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0eff956af14bf96780334e6f839260d9fdc071f9 | Vladimir Putin has said that a war between Russian and neighbouring Ukraine is unlikely and that he hopes it 'never happens'. Speaking to Russian state TV, the President called a military conflict between his country and Ukraine 'an apocalyptic scenario'. This comes as an international security watchdog has warned of several breaches of the ceasefire agreed between Ukranian state troops and separatist rebels. Anti-war: Vladimir Putin, pictured yesterday, called a military conflict between his country and Ukraine 'an apocalyptic scenario', adding that he hopes it 'never happens' 'I think that such an apocalyptic scenario [war] is unlikely and I . hope this will never happen,' he told a reporter with Russia . State TV company. This weekend's prisoner swap between Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels took place after Putin agreed to use his influence on the separatists during a conference call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko. Today, Putin said he did not see the need for another meeting with the leaders of France, Germany and Ukraine on resolution of the conflict. This follows a statement by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, that although the current cease-fire has 'very significantly' lowered the level of military exchanges in Ukraine, violations are still taking place. Lamberto Zannier, head of OSCE, said Monday there have been a number of violations in the south, and some limited incidents around the town of Debaltseve and around the Donetsk airport, both seized by separatists. Vladimir Putin, seen at a wreath-laying ceremony at the tomb of the unknown soldier, during the 'Day of the Fatherland's Defender'-celebrations yesterday, said he 'did not see the need' for more peace meetings . Zannier called the agreed ceasefire 'the best chance ... to de-escalate and bring this conflict to an end,' but he stressed that 'there is work to be done.' Today, Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine said they have begun a large-scale pullback of heavy weapons in line with the peace plan. The claim by Eduard Basurin, a top rebel commander, couldn't immediately be confirmed. Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the observer mission that is monitoring the fighting in eastern Ukraine, said he couldn't comment until receiving monitors' reports at the end of the day. The peace plan that was signed February 15 calls for heavy weapons to be pulled back by each side from the front line by 25 to 70 kilometers (15 to 45 miles), depending on their caliber. Disturbing the peace: The OSCE has reported that although the cease-fire has 'very significantly' lowered the level of military exchanges in Ukraine, violations are still taking place . Pro-Russian: Locals greet separatists during a rally to mark the 'Defender of the Fatherland Day' in Donetsk, following several reports of cease-fire violations . The cease-fire has been troubled by violations, leading to concern that it wouldn't solidify and that fighting would continue. A rebel website cited Basurin as saying about 100 122-mm howitzers would be moved on Tuesday. There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian side, but military officials have said that they won't pull back weapons until a cease-fire fully takes hold. On Tuesday, military spokesman Lt. Col. Anatoliy Stelmakh said rebels had shelled the town of Popasna seven times and launched one barrage on the village of Luhanske. Stelmakh also said rebels tried to storm Ukrainian positions near the southern village of Shyrokyne, which is near the strategic Azov Sea port of Mariupol. Concerns persists that rebels aim to take Mariupol to help establish a land corridor between mainland Russia and the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed last March. | Putin says a war between Russia and Ukraine is 'unlikely'
Russian President called possible war 'an apocalyptic scenario'
Security watchdog OSCE warns of several breaches of cease-fire . |
0f0088a2f50235e05b1d9c5e45b736a4ed050269 | The amphibian-version of Nigella Kitchen appears to be a hit with these leopard frogs. A recent video shows the creatures in a frenzy after discovering an iPhone at the back of a shed. Footage of wiggling worms is then played to the crowd of hungry frogs who leap, pounce and hurl themselves at the glass. Scroll down for videos . The video (grab pictured) was uploaded to the YouTube by user Joe Myers. It shows an iPhone placed behind a sheet of glass. A clip of worms is then played on the device to a crowd of frogs . Throughout the video, the crowd increases in size and at one point there are more than 17 frogs all scrambling to get the best view. And it’s lucky the phone is shielded, because frogs have been known to pull three times their own body weight using just their tongue. While worms are part of their staple diet, leopard frog have also been known to eat other small frogs, and their large mouths can even swallow small birds and snakes. The video, which already has 12,000 hits on YouTube, was uploaded four days ago by Ohio-based Joe Myers. 'Quite a crowd gathers only moments after I put it on their favorite channel!' Mr Myers wrote on his Facebook page. 'I had to put the glass cover over it or they kept changing the channel.' Throughout the video (grab pictured) the crowd increases in size and at one point there are more than 17 frogs all scrambling to get their tongues on the worm. And it’s lucky the phone was shielded, because frogs have been known to pull three times its body weight using just its tongue . The leopard frog is most often recognised as the specimen used in science classes for dissection. Their name comes from the pattern of irregularly shaped dark spots that cover their backs and legs. They are greenish-brown in colour with a white underside and light-coloured ridges on either side of their backs. The frogs can reach lengths of three to five inches (7.6 to 12.7cm) with the males slightly larger than females. While worms are part of their staple diet, leopard frog have also been known to other small frogs, and their large mouths can even swallow small birds and snakes. It isn't the first time the animal kingdom has become engrossed in video footage. A recent study found monkeys in the wild not only love watching videos, but they also tend to copy the behaviour seen on screen. When scientists showed marmosets footage of a monkey opening a box to get a banana, they were able to replicate what they saw and open the box themselves. The study, undertaken in Pernambuco, Brazil, revealed new insights into how monkeys learn from each other in the wild, according to Austrian and Scottish researchers. While leopard frogs may be more enticed by flickering lights than footage of worms, scientists believe wild monkeys could prove that 'how-to' videos work just as well in the wild. ‘How-to’ videos have been a success when shown to monkeys in captivity, but this is the first time they were used to train creatures in the wild . Twelve of the marmosets were able to open the box, 11 of which had seen it done first in a video. One monkey could do it after just seeing the still image . | The video was uploaded to YouTube by Ohio-based user Joe Myers .
It shows an iPhone behind glass playing a video of wiggling worms .
At one point, more than 17 leopard frogs scramble to get best view .
As well as worms, leopard frog sometimes eat small birds and snakes . |
0f00f30060b82e28e6214b4fbae0b32ab044ea1c | Hackers appear to have posted account info for 4.6 million users of quickie social-sharing app Snapchat, making usernames and at least partial phone numbers available for download. The data were posted to the website SnapchatDB.info. By late Wednesday morning, that site had been suspended. The hack was seemingly intended to urge Snapchat to tighten its security measures. The anonymous hackers said they used an exploit created by recent changes to the app, which lets users share photos or short videos that disappear after a few seconds. "Our motivation behind the release was to raise the public awareness around the issue, and also put public pressure on Snapchat to get this exploit fixed. It is understandable that tech startups have limited resources but security and privacy should not be a secondary goal. Security matters as much as user experience does," the hackers said in a statement to technology blog TechCrunch. In the statement, the hackers said they blurred the last two digits of the phone numbers they posted but were still considering whether to post more with the full number visible. By Wednesday afternoon, developers had used the data to set up a website letting Snapchat users find out whether their accounts had been compromised. Snapchat did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Last week, Gibson Security -- a group of "white hat" hackers, meaning they don't exploit the security gaps they find -- published what they said was code that would enable such a hack. The SnapchatDB group said Snapchat implemented "very minor obstacles" after that. "We know nothing about SnapchatDB, but it was a matter of time til something like that happened," Gibson Security wrote Wednesday on its Twitter account. "Also the exploit works still with minor fixes." In a blog post Friday, Snapchat appeared to minimize the potential damage from such a hack, claiming that it would require a "huge set of phone numbers, like every number in an area code," to match usernames to numbers. "Over the past year we've implemented various safeguards to make it more difficult to do. We recently added additional counter-measures and continue to make improvements to combat spam and abuse," the post read. "Happy Snapping!" | A hacker group says it accessed info for 4.6 million Snapchat users .
The group, SnapchatDB, urged the app to tighten security .
They said the last two digits in phone numbers were blurred .
Snapchat lets users share photos and videos . |
0f010480df1e779a1f96ddbe476f1550c8a55e98 | By . Simon Tomlinson . Farmed fish should be stunned before being killed because they deserve to be treated as humanely as cattle, the government's animal welfare body has said. The Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC) said people working with Britain's 100million harvested fish must 'recognise that their killing requires taking responsibility for the ending of individual lives'. It argues that some species, including trout, have a 'sensory experience of pain' and that the public's perception that they don't need a high standard of welfare is based on ignorance, not science. Give them a 'life worth living': A government animal welfare committee is recommending that Britain's 100million farmed fish be stunned like cattle before slaughter because they deserve to be treated humanely . The group says the image of fish suffocating after being caught in the wild has become the 'norm' in people's minds. The report states: 'Society should provide farmed animals with "a life worth living" and an increasing number with "a good life". 'We affirm that these principles should extend to farmed fish. 'Both "a life worth living" and "a good life" encompass a whole life up to and including death.' 'Treat them like cattle': The body argues that some species, including trout, have a 'sensory experience of pain' and that the public's perception they don't need a high standard of welfare is based on ignorance . In a report to the government seen by The Times, the FAWC makes 16 recommendations, including stunning fish before slaughter because asphyxiation is not 'immediate' and has been shown to be 'stressful'. The British Trout Association told the paper that it supported the changes as long as regulatory controls took into account differences in the husbandry between aquatic and terrestrial animals. The Scottish Salmon Producers' Organisation said it believed it was already 'well ahead' of what any new legislation would require. Britain has around 750 fish farms which mostly breed salmon and rainbow trout. Scotland harvested some 35million salmon in 2012. | Fish farm workers should 'take responsibility for ending individual lives'
Farm Animal Welfare Committee says some fish 'have experience of pain'
Report: Society should provide farmed animals with 'a life worth living' |
0f01aac02338492512b23c33fd3329d530e61356 | By . Louise Eccles . PUBLISHED: . 19:00 EST, 20 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:04 EST, 21 February 2013 . High above the Swiss snowline, the temperature is rising. Locked in a tight embrace on the slopes of the Verbier ski resort yesterday, Prince Harry and his society girlfriend Cressida Bonas seem to be closer than ever. The very public display of affection, in front of dozens of fellow skiers, came only a few hours after even more intimate revelries at a restaurant in the town. It was not a wild night by Harry’s standards; no one was naked or wearing Nazi fancy dress. Bear hug: Locked in a tight embrace on the slopes of the Verbier ski resort yesterday, Prince Harry and his society girlfriend Cressida Bonas seem to be closer than ever . Close: The very public display of affection, in front of dozens of fellow skiers, came only a few hours after even more intimate revelries at a restaurant in the town . But fellow diners in the wee small hours at the Pot Luck Club restaurant in the resort’s Farinet Hotel were entertained by the sight of the Prince bouncing the 24-year-old blonde model and would-be actress on his knee. The pair were said to have ‘kissed like love-struck teenagers in the back of a cinema’. The other end of the same table was an altogether more sober affair. Harry’s uncle, Prince Andrew, whose 53rd birthday on Tuesday they were celebrating, sat with his ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, and their two daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. Eugenie’s boyfriend, Jack Brooksbank, briefly strolled over chatted to Harry and Cressida. But for the most part they had eyes only for each other. The Yorks traditionally enjoy a week’s skiing in the resort every year to mark Prince Andrew’s birthday, often inviting photographers to capture the event. This time, perhaps not unsurprisingly, the invitation was not extended. The family had booked a table for 20 at The Pot Luck, where they ordered steak and king prawns and drank £17 champagne cocktails. In the spotlight: This week's events in Verbier could suggest that things are beginning to get serious between Prince Harry and Cressida Bonas. The model is spotted out in London previously . As the night drew on, Harry and his socialite girlfriend became increasingly tactile. Shortly before midnight, Miss Bonas, who wore a minuscule black dress and heels, showing off a pair of endless legs, stood up and walked over to sit on Harry’s lap. The pair then began to kiss, with Harry stroking the back of her head as they did so, in a passionate clinch for several minutes. A witness said: ‘We couldn’t believe what we were seeing. They were not being discreet about it.‘The Duchess of York and Eugenie sat just a few seats away at the time and seemed to be deliberately looking the other way, making polite conversation while it was happening. ‘Afterwards, Harry’s girl stayed sitting on his knee while they chatted to his friends.’ The diner went on to reveal: ‘At one point, a waiter brought over a tray of vodka and Red Bull and Harry shouted: “Free drinks on the house!” Everyone seemed to be having a great time.’ Although Prince Andrew left shortly afterwards, the younger royals went on to an exclusive bar above the restaurant, before moving to a basement nightclub, where they stayed until 3.30am. Despite the late night, however, Harry and Cressida still hit the slopes yesterday morning and were again seen openly hugging and kissing on the slopes, which were packed with half-term visitors. Both appeared to be extremely competent skiers and spent most of the day on the mountain. Pole to pole: Harry shows touching concern for his girlfriend on their romantic break . At one point, taking a break from . their fun, Harry was seen putting his arms around Cressida’s waist while . she rested her head on his shoulder. The . student, who wore a white woolly hat with a fur bobble and pink . salopettes, appeared relaxed and could be seen laughing with the Duchess . of York as they left the slopes. She and Eugenie were also seen lying on the snow and giggling as they played with a large St Bernard dog. Last summer’s disastrous Las Vegas stag trip, during which Harry, now 28, was pictured naked — a faux pas which reportedly led to him being dumped briefly by a furious Cressida — seems a very long time ago now. So, for that matter, does his previous, long-term relationship with the Zimbabwean heiress Chelsy Davy, who dumped him in 2011, reportedly because she could not face the prospect of being in the spotlight as a royal wife. Since Vegas, Harry, in his guise of Captain Wales of the Army Air Corps, has served a four-month tour of Afghanistan as a co-pilot in an Apache attack helicopter. At the end of his service he talked of having a new maturity. A few months earlier, he had complained on American television that he would like to settle down, but girls were put off by his royal status. So, do this week’s events in Verbier suggest matters are getting serious between him and the Stowe-educated Miss Bonas? The couple are said to have started dating last May, though they only appeared as an item on the public radar when pictured leaving a Mayfair nightclub in July. Cosy chat: The Duchess of York, so long excluded from royal circles, has a heart-to-heart with Cressida . They had spent the evening ‘kissing and cuddling’ inside Le Salon after attending the latest Batman premiere. Harry’s cousin and Miss Bonas’s good friend Princess Eugenie is said to have brought them together. The . daughter of renowned Old Harrovian businessman Jeffrey Bonas and . Sixties model Lady Mary Curzon — who posed semi-naked for a coffee table . photographic book and went on to get married and divorced four times — . Cressida is a familiar figure in London’s upper-class social scene. As a teenager, she was labelled by society bible Tatler as ‘really pretty, really nice and absolutely obsessed with Eva Cassidy (the late American singer)’. After splitting up with Miss Davy, Harry was linked to a string of women, including model Florence Brudenell-Bruce. But Cressida seems to be the one he has been most smitten with. Split: Prince Harry was previously in a long-term relationship with Chelsy Davy. The pair are pictured together in 2010 . Like Miss Davy, ‘Cressie’ went to Leeds University where she dated Harry Wentworth-Stanley, son of the Marchioness of Milford Haven. After graduation, that relationship cooled. Now she has a prince in her life. Last year she and Harry flew together to the Caribbean island of Necker for the birthday of tycoon Sir Richard Branson’s son Sam, who is engaged to be married to Miss Bonas’s beautiful half- sister, the actress Isabella Anstuther-Gough-Calthorpe. This week’s ski holiday, to which the Prince had flown on budget airline easyJet, is significant in royal terms for more than one reason. It is the first time in many, many years that Harry has been seen in public with the snubbed Duke of York’s ex-wife. Sarah . was robustly frozen out by the Royal Family after being photographed . having her toes sucked by her ‘financial adviser’ in the South of . France, an incident which precipitated her divorce from Prince Andrew. And . despite enjoying a close relationship with Harry and his brother . William while they were growing up, they had little to do with Sarah . after she fell out with their mother Diana, Princess of Wales, shortly . before her death. Andrew, . however, has always championed his ex-wife and, despite the fact that . she was pointedly not invited to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s . wedding, will no doubt be feeling pleased that his nephew Harry is . rekindling their relationship once again, thanks to Cressida. So, a thaw in royal relations. Miss Bonas seems to be melting hearts. | Prince Harry and Cressida Bonas seemed closer than ever in Verbier .
Diners in resort’s Farinet Hotel amazed to see public intimacy between pair .
They ‘kissed like love-struck teenagers in the back of a cinema’
It came during birthday celebration for Harry’s uncle, Prince Andrew . |
0f0229fdb0ea0f102a40afd86f2b12cf4df92059 | Older homeowners with interest-only mortgages could be told by their banks to take out a lifetime loan or move out of their property. People in their 50s and 60s who cannot pay off their debt at the end of a typical 25-year interest-only mortgage may be offered a loan which they will take to their grave, to avoid repossession. Major banks are expected to offer a deal which will allow them to stay in their home and pay back only the interest, if they agree to give their house to the lender, rather than family, after their death. Scroll down for video . Spanish bank Santander will reportedly offer 'lifetime mortgages' to customers from next year in a bid to tackle the number of older homeowners who will never afford to repay their home loan . The property would then be sold and most of the proceeds would go to the lender. Spanish bank Santander will reportedly offer ‘lifetime mortgages’ to customers from next year in a bid to tackle the number of older homeowners who will never afford to repay their home loan. Industry experts said other banks were also looking at the option in a bid to tackle a mortgage ‘time bomb’ for older borrowers. Interest-only deals have lower monthly repayments because the customer is paying off only the interest, but they must then repay the full amount at the end of the fixed term. However, figures show that around half of the 130,000 interest-only mortgages which expire each year cannot be paid off in full by the homeowner. The average shortfall is around £71,000, according to figures from the Financial Conduct Authority. Many lenders are reluctant to lend to the over 60s, making it hard to get a new loan when their fixed term ends . After the homeowner died, the property would be sold and most of the proceeds would go to the lender . Around 2.8million people in the UK have interest-only mortgages but banks estimate that as many as five per cent of customers are completely unaware they are on that type of payment plan. Steve Pateman, head of UK banking at Santander, told the Financial Times: ‘We have got to find a way to help people and we can’t just put them in a sausage machine and process them so they are out of their houses in six months.’ Ros Altmann, the government’s business champion for older workers, welcomed the news, saying: ‘If you have an interest-only mortgage it effectively means the bank owns your home. ‘You don’t – that’s the reality. Lenders are trying to keep people in their homes rather than repossess them, and these new deals will ensure the bank still owns most of the house when they die.’ A lifetime mortgage is a long-term loan secured against your home which is repaid when you die. But experts warned that the loans should be considered only as a ‘last resort’ in the event that borrowers are unable to downsize to release the cash or secure a new mortgage. Many lenders are reluctant to lend to the over 60s, making it difficult for them to get a new loan when their fixed term ends. Steve Lowe, of financial services firm Just Retirement, told the Telegraph: ‘It would be unacceptable for borrowers to default to a lifetime mortgage as these type of loans require specialist advice, with families sitting down to discuss the consequences over many months before signing on the dotted line.’ There are plenty of mortgage options out there for those wanting to buy a house - Santander's new offer is just one example. In general, longer-term mortgages are becoming more popular as prospective buyers struggle to keep up with rising prices. And getting the right mortgage is essential to making sure buying a home is as affordable as possible. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of available options, so, as well as doing your own research, this is an occasion to search out expert opinion from a good mortgage broker. First, read Mail Online's award-winning money section This is Money's regularly updated What next for mortgage rates? This outlines the current state of the market and highlights the current best buy deals. Then also check the top mortgage deals on offer currently in our best buy mortgage tables, or click through by using our helpful table (right). You should now be armed with some knowledge about what is on offer and you can use our True cost mortgage calculator to compare how different deals stack up. You should also talk to a mortgage broker. There is no obligation to go through with their recommendation and so they may not end up actually arranging the mortgage for you, but they will be able to explain your options and help you to find the best deal. Go a broker who offers advice from the whole market. Avoid brokers who offer a restricted service based on products from a limited number of lenders, and don't just simply go to your bank - unless you get lucky, you will be unlikely to find the best deal this way . This is Money has a carefully chosen partnership with mortgage broker London and Country. We have picked them because they offer a good service, with no upfront fees. Find about more about London & Country's fee free mortgage advice here. - Amy Andrew, This is Money . | Older homeowners who can not pay off their debt could be offered loan .
Major banks expected to offer deal allowing owners to stay in their home .
They would agree to give house to lender, rather than family, after death .
Property would be sold and most of the proceeds would go to the lender .
Santander will reportedly offer 'lifetime mortgages' from next year .
Move is a bid to tackle the number of older homeowners who will never afford to repay their home loan . |
0f0305364f09847355347a93c3b08c8c582c46f0 | (CNN)California health officials said Wednesday there are 79 confirmed measles cases in the state, as federal health authorities reported that the number of U.S. cases in 2014 more than tripled any total in recent years. According to the California Department of Public Health website, 52 of those cases are linked to an outbreak at Disneyland. There are four confirmed cases in Riverside County, where the Desert Sands Unified School District told 66 students -- who have either not been vaccinated for measles or can't show proof -- that they need to stay home. CNN affiliate KESQ reported that one student at Palm Desert High School is suspected of having had measles. The student has been cleared to return to class but health officials are still trying to determine if the student actually had measles. For now, the others will have to study at their homes. "They are going to be asked to stay home until the incubation period for contagion is complete," a spokeswoman for the school district, Mary Perry, said of the students who were released. The earliest a student can return without proof of vaccination is February 9, the station reported. Of the 79 California cases, 15 are in Los Angeles County, and all victims were unvaccinated for measles, said Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, the county's interim health officer. Of those 15 county cases, 14 are linked to Disneyland, Gunzenhauser said. "In L.A. County, we're, fortunately, highly vaccinated. Five percent or less are unvaccinated," Gunzenhauser said. There are 16 cases linked to Disneyland outside California (seven in Arizona, three in Utah, two in Washington, one in Colorado, one in Oregon, one in Nebraska and one in Mexico). Arizona officials said they have identified 1,000 contacts of the seven cases in their states. They're asking anyone within that group to isolate themselves for 21 days if he or she isn't vaccinated. The disease outbreak became apparent when visitors reported coming down with measles after visiting the park from December 15 to December 20. At least five Disney employees have been diagnosed with measles, Disney said. Mom angry at vaccination opponents . Also, the families of 195 children in Mesa, Arizona, have been contacted because they were in an urgent care clinic with someone who has measles. Midway across the country, at the University of Minnesota, a student who had traveled abroad is self-isolating after contracting the disease, the school said in a statement. The university is working to find everyone who may have been exposed to the student, who attended class four days last week. Though students have largely been immunized because of enrollment requirements, the university warned anyone who had not been vaccinated to be vigilant. Minnesota is one of 27 states that reported measles cases last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 644 cases reported in 2014 mark a stark spike compared with recent years. Since 2001, the number of cases has topped 100 only five times, and 2011 was the only year in which cases topped 200. Measles is a highly communicable respiratory disease caused by a virus and spread through the air. Measles starts with a fever, runny nose, cough, red eyes and sore throat, the CDC says. 5 things to know about measles . CNN's Debra Goldschmidt, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Michael Martinez and John Newsome contributed to this report. | All 15 measles cases in Los Angeles County involve unvaccinated people .
CDC reports cases topped 600 in 2014, a significant spike over recent years .
Scores of high schoolers sent home after one student is suspected of having measles . |
0f03095189e9364f5c3ec347238c099ff6f178d4 | By . Sophie Jane Evans . PUBLISHED: . 03:54 EST, 21 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 08:44 EST, 23 December 2013 . The 36-year-old woman believed to have been swept out to sea in Brighton ran into the water, it has been revealed. A . major search operation was launched yesterday after the female went into the water following a 'night out' in the popular seaside resort. However, it was later called off due to poor weather conditions - with coastguard personnel failing to find any trace of her. Search: Emergency services were called to a nightclub in Brighton (above), East Sussex, at 2.20am yesterday . Response: Rescue personnel talk to a swimmer following reports that a woman had been swept out to sea . Reports: The 36-year-old woman is believed to have been overcome by rough seas and three-metre waves . Now, police have revealed the woman - . who has not yet been named - ran into the rough seas in the East Sussex . resort while strolling along the shore with a friend. Her male companion attempted to rescue her, but was thrown back by three-metre waves. A . Sussex Police spokesman said: 'The woman had been walking along the . beach between West Pier and Palace Pier with a man who she knew when she . ran into the water and was almost immediately swept off by a large . wave. 'The man tried to grab her but was unable to drag her to safety. Alert: Police, ambulance and coastguard personnel attended the incident in the popular seaside resort (above) 'Police . officers arrived within minutes and together with club staff and her . friend approached the sea edge, but the woman was being washed further . away and was inaccessible due to the very heavy sea conditions.' He added it was not known why the woman - who is believed to be from Brighton - had decided to run into the stormy water. Emergency . services were called to Digital Nightclub on the seafront at 2.20am . yesterday following reports that a woman had gone into the water. Police, ambulance and coastguard personnel attended the scene, according to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). A helicopter from Lee-on-Solent was also used to search for the missing woman, alongside a Royal National . Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat based in Shoreham, West Sussex. Scene: The woman deliberately ran into the water following a night out in a club on the seafront . However, Solent Coastguard later stood down following an 'exhaustive' search of the water. Yesterday, a spokesman said the matter had been left in the hands of the police. He . said: 'We conducted a thorough search of the area and nothing was . found. The conditions down there are appalling. It's force eight with . severe gale warnings.' 'Gale . force wind, rough seas and darkness make it difficult to spot a person . in the water who needs help, so our request is simple - please don't . end your night out with a dip. 'Cold water and powerful seas mean that it's really not as much fun as you might think.' Sussex Police said the woman's next of kin have been informed of the incident. Chief . Superintendent Nev Kemp said: 'Police and Coastguard searched for . several hours in very difficult and dangerous weather but have been . unable to locate the woman. 'We will continue to be vigilant for any sightings along the beach. 'The . sea was very rough overnight, and we always urge people to be very . careful and stay away from the waters edge anywhere along the coast when . the weather is so bad.' Coastguards . carry out daily patrols along the seashore in the area, but confirmed . that this morning's checks had not got them any closer to finding the . woman. Any witnesses to the incident who have not yet spoken to Sussex Police are asked to contact them. | Woman, 36, ran into the water while strolling along shore with a friend .
Emergency services called to Brighton seafront at 2.20am yesterday .
Search operation has been called off due to poor weather conditions . |
0f0379e5fbb1fcda0d4483693b0825ac2dd7bb32 | By . Emma Reynolds . PUBLISHED: . 08:48 EST, 29 November 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 15:50 EST, 29 November 2012 . WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange does not have an urgent medical condition despite reports that he is suffering from a chronic lung condition, it was stated tonight. Ecuador’s ambassador to the UK, Ana Alban, said during a visit to Quito yesterday that the Australian requires constant medical attention. Mr Assange has been inside Ecuador’s embassy in London since June after seeking refuge as part of his campaign to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces sex allegations. Scroll down for video . Refugee: Assange, pictured two days ago during a press conference at London's Ecuadorian Embassy, does not have an urgent medical condition according to an Ecuadorian government spokesman . Dark times: Assange has been holed up at the embassy since June, with limited access to sunlight or fresh air . The ambassador told El Ciudadano, an . Ecuadorian government newspaper, that she intends to appeal to the Home . Office for Mr Assange to be granted safe passage to medical services . following his illness, as he requires constant medical attention. A spokesman for the Ecuadorian . government said: 'In reference to reported comments of ambassador Ana . Alban, Julian Assange does not have an urgent medical condition. 'We continue to seek the assurances . from the UK and Swedish government to enable him to live a normal life, . free from the fear of extradition to the United States.' Mr Assange refused to discuss his . health or any questions about his stay at the embassy when he gave a . 90-minute press briefing on Tuesday, saying a resolution to his . situation was 'a matter for diplomacy at this stage'. Extradition risk: The government spokesman said they are continuing to seek assurances from the UK and Sweden to allow Assange to live a normal life 'free from the fear of extradition to the United States' He was talking about a block on . processing donations by credit card companies to WikiLeaks, which he . revealed had cost the whistle-blowing website over £30 million, with . staff having to take a 40% pay cut as a result. Mr Assange described the block as an . economic 'death penalty' after the European Commission said it was . unlikely to have violated EU anti-trust rules. He said the blockade had wiped out 95% of WikiLeaks’ revenues. VIDEO: Ecuador's Ambassador to the UK talks about Assange's health... | The embassy gave Assange asylum after Sweden tried to extradite him on sexual assault charges .
An Ecuadorian government spokesman said he does not have an 'urgent medical condition'
Ambassador to the UK, Ana .
Alban, said yesterday the Australian needs constant medical attention . |
0f04a4604075976a07cf2a9bc23cc98b6edda5c8 | By . Simon Tomlinson . PUBLISHED: . 12:38 EST, 4 July 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 01:45 EST, 5 July 2012 . More than 200 breastfeeding mothers descended on a cafe in support of one of their own who claimed she was verbally abused by a waitress for suckling her baby in public. Kelly Schaecher, 28, claims she was told by a member of staff: 'Don’t you ever come back to my cafe with your t*** out again!' When word spread about her ordeal, a Facebook page set up by mothers calling themselves 'lactivists' and 'mother suckers' called on like-minded women to take a stand by deliberately breastfeeding there. Show of strength: Hundreds of mothers mobilise before descending on a cafe in Bristol, where one woman claims she was verbally abused for trying to breastfeed her baby . On the march: The group was assembled through a Facebook page set up by mothers calling themselves 'lactivists' and 'mother suckers' Cheered on by schoolchildren and . monitored by policewomen on horseback, the group marched to the cafe to . have it out with the owner. Kelly . said: 'What we did was a peaceful gathering, not a protest and we had a . really good reaction from the police and the public. 'A . group of school children started clapping us and there were six . policewomen on horseback to make sure no one drifted in the road.' Kelly . had popped out for lunch at the Park Street Cafe in Bristol, where she . claims she was told by the waitress that if she wanted to feed her baby . she would have to sit in the corner. Breast is best: Kelly Schaecher leads the group to the cafe after claiming she was told never to come back there 'with your t*** out again' Swamped: The protesters gather at the entrance of the Park Street cafe, monitored by policewomen on horseback to ensure they did not stray into the road . Crossing the threshold: The first mothers enter the cafe to give the owner a 'peaceful' piece of their mind . On leaving, Kelly, from Clifton, Bristol, told two customers about the cafe's breastfeeding policy who promptly turned around and left. Kelly claimed she then walked a few minutes down the road when she was pursued in a car by a waitress at the cafe who screamed: 'Don’t you ever come back to my cafe with your t*** out again!' Kelly, who works in procurement at the University of Bristol, said: 'When this happened, I was absolutely terrified and really shocked. I was only breastfeeding, and Bristol is a really family-friendly city. 'You see girls in nightclubs barely wearing any clothes all the time, so why would someone have a problem with me feeding my child? 'I turned around and said to her “You don’t know what’s coming" even though at this stage I had no idea we were going to assemble in the cafe.' Sit-in protest: The cafe's owner was really apologetic and gave everyone a free tea or coffee and a free cake . Taken aback: Kelly Schaecher (right) was initially told to breastfeed in the corner when she first went for lunch at the cafe and told others about her ordeal, prompting word to quickly spread . Taking a stand: Emily Sinclair makes her point by breastfeeding her baby during the sit-in protest . Although Kelly was distressed by what had happened, she decided not to pursue anything. Kelly had never met the person who started up the Facebook page, but word spread about her ordeal very quickly. She said: 'The cafe's owner was really apologetic and gave everyone a free tea or coffee and a free cake. 'He can't help it if one of his staff was rude to me and he has now put up a sign saying "Breastfeeing is allowed in here".' Davide Pontini, 35, general manager of the Park Street Cafe, said: 'We want to make it clear that we welcome all mothers and we have women breastfeeding in here on a daily basis. 'It's not company policy for us to make women breastfeed in the corner. This was simply an isolated incident due to a misunderstanding.' Apologetic: Cafe owner Davide Pontini said the nicident involving Kelly Schaecher was a misunderstanding and has now put a sign up saying breastfeeding is welcome . | Kelly Schaecher was first told to 'suckle baby in the corner' when she went to cafe for lunch .
Then claims waitress left her 'terrified' after verbally abusing her as she walked down road .
As word spread, a Facebook campaign mustered 200 breastfeeding mothers to take a stand .
Cafe owner apologises for 'isolated incident due to a misunderstanding'
He has now put a sign up saying: 'Breastfeeding is allowed in here' |
0f04f84241d1b3ff2e3418b464b3ee3eb4059d70 | By . Associated Press Reporter and Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 09:49 EST, 17 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 10:11 EST, 17 November 2013 . The grieving mother of one of the 19 wildland 'hotshots' killed in north-central Arizona has filed a $36 million claim against authorities, saying their negligence led to the death of her firefighter son. Marcia McKee, from Costa Mesa in California, filed a notice of claim on Friday accusing the state, Yavapai County and the city of Prescott of failing to follow proper firefighting procedures. McKee's 21-year-old son, Grant McKee, died in the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30. Grieving: Marcia McKee, 49 (right) has accused the state of Arizona, Yavapai County and the city of Prescott of failing to follow proper firefighting procedures leading to the death of her son Grant, 19 (left) McKee is seeking $12 million apiece from the state, Yavapai County and Prescott. But she said she'll settle for $12 million within the next 60 days. In the claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, the single mom said she suffered tremendously when her 'best friend' and only son was taken away. It is the first claim from a family member of the 19 fallen members of the Prescott-run crew. 'It's . not supposed to be like this,' the 49-year-old wrote. 'No more Mother's Day cards . or phone calls. Nor will I ever get to see him walk down the aisle or be . called grandma. My life was also taken that day because he was my . life.' McKee, who works as a caretaker for an elderly person, recalled in her claim the last phone call she shared with her son in which she told him to be careful. According to the claim, Grant told her: 'What are the odds of me dying in a fire? Think about it, Mom.' Her attorney, Craig Knapp, wrote: 'The loss of his companionship, affection and love fully support the damages that she has requested in this notice of claim.' An investigative report by a team of national experts released in September found proper procedure was followed in the worst firefighting tragedy since September 11, 2001. The report, however, found communications lapses, including a 33-minute gap in radio traffic from the Hotshot crew in the hour before the men died. It did not determine if the tragedy was avoidable. Single mom: Marcia McKee (left) said her son Grant (right) was her 'life' Knapp called the report a whitewash with a goal of avoiding blame. He said any 'trusting, uninformed person reading the Yarnell Hill Fire report uncritically would think that the death of 19 men was just bad luck and no one's fault, which is false.' Spokesmen for Prescott and Gov. Jan Brewer declined comment Friday. Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo claimed the 122-page report was a thorough analysis of the operations, training, equipment and firefighting protocols used that day. He told The Arizona Republic he didn't know what McKee was trying to achieve with the claim. 'I don’t know what she’s trying to accomplish by it. Just on the surface - and, of course, this is just an opinion on my part - I can’t see this thing going anywhere,' he said. McKee told The Arizona Republic she filed the claim to learn the truth about what happened in the fire. 'There . is no good answer right now,' McKee said. 'Nobody should have to go . through this. No family should have to go through this. But it’s the . only way to get answers.' Devastating: Grant McKee was among 19 'hotshot' firefighters killed in the June 30 blaze at Yarnell, Arizona . Jack Fields, chief civil deputy Yavapai County attorney, said the county is reviewing the claim and would make appropriate decisions once that's done. He declined to comment further. The claim names 13 entities or individuals, including Gov. Jan Brewer; Arizona State Forester Scott Hunt; Prescott Wildland Division Chief Darrell Willis, who oversaw the crew; Prescott Mayor Marlin Kuykendall; the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors; the state Department of Public Safety; and the Arizona Incident Management Team. The governments could settle or allow the case to be resolved in court. Grant McKee was training to be an emergency medical technician and had intended to work with the Granite Mountain Hotshots only for the summer. He was engaged to be married. | Mother of firefighter killed in Arizona blaze on June 30 seeking $36 million from the state, Yavapai County and the city of Prescott .
California's Marcia McKee claims her son, 21-year-old Grant, died because of authorities' negligence .
She believes the death was 'preventable'
'My life was also taken that day because he was my life,' she said . |
0f050a179420baeffe1f622842040e6f0fd3a109 | Detroit Mayor Dave Bing accused his Boston counterpart of insensitivity Tuesday after Thomas Menino told a magazine that if he ever visited the Motor City, he'd 'blow up the place and start all over.' In a New York Times Magazine article that first appeared online last week, Menino said Detroit is a place he'd like to visit, then added the rest when asked what he'd do there. 'It is extremely regrettable that Boston Mayor Thomas Menino used such an unfortunate choice of words to describe what he would do if he came to Detroit,' said Bing, who is not running for re-election after one term as mayor. 'I would think the mayor of a city that recently experienced a deadly bombing attack would be more sensitive and not use the phrase `blow up.' Insensitive: Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, left, and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. Bing accused his Boston counterpart of insensitivity after Menino told a magazine that if he ever visited the Motor City, he'd 'blow up the place and start all over' In the red: Detroit is the first major American city to declare bankruptcy . A spokeswoman for the Boston mayor said Menino 'feels strongly about cities,' cares about Detroit's problems and 'would like to help in any way he can.' 'The mayor is sorry that people have taken offense,' Dot Joyce told The Associated Press in a phone interview. 'It was never his intention.' She said that Menino's proposal to 'blow up the place' meant to overhaul the broken systems that have helped bring down Detroit. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured in April when pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails, ball bearings and metal shards detonated near the finish line of the popular Boston Marathon. One of the suspects was killed three . days later in a gun battle with police. His brother was captured and has . pleaded not guilty to using a weapon of mass destruction charges. Menino . also told the magazine that 'inaction' and 'leadership' are behind some . of Detroit's problems, like boarded up buildings, nonworking . streetlights and lengthy police response times to 911 calls. Unfortunate: Detroit's Mayor, Dave Bing said Boston Mayor Thomas Menino's choice of words were ill chosen given the city's recent history . Bing, . a member of professional basketball's Hall of Fame and former steel . supply company owner, said Menino should have gotten 'his facts right.' 'The . Detroit Police Department's response time is not - and has never been - . 90 minutes,' Bing said. 'And, most of our city's buildings are not . boarded up. Since taking office more than four years ago, there has been . tireless action on the part of my administration to improve the quality . of life for our citizens. In fact, I invite Mayor Menino to visit . Detroit to see our city for himself.' Menino . is the latest politician to offer his take on Detroit and its troubles. Two years ago, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told NBC-TV's 'Meet the . Press' that Detroit should welcome immigrants to boost the city's . shrinking population. Detroit . in July became the largest city in the country to seek bankruptcy when . state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr filed for court protection . as he tries to restructure finances. Orr said Detroit's debt could be $18 billion or more. | Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said if he ever visited Detroit he'd 'blow up the place and start all over'
Detroit Mayor called Menino's choice of words 'unfortunate'
Menino says he meant he wanted to overhaul broken systems that brought down Detroit .
In July Detroit became the largest city in the country to seek bankruptcy . |
0f055da8324fb0714389032c660cc8130442608d | Diego Costa has called on the world of football to help put an end to discrimination, just hours after footage emerged of Chelsea fans in Paris refusing to let a black passenger on to a Metro train. The menacing Blues striker was speaking ahead of Chelsea's annual 'Game for Equality' which takes place against Burnley on Saturday and he has urged people to speak out against all forms of discrimination. Chelsea have strongly condemned the incident which saw fans prevent a black man getting aboard by twice pushing him back on to the platform before subjecting him to vile chants ahead of the west London club's Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain. Diego Costa has spoken out against discrimination ahead of Chelsea's 'Game of Equality' on Saturday . The Blues striker believes that people must speak out and fight against discrimination . Click here to read our story about the fans preventing a black man from boarding . Although Costa's comments would have been recorded before the incident on Tuesday night, the Spain international's views come at an important time for the club as they work with police to investigate the culprits of the shameful incident. He told Chelsea's official website: 'It’s a delicate issue, not just racism, but discrimination as a whole. 'It doesn’t matter about your social status or whether you have good or bad financial conditions. Costa's comment were released on the same day that footage emerged of a black passenger attempts to board but is refused entry by supporters travelling to the Champions League tie in Paris . The man attempts to reason with the passengers, who prevent him from getting on to the Paris Metro train . The man attempts to forcibly gain entry to the Metro train but struggles with passengers already on board . The amateur footage goes on to show passengers in the carriage following the disgraceful incident . 'It’s important we put a lot of work into it because the more people speak about these issues, the more chance there is of it getting out into the public domain. 'People that suffer from discrimination shouldn’t stay quiet, because speaking about it will help them become stronger.' Chelsea have appealed for witnesses regarding the incident on the Metro and also of a separate one outside the stadium which saw a number of Blues fans affected by CS spray. A Chelsea statement said: 'Chelsea Football Club is aware of an incident in Paris last night (Tuesday) when a number of our supporters were affected by CS spray outside the Parc des Princes before kick-off. 'We are emailing fans who purchased tickets directly from the club asking for witness accounts of the incident.' The Chelsea team applaud their travelling fans following a 1-1 Champions League last 16 draw against PSG . Jose Mourinho applauds as he leaves the pitch before the footage showing vile chants emerged . | Diego Costa discusses discrimination ahead of Chelsea's annuel 'Game for Equality' on Saturday .
Costa urges people to speak out against racism and discrimination .
Striker's comment released on same day footage emerges of a black passenger being blocked entry to a Metro train by Chelsea fans .
Chelsea fans prevent the man getting aboard, twice pushing him forcibly back on to the platform .
Chelsea face Premier League clash against Burnley on Saturday . |
0f07a41ddc7e5aa3587271f17ca4d0264af813aa | By . Kirsty Walker . PUBLISHED: . 06:28 EST, 12 August 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 01:56 EST, 13 August 2012 . Public servants racked up £1.15billion on taxpayer-funded credit cards last year – a rise of more than £160million since David Cameron pledged to cut spending on them. Figures reveal how high-ranking public- sector workers blew the money on expenses including five-star hotel stays, meals at fine restaurants and Apple iPads. They are deeply embarrassing for the Prime Minister who, during his general election campaign, spoke of his outrage at ‘hideous waste’ and vowed to reduce the cost of the cards. Plush: The Department of Health paid £2,285 for a stay at the Sherlock Holmes Hotel in Baker Street, London . Sun-kissed: The Kairaba Beach Hotel on the coast of Gambia where civil servants spent £633 of taxpayers' cash on a short stay . The Freedom of Information figures . show that the total spent on the Government Procurement Cards rose from . £987million in 2010 to £1.15billion in the last financial year. The cards are issued to about 150,000 . high-ranking staff such as local authority workers, civil servants, . quangocrats and BBC executives. Among the expenses enjoyed by . officials was a £2,285 stay at the Sherlock Holmes Hotel in London by . civil servants from the Department of Health. Home Office officials spent £1,694 on . trips on the London Eye, while bureaucrats in the Office of Rail . Regulation spent £2,433 on four Apple iPads. Pledge: Prime Minister David Cameron (left) branded the civil servant credit card bills a 'hideous waste' during a TV debate before the last election . Entertaining: Officials from the Home Office spent £1,694 on trips on the London Eye, pictured . The Department for the Environment, . Food and Rural Affairs spent £777 on a ‘working lunch’ at Westminster’s . elite Cinnamon Club Indian restaurant and £1,129 at the five-star Tribe . Hotel in Nairobi. Meanwhile, the Rural Payments Agency spent £837 on a ‘specialist chair’. Earlier this year, the Public Accounts Committee warned of a ‘culture of complacency’ surrounding spending on the cards. The Cabinet Office last night admitted . the spending had increased across the public sector, but insisted: ‘The . amount Whitehall departments spent on GPC fell from £322million in . 2010/11 to £290.5million last year. ‘By clamping down on waste, making procurement smarter and slashing the use of these cards, we’re saving the taxpayer millions. ‘We would of course expect to see local authorities follow our lead on this.’ Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jon . Trickett said: ‘The Government said it would cut waste and hasn’t – . while making police, servicemen and nurses redundant.’ | £777 on a 'working lunch' at trendy London restaurant .
£5,498 at the Westin Chosun Hotel in South Korea . |
0f080014669246c0ed9dd117f4bcc0e3a4944bcf | By . Kerry Mcdermott . PUBLISHED: . 06:21 EST, 4 November 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 02:56 EST, 5 November 2012 . Ed Miliband will launch a campaign today to compel the Government to deal only with firms willing to pay a ‘living’ wage. He will insist Whitehall contracts should only be offered to companies paying at least £7.20 an hour, or £8.30 in London, both far above the legal minimum wage. The Labour leader will mark Living Wage Week by saying it is an idea ‘whose time has come’. 'Key plank': Labour leader Ed Miliband, left, who has worked closely with his brother David, right, on the plans, has said making the living wage the norm for workers is at the heart of his party's bid to return to power . But Government lawyers warn awarding contracts on the basis of hourly wage rates may be illegal. The legal opinion was based on a . European Courts of Justice case which found that describing a wage in a . particular contract could be illegal unless it was universally applied . across the country. The opposition leader has been . working closely with his brother David Miliband on ways to ensure the . pay terms replace the lower minimum wage as the norm - possibly through . naming and shaming companies that do not pay it. Their . collaboration is a sign that tensions between the Milibands are thawing . after Ed Miliband narrowly beat his brother to the Labour leadership in . 2010. 'Slog': Ed Miliband has said workers deserve a decent wage if their employers can afford it . The . leader of the opposition said the wage - defined as the minimum hourly rate needed . for an acceptable standard of living - was a key plank of his 'One . Nation' vision to share prosperity. The £7.20 living wage, which . rises to more than £8.30 in London, is higher than the current minimum . wage of £6.19 for people aged 21 and over, and £4.98 for those aged 18 . to 20. While some . large firms and public sector employers already pay the living wage to . staff, Labour wants to see more companies adopting the policy . voluntarily. As part of its policy review, . Labour is looking at three ways of making the pay terms the new norm, . including naming and shaming listed companies who do not pay the wage . through corporate governance rules. It is also considering . introducing rules that will see Whitehall contracts awarded to firms who . pay workers the living wage or above, and giving Treasury-funded . incentives to companies who introduce the wage structure. In an . interview with the Independent on Sunday, Ed Miliband said: 'You go out, . slog your guts out...you deserve a decent wage if the company can . afford it. 'We've got a growth crisis in Britain but we've also got a . living standards crisis, because the proceeds of economic growth are . not being fairly distributed any more. 'It is about giving people a proper stake in the future of the country,' he said. In an article for the Observer newspaper, his brother David, the former Foreign Secretary, said local authorities and other employers could be offered financial incentives for insisting that private contractors pay the living wage as a condition of being awarded work. The . Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that for every person moved on . to the living wage, the Treasury would save around £1,000 from less . spending on tax credits and from increased tax revenue. 'Tension': Ed Miliband, left, narrowly beat his brother David Miliband, right, to the Labour leadership in 2010 . A number of major firms already pay workers and contractors a living wage or higher. Barclays . has paid the living wage in London since 2007, while 19 local . authorities have been accredited as 'living wage employers'. Ed Miliband said the wage was good for businesses because staff turnover was lower. The . idea of naming companies who do not offer the wage and paying money . back to employers through Treasury savings was set out last week in a . report on living standards by the Resolution Foundation. Gavin Kelly, . the think tank's chief executive, said: 'One in five British workers . are low paid and it's a major reason why so many lower-income families . feel as if they're running uphill - working hard but getting almost . nowhere. 'The high price of low pay is also borne by the taxpayer . through in-work subsidies - so we all have reason to do something about . it. 'Requiring listed companies to report how many of their employees . receive less than the living wage would introduce the power of . transparency to this debate; it would be a vital step and help galvanise . change.' | Miliband brothers want to see 'living wage' replace the lower minimum wage as the new norm .
Defined as minimum rate required to allow workers to provide themselves and their families with the 'basis of a decent life'
Plans to deliver wage of at least £7.20 per hour - rising to £8.30 in London - to millions of workers at centre of Labour's bid to return to power .
Ideas under consideration as part of Labour's policy review include naming and shaming firms who do not pay the living wage . |
0f08166cb411cc067430020377d55740c92ddc77 | A retired Canadian Mountie admitted in court Thursday to killing his wife over a Ninetendo Wii game bet. Keith Wiens, who has been charged with second degree murder in the 2011 killing of his common law wife Lynn Kalmring, said in court in British Columbia that he only killed her because he feared for his life. On August 11, 2011 - the night that Kalmring died - the two had played a Ninetendo Wii video game after drinking alcohol and eating dinner. Dangerous games: Wiens, left, killed his wife Kalmring, right, after he refused to fulfill the terms of a bet hedged during a Wii game . Wiens said they usually waged bets of a sexual nature, and that Kalmring had won the game that night. Bet: Apparently the deadly fight started over a risque game of Wii . Later, when he went to bed, Wiens found sex toys scattered across his pillow. Wiens, who wanted to get rest before a golf game the next day, pushed the toys aside and tried to go to sleep. That's when Kalmring became upset. Wiens said that she confronted him multiple times and then suggested that he didn't want to have sex because he wasn't attracted to her and that he wanted to go to work in Grand Prairie to get out of their relationship. 'I said "No, it's nothing to do with that. I love you. I just need to get some sleep,"' Wiens said. He went back to rest, but Kalmring wouldn't give up. He told her to go sleep in the spare room and thought that worked until he was woken up later by Kalmring hitting him. Something had changed, Wiens noticed. And he began to fear for his life. 'She was not Lynn. She was crazy and she'd just assaulted me when I was sound asleep, and I was worried about what was coming next,' he recalled. So he pulled out the handgun he kept in his bedside table for protection. When Kalmring burst through the bedroom again, this time with a knife, Wiens shot her once in the head. He then says that he put his gun back in his holster and went to throw up in the bathroom. He called 911, got dressed and waited for police outside. Shot dead: Wiens said Kalmring came at him with a knife, and that's why he shot her . According to Wiens, this was the first fight that the couple ever had. But the prosecution and experts found faults in Wiens testimony. First of all, it wasn't the first fight. Crown counselor Colin Forsyth pointed out that they had been in an argument before when Wiens stopped Kalmring from breaking into Willie Nelson's dressing room at a concert and flashing her breasts. 'That's the only time we had a disagreement with each other,' Wiens said. A forensic pathologist also found it strange that Kalmring was found with the knife in her hand. If she was shot she would have dropped the knife, or if she grasped it as she fell to the floor, it wouldn't have been easy to pry from her hands. 'I didn't touch Lynn in anyway, shape or form,' Wiens responded. The trial continues Monday. | Keith Wiens and wife Lynn Kalmring had hedged a bet over a Wii game .
When Wiens wanted to go to bed instead of have sex with his wife, he says she turned violent .
She came at him with a knife, and in self-defense Wiens said he shot her once in the head .
An expert testified that Kalmring would not have been found with a knife in her hand, or - if she had - it would have been difficult to pry away . |
0f0963d17043cc4c61fb156ae9f4907501912846 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 03:32 EST, 16 July 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 08:47 EST, 16 July 2012 . European Parliament president Martin Schulz was at the May 9 meeting . Seventy-six Eurocrats spent part of a top-level meeting deciding what to name a corridor - and even failed to reach a decision, it has emerged. This was even though a name had already been proposed and just needed signing off. In a shocking example of Brussels wasteful bureaucracy, the decision over the naming of one of the corridors in the Altiero Spinelli building had to be referred to a committee. Critics have branded it another example of how 'detached from reality' Eurocrats are. The request had been made to name the corridor 'The Baltic Way', after a peaceful 1989 mass protest against Soviet Rule, minutes of the May 9 meeting showed. European Parliament president Martin Schulz was even present at the Bureau meeting. But bungling officials could not come to a conclusion and passed the issue on to a committee who have been told to report back. Tory MP Philip Davies said the Eurocrats were 'detached from reality'. Head of the UK Independence Party Nigel Farage told The Sun: 'This is straight out of TV's Yes, Prime Minister. It's about fighting over support of a couple of Baltic MEPs.' In June it was revealed how it cost nearly half a million pounds to send five Eurocrats to the Earth Summit in Rio. The European Commission said it cost £475,000 to send officials, including their president José Manuel Barroso, along with an entourage of over 60 to the Rio+20 conference. The high financial costs were revealed in an answer to a parliamentary question submitted by London Conservative MEP Marina Yannakoudakis. Mrs Yannakoudakis, who is a member of the European Parliament’s environment committee, condemned the decision to send such a large delegation. She said: 'The Rio+20 Summit may address important issues, but the EU needs to be mindful of the costs of sending so many officials halfway across the world. The Altiero Spinelli building in Brussels in which Eurocrats were asked to name a corridor, however, they failed to come up with a solution and referred the matter to a committee and asked for a report back . 'At a time of austerity, we must ask ourselves was it really necessary to send five European Commissioners and their entourages to Rio. Saving the planet shouldn’t cost the earth.' Earlier this year it was also revealed that Baroness Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief, was among one of the Eurocrats eligible for the use of private jets to fly them to meetings around the world. Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, and Herman van Rompuy, president of the European Council, are among other dignitaries who will benefit from the agreement with Belgian firm Abelag. At a cost of £10million for the next four years, they are able to use a choice of aircraft, including the Falcon 7X jet and Boeing 737, when they travel abroad for EU business. Peaceful demonstration: The Baltic Way's human chain . The Baltic Way - which has also come to be known as the Baltic Chain or Chain of Freedom - was a peaceful political demonstration that took place on August 23, 1989. An estimated two million people across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - which at the time were part of the Soviet Union - joined their hands to form a human chain more than 370 miles long. It marked the 50th anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between the USSR and Nazi Germany, which split up Eastern Europe and led to the occupation of the Baltic states in 1940. The protest, organised by Baltic pro-independence movements, was designed to bring the issue of independence to global attention. The event presented an opportunity for the Baltic activists to claim that the Soviet occupation was illegal. Within six months, Lithuania became the first of the Republics of the Soviet Union to declare independence. | It was discussed at a top-level meeting usually intended to discuss strategy .
European Parliament president Martin Schulz was present at the meeting .
The officials could not come to a decision on a name for it so referred it to a committee meeting and asked for a report back . |
0f0b450d07f58457f7c45b7f961d01ae555e2e4b | Recommended daily calorie allowance for an eight-day period is around 20,000 for men and 16,000 for women. By . Emily Payne . PUBLISHED: . 10:42 EST, 31 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 11:05 EST, 31 December 2012 . The average Briton will have consumed 38,000 calories over the festive period and gained up to 6lbs in weight, according to new figures. A study found that the typical adult gorges on the equivalent of 15 days' worth of food in just eight days between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day. Between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day alone, the average person consumed 15,000 calories, thanks to a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Calorific: A turkey dinner with all the trimmings can contain up to 1,450 calories . And a further 18,000 calories will have been squeezed in by tomorrow, by quaffing an average of 16 cans of lager, nine glasses of wine and two glasses of Champagne on New Year's Eve. Second and third helpings add another 3,000 calories, while snacks - including chocolate, crisps and nuts - bring the total to a scale-busting 38,000 calories. The recommended daily calorie allowance for an eight-day period is approximately 20,000 for men, and roughly 16,000 for women. It means the average man and woman will consume up to double the recommended calorie intake every day of the holidays and gain up to 6lbs by early 2013. Tempting: Two portions of Christmas pudding with custard and brandy butter contain 1,174 calories . The figures were compiled in the run-up to Christmas by weight-loss experts Vitagetics, makers of the slimming pill Vita-Lean. One thousand adults were polled about their usual Christmas and New Year eating habits, and also recorded a breakdown of their proposed menus this year. A spokesman for Vita-Lean said: 'The Christmas period is all about indulgence, but it's easy to forget that over-indulgence is bad news for the waistline, and for our health.' Over the festive period, the average Briton consumed: . Christmas dinner with all the trimmings (1,450 calories) Two slices of Christmas pudding, custard and brandy butter (1,174 calories) Two slices of Christmas cake (679 calories) One portion of chocolate log (300 calories) Two portions of trifle (470 calories) Three portions of ice cream (954 calories) Five portions of cheese and biscuits (1,250 calories) One portion of mixed nuts (243 calories) Two glasses of mulled wine (490 calories) One glass of eggnog (343 calories) Three other roast dinners (1,950 calories) Five turkey sandwiches (1,415 calories) 13 chocolate bars (6,630 calories) Six-10 packets of crisps (3,120 - 4,000 calories) Eight mince pies (2,944 calories) Nine glasses of wine (1,575 calories) 16 cans of larger (2,880 calories) Two glasses of champagne (178 calories) Seven cans of soft drink (994 calories) | Typical adult consumes 15,000 calories over Christmas and a further 18,000 calories of alcohol before New Year's Day .
Recommended daily calorie allowance for an eight-day period is around 20,000 for men and 16,000 for women. |
0f0c14c00c27f3b77037452bb302fec3f977da5d | Snapchat is secretly testing a new line of location-specific filters in New York and Los Angeles. The firm has been testing the feature on its iOS app, using the iPhone's GPS system to pinpoint users and show the filters. For instance, Snapchat users who use the service in Brooklyn are shown a clear filter with the word ‘Brooklyn’ written in an artistic font, while those in New York's financial district can unlock filter featuring a shower of dollar bills. Scroll down for video . Enthusiastic Snapchat users in New York show off their custom filters featuring the word 'Brooklyn', when in Brooklyn, and a sea of cash when pictures are taken near NYC's financial district. Go to the app’s settings menu, scroll down to ‘Additional Services’ and click ‘Manage’. Once there, ensure that you have the ‘Filters’ setting switched to ‘on’ and that you’ve given the app permission to pull your location. Users in Manhattan’s theater district receive a custom filter with the words ‘Broadway’ in yellow lights. Other users have received customized filters around events such as Gay Pride. The new smart filters don’t offer any photo-editing effects, and are simply clear filters with a graphic overlay. They look similar to they type of stickers that have been popularized by stand-alone photo editing applications. The filters appear to be a hit with users of the service - although Snapchat has not yet acknowlegded their existence or officially launched them. ‘Super cute snapchat filters based on your location the future is now’ @juliacosette, one Snapchat user, tweeted. ‘What is this new snap chat filter? I like it.’ tweeted another user, @debzshin. Snapchat currently doesn’t offer sponsored filters, however the company did recently debut its first customized branded filter at Cannes Lions advertising festival. Snapchat partnered with a publisher to add a corporate logo to snaps taken at a party along with the phrase, ‘Yes we Cannes’. It’s easy to see how branded stickers and sponsored filters could become a potential revenue stream for the company, which isn’t currently making money. Snapchat users are quick to share their new photo filters with friends and Twitter followers, but remain perplexed by the new feature . In February Facebook bought hugely popular messaging app WhatsApp for $19 billion (£11.4 billion), after failing in a previous $3 billion to buy Snapchat. At the start of April, Vine revealed its ‘Vine Messages’ service that enabled users to send messages to each other. This directly followed once-popular social network Bebo’s attempts to get back into the game with Blab, their own video messaging service. Facebook, meanwhile, is busy trying to increase the profile of its Messenger app, with rumors that it will shift WhatsApp users onto its native messaging client. Facebook announced a selfie feature for Messenger that makes it easier to send people pictures of yourself. Instagram announced Instagram Direct, a direct messaging service last December. In May, Snapchat released the ability to chat with friends in real time via messenger. Brands such as Taco Bell and Rebecca Minkoff have sent out hundreds of snaps, and the ability to add their logo to Snapchat content could add extra legitimacy to their efforts. Last December, the app released its first major update when it added its first line of filters along with a ‘replay’ function. In May, Snapchat unveiled its own in-app instant messaging and video chat service. Last week, the company announced it was testing a new group-sharing feature for concerts and live events called Our Story. Both Apple and Facebook have released similar ephemeral messaging services in attempt to capitalize on Snapchat's runaway success. Facebook released Slingshot, its own service for sending self-destructing messages to friends in mid-June. Apple also added the ability to send self-destructing audio and video messages via iMessage. To enable new smart filters, update the app, go to the app’s settings menu, scroll down to ‘Additional Services’ and click ‘Manage’. Once there, ensure that you have the ‘Filters’ setting switched to ‘on’ and that you’ve given the app permission to pull your location. Snapchat founder, Evan Spiegel, in the company's California headquarters. The company is based in Los Angeles and is run by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, two former fraternity brothers at Stanford. The service was first released in 2011 and quickly gained a following among high school students in Southern California. The company does not reveal the number of people currently using its service, but says more than 700 million messages are sent each day. | Users can only 'unlock' the filters in certain geographic locations .
Filters are not yet available to all users .
Could be used by brands as advertising .
Firm recently added a group sharing feature for concerts and live events .
Comes as Facebook launches Slingshot and Apple reveals plans for self destructing messages in its next iPhone and iPad software . |
0f0c92a443c7f46107ee220437378919290b07cd | The owner of a controversial bikini coffee stand business faces charges of prostitution and money laundering after local prosecutors alleged her baristas were selling sex acts for tips. Snohomish County prosecutors say that 52-year-old Carmela Panico, a former nude dancer, operated drive-thru brothels in the county north of Seattle with coffee stands named Twin Peaks and Java Juggs. According to charging documents, her baristas made tips saying they could earn hundreds of thousands of dollars by performing sex acts and could make up to $14 by baring their breasts or genitals. The Java Juggs coffee stand in Washington state, which 52-year-old Carmela Panico is said to have run . Authorities also allege that baristas had a certain amount of cash they were supposed to make for Panico, and the rest the women could keep. The documents also say that Panico could deduct money if the women failed to wear high heels throughout their shifts, did not have a tan or failed to put on makeup. It has been reported that some of her employees could earn between $15,000 and $30,000 a month, while one saying she had earned half-a-million working at the stands. 'The sales goals were effectively rent that the girls paid to have the opportunity to perform lewd conduct or acts of prostitution,' deputy prosecutor Bob Hendrix wrote in the report. 'Her profit margin at times was twice that of well-run, established coffee stands. 'Pancino's businesses were driven by prostitution and lewd behaviour,' Mr Hendrix added. She was charged on Thursday, the Everett Herald reported. The Twin Peaks stand, which prosecutors allege Panico operated as a 'drive-thru brothel' Authorities also allege that she didn't report her full earnings to the Internal Revenue Service by dealing in large amounts of cash. A search at Panico's home last year resulted in the seizure of nearly $250,000. But her attorney told Snohomish County Superior Court that she left the coffee business and sold some of her stands and leased others. The investigation has also led to the prosecution of veteran sheriff's sergeant Darrell O'Neill, who is accused of tipping off Panico and her workers to police scrutiny in return for sexual favors. O'Neill resigned after his arrest last year and has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled for November. | Carmela Panico accused of operating brothels from her coffee stands .
Alleged she allowed her baristas to sell sex acts and bare genitals for tips .
Said she deducted wages if employees didn't wear heels, make-up or tan .
Also accused of money laundering after $250,000 seized from her home .
Case has also led to the prosecution of sheriff's sergeant Darrell O'Neill .
He allegedly tipped of Pacino that her workers were under surveillance . |
0f0d00cd982578d1e47c24335bcc1242374c4833 | A conman who wore a Royal Marines uniform to trick people into donating cash for Help for Heroes has been jailed for three-and-a-half years. Liam O'Brien, 32, stood outside train stations and other public places with a red Help for Heroes bucket. He claimed he was a serving sergeant in the special forces who had been given authorisation by the charity to collect the much-needed money. Liam O'Brien (pictured right posing in a Royal Marines uniform) was sentenced to prison for the heartless scam . But a court heard that O'Brien was a convicted fraudster with no military links who pocketed the money himself - including more than £500 in a single day. He was caught when he tried to board a train, again in full uniform, using a fake military free travel pass and a suspicious inspector noted his details. When police searched his home they found five military ID cards in bogus names. A CV claiming to list military experience and a letter of recommendation from Brigadier General John Quintas of the Air Force were also found. They also discovered a folder of credit card details belonging to guests at a hotel where O'Brien had worked. He was jailed for three and a half years yesterday after admitting 12 counts of fraud. Swindon Crown Court heard he had a lengthy list of previous convictions beginning when he was 17, which included numerous charges of fraud using the military. Judge Peter Blair QC told him: 'The public standing of a charity and the trust of a public in a charity is a very high and important standard that needs to be maintained. 'By behaving in this fashion you have risked a very serious goodwill damage to that charity and I regard that as extremely heinous.' He added: 'These sentences will get longer and longer if you keep offending in this way. 'I hope in time you reflect on this behaviour and you will find better things to do with your time when you are released.' The court heard that O'Brien, of Chippenham, Wiltshire, started his scam just days after being released from prison in December 2013 following an 18 month sentence for fraud. He applied to collect for Help for Heroes with the intention of conning the public again. O'Brien was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison when he appeared at Swindon Crown Court (pictured) today . In April last year he tried to board a train in Chippenham wearing a military uniform, including the coveted green Royal Marines beret, and showed a ticket collector a letter from the Department of Transport giving him free travel. Before police were able to arrest him he turned up at the same station a month later, again in uniform, and approached a different inspector. The inspector followed him on board where he noticed O'Brien quickly changed out of his clothes. Unaware of the ongoing investigation into his background, O'Brien appeared outside London's Victoria Station in October purporting to collect for Help for Heroes. Tessa Hingston, prosecuting, told the court: 'The defendant was wearing a full military sergeant's uniform and was using a red Help for Heroes bucket. 'He was challenged and a witness took a picture of his ID. 'The charity said O'Brien had applied to be a collector in December 2013 but had the authorisation rescinded in Februrary because he made no donations and didn't return any merchandise, including a so-called 'shop in a box' worth £250. 'On November 4, the defendant was seen boarding a train at Bath Spa where a police officer recognised him. 'He was in possession of two Help for Heroes buckets, one of which he had collected £513 in small change. 'Again he was wearing the uniform of a Royal Marine Sergeant and had two fake ID cards and a letter purporting to be from Help for Heroes authorising him to collect.' Tony Bignall, defending, said: 'A large extent of why he was detected is because he went back to the scene of the original crime. 'You would have thought having had his details photographed he would have got away from there, but there seemed to be - if not a death wish - then no great attempt to conceal his actions. 'There is no hint of self pity and he doesn't ask anyone to give him any either.' | Liam O'Brien stood outside stations collecting money for Help for Heroes .
Dressed in a Royal Marines uniform, he pretended to be a serving sergeant .
But he was actually a fraudster pocketing up to £500 a day in the scam .
Police discovered a CV claiming to list military experience at his home .
There was also a false letter of recommendation from a Brigadier General .
O'Brien, 32, started his scam just days after being released from prison .
He was sentenced at Swindon Crown Court to three-and-a-half years jail . |
0f0d24e393410365f5c16b102e5b3500ef51c795 | The Government will 'build and sell' family homes in a desperate bid to end Britain's housing crisis, ministers revealed today. Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander said 300,000 new homes a year were needed but building firms were failing to meet the demand. He said this had forced ministers to 'think radically' and consider using taxpayers' money to kick start a new housing boom. Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander said 300,000 new homes a year were needed but not being built . Mr Alexander said: 'The message to the housebuilding sector would be simple: if you don't build them, we will.' The proposal - unveiled today ahead of George Osborne's crunch Autumn Statement tomorrow - will be trialled at a former RAF base in Cambridgeshire and could lead to homes being built twice as fast as the more conventional route. Launching the National Infrastructure Plan, which also includes details of £15 billion of road projects, £2.3 billion of flood defences and a range of energy programmes, Mr Alexander said the Government had to act to address the housing shortage. He said £100 million was being made available for the new garden city at Ebbsfleet, ministers will back the development of a 13,000-home new town at Bicester, in Oxfordshire, and the extension of the London Overground to Barking Riverside will help unlock the construction of up to 11,000 properties. The affordable homes programme will also be extended for a further two years, Mr Alexander said. But in order to meet the demand for 300,000 new homes a year 'requires us to think radically'. 'An idea that I have been promoting is direct government commissioning of housing. Government - national or local - would take responsibility for ensuring the number of homes we need each year. 'The message to the housebuilding sector would be simple: if you don't build them, we will.' Lord Deighton (left) and the Treasury chief Danny Alexander (right) hailed the publication of today's National Infrastructure Plan . There will be a detailed review to examine the potential of direct government commissioning and the Homes and Communities Agency will lead on delivering up to 10,000 new properties at the former RAF base at Northstowe in Cambridgeshire to trial the model. 'Now it's just a disused RAF base but soon it will be a development of up to 10,000 homes thanks to the pioneering action this Government has taken in trialling the new delivery model,' Mr Alexander said. 'This is the first time in a generation that the Government has owned land, led the development on it at this scale and considered commissioning homes directly.' The model would allow homes to be built quicker and give the state the ability to 'ensure developers build the most appropriate type of houses and the right associated infrastructure'. Mr Alexander said: 'We are examining in more detail the idea of direct commissioning as a solution for the whole country and piloting it on this enormously important site.' Asked whether the need to build more homes would require the development of greenfield sites, Mr Alexander said he did not 'necessarily accept' that would be the case. 'That's something that would need to be worked through in delivering this,' he said. He said redeveloping public sector land, such as Northstowe, could help meet the demand: 'We have released sites in this parliament for about 100,000 homes, we think. We want to see a much more ambitious approach in the next parliament. 'I think that is something that can really help to meet this agenda.' Meanwhile Treasury Commercial Secretary Lord Deighton said the compulsory purchase scheme could be changed, making it easier for people's homes to be bought to clear the way for major infrastructure projects. He said: 'We will be publishing a consultation paper at the next Budget to streamline and update the compulsory purchase regime to make it clearer, faster and fairer.' | Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander says 300,000 homes a year needed .
Lib Dem Cabinet minister said building firms failing to meet the demand .
This had led ministers to 'think radically' to kick start a new housing boom .
New garden cities in Kent and Oxfordshire also given the go-ahead .
Housing boom unveiled in National Infrastructure Plan unveiled today .
Comes ahead of George Osborne's crunch Autumn Statement tomorrow . |
0f0f685d4bf68c90faa8bc0c554e645249ec4ab1 | All countries which banned their players from having sex at the 2014 World Cup have been eliminated, while those with a more relaxed view on the matter are enjoying better results on the pitch, research has shown. Germany and Holland bosses allowed wives and girlfriends to stay in team hotels and both have navigated their way safely into the quarter-finals of the tournament. Meanwhile, France, Brazil and Costa Rica who have more complicated rules regarding sex, but still allow it, also remain active in the competition as do Argentina, Belgium and Colombia whose preference isn't recorded. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Neymar's stunning girlfriend Gabriella sunbathes with friends . Secret of their success: Has Brazil's progress in the World Cup been down to a relaxed attitude to sex? Keep it simple: Luiz Felipe Scolari is happy as long as his players have non-acrobatic sex . Star man: Neymar's form during the World Cup suggests he has enjoyed Scolari's relaxed attitude . Liberal: Holland coach Louis van Gaal has let wives and girlfriends visit the team hotel in Brazil . Modern man: Germany coach Joachim Low is another coach happy for his players to see their loved ones . Keen fan: Robin van Persie's wife Bouchra has been in Brazil watching Holland's progress . Support: Lionel Messi's girlfriend Antonella Roccuzzo watched him in action against Switzerland . Separated: Edin Dzeko was part of the Bosnia-Herzegovina squad banned from sex during the World Cup . Lonely: Dzeko's girlfriend Amra Silajdzic had to get used to life without him while he was in Brazil . Departure: Bosnia-Herzegovina didn't make it out of their group allowing Dzeko and Silajdzic to rekindle their romance . Talent: Silajdzic is a model and actress . Other sides happy to let their players spend intimate time with loved ones include the United States, Switzerland, Uruguay and Nigeria - all of whom made it into the last 16. Of the sides that banned sex - Spain, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Chile and Mexico - none made it past the last 16. Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko's failure to light up the World Cup could be attributed to time spent apart from his girlfriend Amra Silajdzic. Some managers have shown more of an interest than others. Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari hasn't banned it, but will monitor it. He said: 'The players can have normal sex during the World Cup. Usually normal sex is done in balanced way, but there are certain forms, certain ways and others who do acrobatics. We will put limits and survey the players.' Other coaches, such as Costa Rica's Jorge Luis Pinto, is happy for his players to engage in sexual activity as long as they winning on the pitch. He said: 'I can assure, with no doubts, they will be able to "enjoy themselves" just as soon as they qualify for the next round.' It was believed for a long time that sex has a detrimental effect on an athlete's performance, distracting them or exhausting them before a big match but more recent research showed that this was not the case with scientists claiming there is no physiological evidence to suggest this. Unfortunately a relaxed policy to time with loved ones didn't work for England, who failed to climax and left the tournament at the group stage. VIDEO Dutch party rumbles on . Happy campers: Holland have progressed to the World Cup quarter-finals without too much trouble . Strict: Russia coach Fabio Capello banned his players from seeing their wives or girlfriends . No access: Jorge Sampaoli of Chile was another coach keen to limit his players' extra-curricular activities . Early exit: England's relaxed attitude to players seeing wives and girlfriends did not pay off on the pitch . | Brazil, Germany, Holland and Costa Rica allow players to have sex .
Russia, Mexico, Chile and Bosnia ban players from sex during World Cup .
England attitude that players could see loved ones did not work out well .
Scientists say there is no evidence to suggest it is detrimental to athletes . |
0f1011c7e122f3f63ad7cc8fe0df9c21922f0276 | Nearly 50 people have been rescued and five people are confirmed dead as emergency services work through the night in an international operation to rescue terrified passengers from a blazing ferry in the Adriatic Sea. The Greek coast guard confirmed that four passengers were found dead on Monday, including a man who died after becoming stuck in a lifeboat chute, following the death of a man who had jumped overboard to escape the fire. 149 passengers are still trapped on the ferry, and 391 have been rescued so far, winched out of the sea and transferred to other boats to be taken to shore after being rescuing them from the Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic off the Greek island of Corfu. Scroll down for video . Nearly 50 people have been rescued and five people are dead aboard a blazing ferry in the Adriatic Sea . Italian lawyers have confirmed that they are seeking to determine how the disaster started, and have announced than an inquiry will be conducted to determine whether criminal negligence was a factor. Greece's maritime minister, Miltiadis Varvitsioti confirmed that four bodies had been pulled from the ocean, including one man who had jumped overboard to escape the fire. Two Australians travelling on Turkish passports were confirmed to have be among the passengers trapped in terror and chaos aboard the blazing ferry. There is no information as to whether the dual citizens have been rescued or are still on board. Earlier on Monday, 49 people, including four children, were taken to port of Bari the first large installment of rescued passengers to arrive back on shore aboard the Spirit of Piraeus reported Sky News. Blaze: A fire broke out on the car deck of the Norman Atlantic off the coast of the Greek island of Corfu on Sunday but gale-force winds interfered with rescue efforts . Trapped: Passengers, who were travelling from the Greek port of Patras to Ancona, Italy, became trapped on the top decks as gales and choppy seas hampered evacuation efforts . Rescue crew worked throughout the night to airlift passengers from the upper deck of the ferry . The San Giorgio, an Italian navy transporter, also received 89 passengers onto its deck by 9pm AEST, and one was taken to hospital suffering from heart disease. At least ten merchant boats have been employed to assist with the rescue operation, with staff on board providing blankets for evacuees. Helicopters have been travelling between shore and the ferry, completing 34 trips and airlifting at least seven people, reported USA Today. Rescue crew worked throughout the night to airlift passengers from the upper deck of the ferry, after they became trapped as gales and choppy seas hampered evacuation efforts by Greek and Italian emergency services. Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samras said the 'massive and unprecedented operation saved the lives of hundreds of passengers following the fire on the ship in the Adriatic Sea — under the most difficult circumstances,' reported The NY Times. 'Notwithstanding the weather and the darkness, which is another factor, we persisted throughout the entire night,' Italian coast guard Admiral Giovanni Pettorino said. Italian navy Capt. Riccardo Rizzotto said that the priority for the rescue crews was the safety of the passengers, reported USA Today. The ship's manifest listed passengers from Austria, Turkey, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Greece . The San Giorgio, an Italian navy transporter, also received 89 passengers onto its deck by 9pm AEST, and one was taken to hospital suffering from heart disease . Greece's maritime minister, Miltiadis Varvitsioti confirmed that four bodies had been pulled from the ocean . A Greek man was reported dead and his wife injured when they became trapped in a lifeboat chute, but authorities have said that it is unclear how the death and injury occurred. Both were transported to Brindisi in southern Italy by helicopter, said Admiral Pettorino. The second injury occurred when a member of the Italian navy was also injured during the rescue process. The boat, run by Greek ferry operator Anek Lines, was sailing to Ancona in Italy from Patros in western Greece, when it caught fire just before 6am local time. The ferry was 44 nautical miles from Corfu and was carrying 478 passengers and crew along with 222 vehicles. The ship's manifest listed passengers from Austria, Turkey, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Greece, reported The ABC. Nick Channing-Williams, 37, a British show jumper, was also one of the 478 people who became stranded when a fire broke out on the car deck of the Norman Atlantic. At least ten merchant boats have been employed to assist with the rescue operation, with staff on board providing blankets for evacuees . British show jumper Nick Channing-Williams and his fiancée Regina Theoffili (together above) are among those on board the stricken ferry . One British woman and her two children have been airlifted to safety, while the woman's husband is still reported to be on board. Some passengers were reportedly stranded on an upper deck of the ferry for more than eight hours, unable to be lowered to lifeboats due to the high seas. Some called TV stations in desperation, saying: ‘We are burning and sinking, no one can save us,’ as the vessel was battered by 55mph winds. Others told how the blaze swept through the vessel, fuelled by vats of olive oil in trucks catching light. Greece's shipping minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said that the fate of the ferry was yet to be determined, and that it's final destination had not been confirmed. One passenger died and another was injured while attempting to escape the ferry in stormy conditions . Passengers remain trapped on the blazing ferry, off the coast of Corfu, as gale-force winds and choppy seas hamper the rescue effort. The vessel caught alight at 6am local time with 478 passengers and crew on board . Some passengers called TV stations in desperation, saying: ‘We are burning and sinking, no one can save us’ They also described how their shoes melted in the heat and the smell of plastic pervaded the corridors. On deck, passengers were battered by rain and lightning storms. ‘There’s a lot of smoke, we can’t breathe,’ passenger Nikos Papatheodosiou told Greece’s state-run Nerit television yesterday evening. ‘Panic, there’s panic,’ he said. The cause of the fire was not immediately clear but Greek media reported it may have spread because of the burning olive oil. Dorothy Channing-Williams last night said her son Nick, a competitive show jumper and trainer, and his Greek fiancée Regina Theoffili were still on board. She added: ‘There’s about 300 people still on board and it is the cold that’s most difficult.’ Mr Channing-Williams – whose late father Simon produced the Oscar-winning film The Constant Gardener and the Bafta-winning Vera Drake – is believed to be one of two Britons on board. Italian and Greek helicopter crews prepared to work through the night to airlift passengers in pairs as the ferry was being towed after it drifted in fierce winds into Albanian waters . A liferaft from the stricken ferry in the Adriatic Sea. Authorities said 117 people have been rescued so far . A tearful Mrs Channing-Williams said her son first made contact at 4am but urged her not to worry. She said: ‘He said that he had been on the top deck for the last seven hours with rain, and thunder and lightning, but he was making light of it because he knew I would be so worried. They’ve apparently blocked all people’s mobiles because they thought it was hampering the rescue effort.’ The 70-year-old, from Newbury, Berkshire, added: ‘He called me to let me know that he’s okay and that Regina’s okay.’ Other panic-stricken passengers called TV stations and pleaded for help. Sofoklis Styliaras called Mega TV from his mobile, saying: ‘The fire is still burning. On the lower deck, where the lifeboats are, our shoes were starting to melt...there’s nowhere else for us to go.’ Italian and Greek helicopter crews prepared to work through the night to airlift passengers, who described their shoes melting in the searing heat . Another, Giorgos Stiliaras, said those on board were having trouble breathing with all the smoke. ‘We are outside, we are very cold, the ship is full of smoke,’ he said. ‘The boat is still burning, the floors are boiling.’ Speaking from a hospital in Italy, . Vassiliki Tavrizelou, who was rescued along with her two-year-old daughter, spoke to the media from her hospital bed in Lecce, southern Italy. She said: 'They called first on women and children to be evacuated from the ship. 'Ships could not approach us because of the rain and winds. We were at least four hours on the deck, in the cold and rain.' She recalled the ship alarm going off and seeing fire from her cabin. 'Then we heard explosions,' she said. | Ferry carrying 423 passengers and 55 crew caught alight off Greek island .
Five people are confirmed dead and two injured during attempts to escape .
One man died when he became stuck inside a lifeboat chute with his wife .
149 passengers are still trapped on the boat, and 391 have been rescued .
Italian prosecutors have launched an inquest into how the fire started .
Two Australians travelling on Turkish passports have also been confirmed to have been on board the ferry .
Gale force winds hampered rescue efforts by ten boats and one aircraft, who have been working through the night to remove passengers .
Passengers described how their shoes melted in the soaring heat on deck .
Vessel had been travelling from Greek port of Patras to Ancona in Italy . |
0f1069cb2fd5d48df860c0380e7200100a46ecac | Daley Blind is set to join Manchester United from Ajax for £13.8million. The two clubs agreed the fee on Friday, and the player just needs to agree personal terms, which is expected to be a formality. Blind has not been included in the Ajax squad for their match at Groningen on Sunday after he was given permission by the Dutch club to hold talks with United. Blind's medical will take place this weekend in Manchester before he completes his move. VIDEO Scroll down for Edwin van der Sar on Manchester United target Daley Blind . Tough tackling: The Dutch international Daley Blind is set to join Manchester United for £13.8m . World Cup star: Blind impressed in Brazil with his passing range and ability to play in midfield and defence . Saying goodbye: Daley Blind will leave Ajax after six years at the club to join Louis van Gaal's United . United tweeted on Saturday morning: 'Manchester United has reached agreement with Ajax to sign Daley Blind, subject to a medical and personal terms. A further announcement will be made when the process is complete.' United have been linked with the versatile Dutch international throughout the summer, and the deal comes just days after Ajax director of football Marc Overmars said Blind would not be sold on the cheap. Blind, who can play at left back or as a defensive midfielder worked with Louis van Gaal at the World Cup, and has been keen to link up again with the United coach. | Manchester United and Ajax have agreed a fee of £13.8million .
The Dutch international will now have to agree personal terms - expected to be a formality .
Blind will have medical in Manchester this weekend .
The 24-year-old has not been included in the Ajax squad for their match against Groningen on Sunday .
Blind's arrival follows the signings of Angel di Maria, Marcos Rojo, Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw this summer . |
0f10dd86a2c526ab6112e41062afed5c32b183cb | (CNN) -- Carlos Tevez scored twice as Argentina beat Mexico 3-1 in Johannesburg, South Africa, to set up a meeting with Germany in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. The Manchester City striker opened the scoring after 25 minutes in controversial fashion when television replays, which were relayed on the giant screens in the stadium, showed he was offside when he received the ball from Lionel Messi and headed into the net. Despite protests from the Mexican players, the goal was allowed to stand. Argentina doubled its lead when Gonzalo Higuain rounded goalkeeper Oscar Perez to score his fourth goal of the tournament. Tevez made certain of the victory with a stunning long-range strike into the top corner early in the second half. Javier Hernandez pulled a goal back for Mexico with a powerful left-footed drive after 70 minutes, but it proved to be little more than a consolation for the Mexicans as Argentina easily claimed the victory. Manager Diego Maradona's men almost scored a fourth goal when Perez had to dive to his right in stoppage-time to tip Messi's shot over the bar. Mexico, who has now gone out in the last 16 at five World Cups in a row, may feel the result could have been different without the error from the officials. After seeing the error on the big screens, Mexican players surrounded the referee and his assistant but the officials decided not to revoke the goal. The controversy marked the second major officiating mistake of the day at the World Cup after England midfielder Frank Lampard was denied a goal against Germany, even though his shot struck the bar and bounced some two feet over the line. Germany, who was leading 2-1 at the time of Lampard's strike, went on to win 4-1. The Germany-Argentina clash will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, on Saturday, July 3. | Argentina beats Mexico 3-1 in Johannesburg to reach World Cup quarterfinals .
Carlos Tevez scores twice for Argentina and Gonzalo Higuain gets one .
Javier Hernandez nets a consolation goal for the Mexicans .
Argentina will play Germany in the semifinal in Cape Town on Saturday, July 3 . |
0f11d1bf6455201e7c3ac46b85e45ea7a044f6aa | PARIS, France -- South Africa claimed their second World Cup crown with a hard-fought 15-6 victory at the Stade de France on Saturday night as England failed in their bid to become the first team to defend their title. Springboks skipper John Smit proudly holds aloft the William Webb Ellis Trophy in Paris. The Springboks -- who triumphed at home in 1995 -- failed to score a try for the first time in the tournament, while England were unlucky to have one controversially ruled out by the video referee soon after half-time. Mark Cueto dived over the line in the left corner but, after much deliberation, video referee Stuart Dickinson ruled that the winger had touched the whitewash with his foot before going over. It was a bitter blow for the English, who had showed little attacking potency throughout the tournament but were beginning to show some promising signs. Brian Ashton's team were beaten 36-0 by South Africa in the pool stages, but showed big improvement to reach the final with upset wins over Australia and hosts France after adopting a dour, forward-driven approach. Jake White, who is now expected to stand down as the Boks' coach, saw his side dominate the lineouts in the final while England paid for poor discipline. Full-back Percy Montgomery kicked four penalties and Francois Steyn landed another from just inside his opponents' half, while England's sole points came from the boot of 2003 hero Jonny Wilkinson. Montgomery kicked South Africa ahead with a seventh-minute penalty after Tait slipped in midfield and failed to release the ball. Wilkinson replied with a penalty of his own five minutes later after Boks winger JP Pietersen spilled an up-and-under kick. Montgomery made it 6-3 with another goal after flanker Lewis Moody needlessly stuck out his left boot to trip Jaque Fourie in the 15th minute, and Wilkinson was wide with a drop-goal attempt soon after. Steyn was just wide with a long-range penalty as England's forwards infringed again at the ruck, and the Springboks spurned a great opportunity just before half-time when scrum-half Fourie du Preez went for the line from close range instead of passing, and spilled the ball. However, the South African pack screwed England's scrum and won their own feed, from which No. 8 Danie Rossouw was held up on the line after a bullish burst -- and England were penalized for killing the ball, allowing Montgomery to land a third penalty for 9-3 at the break and a personal haul of 102 points for the tournament. England came out after the break without captain and 2003 winner Phil Vickery, with Matt Stevens taking his place at prop. And the English almost crossed for the first try of the game as center Mathew Tait brilliantly burst through several tackles before being cut down just short of the line, and the ball was flicked wide to Cueto on the left. However, Australian official Dickinson made a crucial decision which denied a vital five-pointer. England gained some reward, however, as referee Alain Rolland had noticed a South African infringement before Cueto crossed, and Wilkinson reduced the deficit to 9-6 with his second penalty. In the 47th minute, the career of Jason Robinson came to an end when the England full-back was forced to limp off with a groin injury in what was his final game before retiring. Montgomery extended South Africa's lead three minutes later after Martin Corry infringed at a ruck, and Steyn -- at 20 the second-youngest player to feature in a final -- made it 15-6 from 47 meters out after Ben Kay blocked Os du Randt in the 62nd minute. England made a raft of changes, bringing on 2003 champion Lawrence Dallaglio for possibly his last match at international level, but could not find a way through the Springboks' defense. Vickery refused to blame Dickinson's decision for his side's defeat. "You get decisions like that in a game. Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't," he said. "I'm not going to stand here and blame the referee. South Africa deserved their win." Corry added: "We can't fault effort and the heart. It's a shame that all that spirit counts for nothing. We gave it everything but it didn't go to plan. We are immensely disappointed and it's heartbreaking." White hailed his side's stout defense, saying: "That's what wins World Cups. England were a bit unlucky not to get that try. I'm really over the moon and it's a massive win for us as a group." Skipper John Smit added: "I'm sitting here and I'm trying not to cry. It's a feeling you can't put into words. This is for all of you. Thank you very much for all your support, even in bad times. "It's a reward for four years of dedication and hard work. England gave us a good run. But we responded well to their technical kicking." Lock Victor Matfield, who is joining French side Toulon, was named man of the match after dominating England's jumpers at the throw-ins. "This is awesome. We worked for four years for this. We knew we were going to have to take it to England up front," he said. "The emotions are greater than I ever thought. I can't wait to get back home. I can't wait to see all the South Africans." E-mail to a friend . | South Africa claim second World Cup crown with 15-6 victory in final in Paris .
2003 England champions England fail to become first side to defend the title .
Percy Montgomery kicked four penalties for Boks, plus one by Francois Steyn . |
0f11e7dff4c52690b4f664db30092f859216a1e6 | (EW.com) -- In "Gravity," George Clooney plays a veteran astronaut who looks amusingly like Buzz Lightyear, and Sandra Bullock is a medical engineer who is taking her first voyage into space and is having a hard time keeping her lunch down. They float around in the inky silent darkness, bobbing and gliding, with Earth spread out beneath them like a giant luminescent screensaver. Even when tethered to a spacecraft, the two are really out there, exhilaratingly and terrifyingly free. The miracle of the movie is the way that director Alfonso Cuarón, using special effects and 3-D with a nearly poetic simplicity and command, places the audience right up there in space along with them. Gravity is an awesome technological daydream of a movie, one that might be classified as science fiction, except that it isn't a futuristic fantasy. It's a tale of disaster and grief and survival rooted in the possibilities of space travel as they exist today. Part of what makes the film so thrilling is that it gives its characters no easy outs. The famous 10-minute tracking shot in Cuarón's "Children of Men" was a bravura act of staging, yet watching it, you could tell that it was thought-out and choreographed. In Gravity, though, the director works in such an ingeniously flowing and sustained way that his images all but transcend the essential visual grammar of ''the shot.'' The camera glides through space, twirling and doubling back, following the characters through pod doors and into the cramped interiors of satellites and then out again, giving the entire movie the spontaneous feel of a single unbroken shot — a free-floating galactic reverie. Sandra Bullock keeps defying 'Gravity' with her career . At the beginning we hear radio burbles of talk between the astronauts and Houston, and then, almost imperceptibly, a spacecraft drifts into view from the right side of the screen — it's a U.S. shuttle, and the astronauts are walking outside of it, attempting to repair a problem on the ship. You'll surely be reminded of "2001: A Space Odyssey," because what Cuarón echoes from Kubrick's great film — and what still seems eerily surreal in an outer-space movie — is the creeping rhythm of space, the weightlessness that places everything in a trance, turning the action into moment-to-moment semi-slow motion, a feeling of life suspended. Simply as an out-of-this-world, zero-friction ''ride,'' "Gravity" is unforgettable, yet the real essence of Cuarón's achievement is that the film's technical virtuosity and its emotional grip become one. Clooney's Matt Kowalski and Bullock's Ryan Stone are on a routine mission, but then there's a bulletin from Houston. A Russian satellite has exploded, causing a chain reaction. A shower of debris is about to come flying right at them, so they must abort the mission. It's too late, though: The debris hits them, full force (the 3-D places us right in the hurtling metal thick of it), tearing the ship apart. Seconds later, there is no ship. They are lost in space. What Buzz Aldrin thinks of 'Gravity' The ebb and flow of "Gravity's" story is deeply organic — it seems to be making itself up as it goes along, and that's how it hooks us. Yet what sustains our absorption is a rather tricky synthesis between our involvement in the characters' plight and our head-scratching wonder at the matter-of-fact way that the film brings the physical realities of space to life: the sheer cosmic terror of it, the images of satellites cluttered with drifting matter, from chess rooks to tears. The actors are phenomenal. Clooney shows a haunting chivalry beneath his bluster, and Bullock is as desperate and resourceful and anxious and brave as Sigourney Weaver in the last half of Alien. When Stone wriggles, slowly, out of her space suit, we realize that we're seeing a tale of rebirth, and Bullock's acting attains a new purity. She floats through this movie yet grounds it, letting "Gravity" connect with all of us these days who feel just a little adrift. Grade: A . CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved. | Sandra Bullock and George Clooney star in "Gravity"
Reviewer says ebb and flow of the story is deeply organic .
EW gives it a grade of "A" |
0f125ff720445d2aa6a10cf24876741cd0dcac63 | (CNN) -- Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected president, who has been living in exile in South Africa for seven years, has been issued a new passport to return home, the Haitian interior minister said Wednesday. Paul-Antoine Bien-Aime said the diplomatic passport was handed over to Aristide's U.S. attorney Ira Kurzban, who picked it up in Port-au-Prince Tuesday evening. That removes a major obstacle that has prevented Aristide from making the journey back. However, Kurzban said last month that Aristide would still need the cooperation of South Africa and the United States to make the journey home. Kurzban also said last month that Aristide had no intention of re-entering politics. But Washington has already signaled its displeasure. "We do not doubt President Aristide's desire to help the people of Haiti. But today Haiti needs to focus on its future, not its past," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said last month. "This is an important period for Haiti. What it needs is calm, not divisive actions that distract from the task of forming a new government." The former Roman Catholic priest, who became a voice for Haiti's impoverished, remains a polarizing figure but commands a large following in his homeland. Jacob Francois, coordinator for Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas party in the United States, predicted crowds would greet Aristide upon his return. "It will be the greatest party of this decade," Francois said. "Once again the world will see that President Aristide is the most revered politician in the history of Haiti." Aristide left Haiti on a U.S. jet in 2004 after a bloody revolt by street gangs and soldiers. The leftist former president says he was shuttled out by Western powers. Aristide has long expressed his desire to go home. He reiterated that wish just days after former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier returned to Haiti in January. "Once again I express my readiness to leave today, tomorrow, at any time," Aristide said in a January statement. "The people of Haiti have never stopped calling for my return to Haiti." His return would come at crucial time in Haiti's history. The Caribbean nation's efforts to recover from a devastating 2010 earthquake has been compounded by a cholera epidemic and political chaos sparked by allegations of fraud in the presidential elections held in late November. A runoff is scheduled in March and a winner will not be known until April. | NEW: Interior minister says the passport was given to Aristide's lawyer .
Aristide was the first democratically elected president of Haiti .
He has been living in exile in South Africa and still commands a following in Haiti . |
0f1367b793b742cce218b394e97df6b637161166 | For a lot of people their car is their pride and joy - but how many of us would splash out £250,000 on keeping it off the roadside? A double garage has sold in London for over a quarter of a million pounds - nearly £100,000 more than the national average cost of a house. According to the latest Land Registry figures the average UK home costs £169,624. But while many struggle to get their foot on the property ladder, one buyer has snapped up a double garage for a cool £251,000. A double garage unit in North London was sold for £251,000 at an auction this week, putting it at a level well over the price of an average British home. For the money the new owner can enjoy mains electricity in each of the two garages, and there is an option of connecting to water on-site. The storage facilities went for more than three times the list price when they went under the hammer at a property auction in London yesterday afternoon. Described as a 'postage stamp of land', the site is situated on a leafy street in Highgate, north London. But the new owner may have got a steal, in an area where a five bedroom house can set you back £6million, the land has been sold with development potential. However, no planning rights have been obtained yet. The garage is in leafy Highgate, North London where a five bedroom property could set you back £6million . Estate agents described the site as being: 'Conveniently situated with a frontage to Clifton Road, in a popular residential area close to both the local shopping and travelling facilities of Crouch End and Highgate.' Auctioneer James McHugh, of McHugh & Co - the estate agents who hosted the auction, said: 'This was an exceptional price and sales like this are quite rare. 'There were two garages in Crouch Hall Road on a small plot of land 25ft two inches by 34ft in depth that were listed at £80,000. 'There was a lot of interest in the room and finally they were knocked down for £251,000. 'Someone thinks there is development potential although we didn't sell it with any planning consent or permission. 'It's a modest site, but if you get planning permission you may get a house on there.' The previous owners, who had a portfolio of properties dotted around London, had owned the plot for 19 years. Mr McHugh added: 'Such sales are not uncommon in London, but ones like the plot in Crouch Hall Road are rare. 'They often come with development potential and developers will see that potential and pay large sums to secure ownership.' The Highgate double garage is not the only London lock-ups with a hefty asking price. Many tiny spaces in the capital have sold for a small fortune with buyers keen to take advantage of their investment potential. In 2010 a dilapidated row of storage units in Primrose Hill went on the market with a whopping £1.25million asking price. But the new owner could rest assured that they would own property in the same trendy area as Kate Moss. The lock-ups which in Primrose Hill which, because of their trendy postcode, had a £1.25million asking price . In 2012 a 6-metre long garage went on the market for £525,000, but that was because of its pricey postcode in Knightsbridge - home to Harrods and some of the world's richest people. A garage in Knightsbridge which went on the market for £525,000 in 2012 . And in August this year a 224sqft Highgate lock-up, which had been converted into a studio flat went on the market for £250,000. And in August 2013 a 224sqft Highgate lock-up, which had been converted into a studio flat went on the market for £250,000. | Lock up sold at auction for three times the list price this week .
Joins a long list of garages that have sold for big money in London .
New owner might see planning potential in expensive double garage, but no permission approved yet . |
0f1392ff1547595d9997725377be47bf1de55c9d | By . Lizzie Edmonds . Former police officer Ian Langford, pictured with his new wife outside court today, slept with two women he met after attending incidents at their home . A police officer who seduced and slept with vulnerable women while on duty has been jailed for 18 months today. Ian Langford, 46, who served with West Mercia Police in Shropshire, struck up relationships with two women after being called to attend incidents at their homes. Langford would visit the women, who he was having relationships with at the same time, during his shifts, Gloucester Crown Court heard. The father-of-one’s police radio was heard to go off during visits and he even called a police car to bring him back to the station, the court was told. Langford’s 'totally unacceptable' actions led to a trial collapsing in court - as he was sleeping with the key prosecution witness. He also illegally accessed police records to gain the contact details of one of his victims when she changed her phone number after their relationship ended. The court was also told how Langford was docked 13 days pay in 2008 by West Mercia Police for sleeping with a . vulnerable women after attending her home following a domestic violence . incident. Langford, of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, who was supported by his new wife in court today, admitted two charges of misconduct in a public office for the relationships, which took place in 2012 and 2013. The judge sentenced Langford to nine . months for each count of misconduct in a public office, to run . consecutively - meaning a prison term of 18 months. He also made an order banning the identification of any of Langford’s victims. Judge Jamie Tabor QC told Langford that his actions had brought the police service into disrepute. 'You are not a man of good character because in 2008 you were reprimanded for committing a similar, if not identical, offence with another vulnerable woman,' the judge said. 'If you needed reminding that such behaviour was totally unacceptable, that incident should have deterred you. 'However, in May 2012, you met up with one victim. She was the victim of domestic violence, as had been the victim in 2008. 'She was looking for the protection of the law and the understanding of the police. You chose to seduce her when she was at her most vulnerable. 'Later, when the affair had come to an end you misused police data to discover her private phone number.' Prosecuting, Janine Wood said Langford . met his first victim in May 2012, after being called to her home to . attend a domestic violence incident. Langford 'immediately' began complimenting the woman and later contacted her on Facebook. The former officer, who served with West Merica police, would visit the women - who he was seeing at the same time - while on duty. He also called a police car to come and collect him following a meeting . 'She was vulnerable having suffered . years of abuse from her partner, Mr Langford gave her compliments and . support,' Ms Wood said. 'A sexual relationship began very soon afterwards.' The relationship ended a few months later and the woman changed her phone number. 'In December 2012, the command and control logs were accessed by Mr Langford and he obtained her phone number,' Ms Wood said. 'He sent her a text message minutes later.' In a victim impact statement, the woman said: 'As painful as it is to look back, when I think of the mental state I was in at the time I feel sick at how the authority figure in our community took advantage of me when he should have protected me.' The court heard how Langford met with a . second victim in June 2012 following a neighbourly dispute at her home - . which resulted in a trial. This meeting was while he was in a relationship with the first woman, the court heard. Ms Wood continued: 'He then began complimenting her inappropriately and gave her his email address and told her it was the address his wife didn’t know about,' Ms Wood said. 'He asked if he could kiss her and the relationship progressed. On a number of occasions she wrote in her journal and she recorded when sexual activity took place. 'That corresponded with Mr Langford’s GPRS tracker on his police radio. It was while he was on duty. 'There are exchanges of text messages which talk about what happened between them and mention him having to get a police car back to the station, confirming he was on duty at the time.' The relationship ended in June 2013, when the woman discovered Langford was engaged to be married to another woman, Ms Wood said. In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman said: 'I thought I was safe with him but he left me with an enduring belief that the old stereotype of dodgy policemen is still very much alive and kicking, especially when it comes to vulnerable women. 'My feelings are unsurprisingly more emotional, I feel rejected - why did he do this? For kicks or thrills while supposedly on police duty?' The court heard how the man had previous relations with a domestic violence victim in 2008 . Judge Jamie Tabor added: 'The . case was compromised when it came to trial because the defendant let it . be known that you were having an affair with the prosecution witness. 'As a . result, the case had to be dropped, although a restraining order was . imposed. Nothing could demonstrate better why police officers have to . conduct themselves in a exemplary manner. 'Both . your victims feel extremely let down by the police. You targeted women . when they were at their most vulnerable. You carried out the affairs . while actually on duty. 'Your behaviour has brought the police service into disrepute.' Representing Langford, Simon Hunka said his client had joined the police force in 1989. He said Langford had previously been married but wed his new wife following the end of his relationship with the second victim in June last year. The relationship with his first victim ended in August 2012, when she went on holiday with her children, Mr Hunka explained. 'He is someone who has shown deep remorse and shame for his behaviour, he doesn’t try to excuse it,' Mr Hunka said. 'He is not someone who has set out with a specific sinister agenda.' Mr Hunka said his client, father to his 11-year-old daughter, no longer works for the police force. 'This is someone who had a long standing is the community,' Mr Hunka said. 'He is from a respected and respectful family and he knows he has brought shame on to that.' | Ian Langford seduced two women after attending incidents at their homes .
Former West Mercia Police Officer, 46, visited both women while on duty .
Called a police car to pick him up from one of their houses during a shift .
A trial collapsed as one of the women he was sleeping with was a witness .
Court was told Langford had slept with a domestic violence victim in 2008 .
Father-of-one admitted misconduct in a public office between 2012 and 2013 .
Was jailed for 18 months at Gloucester Crown Court today . |
0f14237cb25c2094d62d1df78849d95b42fe82a8 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 13:04 EST, 21 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 19:41 EST, 21 December 2012 . Accused: John Bushell, 86, is accused of trying to smear his neighbours to undermine their evidence in court against him . A pensioner has been accused of making false criminal allegations about the couple who lived next door to discredit what they said against him in a court case. John Bushell, 86, is alleged to have called police on September 27 to say his neighbours, Kenneth and Marjorie Mills, had damaged the guttering on his property. The retired book-keeper - who has been involved in a long-running feud with Mr and Mrs Mills - is already banned from contacting them under the terms of a restraining order made in 1998. Tensions have grown during the five decades they have lived next door to each other in a cul-de-sac in Hebburn, South Tyneside. Yesterday, Bushell appeared at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court facing a charge of committing an act intending to pervert the course of justice. Bushell is said to have contacted the police about the alleged damage to undermine his neighbours’ credibility before they stood as witnesses against him in a different court case. He was originally due to appear before magistrates about the latest charge last Thursday, but did not turn up. At that point, he was facing the less serious matter of wasting police time. Paul Anderson, prosecuting, asked the court to withdraw that charge and replace it with the new one - which can only be dealt with at crown court. Bushell entered no plea and spoke only to confirm his name, age and address. Mr Anderson said: ‘A charge of . perverting the course of justice is indictable only, meaning it must be . sent to Newcastle Crown Court.’ Christopher Brown, defending, said he didn’t want to add anything on Bushell’s behalf. Bushell will appear at Newcastle Crown Court on January 4, where it is expected he will enter a plea. He was released on unconditional bail until then. Earlier this month, Bushell was found guilty of breaching an order after he hurled abuse at his neighbours on May 7. Neighbours: Marjorie Mills and husband Ken, of Hebburn, South Tynesid, had in a long-running feud with John Bushell . Feud: John Bushell, who lived in the house on the left, a few yards from neighbours the Mills family who live next door, on the right . Court action: Retired book-keeper John Bushell will appear at Newcastle Crown Court on January 4, where it is expected he will enter a plea . South Tyneside magistrates deferred his sentence for six months. Bushell admitted shouting at Mr and Mrs Mills, but said he had been provoked by them filming him. Speaking after Bushell’s conviction, Mr and Mrs Mills said they wanted to call an end to their feud. Mrs Mills said: ‘All we want to do is to be able to enjoy our lives in peace.' Bushell, who lives with wife Sonia in . the cul-de-sac, said he has listened to the magistrates and will do his . best to keep the peace. Speaking after the case, he said: ‘I have got to accept the court’s decision and do as they say. I will keep myself to myself and keep out of their way.' Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons. | John Bushell, 86, was facing court action for tormenting neighbours .
Retired bookkeeper allegedly reported couple for damaging his guttering . |
0f14936695d49f00dc6b1cc8f1c508661788ae20 | (CNN) -- The World Bank cut China's economic growth forecast in 2009 to 6.5 percent Wednesday, down a full percentage point from November's projection. Workers assemble toys on a production line at a factory in Shantou, in China's Guangdong province. Despite the downgrade, "China is a relative bright spot in an otherwise gloomy global economy," said the World Bank's David Dollar. Last week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reiterated projections that the nation's economy will grow by 8 percent in 2009, despite doubts expressed by domestic and international economic analysts. Some have forecast growth as low as 5 percent. "I will admit it will be a difficult job [to reach 8 percent]. This being said, I also believe with considerable efforts it's possible for us to obtain this goal," Wen said at a news conference following the annual session of the country's rubber-stamp legislature. China has seen a sharp decline in demand for its exports since November as other major economies have struggled. In February, Chinese exports plunged 25.7 percent compared with the previous year's, Beijing reported last week. Even with the slowdown, China's economy -- the third largest in the world -- has gone from white-hot to merely robust. In 2007, China's gross domestic product grew at 13 percent. The two largest economies -- the United States and Japan -- are in recession. "So a lot of things will go down in 2009 globally," Dollar said. "But we see China's contribution as being very positive in keeping many markets from going down as far as they would otherwise." The World Bank expects China's economy to outgrow most others in 2009. In November, China announced plans to inject $586 billion (4 trillion yuan) into its economy to offset declines in industrial and export growth. That economic stimulus plan included the loosening of credit restrictions, tax cuts and massive infrastructure spending. | World Bank cuts China's economic growth forecast in 2009 to 6.5 percent .
Reduction is down a full percentage point from November's projection .
Last week, Chinese Premier projected nation's economy would grow by 8% in 2009 .
China has seen a sharp decline in demand for its exports since November . |
0f150528bcefa1e2504677c8f4e7543de911b5cb | There are still more than 1.7 million Americans alive who served in World War II, but that number is dwindling fast. With much of the "Greatest Generation" now in their 80s and 90s, hundreds of these veterans are dying every day, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. By the year 2036, the VA estimates, there will no longer be any living veterans from the conflict. The last World War I veteran, Frank Buckles, died in February 2011. Here's a look at who fought in past U.S. wars and who's still alive today: . American Revolution (1775-1783) U.S. servicemembers: 184,000-250,000 (estimated) Deaths: 4,435 Wounded: 6,188 Last veteran: Daniel F. Bakeman, died in 1869 at age 109 . War of 1812 (1812-1815) U.S. servicemembers: 286,730 Deaths: 2,260 Wounded: 4,505 Last veteran: Hiram Cronk, died in 1905 at age 105 . Indian Wars (approximately 1817-1898) U.S. servicemembers: 106,000 (estimated) Deaths: 1,000 (estimated) Last veteran: Fredrak Fraske, died in 1973 at age 101 . Mexican War (1846-1848) U.S. servicemembers: 78,718 Deaths: 13,283 Wounded: 4,152 Last veteran: Owen Thomas Edgar, died in 1929 at age 98 . Civil War (1861-1865) Union servicemembers: 2,213,363 Confederate servicemembers: 600,000-1,500,000 (estimated) Union deaths: 364,511 Confederate deaths: 133,821 (estimated) Union wounded: 281,881 Confederate wounded: Unknown Last veteran: John Salling, died in 1958 at age 112 . Spanish-American War (1898-1902) U.S. servicemembers: 306,760 Deaths: 2,446 (385 in battle) Wounded: 1,662 Last veteran: Nathan E. Cook, died in 1992 at age 106 . World War I (1917-1918) U.S. servicemembers: 4,734,991 Deaths: 116,516 (53,402 in battle) Wounded: 204,002 Last veteran: Frank Buckles, died in 2011 at age 110 . World War II (1941-1945) U.S. servicemembers: 16,112,566 Deaths: 405,399 (291,557 in battle) Wounded: 670,846 Estimated living veterans: 1,711,000 . Korean War (1950-1953) U.S. servicemembers: 5,720,000 Deaths: 54,246 (36,574 in theater) Wounded: 103,284 Estimated living veterans: 2,275,000 . Vietnam War (1964-1975) U.S. servicemembers: 8,744,000 (estimated 3,403,000 deployed) Deaths: 90,220 (58,220 in theater) Wounded: 153,303 Estimated living veterans: 7,391,000 . Desert Shield/Desert Storm (1990-1991) U.S. servicemembers: 2,322,000 (694,550 deployed) Deaths: 1,948 (383 in theater) Wounded: 467 Estimated living veterans: 2,244,583 (2009 estimate, may include veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan) Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs . More about veterans: . By the numbers: 1.5 million U.S troops deployed in war zones or combat missions . CNN Heroes: Making life easier for disabled veterans . A daughter faces demons of father's war . WWII Marine's diary found by sweetheart years later . Must-see sights for military buffs . | World War II veterans are aging fast, and there are just under 2 million remaining in the U.S.
More than 16 million Americans served in the conflict from 1941 to 1945 .
The last World War I veteran died in February 2011 at age 110 . |
0f15701b66b243fd4db52400cbdc23ba69275797 | By . Associated Press . An Ohio National Guardsman suspected of sexually abusing three adopted daughters and his stepdaughter also is accused of abruptly sending a fourth adopted daughter out of state and threatening the children in the family with a similar fate to keep them from talking about what they knew, according to court documents. The 41-year-old Marysville man, who told a military publication years ago that he wanted to adopt a girl from Africa to protect her from rape, was originally charged last year. He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Union County court on an updated indictment with 35 counts, including rape, sexual battery, gross sexual imposition, intimidation and tampering with evidence. Shocking: An active Ohio National Guardsman has pleaded not guilty to charges he sexually molested three of his adopted daughter and a stepdaughter over the course of years. Prosecutors said the children ranged in age from 2 to 8. Up to 11 children at some point lived with the man and his wife at their home in Marysville, Ohio . Court documents indicate the girls were under 13 at the time, with one as young as 5. Messages seeking comment were left for the man's attorney E. Darren McNeal, whose legal assistant said McNeal won't discuss the case. The defendant and his wife, who is accused of intimidation and obstruction but not abuse, entered not-guilty pleas to the initial charges against them. The Associated Press isn't naming them to protect the children's identities. Prosecutors allege in court documents that the man touched the girls in inappropriate, sexual ways at different times and forced two of them to perform sex acts on him. Prosecutors say the girls reported abuse to a different adoptive daughter who shared that information with relatives and was sent away in July 2012. The man and his wife picked up the girl from a volunteering shift and put her on a flight to Idaho against her will, without a chance to get her belongings, according to the limited details described in court documents. Coercion: The Guardsman not only is accused of sex crimes, but also of using one of his adopted daughter's fear of being sent away by yet another family to coerce her into not telling anyone what she knew. The wife, too, is believed by prosecutors to have helped coerce the child. The girl, a native of Haiti, eventually revealed what she allegedly knew to family members . At a park before church the following Sunday, the couple gathered the remaining children — nine of them, include the four accusers — and told them that there were false statements being made about the man and that any child who discussed those matters 'would go away' like the other girl, prosecutors said in court documents. An updated indictment filed this summer against the man's wife includes 13 intimidation-related charges and an evidence-tampering count related to the girl who was sent out of state. The 37-year-old woman also is charged with a single count of obstructing justice; prosecutors say she falsely told police that the children denied the sexual assault allegations and that she intimidated one of the girls so she would write a letter to that effect. The wife's attorney, Jason Despetorich, also said he isn't commenting on the case while it is pending. Terry Hord, the Union County chief assistant prosecuting attorney handling the case, said he couldn't provide an update on the status of the children or where they live, but he said none now lives with the father who is charged. The Guardsman remains a major with an Ohio National Guard unit out of Springfield and works one weekend per month, according to the organization's community relations office. Sick crimes: The man is charged with nearly three dozen crimes including rape and tampering with evidence. His wife is charged with intimidation and obstruction. Neither he nor the wife are being named in this report in order to protect the identity of the children . | The Marysville, Ohio man, 41, is charged with 35 counts including rape and tampering with evidence - one victim was as young as 5 .
His wife, 37, is accused of intimidation and obstruction but not abuse .
Their names are being withheld to protect the identity of the children .
The Guardsman remains a major with an Ohio National Guard unit out of Springfield and works one weekend per month . |
0f17017f0822ca8c852d8dff93ab17d45bf86d41 | (CNN) -- You don't need to be a teenage boy to realize how scary girls can be. Girls know it too. Megan Fox plays a demonic cheerleader in "Jennifer's Body," written by Diablo "Juno" Cody. Certainly Diablo Cody does. The Academy Award-winning "Juno" scribe proves as much in her second screenplay, a horror comedy about BFFs Jennifer (Megan Fox) and Needy (Amanda Seyfried). These bosom buddies have a relationship that stretches back to the sandbox. They're inseparable opposites: Jennifer is a babe, head cheerleader and a bit of a snot. Needy is nerdy, conventional and a soft touch. Except that when we first meet her, she's locked up in the local mental hospital, kicking back at the guards and muttering darkly about the murders that put her here. Looking back, she dates this disastrous turn of events to the day Jennifer talked her into seeing an up-and-coming indie band at the roadhouse. The gig ends in a deadly inferno that claims the lives of several schoolmates, then Jennifer drives off with the band for an al fresco after-party involving satanic rites and virgin sacrifice. She survives on a technicality, but shows up later that night at Needy's place covered in blood, barfing blue goo and craving fresh flesh. In the days after the tragedy the entire school seems to be suffering from post-traumatic stress. Only Jennifer seems unfazed by the community's second sucker punch: the gruesome fate of the star quarterback in the woods. What's a girl to do if her best friend turns into a heartless boy-eating demon? Needy cleans up the mess and hopes it's just a phase. The last time a horror flick tried for a distinctly female point of view the result was "Twilight," which was more of a wan gothic romance than a chiller. Directed by Karyn Kusama, who made "Girlfight" and "Aeon Flux," "Jennifer's Body" isn't anything like that. It's a much edgier, snappier, bloodier film, aimed primarily at young hipsters and horror fans -- plus anyone else curious to see Megan Fox get nasty. (That's got to include a sizable chunk of the audience, surely?) So smoldering hot that at one point she coolly sets fire to her tongue, Fox makes a convincing vixen, callously picking up victims whenever her luster begins to fade. It's not hard to imagine she can have anyone who takes her fancy -- even Needy is not immune to her charms. Ironically, though, Jennifer is really the needy one here, while her friend eventually finds the self-possession to stand up to her. Similarly, you might come for Fox, but it's Amanda Seyfried's expressive range and toughness that leaves a more lasting impression. The "Mamma Mia" starlet is destined for good things. iReport.com: Share your review of "Jennifer's Body" The bitingly smart, funny teen-speak is carried over from "Juno," along with sharp pop culture references and a sassy feminist attitude, but the million-dollar question has to be: Is it scary? Only occasionally, I'm afraid. The gore scenes come with weird little flourishes: Jennifer's mounting body count attracts a crowd of curious woodland creatures, sounding a sweetly sick echo of "Bambi," and a climactic showdown is set in a spectacularly fetid abandoned swimming pool (don't they drain those things?). But the jokiness does tend to undercut the terror. I suspect the film will prove too freaky for "Juno" boosters, and could have used more straight-ahead scares and sustained suspense to appease the hardcore horror geeks. That said, this entertainingly oddball offering does twist fresh kinks into a genre that's always crying out for new blood. "Jennifer's Body" is rated R and runs 102 minutes. | "Jennifer's Body" is a horror winner with doses of comedy, says Tom Charity .
Film stars Megan Fox as a cheerleader who turns demonic .
Amanda Seyfried, playing Fox's friend, provides movie's standout performance .
"Jennifer's Body" was written by "Juno's" Diablo Cody . |
0f179fc91baf1921dd04847fe49b9834e5a8a22d | By . Louise Cheer for Daily Mail Australia . A former magazine journalist has penned a book about her double life as a high-class escort and a mother. It is believed Samantha X, who will appear on Channel Seven's Sunday Night to talk candidly about her profession to spruik her novel, Hooked - Secrets of a High-Class Escort, is Amanda Goff. Ms Goff has worked at InStyle, Prevention and New Idea magazines. The 40-year-old is a mother-of-two by day and a sex worker by night. High-class escort Samantha X was identified as former magazine journalist Amanda Goff . Ms Goff (pictured here three years ago) used to work at InStyle, Prevention and New Idea magazines but is now a private escort . 'When I look back on how I juggled the two lives, I am astounded,' Ms Goff tells Sunday Night reporter James Thomas. Despite the stigma surrounding the profession, the escort said friends and peers had been very supportive of her transition into the industry in 2012. A former colleague of Ms Goff told Daily Mail Australia they were not surprised to learn of the woman's double life. 'I'm not shocked at all - she's always been a bit close to the edge. She follows her own rules. 'And I'm not surprised she's going on TV and saying it's her - I think she's always secretly wanted to be famous,' the colleague said. 'I think she's always wanted a life that's bigger than what she had. To be famous and rich. And using something to catapult her into the limelight. 'She's always been very bold and goes for what she wants. She's very single-minded. I always thought she used her looks and her boldness to get what she wants.' The 40-year-old is a mother-of-two and started escorting in 2012, two days after she visited a brothel . Ms Goff (left and pictured right in the front row, far right) said most of the parents at her children's school know what she does for a living and are supportive . She will appear on the Channel Seven program in an exclusive interview on Sunday night . Ms Goff told the program she volunteered at the tuckshop of her children's school and most of the parents there knew what she did for a living. 'Do you think your profession defines you as a parent?' she said. 'I don’t think that because you’re a neurosurgeon you’re necessarily a good parent. 'I don’t think that if you are a criminal, you’re a bad parent.' Ms Goff started her career at an exclusive brothel in Sydney and 18 months later she moved into private escorting as Samantha X. 'When I look back on how I juggled the two lives, I am astounded,' Ms Goff tells Sunday Night reporter James Thomas (pictured) Goff charges $800 an hour or $5,000 a night for her services, and said she can teach married couples a thing or two . The mother has penned a book about her double life called Hooked - Secrets of a High-Class Escort . She charges $800 an hour for her services or $5,000 for an entire night. But Ms Goff reassures people that it is not as glamorous as it seems: 'You'd think for 12 hours we'd be having sex all night, but that is so far from the truth.' After her time sleeping with married men who pay her more than three times the average weekly salary, she thinks she knows the secret to a happy marriage. Ms Goff said listening was key as many men complained they were not being heard to by their spouse. | Samantha X has been named as Sydney-based mother Amanda Goff .
Ms Goff used to work at InStyle, Prevention and New Idea magazines .
She has penned a book about her life as a tuckshop mum and an escort .
The mother-of-two is 40 years old and charges $5,000 a night for her time . |
0f180d23e12e558d5fda783680fa43a37483fda6 | (CNN)Thousands gathered in Riyadh on Friday to say farewell to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud, a cautious reformer who succeeded in securing broader freedoms in the conservative kingdom, but fell short in gaining greater independence for women. Abdullah died early Friday, several weeks after the state-run Saudi Press Agency said he was suffering from pneumonia and had been admitted to a hospital. The royal court didn't release an exact cause of death. He was 90. To ensure a smooth transition, the kingdom quickly appointed his 79-year-old half-brother, Salman bin Abdulaziz, to the throne. His half-brother Prince Muqrin, a decade younger, is the new crown prince. Who is Salman bin Abdulaziz? After Friday afternoon prayers at Riyadh's Imam Turki Bin Abdullah Grand Mosque, the body of Abdullah, wrapped in a pale shroud, was carried from the mosque toward a cemetery, followed by a solemn procession of Saudi men in traditional dress. He was later laid to rest after a simple, swift ceremony. Those present at the graveside -- the royals closest to the late king -- were then to move on to a royal palace, where they were to pay their respects to the new monarch. The ceremony of "al Bayaah," or pledging of allegiance to the new king, followed the funeral. Condolences and remembrances poured in from all corners of the globe. "To God we belong and indeed to him we shall return," said the homepage of the English-language Saudi newspaper Arab News. Bahrain, Jordan and the Palestinian territories, among others, declared days of mourning. The U.N. secretary-general praised Abdullah for his Arab Peace Initiative to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said he would lead a delegation "in the coming days" to pay respects. "King Abdullah's life spanned from before the birth of modern Saudi Arabia through its emergence as a critical force within the global economy and a leader among Arab and Islamic nations," U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement. Speaking to CNN's Richard Quest in Davos, Switzerland, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he expects no changes in his government's relations with Saudi Arabia. "I don't anticipate anything based on the conversation we have had, no," he said. In an address to the nation -- his first televised appearance since becoming king -- Salman offered his condolences to the Saudi people. "We will, with God's will and power, adhere to the straight path this country followed since its establishment by King Abdulaziz and his sons after him, and will not deviate at all from it, since our constitution is the book of Allah (Quran) and the teachings of Prophet Mohammed," he said. He also spoke of the "desperate need" for unity and solidarity among the followers of Islam, saying Saudi Arabia would continue to promote that. He had already issued six royal decrees Friday, the Saudi Press Agency reported, including appointing Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz as the deputy crown prince. Salman, who has 1.33 million followers on Twitter but follows no one, changed his Twitter handle to @KingSalman. Abdullah became king of the oil-rich nation, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, in August 2005. But he had been running Saudi Arabia since 1996, after half-brother King Fahd's stroke. In the context of the kingdom's conservative circles, Abdullah was seen as a reformer and often came up against more hardline clerics. After ascending to the throne, Abdullah took steps toward broader freedoms and invested some of the country's vast oil wealth in large-scale education and infrastructure projects. "He was really quite (an) extraordinary figure. He was probably the most progressive and liberal-minded king of Saudi Arabia since King Faisal, which is a long time ago, in the early 1970s," CNN's Fareed Zakaria said about Abdullah, whom he described as "much loved." "I had the opportunity to meet with him once, and what you got a sense of was somebody who really was determined to move his country forward," Zakaria said. "It's a conservative country and a conservative society -- and he kept emphasizing that to me -- but he was very clear in the direction he wanted to go." However, resistance from conservative factions hindered some of his efforts, leaving many women, in particular, disappointed by a lack of progress toward greater independence. King Abdullah's legacy: 5 things to know . Under Abdullah's leadership, the country slowly squashed al Qaeda, capturing or killing its leaders in the kingdom, forcing the remnants underground and sidelining radical preachers. It also took a more prominent role in international affairs. Last year, it became the lead Arab nation in a U.S.-led coalition to eradicate the ultraradical ISIS group in Iraq and Syria. Analysts are predicting a smooth political transition despite the many challenges facing Saudi Arabia, including Iran, the rise of ISIS, the crisis in Yemen and the drop in oil prices. Saudi Arabia has 16% of the world's known oil reserves, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The country is widely seen as the leader of OPEC and has a large influence on energy prices and political stability in the Middle East. "Remember, the last time the price of oil fell like this, the Soviet Union collapsed," said Zakaria. "That said, the successor is a very competent man." He added: "I don't expect any major shift, but it marks a big change, and we'll have to see what the new king is like." People we've lost in 2015 . CNN's Dana Ford, Salma Abdelaziz and Yousuf Basil contributed to this report. | King Abdullah has been buried in Riyadh .
The kingdom quickly appointed his brother Salman to the throne .
New king speaks of need for unity, solidarity among followers of Islam . |
0f185aff985eb4d0b2d2c670c457b45190fae2a1 | By . Alex Greig . Lakeside meth lab: Madhu Dutta is accused of attempting to set up a meth lab in his million-dollar home . Ohio police have arrested the owner of a luxurious lakeside home in which the makings of a sophisticated methamphetamine lab were discovered Wednesday night. Inside the home, police found equipment and chemicals for a 'thionyl/chloride method' lab, the first of its kind to be found in Ohio. Madhu Dutta, 51, was arrested Thursday at 3675 East Lake Road in Sheffield Lake for possessing the chemicals and equipment for making methamphetamine. Officers had been investigating . suspicious activity at the house since August 2013, but new information . prompted them to obtain a warrant to search the home. Also discovered on the property were three handguns, 11 shotguns and a large quantity of ammunition, reports Fox 8. Chief . Deputy Dennis Cavanaugh said that while the lab wasn't fully . functioning, Dutta was in possession of enough chemicals and equipment . to warrant the charges, reports WKYC. The . thionyl method is unique, Cavanaugh said, because of 'the type of . system, the chemicals being used, the specific type of equipment, and . you have to have some knowledge or ability to be able to do this.' Affluent area: The million-dollar home owned by Madhu Dutta . Lake views: The tasteful mansion is home to Madhu Dutta, who lives there alone . There goes the neighborhood: Neighbors in the affluent area were shocked that such a grand home could be the site of a methamphetamine lab . Commercial grade: The chemicals stockpiled by Dutta were for use in a sophisticated meth lab, say police . He added that thionyl/chloride method labs are 'extremely toxic'. The . more common method for cooking the drug is known as the one-pot method, . or 'shake and bake,' which uses household chemicals, unlike the . commercial grade chemicals found in Dutta's home. According to ABC News, Dutta's property in the affluent lakeside area was purchased for $1,125,000 last year. Neighbors were shocked by the arrest of their neighbor. Weapons: Police found three handguns and 11 shotguns in the home, as well as ammunition . Evidence: A hydrogen tank and generator were discovered, in addition to bottles of chloroform and other chemicals related to the thionyl/chloride method of manufacturing meth . 'Around the lake the properties are expensive,' Cavanaugh told ABC News. 'I don't care where you are in this county or the state, you never know when anything like this is going to happen.' Dutta was charged with two counts of illegal assembly or possession of chemicals for the manufacture of drugs and one count of permitting drug abuse. Dutta pleaded not guilty on April 17 and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on April 24. | Police discovered equipment and chemicals for making methamphetamine in a million-dollar Ohio home .
Madhu Dutta, 51, was arrested for possession of chemicals for the manufacture of drugs .
The paraphernalia was for a 'thionyl/chloride method' lab, a sophisticated method of producing meth .
It was the only lab of its kind to have been discovered in the state .
Also found in the home were 14 guns and ammunition .
Dutta bought the home for $1,125,000 last year .
He has pleaded not guilty . |
0f193cb1545bf9b5b664c5f4a1c61ff4ab42eb46 | It is pointless asking Steven Gerrard where it all goes wrong. Gerrard is where it all goes wrong. Not just in this tournament, not just with the odd mistake of a player raging against the dying of the light, but from the very start, from his earliest days as an international footballer. All those times when we looked and wondered what happened to the Gerrard we knew, the one in the red shirt, a hero of the modern game. That was it going wrong. That was it right there. VIDEO Scroll down for Steven Gerrard: The World Cup has left me a broken man . Ruined: Steven Gerrard has retired from international football following failure at the 2014 World Cup . Stepping away: The 34-year-old has called time on his England career after 114 caps . Name Gerrard’s greatest performance for Liverpool. It is impossible to stop at one. The second half of the 2005 Champions League final; the FA Cup final in 2006; that Champions League tie against Olympiacos in 2004; the 3-0 win over Everton in 2012; Napoli in the Europa League in 2010; as a 21-year-old against Manchester United in 2001. Anfield regulars would not stop there. They could add another 50, maybe 100. Southampton, New Year’s Day, 2001; Marseille in 2008. Games that Liverpool would not have won without Gerrard, the pumping heartbeat. Now do the same with Gerrard and England. Several of those who have seen each one of his 113 appearances tried it yesterday. There was a consensus on Andorra away in 2007 under Steve McClaren. And not a whole lot else. He was very good when England beat Germany 5-1 in Munich, but so were a lot of players. There was a friendly against Hungary immediately after the 2010 World Cup, when he stopped the Fabio Capello backlash reaching its shrill crescendo. And he was most consistent in the qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup, albeit in a starting position on the left, which he hated. Glorious: Many Gerrard displays for Liverpool, particularly in Istanbul in 2005, have been outstanding . Irregular: There have been fewer great displays for England, with the best arguably against Andorra in 2007 . Yet Gerrard’s malaise is England malaise. Just as the national team is less than the sum of its parts, so his century of England appearances do not amount to his best 10, maybe his best five, for Liverpool. Gerrard, an admirable individual of great honesty and often given to brutal self-analysis, admits as much. On the occasion of his 100th cap, he said he had played six or seven good games for England. That was harsh. It is generally agreed Gerrard has frequently hit a standard that justifies his inclusion. Only very recently has his place in the team been questioned, and never by Roy Hodgson. He has asked Gerrard to stay as captain, and he will consider his future in the coming weeks. Yet it is impossible to divorce Gerrard’s legacy as a player from the decade or so of underachievement from what was a highly promising England group. ‘If we can’t make this one a player, we might as well give up,’ Sir Alex Ferguson once said, viewing the young Ryan Giggs. Looking back on Gerrard’s international career, it would appear the England machine has failed even that simple challenge. It has taken one of the greatest England footballers of this, or any, generation, one of the most talented players in the world, the midfielder Luis Suarez says is the greatest he has played with, and somehow reduced him to mediocrity. Tortured: England captain Gerrard looked injured mentally when he faced the press on Sunday . Flattered to deceive: Wayne Rooney is another player who fails to replicate club form for his country . It is as if someone has pulled the plug on The Beatles, chucked a blanket over Gainsborough, brought the curtain down on Larry Olivier. This is one of the finest footballers we will ever see. And we’re harking back to a golden hour against Andorra. Gerrard looked pained on Sunday. Injured, mentally more than physically. He picked at the back of his leg until he drew blood, and his face was wrinkled so intensely a bicycle could have been parked in one of the furrows on his brow. He recalled the afternoon after the night before, flicking around on his hotel television, back and forth, checking on Italy’s game with Costa Rica in the hope there might be one last lifeline. It wasn’t to be. Gerrard gave the impression he half expected as much. ‘There was a small, tiny glimmer, but that made the pain even worse when the game was gone,’ he said. ‘It was a desperate position to be in. 'To me, that’s not good enough, to be relying on others, when you’ve got the talented players we have in this squad. 'The margins are smaller now from where we were two years ago but, sitting here, we’re bitterly disappointed. It’s killing me not to have any positives to speak about.’ VIDEO Gerrard to take time over retirement decision . Fighting back: England manager Roy Hodgson (right) wants Gerrard (left) to remain as his captain . Dead rubber: England and Gerrard trained ahead of the Costa Rica match on Tuesday . England are all about accentuating the positives in Brazil, but it seems so empty in the wake of the poorest performance at a World Cup since 1958. The margins are small, was yesterday’s mantra. Yet in three hours of football, England have not been ahead in a match, once. The group of death myth has also been exploded. No group of death is won by Costa Rica, as seems likely here. Italy were not world-beaters. Uruguay truly are Luis Suarez plus 10 others. In Belo Horizonte on Tuesday, England will face a Costa Rica team that would not merit a second glance from many Premier League clubs - even, in Joel Campbell’s case, the one that holds his registration, Arsenal. It was hoped this game would be the comfortable victory that confirmed English progress, after tussles with Italy and Uruguay. Instead, it is a desperate attempt at saving face. England have never lost every match at a World Cup, and a draw would merely confirm Costa Rica’s place as winners of Group D. Either outcome would be a savage denouement for Hodgson. And a win? It would be scant consolation. This, then, is the proverbial kick into nothing. ‘The last couple of days have been grim,’ Gerrard conceded. ‘It’s a tough moment. In my head, I’ve got a mixture of emotions: frustration, pain. Dejected: Too often have we seen the sight of Gerrard crouched in despair after an England match . Consoled: Gerrard (left) is hugged by Liverpool team-mate Luis Suarez (right) after the Uruguay defeat . 'The season for Liverpool ended badly for me and the team. I was coming out of that, trying to put it to bed, trying to get some positivity back through the World Cup. This is exactly what I didn’t want to happen. ‘I have to try to grieve, get away with the family and away from international football, and then make a decision on my future. 'It would be wrong for me to make that decision now. I will consider it long and hard, speak to people who will guide me. I’ve put everyone before myself. I’ve done that all the way through. This time I’ve got to make the decision that is best for me. I’ve told Roy I’ll need three weeks to clear my head. ‘It’s difficult to put into words. When you’re an England player, the captain, a fan and you’ve worked so hard to get into this position, for it to backfire over a few days, it’s a tough place to be. I’m not going to share blame or responsibility. I’ve got to take it on the chin.’ When England’s underachievement was put before Hodgson, the England manager had little in the ways of tangible answers. All alone: Hodgson's position has come under question following England's elimination in Brazil . Endemic: England's problems run far deeper than anyone imagined they did before Brazil 2014 . ‘Costa Rica were the team who were going to finish bottom of the group,’ he said. ‘Yet they’ll win it and might end up winning all three games. But if you can become a good team, maybe you can survive without necessarily having world-class players. ‘Look at their team. Their players weren’t regarded as world-class before the tournament, and maybe not after it, but they’ve had success together. Maybe there is something for us to learn from that.’ It sounded like clutching at straws, the idea a new England can be formed, minus its marquee names and elite performers. Is this really where we go from here, the acceptance that while we might fail to make an international footballer out of a truly exceptional player in Gerrard, we might succeed with an inferior model? There is no logic in that, no reason. If the path from here involves alchemy, the problems are greater than we have imagined. Deep down they all know it, too. | Gerrard has never been able to replicate his Liverpool displays for England .
He has had countless memorable games for Liverpool down the years .
In his 113 international appearances, he has far fewer for England .
Andorra away in 2007 arguably his finest performance in Three Lions shirt .
Gerrard in the national team is less than the sum of his parts .
He looked injured mentally on Sunday following the Uruguay defeat .
England's problems are far greater then any of us ever imagined before . |
0f1c06eb474b3b31b81075d50252faeceb8b55ce | (CNN) -- What level of privacy will we have online in the future? Will people share their personal data freely in exchange for more customized service? Or will they become fiercely protective of private information, using tools and browsers that protect their identity from advertisers and other third parties? Privacy experts from Facebook, Google, Mozilla and Microsoft have been tackling these big questions this week at the RSA security conference in San Francisco. Public changes to privacy policies, like the ones that make news when Facebook or Google change their settings, are just a small part of the story. Behind the scenes, these companies have full-time staffs of privacy experts, lawyers and engineers who are juggling an array of privacy demands. In addition to what the users expect, there are government regulations, industry standards and rules that vary across operating systems. Companies that provide free services, such as search engines or social networks, have to strike the right balance between respecting their customers' privacy concerns and serving advertisers. "It's important and easy for everyone to acknowledge that much of the incredible growth of the Internet today has been fueled by advertising," said Keith Enright, Google's senior privacy counsel. "I believe that will continue to be true." For Web titans, the money still flows in from advertisers, not consumers. Facebook made $4.2 billion, or 84% of its revenue, from online advertising in 2012. Google saw $43.6 billion in advertising last year, accounting for almost 95% of the company's revenue. Customers' leverage . They may not be paying for the services directly, but customers still have a lot of power -- and companies know that they need to listen. People can switch to another browser, ditch Facebook and go back to writing e-mails, stop Googling and start Binging. And privacy is becoming more and more important to them. "Privacy is increasingly becoming a feature," said Brendon Lynch, Microsoft's chief privacy officer. The customer demand for stronger data controls led to the introduction of the "do not track" feature. "Do not track" is a setting that can be now found on all the major browsers: Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome and Safari. When turned on, it asks sites not to track that person's online activities. A Microsoft survey found that 75% of people were concerned about online tracking and thought the setting should be turned on by default. "Do not track" seems like a clear, smart option to give consumers, but it has has been difficult to enforce. There are talks under way by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), an international organization that develops standards for the Web, to make it official. However, advertisers and other third parties are pushing back. Changes to consumers' data, like "do not track," can come at the expense of advertisers, creating friction. When Mozilla recently announced that it was testing a feature that disabled third-party cookies by default in its Firefox browser, the general counsel for the Interactive Advertising Bureau called it "a nuclear first strike" against the ad industry on Twitter. "We can't just sit back and allow the industry to just continue to ignore a core component of the user experience online," said Alex Fowler, Mozilla's global privacy and public policy leader. The issues will become only more complex in the future, when small sensors and devices that can track things like location, fitness and environment become ubiquitous. The more devices that connect to the Internet, from smart cars to home thermostats, the more data there are about a person to collect. Location data are already being tagged on to photos, tweets and other online actions when people use their mobile phones. For many people, they are considered private data, whether they show where someone is at that exact moment or where they've been over time. "How can you take the data, make it less sensitive but still make it of value to the user?" asked Lynch. Balancing privacy and usefulness . According to the panelists, personal data such as location have many potentially positive uses, for individuals as well as advertisers. Consider the wealth of location-based tools already in use, such as food recommendations, social apps and dating services. There will probably be future options that strike a balance between sharing information and cutting off all data. Not everyone will want the same level of privacy, so options and customization will have to be made available. People could share their location information on a case-by-case basis but still stay anonymous. They might choose to have a persistent anonymous ID for location-based services, so that their location history and other data can be used without connecting them to a specific person. It's also possible that over the next five to 10 years, people's attitudes toward privacy and their data will change, and they'll be willing to share more personal information, attached to their real-world identity, in exchange for more heavily customized computing experiences. "You don't want to punish the user who cares about privacy by saying, 'Give it up or don't participate,' " Fowler said. For the people who don't want to share at all, one option floated at the panel was to charge for the services and jettison the ads. This kind of either/or option is popping up in the mobile-app world and with services like Pandora. Free versions come with ads, but for a price, people can upgrade to the ad-free experience. A paid subscription option is unlikely to come to the big services people are used to getting for free, such as Facebook. Erin Egan, Facebook's chief privacy officer, said that one of the chief requests from users is that the company never charge for the service. The lengthy privacy policies, thick with legalese, that most services use now will never go away, but better controls will probably emerge. Whatever the tools are used to protect and collect personal data in the future, it will be important for companies like Facebook and Google to educate their consumers and to provide them with options for all levels of privacy. | Companies like Facebook and Google must balance advertiser and customer data demands .
All major browsers now offer a "do not track" setting, but it is difficult to enforce .
Privacy settings will probably become more customizable and easier to understand . |
0f1ccdbd178988ecfe804baeb22fc009930784b9 | By . Damien Gayle . PUBLISHED: . 06:35 EST, 15 April 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:35 EST, 15 April 2013 . A girl of 10 was allegedly raped on a bus after its driver, a neighbour of her family, lured her aboard as she played outside her Delhi home yesterday . A ten-year-old girl was allegedly raped on a Delhi bus by its driver in a case certain to revive bad memories of the fatal gang-rape of a student in the city late last year. The victim was playing outside her home in a cluster of slums in the Indian capital's Sultanpuri area yesterday when bus driver Rakesh Kaushal is said to have lured her into the vehicle. Once aboard the bus and out of sight of her parents 47-year-old Kaushal, a neighbour of the family, is alleged to have raped the youngster. Police arrested Kaushal on suspicion . of rape after the victim's parents reported the crime and a medical . examination confirmed that she was sexually assaulted, the Press Trust of India reported. The . issue of women's safety has been top of the political agenda since a . 23-year-old student was gang-raped and left for dead on a bus in Delhi . in December. She later died of horrific injuries inflicted with a metal bar which led to doctors removing parts of her intestine. That . case sparked outrage and widespread protest at the treatment of women . in the country, which has seen a sharp fall in the numbers of foreign . tourists, especially women, since the high-profile case hit the . headlines. But the latest case is already the second alleged rape of a minor this month in area around the Indian capital. It . emerged last week that another ten-year-old allegedly raped by a . neighbour was locked in a cell by police after her family tried to . report the crimes. The girl . was reportedly found barely conscious following the attack close to her . home in a village a two hour drive from Delhi the weekend before last. Her family are now said to be facing death threats in an attempt to force them to withdraw the complaint. As the spotlight shines on the treatment of women in India, the country's government has proposed a number of reforms to protect women. Those range from scrapping degrading . medical examinations at police stations for rape victims to, revealed . today, the decision to paint pink the seats reserved for women on . Delhi's public transport. Widespread outrage: Indian protesters hold banners and wear black ribbons during a rally in New Delhi on December 30 following the cremation of a gang-rape victim in the Indian capital . Delhi transport minister Ramakant Goswami told the Hindustan Times the need to change the colour of women's seats was felt after authorities increased the number of seats reserved for women on public buses. 'Earlier, only the left row of the bus used to have reserved seats for women. With increased number of reserved seats, even the row of seats on the right side has seats for women,' he said. 'We have put stickers in the existing fleet but new buses will have pink-coloured seats for easy identification.' The new buses will also come with built-in global positioning system devices and space to install web-cams or close circuit television to ensure that authorities know what is happening aboard the vehicles. | Youngster is said to have been playing outside her slum home when she was lured aboard the bus and raped by a 47-year-old neighbour .
It is the second alleged rape of a ten-year-old girl in the region around the Indian capital in as many weeks .
The allegation comes as the Delhi Transport Corporation announced it is to paint seats reserved for women pink on all new buses .
The vehicles will also be fitted with GPS devices and CCTV so authorities are able to keep tabs on them . |
0f1d0bb99b212381b43b62e3b11ce17d04dadccc | (CNN) -- Efforts to reform the Afghan National Police force have been stymied by "corruption and lack of political will," and police are wrongly being used to help fight the insurgency instead of crime, an independent research group said in a report. An Afghan policeman guards the scene of a suicide attack in Kabul on November 27. "The U.S. military ... still mainly sees the police as an auxiliary security force rather than an enforcer of the law," the International Crisis Group concluded in a report posted Thursday on its Web site. "Too much emphasis is still placed on using the police to fight the insurgency rather than crime. "The Afghan National Police (ANP) is ill-equipped for this role, and has been targeted by the Taliban, with 1,200 killed in 2007 and a similar toll expected in 2008," the group added. The Taliban will be on the agenda during the first visit by Pakistan's president to Afghanistan on Friday. The talks come amid ongoing warfare and tension along the Afghan-Pakistan border. Some of the Taliban militants conducting attacks in Afghanistan have been based in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province and nearby tribal regions. "The goal of the Afghan government and the international community should be a national police force able to uphold the rule of law, and thereby help tackle the root causes of alienation that drive the insurgency," the International Crisis Group said. The group described Afghanistan's Interior Ministry as a "hub of systemic corruption," and accuses the department of placing "personal enrichment" above the need for improved policing. Recent leadership changes at the Interior Ministry should be used to stress that abuses will no longer be tolerated. "There has been little political will in Kabul or foreign capitals to tackle the power brokers who are preventing reform," said Samina Ahmed, the group's South Asia project director. "Organized crime and lawlessness lie at the heart of much popular disillusionment and instability. Better law enforcement, including a functioning judicial system, would help counter any appeal the insurgents may hold in Afghanistan," he added. The International Crisis Group covers more than 60 countries and territories, using field-based analysis and advocacy to deter and resolve deadly conflicts. | Afghan National Police is ill-equipped to fight insurgents, group says .
There have been 1,200 insurgency-related police deaths in 2007 .
Group alleges Interior Ministry puts personal gain above improved policing .
Taliban on the agenda during visit by Pakistan leader to Afghanistan on Friday . |
0f1e8cdced72b003adb3cd5d68972c4ca64c6d2c | England will continue to develop a nastier and more cynical side to their football as they prepare for clashes with Slovenia and Scotland. Wayne Rooney first noted the problem of England being too soft after the World Cup in Brazil, when he admitted ‘maybe we’re too honest’ compared with more streetwise opponents like Italy and Uruguay. Roy Hodgson and his coaching team have sought to address this during the opening games of the Euro 2016 campaign and vice-captain Gary Cahill believes it is starting to make an impact. England vice-captain Gary Cahill says the Three Lions will continue to develop a nastier side to their game . Cahill says Jose Mourinho at Chelsea has a tendency to play nastier and develop a more cynical approach . ‘We’ve been too nice in the past,’ said Cahill. ‘We’ve got a very young team and it comes with experience, knowing when to slow things down, not to always play out from the back. ‘Everybody has this philosophy of playing from the back from the keeper, but there are times to think, “Hold on, let’s not play out from the back this time, let’s kick it up the front for five or 10 minutes”. ‘There are times to kill it off, or slow things down when things aren’t going well. We will learn that. It’s just managing the game really, which maybe we are doing a lot better. It’s something that has been addressed.’ Cahill receives similar messages from his club manager Jose Mourinho at Chelsea. ‘Jose has been a master of that,’ said the centre back. ‘It’s a part of play at Chelsea and that’s because there are so many experienced players in the squad. ‘People know when to do that and not. That’s something that’s coming into the make-up with England and that’s why we are progressing.’ Cahill: 'It’s a part of play at Chelsea and that’s because there are so many experienced players in the squad' Cahill has become vice-captain of England under manager Roy Hodgson ahead of the match against Slovenia . Cahill was outstanding in the 1-0 away win in Estonia on his last England appearance, shouldering responsibility and stepping out of the back four to get physical with opponents after a series of midfield fouls on Jack Wilshere and Jordan Henderson. ‘We are definitely a lot harder to play against,’ he added. ‘That’s about being physical, wanting to win the ball back, being aggressive and getting tight to the player. ‘It’s more physical than verbal — I don’t think that helps much — but when players are trying to hold the ball up, you’re behind them and they’re thinking, “What’s this guy doing?” That’s when they know they’re in a game.’ Coach and former England right back Gary Neville has been keen to get these points across to those stepping up to the international scene. Cahill added: ‘He was a fantastic player in a great back four and he likes the kind of hard, tough-to-play-against, physical, almost old-school style, whereby you let the attackers or centre forward know they are in a game and feel your presence.’ Cahill, Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka are part of England's defensive set up and chat during training . | Gary Cahill promises England are continuing to develop their nastier side .
‘We are definitely a lot harder to play against. That’s about being physical, wanting to win the ball back, being aggressive and getting tight,' he says .
England face Slovenia on Saturday at Wembley in Euro 2016 qualifying . |
0f1faa395ffc86550a033a21d3842191d1a730e5 | 'Drink driving': Guy Pelly, pictured today outside court, denied driving his black Audi TT while over the legal limit . A close friend of Prince William has claimed a drink driving charge against him could be invalid because of malfunctions in a police breathalyser machine. Guy Pelly, 32, was pulled over in his £90,000 black Audio R8 last year, and tests found that he was significantly over the legal alcohol limit. He is currently standing trial in Westminster Magistrates' Court, which heard today that a reading showed the proportion of alcohol in Mr Pelly's . breath was 52 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35. But, despite the reading, and the testimony of officers who say his breath smelled of strong liquor on the night, Mr Pelly's lawyer has argued that the reading could have been wrong. He said that signals given off by radios held by nearby police officers, as well as those produced by Pelly's own iPhone, could have interfered with the intoximeter machine used in the police station. However, he was later contradicted by experts, and told the machine had been recently serviced. Pelly had that night refused to give a breath sample at the side of the road after being pulled over near Tonteria, the Sloane Square night club he runs. He was instead arrested and taken to a police station in Belgravia instead to undergo the test. Giving evidence, PC Geoff Parker told the court he stopped Pelly at around 1am on May 28 last year. He said: I noticed a black Audi pull out of a side road and travel down Sloane Street towards Knightsbridge. 'The reason my attention was drawn to the vehicle was because in my opinion it seemed to accelerate at speed. 'I decided to turn around and stop the vehicle and speak to the driver.' 'As I was speaking to him I could smell intoxicating liquor on the male's breath. 'I made a request for Mr Pelly to take part in a roadside breath test. I showed Mr Pelly the device, Mr Pelly said "I don't want to". 'I said to My Pelly "If you fail to provide a sample you'll be arrested, are you refusing to provide a sample?" Supercar: Pelly was pulled over while driving is Audi R8 supercar. He is pictured above with the vehicle in 2013 . 'Mr Pelly replied: "Yes".' 'I asked: "Have you had an alcoholic drink in the last 20 minutes?" 'He replied no. 'I asked: "Have you had a cigarette in the last five minutes?" 'He replied no'. 'When I asked him to take the roadside breath test he replied: "I don't want to". Pelly was taken to Belgravia Police Station where he gave a sample over the legal drink drive limit, around an hour after his arrest. He insists he only drank two bottles of beer that night. Phillip Lucas, defending, said that Pelly could be innocent despite the reading, as the breathalyser machine could have suffered errors in the recording that went unseen by officers. He told the court: 'I'm going to suggest to you that there are certain error messages that can be produced on this device that only come up on the screen. Famous friends: Pelly poses at an upmarket book launch at London's Saatchi Gallery last April . Friends: Prince William, left and Pelly, right, watch a Six Nations rugby match together in 2002 . 'They will not come up on a print out. Is that news to you?' Jon Fairhurst, the custody sergeant who oversaw the two intoximeter tests, said 'yes', adding: 'I would only be guided by the print out. As the print out said no errors, I took that to mean no errors.' Sgt Fairhurst said he only knew of four error messages that suggested the breathalyser machine may have given a faulty reading. But Mr Lucas said there were 13 - some of which only show up on the machine's screen and are not contained in a printout. The officer said he knew 'how to log into it, work it and be guided by it' but he said he was 'no expert' on the number of error messages that exist. Mr Lucas also suggested that police radios and mobile phones were in use near the machine and may have interfered with the reading. He told the arresting officer PC Geoff Parker: 'I'm going to suggest that your police radio was on your person and switched on.' Royal favourite: Pelly is pictured here with Princess Eugenie inside Tonteria . But the officer insisted it wasn't, and told the court: 'My radio and phone are normally taken off me and placed on the custody desk before I approach the procedure. 'I removed them myself. I placed them on the desk myself.' He admitted that there were other police officers in the adjacent custody room who would have had their radios on, but said he wasn't sure what frequency they were tuned into. Mr Lucas also claimed that Pelly still had his iPhone in his pocket when the test was carried out. He said: 'His telephone wasn't taken from him. When he came back to the desk he had to surrender his telephone. 'I'm suggesting that the defendant had his mobile phone on him during the procedure.' But the officer insisted the . socialite had been searched, his pockets emptied and his mobile phone . removed when he first got to Belgravia police station and before he was . breathalysed. The coutr . also heard how the machine was serviced and found to be in working order . on March 4 2013 - just two and a half months before Pelly used it. But Phillip Lucas, defending, said he was 'challenging the reliability' of the device. Party pal: Prince William and Guy Pelly pictured leaving Boujis, in South Kensington, after a night out . He said he had no actual evidence to prove that the machine was working perfectly. He said: 'The furthest I can go is to accept that the engineer went to check the calibration and the device. But I have no actual documentation saying it was fully operational. I don't have any actual figures about how the machine was seen on that date.' Pressed by District Judge John Zani on what the thrust of the defence case is, he added: 'I'm challenging the reliability of the breath analysis on this occasion. That has always been our challenge.' Charlotte Dale, an independent forensic alcohol consultant called by the prosecution, said there was no reason to doubt the machine's findings - especially as a repeat reading had been taken. Club owner: Guy Pelly with Prince Harry's ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy at the launch of Tonteria . Branding the idea that it had misread Pelly's alcohol levels twice as 'too incredible'. She said: 'For it to affect two independent specimens to the exact same extent is to be too incredible. 'They are completely independent because they are two separate breath specimens. 'These are two separate breath specimens being analysed by the same hardware and coming up with the same result.' CCTV . footage played to the court shows Pelly being taken the station where . he blew into an intoxicator machine, which measured the amount of . alcohol in his system. He sat . on a bench with his arms crossed after taking the test before being told . to removed the laces from his shoes as he was put into a cell. The . 32-year-old denies the allegation. Pelly owns Mexican-themed Tonteria in Sloane Square and has run celebrity hotspots Mahiki and Whisky Mist in the past. His grandmother, Monica, was a . member of the Tate & Lyle sugar dynasty and his friendship with . Harry stems from their participation in the Duke of Beaufort's Hunt - . one of the oldest fox hunting packs in England. He also organised Prince William's stag party in Devon three years ago. His grandmother, Monica, was a member of the Tate & Lyle sugar dynasty and his friendship with Harry stems from their participation in the Duke of Beaufort's Hunt. Pelly, of Pimlico, southwest London, denies driving a motor vehicle when his alcohol level was above the limit. The trial continues. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. | Guy Pelly, 32, has known the prince for years and organised his stag do .
He was pulled over in his black £90,000 black Audi R8 by police .
He refused to blow into a breathalyser during the incident in May last year .
Pelly was later tested at a police station and was above the legal limit .
But his defence lawyer has argued that the machine gave a false reading .
Says officers' radios and Pelly's iPhone could have interfered .
But it the machine was serviced and deemed functional just months before .
Forensic alcohol expert said there was 'no reason' to doubt machine .
Pelly denies the drink driving charge at Westminster Magistrates' Court . |
0f2025d9759060f141cb1a36aa7d54bdcc4c0139 | By . Daily Mail Reporter and Sam Shead . PUBLISHED: . 18:46 EST, 13 August 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 10:21 EST, 14 August 2012 . The U.S. military's first hybrid airship took off on its maiden voyage last week, hovering above New Jersey in a successful test flight. The Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV), a hybrid blimp that has been in development for years, took off on August 7 - and stayed in flight for about 90 minutes. The vehicle is largely based on the Sky Cat, an advanced airship design refined over decades by British engineering firm Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd (HAV). Airtime: The LEMV hovered in the sky above Lakehurst, New Jersey, for about 90 minutes on August 7 . While it gets its lift from the . lighter-than-air helium, multiple engines on board sustain flight and . allow it to move while gathering information from the ground. The helium-filled aircraft was conceived by a team of British and U.S. engineers with the goal of benefitting troops on the ground with valuable surveillance information. Based at Cardington in Bedfordshire, HAV is a specialist in hybrid air vehicles, which fly using a combination of aerostatic and aerodynamic lift. The team at Hybrid Air Vehicles has re-examined the basic principles behind Lighter-Than-Air Science and applied modern technology and materials to this 100 year old concept. The construction of the LEMV was a joint project between HAV and US defence firm Northrop Grummon. The radical reimagining of an airship has four propulsion units, and can be piloted into remote areas. 'Some ten years ago we built a 50 foot prototype and at some stage demonstrated this to a delegation of the US Department of Defence,' said HAV's Business Development Director Hardy Giesler. 'They were impressed and a few years later released a request for a long endurance surveillance vehicle, the requirements of which we are able to meet. 'Since surveillance programmes consist of multiple parts (vehicle as platform, a selection of sensors to provide the data and an ongoing service provision to manage & maintain the vehicle, as well as turn data into intelligence) we decided to team with Northrop Grumman.' The design can land on almost any surface - even snow capped mountains. The major new aircraft was built in just over 24 months since contract signature. Giesler told MailOnline that 80 per cent of the total cost of the vehicle was sourced in the UK. 'That is something Hybrid Air Vehicles is very proud of,' he added. The LEMV, which looks like a football but is as large as a football field, isn't your grandfather's military airship. The aircraft boasts a ton of high-tech gear to compliment the massive helium filled blimp, including sensors to beam information to troops on the ground, and to move heavy equipment. The airship is based on a design that could eventually be used around the world as a freight and passenger . It also has endurance, and can stay afloat above a battlefield or insurgent hotspot for up to 21 days - at a fraction of the cost of other military options. In a statement, the U.S. Army said the LEMV 'is intended to be used to conduct long-term intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, or ISR, and persistent stare-type missions, and can also be used as a communications relay.' Developed by: Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd and Northrop Grummon . Top altitude: About 22,000 feet . Flight sustainability: Up to 21 days . Speed: About 92 miles per hour . The LEMV, which took off from New Jersey’s Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst base, was piloted for the test flight, but has the ability to function as an unmanned vehicle. It can float at an altitude of about 22,000 feet, and can travel at about 92 mph. The LEMV’s strong skin - a blend of Vectran, Kevlar and Mylar - can endure a reasonable amount of small arms fire from enemies on the ground. The construction of the LEMV was a joint project by British engineering firm Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd and U.S. defence firm Northrop Grummon. Lakehurst, where the LEMV took flight, is no stranger to airships. The base is also the site where the Hindenburg crashed in 1937. The Army says it will conduct more flights after the craft undergoes an inspection. Historic: Lakehurst, where the LEMV took flight, is no stranger to airships. The base is also the site where the Hindenburg crashed in 1937 . Watch video here . | Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) takes off and hovers over Lakehurst, New Jersey - the site of the 1937 Hindenburg disaster .
Hybrid military craft can stay in the air for up to 21 days - and can be either manned or unmanned .
Gets lift from helium, but can also move with the aid of engines .
Developed by joint team of American and British engineers . |
0f2046a7c6d3be763ae0b83ccf4fe059138d3177 | The Thai surrogate mother of baby Gammy has claimed that Wendy Farnell, Gammy's Australian and apparent biological mother did not actually supply the egg which Pattaramon Chanbua carried. Ms Chanbua, 21, told Fairfax Media the egg was donated by another Thai woman via a surrogacy agency, but the sperm did come from David Farnell. The couple currently have custody of Gammy's sister Pipah who lives with them in West Australia. 'They are not really related with the baby … I am not really sure they will give real love to Gammy’s sister', Ms Chanbua said. Thai surrogate mother Pattaramon Chanbua, 21, says Chinese-born Australian Wendy Farnell - said to be Gammy's biological mother - did not supply her own eggs . The 21-year-old is reportedly angry over the interview the Farnell's will give to Channel Nine's 60 Minutes on Sunday night. Ms Chanbua maintains the couple abandoned Gammy because he had Downs Sydnrome and other health problems. This comes as Thailand proposed changes to its surrogacy laws and clinics over the international scandal between Ms Chanbu and the Farnells. Australia has pressed the Thai government to allow a transition period before it bans commercial surrogacy in a bid to allow Australians to receive children being carried by Thai surrogate mothers. The request made by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop comes a day after a Thai surrogacy agency was shut down by authorities. Ms Bishop made the call to acting Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting in Myanmar capital Naypitdaw, on Saturday. The surrogate mother said the sperm did come from Mr Farnell (right) but she doesn't think they will love Gammy's twin Pipah (middle) Ms Bishop raised the issue of ongoing cases of surrogate mothers for Australian women and requested Thai authorities allow for a 'transition period' for the births 'for humanitarian reasons' before enforcing proposed laws. The Australian families have already paid thousands of dollars to agents and the surrogate mothers for the procedure. Mr Sihasak told reporters Ms Bishop said the Australian government had no policy to support commercial surrogacy and Thailand had full authority to deal with issue. Ms Bishop's request comes as Thailand prepares to fast track legislation through the National Legislative Assembly. As many as 50 Australian couples may have lost the opportunity to be parents after the Bangkok IVF clinic was shut down with Thai authorities suspecting links to an international baby trafficking organisation. Following the closure of the All IVF Center on Friday, there are grave concerns that Thai surrogate mothers could abort their babies now they have no support from the clinic as the baby Gammy scandal has seen 40 clinics raided in a serious crackdown across Thailand. Foreign minister Julie Bishop (left) has called on Thailand to allow a transition period before banning commercial surrogacy a day after All IVF Clinic in Bangkok was shut down. Dr Pisit Tantiwattanakul (right) was the centre's director . An estimated 70 per cent of Australian couples seeking surrogacy attended the All IVF clinic . It is estimated that about 50 Australian couples, who have arrangements with the clinic, have no way of contacting their surrogates and the whereabouts of the embryos previously stored at clinic was also unknown, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Thai authorities have cracked down on the growing surrogacy business after the plight of Gammy, a six-month old baby with Down syndrome, whose Australian biological parents allegedly left him behind in Thailand but took his twin sister to Bunbury in Western Australia. Surrogacy Australia founder Sam Everingham has called on the Thai authorities to ensure all of the clinic’s surrogates are safe and the biological parents will be reunited with their babies when born. Health Service Support chief Boonruang Trairuangworawat said the clinic was shut down because services could cause harm or even deaths: ‘it’s registered as a medical facility but not as one offering fertility treatments’. Pisit Tantiwattanakul, the clinic’s executive director, infertility specialist and chief embryologist, was described on the clinic’s website before it was shut down on Sunday, as ‘charming and kind,’ who received ‘high marks for his patient demeanour and his direct approach to client care’ and performed more than 700 IVF procedures a year. Surrogacy Australia founder Sam Everingham has called on the Thai authorities to ensure all of the clinic's surrogates are safe and the biological parents will be reunited with their babies at birth . It is estimated that up to 70 per cent of Australian couples seeking surrogacy attended Dr Tantiwattanakul’s clinic. Australia has set up a multi-agency committee to pressure Thai authorities to allow Australians with existing agreements to be fulfilled so surrogacy babies can be taken back to Australia as planned. Thai medical officials are treating surrogacy as human trafficking cases until parliament passes legislation banning surrogacy, except where family members were concerned. David Farnell, who was jailed for child molestation, and his wife Wendy will break their silence on Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes program on Sunday on why they left Gammy in Thailand. But Pattharamon Chanbua, the baby’s Thai surrogate, has said she will reject a Channel Nine donation to an appeal to pay Gammy’s medical costs and long-term care, saying she does not want the Farnells' money or sympathy. | Pattaramon Chanbua claims Gammy's biological mother Australian woman Wendy Farnell did not actually supply her eggs .
Ms Chanbua said though David Farnell did supply the sperm the couple 'are not really related' to Gammy and his sister Pipah .
Following the international surrogacy scandal Thailand has proposed changes to its surrogacy laws .
Julie Bishop has called on Thai government to allow a transition period before banning commercial surrogacy .
About 50 Australians are affected by Bangkok IVF clinic shut down .
Thai authorities suspect links to international baby trafficking organisation . |
0f218eda9e7e7f27f7b04bbe635fc4f2600858ef | By . James Salmon . Follow @@JamesSalmon79 . Eric Daniels was at the helm of Lloyds when it received a £20billion bail out from taxpayers in 2008 . The former boss of Lloyds who ran the bank while it defrauded taxpayers and racked up a £10billion bill for mis-selling PPI last night faced calls to give up his £192,000 a year pension. Nicknamed the ‘quiet American’, Eric Daniels was at the helm of Lloyds when it received a £20billion bail out from taxpayers in 2008. But the 62-year-old, from Montana, has managed to maintain a low profile. While the disgraced former boss of Royal Bank of Scotland Fred Goodwin was stripped of his knighthood and part of his bumper pension, Mr Daniels’ £4million nest egg – worth £192,000 a year - remains intact. And as the bank he ran for almost a decade was fined £218million for an extraordinary scam to rip off taxpayers, Mr Daniels was spotted at lunch at the exclusive White’s Club in Mayfair. This is conveniently close to the offices of consultancy firm StormHarbour, where Mr Daniels is employed as a senior adviser. Lloyds is the first lender to be fined for an extraordinary scam which enabled it to gain tens of billions of pounds in emergency funds from a Bank of England lifeboat scheme during the financial crisis, while fiddling the system to cut the fees it paid to use the scheme. Between April 2008 and September 2009 traders cut £7.8million off the fees Lloyds paid to the Treasury by manipulating the ‘repo’ rate which set the level of the fee. Bank of England governor Mark Carney has said staff involved in the scam could be guilty of ‘criminal conduct’. Staff at Lloyds could also yet face a criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office which has been handed the evidence by City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority.The latest scandal has led to renewed calls to jail rogue bankers. Although there is no suggestion that Mr Daniels was aware of the wrongdoing, it occurred under his watch. So too did the manipulation of Libor interest rates which occurred between 2006 and 2009 and for which Lloyds has also been fined. Last night, Mr Daniels faced pressure to ‘show contrition’ and forfeit some his pension. John Mann, a Labour MP and member of the Treasury Select Committee, said: ‘The buck stops at the top. Eric Daniels should show contrition and hand back his pension. There should be no rewards for failure and wrongdoing.’ John O’Connell, from campaign group the TaxPayer’s Alliance said: 'The Libor scandal and PPI mis-selling have rightly angered millions of customers, and given that taxpayers were on the hook for Lloyds during some of this reprehensible behaviour, many would feel better if Mr Daniels were to hand back part of his pension pot.’ The pressure on Mr Daniels could increase tomorrow (Thurs) when Lloyds is expected to announce it has set aside another £500million compensation for customers mis-sold payment protection insurance scandal. Labour MP John Mann says Eric Daniels should 'show contrition and hand back his pension' This will take its total bill for the scandal to more than £10billion. The state-backed lender has already punished Mr Daniels for the scandal by using its powers to recover a £1.4million deferred shares bonus awarded to Mr Daniels in 2010 which he had not yet pocketed. But it is understood to be powerless to dock some of Mr Daniel’s pension as he is already receiving it. The only chance of this happening is if Mr Daniels follows the example set by James Crosby, the disgraced former chief executive of HBOS. Crosby last year forfeited his knighthood and £175,000 of his £580,000 annual pension. He said he was ‘deeply sorry’ for the disaster that unfolded at the banking giant after he left in 2006. HBOS was rescued by Lloyds in September 2008 after years of reckless lending forced it to the brink. Lloyds was crippled by the toxic loans and had to be rescued by taxpayers the following month. The latest row comes as the Bank of England is expected to today unveil new powers forcing staff at British banks to hand back bonuses up to seven years after they have received the money - even if they have spent it. Under the current regime, banks can only typically recover bonuses which have been awarded but not yet paid out. The new rules will be implemented on January 1 but will not apply to bonuses awarded before then. Yesterday there were also calls for bankers to swear an oath to raise standards after a string of scandals. An extract from the oath, suggested by thinktank ResPublica, says: ‘I will do my utmost to behave in a manner that prioritises the needs of customers.’ Another part says: ‘I will confront profligacy and impropriety whenever I encounter it, for the conduct of bankers can have dramatic consequence for society.’ | Eric Daniels was at helm of Lloyds when it received £20bn taxpayer bail out .
The 62-year-old's £4milllion pension worth £192,000-a-year remains intact .
MP claims Mr Daniels should 'show contrition and hand back his pension' |
0f21e7aeefaeeae3c83ea68fff6d92d47e59929b | (CNN) -- Two prisoners have confessed to digging a tunnel that led to the escape of 63 inmates last week, Yemen's state-run SABA news agency reported Sunday. Dozens of suspected al Qaeda militants escaped Wednesday from a jail in the Yemeni city of Mukalla, a senior security official said. An Interior Ministry official said 63 members of al Qaeda had managed to break out of Almakla prison, according to SABA. He said three inmates were killed, another two were arrested, and a prison guard was killed. He asked to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to speak to the media. Some of the escapees had already been convicted; others were awaiting trial, the official told SABA. They escaped through a 35-meter (115-foot) tunnel, he said. Witnesses said armed militants began attacking the prison at about 8 a.m. and fired heavy artillery before the escape. The prison warden, his deputy and a number of guards have been suspended for questioning, SABA said Sunday. Mohammed Qahtan, spokesman for Yemen's largest opposition bloc, Joint Meetings Parties, said he thinks security officials loyal to the ruling family are responsible for the escape and that the government would create chaos to stay in power. Yemen has been consumed by unrest for months as protesters have demanded an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule. In recent weeks, government troops have battled both anti-government tribal forces and Islamic militants, including al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Saleh and other senior officials were wounded June 3 in an attack on the mosque at the presidential palace and taken to Saudi Arabia for treatment. In recent days, the Yemeni government's control has been receding, said Christopher Boucek, an associate in the Middle East program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There are instances where you can say that the Yemeni government is instigating some of this chaos -- with the goal to demonstrate to the United States, Saudi Arabia and others that this regime -- the government of President Saleh -- is the best to fight al Qaeda." Boucek said the Yemeni government is more concerned with protecting itself from the popular revolt than with going after al Qaeda. As a result, he said, the government has repositioned its counter-terrorism forces, retreating from areas such as Abyan province where it had lost ground and circling the wagons. However, a Yemeni official briefed on security operations rejected Boucek's conclusion. "What about the blood of 66 soldiers?" he said, citing the number of soldiers who he said have died in Abyan province alone in recent weeks. Another 291 soldiers have been wounded in operations there that killed six of the most wanted al Qaeda operatives and 40 other militants, he said. The United States has been aiding Yemen's military in its fight against Islamic militants amid fears that al Qaeda is exploiting the political chaos and leadership vacuum engulfing the unstable and impoverished Arabian Peninsula country. CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom and Brian Todd contributed to this story. | Interior ministry official: 63 members of al Qaeda escaped last week, according to SABA .
State media: A prison warden and guards are suspended and being questioned .
An opposition bloc spokesman says he thinks ruling family loyalists are responsible .
He says he thinks the government would create chaos to stay in power . |
0f226d40106053d2047fe76a0765db7893f0bb14 | (CNN) -- Nicki Minaj suffered a swollen lip when a man shoved a suitcase across her chin Monday night at a Dallas hotel, but the hip-hop artist refused to file a complaint against him, according to a police report. Minaj, 28, and Safaree Samuels, 30, had "a verbal altercation" at the Hotel Palomar pool, Dallas police said. The dispute continued in the hotel room that they shared, according to the report. After Minaj told Samuels "that she didn't want him taking anything out of the room," she peered into a suitcase where he had packed "some of his personal belongings," the report said. Samuels "grabbed the suitcase and as he was picking it up, he shoved the suitcase across (her) chin and lower lip," the document said. Her "teeth struck the inside of her lower lip, causing the inside of the lower lip to cut and start to bleed," the police report said. The officer "observed a slight swelling and redness" on her chin, it said. Minaj declined to have photos taken or to file a complaint, police said. "She just wanted her suitcase back," the report said. The rapper-singer-songwriter told police she and Samuels "were only friends and had never been involved in an intimate relationship and were not related at all," it said. Minaj was in Dallas for a Tuesday night show at the American Airlines Center. CNN's Vivian Kuo contributed to this report. | A man she shared a Dallas hotel room with shoved a suitcase across her chin, police say .
The hip-hop artist's lower lip was cut, police say .
Minaj refused to file a complaint against the man she was arguing with, police say .
The two were "only friends" and not lovers, Minaj tells police . |
0f229490d77ee8ec110a7a00eaa877be6e492853 | Donington Park has been forced to cancel this year's British round of MotoGP due to the failure of Circuit of Wales (CoW) bosses to fulfil funding obligations. Last year MotoGP rights holders Dorna signed a five-year agreement with CoW from 2015, despite the fact construction work had yet to commence on the troubled Ebbw Vale facility. It resulted in CoW turning to Donington Park chiefs for assistance for this year, believing they would then be able to take up the running of the event. The British Grand Prix in the MotoGP championship is in turmoil after Donington Park pulled out of hosting the 2015 race. Above is the start of the 2014 Grand Prix which took place at Silverstone . CoW, however, continues to face numerous planning hurdles which have clearly had a knock-on effect with regard to the distribution of funds, resulting in delays paying Donington Park. A statement from Donington Park Racing Ltd (DPRL) read: 'The situation at 10th February 2015 is very clear. 'Despite DPRL's best efforts, the time lost with CoW being unable to complete the funding arrangements has resulted in delays in almost all of the event's critically-important operational plans, from track works to equipment hire. 'Therefore, in the judgement of the board of DPRL, this current position could jeopardise the safe and successful running of the 2015 British MotoGP at Donington to such an extent that both the commercial risks and the lack of time are now too great to allow Donington to proceed. 'Therefore, Donington Park must withdraw from any further participation. Donington Park had previously held the British Grand Prix from 1987 through to 2009, with Australia's Casey Stoner (above) winning on a Ducati in 2008 . 'Consequently, the 2015 British round of the FIM MotoGP World Championship will not now be held at Donington Park on August 30th 2015.' Christopher Tate, Donington Park managing director, has naturally expressed his bitter disappointment at the fact the race will not now take place at his circuit. 'The whole Donington team who have worked so hard here over the past six months to fulfil our part of the MotoGP planning are as disappointed as the many fans will be who wanted to see the event return to Donington Park,' said Tate. 'The position we are now in is, of course, frustrating and uncomfortable for all concerned. 'We have our overall business, our staff and their futures to consider, as well as our concerns for the fans. 'We have rebuilt so much of this facility and its global reputation in the years since 2010 under new ownership and management. The British round of the 2015 MotoGP season is now without a venue, with Silverstone one alternative . 'We are not going to risk all that, nor risk affecting the quality of the MotoGP fans' experience - looking after the fans is at the heart of what Donington does. 'It is this week, way past any normal deadlines, when we - in partnership with CoW - would have been committing to major expenditures. 'CoW have made it clear to us they are not now in a position to complete, so we have to withdraw and end the planned arrangement.' Donington has confirmed all fans who purchased tickets will be given a full refund due to their monies being held in an escrow account. It now remains to be seen whether CoW will turn to Silverstone, who held the event from 2010-2014, but like Donington they will require financial guarantees, and time may also be too short. | Donington Park was in agreement with Circuit of Wales (Cow) to host event .
But funding obligations from CoW have failed leading to cancellation .
Silverstone held the MotoGP British Grand Prix in 2014 and could step in .
However, Silverstone would also require funding from the CoW . |
0f23b3f41cee2deae8ed48b5adaa458dfb24ea68 | By . Jason Groves, Chief Political Correspondent . PUBLISHED: . 20:13 EST, 2 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:26 EST, 3 December 2013 . Poised: George Osborne is set to approve a £1billion increase in foreign aid to meet the Government's controversial spending target . George Osborne is poised to approve a £1billion increase in foreign aid to meet the Government’s controversial spending target. The Chancellor has cheered Tory backbenchers in recent years by repeatedly cutting the foreign aid budget to ensure it does not exceed David Cameron’s pledge to devote 0.7 per cent of Britain’s income to the issue. But better than expected growth figures mean that when he makes his Autumn Statement on the economy on Thursday, Mr Osborne is facing the prospect of having to increase foreign aid in order to hit the spending threshold. The money involved is expected to total around £1billion over the next five years, although the Chancellor is understood to have avoided the need to provide extra cash in this financial year. The move will fuel criticism that the ‘arbitrary’ aid target is more about political posturing than saving lives. In August it emerged that Nigeria, which will receive £1.14billion in foreign aid from Britain over the five years of the Coalition, is spending millions to put a man in space. The oil-rich country is also mired in corruption. Estimates suggest between £2.5 and £5billion is stolen from the state’s coffers every year by corrupt officials and politicians. Britain is also spending about £280million a year on aid to India, another country with its own space programme. Last night Tory MP Peter Bone described the increase as ‘absurd’. He said: ‘The aid budget is going to go up, not because there is more need for it or more poverty in the world, but because we have got better economic growth – it is a nonsense. This is why these arbitrary targets are such a mistake. 'We are still borrowing billions a month but, because growth has gone up, we are going to borrow even more so that we can give it away. Oil-rich: Nigeria will receive £1.14billion in foreign aid from Britain over the five years of the Coalition. Above, the Total Nigeria onshore oil and gas refinery at Amenam in the delta of the Niger River in Nigeria . Pledge: David Cameron, left, pledged to hit the aid target as part of a pre-election strategy to 'decontaminate' his party's uncaring image, while Tory MP Peter Bone, right, has described the increase in aid as 'absurd' ‘It is a bizarre and stupid approach – to be honest it’s the sort of thing you would expect from a socialist government.’ Mr . Cameron’s pledge to hit the aid target was part of a pre-election . strategy to ‘decontaminate’ the Tories’ uncaring image, but he has come . under pressure to drop it in the wake of the financial crisis. In March, Mr Osborne said the aid budget would hit £11.2billion this year – more than the Home Office budget. Aid was cut in the Budget, when the growth forecast for this year was reduced from 1.2 per cent to 0.6 per cent. Experts believe the forecast is likely to be upgraded to 1.4 per cent this week, requiring the Chancellor to at least reverse the March cuts, which amounted to £1billion over five years. The Treasury declined to comment, but confirmed that the 0.7 per cent aid target will be met. The Department for International Development also declined to comment. One of the biggest recipients of British aid money was last night accused of covering up allegations of corruption. Supporters: The Global Fund's backers include Bill Gates, right, and U2 singer Bono, left . The Swiss-based Global Fund, which is set to receive £1 billion from Britain over the next three years, is said to have watered down a report into corruption in one of its projects in Cambodia. The publication of investigations into alleged fraud totalling more than £16.5 million in parts of Africa is said to have been delayed for more than a year. The Global Fund’s backers include Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates and celebrities such as U2 singer Bono and supermodel Carla Bruni, wife of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. It is one of the world’s biggest aid organisations, with a focus on tackling malaria, tuberculosis and Aids in the developing world. It has spent £13.5 billion over the last decade and claims to have saved millions of lives. An investigation by the BBC’s Panorama programme last night made disturbing new claims about the organisation’s attitude to fraud. The Global Fund said it had a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to corruption. It defended its investigation into the Cambodia project, saying: ‘Only evidence that is confirmed as fact can be included in the final version of a report.’ A Department for International Development source said the Panorama programme related to ‘historic’ allegations, and that ministers had confidence in the Global Fund. | George Osborne is poised to approve a £1billion increase in foreign aid .
Move is in order to meet the Government's controversial spending target .
Last night, Tory MP Peter Bone described the increase as 'absurd' |
0f26810ec5015c6eb6fa971da272e2bb96d36409 | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. government panel listed 13 countries Friday as "egregious" violators of religious freedom. Homeless Pakistani Christians protest last month in Islamabad for protection of Christian minorities. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's annual report named Myanmar, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. It recommended that the Obama administration designate them as "countries of particular concern" or CPC. The group has issued a watch list that includes Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Laos, Russia, Somalia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Venezuela, countries that don't rise to the level of a CPC but need to be monitored. "Unfolding events in Pakistan make clear the relevance of this theme to the 2009 Annual Report. At the time of writing, emboldened Taliban-associated extremists had advanced to within 60 miles of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad," the report said. "In the areas they already control, these groups are imposing draconian restrictions on human rights and religious freedom and engaging in brutal acts against individuals, particularly women and local police, who refused to accede to their repressive policies." The federal commission is bipartisan, and its commissioners are appointed by the president and members of Congress. A CPC designation gives Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "a range of specific policy options to address serious violations of religious freedom." It requires the secretary "to enter into direct consultations with a government to find ways to bring about improvements in the respect for religious freedom." The report covers the period May 2008 through April. The commission was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. "While sanctions are a possible policy option, the secretary may decide to develop a binding agreement with the CPC government on specific actions that it will take to end the violations that gave rise to the designation or take a commensurate action," the commission said. "The secretary may determine that pre-existing sanctions are adequate or waive the requirement of taking action in furtherance of the Act." | U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom names 13 nations .
Panel recommends administration designate 13 as "countries of particular concern"
Designation gives secretary of state policy options to address serious violations . |
0f2825904960f28b1c76a88b96e9aa06ab63b6c9 | Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- The United Nations nuclear monitors plan to return to Iran at the end of the month after a positive assessment from both sides of the latest visit. An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team spent three days in Tehran this week. Another meeting is planned for February 21-22. "The agency is committed to intensifying dialogue," said Director General Yukiya Amano. "It remains essential to make progress on substantive issues." The Iranian foreign minister called the talks "a positive forward step." Ali Akbar Salehi told the semiofficial Fars News Agency that the IAEA "had some questions and we had very good meetings." The team did not ask to inspect nuclear facilities, Salehi said. "If they wanted an inspection, we were prepared to comply with their request," Salehi said. The six-member delegation -- including chief inspector Herman Nackaerts and second-in-command Rafael Grossi -- arrived in Tehran shortly after the European Union imposed new sanctions on Iran aimed at cutting off funding to the Islamic republic's nuclear program. Australia and the United States have also ramped up sanctions on Iran recently. Western powers believe Tehran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, an assertion Iran denies. Speaking Friday at the Davos Forum in Switzerland, Amano told reporters the visit was intended "to clarify the issues with possible military dimensions. "We are not very sure whether Iran has declared everything and, therefore, we are not very sure that everything stays in peaceful purpose," he said. "In addition, we have information that Iran has engaged in activities related to the development of nuclear weapons. Therefore, we need to clarify." Inspectors are in and out of the country regularly, an agency spokeswoman said Monday, but a high-level visit is more unusual. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he is ready to discuss the program with a group of nations -- Great Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- that have held intermittent talks with Tehran. The energy agency reported in November that it can no longer verify that the Iranian nuclear program remains peaceful, and Iran is under increasing international pressure to halt its nuclear fuel work. Salehi told Fars Wednesday that Tehran will soon send a letter to the six world powers to reiterate its readiness for talks. "We hope that the meeting will be held in a not far future," he said. | NEW: International Atomic Energy Agency monitors will return in late February .
Both sides called the meetings a positive step .
Western powers believe Iran is developing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies .
The watchdog agency wants to keep pushing on talks, its director says . |
0f29984c7ff598b1e12f54b84645700faa5b7dbb | An Oklahoma history teacher faces losing his job for having a Benjamin Frankiln poster with a controversial quote based on 'choosing a mistress' on the wall of his classroom. Steven Alcorn, 62, who has taught for 38 years, was suspended from Marlow High School last week for having a picture of a cat alongside the phrase: 'In the dark, all cats are grey.' It is paraphrasing a letter the Founding Father wrote to a friend in 1745 called 'Advice to a Young Man on Choosing a Mistress' - urging a man he should chose an older woman companion. Steven Alcorn was suspended from Marlow High School in Oklahoma last week for having a picture of a cat alongside the phrase 'In the dark, all cats are grey' in the classroom. It is a quote from a letter by Benjamin Franklin (right), written in 1745, advising a young man that he should choose an older mistress . In the passage, the politician writes: 'It is impossible of two women to know an old from a young one. And as in the dark all Cats are grey, the pleasure of corporal enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal, and frequently superior.' In the 19th century it was deemed obscene and was not originally published in his original letters. Alcorn, a Civil War reenactor, has been working at the school for six years and it is believed he had the poster up since he started. Richard O'Carroll, the teacher's attorney, told the Duncan Banner: 'My client was teaching history accurately. 'Just as Ben Franklin was a great man in terms of science and a founder of our nation, he was still a man. People need to know these things, not just the myths and legends, but who they are. 'We hope that cooler heads will prevail,' he added. 'There is still time for the school board to do nothing. If they do make a recommendation, we are looking forward to a full and fair hearing before the school board. We expect an exoneration.' Career: The 62-year-old, who has been a teacher for almost 40 years, is believed to have had the poster in the classroom since he started at Marlow High six years ago . Alcorn told the paper that he wanted to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and get back into the classroom. A Facebook group supporting his re-instatement has already reached 302 members and his wife Jera has also posted her support. Former student Amber Abrego told KFOR News 4 she never thought the quote was a big deal and thinks Alcorn's suspension is unfair. 'I think it`s awful, why would you want to do that to someone who has been so loyal to their school, who came to every single football game? 'I hope that he gets to keep his job. I hope that he gets more respect out of this because he deserves it. He`s a good man, he's a good teacher. However Brian Jacob, who works in a bait shop in the city, admitted he could see where the school is coming from. Decision: Alcorn's disciplinary hearing at the school is set for January 20 when he will hear his fate. He says he hopes the issue will be resolved quickly so he can go back to work . 'Nowadays everything`s really touchy on subjects like that. Suspended? I can see it,' Jacob said. The letter is taught in schools today because it was used in the 20th century to overturn U.S obscenity laws. It wasn't the only letter of Franklin's to be censored in the US. His satirical piece 'Fart Prouldy' was excluded from the majority of his published works. Attorneys used it to prove that if it had been mailed or published, one of the country's Founding Fathers would have been prosecuted. Education officials from Marlow Public Schools declined comment on Alcorn's case because it is a personnel issue and a pending legal matter. According to the Banner, Alcorn's disciplinary hearing has been set for January 20. The public school board is set to have already discussed the matter but have not released any details. Explicit content: The controversial correspondance written by the Founding Father was considered to be obscene and was not published in his collection of letters . My dear Friend, . I know of no Medicine fit to diminish the violent natural Inclinations you mention; and if I did, I think I should not communicate it to you. Marriage is the proper Remedy. It is the most natural State of Man, and therefore the State in which you are most likely to find solid Happiness. Your Reasons against entering into it at present, appear to me not well-founded. The circumstantial Advantages you have in View by postponing it, are not only uncertain, but they are small in comparison with that of the Thing itself, the being married and settled. It is the Man and Woman united that make the compleat human Being. Separate, she wants his Force of Body and Strength of Reason; he, her Softness, Sensibility and acute Discernment. Together they are more likely to succeed in the World. A single Man has not nearly the Value he would have in that State of Union. He is an incomplete Animal. He resembles the odd Half of a Pair of Scissars. If you get a prudent healthy Wife, your Industry in your Profession, with her good Economy, will be a Fortune sufficient. But if you will not take this Counsel, and persist in thinking a Commerce with the Sex inevitable, then I repeat my former Advice, that in all your Amours you should prefer old Women to young ones. You call this a Paradox, and demand my Reasons. They are these: . i. Because as they have more Knowledge of the World and their Minds are better stor'd with Observations, their Conversation is more improving and more lastingly agreable. 2. Because when Women cease to be handsome, they study to be good. To maintain their Influence over Men, they supply the Diminution of Beauty by an Augmentation of Utility. They learn to do a 1000 Services small and great, and are the most tender and useful of all Friends when you are sick. Thus they continue amiable. And hence there is hardly such a thing to be found as an old Woman who is not a good Woman. 3. Because there is no hazard of Children, which irregularly produc'd may be attended with much Inconvenience. 4. Because thro' more Experience, they are more prudent and discreet in conducting an Intrigue to prevent Suspicion. The Commerce with them is therefore safer with regard to your Reputation. And with regard to theirs, if the Affair should happen to be known, considerate People might be rather inclin'd to excuse an old Woman who would kindly take care of a young Man, form his Manners by her good Counsels, and prevent his ruining his Health and Fortune among mercenary Prostitutes. 5. Because in every Animal that walks upright, the Deficiency of the Fluids that fill the Muscles appears first in the highest Part: The Face first grows lank and wrinkled; then the Neck; then the Breast and Arms; the lower Parts continuing to the last as plump as ever: So that covering all above with a Basket, and regarding2 only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know an old from a young one. And as in the dark all Cats are grey, the Pleasure of corporal Enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal, and frequently superior, every Knack being by Practice capable of Improvement. 6. Because the Sin is less. The debauching a Virgin may be her Ruin, and make her for Life unhappy. 7. Because the Compunction is less. The having made a young Girl miserable may give you frequent bitter Reflections; none of which can attend the making an old Woman happy. 8thly and Lastly They are so grateful!! Thus much for my Paradox. But still I advise you to marry directly; being sincerely Your affectionate Friend. Source: Swarthmore College . | Steven Alcorn has been suspended from Marlow High School, Oklahoma .
Had a picture of the Founding Father alongside the quote: 'In the dark, all cats are grey'
Paraphrases the letter 'Advice to a Young Man on Choosing a Mistress he wrote in 1745' - telling a man how to choose an older woman companion .
In the 19th century the letter was deemed obscene and not published .
Alcorn's disciplinary hearing has been set for January 20 .
He has been teaching for 38 years and has been at the school for six . |
0f2d0257f85e6d7a11d779e52fc8cdd7c059364b | By . James Chapman . PUBLISHED: . 17:45 EST, 10 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 17:48 EST, 10 March 2013 . Iain Duncan Smith was embroiled in a battle with the new Archbishop of Canterbury last night. The Work and Pensions Secretary told Church leaders there was ‘nothing moral’ about their opposition to flagship welfare reforms. He reacted with fury after the Most Rev Justin Welby led an uprising against the Government’s plans to limit benefit increases to one per cent a year for the next three years. Mr Duncan Smith, a devout Roman Catholic, insisted it was neither fair nor moral to trap millions of families on welfare payments which made it not worth their while seeking work. The intervention of 43 bishops threatens the biggest row between the Government and the Church since the Coalition was formed in 2010. Collision course: Archbishop Justin Welby and Welfare Secretary Iain Duncan Smith. Defending welfare reforms, Mr Duncan Smith told the Church that there is 'nothing moral' about trapping people on benefits . Mr Duncan Smith is understood to be particularly angered because at a private meeting last week the new Archbishop made no mention of his concern about the benefit cap, let alone the Church’s plan to launch a public assault on it. The Coalition has announced that increases in out-of-work benefits and some tax credits will be limited to one per cent for the next three years, a move which will save more than £2billion a year. Traditionally, benefits have been increased in line with the rate of inflation. That prompted uproar last year, when the formula meant their value increased by more than five per cent at a time when many working families had to contend with pay freezes or below-inflation rises. The Coalition’s Welfare Uprating Bill, passed by a big majority in the Commons, will affect single parents on benefits most. They will lose on average £5 a week. Working households receiving state support in the form of tax credits will be an average of £3 a week worse off, though the Treasury insists this will be more than cancelled out by record increases in the basic-rate income tax allowance. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith says that the benefits bill rose 60 per cent to £200billion under Labour, an unfair burden on taxpayers . A letter signed by 43 bishops and endorsed by the new Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York claimed that capping benefit rises would have a ‘deeply disproportionate’ effect on children. 'People who are paying taxes, working . very hard, have hardly seen any increases in their salary and yet, under . the last government, the welfare bill rose by some 60 per cent to . £200billion.' - Iain Duncan Smith . The welfare bill will be debated in the Lords next week and bishops in the house have tabled an amendment in an attempt to exempt all child-related benefits and tax credits. Archbishop Welby, in his first significant political intervention, said the reforms could push 200,000 children into poverty, adding: ‘As a civilised society, we have a duty to support those among us who are vulnerable and in need. When times are hard, that duty should be felt more than ever, not disappear or diminish. ‘It is essential that we have a welfare system that responds to need and recognises the rising costs of food, fuel and housing. ‘The current benefits system does that, by ensuring that the support struggling families receive rises with inflation. ‘These changes will mean it is children and families who will pay the price for high inflation, rather than the Government.’ Under the welfare reforms, increases in out-of-work benefits will be pinned back to one per cent a year for three years . He added: ‘Politicians have a clear choice. By protecting children from the effects of this Bill, they can help fulfil their commitment to end child poverty.’ Mr Duncan Smith, hitting back, said the Government’s legislation was ‘about fairness’. ‘People who are paying taxes, working very hard, have hardly seen any increases in their salary and yet, under the last government, the welfare bill rose by some 60 per cent to £200billion,’ the Work and Pensions Secretary said. ‘That means they have to pay for that under their taxes, which is simply not fair. That same system trapped huge numbers, millions, in dependency, dependent on the state, unable, unwilling to work. 'What is either moral or fair about that? Objection: The Archbishop has led Church protests against the cap, claiming it will push 200,000 children into poverty . ‘There is nothing moral or fair about a system that I inherited that trapped people in welfare dependency. Some one in every five households has no work – that’s not the way to end child poverty. ‘Getting people back to work is the way to end child poverty. That’s the moral and fair way to do it.’ Labour enshrined in law its measure of poverty – 60 per cent of median earnings – in law, and used tax credits to try to push families just over the line. Incredibly, nine in every ten families with children ended up qualifying for credits. The last government set a target to reduce the number of children living in relative income poverty to 1.7million by 2010/11. This was not met, with a total of 2.3million that year. The Coalition has now agreed to tear up Labour’s definition – insisting that basing it purely on a crude measure of family income is perverse, when other factors can be just as critical in determining children’s life chances. Mr Duncan Smith suggests broader ways of calculating child poverty – including whether or not parents are in work, educational failure, family breakdown, problem debt, gambling and poor health. He insists that giving a family ‘an extra pound in benefits’ does not address their problems – and can even push a family further into difficulty if a parent spends the cash fuelling his or her dependency on alcohol or drugs. Justin Welby’s attack on the welfare reforms is the second time in recent years that the Church of England has become embroiled in a political row. In June 2011 his predecessor as Archbishop, Dr Rowan Williams, took David Cameron to task, questioning the democratic legitimacy of many of the Coalition’s flagship policies. The Left-leaning Children’s Society charity – which is allied to the Church of England – came up with the figure of 200,000 children who would be pushed into poverty by the welfare cap.However, such predictions are fraught with difficulties. The arbitrary nature of the current poverty measure – anything below 60 per cent of median earnings – means that the recession actually helped lift 300,000 children out of poverty without any meaningful change in their circumstances. It happened simply because average incomes fell. While some in government had wanted to freeze all benefits, Mr Duncan Smith agreed to limit increases to one per cent a year while committing to raise certain benefits in line with inflation to protect the most vulnerable. These include benefits for carers and disability benefits such as attendance allowance, the disability elements of tax credits, disability living allowance and the support component of employment and support allowance. Even with the welfare cap, Government spending on benefits and tax credits is forecast to increase from £210billion to £218billion by 2015/16. The new universal credit, meanwhile, will make three million households better off. It is hard to disagree with Mr Duncan Smith’s central contention that the best way to help children out of poverty is not by giving their parents an extra pound a week to push them over an arbitrary line – but through work. | IDS has gone head-to-head with the Church over benefits overhaul .
CoE says capping benefit rises will push children into poverty .
But welfare minister says the burden on taxpayers is not fair . |
0f2e67377142149812c691700d6d30eb96c2d2cf | (CNN) -- Authorities in Mississippi are holding a father of five in the deaths of his children, ages 1 to 8, the state's Department of Public Safety said Tuesday evening. "The seriousness of this violent crime is unconscionable," said Albert Santa Cruz, Mississippi's public safety commissioner. Timothy Jones Jr., 32, is being held in Smith County on child endangerment charges and is awaiting extradition to South Carolina for prosecution. The children, reported missing from South Carolina last week, were found dead in Alabama on Tuesday, authorities said. Their remains were discovered off a dirt road in Wilcox County, said Sgt. Steve Jarrett of the Alabama Department of Public Safety. Jones led law enforcement to the crime scene, Jarrett said. No other details were immediately available about how the children died. A multi-state search for the children and their father involved the FBI and state law enforcement agencies. It was launched after the mother told Lexington County, South Carolina, sheriff's investigators on September 3 that she has been unable to contact her former husband. "Neighbors told deputies that the children's father said he was moving with his children from his home near Lexington to another state," said Lexington Sheriff Lewis McCarty. Jones and the children's mother were divorced. They shared custody of the children, according to the Lexington County, South Carolina, Sheriff's office. On Saturday, Jones was taken into custody in Mississippi on suspicion of driving under the influence. When his SUV was towed, authorities found evidence of a crime, the state's Department of Public Safety said. A check of the National Criminal Information Center found he was wanted in South Carolina. Missing nursing student's remains found in Tennessee . CNN's Suzanne Presto contributed to this report. | Children's father is held in Alabama, awaiting extradition .
The remains were discovered in Wilcox County, Alabama .
Few details are immediately available about how the children died .
Their parents were divorced and they shared custody of the children . |
0f2e6f3fdfd7aac0b4676de4ad9df2cbbbad8f03 | (CNN) -- The Spanish title race is shaping up to be one of the closest in years -- and the battle for the "Pichichi" is also hotting up. While Atletico Madrid matched the 1-0 victory by league-leading city rival Real on Saturday, Diego Costa kept in touch with Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the La Liga scoring charts by emulating the world player of the year's decisive strike. Ronaldo's first-half winner at Malaga meant Real will head into next weekend's "El Clasico" clash with defending champion Barcelona holding a three-point advantage over second-placed Atletico. It was his 25th goal in the league this season and 39th in all competitions, with Ronaldo firing home in trademark style after cutting into the penalty area from the left following a crossfield pass from Gareth Bale. Ronaldo missed several other chances, and his collision with teammate Karim Benzema resulted in the France striker going off injured. "We had chances to score the second goal but unfortunately we weren't able to get it and then when the score is 1-0 you always suffer," said coach Carlo Ancelotti. "It wasn't a great game in terms of how we played, but we showed good attitude and were very solid defensively." Brazil-born Costa, hoping to win a World Cup place this year with his adopted Spain, netted for the 22nd time in the league -- and 30th overall -- as he broke clear of the visiting Espanyol defense 10 minutes after halftime and coolly beat the keeper. The Madrid clubs are moving clear of Barca, who are seven points behind Real ahead of Sunday's home clash with Osasuna. Lionel Messi has won the Pichichi Trophy for the past two years, but is 10 behind Ronaldo after an injury-hit season so far. The Argentine is not even Barcelona's top scorer in the league -- that honor goes to Chile's Alexis Sanchez, who has 16. In Saturday's other matches, Celta Vigo won 1-0 at fellow midtable side Levante while Rayo Vallecano moved three points clear of the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over second-bottom Almeria. German Bundesliga . Champions Bayern Munich moved 23 points clear at the top of the table with a 2-1 win at home to fourth-placed Bayer Leverkusen, meaning coach Josep Guardiola could win his first league title with the club next weekend with eight matches to spare. Goals from Mario Mandzukic and Bastian Schweinsteiger helped the European champions shrug off the midweek jailing of club president Uli Hoeness for tax evasion, as Stefan Kiessling's late consolation could not prevent Bayern's 16th successive league win. Second-placed Borussia Dortmund suffered a 2-1 home defeat by Borussia Monchengladbach, and Jurgen Klopp's team will surrender the title race if more points are dropped next weekend. Schalke, who moved up to third with Friday's 2-1 win over Augsburg, must also win to stop Bayern clinching a second successive title -- and 24th overall. Dortmund's defeat meant Schalke closed to within a point of their rivals ahead of the derby clash on March 25. Italian Serie A . Inter Milan moved up to fourth place with a 2-0 win at Verona, thanks to goals from Argentine forward Rodrigo Palacio and Brazilian defender Jonathan. It was the third win in a row for Walter Mazzarri's side, but Fiorentina can reclaim the Europa League berth by beating Chievo Verona on Sunday. French Ligue 1 . Third-placed Lille missed a chance to close the gap on Monaco in second after being held 0-0 at home by Nantes. Monaco travel to fifth-placed Lyon on Saturday, while champions Paris Saint-Germain will seek to extend an eight-point advantage at the top against fourth side St. Etienne. | Cristiano Ronaldo scores winner at Malaga to maintain Real Madrid's lead .
Rival Diego Costa also scores only goal of match for second-placed Atletico .
Bayern Munich march closer to a 24th German Bundesliga title .
Inter Milan's European hopes boosted by third successive Serie A win . |
0f2f02425d5e82efba865a570d5e15a28dbdd36c | It is not often that Oxford University finds itself receiving a rejection letter from a would-be student, rather than issuing them with one. So it will have raised a few scholarly eyebrows when state-educated Elly Nowell, 19, wrote to the elite institution’s Magdalen College without even waiting to hear whether her application to read law had been successful. In a parody of Oxford’s own rejection letters, she told admissions tutors: ‘I realise you may be disappointed by this decision, but you were in competition with many fantastic universities and following your interview I am afraid you do not quite meet the standard of the universities I will be considering.’ Mocking: A-level student Elly Nowell, who is predicted A*s in history, law and English literature, sent a scathing rejection letter to Magdalen College, Oxford . Miss Nowell, who says she changed her . mind about Oxford after being put off by her experience at interview, . claimed its admissions process was biased against state-school pupils – . despite them making up more than half the university’s intake. She wrote: ‘Whilst you may believe . your decision to hold interviews in grand formal settings is inspiring, . it allows public school applicants to flourish in the environment they . are accustomed to and intimidates state school applicants, distorting . the true academic potential of both.’ The teenager also claimed there were . ‘significant flaws’ in Oxford’s education system and argued that the . ‘gap between elitism and discrimination’ was a ‘narrow one’ that the . college had not ‘adequately addressed’. Rejected: Elly Nowell told Magdalen College, which counts Foreign Secretary William Hague among its alumni, that there were 'significant flaws' in its education system . She wrote: ‘Whilst you may believe . your traditions and rituals are impressive, they reflect badly on your . university…frankly, I feel humiliated for both you and your students.’ Describing the interview process as ‘torture’, she accused the college of being ‘rude’ for not offering her a glass of water. She also claimed there was an ‘obvious gap’ between minorities and white middle-class students that she found ‘embarrassing’. Letter in full: The rejection letter that Elly Nowell, 19, sent to Oxford University via email . Miss Nowell, of Winchester, . Hampshire, even cheekily warned the university to hold off on any . attempts to ‘reapply’ and wished it ‘every success in future’. Oxford yesterday hit back at her claims, pointing to figures that show . that for 2010 entry, 55.4 per cent of places for UK students went to . state school pupils. Full figures for UK 2011 entry are not yet . available but 58.5 per cent of offers were to state school pupils. A spokesman said: ‘The irony is that six out of the seven people offered . law places at Magdalen were state-educated. 'It’s really important to . understand that school attainment is the biggest factor affecting . Oxford’s mix of students – not the way Oxford selects them.’ Magdalen College, which counts among its alumni Foreign Secretary . William Hague, Private Eye editor Ian Hislop, documentary-maker Louis . Theroux and Oscar Wilde, interviewed Miss Nowell, a student at . Brockenhurst College, Hampshire, in December. She is predicted to get . A*s in her history, law and English literature A-levels, and now hopes . to read law at University College London. She said: ‘It was during my interview that I finally realised subjecting . myself to the judgment of an institution I fundamentally disagreed with . was bizarre. ‘I spent my entire time at the university laughing at how seriously they . were taking everything and felt like the only atheist in a gigantic . monastery.’ Oxford students took to Twitter to vent their anger at Miss Nowell . yesterday. One, going under the name ‘jpspencer2’, said: ‘Elly Nowell . has no idea what it is like to go to Oxford. Her own stupid and . narrow-minded opinions show why she would not be fit to go here.’ | Elly Nowell, 19, tells Magdalen College it 'did not quite meet the standard of universities I will be considering'
She writes that she found 'obvious gap' between minorities and white middle-class students 'embarrassing' |
0f2f88a495c37536cd93def2288b47ee07b18c4b | Louis van Gaal insists that the star-studded reputation of his Manchester United’s galacticos counts for nothing and his players have to prove themselves at home to QPR. The United boss has spent £160million in the transfer window adding the likes of Radamel Falcao and Angel di Maria to a formidable attack of Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Adnan Januzaj. But Van Gaal insists that he is not impressed by their pedigree — he is only interested in what they can now deliver for a United side without a win. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Wayne Rooney: Falcao is sign of intent from United . Louis van Gaal wants Manchester United to hit the ground running against Queens Park Rangers . Radamel Falcao and Daley Blind both arrived at Old Trafford on transfer deadline day this month . He said: ‘What do I have to say about Falcao? What do I have to say about Van Persie? What do I have to say about Rooney? ‘They are great players, they have great records but they have to do it in the game, on Sunday. You have to show it. ‘All the Man United players have to show themselves in a team.’ Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie were both described as 'great players' by Louis van Gaal . Marcos Rojo and Angel di Maria (from right with David De Gea, Ander Herrera, Anderson and Juan Mata) were expensive purchases for Manchester United as they aim to qualify for Europe this season . | Louis van Gaal has assembled an expensive squad at Old Trafford .
Radamel Falcao, Angel di Maria, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo, Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw all joined for big money this summer .
Manchester United are looking for their first Premier League win . |
0f317b6e83b54498c41b31c0e0d0a9c4983308e9 | By . Daniel Bates and Mark Duell . UPDATED: . 13:54 EST, 2 February 2012 . Stephanie Mack has revealed that she was so overcome . with emotion that she threw up the first time she went back into the home where . her husband killed himself. The widow of Mark Madoff said that she was also horrified to . still see the marks left by the dog leash on one of the beams which he used in . the hanging. Miss Mack said that she never intended to go back to . the apartment in Manhattan, New York, but did so along with their two children to give . them some ‘normalcy’. New home: Stephanie Mack revealed that she was so overcome with emotion that she threw up the first time she went back into the home where her husband Mark killed himself . In an interview she also revealed that for the first time . she is thinking about forgiving Bernie Madoff having previously said she would . ‘spit in his face’ if she saw him again. Miss Mack had vowed she would never set foot in her old . apartment in Manhattan after Mark’s suicide in 2010. He and his brother Andrew were the ones who turned in their . father in late 2008 over his £41 billion Ponzi scheme. He is now serving 150 years in jail for his crimes but the . fallout on his family has been even more devastating - with Mark unable to cope . with the pressure. Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar, Miss Mack, 37, said that . she decided to return to the SoHo loft with Audrey, five, Nicholas, three and . her own parents. New life: The widow of Mark Madoff said that she was also horrified to still see the marks left by the dog leash on one of the beams which Mark used in the hanging at their old home . She said: ‘I thought, you know, I need to bring, like, . normalcy back to their life? But when I got home and walked in the door, I threw up.’ Magazine: Stephanie Mack gave an interview in the 'Spring Fashion Issue' of Harper's Bazaar . Miss Mack had hired a builder to ‘cover up’ the steel . beam from which Mark hanged himself but unfortunately she could still see the . ‘scuff marks on the ceiling’. She said: ‘I mean, this is so gruesome, like, I guess from . hanging the dog leash over the thing. 'I don't know. And then the floor, from a . certain area, was really scratched up. I tried to figure out some clues and . stuff.’ Now living in a rented apartment in the Tribeca area of . Manhattan with her children, Miss Mack opened up about how Mark’s death . had affected them. She said they don’t talk about ‘Grandpa Bernie’ too much and . when asked about their father they say: ‘Daddy got a boo-boo on his brain that . made his heart stop.’ But more than a year after her husband’s death, Miss Mack said that she was only now entertaining the idea of forgiveness. She said that in her gym class her instructor was talking . about how ‘if you don't have forgiveness, you're stuck’. She said: ‘I'm not going to be stuck. I'm going to move forward. I'm not going to let Bernie Madoff ruin my life anymore.’ Couple: More than a year after her husband Mark (right) died, Stephanie Mack said that she was only now entertaining the idea of forgiving her father-in-law Bernie . Family: Stephanie Mack's (left picture, . right) husband Mark Madoff (left picture, centre) committed suicide . after his father Bernie Madoff (right) was jailed - leaving two kids . including Nicholas (left picture, left) Last year Miss Mack gave an interview to ABC News in . which she said that if she saw Bernie she’d tell him ‘that I hold him . fully responsible for killing my husband, and I’d spit in his face’. 'I thought, you know, I need to bring, like, normalcy back to their life? But when I got home and walked in the door, I threw up' Stephanie Mack . She also wrote a bitter memoir titled ‘The End Of Normal: A . Wife’s Anguish, A Widow’s New Life’ in which she talked of how she coped with . the public humiliation of being part of America’s most notorious family. The book detailed how Bernie once eyed up her bottom . when she was pregnant with his grandchild and made crude jokes about how big it . was. Miss Mack also said that his wife Ruth was such a diet . freak she poured copious amounts of salt on food to stop her eating any more . than she deemed sufficient. Tragedy: Officials carry Mark's body out of his New York home after he was found hanged in December 2010 . She is now calling herself 'Mack' as opposed to her former 'Madoff Mack' because she wants to avoid the hassle people give her. House of horror: The Manhattan apartment in which Mark Madoff was found hanged in SoHo, Manhattan . 'It just sucked to, like, pick up a prescription at the pharmacy and have someone say something,' she said. 'I don't feel ashamed anymore, but I don't want to have to hear it.' She chose the name Mack because of the M from Madoff and 'ACK', which is the airport code for Nantucket, the Massachusetts town where she and Mark loved spending time together. She told People magazine last October she felt ‘betrayed’ by Bernie and has not forgiven Ruth, or her husband’s brother Andrew, for allegedly abandoning Mark. Her late husband relentlessly followed news coverage about his father and failed in a 2009 suicide attempt, leaving a note saying his life was 'destroyed' and telling his dad: ‘F**k you’, she added. She told ABC that her daughter Audrey sometimes shouts ‘I love you, daddy!’ in the sky and recently asked her: ‘Why didn’t daddy take his cell phone with him when he died?’, reported People magazine. The couple wed in 2004 after meeting on a blind date when Miss Mack worked in fashion and Mark worked in finance. But she said his ‘handsome face aged overnight’ when Bernie was jailed. ‘The smile that made me fall in love with him disappeared altogether,’ she wrote in her book, adding that Mark would obsessively follow news reports in fear of being implicated in the scandal. | Stephanie Mack went back to New York apartment for 'normalcy'
Daughter-in-law of Bernie now considering forgiving disgraced financier .
Returned to SoHo apartment but later moved out to nearby Tribeca .
For .
confidential support call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a .
local Samaritans branch or see www.samaritans.org for details .
In the U.S. call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255 . |
0f3181ad7da82f376b81c30d27ba9d11539edba9 | (CNN) -- AC Milan are all but through to the quarterfinals of the Champions League after thrashing Arsenal 4-0 at the San Siro on Wednesday. Brazilian striker Robinho scored twice as the Serie A champions dominated the first leg of the last-16 tie with the north London club. Kevin Prince Boateng put Milan ahead in the 15th minute with a sumptuous half-volley after chesting down a chipped pass from Alberto Nocerino. The Ghana midfielder's strike flew in off the underside of the bar leaving Wojciech Szczesny with no chance. Robinho doubled the lead seven minutes before the break heading home a cut-back from Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Despite the arrival of Thierry Henry in the second half (his last appearance for the Gunners before he returns to the New York Red Bulls) things quickly went from bad to worse. In the 49th minute, Ibrahimovic and Robinho combined again on the edge of Arsenal's penalty area before a slip by Thomas Vermaelen gifted the Brazilian a free shot which he put past Szczesny with ease. Robine Van Persie forced a fine save from Christian Abbiati in the 65th minute but it was a rare chance for the Dutch striker on a miserable night for Arsene Wenger's team. Ibrahimovic completed the rout converting from the penalty spot after he was brought down by Johan Djourou 12 minutes from the end. "We were never in the game, we were very poor both offensively and defensively," Wenger said, AFP reported. "It was shocking to see how we were beaten everywhere, it was the worst performance in Europe by far. There was not one moment during the 90 when we were really in the game," he added, AFP reported. The return leg at the Emirates Stadium will be played on March 6. Opinion: Suarez saga harming Liverpool's global brand . In the other Champions League match played Wednesday, Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg came from behind to beat Portugal's Benfica 3-2 in the first leg of their last-16 tie. Roman Shirokov scored twice while substitute Sergei Semak got the other. Benfica's goals came from defender Maxi Pereira and Paraguayan striker Oscar Cardozo, both after errors by goalkeeper Yury Zhevnov. Benfica took the lead in the 20th minute courtesy of a goal from Maxi Pereira before Zenit leveled the scores seven minutes later when Shirokov struck a sweet volley to score his first of the night. Semak put Zenit in front in the 71st minute before Oscar Cardozo equalized three minutes from the end. But Zenit responded immediately as Shirokov pounced on a defensive mistake to tap home the winner with two minutes remaining. "My players showed really good skill. They showed a lot of heart to win the match in such a grave situation. However they did exactly what we decided to do ahead of the match. We won deservedly tonight," Zenit manager Luciano Spalletti said, AFP reported. Meanwhile in Serie A, Juventus missed out on the chance to go top after being held to a 0-0 draw at Parma. Juve's 10th draw of the league season (and their sixth on the road) means that AC Milan still head the league table but only by one point. The Rossoneri have also played one extra game. The result lifts Parma to 12th place with 28 points. In Serie A's other match Wednesday Guido Marilungo scored the winner for Atalanta in a 1-0 win over Genoa. The strike 12 minutes from the end lifts Atalanta to 13th with 27 points. Genoa remain in 10th with 30 points. | AC Milan demolish Arsenal 4-0 at the San Siro to almost guarantee place in last eight .
Zenit St Petersburg beat Benfica 3-2 in first leg of last 16 encounter .
Juventus drop points on the road in Serie A to stay in second behind AC Milan . |
0f3304cb2d0c6e8393ce37b5095c2e078afe66cd | By . David Mccormack . PUBLISHED: . 17:29 EST, 2 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 18:01 EST, 2 October 2013 . An unnamed grandfather is winning a lot of online plaudits after his impassioned letter of support for his gay grandson was posted online on Monday. The letter tells the heartfelt story of how different generations react to the news that a family member is gay, but in this instance it is the older generation telling their offspring that they need to show more compassion. In the letter, the grandfather passionately addresses his daughter Christine's decision to kick her son, Chad, out of their home after he has told her that he’s gay. An unnamed grandfather has received a host of online plaudits after his impassioned letter of support for his gay grandson Chad was posted online on Monday . Christine's father doesn’t hold back in letting his daughter know how extremely disappointed he is with her reaction to her own flesh and blood. 'You’re correct that we have a "shame in the family," but mistaken about what it is,' he blasts her. He goes on to call her actions 'the real "abomination" here' and that a parent disowning her child is what really goes 'against nature.' As well as blasting his daughter for her extreme treatment of her own son, he then tries to reason with her by saying that Chad 'didn’t choose it [being gay] any more than he being left-handed.' The grandfather goes on to describe his daughter’s actions as ‘hurtful, narrow-minded and backward,’ before threatening to disowned her for being a 'heart-less B-word of a daughter.' However the letter does end on a conciliatory note as he asks Christine to give him a call. n the letter, the grandfather passionately addresses his daughter Christine's decision to kick her son, Chad, out of their home after he has told her that he's gay (stock image) The correspondence first appeared on the Facebook page of FCKH8.com. ‘We were blown away by how this guy stands by his grandson and stands up against his own homophobic daughter. This is real love.' wrote FCKH8.com. It has attracted more than 8,000 likes and 3,000 comments since it was posted on Monday and the comments are overwhelming in support of the grandfather’s response. ‘Bestest gramps ever!!!!!!! He wins the internet!!,’ wrote Megan Woodcock Keegan. Lauren Moose Boland commented: ‘Go Grandpa!!!! I swear our parents, parents were more open minded than our parents.’ ‘Sad for the daughter that she chose this. I'm just so happy that the son has family to still surround him and support him,’ wrote Tinka Lawrence. | An unnamed .
grandfather is winning a lot of online plaudits after his impassioned .
letter of support for his gay grandson .
In the letter we discover that the mom, Christine, has kicked out her son, Chad, because he is gay .
The grandfather then writes and calls her a 'heartless B-word of a daughter'
It was posted online on Monday and has received more than 8,000 likes and 3,000 comments - almost overwhelmingly positive . |
0f3470d0166d10b7616a376627c30de59b82775a | By . Luke Garratt . Ms Yang posed as globetrotting Interpol agent 'Mr Li' in order to con various middle-aged single women out of money and possesions . A 54-year old Chinese woman conned victims out of thousands by claiming she was a 'superhuman' male police officer who could turn himself invisible. The con-woman, identified only as Ms Yang, duped her victims out of at least £12,000 by pretending to be 'Mr Li', an officer of Interpol and member of the Chinese Ministry of Finance with superhuman powers. According to the Telegraph, she would use this alter-ego to seduce people she met on a forum for middle-aged singles, before stealing from them. When Ms Yang became short on cash in early 2013, she allegedly faked documents to access and post on the internet forum, where she posed as 'Mr Li' a senior communist party official. She would identify her marks, chat with them, and establish the lie that she was a superhuman police officer. Her first victim was Ms Zhang, a 48-year-old woman who began a relationship with 'Mr Li' in March 2013, and by June, the couple had moved in together. Ms Zhang, who was, according to the Beijing News 'quite suspicious' was allegedly utterly taken in by the lies. The lie was continued to the point that Ms Yang would cut her hair short and deepen her voice when telling stories to Ms Zhang about how she (as Mr Li) had cracked 'major' interpol cases using his superhuman powers. The thievery began when 'Mr Li' claimed he had lost his wallet and needed money to 'recieve international friends'. Ms . Zhang lent her partner around £11,800 (120,000 yuan) under the guise . that Mr Li would repay her, and that the money would 'help him do things . for the country'. Ms Yang's fabricated character 'Mr Li' more closely resembled a comic book character like Susan Storm (The Invisible Woman) than a real-life Interpol agent, but she still managed to con thousands out of her marks . The debt was never settled, and in August 'Mr Li' vanished from Ms Zhang's life. When Ms Zhang, heartbroken, went to look for 'Mr Li' at the Ministry of Finance, she was told that he did not exist. 'Mr Li' then moved on to another person, conning a mark, a 52-year-old woman named Ms Song, out of a laptop computer. A third victim, a pensioner, was conned out of £400. Her cover was eventually blown when her first lover, Ms Zhang, approached the police looking for 'Mr Li', beofre being told that 'Mr Li never existed, and was actually a 54-year-old woman. Ms Yang had previously spent 11 years in jail for fraud, and will not go on trial for the second time. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. | Ms Yang from Beijing claimed she was 'Mr Li' - a superhuman Interpol agent .
She would develop relationships with people she met on a forum .
When she had gained their trust, she would steal from them and disappear .
She was found out when a former lover went to the police looking for 'Mr Li' |
0f348547d34ca2ce675fc51fa226c0c0272e5019 | Malala Yousafzai become the youngest ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize today - and the 17-year-old has set her sights on becoming Pakistan's prime minister in her future. Speaking ahead of today's ceremony in Oslo, Norway, the 17-year-old said she hopes to pursue a career in politics after finishing her education in the UK. Malala was presented with her award at a star-studded ceremony, attended by Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, Queen Latifah and the Norwegian royal family. Scroll down for videos . Winner: Children's rights activists Malala Yousafzai, 17, has become the youngest ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, at the ceremony in Oslo today . Celebrity guests: Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Dana Elaine Owens, better known as Queen Latifah, attend the Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremony . Seal of approval: Also in attendance were Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Crown Prince Haakon . 'I want to serve my country and my dream is that my country becomes a developed country and I see every child get an education,' Malala told BBC HARDtalk. 'If I can serve my country best through politics and through becoming a prime minister then I would definitely choose that.' Arriving in Norway with friends and young activists from Pakistan, Syria and Nigeria, Malala met thousands of children and walked the streets of Oslo ahead of the ceremony. Malala and fellow winner, Kailash Satyarthi of India, hold up their Nobel Peace Prize medals during the award ceremony . Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan receives her award from Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Thorbjorn Jagland during the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo, Norway . 'I tell my story, not because it is unique, but because it . is not,' Malala said as she received the award in Oslo's ornate . city hall on the anniversary of Swedish industrialist Alfred . Nobel's death. Addressing being the youngest ever recipient Malala said: 'I am pretty certain that I am also the first recipient of . the Nobel Peace Prize who still fights with her younger . brothers. 'I want there to be peace everywhere, . but my brothers and I are still working on that.' Shortly after her speech, the awards ceremony was disrupted by a protester who ran onto the stage as she was presented with her award. Malala was jointly awarded the honourable prize with children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi . The 17-year-old Pakistani girls' education activist Malala during her inspiring speech at the Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremony . The overwhelmed 17-year-old Pakistani girls' education activist Malala puts her hands to her face during the ceremony . A young man waving the Mexican flag stormed the stage but was quickly interrupted by security and later arrested. Oslo Police said the man is a medical student from Mexico who applied for asylum in Norway yesterday, a few weeks after arriving in the Scandinavian nation. The man's motive is not yet known, but he was seen trying to say something to Malala on stage in Oslo, Norway this afternoon. After the young man was removed by security, the ceremony honouring the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize continued as normal. Malala was jointly awarded the prize with and . Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi. The youngest winner in history, Malala, poses with her Nobel Peace Prize at the City Hall in Oslo, Norway . Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan proudly holds her medal high during the ceremony . Guests of Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Malala Yousafzai from left rear, Nigerian, Amina Yusuf, Syrian, Mezon Almellehan, Pakistan's Kainat Soomro, school friend, Shazia Ramzan, centre front, and school friend, Kainat Riaz, right, applaud as Malala Youzafzai enters the hall for the start of the presentation ceremony . Miss Yousafzai became a household name after her campaigning for girls' right to education led to an assassination attempt by the Taliban two years ago, and has worked tirelessly as a human rights campaigner following her recovery. Malala currently lives with her father, mother and two brothers in Birmingham, attending a local school. Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Malala Yousafzay and Kailash Satyarthi for 'their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.' Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was given to John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser for 'their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain'. Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the French author Patrick Modiano 'for the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the occupation.'. Nobel Prize in Physics was given to Isamu Akasaki at Meijo and Nagoya universities, in Japan, Hiroshi Amano also at Nagoya University and Shuji Nakamura from the University of California, USA, 'for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources.' Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded Eric Betzig from Janelia Research Campus at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, USA, Stefan Hell from Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany, and finally William E. Moerner at Stanford University, USA. They were recognised for their role in 'the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy.' The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was awarded to Jean Tirole at Toulouse 1 Capitole University, in France for 'his analysis of market power and regulation'. She has since written a book, I Am Malala, spoken to international audiences and on television and has been been showered with human rights prizes, including the European Parliament's Sakharov Award. Miss Yousafzai was barely 11 years old when she began championing girls' education, speaking out in TV interviews. Interruption: The Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremony was disrupted by a protester who ran onto the stage as children's rights activists Malala Yousafzai was presented with her award . Coup: The awards ceremony was rudely interrupted by a young man who stormed onto the stage . The young man waving Mexican flag is led away by security after attempting to get on stage with Nobel Peace Prize winners . The Taliban had overrun her home town of Mingora, terrorizing residents, threatening to blow up girls' schools, ordering teachers and students into the all-encompassing burqas. She was critically injured in October 2012, when a Taliban gunman boarded her school bus and shot her in the head. A bullet narrowly missed her brain and she was later airlifted to Britain for specialist treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where she underwent numerous surgeries and made a strong recovery. In September the Pakistani military arrested ten men, all part of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), for the attempted murder of Malala. Hundreds of guests attended the Nobel banquet, a traditional dinner after the Nobel Prize awarding ceremony at the Stockholm City Hall . Diners seated throughout the hall in Stockholm where the Nobel banquet has been held since the 1930s . The meal (pictured) is usually followed by dancing and festivities at the nearby Golden Hall . Waiters can be seen bringing out meals to the diners, with royalty, prize winners and their partners seated in the middle . Nobel chemistry laureate Eric Betzig (right) arrives for the banquet with Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria . Royalty: Princess Christina of Sweden waits for dinner to be served at the Nobel banquet . Diners sit at the 'honor table', where prize winners and their partners are placed for the traditional banquet . Patrick Modiano, laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature, pictured during the banquet . Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden chats to diners from her position on the honor table . Sofia Hellqvist and Prince Carl Philip of Sweden smile for the camera during the Banquet . Nobel Peace Prize laureates Malala Yousafzai (front) and Kailash Satyarthi (back) wave from the balcony of Grand Hotel during a torchlight procession . Malala from Pakistan makes a peace sign and Kailash Satyarthi puts his hands together in response to the cheers and applause from the crowd before attending the Nobel Banquet in Oslo, Norway . Her fellow recipient, Satyarthi, who is credited with saving around 80,000 . children from slave labour sometimes in violent confrontations, . kept a modest profile in Oslo and even conceded to being . overshadowed by Malala surrounded by admirers. 'I've lost two of my colleagues,' Satyarthi said about . his work. 'Carrying the dead body of a colleague who is fighting . for the protection of children is something I'll never forget, . even as I sit here to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.' Nobel Prize winners in literature, chemistry, physics, medicin eand economics are currently gathering in Stockholm, due to receive their prizes from the King of Sweden later in the day. Family members of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating girls' right to education, attend the Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremony . Her supporters have been celebrating the Nobel Peace Prize organisation's decision to honour Malala Yousafzai . Malala's fans cut a cake, surrounded by balloons, as they celebrate her Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded for her brave stand to promote girls' right to education . | Malala Yousafzai awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway .
She said she hopes to become Prime Minister of Pakistan .
She is joint recipient of the prize with Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi .
Malala survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban in 2012 .
The 17-year-old schoolgirl from Pakistan is the youngest ever to win .
Ceremony interrupted by man who ran on stage with a Mexican flag . |
0f359f891df28b1c4eb2243d327de77468ec96f1 | Looking to boost contact with the other side? Eat watercress, steamed fish, vegetables and avocado. But if you would rather not hear voices from beyond the grave, stick to roast dinners, smoked fish and red meat. Cara, from Bury, Lancashire - who goes by the name Psychic Cara - and who claims her clients include Les Dennis and Michelle Collins, believes a healthy diet can bring a healthy mind. Psychic Cara claims good foods for helping expand the mind to another realm include watercress, steamed fish, vegetables and avocado . The celebrity psychic's clients include Les Dennis and Michelle Collins . The psychic claims good foods for helping expand the mind to another realm include watercress, steamed fish, vegetables and avocado. She said: 'Food - not only necessary to keep us alive - can lift one's intelligence and enhance the memory and promote learning power.' According to Psychic Cara, roast dinners, smoked fish, red meat, pastry, cakes, and too much saturated fat and sugar are not just bad for the waistline. 'I imagine a huge Yorkshire pudding, slices of succulent beef, various veg and luscious steaming gravy, and a nice red wine are fantastic this time of year. 'But the problem is, although the connection to the other dimension may not be initially impaired, if you tried to do any meditation afterwards it's likely it would be.' Roast dinners, smoked fish, red meats, cakes and pastries are on the forbidden foods list . GOOD . Avocado . Watercress . Fish - steamed or baked . Berries - blueberries, raspberries . Steamed or grilled chicken . Tuna and un-smoked salmon . Ginger and garlic . Eggs . Seeds and nuts . BAD . Roast dinners and meat . Smoked fish and meat . Too much alcohol . Pastries . Cakes . Sugary drinks . Crisps . Saturated fats . GOOD . Avocado . Watercress . Fish - steamed or baked . Berries - blueberries, raspberries . Steamed or grilled chicken . Tuna and un-smoked salmon . Ginger and garlic . Eggs . Seeds and nuts . Her advice is to drink fresh fruit and vegetable blends to enhance lines of communication with the spirit world. 'A nice light meal before meditation would be to blend equal amounts of carrot, apple and celery,' she continued. 'It's full of nutrients and easy to digest and it tastes really nice too. Or steamed or baked white fish such as cod, pollock, hake with some broccoli and watercress and maybe a couple of cashew or Brazil nuts.' According to Cara, a psychic's diet is very important. Is anybody there? Cara says certain foods will help people hone psychic powers . 'The brains ability to make high levels of specific neurotransmitters, depends on the amount of certain nutrients circulating in the blood - hence the brain is affected by what we eat. 'One of the most important neurotransmitters for memory and learning is acetylcholine. The brain makes it from the B vitamin known as choline which is found in lecithin. 'Choline has been proven to boost memory within 90 minutes and improve the mood. Use if before an important meeting or exam. 'A psychic needs a lot of energy to communicate with 'Spirit' - hence diet is very important.' The mystic is now writing a book about her findings entitled 'Knowing (Before, Now and Then)' which details how to open minds the psychic world. | Celebrity psychic Cara's clients include Les Dennis and Michelle Collins .
Bury-based mystic believes a healthy diet can open spiritual channels .
High in saturated fats 'bad foods' are also bad for psychic powers . |
0f3640e3f33a495c85500083cccf99da48f376d1 | (CNN) -- Even if you've never visited Malaysia or Indonesia, it's likely that you've made contact with these countries through the chocolate bar you've just eaten or the soap you've just washed your hands with. Over 87% of palm oil, a common ingredient in thousands of consumer commodities, was produced by the two countries in the past year, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Palm oil remains solid at room temperature, making it a remarkably versatile commodity used in cooking and processed food products like ice cream and cookies, as well as biofuels, agro-chemicals, and consumer products such as soaps, detergents, and cosmetics. As a result, demand for palm oil has been steadily rising since the 1970s, making it hugely valuable — and profitable. Last week, Malaysian state-owned palm oil conglomerate Felda Global Ventures Holdings debuted on the Bursa Malaysia stock exchange in the world's second largest Initial Public Offering (IPO) this year. The share price of the world's third largest palm oil operator rose by 20%, generating US$3.2 billion for the company. While the IPO has been a boon for the company's coffers, conservationists say the palm oil industry has been a curse for the environment in Malaysia and Indonesia. Palm oil production threatens tropical forests, peatlands, and wildlife habitats, environmental groups such as Greenpeace say. More than 10% of deforestation in Malaysia and Indonesia over the last 20 years occurred to make way for palm oil plantations, according to a report by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). In Indonesia, an average of 300,000 hectares is lost annually to palm oil clearing, the report said. One of the major consequences of deforestation is the effect on climate change. "Because forested land, especially forested peatland, has a high carbon density, the production of palm oil on deforested lands causes disproportionately greater...global warming emissions than an equal area of non-forested land," according to the UCS report. The group estimates that growing and refining each metric ton of crude palm oil produces the equivalent of 0.86 metric ton of carbon dioxide or 860 kilograms. Each hectare of carbon-rich peatland drained to plant oil palms releases an estimated 3,750-5,400 tons of carbon dioxide over 25 years, said Wirendro Sumargo, a forest campaigner at Greenpeace Indonesia. By comparison, he said, 500-900 tons of carbon dioxide are released from clearing a hectare of tropical forest without peat bogs. Oil palms also have less biomass than the natural forests they replace, meaning the trees store much less carbon dioxide, according to UCS. Once oil palms reach the end of their productive life cycle, the destruction of their timber also returns carbon to the atmosphere. To harvest palm oil in an environmentally safe way, high carbon stock forests, peatlands, and high conservation value forests must be avoided for development, said Sumargo. He added that the Indonesian government has routinely granted concessions for oil palm development in forested areas, which has led to widespread deforestation in Sumatra and Kalimantan. The UCS also claims the government issues land leases on favorable terms to an elite, influential pool of investors. For example, the Sinar Mas Group, which owns one of the country's leading palm oil growers-refineries, is controlled by the powerful Widjaja family empire. The company has been an ongoing target of heavy criticism from green groups for contributing to mass deforestation and the endangerment of wildlife. Over the past five years, Greenpeace has launched campaigns against snack food conglomerates, including Unilever and Nestle, after finding their products, such as Nestle's Kit Kat chocolate bars, contained palm oil sourced from the Sinar Mas Group. Deforestation forces large animals, such as tigers, elephants and orangutans, into small and isolated pieces of natural habitat, according to Sumargo. While the campaigns increased consumer awareness and provoked Unilever and Nestle to suspend their contracts until Sinar Mas improved its practices, much work remains to be done to make the palm oil industry sustainable, environmental groups say. For its part, the Indonesia government implemented a two-year moratorium on new permits to clear primary forests in May 2011, in a US$1B deal with Norway intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions stemming from deforestation. Others point out that the palm oil industry has significantly alleviated rural poverty in Indonesia, where over 10% of the rural population lives below the poverty line. According to World Growth, over 41% of palm oil plantations were owned by small landowners in 2008, producing 6.6 million tons of palm oil. The palm oil industry contributes approximately 4.5% of gross domestic product in Indonesia, according to the USDA. Felda Global Ventures manages nearly 425,000 hectares of land in Malaysia and Indonesia, the majority of which is used for oil palm cultivation, according to its website. Its associate company, Felda Holdings, produced 3.3 million tons of crude palm oil in fiscal 2011, according to company spokesman Izan Hussain. Hussain said that company's last plantings of oil palms occurred in the 1990s. "Going forward, in newly acquired areas, where it involves planting in secondary forest areas, FGV will only do so after conducting high conservation value assessment," he said. "We will only proceed if the findings indicate that no wildlife or endangered species will be affected, nor any social conflicts will arise from the development of the land." The company has a program in place to obtain certification from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) for all 70 of their palm oil mills by 2017, according to Hussain. He said that only eight mills are currently certified. | Over 87% of palm oil produced by Malaysia and Indonesia in past year .
Palm oil is versatile ingredient in thousands of consumer commodities .
Demand for palm oil steadily rising since the 1970s, making it hugely profitable .
Green groups say palm oil industry threatens tropical forests, peatlands, and wildlife habitats . |
0f367b12232e799a5acfc8f4e410092f841c101f | (CNN) -- Police have arrested a second suspect in connection with a shooting at a Texas community college that left three wounded, officials said Friday. Trey Foster, 22, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, said Christina Garza, media manager at the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Foster was arrested in Plano, Texas, more than 250 miles north of the scene of the shooting, at the North Harris campus of Lone Star College just outside Houston. The shooting garnered wide media attention amid early fears that once again, a gunman was on the loose on a campus. Harris County officials have said the January 22 shooting apparently stemmed from an argument between two men. At least one had a student ID. Both were wounded by gunfire and treated at a hospital. Another man, 22-year-old Carlton Berry, was arrested on the day of the shooting and charged with aggravated assault. A maintenance worker also was shot. He was struck in the leg. The shooting took place outside, between the academic building and the library. CNN's Dana Ford and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report. | A second arrest is made in the shooting at Lone Star College .
The suspect, Trey Foster, was arrested in Plano, Texas .
Three people were wounded in Tuesday's shooting . |
0f36d2fbdfe2942f9b356ba9ce63bad5246f1ea0 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 15:38 EST, 4 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 15:39 EST, 4 June 2013 . Houston Rockets forward Chandler Parsons may have had to let down a fan when she asked him to prom, but he made sure she had a memorable evening. The 6ft 9in basketball player sent a party bus to take Stephanie Flores and her friends to their dance. Parsons was first contacted by Stephanie on Twitter a few weeks ago, as she tried to convince him to escort her to prom on May 31. Night to remember: Stephanie Flores poses outside the prom party bus Chandler Parsons sent for her . When her first messages went unnoticed, she encouraged her Twitter followers to help get her noticed by sending messages to Parsons. After her sister Monica sent a tweet to Parsons saying: 'My sis wants to make her dream come true by having you escort her to prom! She'd even love just a response,' the player contacted the teenager. In a tweet he thanked her for the invite . but explained he wouldn't be in Houston on prom night, before adding: . 'I hope you have a great time!! Be safe.' Not to be outdown by Miami Heat's player Dwayne Wade, who turned up at a fan's prom last month to give her roses and hug, Parsons planned a special treat for the teenager. Grand gesture: Houston Rockets player Chandler Parsons arranged a prom party bus for Stephanie Flores, left . Long shot: Chandler Parsons had to turn down Stephanie's invite, but made sure prom was memorable . Stephanie, who had been excited to even receive a response from her sporting hero, was astounded when the Houston Rockets and Parsons then sent the sleek party bus for her and her friends to enjoy. She took to Twitter to post a picture of her posing outside the party bus in her prom dress, and with a Rockets' foam finger and towel. In a final message she tweeted to Parsons: 'Thank you so much for making my prom even more exciting! My friends and I are extremley grateful for the party bus!' | Houston Rocket's player responds to fan's prom plea with grand gesture .
Chandler Parsons sends party bus after campaign to catch his attention . |
0f37160ea9436349d548e12bafc0a2b24f9bddde | Manchester United winger Ashley Young said Louis van Gaal's new 3-4-3 formation worked 'perfectly' in the wake of their 7-0 win over LA Galaxy. Young, who scored two late goals in the win in Pasadena, also reserved special praise for man of the match Ander Herrera. Van Gaal opted to play three at the back for the whole 90 minutes, while he made nine changes at half-time, with only Herrera and Darren Fletcher playing the full match. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Ander Herrera scoring during shooting practice . Romp: Young and his United team-mates celebrate the fifth goal of the night . Double salvo: Young scored twice for United in the dying minutes of the match . Man of the match: Herrera (centre) was outstanding for United as he played 90 minutes . Young told MUTV: 'Sometimes in pre-season you can take your foot off the gas but it's a new team in a new formation which suited us perfectly.' Speaking of £29million signing Herrera, who controlled the midfield all night long, Young added: 'He'll be happy with his performance and I'm sure the manager and staff will have also been delighted. 'It's not easy coming into the Man United side. Luke Shaw came in and did well too.’ Young was frozen out somewhat under David Moyes last season as United finished a well-below-par seventh in the Barclays Premier League, but the former Aston Villa and Watford man is determined to hit the ground running this time around. He added: 'Last season was disappointing and we felt that as players. We were keen to get up and running in the first pre-season game to be ready for the first home game of the season.' New beginnings: Young will be hoping for a much better season on a team and personal level . VIDEO New signing keen to impress . | Ashley Young scored twice as Manchester United beat LA Galaxy 7-0 .
Louis van Gaal played 3-4-3 formation for full 90 minutes in Pasadena .
Young says new formation worked 'perfectly'
Young also praised man of the match Ander Herrera . |
0f3721761a5dba358e21bed49b2db91eae4b30cc | By . Jill Reilly . PUBLISHED: . 08:20 EST, 23 March 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 05:54 EST, 25 March 2012 . Banned: Asma al-Assad, can no longer travel or shop in the EU comes as diplomats try to crank up pressure on her husband to end a bloody crackdown on popular unrest . Her days of shopping in the EU for the president's palace are over, as ministers have decided the wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is no longer welcome. The ban on travel and shopping in the EU, will come as a blow to Asma al-Assad, whose love of pricey purchases has been well documented in the past few weeks in leaked emails. They detailed Asma placing an order for £10,000 worth of candlesticks, concern over getting hold of a new chocolate fondue set from Amazon, and swapping details with friends of crystal-encrusted designer shoes costing nearly £4,000. The announcement comes as diplomats try to crank up pressure on his government to end a bloody crackdown on popular unrest. Her name is now among 12 people added to the sanctions list, which already includes her husband. The list will be released over the weekend, but diplomats confirmed the list includes Mr. Assad's mother, sister as well. They said that Mr. Assad's 36-year-old wife would be subject to the EU's asset freeze and banned from traveling to all EU member states except the U.K. British authorities will decide whether they prevent her entering the country and a U.K. diplomat said it is premature for a decision on the issue. Speaking ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, EU's foreign policy chief, Baroness Ashton, said sanctions were ''a really important tool.' UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said it was 'very important to increase the pressure on the Syrian regime.' A British-born former investment . banker who had once cultivated an image of a woman inspired by Western . values, Asma al-Assad has become a hate figure for many Syrians. Crackdown: A British-born former investment, Asma al-Assad has become a hate figure for many Syrians. She has stood by her husband during a year-long crackdown on popular unrest in which the U.N. says at least 8,000 people have died . Luxury: shop Leaked emails detailed Asma swapping details with friends about designer shoes costing and concern over getting hold of a new . chocolate fondue set from Amazon, as her husband's troops slaughtered protestors . She . has stood by her husband during a year-long crackdown on popular unrest . in which the U.N. says at least 8,000 people have died. Last week activists released some 3,000 emails they said were from private accounts belonging to Mr Assad and his wife. The messages, which have not been independently verified, suggested Mrs Assad continued to shop online for luxury goods . while Syria descended into bloodshed. She comes across as a shallow . ingenue, focused on internet shopping rather than the horrific plight of . the people she professes to care for. The EU has . responded to Syria's violence with a broad range of sanctions, which . include a ban on Syrian oil imports to Europe and measures against the . Syrian central bank and other companies and state institutions. Foreign . ministers of EU member states are set to agree on a new round of . measures, the bloc's 13th, and impose asset freezes and bans on travel . to the EU against 12 people, include Asma. Policy: Speaking ahead of the meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, EU's foreign policy chief, Baroness Ashton, said sanctions were 'a really important tool' Agreement: William Hague, British Foreign Secretary, shakes the hand of Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo, Spanish Foreign Minister, at the start of a Foreign Affairs Council meeting at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Belgium today . A prohibition for European companies to do business with two more Syrian entities is also planned. 'The . text (of sanctions) has gone through,' said one EU diplomat, referring . to an agreement reached by EU envoys in Brussels to a list of new . sanctions. Another diplomat confirmed Assad's wife is included in the . list of sanctioned individuals. The list still needs formal approval . from ministers. It will become public on Saturday when new sanctions are . due to go into effect. Assad himself has been a target since May last year, but sanctions have had little impact on his policies so far. Fighting: A Syrian woman, kisses a soldier from the Free Syrian Army yesterday in front of a destroyed Syrian army forces tank which was attacked during clashes between the Syrian government forces and the Syrian rebels, in Homs . Destruction: A house is destroyed by Syrian government shelling in Rastan town in Homs - the U.N. says at least 8,000 people have died during the crackdown on violence . Violence has intensified in recent weeks as pro-government forces bombard rebel towns and villages, looking to sweep their lightly armed opponents out of their strongholds. The international community has struggled to formulate a joint approach in the face of opposition from Russia and China to any resolution by the U.N. Security Council. Assad absorbed a major diplomatic blow on Wednesday, however, when Russia and China joined the Security Council in voicing support for U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's bid to end violence that has brought Syria to the brink of civil war. Asma Assad . Asma Assad, 36, (pictured) grew up in Acton, West London where she was known as 'Emma'. She is the daughter of consultant cardiologist Fawaz Akhras and retired diplomat Sahar Otri, both Sunni Muslims. Her parents moved from Syria to London in the Fifties so that her father, who is now based at the Cromwell Hospital and in Harley Street, could get the best possible education and medical training. Asma, who holds dual citizenship, . British and Syrian, was educated at a Church of England school in Ealing . before attending a private girls’ day school - Queen’s College, Harley . Street. From Queen’s, . where she achieved four A-levels, Asma went to King’s College London to . read Computer Science and take a diploma in French Literature. She . graduated with a First and, after six months of travelling, joined . Deutsche Bank as an analyst in hedge-fund management. She then moved to . the investment bank JP Morgan and worked in Paris and New York, as well . as London. On family holidays back in Syria, she met Bashar. Then he, too, came to London to study ophthalmology, though he had to leave early to return to Syria after his elder brother Basil, who had been the heir, died in a car crash. Asma started seeing him in secret, resigning from JP Morgan just a month before the wedding without being able to explain the real reason. With her father, she has set up several London-based charities such as the Syria Heritage. Vogue has described her as ‘the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies’ and has topped French Elle’s ‘most stylish woman in politics’ list. In Damascus, Bashar and Asma now live in a flat with plate-glass windows and their three boys go to a Montessori school. Asma speaks four languages and her connections with France have led her to persuade the Louvre to help her open Syrian cultural attractions. | British-born former investment banker, .
Asma al-Assad has become a hate figure for many Syrians .
Notorious for buying chocolate fondue set from Amazon and pricey jewellery as her husband's troops slaughtered protestors .
Asma al-Assad is among 12 people added to the sanctions list, which already includes her husband . |
0f3792b01200feebe62593a555bc1fbe983b2ca7 | Feeling a bit strapped for cash but still want to let your hair down this festive season? An American company has invented a range of products that will help skint revellers smuggle alcohol into their office party or local nightclub, swerving inflated drinks prices at the bar. The website 'Smuggle your Booze' has a selection of products that conceal booze for sale, including fake hand cream bottles, bra stuffing and tampon holders. Scroll down for video . A website called Smuggle Your Booze has a range of fake products that help to get contraband alcohol past bouncers. Pictured is the hand sanitiser combo pack, priced at $11.99 (£7.70) The site says: 'At a concert, festival, beach, fair or sporting event, our product is there with you. 'It's the new and convenient way to bring your beverage of choice to any event, anywhere.' 'Our products have been tested and have gotten in to all events listed above undetected, no hassle.' It claims one of the best products for passing through security undetected is the tampon holder, priced at $10 (£6.40), because bouncers are generally male and tend to skim over female hygiene-related products. The site promises security won't even glance at their fake tampons, priced at $10 (£6.40) The site says: 'Guys won't even look at a tampon, much less handle it at security. 'The tampon shot holder will never be questioned at your venue.' Product users from Amazon are generally happy with the product. One user of the hand sanitiser combo pack, priced at $11.99 (£7.70), wrote: 'Amazing product. Nobody gives this a second glance in my handbag. Great for concerts and nights where alcohol is very expensive.' The reviews for the 'boobie bag,' priced at $12 (£7.70) said they were extremely easy to hide . Another user wrote about the shot tubes and tampon wrappers, saying: 'Took these to a festival and they worked perfectly.' The reviews for the 'boobie bag,' priced at $12 (£7.70) said: 'I ordered these for a festival and they were great and easy to hide.' Prices for the products start from £6.40 from the company's official website. | The website called Smuggle Your Booze has a range of fake products .
It promises security won't look twice at their fake sun cream bottles .
There are also 'booby bags' that fill with alcohol and sit inside a bra cup . |
0f388e1a1764f75f9e41a4435b8637caa7beca80 | (CNN) -- The Higher Security Council, in charge of "organizing and securing Tripoli," announced Thursday that courts in the city will start operating next week. "People must realize that the country's system has been destroyed and is being rebuilt now," said Lt. Colonel Mustapha Nooh, head of the council. He said detained prisoners will be directed toward the general prosecutor for "clearer" due process. The change was announced the same day a report from Amnesty International detailed claims of abuse against prisoners by anti-Gadhafi forces. For example, last August, fighters in a house in Abu Salim tied the hands of two brothers from the southern city of Sabha and beat them while taking them into custody, according to the report. "They beat us several times using their rifles," the elder brother told the human rights group. "They also whipped us. When they transferred us to Mitiga (the airport detention facility), they forced us to walk on our knees to the vehicles while they insulted and beat us. They accused us of being mercenaries." The report says that militia members detained as many as 2,500 suspected Gadhafi loyalists in the Tripoli area and that, in nearly every case, people were arrested without warrants and far from the oversight of the Ministry of Justice. Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty's North Africa researcher, told CNN on Thursday that the arrests were more like abductions -- people taken from their homes by unidentified captors carrying out raids on suspected Gadhafi loyalists. "We spoke to several guards," said Eltahawy, who added she heard screams from detainees being whipped as she waited in one of the facilities. "They didn't see a problem to beat detainees to extract information. To them it was normal." It was the way things had been done for the four decades of Gadhafi's iron-fisted rule. After visiting 11 facilities and interviewing 300 detainees, some of them women and children, the Amnesty team found that culture very much in place as Tripoli was falling. A 17-year-old boy from Chad, accused of rape and of being a mercenary, told Amnesty that he was taken from his home in August by armed men who held him in a school where they punched him and beat him with sticks, belts, rifles and rubber cables. "The beatings were so severe that I ended up telling them what they wanted to hear," he said. "I told them I raped women and killed Libyans." In issuing the report, Amnesty International called on Libya's National Transitional Council to put end such human rights violations. Many of the militias are working outside the law, Eltahawy said. "What the national council needs to do from the very beginning is to send a strong signal that this behavior will not be tolerated," she said. Nooh acknowledged incidents of abuse but said they were isolated. He said members of his security staff were present during the Amnesty International interviews and that they have nothing to hide. He denied the scope and gravity of the abuses depicted in the Amnesty International report. "Yes, there have been infringements related to beating detainees under arrest, but I would not call it torture," Nooh said. "These are isolated incidents caused by rebels who were emotional due to the fighting and losing friends or relatives in the war, but it's no organized beatings or designed to extract confessions." Human Rights Watch has also documented accounts of detainee abuse that amounts to torture. The global monitor issued a report earlier this month that urged Libya to ensure that the rule of law prevails as it forges ahead in building a new nation. Those interviewed told Human Rights Watch that they were beaten and given electric shocks. Some showed their scars as proof of their claims. One man wept openly in telling his story of abuse. A detainee identified as Ahmed said this: . "They took an electric cable and started hitting me with it. They didn't use electricity, but they said that if I didn't talk, they would. ... They hit me with a butt of the Kalashnikov. They kicked me in the face and in the chest. One scratched me with the knife (bayonet) of the Kalashnikov." Human Rights Watch said none of the detainees has ever faced a judge. "After all that Libyans suffered in Moammar Gadhafi's jails, it's disheartening that some of the new authorities are subjecting detainees to arbitrary arrest and beatings today," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the U.N. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Libya has an obligation to prevent torture and abuse, Amnesty International said. Libyan authorities, the group said, cannot allow such abuses to go on simply because the nation is in a transitional phase. If they do, said the human rights activists, Libya's new leadership will be no better than the old. Nooh also spoke Thursday against foreign security companies coming into Libya. Noting that "there is no clear visa system for entry and the borders are not fully organized," he said that nine foreign security companies, some of them American, have established bases in Libya without permission. "We have compiled data on them and informed the United Nations," Nooh said. "The Libyan people (do) not want foreign security companies." CNN's Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Moni Basu contributed to this report. | NEW: "The country's system has been destroyed," says the head of Tripoli operations .
NEW: The announcement comes the same day Amnesty International issues damning report .
Suspected Moammar Gadhafi loyalists were beaten and abused, the group says .
Human rights activists say rule of law, absent in Libya under Gadhafi, must be ensured . |
0f39243c7f2567b59d916339fbd1b034b99a414a | (CNN) -- A Rosary service and funeral were scheduled this week for Jaime Zapata, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who was killed in Mexico last week. The slain agent will be buried in his hometown of Brownsville, Texas. He was killed and another agent was injured on a highway in Mexico's San Luis Potosi state after they were run off the road by two vehicles believed to be driven by members of the Zetas drug cartel, authorities have said. Zapata, 32, was based in Laredo, Texas, and was in Mexico on temporary assignment. "His dedication to service and integrity was unparalleled. He was the life and soul of our family and a joy to his friends and colleagues," Zapata's brother, Amador, said in a statement. "Jaime was a son, a brother, a boyfriend, and a caring, loving person," Amador Zapata said. "He grew up giving of himself and was always committed to doing the right thing. I firmly believe he is in heaven now, continuing to work for what is right." Outside of that statement, the Zapata family has requested privacy and has not talked with the media. However, the public outpouring in the community was so great that the Rosary service and funeral will be open to the public. The Rosary service, in which mourners pray for the repose of the soul of the departed, will be at 7 p.m. Monday at the Brownsville Events Center. The funeral mass will take place in the same place at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. He will be buried at Rose Lawn Gardens Cemetery. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder will speak at the funeral. | Jaime Zapata was ambushed by a Mexican cartel last week, authorities say .
He will be buried in his hometown of Brownsville, Texas .
His dedication was unparalleled, said his brother . |
0f39b7f997694230941807c04c768dcb8691ddc5 | Told off: Osteopath Paul Bolton regularly left patients unattended, a panel was told . An osteopath left acupuncture needles sticking out of a patient's backside while he nipped off to a café for sausage rolls, a disciplinary panel was told. Paul Bolton regularly left patients unattended and told a colleague who challenged him that he would ‘strangle her slowly and watch her eyeballs pop out’, it heard. The British former soldier and police officer was fined £1,500 by the medical authorities in New Zealand over the alleged litany of misconduct and banned from practising for 12 months. However he has since returned home and is advertising services including acupuncture, massage and spinal manipulation. Mr Bolton spent six months working as an osteopath at the Consultancy House Clinic in Dunedin during which there were ‘seven or eight’ complaints from patients, New Zealand’s Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal was told. A massage therapist at the clinic told the tribunal he would often see clients lying unattended on the treatment table with acupuncture needles in their back. He described one morning when he saw Mr Bolton walk up the stairs with a cup of coffee and a bag full of sausage rolls even though he had a patient on the table ‘with a backside full of needles hooked up to the Tens (electro-acupuncture) machine’. He was also said to have jammed needles into a woman's back without warning, putting holes in her t-shirt, and carrying out a strong neck manipulation that left her sore for six months. When clinic managers began to realise he left clients unattended, he was challenged, but he ‘just yelled and screamed’ and refused to talk about it, the hearing was told. The clinic told the tribunal Mr Bolton was ‘aggressive with his patients, was intimidating towards his patients, swore and was too loud’, with two colleagues saying they could hear all his conversations with clients through the concrete walls. The tribunal heard numerous evidence of Mr Bolton's ‘excessively inappropriate foul language’, and how he spent more time talking about himself than engaging with his patients, answering his mobile phone and having personal conversations. When he was confronted for using foul language by one office manager he allegedly ‘called her a 'f***ing c***’. Several incidents: While working at Consultancy House Clinic in Dunedinm Mr Bolton left acupuncture needles sticking out of a patient's bottom while he went out to buy sausage rolls . One colleague said Mr Bolton ‘would typically start the sentence with a 'f***' finish it with a 'f***' and have a 'f***' somewhere in the middle of it. He would frequently use the words 'f***' and 'c***' as part of a normal conversation’. The HPDT ruled that his ‘use of bad language ... is unprofessional and brings discredit to the osteopathy profession’. It had come to the ‘distinct conclusion that Mr Bolton is a large man with a loud voice and an intimidating manner’, who had told a colleague he wanted to ‘strangle (another colleague) slowly and watch her eyeballs pop out’. Ruling that he had brought discredit to his profession in his stint there in 2011-12, it said he had put patients at ‘significant risk’ by leaving them alone while they had acupuncture needles inserted, particularly when electro-acupuncture was being used. It suspended him from practising for 12 months, fined him $3000 (£1,490) and ordered him to pay $45,714 (£22,700) towards the costs of the investigation and hearing. Mr Bolton misspelled his place of work, has since been working at Carlisle Complementary Therapies – misspelt as ‘complimentary’ on his personal website . Mr Bolton has since been working at Carlisle Complementary Therapies – misspelt as ‘complimentary’ on his personal website – but staff there said yesterday he had been an independent practitioner who was no longer running clinics there. According to the site he offers acupuncture, massage, ‘spinal manipulation’ and exercise advice, charging £50-an-hour. It says that after serving with the Royal Engineers and stints on drilling rigs and with the police he found his ‘true vocation’ studying sports therapy, later training as an osteopath and working with top rugby and football clubs. His biography states: ‘In 2010 I fulfilled a personal dream and worked for two years in the South Island NZ as an Osteopath to the local sporting community and farming communities.’ A woman at his family home in Carlisle declined to comment yesterday, and messages left on the phone number on his website were not returned. A spokeswoman for Britain’s General Osteopathic Council said Mr Bolton was not registered as an osteopath in this country and therefore not entitled to practise using the term. It added that it was in touch with its counterpart in New Zealand and would take the findings of its investigation into account should he seek to register here. | British osteopath working in New Zealand fined £1,500 for misconduct .
Paul Bolton ignored patients, threatened colleagues and often swore .
He 'regularly left patients unattended with acupuncture needles in'
Told colleague he would ‘strangle her slowly and watch her eyeballs pop' |
0f3a211295fb6ce6d965d6522a3e5233f89280e4 | Kirkuk, Iraq (CNN) -- Three U.S. soldiers detailed the shooting death of their platoon leader for an Iraqi judge Sunday in an effort to preserve a case that will be tried months after U.S. troops have left the country. It is one of a number of cases in recent months where a U.S. military attorney and an Iraqi prosecutor have worked together to bring charges against those accused of targeting American troops, though it is one of the first murder cases to be brought before a judge just weeks ahead of the U.S. pullout from Iraq. "Today, we came to court to preserve the testimony of soldiers in a pending criminal case that will be tried in an Iraqi court, and we bring the testimony today because the American forces are going to be gone soon," Army Maj. Franklin D. Rosenblatt, an attorney working on the case, told CNN. The U.S. military took the step of having American soldiers provide testimony because "we are no longer going to be able to show up here in the court," Rosenblatt said. The November 3 shooting of 1st Lt. Dustin D. Vincent -- one of the last U.S. casualties in the more-than-eight-year Iraq war -- was chronicled by insurgents who captured the sniper shooting on video and posted it online. Inside a crowded courthouse, one of the soldiers who was with the 25-year-old Vincent the day he was killed told the investigative judge that a "few days later a video was posted that claimed the killing of the 1st lieutenant, and it shows the same location we were that day." The video, which was played for the judge, was set to music and showed what appeared to be a soldier on the top of an armored vehicle, at a distance from the camera. On his back, which was to the camera, was a superimposed sniper's crosshair cursor. Then there is the sound of a gunshot, and the soldier drops from view. His comrades testified that Vincent, of Mesquite, Texas, was killed when his convoy stopped in Kirkuk's volatile al-Wasiti district, a mixed Sunni-Turkomen neighborhood in the northern Iraqi city. The convoy stopped to fix an electrical cable on the top of one of Vincent's armored vehicles -- "Then we heard a shot," one of the soldiers told the judge. Two of the soldiers testified they got out of their armored vehicle to aid Vincent, who was shot in the upper right portion of his chest. "He was wearing a vest, but it hit the upper side of the vest," the same soldier said. Later, the soldiers said, they were told Iraqi police apprehended a suspect. The American soldiers who testified are still carrying out missions in Iraq and are not being identified at the request of the U.S. military. Rosenblatt asked to submit the case to the court on behalf of the U.S. Army. The Iraqi prosecutor, who also asked not to be identified as a security precaution, said the case against the suspected sniper could take up to seven months before it is decided by the court. In addition to the testimony of the soldiers and the video, the prosecutor told CNN other evidence was presented to the judge. "We told the judge that we have witnesses and a secret witness, and we will try to bring him to court as soon as possible," the prosecutor said. It was not clear who the additional witnesses were, and the prosecutor did not identify them out of a concern for their safety. The U.S. military has successfully pressed for the prosecution of four people who have been convicted in recent months of targeting U.S. personnel at Contingency Operating Site, the American base on the outskirts of Kirkuk, with rockets or roadside bombs. "I think in Kirkuk, it's a big step that at least they allow us to come here to the courthouse, and here we have seen some real results lately," Rosenblatt said. "They have been willing to take on the cases of the terrorists who have attacked the U.S. troops, and I think that is a real good sign." Vincent is the second American soldier to be killed in Kirkuk in a little more than a month. A rocket attack in late September killed Spc. Adrian Mills, 23, of Newnan, Georgia, and wounded at least four others. While violence has fallen off across much of Iraq, bombings and shootings are a near-daily occurrence in the disputed city, which is home to nearly a third of the country's oil reserves. Kirkuk is populated by ethnic Kurds, Arabs and Turkomen. Tensions among the groups run high in the city, to which the Iraqi government in Baghdad and the semi-autonomous Kurdish region have both laid claim. | A sniper killed 1st Lt. Dustin Vincent in Kirkuk in early November .
The case against a suspect could take seven months .
U.S. troops are scheduled to be out before then .
A military lawyer praises Iraqis for bringing cases to court . |
0f3c490bcc3fbc60b384a36f7bb0b7c2323f710b | (CNN) -- Simona Halep confirmed her reputation as one of the rising young stars of the WTA Tour by romping to the Qatar Open title Sunday. Halep was winning her third title, but victory from a draw which included Australian Open champion Li Na, was by far the biggest of her career. The 22-year-old thrashed sixth seed Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-2 6-3 in just 66 minutes in the final and will rise to ninth in the new world rankings this week. It followed her defeats of second and fourth seeds Agnieszka Radwanska and Sara Errani on the way to the title match. Despite her impressive recent form, Halep did not think she would win the tournament at the start of week. It's amazing for me, because when I came here I didn't think I could reach the final, certainly not win," she told the official WTA website. "I had been competing indoors, but mentally I am very strong and I got the feel of the balls and the court here very well. I have to enjoy this now as the best moment of my life." Halep was on top from the start as she immediately broke Kerber's serve and only at 2-1 down in the second set did she trail before taking control again. On the ATP Tour, Czech Tomas Berdych claimed his first title for 16 months with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Marin Cilic of Croatia in the final. Cilic had gone into the title match off the back of nine straight wins, but third seed Berdych swept him aside. "It feels so amazing, it's been so long, To win the title here is a real bonus. I'm extremely happy with how I handled things throughout the week," he told AFP . The Buenos Aires title went to clay court specialist David Ferrer as he beat Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-3 6-4 in the final. Ferrer was beaten by Rafael Nadal in the final of last year's French Open and easily accounted for the second seed in Argentina. Nadal was due to compete but pulled out citing "lack of preparation" as he battles back from the injury which struck him in the final of the Australian Open against Stanislas Wawrinka. | Simona Halep wins Qatar Open .
Romanian beats Angelique Kerber in final .
Tomas Berdych claims Rotterdam title .
David Ferrer triumphs in Buenos Aires . |
0f3e2012a16681ba45a94e9b0317dc212fd9b2fa | A card arrives at my villa at Landaa Giraavaru, Maldives. 'Dear Sue, we will be waiting for you at 7pm at the main jetty.' With the note is a parcel containing a sarong. 'Please wear this for our special evening.' A life on an ocean wave: The Four Seasons resort in the Maldives has its own luxury boat, Explorer . We meet on the jetty in our sarongs and are guided to a super-smart double-decker motor launch. There is champagne, canapes and the perfect sunset. All fabulous, but in this neck of the luxury woods - where dining is not just about the food, it is about ingenuity - not unique. Then as dusk falls the secret of the evening is revealed. We are dropped off on a sandbank 150ft long, 50ft wide and about two inches above the sea. A bar has been dug out of the sand with oval seating and we are served rum cocktails in coconuts by candlelight. The entertainment is crab-racing - I select number 27, my birthday - and it wins. Dinner is called and we walk along a lantern-lit path until we reach the table, again dug into the sand with seating either side. It is laid up formally, with white linen, silver cutlery, too many wine glasses to count, flowers and a menu card. Each course has a title. Following the amuse bouche is After The Sunset, then Setting The Mood, The Moon Has Come Out, Shooting Stars and The Sound Of The Waves, and each course is served with its own wine chosen by the Fours Seasons' sommelier and, I have to admit it, I am blown away. 'Can you believe we are sitting in the middle of the Indian Ocean under a full moon, eating brulee out of a pineapple on a sand table?' said my friend, Kate. Actually no. It was pinch-yourself time. Not a bad location to enjoy the sunset: The resort has suites which rank as the size of most houses . The trouble with paradise, say some, is that there is nothing to do. But they miss the point. The Maldives is a Disneyland for adults. Palm trees and pale powder beaches, a translucent, turquoise sea full of fish with names like parrot, surgeon and emperor angel, and the scent of bougainvillea, hibiscus and frangipani everywhere. It's pure Castaway, only with air-con, wi-fi and your very own Man Friday. There are around a hundred resorts, each on its own island, and what sets each apart is not geography but style and service. Four Seasons has the answer for anyone who fears that they will get bored staying on one small island - a few nights each at Kuda Huraa and Landaa Giraavaru, punctuated by a stay on Explorer, a luxury three-deck cruiser. The sandbank dinner is part of the itinerary for the boat stay, although it won't appear in the brochure. The secret is part of the surprise. We spent one night on the boat travelling between resorts. I rose at 6am from my queen-sized bed in the cream-carpeted cabin for a sunrise snorkel with the resident marine biologist. Soon we were swimming among hundreds of yellow and blue striped sweetlip and an army of fusiliers. The biologist pointed to the cornets, easy to spot with their long and skinny bodies, and the butterflies, brown and white with a long nose, and she enlightened me on the difference between an emperor angel fish, left, and damsel angel. We also ticked off masked bannerfish, a dog tooth tuna, a giant moray (eel) and porcupine fish. It is difficult to decide which resort I liked best. Kuda Huraa, just 25 minutes by boat from the airport, scores on convenience, and the spa on its own little island is gorgeous. A swirl of colours and shapes: The waters of the Maldives teem with fabulous fish and bright wildlife . But several things at the larger Landaa Giraavaru won it over for me. The first was being given a Manta On Call service, which would alert me if the manta rays, which measure about 5ft and for which the region is famed, were sighted (sadly, they weren't). Second was the beach - a headway separates two parts of the lagoon and the view is out of this world. Third was the service (chocolate popsicles handed out by the pool, a sunglasses butler and a chief engineer who repaired my glasses after I stepped on them) and fourth was, of course, the sandbank dinner. Luxury Holidays Direct (www.luxuryholidaysdirect.com, 020 8774 7299) offers 11 nights with Four Seasons in the Maldives from £5,985 per person. This includes return flights from Gatwick, transfers, four nights' half-board at Four Seasons Kuda Huraa, a three-night full-board cruise on the Four Seasons Explorer and four nights' half-board at Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru Resort. | Guests at the Four Seasons in the Maldives can try drinks with a difference .
Dinners and cocktails are served on a tiny sandbar in the Indian Ocean .
The resort also has its own boat, Explorer, which sails the archipelago . |
0f3f4eb71a6061553135f0520e4a507153c45683 | By . Leesa Smith For Daily Mail Australia . A row of eight Sydney homes sold for what it believed to be more than a total of $30 million – three times more than valued two years ago. Following six months of negotiations with property developers CBRE, the eight homeowners received up to $3.6 million each for the 1920s bungalows in Epping after the homes were individually valued for about $1.2million in early 2012, the Australian Financial Review reported. The blocks of land at 11- 27 Cliff Road could pave the way for up to 138 apartments under new planning laws allowing maximum density of five storey developments around the centre of Epping in Sydney’s north-west. Eight houses in a row on Cliff Road (including number 15 pictured) in Epping have sold for a total of at least $30 million to property developers . The Cliff Road homes were individually valued for about $1.2million in early 2012 including number 15 (pictured) The five-bedroom home at 15 Cliff Road was sold for only $1,230,000 back in July 2007 . Developers have had their eye on property in the area since the Department of Planning and Infrastructure earmarked the area for medium and high density development in March last year. Developers have had their eyes on property in the area since the Department of Planning and Infrastructure earmarked the suburb's centre for medium and high density development in March last year. The deal for the eight properties was sealed on Friday after more than six months of negotiations. Resident Fiona Maher, a resident of 16 years with her three children, said she was relieved the bidding process was finalised. Her daughter, Bronte Maher told the Australian Financial Review that it had been a stressful but exciting time. 'Originally it was shocking to see the quiet Cliff Road and these streets around here being developed into apartments, but when we saw building down the street we knew it was only a matter of time,' she said. The five-bedroom home at 15 Cliff Road was sold for $1,230,000 in July 2007 with the 853 square metre block boasting an elegant lounge room, dining room and family room, a pool, a two-car garage and manicured gardens. While the house at 11 Cliff Road, described as a spacious three bedroom home featuring separate lounge, dining and family rooms with solid timber floorboards, was sold for just $675,000 in December 2001. Daily Mail Australia contacted CBRE who declined to comment on the sale. The 853 square metre block boasts an elegant lounge room, dining room and family room . The modest home also has a swimming pool, a two-car garage and manicured gardens . The residence at 21 Cliff Road could have fetched up to $3.6 million in the deal . The home at 27 Cliff Road was also sold to property developers CBRE . Developers have had their eyes on the properties including 25 Cliff Road since the area was earmarked for medium and maximum density . Up to 138 apartments could be built on the house block which includes 27 Cliff Road (pictured) The government has allowed up to five storey developments to be built in the area where 17 Cliff Road (pictured) was also sold . The house at 11 Cliff Road (pictured), described as a spacious three bedroom home featuring separate lounge, dining and family rooms with solid timber floorboards, was sold for only $675,000 in December 2001 . | Eight 1920s bungalows sold for what is believed to higher than $30 million .
The Epping homes went for three times more than valued two years ago .
The properties were individually valued at about $1.2 million in early 2012 .
The land could pave the way for the redevelopment of up to 138 apartments . |
0f415be8208c831f7209b39bc857a8b29ac67623 | A former Miss Turkey could be jailed for two years for posting a satirical poem on social media that criticised her country's president. The arrest of Merve Buyuksarac, 26, follows a crackdown in the country on critical media in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris as well as a increasing curbs on press freedoms in the country. Miss Buyuksarac is the latest person to face trial for insulting Recep Tayyip Erdogan - who recently said women are not equal to men - amid fears that the country is in danger of coming under authoritarian rule. Emre Telci, who is representing the former Miss Turkey, said an Istanbul prosecutor is demanding that Merve Buyuksarac be prosecuted on charges of insulting a public official. If she is convicted she could face a two year prison sentence. Facing trial: Former Miss Turkey Merve Buyuksarac (left) has been arrested for posting a satirical poem on social media that criticises the country's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) Her case comes amid further controls being placed on people in Turkey - with curbs on press freedoms and social media posts. Hundreds of people who have taken part in mass protests against the government have also been prosecuted. Armed Turkish police last week stopped delivery lorries leaving a newspaper's offices to make sure that they had not included a section of the French satirical magazine that might be offensive to Muslims. Although officially Turkey is secular, 99.8 per cent of the population are registered as Muslim and there has been heated debate over freedom of expression in the wake of the Paris massacres. Now it appears the Turkish crackdown is extending not just to monitoring the media, but also to its readers. Miss Buyuksarac, an educated young professional who works as an industrial designer and writer, was detained last month for sharing a satirical poem on her Instagram account, and has denied insulting the president. The 26-year-old ended up in court in the Caglayan neighbourhood of the western city of Istanbul. Looking nervous and flanked by armed police, she told prosecutors that she 'may have quoted a poem' from the weekly humour magazine Uykusuz. But she said she deleted it soon afterwards when one of her friends warned that such messages could result in a criminal procedure from Turkish officials. 'Found it funny': Buyuksarac (pictured, right, with a friend) told prosecutors she 'may have quoted a poem' from weekly humour magazine Uykusuz, but said she deleted it soon afterwards over fears it may be a crime . She said: 'I shared it because I found it funny. I had no intention to insult the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.' The Master's Poem, which was shared by Buyuksarac, satirically criticises Erdogan through verses adapted from the lyrics of Turkey's national anthem. The case is continuing and prosecutor Vedat Yigit demanded 'judicial control' for Buyuksarac before the next hearing, which obliges a suspect to regularly go to a police station to sign in. The judge, however, ruled to release Buyuksarac unconditionally, pending a date for the trial set to take place later in the year. Anger: Dozens of protesters gathered to vent their fury earlier this month at the Cumhuriyet newspaper in Turkey, which included cartoons and articles from Charlie Hebdo's latest 'survivor' edition . It came as a high school student who was jailed last month for allegedly insulting Turkey's leader was released from custody on Friday after his arrest caused uproar and intensified fears that Turkey was lurching toward more authoritarian rule under Erdogan. Turkey last week blocked access to the web pages of some online news portals for republishing the cover of the Charlie Hebdo magazine's latest issue that portrays the Prophet Mohammed, labelling it provocative. Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan also lashed out at cartoons featuring the Prophet, saying that targeting the sacred values of Muslims and publishing portrayals of the Prophet was an 'open provocation'. Standing guard: Police kept an eye on the offices of the Cumhuriyet newspaper earlier this month amid concerns it was planning to publish the Prophet Mohammed cartoon that appeared in Charlie Hebdo . | Merve Buyuksarac quoted poem from weekly magazine on social media .
Quizzed by prosecutors over claims it insulted Recep Tayyip Erdogan .
Her lawyer said prosecutors want to charge her for insulting public official .
If convicted the former Miss Turkey, 26, could face two years in prison .
Model has been released on bail pending a trial set for later in the year .
Comes amid crackdown on critical media after Charlie Hebdo shootings .
Buyuksarac is the latest person to be arrested for insulting the president . |
0f438181bde5c56662aca89d6a2f4b45e5b4f8a4 | By . Sara Malm . PUBLISHED: . 07:03 EST, 15 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 10:00 EST, 15 January 2013 . A 20-year-old female cleaner suffered severe injuries after stealing a commuter train and driving it straight into an apartment building in Stockholm, Sweden. The young woman appears to have been unable to stop the train once she reached the end of the line in the exclusive suburb of the Swedish capital at around 2.30am this morning. The woman was going at such speed that the train continued for nearly 100 feet off-rail before it smashed into the apartment block where three families were asleep. Scroll down for video . Going off the rails: The stolen train carried on after the tracks finished - and crashed into the apartment block . The train-thief was trapped inside the driver's cabin for two hours before emergency services were able to cut her from the wreckage. She was conscious but suffered serious injuries and had to be airlifted to Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm. The train was empty and stationary at the time of the theft and none of the five adults reportedly in . the house at the time of the accident were hurt. Train operators Arriva said the woman, who was employed by an external cleaning company, 'really put her foot down'. ‘The train drove straight through the . barrier, so it must have been going a lot faster than these trains . normally do,’ spokesman for Stockholm's Lokaltrafik Fredrik . Cavalli-Björkman said, adding that at normal speed, the train would have . been blocked by the buffer stop. Unconventional alarm: Five people were asleep inside the building when the train smashed into a kitchen at around 2.30am, none were injured . Trapped: The 20-year-old cleaner was stuck inside the wreckage for two hours and had to be taken to hospital where she is in a stable condition . Full frontal: The train was empty of passengers and stationary when it was stolen at 2am Tuesday morning . Viking public transport: Despite snow and the derailed train, service on the line returned to normal this morning . He added: ‘The trains should not be out and . about this late. We are investigating what had happened, who has got the . key and access to these trains.’ 'It's like something out of a movie,' said police spokesman Robert Heurgren. 'We received notification of a . missing train early on Tuesday morning and the next thing it is found . smashed into a home.' Police commander Ulf Lindgren said: 'The fact that we’re not dealing with a . more serious accident is absolutely unbelievable, both for those who . were inside the building and on the train. 'It’s incredible lucky that the situation . isn't worse.' It is not clear how the woman got hold of the . keys to start the train’s engine, but a rail technician at the scene this morning told newspaper Expressen that one of his colleagues ‘lost the keys to this train, is in a . bad state and is blaming himself’. Non-stop: The house is located near the end of the line, but the train was going at such speed that it continued 100ft beyond the barrier and into a kitchen in the apartment building . End of the line: When the tracks finished, the train continued . Stuck in: Emergency services discuss how to begin the removal of the train, firmly embedded inside the building . The first person at the scene was artist . Richard Herrey, known as a third of 1984 Eurovision Song Contest winners . Herrey’s, who lives nearby. 'I am shaking a little bit', he told . Swedish newspaper Expressen. ‘It is a bit scary that a train can jump . that far out and into a residential house.' It was reported this morning that the woman is in a stable condition and at 9am Stockholm Police arrested her for destruction endangering the public. Police and emergency workers are currently working on stabilising the apartment block to prevent the building's collapse before they can remove the wreckage. | 20-year-old cleaner stole train and crashed it into apartment in Stockholm .
Failed to stop in exclusive suburb and went 'off-rail' for 100ft before crash .
Thief stuck inside wreckage for two hours and suffered serious injuries . |
0f44082244c9add548e186e3ee375eedc6079d48 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 19:39 EST, 27 November 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 10:43 EST, 28 November 2012 . The Colorado teen accused of murdering and dismembering 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway as she walked to school has been described as 'intelligent and mature' by jail supervisors while now freshly charged as an adult. Austin Sigg, 17, accused of abducting the fifth grader as she walked in the west Denver suburb of Westminster on October 5, will be moved to an adult jail cell after showing good behaviour a judge ruled on Tuesday. Sigg had been held in isolation at a juvenile facility but the court announced his planned transfer with the teen described as quiet, taking his meals alone and often playing Sudoku. Confessed killer: Austin Reed Sigg, 17, appeared in court on Tuesday where a judge ruled he will be charged as an adult in the murder of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway in October . This photo provided by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office shows Austin Reed Sigg on Tuesday after it was revealed he spends his time alone, playing Sudoku . His lawyers had the option of asking . to move the case to juvenile court, but Judge Stephen Munsinger . said that the defense waived its right to. If convicted as an adult, Sigg, who . turns 18 in January, faces up to life in prison with the possibility of . parole after 40 years. A conviction in juvenile court also . could have brought a stiff sentence. He faced a maximum of seven years . there on each count, which could have put him in prison for decades if . he were ordered to serve his sentences consecutively. Defense attorneys have not said . publicly why they did not seek to move the case to juvenile court. They . declined to comment to the media, citing the judge's gag order. During Tuesday's hearing, Munsinger . also agreed to move Sigg from a juvenile detention facility to an adult . jail at the request of state's juvenile justice system officials. Murdered: Police say Jessica was abducted as she was walking to school on October 5 in the west Denver suburb of Westminster . From missing to murdered: The Colorado . schoolgirl's gruesomely dismembered body was discovered in a park 10 . miles from her home on October 11, six days after she vanished on her . way to school . They said Sigg is being held in an . isolation cell that's not meant for long-term stays and requires . full-time observation because the cell isn't monitored by video. The . officials said he hasn't caused any problems, is respectful and spends . most of his days playing Sudoku. 'I would describe him as very mature . and very intelligent,' said Dave Maynard, who oversees six juvenile . detention centers in the Denver area, including Sigg's. Because of Sigg’s upcoming birthday . Munsinger, also from Westminster, said the teen would have been moved to . adult jail after that date anyway. His lawyers opposed the transfer. 'We very much oppose moving this child to an adult jail,' defense lawyer Katherine Spengler said. Investigation: Westminster officers pictured last month collecting evidence from the home of 17-year-old Austin Reed Sigg . Life cut short: Jessica's body was so dismembered that police had trouble identifying the body . Sigg attended the hearing dressed in a . green uniform jumpsuit and was shackled at his wrists and ankles. He . had some whispered conversations with his lawyers, occasionally nodding. Security was tight. Spectators were screened twice, and 10 deputies stood guard inside the courtroom. Sigg also is additionally accused of attacking a 22-year-old runner, who escaped him in May. In the abduction attempt, the . unidentified young woman was jogging around a lake about a . half-mile from the Ridgeway home when she was grabbed from behind by a man. The . attacker tried to cover her mouth with a chemical-soaked rag but she was . able to escape. From that attack he’s charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempted kidnapping and attempted sexual assault. Sigg is charged with four counts of . murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count each of sexual assault . on a child and robbery in Jessica's abduction and slaying. Heartbroken: Jessica's dad, Jeremiah Bryant, pictured, breaks down during a press conference, as Jessica's mother describes their little girl . Family in mourning: Jessica's father, Jeremiah Bryant (left) and mother, Sarah Ridgeway, (second right) were initially investigated by police but have since been cleared of any involvement . He's also charged with six counts of crime of violence. Prosecutors said he confessed to . kidnapping and killing Jessica and attacking the jogger. It's not clear . if he has made any comment on the charge of sexually assaulting the . girl. In charging documents, prosecutors . said Sigg acted alone in kidnapping, robbing and sexually assaulting . Jessica. The robbery charge involved the girl's backpack and water . bottle, which were found in another suburb three days after she . disappeared. The 22-year-old woman said she was . running in a Westminster park when a man grabbed her from behind and . placed a rag with a chemical smell over her mouth. Investigators have . not said whether the rag was soaked with a chemical meant to subdue her. Police arrested Sigg on Oct. 23. His mother told The Associated Press she called police and her son turned himself in. Sigg's next court appearance will be a . motions hearing scheduled for Dec. 12. A preliminary hearing, where the . judge will decide if the evidence is sufficient evidence to go to . trial, is scheduled for Feb. 22. | Austin Reed Sigg, 17, will be moved to an adult jail cell a judge ruled on Wednesday .
The teen previously confessed to the murder of Jessica along with a second attempted abduction .
Jessica's body was found six days after the 10-year-old went missing during her walk to school on October 5 . |
0f4465d7e64d4313f8a5a41bbd694a6ca0e883a5 | (CNN) -- George McGovern rode the swirling social and political currents of America in the late 1960s and early 1970s to lead a political movement that permanently changed the nation in ways that we still do not fully understand. A mild-mannered Midwestern intellectual, World War II combat hero and son of a Methodist minister, he became the leading edge of a storm promising (or threatening, depending on your point of view) transformative change on a wide range of issues including foreign policy, the electoral process and the rights of women. It was a storm that gathered intense support and equally intense opposition in the senator's run for president against incumbent Richard Nixon in 1972. While the nation's younger and more highly educated rallied to McGovern's standard, the "silent majority" were deeply troubled by much of what they believed to be the McGovern agenda. George McGovern, an unabashed liberal voice, dies . Ultimately, much of what George McGovern campaigned for in 1972 came to pass. Both major political parties have a system of nominating a president that is far more transparent, accountable and democratic than the systems that existed prior to 1972. McGovern was instrumental in rewriting the rules for selecting Democratic convention delegates to include women, minorities and young people. (Women, minorities and gays now have far more rights and protections than they did in 1972.) But the cutting edge of the 1972 campaign was about how America dealt with the rest of the world, how it chose and challenged its adversaries, and in particular, how it would resolve the Vietnam War. By gaining the Democratic nomination, McGovern became the leading opponent of the war; he challenged the usefulness of the 25-year strategy of containing the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China and any other nation committed to or influenced by Communism. McGovern and many other political leaders in both parties argued that in opposing Communism or other types of totalitarianism, the U.S. had to be far more strategic -- that fighting in places like Vietnam, where the outcome would have little real consequence on our nation's global struggle against a failed ideology, squandered American lives and treasure. Greene: McGovern a strong man who overcame defeat . While the Nixon administration and conservative Republicans lambasted McGovern for those views, Nixon eventually signed a peace agreement that ended the war on terms no more favorable than would have been granted had the McGovern-Hatfield Amendment been adopted in 1970 -- an amendment that proposed a complete withdrawal of troops from Vietnam and would have saved thousands of American combat casualties. Here is part of the passionate speech -- bracingly relevant today -- that McGovern delivered on the Senate floor before the vote defeating the amendment: . "Every senator in this chamber is partly responsible for sending 50,000 young Americans to an early grave. This chamber reeks of blood. Every senator here is partly responsible for that human wreckage at Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval and all across our land — young men without legs, or arms, or genitals, or faces or hopes. "There are not very many of these blasted and broken boys who think this war is a glorious adventure. Do not talk to them about bugging out, or national honor or courage. It does not take any courage at all for a congressman, or a senator, or a president to wrap himself in the flag and say we are staying in Vietnam, because it is not our blood that is being shed. But we are responsible for those young men and their lives and their hopes. And if we do not end this damnable war, those young men will some day curse us for our pitiful willingness to let the executive carry the burden that the Constitution places on us. "So before we vote, let us ponder the admonition of Edmund Burke, the great parliamentarian of an earlier day: 'A contentious man would be cautious how he dealt in blood.'" Highlights of George McGovern's life . Today, American businesses are seeking to broaden our commercial relationships with Vietnam, and American military advisers meet with the Vietnamese to suggest strategies that will help that country protect the territory it claims in the South China Sea from possible Chinese aggression. George McGovern never fully recovered from the drubbing he received at the polls in November of 1972. But the path that he pointed to was ultimately the path the country took, and the movement he founded drew thousands of men and women, who committed their lives to public service and who continue to contribute to their communities and their country 40 years later. George McGovern was never the extremist his opponents tried to characterize him as being. His subsequent electoral success in South Dakota was evidence enough of that fact. But he was a man of great vision and grace. He helped to educate a generation about the failures of a rigid and untextured accounting of our allies and our enemies, and about the importance of making smart choices when dealing with dangerous adversaries. Those are lessons as important today as they were in 1970. Politicians pay tribute . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Scott Lilly. | Scott Lilly: McGovern presciently rode swirling political, social currents of late '60s, early '70s .
His views on foreign policy, women's rights and more drew support of young, Lilly says .
McGovern lost to Nixon in 1972, but many of his positions came to pass anyway, Lilly says .
Lilly: McGovern not the extremist his opponents claimed; he was a man of strength, grace . |
0f44dcb5b515fa77246ca2a5b4c2f3c2fd56bc93 | By . Mail Online Reporter . Has God revealed himself in a cloud over Florida? You'll have to be the judge. Writing at the Huffington Post, blogger Fiona Finn posted the picture she said was taken by her boss on his way home from work in Cape Coral, Florida. Finn describes herself as an 'author, mother, cancer survivor, and parodist.' Writing at the Huffington Post, blogger Fiona Finn posted a picture of 'God' she said was taken by her boss on his way home from work in Cape Coral, Florida . 'And what was immediately obvious was the fact that . this cloud was shaped in the image of the Lord,' Finn wrote. 'Also look to the far . right and you'll see another cloud that looks like an angel with a . trumpet in hand. Maybe it's the angel Gabriel blowing a trumpet blast . to indicate the Lord's return to Earth, or maybe not... 'I realize . that some may see this as a sign, an act of God if you will,' she continued. 'There will . be others, those who will doubt. And that's okay. But one thing's for . sure, and that's how remarkably clear this image in the sky really is. Believe it or not, God is said to work in mysterious ways.' Finn's post has sparked a discussion with more than 1,400 comments. This is the second time this summer someone has come forward with a picture they believe may have found the almighty in the sky. This July, The Telegraph reported that amateur photographer Jeremy Fletcher snapped such an image while on an evening walk in Norfolk. 'I realised the image looked remarkably like a face of a man . with a beard so I took a number of shots on my phone,' Fletcher said. 'The face appeared to . be looking back towards the shore.' The Telegraph remained somewhat skeptical, writing that it could just as easily be the face of Sean Connery or Karl Marx. But in Finn's case, she's convinced. 'I for one was blown away by . this photo and yes, I believe it's a real snapshot of God in the clouds,' Finn wrote. | Huffington Post blogger Fionna Finn wrote the image was taken by her boss while driving home .
Finn believes it is an image of God .
Second such image to be captured this summer after an amateur photographer claimed to have snapped the deity in Norfolk . |
0f455b72ed29f32de93ef4e8ea9381adb86edf20 | An Ohio fugitive who goes by the moniker 'Poopgangsta' has been taken into custody as an attempted murder suspect following a month-long search. Tyrice Bowens from East Cleveland was tracked down by the US Marshals Fugitive Task Force after they discovered him at a Travelodge motel in Willoughby around 9.30am yesterday. The 26-year-old, who is a known criminal, was being sought in connection to a Christmas Eve shooting. Tyrice Bowens (above), an Ohio fugitive who goes by the moniker 'Poopgangsta', was taken into custody as an attempted murder suspect after the US Marshals Fugitive Task Force located him . The 26-year-old was tracked down by investigators at a Travelodge motel in Willoughby yesterday around 9.30am (above) The incident occurred at the Blueprint Lounge nightclub in Euclid, according to Cleveland.com. The victim was shot once in the leg and stomach outside of the nightclub, and shots were also fired into surrounding buildings, the Smoking Gun reported. The victim was taken to hospital and had to undergo surgery. It is not known why Bowens goes by the name 'Poopgangsta' on Twitter, and his Instagram account with the same moniker has been deleted. Bowens was sought in connection to shooting incident at Blueprint Lounge nightclub in Euclid (above) on December 24 where the victim was shot once in the leg and stomach . It is not known why Bowens goes by the name 'Poopgangsta' on Twitter, and his Instagram account with the same moniker has been deleted . Bowens has a criminal history which includes burglary and aggravated robbery. In 2013, he along with two other men were charged with first-degree felony aggravated robbery after allegedly robbing a woman at gunpoint for her phone and money. Bowens also has a previous conviction on two counts of burglary from 2012 where he was sentenced to 12 months in jail and three years of probation, according to Cleveland.com. And in a report from 2013, it said he was facing pending charges of aggravated rioting, resisting arrest and escape. | Tyrice Bowens from East Cleveland was sought in connection to shooting incident on Christmas Eve .
Victim was shot once in leg and stomach before undergoing surgery .
Bowens, 26, was discovered at motel yesterday around 9.30am .
He has criminal history including burglary and aggravated robbery .
It is unclear why he goes by moniker 'Poopgangsta' |
0f46cf3a01b59ed3341f7806df3da7acd0c09dd0 | By . Ashley Collman . PUBLISHED: . 22:34 EST, 2 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 22:39 EST, 2 March 2014 . Lucky: Isidro Hernandez Tovar, 70, survivied the deadliest vehicle accident in U.S. history when he was 19-years-old and working as a laborer in California . A 70-year-old man who survived the deadliest vehicle accident in U.S. history spoke to the press for the first time since a train rammed into a bus full of Mexican laborers in 1963. After spending two months in the hospital, Isidro Hernandez Tovar, then 19, returned to his home in Jalisco, Mexico and put the scarring day behind him. Tovar only came forward after reading an article in the Monterey Herald last week about Salvador Flores Barragan - the man believed to be the sole-survivor of the crash. So he called up the Herald and said: 'I'm also a survivor'. Tovar was in the U.S. working in the Bracero program when the crash happened. The . Bracero program was establed in 1942 and ran until 1964, bringing some 5 . million foreign workers to the country to supplement labor shortages . caused by World War II - many of them Mexican nationals. Tovar . says he had to pay 700 pesos to sign up for the program, a fee he was . only able to afford once starting work in California. 'Frankly, . they treated you like a little animal, they sent you from here to . there,' he said. '(The employers) were the ones who did everything. They . would tell you to either go to Coachella, the Imperial Valley or . Salinas. Three of us from my town came to Salinas.' He says he entered the program with three others from his hometown and they were all stationed at a celery farm near Chualar. It . was after a day of cutting and bagging celery that the workers were . boarded onto a bus to be shuttled back to their work camp. The . workers sat on four boards, two in the middle and two on the sides of . the bus. Once everyone was seated the bus began to move, but Tovar had . gotten up to go to the front of the bus. Deadly: Tovar and other foreign laborers were leaving a day of work on a celery farm in September 1963 when their bus was hit by a train. Twenty-eight people died on the scene and four later at the hospital. Above, the site of the accident . He . left a bag tied to the table near the front of the vehicle, and . therefore escaped the direct hit of a train that hit the back of the . bus. He says he didn't hear the train whistle, but rememebrs feeling the impact. When he came to, there were already bodies on the ground covered in orange blankets and then he passed out again. When he woke up again, he started looking for his friend Sixto Robles Urzua but couldn't find him. 'I . walked to the bodies, uncovered the tarps, saw two or three bodies, but . I didn't recognize any of them. They were completely disfigured. I kept . walking and when I couldn't walk anymore, I sat by the edge of the . field. Twenty-eight . people died at the scene and four later at the hospital in what the . National Safety Council has described as the biggest fatal vehicle . accident in U.S. history. Lives lost: Above, the road that bracero farm workers were traveling as they crossed the train tracks and were hit by a northbound train September 17, 1963, in Chualar, California . Tovar was taken to Carmel Hospital, where a woman volunteered to help write his family at home. 'She . told my mom that I was OK, not to be worried. I was all banged up, my . shoulder blade was broken, but I could walk,' Tovar recalls. After . spending two months in the hospital, Tovar returned home to Mexico and . spent the next several years traveling into Mexico City for interviews . with insurance companies about a settlement. In 1968 he was awarded 92,000 pesos. 'During . those visits, I used to see some of the remaining survivors, the widows . and the mothers,' he said. 'After we got the money, I lost track of . everybody. I've always thought about the event, but I lost touch.' Tovar . revisted that dark day two years ago though when he returned to site of . the crash and found nothing - no marker to remember the lost lives. Going back to the scene: Tovar stands next to a sign memorializes the deadly crash . This . September marked the 50th Anniversary of the crash, and there's been . renewed interest in the event especially among immigration rights . actvists who sucessfully lobbied to get a stretch of Highway 101 . dedicated as the Bracero Memorial HighWay. The dedication was held in September, and today there's a sign marking the crash where Tovar found nothing two years ago. The sign reads: 'RIP 32 braceros. Sept. 17, 1963. 4:25 PM.' On . Thursday, Tovar traveled back to the accident site with his wife and . son to talk with researchers about the accident and his part in the . Bracero program. He . also appeared with Flores Barragan, the only other survivor of the . crash, at a ceremony honoring 10 former braceros at Stanford university . the same day. | Isidro Hernandez Tovar was 19-years-old and working on a celery farm at the time of the crash .
Now 70, Tovar decided to come forward after reading a story that inaccurately identified another man as the sole-survivor of the crash .
He called the Monterey Herald to say he too survived the accident .
A train crashed into a bus carrying Tovar and other workers leaving the farm on September 17, 1963 .
But Tovar had gone to the front of the bus to get a bag and escaped the direct impact .
Twenty-eight people died on the scene, and four later at the hospital . |
0f487eef232105f4a4d5621ee411086aefd93a99 | She has come under fire for the 'shortcomings' of her Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act scheme. Now, more students and parents have posted photos of Michelle Obama's 'measly' school lunches. The images, which were all posted on Twitter with the hashtag #ThanksMichelleObama, range from a slice of moldy salami in a wrap and a green hotdog to a small portion of salad with a side of cheese. They come as the School Nutrition Association has called on Congress to amend the First Lady's school meal restrictions, which have led to '1.4million fewer children choosing school lunch each day'. Scroll down for video . 'Measly': More students have posted photos of Michelle Obama's 'measly' school lunches. The images, which were all tweeted with the hashtag #ThanksMichelleObama, include a slice of moldy salami in a wrap (above) Not impressed: And Ella, a student in the Fairfax County Public Schools network, tweeted an image of a small bowl of salad and cheese, with the caption: 'This is the salad I got today #FCPS #ThanksMichelleObama' 'Thanks Michelle Obama': The Twitter pictures - including this image of a moldy hotdog - come as the School Nutrition Association has called on Congress to amend the 51-year-old First Lady's school meal restrictions . US First Lady: On Thursday, Mrs Obama appealed for parents to do more to help fight childhood obesity . The SNA, which represents 55,000 school food service professionals, released its 2015 Position Paper last week as lawmakers continue to prepare to reauthorize the widely-criticized scheme. In the recent batch of photos, one female student tweeted a photo of a slice of moldy salami and another piece of meat in a wrap, with the caption: 'Had a yummy lunch today guys! Salami and mold.' Meanwhile, another student, Cole Sahr, posted an image of what appear to be two thin wraps filled with meat, with a small side portion of carrots. In his caption, he deemed the meal 'pathetic'. Mariah Dilbeck also uploaded a picture of her school lunch, comprising apricot slices, a piece of toast, a carton of juice, a smidgen of butter and a bread roll that was apparently 'cold'. And Ella, a student in the Fairfax County Public Schools network, tweeted an image of a small bowl of salad and cheese, with the caption: 'This is the salad I got today #FCPS #ThanksMichelleObama.' In its Position Paper, the SNA laid out the devastating effect the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010's limits has had on the number of students participating in the National School Lunch Program. Angry: The SNA, which represents 55,000 school food service professionals, released its 2015 Position Paper last week, Above, student Katie Caldwell posted the picture of a not-as-expected 'spicy chicken wrap' 'Pathetic': Another student, Cole Sahr, posted an image of what appear to be two thin wraps filled with meat (pictured), with a small side portion of carrots. In his accompanying caption, he deemed the meal 'pathetic' Another let down: The SNA, which represents 55,000 school food service professionals, released its 2015 Position Paper last week as lawmakers continue to prepare to reauthorize the widely-criticized scheme . 'USDA data shows that since the new rules were implemented, 1.4 million fewer children choose school lunch each day,' according to the release, obtained by EAG.org. 'Declining student participation reduces meal program revenue for schools already stressed by higher food and labor costs under the new regulations.' In the release, the SNA suggests several fixes to the scheme. These include increasing the per-meal reimbursement for school lunches by 35 per cent, according to the site. They also include maintaining Target 1 sodium level reduction and suspending the implementation of further targets, and ensuring at least half of grains offered are whole grain rich, The Hill reported. Other suggestions include permitting school food managers to decide if students should take a fruit or vegetable as part of a reimbursable meal, and easing restrictions on a la carte food items. 'Cold bread roll': Mariah Dilbeck also uploaded a picture of her school lunch (pictured), comprising apricot slices, a piece of toast, a carton of juice, a smidgen of butter and a bread roll that was apparently 'cold'. Mrs Obama made herself a national emblem of healthier eating in 2010 with a legislative push for more fruit, vegetables and whole grains in school meals, along with less sodium, sugar and fat. School nutritionists and food service workers, and their unions, hailed the law's passage but have since turned on Mrs Obama, saying her caloric inflexibility has sparked a downturn in lunch sales. Many school districts, they say, are now losing money on food instead of turning a profit that pays for books, computers and football-field scoreboards. In a news release, SNA CEO Patricia Montague said: 'Some of USDA’s regulations under the law have unnecessarily increased costs and waste for school meal programs and caused many students to swap healthy school meals for junk food fare' Last year, Mrs Obama vowed to fight for the current school meal restrictions 'until the bitter end to make sure that every kid in this country continues to have the best nutrition that they can have.'. According to Fox News, she said: 'The last thing that we can afford to do right now is play politics with our kids' health, especially when we're finally starting to see some progress on this issue.' And on Thursday, she appealed for parents to do more to help during a visit to New York. She told members of the public to 'dive into' the fight against childhood obesity - and listed a number of specific ways in which parents can help in that battle, NEWSOK reported. In March, around 1,000 school nutrition professionals from across America will descend on Capitol Hill as part of the 43rd annual Legislative Action Conference's 'Charge the Hill' campaign. | More students have posted photos online of their 'measly' school meals .
Include slice of moldy salami served in a wrap to a small portion of salad .
One student tweeted: 'Had a yummy lunch today guys! Salami and mold'
Another described their Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act meal as 'pathetic'
Comes as SNA has called on Congress to amend the First Lady's limits .
Mrs Obama formerly vowed to fight for restrictions 'until the bitter end' |
0f48bdbbea3e00e1e860954c4c516d393dd7d6cf | (CNN) -- Super Bowl XLVII ground to a halt early in the third quarter Sunday night, when about half of the lights in the Superdome went out. Lights in the New Orleans stadium's upper tier went dark with the Baltimore Ravens leading the San Francisco 49ers 28-6, minutes after the Ravens' Jacoby Jones ran back the kickoff that opened the second half a record 108 yards for a touchdown. About 10 minutes later, an announcement inside the Superdome indicated that the lights would be restored "momentarily." A short time later, lights began coming back on incrementally. Beyonce lights up the halftime show before lights go out . During the outage and the slow restoration of lights, players stayed on the field, talking to one another and stretching, waiting for play to resume. Spectators largely followed requests to remain in their seats. Jeff Darlington, a reporter for the league-funded NFL Network, tweeted out a picture showing "the outside lights ... completely out. Very, very eerie." A spokesman for Entergy, the utility that powers the Superdome and much of the area, said the problem was confined to the stadium itself. "We are providing power to the dome," said Entergy spokesman Philip Allison. "Power in (the rest of) New Orleans is fine." Play finally resumed at 8:10 p.m. (9:10 p.m. ET), about 34 minutes after the last play according to CBS, which broadcast the game. The NFL subsequently issued a brief statement that acknowledged the problem but did not say what happened: "Stadium authorities are investigating the cause of the power outage." Superdome spokesman Eric Eagan, meanwhile, was even more succinct, saying, "We sincerely apologize for the incident." Whatever the reason, the restoration of the lights seemed to energize the 49ers. In about 10 minutes on the play clock, the 49ers notched three scores -- a 31-yard touchdown reception by Michael Crabtree, a 6-yard touchdown run by Frank Gore and a 34-yard field goal by David Akers -- to tighten a once-daunting gap and make the score 28-23 at the end of the third quarter. Twice in the fourth quarter, San Francisco had chances to pull even or go-ahead. The first was a 2-point conversion attempt that could have tied the score 31-31, but failed. Then, with about two minutes to go, the 49ers had four chances to score a go-ahead touchdown from inside the 10-yard line. That didn't happen either. And when the final whistle sounded, the Ravens were basking in the Superdome limelight -- all of them, by then -- after their 34-31 Super Bowl win. Epic returns, faltering lights, seesaw battles -- follow the game here . CNN's Jeff Kepnes, Greg Botelho, Jillian Martin and Chandler Friedman contributed to this report. | NEW: The 49ers rally after the blackout, but fall just short as the Ravens win 34-31 .
About half of the Superdome's lights go out during the third quarter of Super Bowl XLVII .
An Entergy official says the problem is tied to the dome; the rest of New Orleans "is fine"
Play resumes after a roughly 34-minute break; NFL says it's investigating the cause . |
0f4aa303e95ec90799c95b6ff68dd49064218839 | A surge in testosterone in newborn boys just hours after birth could be the solution to the age-old mystery that is the difference between the male and female brains. Called the Hershey Kiss protein by researchers, the surge only affects the male brain, a new study by the University of Otago has found. The study published in the Journal of Neuroscience observed a small group of neurons linked to fertility are only active in male newborn mice, and not females. Kisspeptin - where the 'Kiss' in the name originated - is a small protein which stimulates a certain type of neurons, a process that researchers found only occurred in males. New research suggests a release of testosterone shortly after baby boys are born could account for the differences between the male and female brains . These neurons are Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), and are cells that control the release of reproductive hormones from the brain's pituitary gland. The molecule was originally named after the Hershey Kiss chocolate by US cancer researchers based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, who at the time were unaware of its role in fertility. The Otago study also found that when kisspeptin binds to specific nerves it kick-starts a brief but powerful testosterone surge in male babies within five hours of birth, causing their brains to develop differently from females right form the get-go. This could have implications on the neurological disorders from which men and women suffer. Called Hershey Kisses, the protein could also shed light on the neurological disorders from which men and women suffer . The study's leader Allan Herbison said the findings highlight the role kisspeptin can play in controlling fertility. 'Not only does kisspeptin signalling act as a master switch for puberty and ovulation, we now show how in the first hours of drawing breath it also triggers our brains to develop differently according to our sex,' he said. The study was carried out by Professor Herbison with Jenny Clarkson from the Centre for Neuroendocrinology in collaboration with researchers in Canada and Germany. | A new study has found a surge of testosterone released into newborn baby boys' brains .
Named Hersheys Kiss, the protein is not evident in the female brain .
This discovery could play a role in understanding neurological diseases men and women suffer from . |
0f4ae27d439e676c2ec32c22c717a1d9310cde99 | By . Associated Press Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 03:52 EST, 28 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 08:14 EST, 28 November 2013 . Annmarie Klein knows she's blessed to have survived the tornado that leveled her family's central Illinois home. She understands most of the things they lost - the Jacuzzi, 60-inch TVs, diamond jewelry, the convertible and other vehicles - can be replaced. That's not true for a mint green box that contained three cards - to her, 'the most important thing in my house.' Mrs Klein and her family in front of the fireplace mantle at their Washington, Illinois, home after it was destroyed by a November 17 tornado. From left are Logan Klein, 13; Brady Klein, 11; Morgan Klein, 11; Annmarie Klein, 41; Griffin Klein, two; Eric Klein, 44; and Owen Klein, five . The cards swept away by the November 17 twister that ripped through Washington, Illinois, . were personalized by Klein's brother, Paul McLaughlin, with notes for . each of his three children before his 2005 death from colon cancer at . age 39. Klein said her . brother, a suburban Boston resident who fought cancer for six years, . entrusted her to give the cards in sealed envelopes to his kids someday . 'so that when he was gone they could still remember their dad.' 'I feel like I let him down,' an anguished Klein said through tears this week. 'I'd do anything to find those cards.' The . search has consumed her since the storm bowled into her Tazewell County . town. The separation she's experiencing doesn't surprise Bill Benson, . administrator of a Facebook group page set up to rejoin folks in the . county with property that was whirled away. 'These . storms typically have tops of thousands of feet, so theoretically . things could be lofted up to that height and carried,' said Benson, a . photojournalist from Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks area. 'I'm sure as . farmers go to work their fields next spring, things will continue to be . recovered unless they're buried beneath topsoil.' Klein . would rather not wait that long, already frayed by the ordeal that . began the Sunday she saw the tornado zeroing in on her home and raced . with her husband and children to a basement safe room. Brady Klein, 11, walks through the rubble of his family's home in Washington . A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary stands amid the ruins of the former home of Klein and her family . Annmarie Klein hugs two of her sons, five-year-old Owen, right, and two-year-old Griffin . 'The kids were screaming. We were screaming,' she said. As the parents shielded the kids, 'we just prayed as a family.' Seconds . later, there was silence and sunlight. The Kleins, some still in their . pajamas, emerged through their walkout basement and found their home . destroyed, the twister having hurled a pickup truck through the living . room where the family had been just moments earlier. 'There . was that feeling of emptiness, the kind that comes when the kids look . at you with faces of complete fear,' said Klein, 41. A . couple of days later, while holed up in her family's hotel room, she . suddenly remembered the cards her brother gave her. They had been . individually wrapped in plastic and tucked inside the box. The . cards were sealed in neon pink and yellow envelopes. Each was . designated for one of McLaughlin's children - Brendan, Cameron and Erin, . who are now ages 10 to 18. 'My . brother told me, before dying, to give those cards to his kids when the . time is right - their 18th birthday, 21st birthday, the day they got . married,' Klein said. 'I hadn't really decided when the right time was.' Devastation: The path of a tornado that hit the western Illinois town of Washington . A local resident sits among the ruins after a tornado struck in the town of Washington in Illinois . At least 16 people were killed during tornado attacks, according to the National Weather Service . Even without the cards, . it's unlikely McLaughlin's kids would ever forget their dad, a man who . poured himself into raising funds for children's charities, particularly . those benefiting kids with cancer. McLaughlin, . who worked as a Fidelity Investments software analyst, was a skilled . hockey player and mentored his children in sports. Not long before his . death, McLaughlin got a surprise visit from NHL Hall of Famer and former . Boston Bruins player Ray Bourque at the McLaughlin family's Rockland, . Massachussets, home. Bourque played hockey in the street with McLaughlin's kids as their dad, weakened by cancer, played goalie in a chair. Residents of Washington, a downstate town of 15,000, were left to pick up the pieces and begin recovering from the disaster . The storm killed three people in Massac Country, two in Washington County and one in the city of Washington, in Tazewell County . Bits of American flags and insulation from destroyed houses clung to trees that had been stripped of most of their branches and remaining leaves by the twister . 'I'm . lucky,' Boston Herald columnist Mike Barnicle quoted McLaughlin as . saying in chronicling the day. 'I've had a wonderful life, a beautiful . family, three great kids, my own home.' It . was a bright spot for the family's life, and now Klein wants to find . those cards to ensure that McLaughlin's children have something more . from their father to hold dear. Strangers have joined her search. While . helping with Washington's tornado cleanup, Illinois Wesleyan University . women's golf coach Kathy Niepagen spotted Klein desperately searching . her property, looking for the cards. 'I . felt so bad for this lady. She had such despair in her eyes, and she . didn't care about anything else,' Niepagen recently recalled. 'I just . gave her a hug, walked away and said, `Let's see what we can do.'' Niepagen . turned to Facebook, posting on the Benson-run 'Tazewell County Document . & Photograph Recovery' group page an appeal for anyone 'from . Washington to Chicago' to be on the lookout for the cards. More than . 25,000 Facebook users, some as far away as North Carolina, had shared . Niepagen's posting on their pages as of Wednesday. Klein . said she just revealed to her brother's widow this week that the cards . are missing. She said her sister-in-law told her she understood and . forgave her. 'I believe . we're going to find them,' said Klein, who's Catholic and said she prays . to Saint Anthony, the finder of lost things. 'I have faith.' | Box of cards swept away by twister that flattened Washington, Illinois .
They were written by Annmarie Klein Klein's brother, Paul McLaughlin .
Mr McLaughlin died in 2005 death colon cancer at .
the age 39 .
His cards had notes for .
each of his three children before he died .
The family are now desperately trying to find them in the wreckage . |
0f4af7cce4f9cca139809f88627ce0d1df29bef6 | By . Katy Winter . A solicitor from Croydon who wasn't content on just having a successful 9 to 5 career has certainly become high flying in her spare time too, as a champion cheer leader. Chantelle Gough's top job sees her battling for clients in court and working long hours for a medical negligence firm. But she's just as skilled at winning cases as she is at winning cheerleading trophies and has just returned from competing at the World Championships in Florida. As well as being a lawyer Chantelle dedicates her spare time to her cheerleading . Chantelle (right) has just returned from competing at the World Championships in Florida . Chantelle, 27, took up cheerleading aged 16 after years of gymnastics and cheered her way through her degree at the University of Essex. She even set up her own squad the Sparks Elite and her current team the Surrey Starlets were crowned national champions in 2013. Last year she finally achieved her dream of attending the World Championships where her team placed 5th and they were back again for a second time this April. But all the while, Chantelle was living a parallel life as an ambitious young lawyer. Chantelle took up cheerleading aged 16 after years of gymnastics and cheered her way through her degree at the University of Essex . Her dream of working in court as a top level solicitor has finally come true and she now battles to get compensation for people who have suffered from medical negligence. Despite her double life she was anxious about telling some colleagues about her hobby in case they looked down on her unusual extra-curricular activity. Thankfully, most of her workmates couldn't be more understanding, even if they are a bit surprised when she pulls her uniform out of her bag among piles of legal papers and law books. Chantelle, pictured third right with The Surrey Starlets, is rarely without her laptop and phone at practices and competitions . Sparks Elite, the team, which Chantelle set up in East London . Her busy life means Chantelle regularly dashes from court with her trainers under her arm and her backpack over her shoulders on the way to training up to five times a week. Likewise, when at competitions she's rarely without her laptop and phone as she never lets either of her passions take a back seat. Chantelle said: 'It is hard to juggle both sometimes but I couldn't give up either - I love law and cheerleading too much - It's both my dreams come true at once. Chantelle often has to switch quickly between cheerleading and her job as a lawyer . 'If I'm court the next day I often come back from training and then end up working in the breaks or late at night when I get in but it's worth it. 'I often have to switch quickly between the two. 'Sometimes it will be as quick a transformation as taking a witness statement or leaning over to counsel to give instructions one minute, and changing into my trainers the next. 'Most people at work know about my secret hobby but people were very sceptical at the beginning. 'I didn't tell some of the partners because I didn't want to be put in the bimbo box, but I'm proud to be showing that cheerleaders care more about the skimpy outfits and the fake tan. 'It's very athletic and I've had everything from broken fingers to bruised cheeks doing the lifts and tumbles that make up our routines. 'Although if I could run around in trainers all day that would be great but instead it's heels and a black suit for my 9-to-5 and then my purple sparkly cheer uniform.' | Chantelle Gough started cheerleading at age 16 after doing gymnastics .
Cheered throughout her law degree at University of Essex .
Now works as a solicior for a medical negligence firm .
Still fits in 5 practice sessions a week and travels to competitions .
Her squad just competed in World Championships in Florida . |
0f4b521ea8984f50b3fbdd306f7dddac332a7620 | Out of England's World Cup squad, out of contract at Chelsea in the summer; but Ashley Cole will not be out of options. Cole has been the best left-back in the country for over a decade and, at times, arguably the best in world football. But what is the next move for the 33-year-old? Where next? Ashley Cole is resigned to leaving Chelsea this summer as his contract ends . Three World Cups, two European Championships, 107 England caps, three Premier League titles, seven FA Cups, a Champions League and Europa League trophy, one League Cup and three Community Shields. Wherever he goes, he'll need a separate removal van just for the silverware. Options in England appear more limited, but are not out of the question. With Luke Shaw set for a move to Manchester United, the only other viable clubs that could offer Cole the standard of football he would require to remain in this country are Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool. City aren't short of left-backs, Brendan Rodgers has shown faith in young English full-back Jon Flanagan, but Arsene Wenger could do with a replacement for the injury-prone Kieran Gibbs and the inconsistent Nacho Monreal. Would Cole really return to a club where fans dubbed him 'Cashley' when he moved to Chelsea for far bigger wages? Stranger transfers have happened in football. Finished: Cole retired from international football having been left out of England's World Cup squad . Happy days: Cole could be set for a return to Arsenal, who he left to join Chelsea . Cole has had a renaissance at the end of this season, starting in big games against Liverpool and Atletico Madrid, and Chelsea Manager Jose Mourinho did not rule out keeping Cole, along with veteran team-mates Frank Lampard and John Terry. ‘Was the Norwich game the last game for Cole, Lampard and Terry? I don’t think so,’ Mourinho said. Cole's reaction after that final game of the season at Stamford Bridge when he burst into tears suggested otherwise. And, after his eight-year association with the club, he might fancy pastures new. When his representatives negotiated . his latest deal last year, worth just under £200,000-per-week but . greatly dependant on bonuses which he is not getting sitting on the . bench, they held tentative talks with Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain . and Manchester United. On the continent: Real manager Carlo Ancelotti may move for the left-back having always been an admirer . Cole has considered the idea of moving abroad in the past. In his 2006 autobiography 'My Defence' he wrote: 'I’d entertained European thoughts. Ask any player with ambition; they’ll all do it from time to time. 'Nothing concrete, just tossing clubs around like a kid dreaming impossible dreams: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Inter Milan.' Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelloti is fond of Cole and knows him well from his spell in charge of Chelsea from 2009-2011 when they won the league and FA Cup double in 2010. Ancelloti has spoken in the past about his admiration for the left-back's work ethic. Uncertain future: John Terry earned a new contract, but Cole and Frank Lampard are yet to receive an offer . Inter Milan are in the process of overhauling their squad after a terrible Serie A campaign, although Cole said in the same autobiography that he was not keen on a move to Italy. The MLS is becoming an increasingly attractive prospect to former stars heading into the twilight of their careers since the likes of David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Jermain Defoe, Rafael Marquez and Robbie Keane crossed the Atlantic. The New York Red Bulls and LA Galaxy are both understood to be interested and Mourinho hinted earlier in the season that Henry, a former team-mate of Cole at Arsenal, was trying to persuade him to make the move to New York. 'Maybe Thierry is doing with the Red Bulls the same as David [Beckham] did with Miami,' Mourinho said. '[Cole] has [a future at Chelsea], but maybe Thierry has a better proposal.' | Ashley Cole's contract is up at Chelsea, but he still has options .
Liverpool, Man City, Man United, Real Madrid and even former side Arsenal could move for the left-back this summer .
Cole was left out of Roy Hodgson's 23-man England World Cup squad .
Left-back has previously stated how he would like to play in Europe . |
0f4d5355752aedb07556886a82eba712694cc8a9 | (CNN) -- To look at Julianne Talley, a statuesque 61-year-old beauty, one would never know she has conquered both obesity and cancer. The Ms. Senior Florida contestant glided through the Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center with the humility of someone who underestimates her beauty. Little did she know, she was about to be crowned Ms. Senior Florida 2014. Talley's platform is one of self-acceptance and self-improvement: "It's a message to the woman in the audience who thinks 'I'm always going to be heavy' or 'I can't dance'... yes you can," she said during dress rehearsal. While we're accustomed to beauty pageants featuring women in their 20s strutting in bikinis, the Ms. Senior America pageant seeks women with "dignity, maturity and inner beauty," who are older than 60. There's no upper age limit and no bikinis are required. The oldest contestant in Florida this year was 86. Pageant organizers Hedi Headley and Helen McKnight worked for months gathering contestants from around the state of Florida. The 15 women who were selected rehearsed almost every week between January and March. The ladies were judged on their interview, philosophy of life, talent and gown presentation during the March 29 competition. The Ms. Senior America Pageant has been around for 35 years, but the state level competitions vary in their founding year. Headly and McKnight originally founded the Ms. Senior Arizona Pageant in 1990, when they weren't even 50 yet themselves. "We saw a need to encourage the older adult and especially women that feel they become invisible as they age," said Headly. Semi-retired in Florida, Headly and McKnight took over running the Ms. Senior Florida Pageant last year. The contestants evolved before Headly's eyes. "Most of the ladies have never even talked into a microphone before rehearsals," she said. The granny of yesteryear, sitting in a rocking chair knitting, is a thing of the past if the pageant is any indication. Today, women over 60 are rocking it on stage: singing, dancing, sharing their inventions and even belly dancing at senior beauty pageants around the country. The Ms. Senior pageants give contestants a chance to do something many of them never dreamed of doing in their 20s, 30s or even 50s -- take the spotlight and share their wisdom and talent with hundreds of people. In addition to the crown, Talley won "Best Talent" for singing and playing "Sentimental Journey" on the piano. Talley faced a long journey to get where she is today. Overweight most of her life, 10 years ago, she lost 100 pounds and kept it off. "I decided to enter the competition after a lot of thought and prayer, when I realized that it was an opportunity to reach my dream to touch women across the country, to inspire them to take better care of themselves, and to set goals, dream dreams, and do what it takes to reach those goals," said Talley . She wants to encourage other women to become physically fit even as seniors, which is a message she will take to the Ms. Senior America Pageant this October at the Resorts Hotel Casino in Atlantic City. "It has been my dream to reach women across the country to encourage them that we 'ain't dead yet'!" said Talley. The second runner-up was Ann Palle, a 60-year-old baton twirler who leads a 105-person senior citizen baton twirling team that performs in about 55 shows a year. The oldest twirler is 95. "It's nice to get together with these ladies because we all bring something very different, but this pageant brings us together," Palle said. Each of these women has a distinct philosophy, and if laughter is the key to longevity, Lauren Luccini "Miss Congeniality," will live forever. "When I used to date, men used to open the car door for you," she told the audience in her standup comedy routine during the talent competition. "Now, I'm glad if they even stop the car." Then there was, Julie Dohan, who at 81 went from modeling to art dealing to inventing, but believes "the best is yet to come." Raven-haired contestant Lucille DiBartolo is a 79-year-old Mediterranean beauty who still gets carded for proof of her senior citizenship. (Full disclosure: This lovely lady is my grandmother, and I attended the pageant to support her.) Encouraging young women to be more confident, she added that, "it's not who you are but who you perceive yourself to be." Last year's winner, Betsy Horn, stopped by to encourage the women. An ovarian cancer survivor, Horn wrote a book, "A Little Touch of Cancer and How it Made Me Well," and encourages women to share their inspirational stories, which can come from hardship. "You can't get through life without having some event that happens that challenges one deeply and emotionally," she said. "As you get to know the ladies, you realize that everyone does have a story and that they were survivors." Horn had high praise for 2014's Ms. Senior Florida contestants: "I came away this year thinking these women all have a lot to offer, so they should all get out there and do something!" | The Ms. Senior Florida Pageant was held March 29 in Vero Beach, Florida .
Contest is open to women 60 and older; the winner goes to the Ms. Senior America pageant .
Contestants are judged on an interview, their life philosophy, and evening gown presentation .
Winner Julianne Talley described medical battles and her desire to inspire . |
0f4df11914b7687952c46ea47a450887ee360096 | A former Hollywood starlet who worked alongside the likes of Beyoncé, Ryan Reynolds and Kylie Minogue, has faced court on charges of aggravated burglary. Aysen Unlu, better known as her stage name Janet Edwards, stands accused of allegedly breaking into a South Yarra home in Melbourne alongside notorious Mongols motorcycle gang member Shane Scott Bowden, 42, the Herald Sun reports. In her former life, the 39-year-old appeared as a dancer in the music videos of Kylie Minogue and Britney Spears as well as American rappers Usher and Ja Rule, according to her IMDB profile. Scroll down for video . Aysen Unlu, better known as her stage name Janet Edwards, stands accused of allegedly breaking into a South Yarra home in Melbourne . She also worked as a personal trainer for celebrities like Beyoncé and Shakira and played a minor role in a 2006 Hollywood film Smokin' Aces which featured Ryan Reynolds and Ben Affleck. On Wednesday, Unlu faced the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on charges of 'aggravated burglary, assault, intentionally cause injury, recklessly cause injury, theft and going equipped to steal'. She and Bowden were dressed in all camouflage and hiding behind a tree when they were arrested by police, who also found night-vision goggles at the scene of the burglary-turned-stabbing, according to The Age. An out of sessions hearing was told that the duo became involved in a scuffle at their victims' home when the residents woke to find a man standing at their bed with a knife while demanding money at 4am. In her former life, the 39-year-old appeared as a dancer in the music videos of Kylie Minogue and Britney Spears (right) as well as working as a personal trainer for celebrities like Beyonce (left) and Shakira . She was arrested alongside notorious Mongols motorcycle gang member Shane Scott Bowden, 42, who was also charged with aggravated burglary and assault . Police alleged that two male victims received stab wounds to their hands before a female victim managed to discard the offender's knife. Unlu and Bowden managed to escape with up to $2000 worth of cash and stolen items, including cosmetics and car keys, before they were arrested by police, according to the Herald Sun. The court was also told that the former dancer suffered from depression and anxiety which lead to what her lawyer called 'mini heart attacks'. Bowden has been charged with aggravated burglary, assault, intentionally cause injury, recklessly cause injury, theft and going equipped to steal. The pair will reappear in court in April. The duo faced the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Wednesday and will reappear in court in April . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. | Aysen Unlu, 39, has been charged with aggravated burglary and assault .
She was formerly known as dancer and fitness instructor Janet Edwards who appeared in Hollywood film Smokin' Aces alongside Ryan Reynolds .
Unlu has appeared in court on Wednesday after allegedly breaking into a South Melbourne home .
She was arrested alongside notorious Mongols motorcycle gang member Shane Scott Bowden, who was also charged with burglary and assault . |
0f4fa61c909c1651b97b0bc7fd7c7880b8cbb6dc | By . Laura Clark, Education Correspondent . Staff at Ofsted have run up bills of nearly £4million at the taxpayer’s expense on luxury hotels and gourmet meals. Spending covered by the quango’s credit cards included stays in a five-star resort in Cyprus, dining at some of London’s finest restaurants and drinking in champagne bars. The watchdog, in charge of inspecting schools in England, disclosed the credit card bills under the Freedom of Information Act. They were run up by around 450 Ofsted officials and inspectors over the past five years. Lap of luxury: The Colombia Beach Resort in Cyprus where Ofsted inspectors spent £1,109 . Staff spent £1,108.72 at the five-star Columbia Beach Resort in Cyprus, which has a private beach and numbers celebrities including Kim Cattrall and Jack Dee among previous guests. Ofsted said the stay was linked to the inspection of a British military school in Cyprus. A bill for £5,297.97, plus £80.80 for dining, was run up in nine months at a private members’ club, the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall, London. Further spending included £470.49 at Les Deux Salons, run by two Michelin-starred chefs, and £323.40 at the Gordon Ramsay-run Savoy Grill. Ofsted said the bills were run up carrying out inspections, attending international conferences or on fact-finding missions, and include fuel and parking as well as meals and hotels. It insisted that its policy is ‘very clear’ that alcohol cannot be claimed for. It added that £585 charged to a card during a stay at the Grand Hotel Aminta in Sorrento, Italy was a ‘personal transaction made in error’ and was repaid. Details emerged at a turbulent time for Ofsted, which came under fire earlier this week with claims that its judgments were less reliable ‘than flipping a coin’. Spending on its credit cards ballooned to £1.63million in 2009/10 before dropping to £501,154 in 2011/12, the figures show. But the sums are creeping up again despite a pledge by David Cameron to crack down on spending on government-funded cards. Ofsted’s credit card bill is expected to reach £727,963 for 2013/14, bringing the total for the past five years to £3.9million. Jonathan Isaby, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘Ofsted is meant to spend its time and budget inspecting schools, not on fine dining in the West End. When its inspectors do have to travel they should stay in modest accommodation and certainly not five-star hotels or private members’ clubs.’ An Ofsted spokesman said: ‘Ofsted inspectors, by the nature of their work, spend a great deal of time away from home and the office. 'There are robust controls in place to ensure the strict rules governing business expense claims by our employees are adhered to. Our policy is very clear that alcohol cannot be claimed.’ The Policy Exchange think-tank claimed this week that Ofsted inspectors’ judgments were often unreliable, saying: ‘Ofsted needs to operate in an environment where... it can achieve more with less.’ Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw yesterday promised a series of reforms to the way the quango operates. These include shorter and more frequent school inspections, to raise confidence in its processes. Thousands of schools face major disruption next week as teachers stage a national strike in a long-running dispute over pay and pensions. More than half of schools across England and Wales are expected to operate reduced timetables or even close on Wednesday as members of the National Union of Teachers stage a one-day walkout. Head teachers warned that many schools would be unable to open. | Over five years 450 inspectors spent £4million on dining and hotels .
Total of £5,298 spent on stays at Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall .
£470 spent on Les Deux restaurant, run by two Michelin starred chefs . |
0f4fb8483027a352aab9366ad7295508ff7f5b5b | Mother Trudy Collins, 44, stole her daughter's £20,000 inheritance after convincing her that she would keep her bank card and pin number safe . She had been saving it to pay for her wedding and a deposit on her first home. Denvar Bathie, 23, had put aside £20,000, inherited from her late father, for her big day and resolved not to use a penny of it until then. So she was devastated a year later when she discovered her mother had stolen the money and spent it on herself. Trudy Collins, 44, had persuaded her daughter to hand over her bank card and PIN – claiming she was helping Miss Bathie avoid any temptation of using it. But she embarked on a spending spree, using the inheritance to pay for luxury holidays, shopping trips and hotels. Over a year, Collins accessed Miss Bathie’s account 173 times, spending almost £20,000. She was caught out during a trip to Egypt in June last year when her daughter’s bank became suspicious and queried the high number of withdrawals. Miss Bathie told Preston Crown Court how she ‘collapsed in tears’ when she realised the extent of her mother’s betrayal. ‘I trusted my mother more than anyone else and I believed her every word,’ she said in a statement. ‘But the trust disappeared there and then. I was betrayed and heartbroken. ‘She went behind my back spending my savings which was my future … my mother came up with the idea [of keeping the bank card] so I wouldn’t be tempted to spend it. Knowing how useless I was at saving, I handed it to her.’ Miss Bathie’s father Michael, who had split from Collins, died aged 45 in 2013, the court heard. He left a legacy of £90,000 to be shared between his three children. Miss Bathie opened a savings account for £20,000 of her £30,000 inheritance and then handed over her bank card to her mother for safekeeping in her attic. The bride-to-be added: ‘Sadly the card never went into the attic. It had its own place in Trudy’s purse the whole time and she had been using it for herself.’ Miss Bathie intended to use the money for a mortgage and her wedding in the Lake District. Bride-to-be Miss Bathie, 23, pictured above, was saving her inheritance to fund her wedding and to save up for a deposit on a house . Emma Keogh, prosecuting, said: ‘Her mother suggested that she gave her the card, even saying “you will spend it”. Miss Bathie thought it was a good idea. She trusted her implicitly.’ But in June last year Miss Bathie got a call from the fraud department at NatWest bank, querying a payment to a cinema and an Amazon transaction. She confronted her mother who admitted she had taken the money but insisted she had every intention of paying it back. Miss Keogh added: ‘Denvar was completely shocked … As time progressed it is clear her mother was using the account as her own … to pay for whatever she needed.’ Collins, of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, claimed she had taken £8,000, saying she was ‘too embarrassed’ to ask for the money. Miss Bathie, pictured left outside Preston Crown Court and right taking a selfie, suspected nothing until she received a call from the bank . Collins was given a 12 month jail term suspended for two years by Recorder John Corless at Preston Crown Court (pictured above), who branded the theft a 'serious breach of trust' But police revealed she had stolen £19,310.06. Among the transactions were £890 to Monarch Air, £263 to On The Beach holidays, £448 in Selfridges and £179 on the Hilton International Hotel. Defence counsel Rosalind Emsley-Smith said Collins ‘lost the plot’ when her home was repossessed after the breakdown of her marriage and her ex-husband’s death. Collins was given a 12-month jail term suspended for two years with 150 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay Miss Bathie £100. Recorder John Corless said: ‘This is indeed a tragic case and a serious breach of trust. Your daughter trusted you implicitly but you were using an account which was simply not yours.’ | Denvar Bathie, 23, inherited £30,000 when her father died in 2013 .
She wanted to save up for a house and for her forthcoming wedding .
Her mother persuaded her to hand over her card and pin for 'safe keeping'
Trudy Collins, 44, used her daughter's account 173 times spending £20,000 .
At Preston Crown Court she was given a 12 month suspended prison sentence . |
0f4fcaf8fd58c40bc31c4715cd230bb0f80f2d98 | Egypt's former longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak was cleared of charges in a retrial Saturday and could soon be released -- a stunning reversal for a man who faced life imprisonment or worse after a revolution toppled him in 2011. A Cairo judge dismissed charges linking Mubarak to the deaths of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 revolt and found him not guilty of corruption. Mubarak, who ruled Egypt as president for 29 years, was stoic as his supporters in the courtroom cheered the decision that capped a months-long retrial. The 86-year-old, reclining on a hospital gurney in a defendants' cage, nodded while fellow defendants kissed him on the head. Later, he told the country's Sada ElBalad TV station in a brief phone interview that he "didn't commit anything." "I laughed when I heard the first verdict," he said of the first trial. "When it came to the second verdict, I said I was waiting. It would go either way. It wouldn't have made a difference to me either way." Prosecutor-General Hisham Barakat will appeal the verdict, Egypt's government-controlled Al-Ahram newspaper website reported early Sunday. Mubarak was convicted in 2012 of issuing orders to kill peaceful protesters during the country's 2011 uprising and was sentenced to life in prison. He appealed and was granted a new trial last year. Also acquitted Saturday were Mubarak's former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly and six of el-Adly's aides, who'd been accused of being connected to the deaths of 239 protesters as security forces cracked down on them in 2011. Mubarak's two sons also were acquitted Saturday of corruption. Mubarak still has a three-year sentence for a previous conviction for embezzlement, but it wasn't immediately clear how much time he's already been credited with, and therefore when he will be free. CNN's efforts to reach Mubarak's lawyer Farid El-Deeb for comment weren't immediately successful. Both sides have alleged that Mubarak's trials have been politicized, with supporters arguing he was unfairly vilified and opponents fearing that he'd be acquitted as memories of the revolution faded. His legal fortunes did seem to parallel the political climate -- just last year, Mohamed Morsy, the Islamist who became Egypt's first democratically elected president, supported a retrial with the backing of his supporters, who argued Mubarak should have received a death sentence rather than life in captivity. But Morsy himself was deposed by the military in July 2013, as opponents accused him of pursuing an Islamist agenda at the exclusion of other factions. And now the Arab Spring revolt that ousted Mubarak has come nearly full circle -- Mubarak appears close to freedom; Morsy is jailed, his Muslim Brotherhood banned; and Morsy supporters allege the current government has returned to Mubarak's authoritarian practices. Explaining the verdict . Judge Mahmoud el-Rashidy said he dropped charges against Mubarak because Cairo Criminal Court didn't have the jurisdiction to try him for the protesters' deaths. The judge said the case that prosecutors initially referred to the court listed only el-Adly and his aides as defendants -- not Mubarak himself. But after mass protests pressured the prosecutor general to question Mubarak, a second referral was made to the court, and the two cases were merged into one. Lawyer Hoda Nasralla, who represents the families of 65 slain and injured protesters, said the inclusion of Mubarak in a second referral should have trumped his exclusion in the first. "The judge shied away from directly acquitting Mubarak even though he was accused of conspiring with Adly, and Adly was acquitted," she said. "The judge resorted to formalities instead." 'I want only God's retribution' Salway El-Sayed, mother of one of the slain 2011 protesters, sat down on a sidewalk outside the court after she heard Saturday's verdicts, praying to God to deliver justice. She broke down in tears, her hands shaking, as she recalled her son Tamer Hanafy, who was killed in January 2011 at Cairo's Tahrir Square, epicenter of the uprising. "I'm worried my son's blood would go in vain," she said. "Our children's blood isn't cheap. Their blood is precious, like any other blood." "I don't want execution," she continued. "This won't bring back my son ... I want only God's retribution. Nothing more." Tahrir Square was closed to traffic following Saturday's verdicts. One man was killed and nine people were injured as several hundred demonstrators clashed nearby with Egyptian security forces, Egyptian Ministry of Health spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar told CNN. Police fired tear gas and bird shot at the protesters. The Ministry of Interior said police were pelted by rocks before the incident escalated. The human rights group Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, whose lawyers represented more than 60 civil plaintiffs in the case, said that Saturday's verdict solidified the impunity that it says security forces and their leaders enjoy. "Justice was dealt another severe blow," the group said in a news release. How it started . In January 2011, throngs of Egyptians filled the streets of Cairo to decry the country's poverty, unemployment and repression. Protesters called for Mubarak to step down but were met by a fierce and often violent government crackdown. Mubarak eventually stepped down in 2011. That freed up long-supressed Islamist movements, including the Muslim Brotherhood, to run for office. Morsy, backed by the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, became president in June 2012. But Morsy was ousted in a coup about a year later amid widespread protests against his rule. Since then, Cairo's military-installed government has banned the Brotherhood, calling it a terrorist group -- an allegation it denies -- and accusing it of being behind a wave of deadly attacks on police and the military. Many Islamist and secular activists have been arrested and given lengthy sentences. A restrictive protest law and repeated deadly crackdowns on demonstrations followed. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the general who led Morsy's ouster, was elected president in May after leaving the military to run for the office. Not free yet . Since Mubarak stepped down in February 2011, the ailing former ruler has appeared in court numerous times on a variety of charges, often wheeled in on a gurney. His lawyers say he suffered health problems after his 2011 arrest, including a stroke, and he has served much of his prison time at a military medical facility. In May, a Cairo court sentenced him to three years in prison for embezzlement. His sons Gamal and Alaa were sentenced to four years each on the same charge. All three were convicted of embezzling $18 million that was allocated for the renovation of presidential palaces. The Mubaraks have insisted they are not guilty. | Mubarak tells Egyptian TV station: "I didn't commit anything"
The 86-year-old is still serving a three-year sentence for embezzlement .
One man killed, nine people injured in protest near Tahir Square .
Prosecutor tell state media he will appeal verdict . |
0f5027aee6b71e5391b21cf2b3a425c64af9b488 | Astonishing drawings of Adolf Hitler and his henchmen sketched in 1931 by a British artist who was allowed into the dictator's lair have emerged. Helen McKie was the only woman allowed to sketch in Hitler's Munich headquarters, called Brown House, and she produced 17 chilling pictures of the Nazi monster and his inner-sanctum. Drawn two years before Hitler came to power and eight years before the start of World War Two, the images are a glimpse into the early stages of Nazism. Life-like: Astonishing drawings of Hitler and his henchmen sketched in the early days of the Nazi party by British artist Helen McKie have come to light . Inside the lair: Helen McKie was given access into the heart of the fledgling dictator's Munich headquarters two years before his bloody rise to power . The Brown House became the Nazi HQ on January 1, 1931 and it was named after the colour of the uniforms. The drawings were put into an album and McKie wrote inside: 'Sketched in Hitler's Brown House Munich by special permission of Hitler's aide-de-camp Bruelenen - I was the only woman ever allowed to sketch here.' The pencil sketches have emerged from the family of the late Mark Dineley, a well known arms and armour collector. They have now been offered for sale at auction with an estimate of £7,000. Incredible access: Helen McKie was the only woman allowed to sketch in Hitler's infamous Brown House lair and she produced 17 pictures detailing the day-to-day life of the Nazi party . Trouble: This drawing by the British artist shows police controlling a disturbance outside the Brown House . The captioned drawings show the entrance to the HQ, a Nazi saluting outside the council chamber and other interior scenes. One shows Hitler standing rather effeminately, a pose which the artist copied from a portrait hanging in the council chamber. Another of the captioned drawings shows 'three smiling Nazis with their beer tankards in the beer hall under the Brown House.' She also depicted the interior of the room of the 'Committee of Control' with three Nazis in conversation. Behind the scenes: This sketch shows two Nazis opening a curtain to a civilian . Glimpse into Nazism: This drawing by Helen McKie shows Nazi officials inside a committee room at Hitler's Munich headquarters . And there is also one showing two helmeted policemen outside the Brown House controlling a disturbance created by civilians. As well as Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Goring and Rudolf Hess had offices there and it was also home to the Nazi sacred relic, the 'blood flag'. This was the swastika that was splattered with blood during the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, when Munich police opened fire on the Nazis. McKie, who was born in London in 1889 and died in 1957, was an illustrator in various magazines and became known for painting military figures in World War One. Entrance: A guard stands in the reception hall of the Brown House . Evil: An inscription in the supreme council chamber. All of Helen McKie's images from inside the Brown House will be sold at auction on November 17 . She lived and worked in Chelsea throughout her life, but travelled extensively with her work. Her Nazi sketches are being sold at Dominic Winter auction house near Cirencester, Gloucester. Chris Albury, from the saleroom, said: 'With the benefit of hindsight these drawings are quite chilling. 'They were drawn shortly before Hitler seized power and close to a turning point in German and world history. 'McKie is an interesting artist who gained a reputation during the First World War and she is well known as a transport artist. 'One of her paintings was presented to Churchill during World War Two and she was a good commercial artist. 'She managed to gain access to the Brown House and although these are only sketches there is a lot of movement and human quality.' The Brown House was damaged in October 1943 and largely destroyed in an Allied bombing raid late in World War Two. The rubble was cleared away in 1947, leaving an empty lot. The auction takes place on November 17. | Helen McKie was the only woman allowed to sketch in Hitler's Munich headquarters .
Drawings are an incredible glimpse into early stages of Nazism . |
0f50ae91aec4feb05c6224195098c200f67cc3e0 | A father-of-six claimed he was made to feel like a paedophile after being forced to hand over his phone during a visit to his daughter's primary school. David Burns walked out of Tregolls School in Truro, Cornwall, after staff told him to leave his mobile phone at reception in case he took unauthorised photos of children. The 56-year-old hit out at the school's policy, saying staff 'couldn't treat the whole world like paedophiles'. David Burns walked out of Tregolls School in Truro, Cornwall, after staff told him to leave his mobile phone at reception in case he took unauthorised photos of children. Above, David and Amy Burns with Jasmine . But the school defended its decision and said the rule had been introduced as the 'ultimate safeguarding solution'. Mr Burns and wife Amy had gone to the school to see a display of their 10-year-old daughter Jasmine's artwork. When he was told to leave his phone, he explained to staff that he needed to be constantly available in case his eldest son George, who has Asperger's Syndrome, had to contact him. He walked out after staff responded they were sorry, but that he couldn't go into the school with a mobile phone in case he took pictures. He said: 'I was flabbergasted. I didn't go in and my wife Amy went in alone to see our daughter's work. I went back outside and waited in the car - I was so angry. I am a parent - not a paedophile. 'Does the school really think we're going to go in waving a camera around taking pictures of other kids? You can't treat the whole world like they're paedophiles - we're parents.' Tregolls School defended the decision, and said they had introduced the ruling as the 'ultimate safeguard' last year and said it even applies to teachers and other staff. Posters detailing the policy are displayed on the main entrance door to the school. Sara Cadge, chair of governors at the school, said: 'The rule applies to absolutely everyone. 'When Henry Winkler the American actor came here he handed in his phone and when Ofsted inspectors visited they did as well. We felt this was the ultimate safeguarding solution. 'When it was introduced last year, it was off the back of very high profile cases in London where teachers had actually been found guilty of inappropriate behaviour. 'Our staff said they never want those accusations coming their way. It is to protect themselves and to protect the children. 'We can also not have children in the school being put onto social media inadvertently.' A spokesman for the Department of Education said such a policy would be a matter for the individual school. It comes just months after the issue of photographing children in schools made headlines after parents were ordered to remove a video of their daughter's nativity from social media. Tregolls School, pictured, defended the decision, and said they had introduced the ruling last year as the 'ultimate safeguard' and said it even applies to all guests, teachers and other staff . Douglas Holmes said his four-year-old daughter Emmi-Rai had played the role of innkeeper in her nativity play at Ynysboeth Primary School in Abercynon. His partner Lisa Evans filmed their daughter's performance and posted the video on Facebook. But the next day she was asked to take it down by a teacher who appeared in the video because of concerns of the online safety of pupils. Official guidance issued by the Information Commissioner's Office states that parents should be able to take photos of their children at events such as school plays and sports days, without fear of breaching the Data Protection Act. Advice posted on its website states: 'The Data Protection Act is unlikely to apply in most cases where photographs or videos are taken in schools and other educational institutions. 'If photos are taken for personal use they are not covered by the Act.' | David Burns was on his way to see 10-year-old daughter Jasmine's artwork .
But walked out after staff told him to leave his mobile phone at reception .
The 56-year-old strict school policy made him feel 'like a paedophile'
School defended their decision, calling it 'ultimate safeguard' for pupils . |
0f50cec116b583d0fc58993de652ef57725add64 | (CNN) -- Soulja Boy faces three felony charges stemming from an early morning traffic stop in which police say they found "a felony amount" of marijuana, firearms and "a substantial amount of cash." The 21-year-old rapper, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, posted a $10,000 bond Tuesday afternoon after spending about a dozen hours in the Carroll County, Georgia, jail, according to a police spokeswoman. Soulja Boy was riding in a rented Black Cadillac Escalade with four other men on Interstate 20 about 50 miles west of Atlanta when they were stopped for a routine traffic violation at 2:30 a.m., according to Temple Police spokeswoman Dana Rampy. Temple Police Officer Lat Gray arrested all five men after he found the pot, cash and firearms, Rampy said. The men were "very cordial" and cooperative with police, she said. Each faces three felony counts, including possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in commission of a crime, Rampy said. Soulja Boy's representatives did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment. | NEW: Soulja Boy posts $10,000 bond Tuesday afternoon .
The rapper, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, faces three felony charges .
A Temple, Georgia, police officer stopped Soulja Boy and four others on a routine traffic stop . |
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