey took them, it is the same hard slog facing millions of families gripped by autism. "A lot of the parents go to the ends of the Earth in their own living rooms every day," Isaacson said. "I mean, we had more stressful car rides to the grocery store than any of the stresses and challenges of the trip to Mongolia." You don't have to get on a horse -- or plane to Siberia -- for relief. For autism families, Isaacson encourages parents to simply follow their instincts and listen to what their child shows them. "In our case, it was horses in Mongolia and these shamans," Isaacson said. "It could just as easily have been bicycles and, you know, steam trains. And if it had been, we'd have done a steam train journey. We'd have done whatever Rowan seemed to be showing us he wanted to do, because that was where he was intrinsically motivated." | Family travels across Mongolia so autistic son can ride horses, meet shaman .
Experts say riding horses can be effective in gaining access to autistic children .
Rowan Isaacson's language and temper improved with horse/shaman therapy .
His parents never abandoned more orthodox treatments for Rowan's autism . |
0a475a12cf5aa8cd3f16ec8828a2146f5fc0902b | Female cat owners are more likely to suffer mental health problems and commit suicide because they can be infected with a common parasite that can be caught from cat litter, according to a study. Women infected with the Toxoplasma gondii - or T. gondii - parasite, which is spread through contact with cat faeces or eating undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables, are at increased risk of suicidal thoughts. About a third of the world’s population . is infected with the parasite, which hides in cells in the brain and . muscles, often without producing symptoms. Risk? Female cat owners are more likely to commit suicide because they can be infected with a common parasite that can be caught from cat litter . The infection, which is called . toxoplasmosis, has been linked to mental illness, such as schizophrenia, . and changes in behaviour. Scientists from the U.S., Denmark, Germany and Sweden looked at more than 45,000 Danish women who gave birth between 1992 and 1995. Babies . don’t produce antibodies to T. gondii until three months after they are . born, so the antibodies present in their blood represented infection in . the mothers. The scientists . scoured Danish health registries to determine if any of women . diagnosed as infected later attempted suicide, including cases of violent suicide attempts . which may have involved guns, sharp instruments and jumping from high . places. They found . that women infected with T. gondii were one-and-a-half times more likely . to attempt suicide compared to those who were not infected, and the . risk seemed to rise with increasing levels of the T. gondii antibodies. Lead researcher Dr Teodor Postolache, from the University of Maryland, said: 'We can’t say with certainty that T. gondii caused the women to try to kill themselves, but we did find a predictive association between the infection and suicide attempts later in life that warrants additional studies.' The study is the largest ever to try and ascertain a link between T. gondii and attempted suicide and the first prospective study to document . suicide attempts that occurred after the infection was discovered. Dr Postolache’s research team at the University of Maryland was the first . to report a connection between T. gondii and suicidal behaviour in 2009. The parasite thrives in the . intestines of cats and is spread through oocysts passed in their . faeces. All warm-blooded animals can become infected through ingestion . of these oocysts. The organism spreads to their brain and muscles, . hiding from the immune system within 'cysts' inside cells. Humans . can become infected by changing their infected cats’ litter boxes, . eating unwashed vegetables, drinking water from a contaminated source or, more commonly, by eating undercooked or raw meat that is infested . with cysts. Not washing . kitchen knives after preparing raw meat before handling another food . item also can lead to infection. Pregnant women can pass the parasite . directly to their unborn babies and are advised not to change cat litter . boxes to avoid possible infection. Dr Postolache noted the study's limitations, such as the inability to determine the cause of suicidal behaviour. He added: 'T. gondii infection is likely not a random event and it is conceivable that the results could be alternatively explained by people with psychiatric disturbances having a higher risk of becoming T. gondii infected prior to contact with the health system.' The findings are published online in the Archives of General Psychiatry. | Women infected with Toxoplasma gondii are one-and-a-half times more likely to attempt suicide .
Third of world's population is infected with parasite, which hides in cells in the brain and muscles, often without producing symptoms . |
0a47d5753cef1227d82fbc4290b27b58047d3a4c | By . Sophie Goodchild . Thousands of patients are being denied the choice of life-saving heart drugs by cash-strapped NHS trusts. The UK drugs watchdog gave GPs the green light two years ago to prescribe new-generation blood-thinners for people with irregular heartbeats at risk of suffering strokes. But doctors are defying recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), according to a leading charity. The Atrial Fibrillation Association claims that the bodies that deliver NHS treatments are placing restrictions on use of new blood thinner drugs . The Atrial Fibrillation Association (AFA) claims that clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) – the bodies that deliver NHS treatments – are placing restrictions on use of these new drugs. Jo Jerrome, the charity’s deputy chief executive, said such limits were affecting the quality of life of patients. She claimed CCGs were driven by a fear that the drugs would be ‘overly expensive and stretch resources’, despite being deemed cost-effective by Nice. The new blood-thinners – known as novel oral anti-coagulants (NOACs) – cost about £2 a day compared with just £1 a month for warfarin, the most commonly used treatment. But patients on warfarin need regular monitoring which increases the cost of care. New drug: Novel oral anti-coagulants cost about £2 a day for the NHS . ‘We have been told that CCGs are making it extremely difficult such as imposing a nine-month wait before patients are given an alternative drug,’ said Ms Jerrome. ‘Patients have even said they’ve been told wrongly that the drugs haven’t been approved. ‘Trusts in some parts of London have made it difficult by making GPs sign long contracts if they’re going to prescribe these new drugs. This isn’t usual and it limits patient choice.’ One doctor, who asked not to be named, told The Mail on Sunday he had seen evidence of CCGs prohibiting the drugs, and the AFA claims to have reports of doctors being threatened with fines for prescribing them. On its website, NHS Vale of York CCG warns of ‘cost implications to the NHS’, stating: ‘Significant numbers of patients changing from warfarin to a NOAC would . . . lead to the need to limit commissioning of other services’. In Oxfordshire, the CCG says ‘warfarin remains the agent of choice for most patients’. It denied it was restricting the use of the new drugs, and said clinicians were using them ‘in line with published Nice guidelines’. More than a million patients in the UK suffer the most common heart rhythm disorder – known as atrial fibrillation – and the condition is blamed for causing more than 20,000 strokes a year in this country. The most commonly used therapy is warfarin, which is the same chemical used in high doses to kill vermin. But patients who take this blood-thinner need regular blood tests to prevent them suffering complications. These checks reveal if their blood is clotting too much, which can trigger a stroke, or clotting too little, which increases the risk of internal bleeding. Nice gave the go-ahead in 2012 for three new thinners – dabigatran, rivaroxaban and apixaban – that promised to revolutionise stroke-prevention. They are effective yet do not require the same monitoring. However, the UK lags behind the rest of Europe when it comes to prescribing them. Consultant cardiologist Martin Cowie, from Imperial College London, said doctors were failing patients by denying them choice and it should be ‘automatic’ that people received the new drugs. Tory MP Glyn Davies, who has undergone treatment for an irregular heartbeat himself, claimed take-up of new treatments had been absolutely ‘abysmal’. A Nice spokesman said: ‘CCGs are legally obliged to fund these new drugs in cases where they’re clinically appropriate.’ | New blood-thinners could save lives, but patients are denied them .
Charity says the bodies that deliver NHS treatments restrict drugs . |
0a47dac8558300235aa5dbecb29196351fcb2e3c | (CNN) -- At first glance the Eurovision Song Contest may seem like any old talent show. Singers perform live on TV, the public and special juries vote, and at the end of the night a star is born. But don't call this "X Factor" or "American Idol". This is reality TV on steroids. Every year around 40 nations from Spain to Azerbaijan field a musical act, each singing an original song in front of a huge television audience. As part of the European festival of kitsch, some contestants sashay across the stage in barely-there dresses, and shriek into wind machines with the force of hurricanes. Pyrotechnics, fire, and massive LED screens are de rigeur. It's a big draw. In 2013 more than 180 million viewers in 45 countries tuned in to the action. This year's final takes place on May 10 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Although officials describe Eurovision as a non-political event meant to unite Europe through song, politics inevitably colors the voting and the performances. William Lee Adams, a Eurovision expert and the editor-in-chief of Wiwibloggs.com, the popular Eurovision website, has been in Denmark for the buildup since late April. "Eurovision is about music, but it's also about identity and nation branding," he says. "The artists and their songs become symbols of the countries they represent." This year is no different. Tensions over Crimea are already coloring the perception of acts from Russia and Ukraine. During the semi-finals on May 6, some of the audience inside Copenhagen's B&W Hallerne booed the Russian act, a pair of 17-year-old twins called The Tolmachevy Sisters. "Months of frustration over Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and Putin's anti-LGBT laws have left Europeans angry," Adams says. "The booing was a release, a statement of solidarity with Ukraine and Russia's sexual minorities." It doesn't help that Russia's love song features lyrics that some see as hinting at a border incursion: "...living on the edge, closer to the crime, cross the line, one step at a time...maybe there's a day you'll be mine." In the past, Russia has relied on support from voters in the former Soviet bloc. Those votes seem less certain this year. Russia's loss could be Ukraine's gain. Mariya Yaremchuk, this year's Ukrainian act, will sing a song about love called "Tick-Tock." Her act features a man running inside a giant hamster wheel. The act is not explicitly political, but in press conferences Yaremchuk has stressed that her goal is to show that art is stronger than politics, and that music lasts longer than warring politicians. It's not all about Russia and Ukraine. During the semi-finals, the act from Poland featured women in traditional dress churning butter and washing clothes as a woman rapped about Slavic women: "Cream and butter taste so good /We will prepare for you delicious food/ Our beauty is famous all over the world/ You gotta see it for yourself and then you will know." "Poland, one of Eastern Europe's economic success stories, is celebrating its 10th anniversary in the European Union," Adams says. "Their song is a brilliant parody of Polish stereotypes, and a rebuke to all those who view Poland as backwards and behind-the-times." In the past officials have disqualified songs with explicit political messages. In 2009, the Republic of Georgia was forced to pull its entry "We Don't Wanna Put In." It was a clear poke at Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the wake of the 2008 South Ossetia War. Creative license allows other songs with political messages to slip through. In 2011 the Portuguese entry, which translated as "The Struggle is the Joy," was a call for Portuguese to fight against the government's planned austerity measures. It became an anthem of protest during the financial crisis. Political leaders, particularly those in the East, see the Eurovision results as a matter of international standing. Last year, when Azerbaijan failed to give any points to its political ally Russia, the Azeri president ordered a vote recount and the foreign ministers of two countries convened a meeting in Moscow. Riding a wave of sympathy, Ukraine has emerged as one of the bookies favorites to win this year. That won't sit well with authorities in Moscow. Nor will the reality that televoters in Crimea may still be counted as Ukrainian by their mobile phone companies. "When the points are counted and the hair extensions come off, one government is going to be very disappointed," Adams says. "This isn't just a song contest. It's a battle in the war." Opinion: The soft politics of Eurovision . | The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world .
Every year around 40 nations from Spain to Azerbaijan participate in the competition .
This year tensions over Crimea could spillover into the contest .
In the past officials have disqualified songs with explicit political messages . |
0a48c179e30b14f6cbe4d8d0c1d51307b766e036 | DOVER, England (CNN) -- As the ferries dock at the Port of Dover after crossing the English Channel, the trucks pull in at a steady rate. Afghanistan's opium harvest can be traced right back to some of those trucks. Afghanistan is the world's biggest supplier of illegal opium, which is made from the seed pods of poppies. "The routes are many and varied, the concealments are many and varied, we see body [concealment], we see what you call stuffers and swallowers, internal concealments," says Steve Coates, deputy director of Britain's Serious Organized Crime Agency. "They're one step ahead of us and we're desperately trying to get one step ahead of them and I think it's a long game," he said. Coates has spent almost 25 years tracking the heroin pipeline. But he says the approach over the last few years is more intelligence-led. "If we seize the powder, the commodity, they very quickly replace it. The financial flow is much more important. If you can hit the gangs, the proceeds of crime, you really are affecting them, you're reaching right into them and actually impacting them," says Coates. Watch how the Afghan drug pipeline is difficult to stop » . A new United Nations report confirms the status of the lawless and fertile lands of southern Afghanistan as the world's biggest supplier of illegal opium, the addictive narcotic that is made from the seed pods of poppies. The drug is ravaging the young, poor and vulnerable in Afghanistan, and its proceeds are the lifeblood of the Taliban. It also is spreading on a drug trail that spans the world. While Western governments have for years debated how to stop the lucrative drug trade in Afghanistan, the business has only grown. The U.N. report notes that for years, the counternarcotics strategies around the world have failed to have any real effect on addiction or drug trafficking. In some countries, heroin is 10 times cheaper now than it was 30 years ago. "We've been very good in the past at playing cops and robbers, but did [that] make a difference? No it didn't," concedes Coates. The key now, say law enforcement officials, isn't wiping out the poppies, scanning every truck or locking up the small-time dealers, but rather gathering intelligence that follows and then destroys the lucrative money trail. Britain's Serious Organized Crime Agency says it is now committed to taking a collaborative approach not just with its own national partners, but by working intelligence links through the world. | Port of Dover serves as entry point for much of Afghanistan's opium harvest .
Traffickers hide drugs in trucks, bodies, British drug official says .
"They're one step ahead of us," Steve Coates says .
U.N. report says counter-drug strategies have been ineffective . |
0a48f00e5fde0c2e08ac7bba9f89d2440885d382 | (CNN) -- Roger Federer is "excited" by the return of Rafael Nadal to the ATP Tour, but could face his great Spanish rival in the quarterfinals as he defends his Masters 1000 Series title at Indian Wells. Nadal made his return from seven months out through injury in clay court tournaments in South America, but will be playing his first hard court event as he tests his troublesome knee. World No.2 Federer, who is seeking his first trophy of 2013, is delighted Nadal is returning to the big time in California. "I only just saw him yesterday after my practice. I was really excited to see him again," the Swiss maestro told the official ATP Tour website. "We hadn't had much contact. I think he wanted to get away from it all, which I really understand." Nadal won the final tournament of his early season 'clay court swing' in Mexico at the weekend and Federer took note. "I was really happy to see him doing so well in Acapulco. It's great to see him here playing on the hard courts. I'm hoping to catch up with him this week." Nadal, a two-time former winner in Indian Wells, said he was in good shape for the challenge ahead. "I feel very good. I've practiced two times here," he said. "But seriously, I understand my situation after seven months. I think it's not the right moment to talk about the knee. I am here to try my best and that's what I'm going to try. We'll see how the knee responds on hard. "The results on clay were positive, especially because the knee was feeling better and better every week, especially last week. Now I'm going to try here." Both will have their work cut out to prevent World No.1 Novak Djokovic getting his hands on the trophy for the third time. The Serbian is on a 17-match unbeaten run, stretching back to November last year, winning the Australian Open and Dubai titles in 2013. He potentially faces No.3 Andy Murray in the semifinals. Djokovic beat the Scot in the final of the first grand slam of the season in Australia. The top women in the world, led by No.2 and Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, are playing in a WTA event at the same venue. No.1 Serena Williams is skipping the tournament. In second round action Friday, former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova had to battle past Olga Govortsova of the Belarus, 6-4 3-6 6-3, while Maria Sharapova beat Francesca Schiavone in straight sets in a later match. | Roger Federer relishes Rafael Nadal's return .
Arch rivals could face off in the quarterfinals at Indian Wells .
No.1 Novak Djokovic favorite for the hard court title .
Victoria Azarenka tops women's seedings . |
0a4a1a3d1ffb20c71b76ac49e34d1437cfa6fd6a | Leeds United captain Stephen Warnock is poised to join Derby County, possibly as early as Monday. Steve McClaren has been in pursuit of a left back to support Craig Forsyth and it is believed Warnock could be allowed to leave Elland Road on a free transfer despite playing 22 times for the club this term. Warnock, 33, is one of the highest earners at Leeds and his deal, signed in January 2013, expires at the end of this season. Leeds United captain Stephen Warnock is set to sign for promotion hopefuls Derby County this week . Derby boss Steve McClaren is also close to bringing SD Eibar centre-back Raul Albentosa to the club . McClaren has already secured Darren Bent on loan from Aston Villa and is close to bringing centre-back Raul Albentosa to Derby in a £470,000 deal. 'He (Albentosa) is someone we have pursued and we are trying to do a deal,' said McClaren. 'We are looking at him and we are interested but I don’t know where we are at the present moment with it.’ It looks set to be a busy January for McClaren (right) who has already signed Darren Bent (left) on loan . | Stephen Warnock is out of contract at Leeds at the end of the season .
Derby boss Steve McClaren also close to bringing Raul Albentosa in .
Promotion hopefuls have already signed Aston Villa striker Darren Bent . |
0a4ad3e3bde9940234b0da392687fb6874be1935 | (CNN) -- When Raffi Darrow brought in her two daughters, Wendy and Alice, for their annual back-to-school checkups this week, for the first time in her career as a mom, Darrow decided to be a rebel. Raffi Darrow decided not to get the HPV vaccine for daughters Wendy, left, 11, and Alice, 12. Even though every federal health authority says her girls, ages 11 and 12, should get Gardasil, the vaccine that helps protect against cervical cancer and genital warts caused by the human papillomavirus, Darrow instructed the pediatrician not to give it to them. "Up until now my children have had every vaccine doctors have recommended," says Darrow, a graphic designer in St. Petersburg, Florida. "But most friends, like me, fear the safety of something new." Even though Gardasil is on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine schedule for 11- and 12-year-old girls, and is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, many parents interviewed by CNN say they're not getting it right now for their daughters out of concern for side effects. "I'm not saying I'll never do it. I just don't want to do it when they're 11 or 12," says Darrow, who debated for a year about whether to get the shots for her daughters. Liz Schlegel, on the other hand, didn't hesitate to get Gardasil for her 15-year-old daughter. "My older sister was diagnosed with (and beat!) cervical cancer two years ago, and her doctors traced it to HPV," says the manager of a small design firm from Waterbury, Vermont. "I would hate to think that normal sexual experimentation -- the kind that my sister and I and many of our friends and peers "tried on" in college -- could result in a life-threatening illness 30 years later." A survey of 1,122 physicians in Texas showed that about half don't always recommend Gardasil to parents of 11- and 12-year-old girls, even though the CDC recommends it. The survey was published earlier this month in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. In an unscientific QuickVote poll, respondents were split on whether they'd get the vaccine for their daughters, with 43 percent saying absolutely they would, 40 percent saying no way, and the rest saying they weren't sure. As of Wednesday, more than 5,000 people participated in the informal survey. To cast your vote go to CNNhealth.com. Unlike most other vaccinations, Gardasil is not required for a child to attend school. As of 2007, the latest year for which statistics are available, 25 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds had received a dose of Gardasil, according to the CDC. Read what parents and pediatricians have to say about Gardasil » . "Although the numbers are low, we are optimistic this percentage will increase over time," says Arleen Porcell-Pharr, a spokeswoman for the federal agency. "We would like to see 100 percent adherence to the CDC schedule, [but] from previous experience, we know that it takes years for a new vaccine to gain acceptance into the market." Darrow and other parents say they're worried about neurological problems, blood clots and deaths that have been reported to the CDC after a woman or girl has been vaccinated with Gardasil. The vaccine is given in a series of three injections. Read a discussion on TwitterMoms about Gardasil . According to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System run by the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration, as of May 1, there were 13,758 reports of adverse events occurring after women and girls received Gardasil, out of the more than 24 million doses that had been given to girls and women up until that time. On its Web site, the CDC notes that these events "may or may not have been caused by the vaccine." Most of the problems -- 93 percent -- were considered to be mild, such as headache, nausea and fever. But 7 percent involved a hospitalization, permanent disability, life-threatening illness or death. In the data, 39 deaths were reported after vaccination with Gardasil, with 26 confirmed by the agency, six under investigation, and seven unconfirmed. "There was no unusual pattern or clustering to the deaths that would suggest that they were caused by the vaccine," according to the CDC's Web site. Gardasil, which prevents four types of human papillomavirus that cause 70 percent of all cervical cancers and more than 90 percent of genital warts, was heralded as a breakthrough when it was introduced more than three years ago by the pharmaceutical company Merck. Since the reports, Merck has added several adverse reactions to the labeling, stating that some people after receiving Gardasil have developed autoimmune diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, paralysis and seizures. "It's not possible to reliably estimate the frequency [of these adverse events] or to establish a causal relationship to vaccine exposure," the label states. Dr. Rick Haupt, the pediatrician who leads Merck's research on Gardasil, says the vaccine is safe and effective for 11- and 12-year-old girls. "We have good evidence that the vaccine is appropriate to use at this age," he says. He added that many countries, including the United States, recommend the shot at age 11 or 12 in hopes of getting girls vaccinated before they become sexually active, because HPV is transmitted sexually. Also, he says it's beneficial to vaccinate children this age because their "immune response is very robust." Doctors and Gardasil . When her children were younger, Darrow's pediatrician urged her to get all the vaccines on the CDC schedule. She noticed, however, that when she told the pediatrician she didn't want Gardasil for Wendy and Alice, the doctor didn't push her to reconsider. "There was no argument, no trying to persuade me, no 'Here's a pamphlet about Gardasil,' nothing," Darrow says. Several pediatricians interviewed by CNN said they don't push the HPV vaccine if parents don't want it. "I consider this to be an optional vaccine," says Dr. Arthur Lavin, associate clinical professor of pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. "I tell parents it's fine with me if you wait, and it's also fine with me if you want that extra added level of protection and we proceed today." He said about 15 percent of his patients are getting Gardasil for their 11- and 12-year-old girls. Parents researching on the Internet . Before her daughters' checkups this week, Darrow spent several hours doing research on the Internet in order to make her decision about Gardasil. She said what tipped the scales for her were statements made in the media by Dr. Diane Harper, an obstetrician and gynecologist at the University of Missouri who helped Merck do clinical trials on Gardasil, at one point serving on the company's advisory board for the vaccine. Harper told CNN she has concerns about the safety of the HPV vaccine for pre-adolescents, noting that a small number of girls have died or suffered neurological damage after receiving the shot. "Gardasil is not without risks. It's not a freebie," Harper says. Harper says she worries that not enough young girls were included in Merck's clinical trials to warrant giving the shot to all young girls. Merck has given the vaccine to 1,121 girls between 9 and 15 years old in clinical trials without serious side effects, according to Haupt, the Merck pediatrician. He says the company will try to continue to follow these girls for 10 years. In addition to safety concerns, Harper said she wonders whether the vaccine will still be effective for an 11- or 12-year-old after she's become sexually active. Gardasil is "100 percent" effective against HPV five years after vaccination, according to Haupt, and Merck is studying whether its efficacy lasts longer than that. Darrow says this is one reason she decided not to get the shots for Wendy and Alice. "Even if the shot lasts for 10 years, it would run out just when they're at their riskiest time," she says. "If I give it to my 11 year old right now, she'd need a booster at age 21." She added that she hasn't rejected the idea of getting Gardasil for her daughters, considering that it would give them some protection against cervical cancer. "I'm going to revisit this again when they're 14 or 15," she said. CNN's Sabriya Rice and Jennifer Pifer Bixler contributed to this report. | Many parents are debating whether to vaccinate their daughters against HPV .
Some are concerned about side effects, the vaccine's long-term effectiveness .
Others parents think not vaccinating is a missed opportunity to protect the child .
The CDC has Gardasil listed on its vaccination schedule . |
0a4ae7edd0ca7833cb44436bf438a4120c4ee75f | An . Oklahoma missionary who is accused of raping and molesting ten children . at the Kenyan orphanage where he was working claims he was possessed by . a demon named Luke, federal prosecutors say. In . text messages released in court documents, 19-year-old Matthew Lane . Durham talked to a friend about his supposed alter-ego: 'Literally he . takes me at night and there is nothing I can do to stop him. '... I've prayed so much, but every night Luke gets what Luke wants.' Prosecutors have alleged that Durham of . Edmond engaged in sex acts with as many as ten children aged 4 to 10 . - including one who is HIV positive - while volunteering at the Upendo Children's Home near Nairobi from April . to June 2014. Accused: . Matthew Lane Durham faces federal charges in his native Oklahoma that . he molested up to ten children at a Kenyan orphanage. He allegedly . confessed to the abuse . Prosecutors . submitted these text messages Durham allegedly sent to a friend as . evidence that he remains a danger to the community . 'I . took her to the bathroom and forced her to have sex with me. This has . happened on more than one occasion.' This is one of the horrific . confessions that Durham allegedly wrote out . He faces up to life in prison if convicted of engaging in illegal sexual conduct in foreign places, aggravated sexual abuse with children and other charges. The indictment alleges that Durham traveled from Oklahoma City to Kenya in order to engage in illicit sexual conduct with children at Upendo, which specializes in assisting neglected Kenyan children by providing them with food, housing, clothes and academic and religious instruction. The indictment also accuses Durham of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minors under 18 years of age and aggravated sexual abuse of a child under 12. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Bob Troester, said Durham could be asked to enter a plea to the charges as early as Wednesday. Durham's attorney, Stephen Jones, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment. Melissa . and Kyle Durham, the parents of Matthew Durham, say they don't believe . the allegations that their son molested ten children in Kenya . Jones, who has defended the likes of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy . McVeigh, previously said the confession was the result of 'some sort of . pseudo-tribal psychological voodoo.' In . text message to a friend - which prosecutors submitted as evidence - . Durham wrote: 'It takes me at night and I am powerless to what Luke . wants. Yes I named him, I know how crazy that is. 'He whispers in my ear all day and he's so hard to resist.' The indictment was returned as a federal judge weighs whether to release Durham to his family's home in Edmond while the charges against him are litigated. Earlier on Tuesday, U.S. District judge David Russell ordered Durham temporarily detained while prosecutors appeal an order granting his release on bond. A U.S. magistrate granted bond on Monday. Durham faces up to life in prison if convicted of engaging in illegal sexual conduct in foreign places, aggravated sexual abuse with children and other charge . Russell has not indicated when he might hand down a ruling on the issue and it was not immediately clear if the indictment will affect his decision. Prosecutors have urged the judge to detain Durham and allege he is a danger to the community and could flee if released on bond. ‘The defendant in this matter by his own detailed admission both orally and in writing has brutally raped and molested young girls and boys in an orphanage in Kenya,’ the appeal filed in U.S. District Court alleges. ‘He has confessed his crimes in writing, on video, and has admitted to a life-long struggle of desires to touch children and “child predation,”’ it says. An affidavit filed in federal court said Durham, who has volunteered with the children' home since June 2012, wrote and signed a statement acknowledging the sexual misconduct. An Upendo official provided the statement to the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, the affidavit says. But Jones has challenged Durham's statements about the allegations and claims they were coerced by orphanage officials in Kenya who kept him in isolation and confiscated his passport. Prosecutors have urged the judge to detain Durham and allege he is a danger to the community and could flee if released on bond . Jones urged Russell to reject the government's appeal and allow Durham to be released to his family on home incarceration while the case is litigated, which Jones indicated could take months. ‘This litigation, with witnesses and alleged victims in Kenya, will likely endure many months,’ Jones said in a written objection to the government's appeal. ‘Further incarceration would violate Mr. Durham's due process right, as he is presumed innocent and will be detained for a prolonged amount of time,’ Jones said. The magistrate ordered Durham's release after a hearing where his parents testified they do not believe the allegations against their son. The release order sets bond at $10,000 and names Durham's father, Oklahoma City Fire Department Maj. Kyle Durham, as his son's custodian. Kyle Durham testified he has taken administrative leave from his job to care for his son. It also requires that Matthew Durham surrender his passport, refrain from using cellphones and computers and avoid contact with children and any witnesses and alleged victims in the case. | Matthew Lane Durham, 19, is accused of sexually abusing up to ten children, ages four to ten, while volunteering in Kenya .
His parents stand by him and say they don't believe the allegations .
Officials at the orphanage say he wrote out a confession; his lawyer claims it was coerced .
He faces up to life in prison if .
convicted of charges including aggravated sexual abuse with children . |
0a4b2d4ea5fb0625e3e747525062f0a85345e4df | By . Pa Reporter . Chris Kirk shot a bogey-free final round to clinch the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston with Rory McIlroy unable to mount a challenge on the final day. The American, who was joint third with McIlroy and Jason Day on 10 under going into the final day, carded five birdies in a final-round 66 to beat Australia's Geoff Ogilvy and fellow Americans Russell Henley and Billy Horschel by two shots. 'Biggest win I ever had,' Kirk said on pgatour.com shortly after sealing victory on 15 under overall. 'I may be a little bit more calm, but I was still freaking out a bit inside.' Glory: Chris Kirk (right) is presented with the winner's trophy by CEO of Deutsche Bank Jacques Brand . What might have been: Rory McIlroy trudges off the 18th green after a disappointing final round . Kirk's victory in the second of the four play-off events means the 29-year-old American now leads the FedEx Cup standings. It is only his third PGA Tour career title. He wasted no time in eating into Henley's two-shot overnight lead by birdieing the third and fourth holes, while a further birdie on the ninth meant he had picked up three shots in the opening nine holes. Kirk made par on the next three before birdieing again on the 13th and repeating the feat for the fifth and final time of his round on the 16th before finishing with two more pars. In the swing: Kirk takes his approach shot on the sixth hole at TPC Boston on Monday . In the long grass: World No 1 McIlroy hits out of trouble on the sixth hole on his way to a fifth place finish . Going for the flag: Kirk chips to the second green during the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship . Best man won: McIlroy congratulates Kirk after their round on the biggest win of his career to date . Kirk's victory gives United States captain Tom Watson plenty to ponder ahead of the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles later this month. Watson chooses his three wildcard picks on Tuesday and Kirk has done his chances of selection no harm at all. 'I definitely put myself in contention for one,' Kirk said when asked about his Ryder Cup chances. 'If I get picked, great. If not, I'm still happy with my win today.' World No 1 McIlroy, who had catapulted himself into contention with a flawless seven-under 64 on Sunday, could not secure his fourth title in five tournaments after recording four bogeys in his final-round 70 to finish joint fifth with Australia's John Senden on 11 under. They were two shots shy of the second-placed trio of Ogilvy, Henley and Horschel. Martin Kaymer and Day were tied for seventh on 10 under, while Sweden's Carl Pettersson and Jimmy Walker of America were two of seven players tied for ninth place on nine under. World No 2 Adam Scott had to be content with a joint 16th-placed finish with six others on eight under, while England's Ian Poulter was a further shot back to finish alongside Jim Furyk and Rickie Fowler. | Chris Kirk won the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston .
American now heads FedEx Cup standings after two play-off events .
Rory McIlroy was in contention but faded with poor final round .
Geoff Ogilvy, Billy Horschel and Russell Henley shared second place .
US Ryder Cup wildcards announced on Tuesday . |
0a4ce4b147ab877d4937aa5a34c3b22127ffb912 | Caterham say they are going ahead with preparations to race in Japan this weekend despite bailiffs seizing items from their factory in on Wednesday. The troubled team issued a statement ahead of the race at Suzuka that condemned 'unfounded and unsubstantiated rumours concerning actions against 1MRT, the entrant and owner of CaterhamF1'. 'An action was threatened yesterday against a supplier company to 1MRT. This company is not owned by 1MRT and it has no influence over the entry of CaterhamF1 or the entrant,' it added. Caterham will race at the Japanese GP this weekend despite having baliffs visit their factory on Wednesday . 'Contrary to uncontrolled rumours, all operations are currently in place at Leafield and the race team is doing its preparation in Japan.' A senior source close to the team confirmed that bailiffs had visited the Leafield factory but said it was not the first time and denied reports that the facility or computer servers had been closed down. 'All this nonsense is nothing to do with the Formula One team... it is 100 percent not related to the F1 team or any company or subsidiary of the F1 team,' added the source, who did not want to be identified. A list of seized items to be sold at a public auction, likely in mid-October, appeared later on the bailiffs' website www.thesheriffsoffice.com. They included a 2013 Caterham F1 'test car', steering wheels, drilling and machining equipment, wheels and assorted pit lane items such as jacks and starters. Car parts 'due for Japan 2014' were also listed, although the race cars and main items of freight would normally have arrived in Japan some time ago with teams already setting up their garages in the paddock on Wednesday. Caterham's decision to compete at Suzuka means home favourite Kamui Kobayashi will get to race . Caterham changed ownership in July when Malaysian entrepreneur Tony Fernandes sold the struggling team to an unidentified 'consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors'. Since then the new owners have been embroiled in legal action with some 40 former employees who accuse them of unfair dismissal. There have also been issues to resolve with suppliers. Caterham, who are last in the championship standings and have never scored a point, said in a statement in July that the staff in question were employed by a supplier rather than the Formula One team itself. The team's Leafield site was previously used by Super Aguri and Arrows, two now-defunct teams that collapsed due to financial problems. Caterham are bottom in the F1 constructors championship standings with zero points . Japan's Kamui Kobayashi and Sweden's Marcus Ericsson are Caterham's current drivers, with Spaniard Roberto Merhi due to take part in Friday first practice at Suzuka. Team principal Manfredi Ravetto had been quoted only this week as saying Caterham planned to take a new front wing to Suzuka that they hoped would make their cars far more competitive. He also told Autosport that work on the 2015 car was proceeding in the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, despite the team having to contend with 'surprises' inherited from the previous ownership. 'In this team, the surprises never end,' he said. 'If we keep having 10 surprises per day then we have to keep doing 10 miracles per day. So my concern is what happens when we run out of miracles.' | Caterham have confirmed they will race at the Japanese GP this weekend .
Formula One team had bailiffs visit their factory in England on Wednesday .
A list of items later appeared on the bailiffs' website to be sold at an auction .
They included a Caterham test car, steering wheels and pit-lane equipment .
Japanese GP will be held at Suzuka with first practice beginning on Friday . |
0a4e7367d800c22a42d0608bc3d39ada4249e9b5 | A new portable razor aims to save women from those hairy situations when they realize they missed a spot shaving. Leila Kashani, of Los Angeles, California, has created the Sphynx, a sleek, compact razor that includes soap, two blades and a refillable water container with a spray nozzle. Ms Kashani, 29, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund production of the product, which will be available to purchase for approximately $16.99 in April 2015. Scroll down for video . Razor-sharp idea: The Sphynx, created by Leila Kashani, is a portable three-in-once device that includes two blades, soap and water for on-the-go shaving . The campaign officially ends on December 19, but she has already exceeded her goal of raising $25,000 by nearly $400. 'Too many times was I in situations where I was heading to the beach or traveling for work and realized that I missed a spot,' Ms Kashani says in a video on her Kickstarter page. 'I spent months researching razors that claimed to be on-the-go,' she adds. Cutting edge: A model is seen using the product, which will be available for purchase in April 2005 . 'The ones that were small enough didn't include soap or water, which leads to razor burn. And the ones that did include it were definitely not purse-friendly.' Ms Kashani spent 'countless nights' gluing and taping prototypes together and making pages of sketches before she came up with the Sphynx's clever design. She adds that its all-natural organic soap can be rubbed in like moisturizer after the shave, so there's no messy residue to rinse off. In addition to the Sphynx's original black and white models, Ms Kashani plans to manufacture a colorful array of razors in bright patterns and shows 15 different versions on her website. Refills will not be sold, so when the soap runs out and the blade becomes dull, customers will have to buy a replacement razor. Bright future: In addition to the Sphynx's original black and white models, Ms Kashani plans to manufacture a colorful array of razors in vibrant patterns . Ms Kashani told MailOnline that the idea for a discreet on-the-go razor first came to her when she was just a teenager. 'I was 13 years old, heading to the beach, and somehow missed a spot and didn't realize it till I got there. This is unfortunately something I still deal with to this day,' she said. She added: 'I've heard so many people complain about a missed spot that it's what drove me to really bring Sphynx to life. I've also heard many scenarios where people avoided an activity because they weren't prepared for it. Even as simple as going to the gym after work because they didn't shave their underarms.' Ms Kashani has worked in marketing for brands such as Nike and Columbia Sportswear since graduating from the University of California, San Diego in 2008. | According to creator Leila Kashani's Kickstarter campaign, 94per cent of women report missing a spot when they shave their legs . |
0a4eb84d6ce82960106f5a8531431b0b0cc95ecb | Mistakes by NHS staff are to blame for the death or significant harm of 250 patients a day, figures show. In just six months there were 45,476 errors with such serious consequences, including incorrect diagnosis and patients given the wrong treatment or drug. Of these, 1,958 led to death and 43,518 resulted in significant harm. NHS hospitals have been told to report to the Care Quality Commission any incidents in which a patient comes to harm or the harm is only narrowly avoided. These include pressure sores, medication overdoses, false diagnosis and surgery in the wrong area. When near misses are also taken into account, the data from NHS England shows there was a total of 725,314 safety incidents between April and September 2013, though the majority were very minor. The figure is nine per cent higher than the previous six months. Officials said this is because staff are being more honest – not that care has got worse. But campaigners said the findings were probably an underestimate as many trusts still do not own up to every mistake. Since 2010 all NHS hospitals have been obliged to report to the Care Quality Commission any incidents in which a patient comes to harm or the harm is only narrowly avoided. These include pressure sores, medication overdoses, false diagnosis, surgery in the wrong area or treatment being given too slowly. But in the past some staff have not owned up to such mistakes for fear of legal action by patients or relatives. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced plans in March for hospitals to improve their safety in the hope that it could save 6,000 lives over the next three years . Peter Walsh, of charity Action Against Medical Accidents, said: ‘These figures are a timely reminder that there is an awful long way to go. ‘It is surprising how much error actually happens. 'Most experts believe that there is still very significant under-reporting so the real figures are probably worse.’ He said that studies had estimated that as many as one in ten patients admitted to hospital were involved in a patient safety incident, although this included other Western countries. ‘We need to get the culture right and have a regulation system that’s fit for purpose,’ he said. In March health secretary Jeremy Hunt announced plans for hospitals to improve their safety in the hope that it could save 6,000 lives over the next three years. They include closer monitoring of hospitals as well the recruitment of extra staff specifically tasked with cutting down on harm. Dr Mike Durkin, NHS England’s director of patient safety, said it was ‘hugely encouraging’ that more incidents were being reported as it showed staff were ‘increasingly comfortable with speaking openly about mistakes and learning from error’. | 45,000 NHS errors with serious consequences recorded in six months .
Of these 1,958 led to death according to figures produced by NHS England .
725,314 safety incidents in six months last year, up nine per cent .
Officials say majority minor and claim increase down to staff honesty . |
0a4ec4d37683347ca62b53982d2c5f4efb86f444 | (CNN) -- Residents living in single-family homes in some parts of coastal Texas face "certain death" if they do not heed orders to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Ike's arrival, the National Weather Service said Thursday night. Texans sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic Thursday on a highway from Galveston County into Houston. The unusually strong wording came in a weather advisory regarding storm surge along the shoreline of Galveston Bay, which could see maximum water levels of 15 to 22 feet, the agency said. "All neighborhoods ... and possibly entire coastal communities ... will be inundated during the period of peak storm tide," the advisory said. "Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single-family one- or two-story homes will face certain death." The maximum water level forecasts in nearby areas, including the shoreline of Matagorda Bay and the Gulf-facing coastline from Sargent to High Island, ranged from 5 to 8 feet. But authorities warned that tide levels could begin rising Friday morning along the upper Texas coast and along the shorelines of the bays. The advisory summoned memories of the language used to describe 2005's Hurricane Katrina, which devastated parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast. "Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks ... if not longer," an advisory issued at the time said. "The vast majority of native trees will be snapped or uprooted. Only the heartiest will remain standing." The Ike advisory follows comes on the heels of similarly urgent messages earlier Thursday from federal authorities, who warned of a "massive storm" that could affect roughly 40 percent of the U.S. Gulf Coast. "Do not take this storm lightly," Michael Chertoff, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said Thursday afternoon. "This is not a storm to gamble with. It is large; it is powerful; it carries a lot of water." Chertoff and representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency said their efforts were focused on evacuations as Ike moved northwest at 12 mph across the central Gulf of Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph. Track the storm » . Chertoff also urged people not to succumb to "hurricane fatigue," referring to concerns that authorities were overestimating Ike's potential impact. "Unless you're fatigued with living, I suggest you want to take seriously a storm of this size and scale," he said Thursday. Houston Mayor Bill White said he's heard that people who live in areas under a mandatory evacuation order say they plan to stay in their homes. He strongly urged against it. "If you think you want to ride something out, and people are talking about a 20-foot wall of water coming at you, then you better think again," White said. At 5 p.m. Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said a hurricane warning was in effect between Morgan City, Louisiana, and Baffin Bay, Texas. A warning means hurricane conditions are likely within 24 hours. Ike's forecast track was through Galveston and the Houston metro area as a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. Currently a Category 2 storm about 700 miles across, Ike could make landfall near Galveston Island as early as Saturday morning. Watch CNN meteorologists track Hurricane Ike » . At 11 p.m. ET, the National Hurricane Center said hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 115 miles from Ike's center, and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 275 miles. The storm was centered 445 miles east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, and about 340 miles east-southeast of Galveston, and was moving west-northwest at near 10 mph. Watch: National Hurricane center predicts Ike's path » . Roughly 3.5 million people live in the hurricane's potential impact zone, FEMA Administrator David Paulison said Thursday. In Galveston, Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas told the island's 60,000 people that they should leave. By 7:30 ET, the city had finished evacuating to Austin thousands of residents who needed assistance leaving because of age, disability or lack of reliable transportation. Mandatory evacuations remained in effect for low-lying coastal areas northeast and southwest of Galveston, in Chambers, Matagorda and Brazoria counties. Some Brazoria County residents said they didn't want to leave but realized it was in their best interest to do so. "You don't have a choice when you have kids," Deborah Davis of Freeport told CNN affiliate KPRC-TV in Houston. Farther inland, about 100,000 residents in low-lying areas surrounding Houston began evacuating Thursday afternoon as Ike headed for the Texas coast, officials said. Watch Gov. Rick Perry warn residents of Ike's potential » . But the remaining 4 million residents were told they could stay home, even as government offices and schools prepared to close Friday in Houston in anticipation of the hurricane. "We are only evacuating areas subject to a storm surge," said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, the county's chief executive officer. "Yes, we know you will lose electricity. But you're not in danger of losing your life, so stay put." Ships in port were told to leave, said Port of Houston spokeswoman Linda Whitlock. The area's two major airports, George Bush Intercontinental and William P. Hobby, also halted all commercial flights. More than 1,300 inmates from the Texas Correctional Institutions Division's Stevenson Unit in Cuero were being evacuated to facilities in Beeville and Kenedy, Perry's office said, and 597 were transferred from the substance abuse Glossbrenner Unit in San Diego, in south Texas, to Dilley. CNN's Mike Mount contributed to this report. | Life-threatening floods expected in parts of coastal Texas, agency says .
Hurricane Ike could make landfall near Galveston Island as early as Saturday .
About 100,000 evacuated from Houston; 4 million more told to stay .
All of Galveston Island ordered to evacuate; special needs evacuations completed . |
0a501a4a121df0cf8ddf2b6dd77ea57d89c6866d | The Instagram account of the Icelandic Police Force in Reykjavik has become an online hit. Iceland has one of the lowest crime rates in the world, so as well as uphold law and order, the Reykjavik police has time to serve their community in other ways. The account shows snaps of police officers teaching young children how to behave in traffic, find lost dogs, eat ice cream and take part in the local Pride parade. Crimes? What crimes? The Instagram account of the Icelandic Police Force in Reykjavik show pretty much everything but the officers hunting criminals . Fun times: A group of female police officers pose wearing fake mustaches for a fun snap . Skills: A male officer take on the local skater kids and flips the board as if the 90s never ended . Animal lovers: As they do not have enough criminals escaping their prisons, Reykjavik police take care of lost animals and take them back to their owners . The crime rate is extremely low in Iceland compare to the rest of the world - police only shot dead the first person in the country's history in 2013. The man had fired a shotgun at unarmed police, hitting one on the helmet, but the officers still apologised to the gunman's family after the deadly intervention. A 2011 UN study found that Iceland's homicide rate between 1999-2009 never went above 1.8 per 100,000 population on any given year, compared to the U.S. where the rates had been between 5 and 5.8. The total homicide count in 2009 was one, compared to the UK's 724 and Brazil's 43,909. In 2005 there were a total of 98 sexual offences per 100,000 inhabitants and 443 cases of violence against a person. Angelic existence: A policeman has taken a break to make a snowangel . Hardcore: There may not be too many criminals on Iceland, but when they show their ugly faces, these officers are more than prepared to deal with them . To protect and serve: Two officers make sure the geese and ducks in Reykjavik do not starve . A Reykjavik officer serves the community by teaching children how to behave when cycling in traffic . Show and tell: A group of young schoolchildren get to check out a police car . Ice-cream-land: This officer appears to have time to tan and work out as well as enjoy an ice-cream break . Local organisations in need? Police organises a bake sale! Here the Reykjavik Police help out a member of the local community with car trouble . 'Gay 4 a day': In support of Iceland's HBTQ community, the police donned rainbow flags . All for one, one for all: The police took part in the local Pride parade and made sure it went smoothly . | The Reykjavik Police's Instagram account has become an online hit .
Reykjavik and Iceland has one of the lowest crime rates in the world .
The Instagram shows police supporting the community in other ways . |
0a502c5da69019b744204426eaf2fe0bf88ca66b | Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- A much-anticipated meeting Tuesday between military officers of the U.S.-led U.N. Command and North Korea in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea has been postponed, the command said. A new meeting time was not immediately proposed, the command said. They planned to discuss the March 26 sinking of a South Korean warship, the Cheonan. The U.N. officers were slated to be U.S. colonels, as the United States holds responsibility for U.N. security forces in Korea. North Korea had accepted a U.N. proposal for the meeting of colonel-level leaders to be a precursor to talks between generals on the contentious naval incident. The demilitarized zone was created as part of the armistice signed between North and South Korea in 1953 that halted the Korean War, but the war has never officially ended. The United Nations and North Korea began occasional meetings between generals -- "General Officer Talks" -- at Panmunjom in 1998 to lessen tensions. There have been 16 such meetings to date, the last one in March 2009, the United Nations said. On Friday, the United Nations formally condemned the sinking of the Cheonan but did not specifically name North Korea, which an international joint civilian-military investigation deemed culpable. Australia, Britain, the United States, Sweden and South Korea provided experts for the inquiry. "The Security Council deplores the attack," the 15-member council said Friday in what is known as a presidential statement. It urged that "appropriate and peaceful measures be taken against those responsible for the incident aimed at the peaceful settlement of the issue." It also called for full adherence to the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement, which ended hostilities in the Korean War. Despite the absence of North Korea's name in the condemnation, Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the message to the communist nation is "unmistakable." "This statement is notable and it is clear," Rice said after its approval at a Friday session. "It uses the term 'attack' repeatedly, which you don't have to be a scholar of the English language to understand is not a neutral term." South Korea welcomed the statement. "I think it's crystal clear that [the] Security Council made it clear that North Korea [is] to be blamed and to be condemned," said Park In-kook, South Korea's ambassador to the United Nations. A presidential statement, unlike a Security Council resolution, is not legally binding, though it requires approval of the council's five permanent members: China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and United States. The Security Council expressed "deep sympathy and condolences" for the deaths of 46 sailors aboard the Cheonan. The isolated North has maintained its innocence, rejecting the investigation findings outright, questioning the validity of the experts involved, asking to conduct its own inquiry and telling the Security Council that North Korea is the true victim of a conspiracy. A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, called the presidential statement "devoid of any proper judgment," according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Friday. He added the case "should have been settled between the North and the South without referring it to the U.N. The DPRK remains unchanged in its stand to probe the truth about the case to the last." | Officers were to discuss sinking of South Korean warship .
United Nations says meeting could be precursor to higher-level meetings .
North Korea maintains its innocence in the incident . |
0a50865864a332a56d91e2929d8a5cf7a185107d | Better late than never for Ian Poulter, who on Thursday produced what he considers his best round of a dreadful year at the penultimate tournament of the season. A dusted-off putter from better times made the difference, leaving him second in the Turkish Airlines Open after an eight-under-par round. By his own four-letter description, Poulter’s 2014 campaign has been woeful, with injuries, a missed cut at The Open, Twitter rows and an underwhelming Ryder Cup by his standards. In that time his world ranking tumbled from 12th to 44, leaving him in danger of slipping out of the top 50 for the first time since September 2006. But Thursday afternoon there were signs that the 38-year-old was somewhere close to his best, following a sixth-placed finish in China last week with a sublime round of seven birdies, an eagle and only one dropped shot. Ian Poulter insists he is 'feeling right now' after a year in which he has 'played s***' as he moves second . Miguel Angel Jimenez leads the Turkish Airlines Open on nine under par, a shot ahead of Poulter . He cited the new Titleist clubs he switched to after the Ryder Cup as well a putter he unearthed from the 2013 Open, in which he finished third. ‘I’d played s*** all year,’ Poulter said. ‘There’s no other word for it. It was disappointing. There was nothing good coming out of 2014. ‘It’s been tough to take, it really has. I thought I was doing the right things at the start of the year and took a massive step backwards with injuries and trying to play through them is not good. ‘That’s a horrible spiral to be in when you’ve got two tour cards to make sure you maintain. Thankfully I’m feeling right now.’ Poulter (left, taking an approach shot on the 11 and right, his reaction to the shot) is second on eight under par . Poulter added: ‘I am having a boost at the right time. Sometimes you get a new car and it makes you feel good. I got new sticks in the bag. It felt great to be able to do that and that they worked really quickly. ‘When you get something new you are excited to use it. I have been excited for the last couple of weeks. I am happy with everything.’ Miguel Angel Jimenez led by a stroke on a day that all but eliminated Jamie Donaldson’s chances of snatching the Race to Dubai from Rory McIlroy. The Welshman needs to win here and in Dubai next week while hoping McIlroy finishes outside the top five when he returns in the desert. But a level-par round of 72 left the Ryder Cup player nine shots behind Jimenez, while the other two Race contenders in Sergio Garcia and Victor Dubuisson were horribly off the pace, shooting rounds of 75 and 77 respectively. Meanwhile, Turkey insists it is still bidding to host the 2022 Ryder Cup, a day after announcing their withdrawal over environmental concerns. Wales' Jamie Donaldson is now highly unlikely to catch Rory McIlroy in the Race to Dubai . The Welshman had a poor day and will hope to recover at in Antalya over the next few rounds . | Ian Poulter sits second at Turkish Airlines Open after first round .
Miguel Angel Jimenez leads on nine under par, one shot clear of Poulter .
Poulter says he 'is feeling right now' after a year in which he's 'played s***'
Jamie Donaldson's hopes are all but over in Race to Dubai . |
0a50aaed288b397ea5e707968836907db436e6b6 | His turn as brooding Jon Snow in Game of Thrones won him a legion of female fans - and Kit Harington just got even more eligible. The British actor, who has seen his star rapidly rise in the last year, has been snapped up as the face - and feet - of Jimmy Choo's spring/summer 2015 campaign. Kit, 28, who also starred as Albert Narracott in the original West End production of War Horse, was hand-picked for the campaign because of his 'masculinity and style'. Scroll down for video . Game Of Thrones star Kit Harington, who plays Jon Snow, has been snapped up as the face of Jimmy Choo . Speaking about her choice, creative director Sandra Choi said: 'Kit perfectly embodies the Jimmy Choo Man. 'He has a natural and alluring masculinity and an effortless sense of style. His cool attitude and smouldering sensuality belie a true British gentleman.' Speaking about his latest modelling gig, Kit, who currently stars in Testament Of Youth, said: 'I was very excited to be chosen as the face for such a highly regarded brand and to play a role in defining who the Jimmy Choo man is. 'It was a fun shoot and a great experience working with Steven Klein.' Complementing Kit's campaign is the women's campaign featuring American model, Ondria Hardin . Jimmy Choo Spring 2015 Heels . Get your Jimmy Choos on . Visit site . The latest Jimmy Choo campaign showcases some wild new heels that encompass a multitude of the season's trends. We're counting color-blocking, texture, animal prints, cut-outs, peep toes, t-straps, geometric shapes and more! Phew! Way to get your bang for your buck. As we anxiously await for this product to hit stores, check out other options by the coveted shoe designer in Nordstrom's collection (right). The campaign paired the pony-fur, cone-heels with a black zip-up mini for a leggy look. We'd also love to see the footwear worn with a pair of sleek black trousers. For more animal fun check out our edit below. We love the lace-up ankle-strap detail on Loeffler Randall's version from Revolve and are tempted to splurge on the discounted, comfortable-looking low heel, zebra print pair by Saint Laurent, available on The Outnet. Gianvito Rossi Leopard Print Calf Hair Pumps . Visit site . Steve Madden Varcityl . Visit site . Saint Laurent Zebra Print Calf Hair Pumps (Now $397.50) Visit site . Loeffler Randall Ambrose Sandal . Visit site . According to the brand the Jimmy Choo campaigns complement each other with a shared creative vision . Accompanying Kit's campaign, which was shot by top photographer Steven Klein, is the women’s campaign featuring American model, Ondria Hardin. According to Jimmy Choo, the ads complement each other with a shared creative vision; the two stars are in synergy, seemingly connected in the same plot but in separate scenes. Kit wears the silver metallic Belgravia sneaker lit to appear like liquid steel while Ondria wears shoes and bags from the SS15 collection in graphic racing flag black and white monochrome. Kit's turn as brooding illegitimate son Jon Snow in Game of Thrones won him a legion of female fans . The 28-year-old is currently the star of First World War weepie Testament Of Youth alongside Alicia Vikander . | Brooding UK actor, 28, models footwear for the luxury brand .
He stars alongside American model, Ondria Hardin .
Chosen for his 'alluring masculinity' and 'effortless sense of style' |
0a50d58bc0b4bf64be661449b28579c0e77f59e7 | Cover: No Easy Day is scheduled for release on September 4 . The Navy SEAL turned author who was there as Osama bin Laden was killed and promised to 'set the record straight' about the mission that led to his demise has been identified as a soldier who has since retired from service. The book's publisher announced on Wednesday that Mark Owen's 'No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden' would tell the real story about the raid in Abottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011. The book, to be published under the pseudonym 'Mark Owen,' is scheduled to be released on September 11 - the 11th anniversary of the devastating terror attacks in New York and Washington, DC. But the former serviceman's attempts to remain anonymous were foiled on Thursday, when FoxNews.com identified him as Matt Bissonnette, 36, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, who retired shortly after the bin Laden mission. Publisher Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Group, asked news organizations on Thursday to withhold his name. But that didn’t stop the Associated Press, which later confirmed the the FoxNews.com report through their own sources, and circulated the information through its subscribers. The revelation had alarm bells ringing in military circles. Pentagon spokesman Lt Col James Gregory told MailOnline that the release of a former special ops soldier’s identity can be worrisome. He said: ‘We protect the names of our special ops personnel for security reasons. Any time names are revealed, it’s a concern.' Commando: A photo purported to be of Matt Bissonnette was published by Business Insider on Thursday . In the dark: The Pentagon said that it has not seen a copy of the book, despite regulations designed to keep former and current military personnel from spilling military secrets . Lt Col Gregory also joined a chorus of U.S. agencies who claim they had no knowledge of the book before Wednesday, a possible violation of regulations that bar current and former troops from spilling military matters and national security issues. Other departments, including the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and even the White House, were also caught off-guard. That could spell trouble for Bissonnette, who may be subject to federal charges if sensitive information appears in the book. Lt Col Gregory said that since he is now a private citizen, the military could refer the investigation to the Department of Justice. Target: A member of Seal Team Six shot and killed Osama bin Laden during the elite squad's daring raid of his compound in Abbotabad, Pakistan . Tension: The raid of bin Laden's Abottabad compound was watched by President Obama and his closest advisers in the Situation Room of the White House . But any judicial action would hinge on the content of No Easy Day. 'We . don't know what kind of details [are in the book], so we can't make a . determination over whether it's classified or not,' Lt Col Gregory said. But the publisher maintains that . Bissonnette's writings were properly vetted by a former special . operations attorney, and will not let any military cats out of the bag. Christine Ball, a spokeswoman for the Dutton, the publisher, told Reuters: 'He vetted it for tactical, technical, and procedural information as well as information that could be considered classified by compilation and found it to be without risk to national security.' Terror house: Bin Laden's compound has since been torn down . No Easy Day is co-authored by journalist Kevin . Maurer, has worked on four previous books - including two in the last . year and a half about soldiers in Afghanistan. Maurer . spent the last several years embedded with troops in Iraq and . Afghanistan as a military correspondent for the Fayetteville Observer. The New York Times's Media Decoder blog reported on Wednesday that the book also goes into detail about Bissonnette's incredible training that led him to become a Navy SEAL. The blog added that the book will . culminate with a 'blow by blow' account of the dramatic raid in the . terror leader's Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound. No Easy Day's listing on Amazon.com . says that among Owen's hundreds of missions around the world as a SEAL Team . Six commando was the rescue of Capt Richard Phillips from Somali pirates . in 2009. Watching: In this undated image from video seized from bin Laden's compound, the Al-Qaeda chief watches a TV programme showing an image of President Obama . Owen's book comes on the heels of . another account of the bin Laden takedown that claims the raid was nixed . three times by Obama, but finally went ahead at the urging of Hillary . Clinton. That explosive allegation is . contained in an expose by journalist Rich Miniter, who argues that the . White House’s carefully-crafted narrative of Obama as a decisive leader . who took out the al-Qaeda leader despite the doubts of advisers is a . myth. Leading from Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him was published on Tuesday. A . film about the bin Laden raid, Zero Dark Thirty - from Hurt Locker . director Kathryn Bigelow - is due to be released December 19. Republicans chided the White House earlier this year amid reports that Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal - who both won Academy Awards for The Hurt Locker - were given unprecedented access to classified information. The Obama administration denied the claims. Mission: Bin Laden was killed during the 40-minute operation by the elite Navy SEAL Team Six in his Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound, seen here . | Pentagon, CIA and White House among the agencies who have not seen the book, written anonymously by a SEAL Team Six member .
Soldier identified as retired Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette .
Pentagon says release of his name is a security concern .
Bissonnette could face federal charges if classified information is revealed in the book .
Will hit bookshelves on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks . |
0a50ffc11fb503fb94b153fd09afb0647d42ea74 | By . Simon Tomlinson . PUBLISHED: . 04:14 EST, 5 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:07 EST, 5 February 2013 . Footage emerged today showing South Korea's first successful satellite launch taken from a video camera fixed to the rocket as it blasted into space. The handout video from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) showed the entire process of the rocket entering orbit and releasing the satellite. Wednesday's launch followed two failed attempts in 2009 and 2010 to launch a civilian rocket carrying a scientific satellite. Scroll down for video . New frontiers: South Korea has released video of a satellite being released into orbit after it was successfully launched last week . Line of communication: South Korea said the day after the launch the satellite had successfully made contact with the ground station . Exploring new territory: The country's Satellite Technology Research Centre said first contact was made at 3.27.12am on Thursday, January 31 . South Korea said the day after the launch the satellite had successfully made contact with the ground station. The country's Satellite Technology Research Centre at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) said the first communication contact was made at 3.27.12 am on Thursday. South Korea already has satellites in space which have been launched from other countries. The launch came at a time of tension . resulting from North Korea's announcement that it would carry out more . rocket launches and nuclear test after it was censured by the United . Nations Security Council over the launch of a rocket in December. The reclusive country declared a boycott of all dialogue aimed at ending its nuclear programme. Space race: The handout video from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute showed the entire process of the rocket entering orbit and releasing the satellite . Third time lucky: The launch followed two failed attempts in 2009 and 2010 to launch a civilian rocket carrying a scientific satellite . Lift-off: The launch came at a time of tension resulting from North Korea's announcement that it would carry out more rocket launches and nuclear test after it was censured by the United Nations Security Council . South Korea's U.N. ambassador said today a North Korean nuclear test 'seems to be imminent.' Ambassador . Kim Sook said there are 'very busy activities' taking place at North . Korea's nuclear test site 'and everybody's watching.' Kim . told a press conference that in the event of a nuclear test, he expects . the U.N. Security Council to respond with 'firm and strong measures.' North Korea announced last month that . it would conduct a nuclear test to protest Security Council sanctions . toughened after a satellite launch in December that the U.S. and others . say was a disguised test of banned missile technology. The council ordered North Korea in the sanctions resolution to refrain from a nuclear test or face 'significant action.' Tensions: A researcher at the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety in Daejeon in North Korea looks at radiation detection monitors amid reports that North Korea's nuclear test is 'imminent' Threat to world peace? A man walks past a display illustrating the damage a 1MT class nuclear weapon would cause if detonated in Seoul, at the War Memorial Museum of Korea in Seoul on February 5 . South Korea joined the Security Council in January and holds the rotating presidency this month. Kim said he was speaking as South Korea's ambassador, not as the council president. He said that during negotiations on the latest sanctions resolution all 15 council members - including North Korean ally China - were unified. 'They are very firm and resolute and I would expect very firm and strong measures to be taken in terms of format as well as in substance once they go ahead with such provocation' as a nuclear test, Kim said. Pyongyang's two previous nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009, both occurred after it was condemned by the United Nations for rocket launches. The sanctions, aimed at trying to derail the country's rogue nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, bar North Korea from testing or using nuclear or ballistic missile technology, and from importing or exporting material for these programs. The latest sanctions resolution again demanded that North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons program and cease launches. It slapped sanctions on North Korean companies and government agencies, including its space agency and several individuals. | Footage of Wednesday's launch taken from a camera fixed to the rocket .
Satellite successfully made contact with the ground station on Thursday .
Space race comes as North Korea prepares for 'imminent' nuclear test . |
0a5192922e1a3562a19ee993510956e06f645be2 | As Manchester United manager, he didn't always have much luck on the communication front. But David Moyes seems determined to show he has nailed the language barrier at his new place of employment - by reeling off the four most common words in Spanish. Faced with a room of Spanish journalists during a press conference, the new Real Sociedad coach temporarily ditched his mother tongue and attempted to count to four in the local language. In the toe-curling interview, he even appeared to follow in the notorious footsteps of Steve McLaren and Joey Barton by answering the question with an ever-so-slight Spanish accent. David Moyes attempted to show he had slotted into Spanish life during his Real Sociedad press conference by reeling off the four most common words in the Spanish language . The Sociedad boss said, 'they (B team) have been training with me uno, dos, tres, cuatro times' When asked about the B team's prospects, the 51-year-old Glaswegian told journalists that he had seen them train 'dos, tres, cuatro' times. But he couldn't quite keep up the charade, adding in English: 'But I have not seem them play.' The baffling interview comes after Moyes spent the first game of his new career in San Sebastian shouting 'Stefano' to his players - despite no-one in the squad bearing that name. A video of the press conference quickly spread online and the Scot was ridiculed for his bumbling efforts. Andy Jess wrote on Twitter: 'David Moyes trying to speak Spanish, it's like yer dad trying to order a meal on holiday... The waiter speaks better English than him.' Sergi Dominguez posted: 'Here's David Moyes attempting to speak Spanish. Couldn't have asked for a better laugh.' The baffling interview comes after Moyes spent his first game yelling out 'Stefano' to his players - despite no-one in the squad bearing that name . While Chris Schilling wrote: 'David Moyes' Spanish lessons are going well, I see.' And Max Sjoblom wrote: 'David moyes speaking Spanish reminds me of every hotel in Ibiza I've ever stayed in full of jocks'. The video prompted comparison with the excruciating Steve McLaren interview, which was carried out with Dutch media when he became a club boss there in 2008. In a television interview which became a huge hit on YouTube, McClaren appeared to emulate the great Dutch coaches Marco van Basten and Guus Hiddink by trying to sound like them. There was speculation that McClaren was deliberately speaking with a Dutch accent as a private joke but reports at the time suggested it was no prank - and that was how he spoke English over there. QPR midfielder Joey Barton was also ridiculed for his French accent at Marseille after a hilarious press conference in which he acknowledged that he sounded like a cast member of 'Allo 'Allo. In 2012, after making his debut for the club, Barton conducted his post-match press conference in English - but using a bizarre French accent . After the interview, Barton tweeted: 'Steve MaClaren (sic) eat your heart out...' He later added: 'In my defence, it is very difficult to do a press conference in Scouse for a room full of French journalists. 'The alternative is to speak like a 'Allo Allo!' character which is choose. Its simply a case of you had to be there. #youstupidwomen!' He even came up with a novel name for the language, and said: 'I am christening this new language Bartonese.' Moyes was appointed at Real Sociedad last month following his disastrous 10-month spell at Old Trafford. He is one of just a few British managers who have tried their luck abroad. The team drew Moyes's opening match, before winning 3-0 win against Elche in the second game. But he made an faux pas during his first game when the touchline camera revealed he was frantically shouting 'Stefano!' at one of his players - despite having 11 days to learn his players' names. As Moyes talked about Real Sociedad afterwards, it was also noticeable that he slipped between 'they' and 'we'. | David Moyes speaks in Spanish during Real Sociedad press conference .
The former Manchester United boss counts to four to show his new skills .
Comes after he mysteriously yelled 'Stefano!' at players during first match .
Fellow boss Steve McClaren picked up a Dutch accent while in Holland .
Joey Barton was also ridiculed for his French accent in Marseilles . |
0a51bc43fb33d8da710e9969a73c23e031e4630d | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 14:10 EST, 26 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 20:09 EST, 27 January 2014 . Leah Vincent was born into the Yeshivish community, a fundamentalist sect of ultra-Orthodox Judaism. The fifth of 11 children born to a prominent Orthodox rabbi in Pittsburgh. Leah and her ten siblings were raised to worship two things: God and the men who ruled their world. At the age of 15, Leah was preparing for marriage. But the tradition-bound future Leah envisioned for herself was cut short when, at 16, she was caught exchanging letters with a male friend questioning her ultraorthodox Jewish faith. Scroll down for video . Estranged: Leah Vincent was born into the Yeshivish community, a fundamentalist sect of ultra-Orthodox Judaism but she was shunned by her parents at the age of 17 . She had violated the religious law that forbids contact between members of the opposite sex. ‘I was now marked as a girl who had spoken with boys. I was no longer a good girl,’ she says. ‘I wanted to be good. I was just too curious. My evil desires had momentarily led me astray,' she told the New York Post. ‘Your behavior has become unacceptable,’ said her mother. ‘We give you chance after chance, and you keep on messing up and hurting people. Disappointing people.' ‘You are not getting any more allowance. You’ll have to figure out how to get by on your own,’ she continued. ‘You think you’re so grown-up? Let’s see how grown-up you are.’ The final straw was when she purchased a sweater that her parents deemed immodest; she expressed an ambition to one day attend college and doubted the strict codes of conduct prescribed by her religion. Leah’s parents were unforgiving. Afraid, in part, that her behavior would affect the marriage prospects of their other children, they put her on a plane to New York City before her 18th birthday and cut off ties. Video filmed by Haimy Assefa for Footsteps.org . Shunned: At the age of 17, Leah Vincent was sent to live in New York, alone. It was there she learned about life in the real world but not before making a number of mistakes . After the sweater incident, Vincent’s parents found her a studio apartment in Kensington, Brooklyn for $450 a month and job as a secretary that paid minimum wage. They paid the first month’s rent — but after that she was completely on her own in every sense of the word. In her Yeshivish community, there was a strict segregation of the sexes. ‘Women in my family were not allowed to attend college or become Jewish scholars. Men had the ultimate authority in the home and in the community,’ Vincent writes in her memoir, Cut Me Loose. A girl’s two most important goals, she says, are to be modest and obedient. In order to reach these goals, according to Vincent, a girl must: . Wear shirts buttoned to her neck with sleeves covering her elbows and with skirts that fall below the knee. Even wearing patterned tights or wide belts are banned as too provocative. Abstain from talking to unmarried men. Be seen and not heard. The community frowned on women singing or talking too loudly. Orthodox Judaism: Women must abstain from talking to unmarried men.¿Essentially, be seen and not heard. The community would frown on women singing or talking too loudly. Leah's parents believed that anything to the contrary would jeopardize her chances of finding a husband . These rules (and many more) were vital to maintaining a good reputation, an absolute necessity for landing a suitable husband. ‘A girl’s sexuality was so powerful,’ says Vincent, ‘any hint of it had to always be completely hidden.’ At 17, she was banished by her parents and left to fend for herself in New York City. It was then her heartbreaking and terrifying experience began. For several years she lived alone in a shabby studio apartment in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn. She was lonely. Her mother rarely phoned. Her father had severed communication entirely. Accustomed to seeking male approval, she now attracted plenty of the wrong kind. She approached men hung out on the local basketball court and began a series of grim and risky relationships, culminating in her rape age 17 by a boyfriend. ‘I soon began to stop and watch the games,’ she says. ‘I longed for my stares to beckon one of those people to the bench where I sat, to talk to me.’ Several of the men began to flirt with her and one, called Nicholas, took a special interest in her. When Nicholas asked her to accompany him back to his apartment, she said yes, knowing that as a good Orthodox girl, she could not date or marry him. Awakening: Leah was unprepared to navigate the freedoms of secular life. She worked as a prostitute, cut herself, and had an affair with a married professor . Ultimately in the basement at a Manhattan club, Nicholas raped her. Not even knowing what intercourse entailed, and asked herself, ‘Was that sex?’ She lacked the basic understanding of the body and the tools to deal with men to whom she had spent a childhood learning to yield and please. By 19, Ms. Vincent had overdosed, swallowing a half-bottle of aspirin after mutilating herself with a rusty razor and ended up spending 10 days in a psychiatric hospital.. And by 21 she had tried to establish herself as a Craigslist prostitute. The responses flooded in. She picked one, a lawyer from the Upper East Side. And even though she had been in the city now for several years, even after living a very ‘modern’ life, she still was clueless. She never quoted a fee and . agreed to meet him at his place. He paid her after their second go-round — and only $60. Shamed, she vowed not to prostitute herself again. Cast out in New York City, without a father or husband tethering her to the Orthodox community, Leah was unprepared to navigate the freedoms of secular life. Cut Me Loose: Sin and Salvation After My Ultra-Orthodox Girlhood. The book details Leah Vincents life as she left her Orthodox sect and ventured out into a brave new world . 'There is little room for a single girl in Yeshivish life,' she explains, referring to the many daily restrictions imposed by ultraorthodox practice. 'For a woman, the rhythm of observance is tied to family. One is either a daughter or a wife.' At one point she returned back to the family home for a family dinner. Her parents made her eat off paper plates—not to meet the requirements of Jewish law, her sister explained, but to prevent her from 'contaminating' the family. After Ms. Vincent attempted suicide, she writes, her parents told her other siblings that she just wanted attention and that they should ignore her. She spent the next few years using her sexuality as a way of attracting the male approval she had been conditioned to seek out as a child, while becoming increasingly unfaithful to the religious dogma of her past. It took Ms. Vincent a long time, years even, to shake the feeling that she was corrupted and didn’t deserve happiness. Long after she had dropped the external markers of religiosity—her modest clothes and dietary restrictions—she still judged her actions based off of the standards with which she was raised. 'Even though I put on pants and was having sex with people, it doesn’t meant that my brain bounced back into normal, un-fundamentalist religion shape,' she said. She succeeded however, when it came to education. She had been accepted to Brooklyn College on a scholarship and achieved straight-A’s. She became involved with a married professor, 42 years her senior who encouraged her to speak up when it came to her opinions on politics, culture and the world. Leah has tried to confront the oppressive world of religious fundamentalism and the broader issues that face even the most secular young women as they grapple with sexuality and identity. Ms. Vincent also used her freedom to attend college, and with the encouragement of the prof, was awarded a scholarship at Harvard earning a master's degree at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Happy endings: Leah eventually found true love, graduated from Harvard after winning a scholarship there and is now married with a daughter . Ms. Vincent never fully explains her parents' vicious behavior. 'I felt like I was caught in a garish nightmare,' she says, recalling the period that led to her estrangement. Now at the age of 31, Leah is married to Zeke, who also left a Hasidic upbringing in Borough Park, Queens. The two have since married and have a daughter. ‘I fiercely believe that all people should have a right to a self-determined life,’ she says. 'My parents getting stricter and stricter, my petty transgressions ballooning into terrifying sins.' It appears as though in the name of religion, they had forgotten basic humanity. | At the age of 17, Leah Vincent was sent to live in New York, alone. It was there she learned about life in the real world but not before making a number of mistakes .
Leah was unprepared to navigate the freedoms of secular life. She worked .
as a prostitute, cut herself, and had an affair with a married .
professor .
Leah eventually found true love, graduated from Harvard after winning a scholarship there and is now married with a daughter . |
0a52b3e112f60f5edeed97bd20748caea42738fb | When Procter & Gamble shut down some access to the Internet this week, it wasn't to keep employees from messing around on Facebook or crafting personal e-mails on company time. Instead, it was to get them to quit sucking up the company's Web bandwidth by listening to music and watching movies. In a memo Tuesday, the company, which sells everything from Tide detergent to Pringles to Duracell batteries, told its 129,000 employees they can no longer use music-streaming site Pandora or movie site Netflix at work. "We are one of the more lenient companies in terms of providing access to the internet, but there are some sites which don't serve a specific business purpose -- in this case, Netflix and Pandora," Procter& Gamble spokesman Paul Fox said in an e-mail. "They are both great sites, but if you want to download movies or music, do it on your own time." According to the memo, an internal report found that P&G employees were watching 50,000 five-minute YouTube videos and listening to 4,000 hours of music on Pandora on a typical day. At one point, the company's Web capacity was overtaxed, "requiring immediate interaction," the memo said. Since the company uses YouTube as a tool to sell its products, Netflix was banned instead in the effort to free up bandwidth. Since the dawn of the Internet age, companies have struggled with how to handle personal computer use while employees are on the clock. It's not rare for companies, both large and small, to ban some or all personal Internet and even e-mail use. But as more and more businesses need Web access to function (and as web content becomes more data-intensive), many are struggling with a so-called bandwidth "spectrum crunch." Wireless carriers are also struggling with the issue. The growth of the smartphone and tablet markets have dramatically increased the amount of data being accessed at any given time. Global mobile data traffic is just about doubling every year and will continue to do so through at least 2016, according to Cisco's Mobile Visual Networking Index, the industry's most comprehensive annual study. Steve Feller, a steering committee member of an IT professional group in Cincinnati (where Procter & Gamble is based) told the Cincinnati Enquirer that social networking and other personal computer use has become a serious concern at some companies, threatening to slow the flow of data. "Effective IT leaders need to address this within their companies now," said Feller. "It is not something to be ignored." But it's not just employees. Companies themselves are using the web more. The rise of cloud computing means that a lot of data that once would have been stored internally is being accessed from the web, sometimes multiple times in a day. "As P&G drives to become one of the most digitally advanced companies in the world, more and more of our business processes, applications and systems are being web enabled," Fox said in the e-mail. "That in turn makes bandwidth capacity and availability even more critical." Ad Age notes that Netflix and Pandora competitors -- such as Spotify, Hulu and Vudu -- aren't blocked, although the company says Tuesday's move may just be a first step. | Procter & Gamble bans Pandora, Netflix for its 129,000 employees .
Company: Audit showed tens of thousands of minutes on the sites each day .
As mobile and cloud computing expand, bandwidth has grown more precious . |
0a5458d3427b290524a8df11d8503a5b57b32747 | By . Deni Kirkova . PUBLISHED: . 04:54 EST, 31 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 04:55 EST, 31 December 2013 . New research reveals office workers can save more than £1,300 over the year just by taking in lunch from home each day . The New Year will have many of us making resolutions to save money here and there. And new research reveals office workers can save more than £1,300 over the year just by taking in lunch from home each day. According to the survey on British office workers' lunch habits, a third were found to spend more than £5 on food and drink most days, which totals more than £100 . each month. And those who work near a luxury food store could be paying close to double that. A thrifty fifth of the 4,000 surveyed claimed they pay out almost nothing at all on food or drink at the office. Those . daily £2.50 coffees can be banished by taking in a flask - you can pick one at around £10, making its money back in less than a week. The survey by flexible workspace provider Regus highlights a polarity in spending habits and a growing concern about office cooking facilities which aren't fit for use. More than half of professionals said they bring in their own packed lunch, while a frustrated fifth said they're hampered by inadequate kitchens at work. Nearly two thirds reported that they eat more when they are stressed, and seven in ten eat healthier meals when they don't have a long commute. Nearly two thirds of those polled reported that they eat more when they are stressed, and seven in ten eat healthier meals when they don't have a long commute . 'Finances and health usually come high up most people's priorities for the New Year and it is clear that making a few simple changes, like preparing food to take to work, can make a significant difference to monthly bank balances - and waistlines,' says a Regus spokesperson. 'Two thirds of firms, according to our previous research, recognise that smarter working practices like flexible working help staff maintain a healthier work-life balance, and seven in ten workers believe flexi-hours and multi-location working alleviate stress.' | A third of British office workers spend more than £5 on food a day .
More than half prepare a packed lunch, but...
A fifth say they are hampered by inadequate office kitchens . |
0a54f11827ea3fa8659e607e9fcb8f38d49611db | (CNN) -- The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times were awarded two Pulitzer Prizes each Monday for their outstanding work in journalism. The New York Times' Clifford J. Levy and Ellen Barry won in the international reporting category for their work on the struggling Russian justice system, while the paper's David Leonhardt won for commentary. The Los Angeles Times won in the public service category for its coverage of Bell, a small California city where officials' sky-high salaries sparked national outrage and then arrests. The paper's Barbara Davidson won for feature photography. Surprisingly, given big news stories last year like the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the earthquake in Haiti, the prize board did not name a winner in the breaking news reporting category, a traditional favorite. Finalists in that category included the Chicago Tribune staff, for its coverage of the deaths of two Chicago firefighters, the staff at The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, for their coverage of the Haiti earthquake, and the staff of The Tennessean for its coverage of a devastating flood, the board said. The Pulitzer Prizes are U.S. awards handed out once a year to recognize outstanding work in journalism and the arts. Read bios and more about this year's winners . Jennifer Egan's book, "A Visit from the Goon Squad," won the award for fiction. Her book is about growing up and old in the digital age, the board said. In the music category, Zhou Long won for "Madame White Snake," which was premiered by Opera Boston at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in February 2010. Paige St. John of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Florida won the investigative reporting award for her coverage of the state's property-insurance system. ProPublica's Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein won in the national reporting category, while three photographers at The Washington Post won for breaking news photography for their work around the earthquake in Haiti. Here is a complete list of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize Winners: . JOURNALISM . Public Service -- Los Angeles Times . Breaking News Reporting -- No Award . Investigative Reporting -- Paige St. John of Sarasota Herald-Tribune . Explanatory Reporting -- Mark Johnson, Kathleen Gallagher, Gary Porter, Lou Saldivar and Alison Sherwood of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . Local Reporting -- Frank Main, Mark Konkol and John J. Kim of Chicago Sun-Times . National Reporting --Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein of ProPublica . International Reporting -- Clifford J. Levy and Ellen Barry of The New York Times . Feature Writing --Amy Ellis Nutt of The Star-Ledger, Newark, New Jersey . Commentary -- David Leonhardt of The New York Times . Criticism -- Sebastian Smee of The Boston Globe . Editorial Writing -- Joseph Rago of The Wall Street Journal . Editorial Cartooning -- Mike Keefe of The Denver Post . Breaking News Photography -- Carol Guzy, Nikki Kahn and Ricky Carioti of The Washington Post . Feature Photography -- Barbara Davidson of Los Angeles Times . ARTS . Fiction -- "A Visit from the Goon Squad" by Jennifer Egan (Alfred A. Knopf) Drama -- "Clybourne Park" by Bruce Norris . History -- "The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery" by Eric Foner (W. W. Norton & Company) Biography -- "Washington: A Life" by Ron Chernow (The Penguin Press) Poetry -- "The Best of It: New and Selected Poems" by Kay Ryan (Grove Press) General Nonfiction -- "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" by Siddhartha Mukherjee (Scribner) Music -- "Madame White Snake'" by Zhou Long (Oxford University Press) | The papers snag two awards each .
A prize is not given in the breaking news reporting category .
Jennifer Egan's "A Visit from the Goon Squad" wins for fiction . |
0a54f2c1fd1cd9d43b695fe1afd09e17204d548b | Editor's note: Ben Chavis is the co-author with Carey Blakely of "Crazy Like A Fox: One Principal's Triumph in the Inner City." Chavis received his doctorate in education and philosophy from the University of Arizona and served as principal of American Indian Public Charter School for seven years. Chavis has also worked as a real estate investor. Currently, he is replicating the model he established at American Indian Public Charter School in various schools throughout the U.S. and Canada. Educator Ben Chavis says money isn't enough to improve schools run by incompetent administrators. (CNN) -- Teachers unions and politicians are constantly claiming that K-12 public schools need more money in order to produce good academic results. But does the data support the argument that our schools need more money to succeed? The Oakland Unified School District had a budget of $602 million for the 2008-2009 school year, according to Katy Murphy, an education reporter with the Oakland Tribune. That budget, which includes $77 million spent on consultants, means that the district spends an average of $16,270 per student! What have we, the public taxpayers, received for our exceptionally generous financial support of the Oakland public schools? According to the California Department of Education, the district's reported 2008 California Standardized Test scores show: . 1. Of 707 eighth- and ninth-graders who took the California Standard test for general math: 1 percent tested advanced, 5 percent tested proficient and 94 percent failed by testing below grade level. See details about K-12 schools, teachers » . 2. Of 2,506 ninth- and 10th-grade students who took the California Standards test in algebra: 0 percent tested advanced, 3 percent tested proficient and 97 percent failed the test. How is it possible for a public school system to so liberally spend more than half a billion dollars and still fail to educate 94 percent or more students of all racial backgrounds? Does anyone believe providing more money to these public school systems will enhance these students' academic performance in mathematics? During my principalship at American Indian Public Charter School, we spent less than $8,000 per student, proving that schools did not need more money. We served a student population that is on average 98 percent minority, with 97 percent receiving free or reduced-price lunch and many who are non-English speakers and from single-parent families. AIPCS students spend three to four hours a day working on mathematics and English-language arts. In 2009, they excelled in academics, physical fitness and any standardized test that they were given. The hard work of these students and staff has paid off with virtually all of our eighth-graders testing advanced in algebra, including 100 percent of our eighth-grade black students, Mexican-American students and American Indian students. Before I became its principal, people called American Indian Public Charter School the zoo. The neighbors hated it. They couldn't stand the behavior of the students, who, with little supervision or control, wreaked havoc in the area. Unfortunately, the students who decided to attend the school did not receive the academics and structure they so direly needed. The school was in many ways a failure, a joke, a sham. When I took over as principal in 2000, it was the worst middle school in Oakland. I told the board I would take the job only if they let me go my own way and do what I thought was best. I implemented a golden rule at American Indian Public Charter School for staff, students and families: If you act like a winner, you'll be treated like a winner. If you act like a fool, you'll be treated like a fool. The charter school is now one of the top-scoring schools in the state and is nationally recognized. The United States spends more money on public education than any other country in the world. Yet, we still have a secondary public education system that ranks with Third World countries in preparing our children in English-language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. Washington, D.C.; Detroit, Michigan; Los Angeles, California; Kansas City, Missouri; and numerous other cities throughout the United States are producing the same poor academic results at an extraordinary cost to the taxpayer and a tremendous academic loss to our students and country. I believe all the money in the world would not be enough to improve schools run by incompetent public school administrators. We need proven leaders who can prepare our children to be competitive members in a free-market society. The American public has been conned into believing that public schools need more money. Have you ever met a public school administrator who said they have enough money? President Obama is moving in the "right" direction by reforming public schools to be held responsible to the American public in return for more money. It's very clear that most Americans want to ensure that accountability be attached to the stimulus money that is being awarded to all institutions, including public schools. Next time you hear school officials or politicians begging for more money, ask them how large the district's budget is and how many students are enrolled in their district. Then you do the math. After all, it's your money they want to take. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ben Chavis. | Chavis: "All the money in the world" isn't enough to help poorly run schools .
Author: I turned "worst middle school in Oakland" into a top-scoring school .
D.C., Detroit, L.A. produce poor results at extraordinary taxpayer cost, Chavis says .
Obama is right to require accountability in return for reform money, Chavis says . |
0a563a165097702bd5377ca59de8feebaa77a719 | In an embarrassing blow to its perception from an increasingly skeptical public, the Nigerian military Thursday retracted a report that nearly all the 129 school girls kidnapped by suspected Boko Haram militants had been released. Just hours after a parent of an abducted girl claimed the Defense Ministry lied Wednesday about all but eight girls finding freedom, the director of defense said the initial report was "not intended to deceive the public." Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade's statement didn't indicate how many of the girls were still unaccounted for. "The number of those still missing is not the issue now as the life of every Nigerian is very precious," it said. 'Blatant lie' Distraught parents have waited for news for four days, putting their faith in a military rescue, said Lawan Zanna, father of one of the students. They are shocked that the government resorted to "blatant propaganda" and a "blatant lie," he said. Olukolade said the military received a "major breakthrough" report from a reliable source who supposedly included information from the principal of the school where the students were seized by gunmen Monday night. But the principal denied releasing any information. "I never made that claim to anybody," said Asabe Kwambura, principal of Government Girls Secondary School in the northeastern town of Chibok. "A total of 14 out of the 129 students taken away managed to escape and the rest are still being held by their captors." Olukolade called the misinformation an "unfortunate development indeed." How many are still missing? Musa Inuwa Kubo, the Borno state education commissioner, said Thursday that 30 students had come home. But the principal and Zanna each put the number at 14. Three girls escaped their captors Wednesday and were returned home by herdsmen, Zanna said. Others escaped from a broken truck as the abductors stopped, he said. The military said "ongoing frantic efforts" of security forces, vigilante groups and hunters are attempting to find and free the students. Rescue teams, aided by surveillance helicopters, were moving deeper into the vast forest that extends into neighboring Cameroon, said Ali Ndume, a senator representing southern Borno state. A broken-down truck believed to have been part of the kidnappers' convoy was found at the edge of the forest, which suggests the abductors took their hostages into the woods on foot, he added. We 'ran into the bush' The incident began Monday night, when militants engaged in a gunbattle with guards at the boarding school, and then herded the students onto vehicles and drove off, authorities said. "They left with us in a convoy into the bush," said one girl who escaped, but, citing security concerns, declined to identify herself. "A group of motorcyclists flanked the convoy to ensure none of us escaped." When a truck broke down, the girls inside were transferred to another truck and the broken one was set afire, the girl said. Another vehicle then broke down and, as the men tried to fix it, "some of us jumped out of the vehicles and ran into the bush," she said. "We later found our way back to Chibok." Boko Haram means "Western education is sin" in the local Hausa language. The Islamist militant group is waging a campaign of violence in northeastern Nigeria, particularly in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states. The militant group has bombed schools, churches and mosques; kidnapped women and children; and assassinated politicians and religious leaders alike. Human Rights Watch says more than 3,000 people have been killed in Boko Haram-related violence in the past five years. Armed militant groups in Nigeria's northeastern region are nothing new, but Boko Haram has taken the violence to unprecedented levels since 2009. In early March, Borno closed its 85 secondary schools and sent more than 120,000 students home after increasing attacks by the group. Chibok is in Borno state. Borno is one of three states under a state of emergency since mid-May. Britain offers help . UNICEF has called for the girls' "immediate and unconditional release" and said attacks on Nigerian schools are getting out of control. British Foreign Secretary William Hague was among the world leaders condemning the kidnappings. "We stand ready to provide assistance to help the Nigerian government ensure that these children can be returned to their families in safety, and to bring to justice those responsible" for the "cowardly act," he said. | Parents accuse the military of lying about the number of girls who are free .
One father says it's only 14 of 129; official says at least 30 girls escaped .
Military continues to search forest in northeast Nigeria, official says . |
0a5691b8fe654b6b2cdace5ab87aff2ee4c23577 | Just over a year ago, Sian Clarke weighted just three and a half stone and nearly died of a cardiac arrest. The 20-year-old, from Solihull, was battling anorexia so severe her own mother considered planning her funeral. With a BMI of just nine, she was moved between six hospitals in less than a year – including to a secure ward with very unwell and violent patients. But none of the facilities seemed able to treat her illness, prompting her mother to accuse the NHS of 'leaving her to die'. But now Miss Clarke is on the road to recovery, planning her 21st birthday party and acting as a mentor to others with eating disorders. Sian Clarke, 20, has battled anorexia since she was 15 and bullied at school. In June 2013, she suffered a cardiac arrest and nearly died. Now, after a course of treatment, she is on the road to recovery and is mentoring other people with eating disorders . Miss Clarke, pictured here in hospital, has been treated at six different hospitals since 2012. Her mother says the NHS 'left her to die' and that she received 'appalling care' After her cardiac arrest, Miss Clarke was put on a course of treatment and is on the road to recovery. She is staying at Beverley House, a mental health centre in Birmingham, but hopes to move back home soon . Miss Clarke first developed an eating disorder at 15 years old. She was being bullied at school and couldn't cope with it, and started worrying about her weight. Things went from bad to worse and she spent much of her teens in and out of treatment centres. But doctors struggled to find her the appropriate way to help her - and her weight continued to drop to dangerous levels. In October 2012, she was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. This led to her being passed between six different hospitals for treatment - a move her mother Denise calls 'appalling'. Mrs Clarke, 41, said: 'It's no joke to say that I would be planning her funeral now if she hadn't finally made it to the centre that helped her. It's shocking, and I'm absolutely appalled. 'The NHS has got a lot to answer for. This is somebody's life - but everyone seems to blame someone else.' In October 2012, Miss Clarke was was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. This led to her being passed between many hospitals for treatment - a move her mother Denise has described previously as 'appalling' 'Sian was left to die. She was passed between different hospitals, and none of them could treat her anorexia. 'The doctors told me that she was on the brink of death.' In June 2013, when Miss Clarke was 19 and being treated at the Cygnet Hospital in Derby, she went into cardiac arrest. This is where the heart stops pumping blood around the body – usually because the electrical activity of the heart becomes so chaotic that it stops pumping and quivers or 'fibrillates' instead. Miss Clarke collapsed and stopped breathing - a moment her mother described as 'hell'. 'I would say to those who are going through the same thing: you have to believe in yourself. You can beat this thing,' Miss Clarke said. She is pictured in hospital with her mother Denise . At one point, Mrs Clarke, 41, began planning her daughter's funeral. But now mother and daughter are now planning Sian's 21st birthday party instead . 'It's a mother's worst nightmare. She was so close to death,' said Mrs Clarke. 'We had a bedside vigil and I started thinking I would have to start planning her funeral. 'I could easily be visiting her grave now.' Miss Clarke was rushed to the Derby Royal Hospital, where she underwent emergency treatment. She had a BMI (Body Mass Index) of just nine and was not expected to live. The typical BMI for a healthy 19-year-old girl ranges from 18 to 26. 'No-one should technically be alive at three-and-a-half stone,' her mother said. 'Sian was so emaciated you could see every bone, and her teeth were protruding out of her mouth.' Anorexia can lead to a life-threatening cardiac arrest because the heart needs adequate amounts of potassium, sodium and other electrolytes in a certain balance. Miss Clarke now wants to raise as much awareness to anorexia as possible, including posting this striking image of herself on Facebook . Starving the body depletes these electrolyte and the electrical activity of the heart is interrupted, leading to heart rhythm problems or cardiac arrest. Miss Clarke was put on a course of treatment and gradually started to get well. While she has not fully recovered, Miss Clarke hopes to return home from the treatment centre soon. And grateful at being given the chance to live, she now wants to help others with eating disorders recover. Her mother said: 'Sian says to me now "Mum this can't happen to anyone else".' In order to raise awareness, she has put a striking image of herself, leaning over a toilet, on Facebook. The accompanying message reads: 'A struggle is an easy thing to mistake for attention. 'You can't see it by merely looking at someone, or even begin to know what happens behind closed doors. 'The pain, anguish, torment and overall, the fight. Stand up to eating disorders.' She also helps to mentor other people with anorexia, and has been awarded a national Service Users Award. 'I feel great,' Miss Clarke said. 'Don't get me wrong, I have my off days. 'There are times when I get on the scales and think: "What have I done?" 'This illness has taken over my life since I was 15 years old. I have not been able to live a normal life. 'I would say to those who are going through the same thing: you have to believe in yourself. 'You have to focus on the reason you are doing what you are doing. 'You can beat this thing.' A spokesperson for NHS England (West Midlands), who are responsible for Miss Clarke's care, said: 'We are committed to ensuring that patients have access to safe, effective and high-quality mental health services. 'An investigation into the care and treatment of this patient has taken place and a full response has been shared with the parents and family. 'If there are any further concerns, we would encourage the family to contact us to discuss them further. 'NHS England takes complaints very seriously and regrets that on this occasion the patient was unhappy with the care and treatment that they received.' | Sian Clarke, 20, developed anorexia at 15 years old after being bullied .
By 19, he teenager had been treated in six different hospitals .
Her mother said the NHS passed her around and 'left her to die'
In June 2013 she suffered a cardiac arrest as her weight was so low .
After receiving a course of treatment she is now on the road to recovery .
Wants to raise awareness to eating disorders and is mentoring others . |
0a5706614db11f12c2527bf7070f6fb03221b788 | Billionaire property investor Jeff Greene recently spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying he believes people in the United States need to stop aiming so high and start living with less. 'America's lifestyle expectations are far too high and need to be adjusted so we have less things and a smaller, better existence,' Greene, who ran for the Democratic Senate nomination in Florida in 2010, said in an interview. 'We need to reinvent our whole system of life.' The only issue Americans took with the 60-year-old's opinions was, well, everything, given he owns a $195 million palace in Beverly Hills, which has 23 bathrooms and a rotating dance floor, as well as four other blue ribbon properties, and is famous for throwing wild parties on a 145-foot yacht, Yahoo! Homes reported. Scroll down for video . This is 'living with less'?: Billionaire property investor Jeff Greene, 60, who recently said the 'lifestyle expectations of Americans is far too high', is the owner of America's most expensive home - this Beverly Hills estate - which is listed for $195 million . Lifestyles of the rich: Jeff Greene is seen here with his wife, Mei Sze Greene, at an event in New York in August . Aerial: The property comes complete with a vineyard that produces private label wine from 'top grapes' Greene's claim to real estate fame is the Palazzo di Amore, or Palace of Love, that sits on 25 acres in Beverly Hills and includes a vineyard that produces 400 to 500 cases of private label wine a year. It became the most expensive home in the U.S. last year when Greene listed it for $195 million. The main house is 35,000-square-feet, with 12 bedrooms, including a master suite measuring 5,000-square-feet. There is a a 15,000-square-foot entertainment center with a bowling alley, 50-seat theater, a 10,000-bottle cellar and a kitchen with a walk-in fridge. Greene paid $35 million for the property in 2007 when it was unfinished, and has since spent between $25 and $40 million completing it. Beach house: Greene also owns this Malibu home, which is currently for sale at $11.5 million . Bungalow: The house backs onto the beach in Malibu and is where Greene often stays . However, the estate is often rented out to royal families and other visiting internationals for hundreds of thousands of dollars a month, and Greene and his wife, Chinese-Australian real estate executive Mei Sze Chan, usually spend their time at a more modest beach-front abode in Malibu. Greene built the three-story modern bungalow in 2010. The home has four bedroom, windows throughout overlooking the ocean, and backs right onto the sand. It is currently listed as for sale at $11.5 million. Prime real estate: When not in California, Greene spends time at this sprawling estate in Palm Beach, Florida . Greene also keeps a prized home in that other luxury real estate mecca, Palm Beach, Florida. There he has a trophy property called La Bellucia - or 'beautiful lady' - which he bought in 2009 for $24 million. The estate dates back to 1920. The main house has nine bedrooms and, like the Malibu home, backs straight onto the water. And, also like his other properties, he performed extensive renovations to expand the existing structure. At the time of the purchase, Greene's estimated fortune was $1.3 billion, which ranked him him as number 317 on the list of the 400 Richest Americans in 2009. Spacious: In 2011 Greene purchased this parcel of land in New Haven, New York, for $36 million . An entrepreneur like Greene would not consider his portfolio complete without a house in Hamptons. And in 2011 he completed that by buying a sprawling 55-acre peninsula in New Haven known as Tyndal Point. The purchase gave Greene three separate houses, two docks, and 3,000 feet of private beach. The initial price was rumored to be $41 million, but Curbed later reported that the final sale was $36 million. Bachelor pad: Before getting married, Greene resided in this Beverly Hills house, which comes complete with a dance club . Greene's fifth property is his oldest. Bought in 2002, before his 2007 marriage, the Beverly Hills abode has come to called Greene's 'bachelor pad'. Yahoo reported the house has five bedrooms and, as every single man needs, a 1,000-bottle wine cellar and a dance club. Greene paid $1.575 million for it and, after languishing on the market for years, recently offloaded it for $8.9 million. Expert: Greene reportedly manages about $2 billion in financial investments, more than $750 million in real estate and at least $1.5 billion in assorted property development projects . Greene's controversial comments at the World Economic Forum came during an interview with Bloomberg. In it he said he said the United States is facing a job crisis that is going to lead to social unrest. Greene said Greene says he manages about $2 billion in financial investments, more than $750 million in real estate and at least $1.5 billion in assorted property development projects. And he does it all on his own, without investors or partners, he said. 'I'm remarkably long for my level of pessimism,' he said. 'Our economy is in deep trouble. 'We need to be honest with ourselves. 'We've had a realistic level of job destruction, and those jobs aren't coming back.' | Jeff Greene, 60, is a billionaire property investor and entrepreneur .
He made his money betting against subprime mortgages .
At the recent World Economic Forum in Switzerland he said Americans need to lower their lifestyle expectations .
He owns five multi-million dollar properties - three in California, one in Florida and one in New York .
His $195 million Beverly Hills estate has been called America's most expensive house . |
0a57c665d1cbd5c52cf05d59c80d4f109be251b6 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 11:03 EST, 5 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:04 EST, 5 December 2013 . One afternoon in October, in the watery no-man's land between Thailand and Myanmar, Muhammad Ismail vanished. Thai immigration officials said he was being deported to Myanmar. In fact, they sold Ismail, 23, and hundreds of other Rohingya Muslims to human traffickers, who then spirited them into brutal jungle camps. Roma Hattu, a Rohingya Muslim woman who is nine months pregnant and been displaced, experiencing labour pains. Myanmar authorities have begun segregating minority Muslims from the Buddhist majority . As thousands of Rohingya flee Myanmar to escape religious persecution, an investigation in three countries has uncovered a clandestine policy to remove Rohingya refugees from Thailand's immigration detention centers and deliver them to human traffickers waiting at sea. The Rohingya are then transported across southern Thailand and held hostage in a series of camps hidden near the border with Malaysia until relatives pay thousands of dollars to release them. Three such camps were found, two based on the testimony of Rohingya held there, and a third by trekking to the site, heavily guarded, near a village called Baan Klong Tor. Thousands of Rohingya have passed through this tropical gulag. An untold number have died there. Worried: Bozor Mohammed from the Rakhine state in Myanmar listens during an interview at his house in Kuala Lumpur . Some have been murdered by camp guards or have perished from dehydration or disease, survivors said in interviews. The Thai authorities say the movement of Rohingya through their country doesn't amount to human trafficking. But in interviews for this story, the Thai Royal Police acknowledged, for the first time, a covert policy called 'option two' that relies upon established human-smuggling networks to rid Thailand of Rohingya detainees. Ismail was one of five Rohingya who said that Thai immigration officials had sold him outright or aided in their sale to human traffickers. Myanmar Rohingya Muslims shout as police place them at the court's detention house in Medan, North Sumatra, on December 4, 2013 . A woman and her children visit their husband and dad of Myanmar Rohingya Muslims at the court's detention house in Medan, North Sumatra . 'It seemed so official at first,' said Ismail, a wiry farmer with a long narrow face and tight curly hair. 'They took our photographs. They took our finger prints. And then once in the boats, about 20 minutes out at sea, we were told we had been sold.' Ismail said he ended up in a camp in southern Thailand. So did Bozor Mohamed, a Rohingya whose frail body makes him seem younger than his 21 years. The camp was guarded by men with guns and clubs, said Mohamed, and at least one person died every day due to dehydration or disease. 'I used to be a strong man,' the former rice farmer said in an interview, as he massaged his withered legs. A Thailand Immigration Police van carries a group of Rohingya Muslims to a port outside Ranong city on October 30, 2013 . A Thai fishing boat plies the invisible maritime border between Thailand and Myanmar, with the hills of Myanmar visible in the background . A guide walks through the woods outside a suspected human trafficking camp near Baan Klong Tor in southern Thailand . Mohamed and others say they endured hunger, filth and multiple beatings. Mohamed's elbow and back are scarred from what he said were beatings administered by his captors in Thailand while he telephoned his brother-in-law in Malaysia, begging him to pay the $2,000 ransom they demanded. Some men failed to find a benefactor in Malaysia to pay their ransom. The camp became their home. 'They had long beards and their hair was so long, down to the middle of their backs, that they looked liked women,' said Mohamed. What ultimately happens to Rohingya who can't buy their freedom remains unclear. A Thai-based smuggler said some are sold to shipping companies and farms as manual laborers for 5,000 to 50,000 baht each, or $155 to $1,550. 'Prices vary according to their skills,' said the smuggler, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The site of a suspected human trafficking camp is seen near Baan Klong Tor in southern Thailand October 30 . The Arakan Project, a Rohingya advocacy group based in Thailand, says it has interviewed scores of Rohingya who have passed through the Thai camps and into Malaysia. Many Rohingya who can't pay end up as cooks or guards at the camps, said Chris Lewa, Arakan Project's director. Presented with the findings of this report, Thailand's second-highest-ranking policeman made some startling admissions. Thai officials might have profited from Rohingya smuggling in the past, said Police Maj-Gen Chatchawal Suksomjit, Deputy Commissioner General of the Royal Thai Police. He also confirmed the existence of illegal camps in southern Thailand, which he called 'holding bays'. A tent is seen in the woods outside a suspected human trafficking camp near Baan Klong Tor, in southern Thailand on October 30, 2013 . Tarit Pengdith, chief of the Department of Special Investigation, Thailand's equivalent of the FBI, was also asked about the camps discovered. 'We have heard about these camps in southern Thailand,' he said, 'but we are not investigating this issue.' Besieged by a political crisis and violent street protests this week, Thailand faces difficult questions about its future and global status. Among those is whether it will join North Korea, the Central African Republic and Iran among the world's worst offenders in fighting human trafficking. A Thai police immigration post is seen in the port city of Ranong in southern Thailand October 30, 2013 . Men stand in boats crossing the invisible maritime border between Thailand and Myanmar near the Thai port city of Ranong . Bozor Mohammed from the Rakhine state in Myanmar speaks to a reporter about his leg being injured during an interview at his house in Kuala Lumpur . The signs are not good. The U.S. State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report ranks countries on their record for combating the crime. For the past four years, Thailand has sat on the TIP Report's so-called Tier 2 Watch List, the second-lowest rank. It will be automatically downgraded to Tier 3 next year unless it makes what the State Department calls 'significant efforts' to eliminate human trafficking. Dropping to Tier 3 status theoretically carries the threat of U.S. sanctions. In practice, the United States is unlikely to sanction Thailand, one of its oldest treaty allies in Asia. | Thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar to escape persecution .
Those captured are transported across southern Thailand and held captive .
Human traffickers are keeping them hidden in brutal jungle camps .
They are hidden near the border with Malaysia until relatives pay thousands of dollars to release them . |
0a597916ed6e684209210094f8104a5131105ad7 | By . Mark Prigg . Researchers have uncovered a hidden world underneath Greenland. Beneath the barren whiteness, researchers say there are a vast series of sculptures the size of skyscrapers. Using ice-penetrating radar, researchers have discovered the ragged blocks of ice as tall as city skyscrapers and as wide as the island of Manhattan at the very bottom of the ice sheet. Using ice penetrating radar, researchers have discovered the ragged blocks of ice as tall as city skyscrapers and as wide as the island of Manhattan at the very bottom of the Greenland ice sheet. The structures cover about a tenth of northern Greenland, the researchers estimate, becoming bigger and more common as the ice sheet narrows into ice streams, or glaciers, headed for the sea. As meltwater at the bottom refreezes over hundreds to thousands of years, the researchers believe it radiates heat into the surrounding ice sheet, making it pick up its pace as the ice becomes softer and flows more easily. The structures formed as water beneath the ice refreezes and warps the surrounding ice upwards. The newly revealed forms may help scientists understand more about how ice sheets behave and how they will respond to a warming climate, the researchers say in Nature Geoscience. 'We see more of these features where the ice sheet starts to go fast,' said the study's lead author, Robin Bell, a geophysicist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. 'We think the refreezing process uplifts, distorts and warms the ice above, making it softer and easier to flow.' The structures cover about a tenth of northern Greenland, the researchers estimate, becoming bigger and more common as the ice sheet narrows into ice streams, or glaciers, headed for the sea. As meltwater at the bottom refreezes over hundreds to thousands of years, the researchers believe it radiates heat into the surrounding ice sheet, making it pick up its pace as the ice becomes softer and flows more easily. After Antarctica, Greenland's ice cap contains the second largest mass . of frozen freshwater in the world. The ice sheet ice sheet covers 660,000 sq miles (1,710,000 square km), or roughly 80 per cent of the surface of Greenland. Currently, melting from Greenland accounts . is thought to account for around 10 per cent of sea level rise. Since the 1970s, and as recently as 1998, researchers flying over the region mistook radar images of these structures for hills. Newer instruments flown during NASA's IceBridge campaign to map ice loss at both poles found the hills to be made of ice instead of rock. The same area, seen from above - showing no signed of the warped ice below . Bell, who had discovered similar ice features at the base of the East Antarctic ice sheet, recognized them immediately. While mapping Antarctica's ice-covered Gamburtsev Mountains in 2008 and 2009, Bell and colleagues discovered extensive melting and refreezing along ridges and steep valley walls of the range. Though researchers had long known that pressure and friction can melt the bottom of ice sheets, no one knew that refreezing water could deform the layer-cake structure above. The topography of West Greenland is shown in this graphic with hidden valleys in blue by previous research into the area. On the right is the bed topography beneath the ice sheet. On the left is the surface topography and ice velocities . In a 2011 study in Science, Bell and colleagues proposed that ice sheets can grow from the bottom up, not just from the top-down accumulation of falling snow.The current study builds on the findings from Antarctica by linking the bottom features to faster ice sheet flow. The researchers looked at Petermann Glacier in the north of Greenland, which made headlines in 2010 when a 100-square mile chunk of ice slipped into the sea. They discovered that Petermann Glacier is sweeping a dozen large features with it toward the coast as it funnels off the ice sheet; one feature sits where satellite data has shown part of the glacier racing twice as fast as nearby ice. The researchers suggest that the refreeze process is influencing the glacier's advance hundreds of miles from where Petermann floats onto the sea. 'Overall, these observations suggest that basal freeze-on is a key control on the large-scale flow of Petermann Glacier, a possibility that has not been explored previously,' writes University of Texas researcher Joseph MacGregor in the same issue of Nature Geoscience. Greenland's glaciers appear to be moving more rapidly toward the sea as climate warms but it remains unclear how the refreeze process will influence this trend, the researchers said. They expected to find bottom features in the ice sheet's interior, as they did in Antarctica, but did not expect to see features at the edges, where lakes form and rivers flow over the surface, they said. Water from those lakes and rivers appears to fall through crevasses and other holes in the ice to reach the base of the ice sheet, where some of it apparently refreezes. Their discovery indicates that refreezing and deformation at the base of the ice sheet may be far more widespread than previously thought. Bell and her colleagues believe that similar features may come to light as other parts of Greenland and Antarctica are studied in closer detail. Flying over northern Greenland during the 2011 Ice Bridge season, Kirsty Tinto, a geophysicist at Lamont-Doherty, sat up straight when the radar images began to reveal a deformed layer-cake structure. 'When you're flying over this flat, white landscape people almost fall asleep it's so boring—layer cake, layer cake, layer cake,' said Tinto, a study coauthor. 'But then suddenly these things appear on the screen. It's very exciting. You get a sense of these invisible processes happening underneath.' | Giant 'warps' in the ice caused by melting and refreezing .
Structures cover a tenth of northern Greenland .
Blocks of ice are as tall are as city skyscrapers and as wide as the island of Manhattan . |
0a5a31468301d047cce0d086e0e30693934ea294 | A 2-year-old girl was accidentally shot and killed by her 5-year-old brother while he was playing with a child-size rifle given to him as a gift, authorities in Kentucky say. Caroline Starks, a blonde, blue-eyed girl, was fatally shot in the chest by her brother's .22-caliber rifle only minutes after her mother says she stepped outside their home in Burkesville on Tuesday. The single-shot weapon fired is a rifle specifically marketed to children as 'My First Rifle' by company Keystone Sporting Arms, according to authorities. Worst nightmare: Authorities say Caroline's older brother, pictured with her here, fired the single shot from his .22-caliber rifle called a Cricket, fatally shooting her in the chest . Killed: Caroline Sparks, 2, was killed on Tuesday when her 5-year-old brother accidentally shot her in the chest with his rifle . Tragic dwelling: The dilapidated home in Cumberland County, Ky, where a 2-year-old girl was shot by her 5-year-old brother . It was given to the 5-year-old as a gift last year, Cumberland County Coroner Gary White told the Lexington Herald-Leader. 'It's a Crickett,' White identified the weapon used. 'It's a little rifle for a kid. ...The little boy's used to shooting the little gun.' 'Accidents happen with guns,' he continued. 'They thought the gun was actually unloaded, and it wasn't.' 'It was god's will. It was her time to go, I guess,' Caroline's grandmother, Linda Riddle, told Lex18 on Wednesday. 'I just know she's in heaven right now and I know she's in good hands with the lord,' Riddle said. Weapon: The 5-year-old boy shot dead his sister with a Crickett .22 caliber rifle (like the one pictured) that he was given a year ago . Tailored for youngsters: Keystone Sporting Arms also makes guns for adults, but most of its products are geared toward children. The smaller guns come in all sorts of colors, including blue and pink . Starting them young: Children fire rifles at a shooting range in pictures shown on the crickett.com website . The company, Keystone Sporting Arms, produced 60,000 Crickett and . Chipmunk rifles in 2008, according to its website. It also makes guns . for adults, but most of its products are geared toward children. The . smaller guns come in all sorts of colors, including blue and pink. The company's slogan is 'my first . rifle' and its website has a 'Kids Corner' section where pictures of . young boys and girls are displayed, most of them showing the children at . shooting ranges and on bird and deer hunts. The smaller rifles are sold . with a mount to use at a shooting range. The . shooting highlights a cultural divide in the gun debate. While many . suburban and urban areas work to keep guns out of the hands of children, . it's not uncommon for youths in rural areas to own guns for target . practice and hunting. Controversial: The crickett.com website carries the slogan 'My First Rifle' and sells a range of weapons . Popular: The website has a 'Kids Corner' section where pictures of young boys and girls are displayed, most of them showing them at shooting ranges and on bird and deer hunts . Showing off: The 'Kids Corner' section has dozens of images of children and even babies (left picture, far-right image on second row) posing with rifles at home and on the range . 'Down in Kentucky where we're from, . you know, guns are passed down from generation to generation. 'You start . at a young age with guns for hunting and everything,' White said on . Wednesday. What is more unusual than a child having a gun, he said, is 'that a kid would get shot with it.' 'The goal of KSA is to instill gun . safety in the minds of youth shooters and encourage them to gain the . knowledge and respect that hunting and shooting activities require and . deserve,' the website says. The coroner said the gun was kept in a corner and the family didn't realize a shell was left inside it. It's 'just one of those crazy accidents,' White said. Accident: The Cumberland County Coroner maintains that the girl's death was an accident as the child's family now mourns her unexpected loss . Heartbreak: The girl's grandmother said she's coping with the loss through religion while personally assured that she's gone to a better place . In . a brief news release, state police said the shooting occurred when the . boy was 'playing' with the rifle, but did not elaborate. It is not clear whether any charges will be filed, said Kentucky State Police spokesman Trooper Billy Gregory. 'I think it's too early to say whether there will or won't be,' Gregory said. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday. Burkesville is a small town, with a population of just under 1,800. Tragedy: The 2-year-old victim was transported to the Cumberland County Hospital in Burkesville, where she was pronounced dead . It is located in foothills of Appalachia. The median household income in 2009 was estimated to be $17,747. Bill McNeal and his son Steve McNeal decided to make guns for young shooters in the mid-1990s and opened Keystone in 1996 with just four employees, producing 4,000 rifles that year. It now employs about 70 people, according to their website. No one at the company answered the phone on Wednesday. WATCH THE VIDEO HERE: . | Caroline Starks, 2, was fatally shot in the chest after the children's mother stepped outside for a few minutes according to police .
Firearm was a Crickett designed for small kids with slogan 'My First Rifle'
Maker Keystone Sporting Arms produced 60,000 Crickett and .
Chipmunk rifles in 2008 .
Its website contains dozens of images of boys and girls brandishing guns at shooting ranges and on deer hunts .
Kentucky sheriff: Not unusual for children to have a gun . |
0a5ac35e609c9bbaae98635a2cbe20eec6fda703 | By . James Nye . Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman suffered a sickening injury on Wednesday night when he was hit by a line drive in Surprise, Arizona during a Spring training game. The closer broke bones above his left eye and nose when the ball which he pitched at 99mph came hurtling back towards his face - the latest frightening injury to a pitcher struck in the head by a batted ball. Chapman was undergoing further testing at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, where he was set to spend the night for observation, according to a statement from the Reds. Scroll Down for Video . Pitch: Reds closer Ardolis Chapman fires off a 99mph pitch towards Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night in Arizona . Manager Bryan Price said Chapman was conscious and talking as he was taken off the field during Cincinnati's spring training game against the Kansas City Royals. The exhibition was called after an 8-minute delay with Kansas City leading 6-3. 'Not good,' Price said. 'He left the field on a stretcher, took a line drive just above his left eye is what it looks like — a contusion, a laceration, and certainly needs to be taken to the hospital and checked. 'We've got Tomas Vera, an assistant trainer, is going to be with him. And then we'll get our updates from there.' Watch Video Here: . Return: Perez rifles back the ball towards Chapman (left) who is still following through on his pitch at the stadium in Surprise, Arizona and (right) the ball can be seen as a white speck just above Chapman's left arm about to hit his face . Contact: The ball ricochets off Chapman's face at speed - causing him to raise his left hand to his face in agony . The hard-throwing left-hander was struck by Salvador Perez's liner with two outs in the sixth inning — the pitch was clocked at 99 mph. Chapman crumbled to the ground, face down, his legs flailing. The ball caromed into the third base dugout. Medical personnel, including Royals Dr. Vincent Key, rushed onto the field. Blood could be seen on the mound. Perez put his hands on his helmet before reaching first base. He immediately went to the mound where players from both teams huddled as the 26-year-old Cuban reliever was being attended to in an eerily silent stadium. An ambulance's siren could be heard in the background while Chapman was loaded onto the stretcher. 'It was an absolute bullet that Sal hit,' Royals manager Ned Yost said. 'It's just a real sickening feeling for everybody.' Collapse: Chapman falls to the ground as concerned team mates and umpires dash over to help him as he writhes in agony on the floor . Players from both teams knelt, some bowing their heads and crossing themselves in prayer. Chapman was taken to Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center in Sun City. He was then transferred to Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center. Perez appeared to be in tears as he left the field, and first baseman Eric Hosmer hugged him. Perez quickly left the clubhouse without speaking to reporters. Hosmer hit a line drive off the head of Tampa Bay's Alex Cobb last June. Cobb sustained a concussion. Playing right field, Reds teammate Jay Bruce heard the ball hit Chapman. 'It was one of the more frightening and non-fun moments I've been a part of on the baseball field,' he said. After Chapman was driven off to the waiting ambulance, Price and Yost met with the umpires. 'It was really a mutual agreement,' crew chief Chris Guccione said. 'Players were rattled. The staff was rattled. The umpires were rattled. We figured it was best, along with both teams in agreement, that the game should end.' Prayers: Cincinnati Reds players and Kansas City Royals players kneel as Chapman receives urgent medical care on the field on Wednesday night . Urgent attention: Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman suffered facial fractures after being struck in the face by a line drive during a spring training game on Wednesday . Recovery: Chapman was carried off on a stretcher after a terrifying moment when he was hit by a liner off the bat of Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez in the sixth inning of Wednesday night's game in Surprise, Arizona . Emergency: The Reds said Chapman was taken to a local hospital, where tests indicated fractures above his left eye and nose before he was transferred to another facility to undergo further testing . Father: Chapman's father, (in the striped sweater) who was in the stands, rushed onto the field and players from both teams took a knee as Chapman was immobilized, placed on a stretcher and carried off by a medical cart . Applause: The Cuban-born Chapman was kept overnight for observation, and the game was suspended following the incident . Treatment: Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman is taken off the field after being hit by a line drive Wednesday night March 19, 2014, after another frightening incident involving a pitcher being struck by a batted ball . Yost said neither he nor his players wanted to keep playing. Price felt the same way. 'You can't find it in your heart to go out there and play,' he said. Oakland pitcher Brandon McCarthy, who had emergency surgery after he was struck in the head by a line drive in September 2012, urged caution in a post on Twitter. 'all reporting at this point means zilch, until he gets a scan,' he said in a tweet. Chapman, who throws a 100 mph fastball, had walked four Royals in the inning before being injured. The two-time All-Star had 38 saves for the Reds last season. When reporters walked into the Royals clubhouse, third baseman Mike Moustakas asked a team official to request that they leave. Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman throws in the third inning of a spring training baseball game against the Cleveland Indians in Goodyear, Arizona in this 2012 file photo . 'No one wants to talk,' Moustakas said. In January, Major League Baseball approved a protective cap for pitchers following several terrifying scenes similar to this one in the last few years, including Toronto's J.A. Happ, who sustained a skull fracture. The heavier and bigger hats were available for testing during spring training on a voluntary basis, but the cap apparently would not have helped Chapman in this case. 'I know this isn't uncommon as we would like it to be, but it was frightening,' Price said. 'Certainly frightening.' | Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman suffered fractures to bones in his nose and left eye while taking a line drive to the face on Wednesday night .
Chapman was carted off the field and transported by ambulance to hospital .
The game between the Reds and the Kansas City Royals was abandoned .
Reds manager Bryan Price said Chapman was conscious and talking as he was taken off the field . |
0a5c494f13f21e009f531c2a56543d274a8c5932 | Lynn Bennett (pictured) wanted to get revenge on her ex-boyfriend after claiming she found him in bed with another woman last Sunday . A woman who found her ex-boyfriend in bed with another woman has shamed him by decorating his house with balloons and a sign stating 'I'm a cheat'. Lynn Bennett, from Goole in East Yorkshire, said she wanted to get revenge after she became suspicious of her boyfriend of three-and-a-half years and turned up at his house unannounced. The 43-year-old cleaner spotted the car of one of his female friends outside his house and decided to knock on the door on Sunday. When he answered she claims he was acting strangely and after a search of the house she eventually entered the bedroom and found a woman in her underwear. Mrs Bennett started pulling her clothes from her 45-year-old ex-boyfriend's wardrobe and left the house in a rage, telling him the relationship was over. She decided today she wanted to get revenge and went round to his house to hang the giant banner, a smaller banner and multi-coloured balloons. She said: 'It only took ten minutes but it was the best revenge. I knew the best way to embarrass him was to make sure his neighbours knew.' Last Sunday, Lynn claims she became suspicious that her boyfriend of three and a half years was up to something and decided to drive past his house. But when she saw the car of one of his female friends nearby, she decided to knock the door. Lynn claims that the 45-year-old took ages to answer the door and behaved strangely when she went into the house. She says she searched the whole house and eventually entered the bedroom where she saw the female friend in just her underwear. In a rage, Lynn started pulling her clothes from her ex-boyfriend's wardrobe and eventually left to calm down at home telling him it was over. She returned to his house today and put up a huge sign which read 'I'm a cheat! I slept with another woman' She also put another sign on his gate and multi-coloured balloons, which she said 'added to the occasion' She returned to the house, where she claims he lives, today and rung the signs reading: 'I AM A CHEATER - I SLEPT WITH ANOTHER WOMAN' and 'I AM A CHEAT'. Crowds gathered outside the house in East Yorkshire today to take pictures and wait for the owner's return home. Mrs Bennett said: 'I did have my suspicions because he keeps some tools in this woman's shed. 'They've been in contact far too regularly for my liking. But I never thought it would come to this. 'He took ages to answer the door and then when I got up there and saw the woman I realised why - I had definitely caught them in the act. Her ex-boyfriend (pictured) was photographed returning to the house today where he tore down the signs . Mrs Bennett claims the 45-year-old, who she has been with for three-and-a-half years, had been unfaithful . 'That was it then, I screamed that it was over. I am never taking him back - good riddance! 'But I wanted to get some revenge and I knew the best way to do it was to let his neighbours know and some balloons seemed to add to the occasion. 'It was only really for the few people next door but he lives on a main road so I suppose it's got a bit more attention than I'd realised. 'At least this gave me something to laugh about - if I didn't laugh, I'd cry!' Her ex-boyfriend was not available for comment. | Lynn Bennett decided to get revenge on her 'cheating' ex-boyfriend today .
She was suspicious and 'found him in bed with another woman' on Sunday .
The 43-year-old cleaner ended the relationship but returned to house today .
Put up sign saying: 'I AM A CHEATER - I SLEPT WITH ANOTHER WOMAN' |
0a5c928583ffab06810cff61234b3de6fa91c916 | (CNN) -- I stood up and began talking on the floor of the Texas State Senate not long ago because I hoped the Republicans in power would listen to how their latest cruel health care proposal would hurt the women of Texas. Simply put, this bill would take away access to the most fundamental form of health care women need. It would close down almost 90% of the women's clinics in this state. This comes after more than 50 women's health clinics providing cancer screening and family planning services were closed because the Republicans withdrew state-financed support from them. We now have 42. Under this draconian proposal, a state as expansive as Texas would have only five clinics remaining to serve thousands and thousands of women. Real Texans don't want any woman to die of cancer because she can't get decent health care or medical advice. Real Texans don't want any woman to lose control of her life because she can't get birth control. During the filibuster, women around the state related thousands of personal stories to me: One young woman said contraceptives gave her a chance to choose motherhood when she was ready. Women were helped by a clinic with the difficult and highly personal decision to end a pregnancy. Another woman said a clinic had helped comfort her when a much-wanted baby was dying inside her. The "people's filibuster" that put a temporary stop on the misguided bill that powerful Republicans are still intent on ramming through will long be remembered as the moment when regular Texans -- real Texans -- stood up and said "enough" to the self-interested politicians who have run our state for too long. Enough to using Texas as a political laboratory for testing far-right ideas. Enough to using Texas as a workshop for fattening the wallets of their special interest friends and supporters. And enough of politicians listening only to each other, rather than real Texans. There are important issues that desperately need the attention of the politicians who are -- at least for now -- in charge of our state. Sadly, Gov. Rick Perry and his powerful allies don't seem interested. They don't identify with the strong Texans who live in the town of West, where an unregulated, unmonitored fertilizer plant blew up, taking lives and destroying livelihoods. Because of a lack of state oversight, the small volunteer fire department that rushed to help didn't know the degree of danger they were facing. They paid with their lives. Real Texans believe in looking out for each other. We believe in honoring our mothers and fathers and keeping our smallest residents -- our children -- healthy. The politicians in charge of Texas now clearly don't. Perry has refused to even consider expanding health care coverage in Texas because he cares more about scoring political points than he does about our Texas families. Real Texans help when their neighbor is in need. Texas Republican political leaders take perverse pride in how deeply they have cut our state's education budget. Thousands of teachers have been pulled from classrooms, schools have closed and valuable programs have been canceled. In many places, districts are forced to choose between prekindergarten programs and English, algebra and art. Real Texans want their kids to have the best education possible, not the one politicians looking to brag about budget cuts have left us with. My first filibuster, two years ago, was an attempt to protect our schools and our children from these reckless cuts. Republican leaders rewarded me for my efforts by removing me from the powerful Senate Education Committee. I had to fight unfair Republican redistricting efforts when they tried to make the district I represent disappear. Now, Texas Democratic legislators are fighting hard to pass an equal pay for equal work bill, something that is crucial to the many families that rely on income from dad and mom. But then real Texans have never been afraid of a good fight. That's what happened at our State Capitol during the filibuster, when real Texans -- ultimately --decided to make their voices heard. I have a question for Perry and the state's powerful politicians who have ignored real Texans for so long: . Can you hear us now? And, more important, are you listening? The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Wendy Davis. | Wendy Davis says her filibuster was to get Republicans to listen to women of Texas .
Davis: Enough to using Texas as a political laboratory for testing far-right ideas.
Davis: Enough to using Texas as a workshop for giving millions to corporations .
She says state politicians have cut health care, education, reproductive rights to the bone . |
0a5d9ecf3dc62f6a708604c2e2aec60092a70b10 | The hospital on Ellis Island where thousands of immigrants had their hopes of reaching the United States cut short by tuberculosis and scarlet fever will open in October for tours and an art installation. 1.2million immigrants entered the hospital between 1901 and 1954, heading into the United States if they were healthy enough, dying in the complex if they weren't. 'If you found yourself in this room, you were either too sick to survive or too sick to stay,' tour guide Jessica Cameron-Bush told the Associated Press. 'And this was your last view — the Statue of Liberty.' Unrestored: Organizers decided to test the facility for safety - but not restore it - after Hurricane Sandy hit in order to draw attention to the need to perform upkeep on historic buildings . Aerial: Ellis Island, where millions of immigrants passed on the way into the United States - or were sent back to their home countries - as seen by above. The memorial has been open for years but the hospital is just opening now . The facility is still the biggest ever endeavor of the U.S. Public Health Service, designed to screen out immigrants that were deemed too sick to enter the country and treat those that could be helped. The 29-building complex housed rooms to treat contagious diseases, assess mental conditions and provide obstetric care for pregnant women. It also includes a morgue. Not every person that entered the facility made it out, and 3,500 people died on Ellis Island and a little less than half of them were children. Immigrants were sometimes treated to the injustice of racism, as the mental health examination at the time included eugenics testing, which tested mental capacity through physical measurements. Still, only 1 percent of the immigrants at Ellis were sent back due to health reasons, according to the New York Times, though the threat of deportation terrified many. The hospital was previously home to an exhibit for schoolchildren, but the buildings were partially destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. Frozen: The hospital remains in mostly the same condition it was in back in 1954 before it was closed along with the other immigration facilities on Ellis Island . Abandoned: A volunteer with Save Ellis Island takes a peek at a contagious disease ward (right) where patients hoped to survive and enter the U.S. The nonprofit Save Ellis Island decided to open the facility and give guided tours, which will be offered beginning October 1. Visitors will also see an experimental photo exhibit entitled 'Unframed - Ellis Island,' designed by the French artist JR. Indefinite wait: The morgue in the Ellis Island hospital features stadium-style seating for visiting doctors to come and watch as autopsies were conducted on patients that had died while in the hospital . Attention: A file photo shows an immigrant receive medical attention from a medical official while passing through Ellis Island . Screening: This file photo shows Jewish immigrants being screened after arriving at Ellis Island, with a test in Hebrew hung on the wall . Haunting: The faces of immigrant children look back at visitors to the facility, which will open with the photo exhibit October 1 . Ghostly: A volunteer from Save Ellis Island wanders the halls of the hospital, checking in doorways. The institution was abandoned in 1954 as Ellis Island closed to immigration . Grounds: National Parks Service employee Dennis Mulligan pauses in front of one of French artist JR's wheat-pasted archive photographs, which are designed to fade away with time . Rooms in the hospital have pictures wheat-pasted on walls, doors and windows, archival photos of the institution that show the immigrants who awaited care and the doctors in surgical dress prepared to operate on them. In one room, an immigrant family clinging to a broken glass window looks out onto the Statue of Liberty, just as those receiving care in the facility did a century ago. Screening: Lines of immigrants coming in through Ellis Island await a preliminary health screening, which was administered to decide who needed to be quarantined and treated and who was healthy enough to pass into the United States . Contagion: Docots at the communicable disease center screen patients to detect contagious illness that would need to be quarantined and treated by staff on Ellis Island . | Immigrants entered the facility for health screening to determine whether they could enter the United States or needed to be sent home .
Opened in 1901, the hospital was the biggest facility constructed under the U.S. Public Health Service . |
0a5de5a1aefba6b21c0ca9163baf46832402d6f8 | Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal will contest the disrepute charge for criticising referee Chris Foy after his team’s FA Cup draw at Cambridge two weeks ago. Van Gaal said it was ‘always the same’ with referees when bigger teams play against smaller clubs, leading the FA to charge him with implying bias on Foy’s part. Now it has emerged the United manager will request a personal hearing with the governing body at which he will explain he was just trying to make a general point. Louis van Gaal hopes he won't have have the book thrown at him for comments made about referee Chris Foy . United take on West Ham away on Sunday and Van Gaal said: ‘I am not angry, I am very disappointed. I am now for nearly 30 years a trainer-coach or manager and I have never been charged. And still, up to now, I don’t think that I said something wrong. ‘I said already in our press conference (before the game) the same phrases, because I know in advance everything is in favour of the underdog. ‘I said it before the game and I said it after the game, only in the meaning of the general feeling of everybody, everybody for the underdog. ‘So I cannot imagine the FA has charged me. But, OK, it’s like that. Of course I will contest it. I never said anything wrong. You can confirm, as the media, that I never say anything about the referee, in all the matches.’ Van Gaal's men were held to a 0-0 draw against League Two team Cambridge United back in January . However the Red Devils did not let lightning strike twice and were 3-0 winners in the replay at Old Trafford . Van Gaal refused to buy in to former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s theory that the FA used to pick on the club simply because of its standing in the game. But it is clear he is irritated. United are, at least, in the next round of the FA Cup, having beaten Cambridge 3-0 in the replay at Old Trafford on Tuesday. That game featured an impressive cameo appearance from Spaniard Ander Herrera who has hardly played this season despite being bought for £29million in the summer. Van Gaal said: ‘He’s a great guy, he’s a great professional also, so that’s not the problem. His problem is he has to compete with high-level players. Wayne Rooney is the captain so he has a privilege (of always playing) — I have explained that — so then the other places... in this system, for example, that we are playing now, the No 10... that’s Juan Mata, that’s Angel di Maria. ‘That’s difficult to compete with, but he did already know that at the moment he signed. When you sign for a top club, he knows that he has to fight. But he is fighting.’ Former manager Sir Alex Ferguson (left) was believed United were treated harshly because of their profile . Ander Herrera (centre) has impressed i cameo appearances but faces stiff competition for a starting place . Di Maria, meanwhile, has continued to make himself available for selection despite the fact he and his family are living in a hotel following an attempted burglary at their home last weekend. ‘He is worried about his wife and child, but I have spoken with him and he wanted to play against Cambridge United and I played him,’ explained Van Gaal, who laid a wreath at Old Trafford yesterday as an act of remembrance for those who died in the Munich Air Disaster on February 6, 1958. ‘I have decided in the past that I will never play a player in those circumstances, because of the total human-being principle. But with him, I had the feeling that I had to give him a chance to play. He played well. And of course, I have to decide again when we face West Ham.’ Angel di Maria is available against West Ham despite a stressful attempted burglary o his home . | Manchester United were forced into an FA Cup replay by Cambridge United .
Louis van Gaal was charged for comments about the referee after the game .
The United boss stood by his comments and said he was 'disappointed' |
0a5e808a6c671732019a1dc640d3f4c4eee2dfa1 | By . Charlie Skillen . Follow @@charlieskillen . Didier Drogba has completed his dream return to Chelsea. The Ivorian has signed a one-year deal at Stamford Bridge, . having become a legend at the club after being signed by Jose Mourinho for . £24million in 2004. And Drogba revealed he couldn't turn down the opportunity to . work with the Portuguese boss again. He said: 'It was an easy decision - I couldn't turn down the . opportunity to work with Jose again. Everyone knows the special . relationship I have with this club and it has always felt like home to me. VIDEO Scroll down to see 'Cahill, Lampard and Mourinho gush over Drogba last season' Dotted line: The Ivorian striker completes his medical and puts pen to paper on a new one-year deal . Signed: Didier Drogba has signed a one-year deal withChelsea . New boy: Drogba returns to Chelsea after two years away from west London . 'My desire to win is still the same and I look forward to . the opportunity to help this team. I am excited for this next chapter of my . career.' Mourinho allayed fears Drogba would sully his impeccable . legacy at Chelsea, insisting that the Ivorian is still one of the best strikers . in world football. 'He’s coming because he’s one of the best strikers in . Europe. I know his personality very well and I know if he comes back he’s not . protected by history or what he’s done for this club previously,' Mourinho . said. 'Looks like Drogba is back, loved our battles best big game player I can remember.' 'He is coming with the mentality to make more history.' Drogba's arrival gives Mourinho's side moe firepower up . front. Despite marquee signing Diego Costa's arrival, Fernando Torres and . Romelu Lukaku have both been linked with moves away from the club. Drogba's last kick for Chelsea in his initial eight-year . spell was the winning penalty to hand the west Londoners the Champions League . trophy. Return: Didier Drogba returns to west London after spells in China and Turkey . One in one out: Drogba returns to Chelsea after two years away, just as Frank Lampard heads off to New York . High: Drogba left on a high after helping Chelsea become the first London team to win the Champions League . The striker had already equalised in extra-time against . Bayern Munich at their Allianz Arena. Mourinho has brought Drogba back into the fold at a time . when two stalwarts have left the club in Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole. 2004/05: Premier League and League Cup . 2005/06: Premier League . 2006/07: FA Cup and League Cup . 2008/09: FA Cup . 2009/10: Premier League and FA Cup . 2011/12: FA Cup and Champions League . Lampard has completed a move to new MLS side New York City . while Cole has moved to Roma. Fellow Blues legend Petr Cech has also been linked with a . move away with Thibaut Courtois returning from loan at Atletico Madrid. It means only John Terry remains from the spine of . Mourinho's original Chelsea side, which picked up back-to-back Premier League . titles in 2005 and 2006. Appearances: 341 . Goals: 151 . Goals per game: 0.44 . Major trophies: 10 . Drogba signed for Galatasaray in January 2013 after a short . spell at Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua after bowing out at the Blues. He had an emotional return to Stamford Bridge with the . Turkish side in last season's Champions League last-16 before leaving the club . this summer. Now Drogba has sealed a move back to the club where he . became one of the most feared strikers in world football. Veteran: Drogba has over 100 caps for the Ivory Coast and made over 200 league appearances for Chelsea . With Didier Drogba, the man whose penalty secured a first Champions League win for Chelsea in the clubs history returning to Stamford Bridge, we look at other frontmen who have returned to their former clubs. Those who have had a second coming have often enjoyed a hero’s welcome upon their return, but, on the pitch, were they hits or misses? Ian Rush (Liverpool 1980-87 & 1988-96)Having joined Liverpool from Chester as a youngster for £300,000 in May 1980, a British transfer record for a teenager at the time, it quickly became obvious that Rush was a prolific goal scorer. After six seasons and 168 goals, Rush made a surprise move to Juventus for £3.2 million. Just seven goals came in twenty nine appearances in Italy and, after his unrest became clear, Rush returned as a hero to Anfield. In his first campaign back at Liverpool, still officially on loan from Juventus, he blasted 30 league goals and went on to hit the net another 142 times in all competitions for the Reds. Verdict: Hit Robbie Keane (Tottenham 2002-08 & 2009-11)The Irish striker always had the potential to play at the top level. Having impressed at Coventry and Leeds via the briefest of stints at Inter Milan, Keane made his mark as a natural goal scorer at White Hart Lane. 80 league goals came in his first six years in North London. Keane ultimately could never rekindle that success after an unsuccessful move to Liverpool in 2008 and returned to Spurs the following February. Despite 15 goals in all competitions upon his return, Keane was never quite the same player.Verdict: Miss Mark Hughes (Manchester United 1980-86 & 1988-95)Hughes was on the score sheet 37 times in the league for Manchester United, having risen through the club’s academy ranks. His form could not be replicated once he left for Barcelona and he suffered similar problems at Bayern Munich, to whom he was then loaned. Hughes returned to Old Trafford and won the PFA Player of the Year Award in his first season back in England (1988/89). Under the stewardship of Sir Alex Ferguson, he went on to score over 100 more goals for the club and cemented himself in its rich history.Verdict: Hit Teddy Sheringham (Tottenham 1992-97 & 2001-03)Although Sheringham’s great trophy-winning days came at Manchester United between 1997 and 2001, he will always be remembered as a club legend by Spurs fans and players. He scored 99 goals in his first six years wearing the white of Tottenham and, after an extremely successful spell at Old Trafford, he returned to White Hart Lane to lift Tottenham fans from their seats another 26 times. He has since been inducted into their Hall of Fame.Verdict: Hit . Peter Crouch (Tottenham 1998-2000 & 2009-11)Another player to return to Tottenham was the familiar figure of Peter Crouch. He never played senior football for Spurs as a youth player, but returned over ten years later, for a fee reported to be around £9 million. Crouch had a mixed career at Spurs second time around, scoring 24 goals but also suffering two separate, three month long barren spells in front of goal. His hero status gained by scoring the winner against Manchester City in 2010, securing Spurs Champions League football was tarnished when he scored an own goal against the same opposition the following year. Spurs missed out on joining Europe’s elite on that occasion, with City qualifying.Verdict: Miss Thierry Henry (Arsenal 1999-2007 & 2012)The briefest of returns to Arsenal for the Frenchman. The fans wouldn’t have been bothered had he not scored at all after his 226 goals before he moved to Barcelona in 2007. Instead, the prolific striker bagged the winner on his second ‘debut.’ Arsenal later unveiled a statue for Henry, who emotionally accepted the gesture outside the Emirates Stadium, with the club colours draped around his neck.Verdict: Hit . | Didier Drogba returns to Chelsea .
Ivorian striker reunited with Jose Mourinho after seven years .
Drorgba had spells at Shanghai Shenua and Galatasaray .
Drogba won three Premier Leagues, four FA Cups and the Champions League with Chelsea . |
0a5f6b32e869bae798d81c48d381a5f0384c001a | For something that predicts the future, the software is deceptively simple looking. A map of a city is marked up with small red squares, each indicating a 500-by-500-foot zone where crimes are likely to take place next. A heat-map mode shows even more precisely where cars may be stolen, houses robbed, people mugged. The program is called PredPol, and it calculates its forecasts based on times and locations of previous crimes, combined with sociological information about criminal behavior and patterns. The technology has been beta tested in the Santa Cruz, California police department for the past year, and in an L.A. police precinct for the past six months, with promising results. Predictive-analytics software is the latest piece of policing technology working its way into law-enforcement stations around the country, although it's going up against tight budgets, bureaucracy and a culture still clinging to its analog ways. "We had to try something because we were not being offered more cops," said Zach Friend, a crime analyst with the Santa Cruz Police Department. Last year, Friend contacted researchers working on the algorithm -- originally used for predicting earthquake aftershocks -- after reading an article in the LA Times. Gadgets to help you survive a power outage . At the time, his city had experienced a 30% increase in crime and a 20% decrease in police staff. He knew they had to try something. At first the Santa Cruz police department used the software to estimate where home, car and vehicle burglaries might take place, handing printouts of the maps to officers at the start of their shifts. Later it expanded it to bike thefts, battery, assault and prowling. The city has seen a 19% reduction in burglaries over the past year. While these kinds of experiments are promising, most police stations are still a far cry from the futuristic headquarters we see on TV shows like CSI. Real police departments lag behind your typical American teenager when it comes to technology -- some police cars still record video on VHS tapes, and it's not uncommon to fill out a police report on carbon paper. Last month, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee announced plans to develop a smartphone app that would allow officers to file police reports from the field. But SFPD chief information officer, Susan Giffin, told the Bay Citizen the department doesn't have the budget to buy smartphones on which to run the app. (San Francisco police officers only got e-mail addresses for the first time last year.) Thankfully for crime fighters, it's not all landlines, beepers and fax machines. Cool new crime-fighting technology is still being developed and tested by agencies around the country. There are gadgets such as Taser's small wearable cameras for police and other security professionals. The units can mount on a pair of Oakley sunglasses or a shirt collar, and they have accompanying Android and iOS apps. In Southern Florida, many police departments are using portable fingerprint scanners to ID suspects and bring up any outstanding warrants on the spot. The smartphone-sized devices cost $2,500 apiece. A ShotSpotter system uses microphones positioned around a city to detect gunshots and triangulate their location within 40 to 50 feet. A human at ShotSpotter's headquarters confirms if it's a gunshot and alerts the police. The system starts at $40,000 for every square mile of coverage. Some of the more widely adopted tech is decidedly low-budget. Police can Google suspects and check their Facebook profiles to gather information. Friend says the Santa Cruz department has had more luck posting photos of wanted suspects to the official department Facebook page than through traditional police channels. (The unusually tech-savvy department also has a Twitter account, blog, and YouTube channel.) Now predictive policing software is picking up steam, thanks to a few well-publicized test cases, low overhead and impressive drops in crime rates that, while they can't be directly tied to any one initiative, bode well for the maps. Hotel replaces printed Bibles with Kindles . PredPol is new to the field, but IBM has been testing predictive policing software since 2010, using databases of past crimes and information like timing and weather to identify trends and map out predictions. The company has worked with police departments in Memphis, New York City, and most recently Charleston, South Carolina. A final hurdle for all types of new technology is getting the officers themselves to adopt and use it. "Law enforcement agencies historically are conservative in their approach to change. That includes to adopting all kinds of technology, from computers in the cars to even radios," said Friend. A new generation of police who have grown up immersed in technology will likely help ease the transition by communicating to older officers that the new tools only enhance what they already know. Seasoned patrol cops rely on their instincts, developed over years of experience walking the same streets and patrolling familiar neighborhoods. Experts say this new technology can cut down on paperwork and make policing more efficient so the police can focus on what they do best. "It doesn't replace what they do," said Friend of PredPol. "When they get into those locations, they still need to be good cops." Report: Next Kindle Fire will have camera, sharper display . | Predictive analytic software PredPol anticipates future crime based upon past activity.
The program was adapted from similar software meant to predict earthquake aftershocks.
Many police stations still use obsolete technology due to small budgets and aversion to change.
Even so, police depend heavily upon social media to solve crimes. |
0a5fa44fa4ac623f350cafdb7b80acb3590b172a | (CNN) -- The JetBlue pilot arrested after an apparent midair meltdown last week was ordered held without bond during a brief appearance before a federal judge in Amarillo, Texas, on Monday morning, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The U.S. magistrate ordered that Clayton Osbon, 49, be held in the Randall County jail until a detention hearing to determine his bond on Thursday, the prosecutor's spokesman said. Osbon, the captain of JetBlue Flight 191, has been in custody at a hospital where he has been treated since last Tuesday, when he was arrested and later charged with interfering with a flight crew. His remarks and erratic behavior on the planned five-hour flight from New York's Kennedy International Airport to Las Vegas led the co-pilot to lock Osbon out of the cockpit, according to a federal criminal complaint. Crew and passengers subdued Osbon as he screamed and banged on the cockpit door so hard that the first officer thought Osbon would come through, the document said. The complaint says Osbon began making remarks during the flight that concerned the first officer, who was his co-pilot. "Osbon yelled over the radio to air traffic control and instructed them to be quiet. Osbon turned off the radios in the aircraft, dimmed his monitors and sternly admonished the FO (first officer) for trying to talk on the radio," the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Texas said in a written statement. "When Osbon said 'we need to take a leap of faith,' the FO stated that he became very worried. Osbon told the FO that 'we're not going to Vegas,' and began giving what the FO described as a sermon." The flight data and cockpit voice recorders from the jet, which made an emergency landing in Amarillo last week, will be analyzed, officials have said. CNN's Todd Sperry contributed to this report. | NEW: A judge orders JetBlue pilot Clayton Osbon held until a bond hearing Thursday .
Osbon spent the past six days in custody in a hospital .
The captain faces a charge of interfering with a flight crew .
Passengers and crew members subdued Osbon as he screamed and banged on the cockpit door . |
0a5fc67fec892dae1adea2857822da43cd4d2ea2 | We’re nearly a month into the new Football League season so here are five things from outside the Premier League that have caught my eye so far… . 1) Cyrus Christie – the young right back has hit the ground running at Derby County after making the step up from League One Coventry City, his hometown club. He had been with the Sky Blues for 13 years so some early season 'homesickness' might have been understandable but he looks like he has been playing in the Championship all his life. after leaving Coventry (right) It’s thought Derby picked up him for a fee of around £100,000 after he ran his contract down – it’s a real bargain and I find it hard to believe no Premier League club took him. Makes you wonder how hard their scouts work. On his debut on the opening day of the season he provided the cross for the Rams’ winner against Rotherham, and four of the five Derby goals against Fulham on Saturday were started on the right. His attacking qualities are matched by his defensive ability. This kid is only 21 and on the evidence so far, he has got a massive future. At his current rate of progress he will be in the Premier League next season, either with Derby or somewhere else. 2) Graham Alexander – or as I always call him on talkSPORT, 'the excellent Graham Alexander.' One of the good guys of football was an exemplary professional as a player, and is now proving to be a quality manager at League One table-toppers Fleetwood. Quality: Graham Alexander is one of football's good guys and proving to be an excellent boss at Fleetwood . Fleetwood as a club have had a meteoric rise but in those promotion years they have been among the biggest spenders in each division. Chairman Andy Pilley estimates he has injected some £15million of his own money into the club during the years of success. But in League One, Fleetwood are no longer the biggest players. The likes of Bristol City, Sheffield United and Leyton Orient are all paying big wages, so it’s harder for Fleetwood to compete. So far Alexander is making it look easy. 3) With Ross Barkley out of the England picture, Roy Hodgson might be wondering who is going to create some magic for England. Who has got that unpredictable spark that the best England teams down the years have had? I doubt Hodgson will go looking in the Championship but if he did he would find such a player at Middlesbrough. Had Lee Tomlin been more disciplined – on and off the field - in his career, he would unquestionably have made it to the Premier League by now. Gem: If Lee Tomlin (right) had been more disciplined he could have been playing in the Premier League . He’s a clever player who can destroy teams on his day. He creates and he scores – he’s a perfect example of how a 'fantasy No 10' should play. He looks heavy but he is deceptively speedy, and runs as quick with the ball as without it, which not many can do. There is a Premier League tendency to dismiss the Championship as rubbish, but if you look carefully there are some gems. Tomlin is one of them, albeit a late developer. And let’s not forget, the Championship is where Barkley received a great education during a couple of loan spells, and it is a division that the likes of Adam Lallana, Gary Cahill and Leighton Baines have all passed through on their way to the top. There are some gems down there. 4) Bakary Sako was not expected to stay at Wolves when they dropped into the third tier of English football last year. But he did and they were comfortable champions in the end. Sako, a left-sided attacking midfielder with a real goal threat, was signed from St Etienne in 2012, and Wolves were then relegated in his first season. But Sako was brilliant in League One and is one of the main reasons Wolves have made such a great start to life in the Championship this season. Real threat: Bakary Sako has pace, power, scores goals and has been Wolves' star so far this season . Three years ago the Mali winger was second only to Balise Matuidi as St Etienne’s player of the season. Matuidi is now a regular fixture for Paris Saint-Germain and France, while Sako is working a tougher route to the top. With less than a year left on his Molineux contract it may come sooner rather than later. 5) On a rare Saturday off during an international weekend last season, I went to watch Stevenage vs Rotherham. A blond midfielder ran the game, scored a cracker and looked the part in a 3-0 win for the Millers. Ben Pringle has found the right club and the right manager in Steve Evans to harness his unquestionable talents, and that’s why he has already been linked with a Premier League club this season. Evans will do everything to stop his best player going to Hull City, though. Pringle is busy, always available for the ball, never hides, and works back too. His delivery from wide areas is usually high quality – he’s a special talent, and he seems to be a good lad to have around the dressing room as well. Pop star: Ben Pringle (second right) scores for Rotherham at Millwall on Saturday . | Cyrus Christie has settled in superbly at Derby County .
The 'excellent' Graham Alexander is doing well as Fleetwood manager .
Lee Tomlin is similar to Ross Barkley and could play in Premier League .
Wolves winger Bakary Sako is on his way to the top .
Rotherham midfielder Ben Pringle is a special talent . |
0a628d27e7ad3c0cebf3286fda1d3cd33d534db9 | (CNN) -- Werder Bremen continued their continued their domination of SV Hamburg with a 2-0 win which dents their northern neighbors' hopes of Champions League football next season. A dejected Paolo Guerrero and Ivica Olic walk off after Hamburg's defeat. The defeat leaves Martin Jol's men sixth in the Bundesliga, five points behind leaders Wolfsburg with only three games remaining and four adrift of third-placed Hertha Berlin. It was the second meeting of the two teams in four days, with Werder winning a thrilling second leg 3-2 to go through to the UEFA Cup final on Thursday on away goals. Werder also put Hamburg out of the German Cup and their win came after a pair of goals by Hugo Almeira. In Sunday's other match, Borussia Moenchengladbach boosted their Bundesliga survival hopes with a 1-0 win at home to Schalke 04. Substitute Roberto Colautti scored in the last minute to spare the blushes of teammate Marko Marin, who had seen a penalty saved by Manuel Neuer in the first half. The win lifted Borussia out of the relegation zone into 15th place, but it is still tight with Arminia Bielefeld and Energie Cottbus only below them on goal difference. Schalke, who will have current Wolfsburg boss Felix Magath in charge next season, were suffering a second straight defeat to stay seventh. Wolfsburg were beaten 4-1 by Stuttgart on Saturday to throw open the title race with champions Bayern Munich joining them on 60 points with Hertha one point back and Stuttgart on 58. | Werder Bremen beat SV Hamburg 2-0 with Hugo Almeira scoring twice .
Hamburg stay in sixth as defeat wrecks Bundesliga title chances .
Borussia Moenchengladbach beat Schalke 1-0 to boost survival hopes . |
0a62d0b17cefb6de9c3816d56f67e0791f98cbd9 | Bacary Sagna has joined Manchester City on a free transfer from Premier League rivals Arsenal. The defender has signed a three-year deal with the Premier League champions worth £150,000-per-week - inclusive of add-ons and bonuses. As revealed exclusively by Sportsmail in May, the 31-year-old will officially join City on July 1 - ending his seven-year spell with the Gunners. Done: Bacary Sagna (right) has joined Manchester City on a free transfer from Premier League rivals Arsenal . All smiles: Sagna has ended a seven-year spell with Arsenal to sign a three-year £150k-per-week deal at City . Done deal: Arsenal confirmed the transfer of Sagna via their Twitter account on Friday . Tearful exit: Sagna's last game for Arsenal was in their 3-2 FA Cup final victory against Hull City in May . High note: The FA Cup victory was the only trophy Sagna won during his seven-year spell at Arsenal . Bacary Sagna is the fifth Arsenal player in five years to move to Manchester City. Sportsmail reviews the other transfers. Emmanuel Adebayor - £25million - July 2009 . Kolo Toure - £14million - July 2009 . Gael Clichy - £7million - July 2011 . Samir Nasri - £24million - August 2011 . Total: £70million . In a club statement City announced their 'delight' at the capture of the defender who has won 41 caps for his country. The statement read: 'Manchester City are delighted to announce that Bacary Sagna will join the Club for next season. 'The 31-year-old full-back will complete his transfer from Arsenal on a three year contract following the World Cup in Brazil, where he is currently on duty with the French squad. 'Sagna is a hugely experienced defender, having represented Arsenal 213 times since joining them from Auxerre in 2007. During that time he has picked up 41 caps for the French national side. 'France are in Group E of the World Cup, alongside Switzerland, Ecuador and Honduras. They begin their World Cup campaign against Honduras on Saturday. 'Sagna will join up with his new team-mates for the first time after the end of the World Cup, when the squad take in their tour to America.' 'He will take up the vacant squad number 3, the same number he wore for the Gunners.' Sagna becomes the latest Gunner to move to City - following in the footsteps of Emmanuel Adebayor, Samir . Nasri, Kolo Toure and Gael Clichy. With Clichy and Nasri still playing for the blue half of Manchester, the France international will be reunited with the duo as Manuel Pellegrini's side look to defend their league title next season. Earlier . in the week, Sagna thanked Arsenal and Arsene Wenger in another clear . message that he was set to quit the club. The . full-back, part of France's squad at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, took . to his Twitter and Instagram pages to post the lengthy message which signalled the end of his association with Arsenal. Sagna, who played 231 times for Arsenal, finished his career at the club on a high with their 3-2 comeback victory against Hull City in the FA Cup final at Wembley in May. Farewell: Sagna posted this emotional goodbye to Arsenal via social media . Reunited: Sagna will be joining former Arsenal duo Samir Nasri (left) and Gael Clichy (right) at City . International pedigree: Sagna (centre) is currently with the France squad as they bid to win a second World Cup . A club statement from Arsenal read: 'Bacary Sagna has agreed to join Manchester City after his contract with Arsenal expires on June 30. 'Sagna, 31, signed for Arsenal from Auxerre in the summer of 2007 and went on to make a total of 284 appearances for the club. 'An integral part of Arsenal’s defence over the past seven seasons, the France international brought his time with the Gunners to a fitting close last month when he helped the team win the FA Cup in his final match. 'Everyone at Arsenal Football Club would like to thank Bacary for his fantastic contribution, and wish him all the best for the future.' Meanwhile, City hope to finalise a deal for Porto midfielder Fernando once he has sorted out outstanding financial issues with the Portuguese side. | Bacary Sagna has joined Manchester City from Arsenal on a free transfer .
Sagna has signed a £150,000-a-week three-year-deal at Manchester City, which is inclusive of add-ons and bonuses .
Sagna is also part of the France squad at the World Cup in Brazil .
Sagna posted a lengthy goodbye note to Arsenal fans on Instagram .
Arsene Wenger is singled out for special thanks by Sagna in the note . |
0a62e4ebeda2bf3b2a8c1b116894e809ca546767 | (CNN) -- Divers are recovering bottles of champagne that have been lying at the bottom of the Baltic Sea for about two centuries, an autonomous Finnish island official said Wednesday. About 70 bottles lie mostly undamaged at 50 meters deep [roughly 164 feet] south of the Aland Islands. "The first bottle was brought to the surface in mid-July," Rainer Juslin, permanent secretary of the island's ministry of education, science and culture, told CNN via telephone from Mariehamn, the capital of the Aland islands. "We believe this is the oldest champagne in the world." Juslin said that the cargo was aboard a ship believed to be heading from Copenhagen, Denmark, to St Petersburg, Russia, between 1800 and 1830. It could have possibly been sent by France's King Louis XVI to the Russian Imperial Court. "Champagne of this kind was popular in high levels [of society] and was exclusive to rich groups -- it was not a drink for common people then," Juslin said. Juslin said some of the bottles already retrieved had some cracks and a few corks on the bottles had corroded, leaving the possibility open that "salt water leaked into some bottles ... but for the undamaged bottles, they could be very high quality [champagne]." Some of the bottles were originally produced by Juglar, a premium champagne house no longer in existence, according to Juslin. He said the cold sea water was a perfect way to store the vintage bubbly, with the temperature remaining a near-constant 4-5 degrees Celsius [around freezing temperature in Fahrenheit, or 32 degrees] and no light to expedite the spoiling process. "This was the ultimate conditions for storage," Juslin said. "And it would never freeze." Juslin speculated the ship carrying the cargo may have been Finnish or another Scandinavian ship. The island chain is at the entrance of the Gulf of Bothnia, in the Baltic Sea, and is an island of Swedish speaking people, though the island itself falls under Finnish control. The islands form an archipelago of more than 6,000 skerries and islands. | About 70 bottles lie mostly undamaged south of the Aland Island .
"The first bottle was brought to the surface in mid-July," official says .
The champagne is believed to have been aboard the ship between 1800 and 1830 . |
0a62ef39d65382938cf316a887f8a8a573daea59 | With courses on David Beckham, Harry Potter and politicising Beyoncé on offer at prestigious universities, it comes as no surprise that students are now able to learn the art of the perfect 'selfie'. Budding photographers will be taught valuable life skills to prepare them to face an expectant world which could present a photo opportunity at any point as part of a new City Lit course in London. As well as offering guidance on the most flattering angles and lighting, the course - officially called 'The art of self portraiture' – promises to 'improve your critical understanding' of the 'selfie'. The 'selfie' trend went viral after Ellen DeGeneres' star-stuffed Oscar photo (pictured) and now City Lit college in London is offering a course in taking the perfect self-portrait . The path to the perfect profile picture will cost you just £132 (£106 for seniors) – but potential students should be warned that it does not come with a free 'selfie' stick. It is open to all, including those who have only 'engaged in self-portrait –even in the most casual way'. But the 'selfie' enthusiasts must be prepared to share their snaps, as organisers said a critique of students' work would form an important role in the learning process. Over four sessions, students will be taught to 'use light and significant detail' in their work and 'explain ideas of space, place and surrounding issues'. Kim Kardashian is one of the most prolific 'selfie' takers, even inspiring a new trend called the 'belfie' - or 'bum selfie' (right) Even David Cameron and Barack Obama got involved, but their selfie during Nelson Mandela's memorial service with Denmark's prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, caused controversy . There will be a brief exploration into the notions of 'identity, self-hood and memory' as well as the opportunity to 'develop new ideas to make your photography more relevant to your aims'. It is ideal for those who have an understanding of ISO, aperture, shutter speed, white balance and how to change these on your digital SLR or bridge camera. The 'selfie' phenomenon is so widespread that it was only a matter of time before courses started offering guidance on the most flattering angles and lighting. Twitter declared 2014 as the year of the 'selfie' after Ellen DeGeneres' star-stuffed Oscar photo was retweeted more than three million times - a Twitter record. The trend became so popular that it even inspired a song, '#SELFIE' by The Chainsmokers, which racked up 267 million views on YouTube. Models Millie Mackintosh (left) and Kendall Jenner (right) have both perfected the bikini 'selfie' Tennis players Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic take selfies during the BNP Paribas Showdown at Madison Square Garden . | City Lit college in London is offering a course in taking the perfect 'selfie'
The art of self portraiture course will cost you £132 (£106 for seniors)
Budding photographers will be taught about flattering angles and lighting .
There will be an exploration into ideas of 'identity, self-hood and memory' |
0a64e134f8f636a8309af1e9049983a38c4a18bb | A former Apple employee named Sam Sung has raised more than $2,500 for charity by auctioning off his old business card after an initial bid of $80,200 was revealed to be fake. Mr Sung, 25, worked for three years as a specialist at the Pacific Centre Apple store in Vancouver, where customers couldn't help but notice his distinctive name on his ID badge and employee T-shirt. When he left the store, he decided to set up an eBay auction to sell off of his old personalized business cards - with the money raised going to The Children's Wish Foundation. Novelty name: Sam Sung, 25, worked for three years at an Apple store in Vancouver and auctioned off his business card for charity . As the news of his coincidental name and charity auction spread across the world, the bids shot up to a staggering $80,200. However, they were later revealed to be fake - with Mr Sung's card eventually selling for a lower sum of $2,653, with the winner also receiving his old uniform and lanyard. But even though his donation to the charity is much less than he thought, he is still pleased with the money raised. He told CNBC: 'I'm so pleased at the amount that was raised and, according to Children's Wish, anything over $2,000 is considered a major gift. So for me, that's a major win and it will go towards granting a terminally ill child's wish. 'I don't think we're supposed to keep any of that stuff [featured in the auction] but working for Apple was honestly one of the funnest jobs I've had, and I wanted to keep it as a memento.' Good cause: Mr Sung had hoped to raise up to $80,000 after receiving the bid on eBay, but it turned out to be fake . In the post on the eBay page, where people were invited to bid, Mr Sung posed next to his business card, which is framed alongside his employee T-shirt and ID badge. He wrote that he came up with the idea after one of his old business cards fell out of a book. At first the auction created quite the buzz with bids rapidly flying up to $80,100 just few hours later, although this subsequently turned out to be a fake. Hoax: The post on the eBay auction site for $80,000, which turned out to be a fake . Mr Sung says he became interested in the Children's Wish Foundation, which aids children with serious illness, after attending an inaugural gala last winter. Since then, he has volunteered on numerous projects and made it his mission to help out. 'Sam has clearly been touched by what we do and come up with a creative way to support us,' said Jennifer Peterson, the director of the charity's British Columbia branch. 'One of our recent wish children, who sadly passed away just after his travel wish, summed up his experience so profoundly by saying "I forgot I was sick,"' explained the charity director. 'Sam has made a choice to help us give another child and their family this gift.' | Sam Sung, 25 worked as a specialist at an Apple store in Vancouver .
On leaving his job, he decided to auction off his distinctive badge for charity .
Attracted bids of up to $80,200 on the online auction site eBay .
But the bid turned out to be a fake and it eventually went for $2,500 . |
0a65dc2fbf4fda5e273a84ab36d0409a605f456b | (CNN) -- The 2010 Census is nearly under way, but don't expect an e-mail from the U.S. Census Bureau asking you personal questions in its head count of America. Cyber criminals have information about millions of people, but they don't use it against everyone. If you do get one, it's a scam. "Like most large organizations, we have seen e-mail scams and phishing attacks that cite the U.S. Census Bureau," agency spokesman Neil Tillman wrote in an e-mail. The Census Bureau stresses that it will not request personal information from you via e-mail, such as PIN codes, passwords, Social Security numbers, credit-card numbers or other financial account information. A news-based phishing scheme like this one is one of several risks you face online. Cybercriminals have gotten craftier, often looking toward popular trends and events -- such as tax season, the mortgage meltdown and the growth of social media -- to scam people into giving them sensitive information. To protect their privacy online, computer users need to stay informed about the criminals' methods and to learn basic principles of caution. Online attackers have information on millions of consumers, said Ravi Sandhu, a professor of cyber security at the University of Texas at San Antonio. However, he added, the rate at which they can use that information is considerably lower. "It's a bit like a lottery. To have identity theft actually occur against you, you need to have a little bad luck. There is some comfort in numbers," Sandhu said. In addition to criminal scams, corporate data breaches can leave your privacy compromised. As of September 22, there have been 379 data breaches reported by the Identity Theft Resource Center in 2009, affecting more than 13 million records. Companies with data breaches included financial institutions, travel companies, health care operations and schools. "It's not one or two companies that are acting irresponsibly with consumer data," said Andrea Matwyshyn, a law professor who teaches technology regulation at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. "It's a large-scale problem where industry norms of care are arguably not adequate to address the challenges of data security optimally." Safeguard your Social Security number . Exercising caution before you submit sensitive information can save you a lot of aggravation down the line. For instance, most businesses really won't need your Social Security number, the key number for identity theft, so think twice before you provide it online. Social Security numbers are used "to establish new lines of credit or for tax purposes. How many things are you doing online that have to do with taxes?" said Linda Foley, co-founder of the Identity Theft Resource Center. So before you share the information, be certain that you are on that Web site of a real company -- as opposed to an imposter conducting a phishing scheme. Also, ask yourself why a Web site would need your Social Security number, said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance. "I always encourage consumers to supply the minimum amount of information possible. A lot of times, you get these long forms and you get the little star that's required, but people are collecting other [data about you]," Kaiser said. "Don't fill it out if you don't want to." Still, even visiting a legitimate Web site has its share of risks, because online attackers may inject malicious content onto them by hacking them or placing advertisements that deliver malware, Sandhu said. If a criminal does obtain your Social Security number and creates a fraudulent identity, it can be a much bigger hassle than if he or she uses your credit card number. Credit card companies often pick up the tab for fraudulent charges, and they send you a new card with a different number. It's more difficult to get a new Social Security number, and a stolen identity could affect your credit rating. Where is your information going? If you conduct an online transaction that requires you to reveal personal data, the online privacy policy will explain whether your information could be shared with third parties. A company may tell you in that policy it will share your data with its "trusted partners" and however it deems appropriate in the course of business, said Matwyshyn, editor of the upcoming book "Harboring Data: Information Security, Law, and the Corporation." "That's a signal that your data is going to be licensed many times over, and it's going to be touched by a greater number of hands." That becomes a problem, Matwyshyn said, because "you're only as good as the weakest link in the chain." That is, the "trusted partners" who can access the data may not have optimal security. Storing sensitive data such as a credit card number on a business' Web site, though convenient, may also pose a risk, Matwyshyn said. "The longer they store that credit card number in their systems, the longer the period of time that someone else can gain unauthorized access to that credit card number," she said. Privacy at the mercy of others . Even if you practice a high level of caution with how much you reveal about yourself online, other people may inadvertently expose information about you. For instance, a friend or relative may post a photo of you on a blog or social networking Web site that reveals your name, shows a street sign indicating your address and displays your car's license plate number, Kaiser said. Kaiser recommends periodically looking up your name on one or two search engines to see the personal information about you on the Internet but adds that search probably won't tell you whether someone stole sensitive information, such as your credit card, address or Social Security number. For that, monitor your credit report for suspicious activity, suggests the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act allows you to access a free credit report each year from each of the three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. "Just like in health care, you should be the first one to notice when something goes wrong with you," Sandhu said. "If you don't perceive a symptom and convey it to a physician, nobody's going to be able to help you," he said. "So here, also, consumers need to be vigilant and watch over their accounts and look out to see if anything strange is happening." | Cybercriminals have data on many people but can use it only against a finite number .
Most businesses don't really need your Social Security number .
Privacy policies reveal whether a company will share your information with others . |
0a661af9686af6c8f298c8309e8e1a96ef0cc08f | By . Martin Robinson and Sam Greenhill . PUBLISHED: . 04:32 EST, 17 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 18:38 EST, 17 June 2013 . With a smile and a jaunty wave, Prince Philip left hospital three days early yesterday. He walked unaided from the London Clinic, 11 days after he was admitted for exploratory abdominal surgery. Buckingham Palace had previously said the 92-year-old Duke of Edinburgh would be kept in for two weeks. But he has been progressing well and doctors ruled him fit to go home early. He shook hands and joked with medical staff as he left the hospital in central London before being driven away to be reunited with the Queen. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Happy to be going home: Prince Philip smiles and waves as he left the London Clinic 11 days after an abdominal operation . Philip was smartly dressed in a double-breasted blazer, but appeared to be wearing white surgical stockings under his loafers. He was holding a book about the . British Empire entitled The Crucible Of War: The Seven Years’ War And . The Fate Of Empire In British North America, 1754-1766. From his bookmark it appeared the duke was at least three-quarters of the way through its 900 pages. Philip was in ‘good spirits’ but will take a two-month ‘period of convalescence’, the Palace said. Initially he will rest at Windsor Castle, and possibly later move to Balmoral in Scotland. He is expected to resume engagements . in the autumn. It is the fourth time the duke has needed hospital . treatment since Christmas 2011, and last week he spent his 92nd birthday . in the London Clinic. Mystery: The Palace has kept the details of the Prince's operation private but said he was in good spirits and recovering well . Treatment: The Duke was taken to The Clinic in London after being taken ill at a Palace garden party almost a fortnight ago . Looking well: The Duke gripped his book as he said goodbye to staff and then walked in a spritely fashion to a waiting car with a smile on his face . Philip received more than 1,000 cards . from well-wishers during his time at the hospital, and in recent days . he has been asking for paperwork from his office. Yesterday the Queen was all smiles as . she took part in the historic Garter Day service at Windsor Castle, . believed to be the first time Philip has not been at her side for the . ceremony. Instead, in the latest sign of the . monarchy preparing the younger generation to take over, the Queen was . flanked by Prince Charles and Prince William. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: . 'The Duke is in good condition and good spirits. He'll take a period of . convalescence, of approximately two months. 'The Duke has expressed his thanks . and appreciation to medical staff at the London Clinic and the many . members of the public who have sent good wishes.' The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry's chauffeur-driven vehicle pulled up outside the hospital around 15 minutes after the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, so for a period of time the Duke had four members of his family with him at his hospital bedside. The Duke of Edinburgh had a full house as four of his family members were there at once last Friday . Security was tightened at the hospital as they royals visited the Duke. Earlier in the day his granddaughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie paid him a visit. Charles and Camilla stayed for just over 35 minutes and left the hospital smiling and looking relaxed. Seeing the Prince: Charles and Camilla were all smiles as they left the clinic last week . Once out of hospital the Duke will spend two months convalescing but he is described as progressing well. Prince Philip, pictured the week before his operation at a Buckingham Palace garden party, spent his 92nd birthday in hospital . The Duke celebrated his 92nd birthday four days ago with a visit from the Queen and the Earl of Wessex. Prince Charles and Camilla had been Birkhall, their private residence at Balmoral. Prince Edward was the first member of the Royal Family to visit the Duke last week and said he was doing 'well' after his visit. His visit lasted 20 minutes and as he left he was asked by the waiting press how his father was and replied: 'Well, thank you'. The Duke had already received the good wishes of the Prime Minister on his birthday and gun salutes were fired across the UK to mark the milestone. David Cameron took to Twitter to send a birthday message to Philip: 'Wishing the Duke of Edinburgh a very happy 92nd birthday as he recovers in hospital today.' The Palace has not revealed what prompted the exploratory surgery but sources said doctors ‘picked something up’ during a routine health check. The Duke was then admitted to the London Clinic ahead of Friday's pre-arranged operation a week last Thursday. The surgery, known as a laparotomy, was performed the next day under general anaesthetic. He was visited by the royal doctor, Professor John Cunningham, on the Saturday and the results of the operation are expected later. Seeing her husband: The Queen was pictured holding an envelope addressed to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh . Watching: A large crowd gathered at the London Clinic as the Queen arrived at about 7pm last Monday . It is not usual for members of the Royal Family to visit the duke in hospital, because he disliked ‘fuss’. In 2008 he was admitted for four days with a chest infection but refused to receive any well-wishers. His eldest grandson Peter Phillips said last week that the family was kept informed but added: ‘He’s one of those people who wouldn’t want you to stop just because he’s gone into hospital.’ Last August he was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary to be treated for a recurrence of a bladder infection while staying with the Queen at Balmoral. He was in hospital for six days and was not visited by any members of the Royal Family, following doctors’ orders for the elderly Duke to rest. As well as recuperating after surgery, it appears Prince Philip has relaxed by reading about 18th century history. The Duke of Edinburgh today left hospital clutching The Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766 under his arm. The book by Fred Anderson costs at least £50, and looking at his bookmark it appears the Duke is at least three-quarters of the way through its 900 pages. Reading: Prince Philip left hospital clutching the Crucible of War by Fred Anderson (left), considered a masterpiece by academics and reviewers . The book, first published in 2000, tells how during the Seven Years' War, Great Britain decisively eliminated French power north of the Caribbean. Mr Anderson also says this profoundly changed the political and cultural landscape of North America, as the British influenced the first US President George Washington and others like him. Anderson also argues that men like Washington also worked hard to understand Britain's strengths and weaknesses, particularly militarily, which allowed America to successfully battle them and win later. | Duke had exploratory operation and has been progressing well .
Was allowed to leave three days earlier than expected and is off to Windsor .
The Duke will take a two month 'period of convalescence', Palace says .
The Queen had visited London Clinic on his 92nd birthday last Mondat .
Also visited by William, Harry, Prince Charles and Camilla at the same time . |
0a6790f886a42a76945d4a21ed27c4ebd9ca1025 | Although my work has been in Washington, D.C., my home and heart have always been along the beautiful coastline of the Monterey Peninsula in California. It's a place where I first developed my dedication to public service. And it inspired what would become a lifelong effort to promote responsible stewardship of our oceans. Healthy oceans benefit all Americans, whether they live on our nation's coasts or in the heartland. That's why I eagerly agreed in the mid-2000s to help lead the Pew Ocean Commission, a special effort to bring together leading voices from around the United States to examine the health of our oceans through the lens of science, not partisan politics. Ten years ago, the commission released its findings, the nation's first comprehensive report on the state of America's marine environment in more than 40 years. Because of leadership from both sides of the aisle in Congress and from Democratic and Republican administrations alike, we've made remarkable progress over the past decade since the release of that report to address many of the problems it identified. But, there's still much work to be done. Our oceans are a tremendous economic engine, providing jobs for millions of Americans, directly and indirectly, and a source of food and recreation for countless more. Yet, for much of U.S. history, the health of America's oceans has been taken for granted, assuming its bounty was limitless and capacity to absorb waste without end. This is far from the truth. The situation the commission found in 2001 was grim. Many of our nation's commercial fisheries were being depleted and fishing families and communities were hurting. More than 60% of our coastal rivers and bays were degraded by nutrient runoff from farmland, cities and suburbs. Government policies and practices, a patchwork of inadequate laws and regulations at various levels, in many cases made matters worse. Our nation needed a wake-up call. The situation, on many fronts, is dramatically different today because of a combination of leadership initiatives from the White House and old-fashioned bipartisan cooperation on Capitol Hill. Perhaps the most dramatic example can be seen in the effort to end overfishing in U.S. waters. In 2005, President George W. Bush worked with congressional leaders to strengthen America's primary fisheries management law, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This included establishment of science-based catch limits to guide decisions in rebuilding depleted species. These reforms enacted by Congress are paying off. In fact, an important milestone was reached last June when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced it had established annual, science-based catch limits for all U.S. ocean fish populations. We now have some of the best managed fisheries in the world. Progress also is evident in improved overall ocean governance and better safeguards for ecologically sensitive marine areas. In 2010, President Barack Obama issued a historic executive order establishing a national ocean policy directing federal agencies to coordinate efforts to protect and restore the health of marine ecosystems. President George W. Bush set aside new U.S. marine sanctuary areas from 2006 through 2009. Today, the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, one of several marine monuments created by the Bush administration, provides protection for some of the most biologically diverse waters in the Pacific. Despite the strides made in the 10 years since the Pew Oceans Commission issued its report, challenges remain. Coastal development continues, largely unchecked, and wetlands and marshes continue to shrink. That exposes more than half of the Americans who live along the coasts to the physical and economic damage caused by increasingly high-intensity storms such as Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy. On top of that, major challenges that the commission could not see as clearly in 2003, including ocean acidification and rising ocean temperatures, further threaten some of our most valuable fisheries. The United States must pursue a broader, ecosystem-based approach to build resilience in our oceans and respond to future threats. Over my many years in public service, I've seen many commissions come and go. But I'm perhaps most proud of the work the Pew Ocean Commission did to warn about the threat posed to our oceans and call for change. Every time I take my grandchildren to play on the beaches of Monterey Bay, my resolve to keep the issue of responsible ocean stewardship forefront on the agenda of policymakers in Washington becomes even stronger. | Leon Panetta has worked in Washington, but his beloved California coastline is home .
Ocean Commission 10 years ago found depleted fisheries, polluted rivers and bays .
Panetta: Stewardship of oceans has improved, especially in control of overfishing .
Still ahead: Curbing development, guarding wetlands, dealing with warmer waters . |
0a6802873f762054e3f09781c73cb884ee5bab3f | Los Angeles (CNN) -- Lindsay Lohan was released from home confinement at 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, 35 days after she began serving her sentence for misdemeanor theft and probation violation, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County sheriff said Wednesday. The electronic monitoring bracelet was removed from Lohan's ankle about 40 minutes before she was officially freed, spokesman Steve Whitmore said. The actress was sentenced last month to 120 days in jail after she entered a guilty plea to stealing a necklace from a jewelry store in January. The judge had earlier sentenced her to the same jail term for violating her probation by being arrested in the theft case. The four months in jail translated into five weeks in home confinement because of jail overcrowding and state rules that allow for credit for good behavior for prisoners, Whitmore said. "I am not happy about house arrest," Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Saunter said during a hearing last week. "It was not my sentence." Lohan must now resume work on the 480 hours of community service ordered as part of her sentence, including 360 hours at the Los Angeles Downtown Women's Center. The last 120 hours will be served at the county morgue. Judge Saunter gave Lohan a year to complete the community service. Her supervised probation is scheduled to end within a year, unless Lohan is charged with breaking any laws before then. It has been extended several times because of probation violations, including failed alcohol and drug tests. Lohan failed an alcohol test administered by a probation officer on June 13 and was ordered to go before the judge for a probation violation hearing last week. But Lohan's attorney convinced the judge the testing requirement had lapsed in February. Judge Saunter ruled that Lohan is now allowed to drink alcohol and she is no longer required to take random drug tests. The actress, who turns 25 on July 2, has managed to avoid more than a few days in jail despite two drunken-driving convictions, a long list of probation violations and the recent theft conviction. "Because of budget constraints and because we're under a federal consent decree that requires us to curb our overcrowding situation, nonviolent offenders, lesser crimes, get 20% of their sentence," Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said. Lohan entered drug rehab last year to avoid a jail sentence imposed by another judge. But Saunter made it clear in court last month that she didn't think drugs and alcohol were the root of Lohan's legal troubles. "She's got other problems for which she self-medicates," Saunter said at her sentencing in May. Lohan's four years in and out of court -- and sometimes jail -- started with two drunken-driving arrests in 2007. Since then, she's spent more than eight months in substance-abuse rehabilitation programs. A probation report released last month said the actress "appears to be continuing to struggle with substance abuse issues." "It would appear that the defendant's criminal conduct is increasing in seriousness and severity," the probation report said, yet it suggested she serve her sentence on probation and not in jail. Lohan tested positive for alcohol use, a violation of probation rules, in February, the report said. It also revealed that the drug test failure last August, which resulted in a jail sentence and court-ordered rehab, involved cocaine and amphetamines. CNN's Brittany Kaplan contributed to this report . | The actress served 35 days in home confinement .
120-day jail sentence was changed to home confinement due to jail overcrowding .
She pleaded guilty in May to a January necklace theft charge .
Lohan must now resume work on 480 hours of community service . |
0a6953feb86f56b0d74415e409f8dddfd9ef50e1 | Jasmine Billington, 8, pictured with her 'twin' Simon - who was born in May last year . These are the amazing twins who were born EIGHT years apart. Jasmine and Simon Billington were conceived at the same time with sperm that was frozen but Jasmine was born in May 2005 and her ‘twin’ brother was born in May last year. As she cuddled her newborn brother in the hospital, Jasmine told her parents that she had waited such a long time for his arrival. Mother Lisa Billington, 48, a nurse, said: ‘They are theoretically twins because they were conceived at the same time - even though I gave birth to them eight years apart. ‘They were identical as newborn babies - both of them had a full head of black hair - but when people look at them now, they can’t believe that they were conceived at the same time, as Jasmine is eight years older than her brother. ‘When he arrived, she was so thrilled. She cuddled him and told my husband and I that she was so excited as she had waited so long for him to arrive. When they are older we will tell them of their remarkable start in life.’ Mrs Billington and her husband Nigel, 50, also a nurse, who live in Sandbach, Cheshire, decided they wanted to start trying for a family in 1997, two years after they had met. Mr Billington had an operation to reverse a vasectomy operation that he’d had previously, but it wasn’t successful. In 2002 they decided to go and live in Australia for a year, and when they returned home they made an appointment with CARE fertility in Manchester. Mrs Billington said: ‘We really wanted a family and we were disappointed when the vasectomy reversal didn’t work. I’d tried other methods too - like drinking soya milk and making sure my waist didn’t go beyond 30 inches. 'I tried to have my body in as good a shape as possible to fall pregnant, but nothing was working. I thought I would never be a mum.’ In 2004, they underwent IVF treatment and 24 embryos were produced from that treatment cycle. Mrs Billington said: ‘The doctor was surprised about how many good quality eggs and then embryos we had, as my age was against me. We’d been told there was only about a 14 per cent chance of the treatment working because of how old I was. ‘So we were optimistic about the treatment.’ Lisa Billington with her two children. The mother and her husband Nigel tried IVF in 2004 after several years of trying to conceive naturally . The doctors put two embryos back into her womb and froze the remaining ones. Mrs Billington discovered she was pregnant two weeks later. She said: ‘We were thrilled when I discovered I was pregnant, but we tried not to get our hopes up as I knew there was a possibility I may miscarry because of my age.’ Mrs Billington had to have an emergency caesarean when she was 33 weeks pregnant as her waters broke and she developed an infection. She said: ‘It was frightening, but luckily the baby was healthy. I couldn’t believe it, that after all this time, I was a mum at last. It was such an emotional moment when she was born.’ The couple decided to wait several years before trying for a brother or sister for Jasmine. Mrs Billington said: ‘I wanted to enjoy being a mum to Jasmine for a while, and there is 11 years between my sister and I, so I wasn’t in any hurry.’ In 2012 the couple returned to CARE fertility for a second course of IVF treatment. She said: ‘We took Jasmine with us and the doctor was delighted to see her. They did warn us that we didn’t have a high chance of the treatment working. The thawing process combined with my age, as I was 47 by then, were all factors that would go against us. But we just had to hope that we would be as lucky as last time.’ The family pictured together at their home in Cheshire. Mrs Billington had 22 embryos frozen when she fell pregnant with Jasmine - two of which were used when the couple tried for their second child . Mrs Billington’s remaining embryos were taken out the freezer, where they had been stored for the last seven years. Only five survived the thawing process and only two were deemed good enough quality to put back into her womb. Frozen embryos are usually stored for a standard of 10 years, according to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority which monitors UK fertility clinics. But parents wanting to freeze eggs, sperm or embryos must sign consent forms before the process begins setting out how long they want them to be stored for and who is allowed to access them. She said: ‘We only had one remaining chance with our embryos, so we had to keep our fingers crossed and hope for a miracle.’ Amazingly she discovered she was pregnant two weeks later. The pregnancy went smoothly until 33 weeks when she started bleeding. She had an emergency caesarean four weeks later and Simon arrived into the world at Leighton Hospital in Crewe weighing 6Ib6 - exactly the same weight as a his ‘twin‘ sister eight years before. Mrs Billington said: ‘We were so surprised that they had been exactly the same weight - and they both had a head of black hair. As babies, they looked like two peas in a pod.’ Simon suffered from pneumonia when he was born and he had to stay on a ventilator in hospital for two weeks. But after his recovery he was allowed home. Mrs Billington added: ‘Jasmine’s hair has turned fair now, and people are amazed when we tell them they were born exactly eight years and 16 days apart. She’s so good with her little brother - but then as she keeps reminding us, she’s waited long enough to meet him.’ | Jasmine Billington born in May 2005 and her 'twin' Simon eight years later .
Parents Lisa and Nigel first tried IVF in 2004 after several years of trying .
Doctors put two embryos into Mrs Billington and froze 22 others .
Several years later, couple tried again with a remaining frozen embryo .
Simon was born in May 2013 at 37 weeks . |
0a69907582b1befb7e1ec48a1187bc6b7d43a5f9 | LONDON, England (CNN) -- Social networking, Martin Scorsese and cinema classics on demand: this is the enticing mix on offer at new movie Web site The Auteurs. The Auteurs mastermind Efe Cakarel (center) at Cannes with Celluloid Dreams' Hengameh Panahi (left) and Martin Scorsese. The self-styled "online cinematheque" allows users to watch art house films from directors like Michael Winterbottom, Francois Ozon and Walter Salles, while Facebook-style profile pages and discussion forums encourage movie debate. With their innovative approach, The Auteurs hope to introduce art house cinema to a whole new audience. Recently, The Auteurs announced a prestigious partnership with another more widely known auteur: Scorsese. The site is collaborating with Scorsese's World Cinema Foundation (WCF) -- an organization dedicated to restoring lost cinema classics from around the world -- to exhibit the refurbished masterpieces online. The first four rescued works from Scorsese's project are currently available to watch for free on The Auteurs Web site. Among them are Korean domestic thriller "The Housemaid" (1960) and "Transes" (1973), a documentary about pioneering Moroccan band Nass El Ghiwan, famously described by Scorsese as "the Rolling Stones of North Africa." Watch a clip from "The Housemaid" Watch a clip from "Transes" "It is really exciting and important to have Scorsese preserving the films he is preserving," said one of the masterminds behind The Auteurs, Eduardo Costantini, over the phone from New York. "As he said, it's not only important to preserve, but to show -- and he chose The Auteurs because of our look and feel and our philosophy and concept. We are really proud." The basic ambition behind The Auteurs is to make high quality cinema accessible to a young, global audience by making it available on demand cheaply. "If you are not in LA, London, New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, Paris, or Berlin, forget it," Efe Cakarel told CNN over the phone from Palo Alto, California. "Many of these films you cannot get even on DVD if you are living in Warsaw, in Istanbul, in Seoul or Buenos Aires." The Auteurs is Cakarel's brainchild: an ambitious former Goldman Sachs banker with a head for technology, he came up with the idea back in 2007 in Tokyo when, with some spare time on his hands, he tried to watch Wong Kar-wai's "In the Mood for Love" on the Internet. "It was very simple. I went online and I did not find a place that I could use," he says. He started writing his business plan there and then. Cakarel says he knew that if he was going to succeed in his quest to bring quality cinema to the global village he would have to enlist some of the industry's top brass. Enter Argentine millionaire, Eduardo Costantini of Costa Films, the company behind 2007 Berlinale winner "Elite Troop," and Hengameh Panahi of Paris-based distributor Celluloid Dreams which represents films like Jacques Audiard's "A Prophet," which won the Grand Prize at Cannes Film Festival this year. Costantini and Panahi have instilled the site with their film knowledge, and paved the way for the site's other major collaboration with masters of the vintage re-release, the Criterion Collection. Each month, the Criterion Collection curates a free online film festival making available classic films from its large library on The Auteurs. This month, users can watch Michelangelo Antonioni's 1960 classic "L'Avventura" or "Harakiri" (1962) by Japanese master Masaki Kobayashi. Of course, all this begs the question: is there really a big appetite for auteur-driven feature films outside the lofty but limited cinephile circles -- especially at a time when studio-driven blockbuster fodder like "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" and "Angels & Demons" dominate at the box office? "I want to create an entirely new audience for these films," says Cakarel. "Because the only thing people in much of the world are exposed to is "Spiderman 3" or "Pirates of the Caribbean" in their local multiplex." The Auteurs is one of a number of Web sites, like jaman.com, making previously hard-to-find films available on the Internet since the YouTube revolution paved the way for new ways of consuming video on the Web. The Auteurs' particular niche is auteur-driven cinema combined with social networking: "Putting the films online is only part of it. The moment you put the film in the existing conversation between people that know each other, then you create a platform for discovery. According to Cakarel, what sets the site apart from the others is quality: each film is individually encoded (compared to most sites, which batch encode films) for the Web which he says gives a higher quality of sound and vision than anywhere else on the Web. "Being the best in the world has a huge premium and I know that we can be the best in the world," said Cakarel. The site is cleanly designed, easy to navigate and you can pay to watch films like 1998 Dogme 95 classic "Festen" by Danish director Thomas Vinterberg and "The Corporation," (2003) an unsettling examination of the pre-eminence of big business. Currently there are 200 films available to watch, some free, but mostly for around $5. Costantini says he hopes to increase the number of films to 1,000. Despite the unabashedly highbrow aims of the site, both Cakarel and Costantini realize they will need to include more commercial fare if they want to increase membership of the site which currently stands at around 80,000. "It is important we start getting some major films," said Costantini. "Not only treasures that Scorsese restores but also some films that are more commercial." Cakarel says he would love to host quality studio films like the Coen's "No Country for Old Men," Oscar-winner "There Will be Blood," and Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds." But there are limits: "I will never put a mainstream film that is purely for entertainment; that has no soul on the site. "You will never see 'Knocked Up' or 'Spiderman 3.'" | Scorsese collaborates with Web site The Auteurs to put restored films online free .
The movie masterpieces were restored by Scorsese's World Cinema Foundation .
They include Korean film "The Housemaid" and Moroccan documentary "Transes"
The Auteurs is an innovative mix of social networking and video on demand . |
0a69b17bee613ce2d85cac062724ec4d4e118b20 | By . Jason Groves . PUBLISHED: . 16:50 EST, 2 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 01:37 EST, 3 October 2013 . John Hirst who has campaigned for prisoners to win the right to vote. He murdered his landlady with an axe . Clamour for Britain to leave the European Court of Human Rights intensified last night, after the only UK judge on the panel called for axe murderers to be given the vote. The remark from Paul Mahoney, a bureaucrat who has never sat as a judge in this country, shocked MPs. ‘If you are killed by an axe murderer, I would still give him the vote – he would have a say,’ Mr Mahoney told a cross-party group of politicians in Strasbourg. The comment appears to be a reference to John Hirst, who served 25 years in prison after killing his landlady with an axe. Hirst has led the campaign for prisoners to be given the vote. Mr Mahoney claimed the Government should back down over its refusal to accept a ruling from his court that Britain’s blanket ban on prisoner votes is illegal. He said the decision was just a ‘fleabite’ on the independence of Britain’s judicial system – and suggested that defying the ECHR would damage the country’s reputation abroad. The comments enraged MPs at the meeting, which was held to explain how the court works. Conservative MP Ian Liddell-Grainger said Mr Mahoney’s intervention merely strengthened the case for Britain withdrawing from it. ‘The idea of giving axe murderers the vote is grotesque and has been rejected by a huge majority in Parliament,’ he said. ‘They have forfeited the right to vote by their crimes. It is outrageous for [Mr Mahoney] to lecture us that the view of a sovereign parliament is less important than that of his court. ‘Britain has had enough of this court’s meddling in our affairs. It is not fit for purpose and, in my view, we should come out.’ Jeffrey Donaldson, a Democratic Unionist MP who also attended the meeting, said ‘the idea of giving axe murderers the vote will repel most people’. He added: ‘If you are the family of a victim of such a crime, how would you feel to hear the highest court in Europe accord these rights to your loved one’s killer? Paul Mahoney, has spent three decades at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg . ‘From our experience in Northern Ireland, we would be very concerned about the idea of people convicted of acts of terrorism being given a vote in the democracy they have tried to overthrow.’ Tory MP Dominic Raab said Mr Mahoney’s comments reinforced the case for overhauling the Strasbourg court. ‘The only “flea” is the Strasbourg Court sucking the lifeblood out of our democratic authority, with each bite it takes in cases like John Hirst,’ he said. The ECHR has repeatedly ruled that Britain’s ban on prisoner voting is illegal under the European Convention on Human Rights. However, successive governments have refused to change the law, with David Cameron saying the thought of giving prisoners the vote makes him feel ‘physically sick’. In 2011, MPs voted to maintain Britain’s ban by an overwhelming margin of 234 to 22. John Mahoney, a career eurocrat on £150,000 a year . Justice Secretary Chris Grayling announced last year that a joint committee of MPs and peers would consider three options. One would see the current ban retained, while the other two would allow some prisoners to vote; those serving sentences of less than six months, or less than four years. Ministers will then allow MPs to vote on one of these options. Mr Grayling said: ‘The British public want decisions taken about our democracy to be taken by our Parliament and not by an international court. That is why the Tories want wholesale reform of our human rights laws.' A spokesman for the ECHR confirmed there had been an ‘open and frank exchange’ of views when MPs met ECHR officials on Tuesday. He added: ‘The question of the right to vote of prisoners and the implementation of the judgment “Hirst v. the UK” was discussed. Judge Mahoney stated that the judgment – concerning an axe murderer – should now be implemented in the wider interest of the Convention system, and asked the members of the delegation to encourage this outcome at their level.’ | Paul Mahoney told politicians killers should 'have a say'
He appeared to refer to John Hirst, who killed his landlady with an axe .
Mahoney claims UK should back down over prisoner votes refusal . |
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