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Ahead of his landmark 100th England appearance, Wayne Rooney has been given commemorative boots with '100' printed on them to mark a special century. The striker, who should join the 100 club on Saturday in the Euro 2016 qualifier against Slovenia, posted the picture of him holding the boots on Instagram, and had a special message to supporters. Rooney said: 'Never prouder than representing my country. Looking forward to my 100th cap on Saturday. Thanks to @nikefootball for the new boots #hypervenom'. Wayne Rooney shows off his '100' boots ahead of joining England's century club on Saturday . As we lead up to the landmark appearance, Rooney's team-mates past and present have paid tribute to the skipper. Rio Ferdinand, Manchester United defender between 2002 and 2014, said Rooney was a better player than Cristiano Ronaldo. Speaking in an exclusive with The Sun, Ferdinand says: 'It's hard to explain just how much excitement there was at Old Trafford when he [Rooney] joined us. Rooney signed for Manchester United in a £25million deal from Everton in 2004 . 'He signed a year after Cristiano Ronaldo but Rooney was the better all-round player. Meanwhile, England team-mate Leighton Baines said the pressure placed on Rooney’s shoulders is greater than any of his international team-mates and that he frequently provided the goods. 'Sometimes it’s not until later on that people get the credit they deserve,’ said Baines. 'If Wayne can keep fit, keep playing, he’s going to break more records. Rooney is just six shy of England's record goalscorer Sir Bobby Charlton and his total of 49 . Rooney will only be truly appreciated as an England player once he retires, claims Leighton Baines . VIDEO England looking to maintain unbeaten run . | Nike have given Wayne Rooney personalised boots ahead of the striker reaching his 100th England appearance . Century should come in the Euro 2016 qualifier with Slovenia on Saturday . Rooney said: 'Never prouder than representing my country' Rooney is six shy of England's record goalscorer Sir Bobby Charlton . | e0dc18345bfa8f900c1329658d8d0074a074c2df |
WEST HOLLYWOOD, California (CNN) -- The date was October 13, 2007. In four hours, T.I. was scheduled to appear at the BET Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was nominated for nine trophies. "I have a lot of people to make proud," T.I. says. Instead, the hip-hop superstar found himself handcuffed in a downtown parking lot for attempting to buy machine guns and silencers in an undercover sting. He pleaded guilty to illegal weapons possession and was sentenced to seven months of house arrest, 1,500 hours of community service and one year in jail -- which he begins serving next March. In the meantime, T.I.'s new CD, "Paper Trail," has become his third consecutive No. 1 album. And if that isn't enough, he sits at No. 1 and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with "Live Your Life" and "Whatever You Like." CNN Senior Producer Denise Quan spoke with the multiplatinum rapper, born Clifford Harris Jr., backstage before a recent show at the Key Club in West Hollywood, California. CNN: When I first heard about the charges, I said, "You have got to be kidding. WHY?" T.I.: Well, in order to fully understand the answer to that question, you will have to put yourself in my shoes. You know how many attempts have been made against my life? There are people out there that would rather kill you than to tell you "Good luck" or "I am happy for you." So until you understand that, you wouldn't understand my train of thought. iReport.com: What do you think? Share thoughts on video . Not to say it was right. It's just my best explanation. CNN: What scares you? T.I.: Federal court dates. (Laughs) CNN: Are you scared about going to jail for a year? T.I.: I wouldn't describe it as fear. I would describe it more as concerned. Concerned, and I am a little anxious. Sooner I get started, sooner I get finished. Watch T.I. talk about his hope for redemption » . CNN: What do you think is the biggest misconception is about you? T.I.: The biggest misconception is that I am a hotheaded thug. Ignorant, cold-hearted, just another ignorant rapper who had a chance at success and has done nothing but horrible things with it. Nothing can be further from the truth. CNN: Do you think you have a lot to prove? T.I.: A lot to prove? No. I have a lot of people to make proud. Even the government -- the people in the government who stood up for my conditions to be the way they are, rather than the way a lot of people wanted them to be. The last thing I want to do is let them down. You know, they kind of stepped outside of the norm, as far as allowing me to be at home on a house arrest situation, whereas charges like mine would have normally been no bond, no consideration for bond. When I saw that they were trying to give me another chance, that kind of showed me something -- like, "You can't blow it." You gotta meet God halfway. You have to help him help you. CNN: You've done the seven months of house arrest. And you're in the midst of completing the 1,500 hours of community service ordered by the court. T.I.: Absolutely, yeah. Getting people to register to vote, encouraging young kids to respect one another, and stressing the value of an education, and trying to do away with teen-on-teen violence as much as possible -- using my experiences to keep them from going down a similar path. CNN: The hip-hop community seems eager to get involved in registering young people to vote. T.I.: I think that the hip-hop community should definitely become more involved in the political process, because we are the most influential genre of entertainment in the world. CNN: But it seems as though some artists are holding back in terms of their involvement because they don't want to hurt their candidate. T.I.: Absolutely. You know, when you look at the situation with Ludacris [who wrote a pro-Barack Obama song that was condemned by the Obama camp for its negative lyrics about other politicians], I would not want my support of someone to hinder their chances. I think you have to know what helps and what hurts. CNN: You can't vote because you're a convicted felon. T.I.: As far as I know, that is the case. CNN: How much does that hurt? Is there a candidate you want to support? T.I.: Well, man, it isn't necessarily about a candidate that I want to support. I feel like I owe that to my kids, my little cousins, everybody in the generation under me, to try to make this world a better place, this nation a better place. I am not going to focus on what I can't do. I am going to focus on what I CAN do. CNN: How many kids do you have now? T.I.: Six. CNN: Six?! How many kids do you want? T.I.: I'll have as many as the Lord blesses me with. So be it, as long as I have enough money to take care of them. I don't ever want to have kids who don't know their brothers and sisters. I want them all to grow up together, knowing each other, living together. I don't ever want to have some secret children. CNN: That's very Bob Marley of you. T.I.: (Laughs) CNN: Do you think there's been a price to pay for your success? T.I.: Absolutely. Absolutely. There has definitely been a price to pay. So far, it has cost me my best friend [T.I.'s 26-year-old personal assistant, Philant Johnson, was killed in a freeway shooting after a 2006 concert in Cincinnati], it has cost me time in jail, it has cost me time away from my family. I have missed four birthdays, two first days of school, four football games and a few more other things. Important outings that I would have liked to be home for. But I mean -- I'm not going to complain about it, you know what I'm saying? I prayed for this for so long, and now I got it, you know? So I am going to maintain my position. CNN: How have the experiences of the last couple of years changed you? T.I.: In many ways. I think I have a calmer spirit. I think I have become a man of thought, rather than a man of action. I think I have evolved as a person. I think I have grown. I have stepped outside of the tough exterior shell I used to have. I am still myself. I still know how to get down with the best of them, but it ain't necessary to show that. There is no room in my life for that part of me. CNN: Do you ever worry you are going to get into trouble again? T.I.: Nope. That is not a slight -- I don't even consider this. I got it now. I got it now. | T.I. was found guilty of weapons possession, will serve prison time . Hip-hop star has No. 1 album in country as well as No. 1 single . T.I. is reflective: "I think I have evolved as a person" | b64d58e2393adf2dab359582bde48691b47f7eb6 |
Lima, Peru (CNN) -- Family members requested a humanitarian pardon Wednesday for former Peruvian strongman Alberto Fujimori, saying he should be released from prison because of health problems. The 74-year-old Fujimori is serving four concurrent sentences, the longest of which is 25 years, for corruption and human rights abuses. He underwent surgery September 19 for a recurring lesion in his tongue and returned to the clinic nine days later because of problems with scarring of the wound, the state-run Andina news agency reported. 2011: Longtime Peruvian fugitive turns himself in . "This request is argued on the basis of medical facts," said Keiko Fujimori, the former president's daughter, who was quoted by Andina. Family members say the ex-president, who has suffered from mouth cancer, will die if he remains a prisoner. "We will have to evaluate if the conditions of imprisonment, which in any light are different than what prisoners in the country normally receive, affect the health of Mr. Fujimori," said Julio Arbizu, Peru's top anti-corruption prosecutor. "That does not seem to be the case." In recent weeks, word of the Fujimori family's plans to request a pardon has riled political opponents. Human rights activists have said granting a pardon to the former strongman would be an insult to victims of his regime, Andina reported. 2009: Ex-Peruvian president sentenced for giving spy chief $15 million . Alberto Fujimori is a polarizing figure in Peru, the country he led from 1990 to 2000. His strong hand is credited with defeating the Shining Path terrorists who destabilized the country, and his austere economic policies reined in hyperinflation. But stability had a cost, which in his case was an authoritarian streak that included the killing of civilians. After winning a third term whose constitutionality was challenged, he was finally brought down by an Andean-sized corruption scandal. In 2009, a special supreme court tribunal sentenced him to 25 years in prison for authorizing the operation of a death squad responsible for killing civilians. In separate trials, Fujimori was found guilty of breaking into the home of a former spy chief to steal incriminating videos, taking money from the government treasury to pay the spy chief, authorizing illegal wiretaps, and bribing congressmen and journalists. 2009: Former Peruvian president sentenced to fourth prison term . As his decade-long presidency neared its end in 2000, Fujimori fled Peru for Japan, where he holds dual citizenship because his parents were born there. Japan refused to honor Peru's request to return him for trial, saying its nationals should be subject to Japanese law and pointing out the two countries have no extradition treaty. He attempted to resign from the presidency by fax from Japan, but Peru's congress refused to accept it, instead declaring him morally unfit to govern. He arrived in Chile in 2005 in what some saw as a possible attempt to return to Peru and seek office there in 2006. He was under house arrest for six months in Chile and was extradited to Peru in 2007. The former leader still has both fierce critics and strong supporters in the South American country. His daughter Keiko lost a bid for president last year. Rallying cries in support of her father were common among crowds at her campaign events. Now that she and her siblings have filed paperwork with Peru's justice ministry requesting a pardon, President Ollanta Humala -- the man who defeated her at the polls -- will have the final say. His decision could have wide-ranging consequences. Political analysts say a decision in favor of the Fujimori family could change Peru's political panorama, converting old rivals into allies. 2009: Report finds Peru's Fujimori pleads guilty in bribery case . Journalist Maria Elena Belaunde and CNN's Mariano Castillo contributed to this report. | Family members say Alberto Fujimori should be released for medical reasons . They have filed a request for a humanitarian pardon with Peru's justice ministry . The request has riled political opponents and human rights activists . President Ollanta Humala, who defeated Fujimori's daughter at the polls, has the final say . | 838d0fe58107a5c5dc4a5a0d151d73ab244a730e |
How is director Zack Snyder's take on Superman in "Man of Steel" any different from earlier screen versions? After all, Christopher Reeve created an iconic figure in Richard Donner's 1978 classic (and sequels), while Brandon Routh made an attempt in Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns" in 2006. But as composer Hans Zimmer previously hinted to CNN, this Kal-El is a little more spiritual. "When we started to examine the Superman mythology, in the most classic sense, I really wanted to press upon the film the 'why' of him, which has been 75 years in the making," Snyder told CNN. "The Christ-like parallels, I didn't make that stuff up. We weren't like, 'Hey, let's add this!' That stuff is there, in the mythology. That is the tried-and-true Superman metaphor. So rather than be snarky and say that doesn't exist, we thought it would be fun to allow that mythology to be woven through." At 75, is Superman still our hero? Snyder starts with the arrival of an infant Kal-El via a miracle birth on his home planet, Krypton. All the other Krypto-babes are genetically engineered, groomed by a process of selection that predetermines their function in society, but Kal-El was made the old-fashioned way, with love. Jor-El, Superman's father (Russell Crowe), helps deliver the child, to emphasize how much the father is involved with the process. But since Krypton is dying and cannot be saved, Jor-El sends this miracle baby to Earth, to save us. "He will be like a god to them," he says at one point. Named Clark, he's raised by humble Midwestern folks Martha and Jonathan (originally Mary and Joseph in the comics). We tend to think of the adult Clark Kent toiling away at The Daily Planet, but this Clark (Henry Cavill) is a manual laborer -- not quite a carpenter, but the parallel is there. "This character has a balance between the modern world that we live in, and the archetype that exists in this ancient, other way," Snyder said. "I wanted to make it real." Unlike the Superman of previous films, this take means the world isn't aware of his existence for a long time. Not until he's 33 is Kal-El called upon to sacrifice himself for a world that may not even believe he exists, and he finally reveals who and what he is. Cavill is not strutting around in a Superman suit for a large part of the film -- he's even got a beard for a while. This Clark is more humble, more troubled, more conflicted. As a child, he was even bullied -- and refused to fight back, knowing he would hurt his schoolmates more than they deserved. Of course, it makes him seem weaker than he is and gives him a new emotional template. Lois Lane through the years . "He's reinvented anew," Snyder said. "He's more down to earth, even though he's also this larger-than-life, impossible figure. Our thesis was, look through Superman's eyes. Feel what he feels. That's where we started, and once you do that, you're in different territory, and that organically changed stuff along the way for us. This exists beyond what I'm going to do here, and what someone else would do beyond me. I really wanted there to be an echo of that throughout the film, and enshrine it for all time." Krypton is also reinvented, with an opening sequence that lets the audience see more of that world than ever before, including giving General Zod (played by Michael Shannon) and his followers much more of a reason to track Kal-El down on Earth. "I was really excited to do that stuff," Snyder said. "I love sci-fi, and I wanted this big story to be at the front of the movie and have it be engrossing enough so that when the pod finally crashes on Earth, you go, 'Oh, that's right! We're in a Superman movie. I forgot for a second.' You think during the Krypton sequence, 'Oh! This is the movie, I guess.' " Snyder says he felt beholden to the Superman mythology that exists in the comics, but he also felt free to mix up characters and situations (i.e., turning Jimmy Olsen into Jenny Olsen). "I felt it was natural to do that," he said. "We wanted to take this concept of Jimmy Olsen, and not have everything be as exactly aligned as it is. Not everyone has to assume the exact roles that we expect them to. See Amy Adam's transformation . "The preconceived idea you have about who these characters are -- you can play with it a bit and let the world open up because of that. And then you don't know what's going to happen, because you don't know what your characters are capable of." Talk of a sequel and a "Justice League" film is already under way, and Snyder prepared for this film to fit within a larger canvas. Lex Luthor does not appear, but a LexCorp logo can be found on many a building or construction site that gets destroyed during a showdown with General Zod. Could this be foreshadowing? "Absolutely," Snyder said. Will Luthor be upset that his buildings were damaged, or somehow benefit from the business he'll get from reconstructing Metropolis, setting up a future altercation? "I like that," Snyder said, laughing. "I'm writing that stuff down to use it later." And then there's the Wayne Enterprises logo on a satellite, which signals that Gotham and Metropolis can co-exist. "That was also to thank (producer) Chris (Nolan), for being a great partner and a great friend, and just acknowledge that inside the movie, and like the LexCorp thing, say, 'Maybe this world is bigger than you think.' " | "Man of Steel" director Zack Snyder says his Superman is intended to be spiritual . Snyder says there are Christ-like parallels to the superhero . He says the film is intended to let the audience see the world through Superman's eyes . | 75395d177020427fbf2a45e630485694c785e38e |
Ex-New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez ran up a $243 bar tab and smoked marijuana in the hours before the boyfriend of his fiancee's sister was shot to death, according to testimony on Thursday at his murder trial. Just over an hour before the killing of Odin Lloyd on June 17, 2013, video surveillance shows Hernandez walking unsteadily at a gas station and dancing near the gas pumps. The video also shows a co-defendant, Carlos Ortiz, wearing a white towel around his shoulders. A white towel was found near Lloyd's body later that morning in an industrial park not far from Hernandez's home. Prosecutors have said Hernandez left the gas station and drove to Lloyd's home in the Dorchester section of Boston. A different surveillance video already seen by the jury shows Lloyd getting into the rear passenger side of a car at 2.32am outside his home. Lloyd's body was found hours later at an industrial park less than a mile from Hernandez's house. Scroll down for video . Surveillance video shown in court on Thursday shows former NFL star Aaron Hernandez putting gas in his rental car and dancing just an hour before prosecutors say he killed Odin Lloyd in June 2013 . Former Pats player Hernandez can be seen displaying his hip-hop moves as his rental car fills with gas, earlier that evening he had ran up a $243 bar tab and smoked marijuana . Lloyd, 27, had been shot six times, and police found five empty .45-caliber shell casings nearby. They found another 45-caliber shell in a dumpster at a rental car agency, and witnesses testified it had been removed from a car Hernandez returned. Police have not found the gun used in the slaying. Prosecutors contend Hernandez and two friends, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, picked up Lloyd at his Boston home, before driving him to the North Attleboro industrial area where his body was found. Prosecutors haven't said who shot Lloyd but said Hernandez orchestrated the killing. Ortiz and another co-defendant, Ernest Wallace, have pleaded not guilty and will be tried separately. Thursday's testimony began with an account from Kelly Rose Belanger, who was bar manager at South Street Cafe in Providence, Rhode Island, on June 16, 2013, which was Father's Day. Another woman, Vanessa Sanchez, testified on Wednesday that she was among the six people in the group, which included Shayanna Jenkins, Hernandez's fiancee and the mother of his child. Sanchez said Hernandez proposed a toast to Father's Day, and the three couples there talked a lot about their children. Prosecutors displayed a receipt from that night that showed the tab included 30 alcoholic drinks: 11 Hennessy cognacs, 10 Sex on the Beach mixed vodka drinks, seven Bud Lights and two Grey Goose vodkas. Co-defendant Carlos Ortiz wears a white towel around his shoulders in the video - a similar to that found near Lloyd's body later that day . During the evening, Belanger said, Hernandez left the bar several times with one of the men he was with. She could smell marijuana and looked outside and saw Hernandez and the other man smoking it. She asked them to stop, and they did, she said. Hernandez paid the $243 tab at 12:19 a.m. on June 17, leaving a $30 tip, Belanger said. Less than two hours later, at 2:08 a.m., Hernandez and Ortiz were captured on video at a gas station south of Boston. Hernandez is seen putting gas in a Nissan Altima that he had rented the previous week, and Ortiz wore the white towel around his neck. Hernandez, who occasionally stumbles and looks unsteady on his feet, dances with his hands over his head, then goes into the gas station. There, he buys gum and cigars with Ortiz. They get back in the car with Hernandez in the driver's seat and Ortiz in the back. They leave at 2:12 a.m. Lloyd was dead by 3:30 a.m. Lloyd's mother wept and mouthed the words 'my baby, my baby' as photos of his body in the morgue and bullet-shredded clothes were shown in court on Tuesday. Hermandez continued his dance moves as he approaches the store where he can be seen buying bubble gum - an item prosecutors have often used to connect him to the murder . Former New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez pictured at his murder trial at Bristol County Superior Court in Fall River, Mass., on Wednesday . Ursula Ward quietly mouthed the words over and over as jurors saw photos of his body during Hernandez's murder trial. She also cried as the shirts he was wearing the night he died in 2013 were shown to jurors by a Massachusetts state trooper. The trooper pointed out where the bullets had made holes on the blood-stained material. Massachusetts State Police Trooper Heather Sullivan told the court that the holes in the Lloyd's shirt were around the size of a quarter, suggesting he had been shot at almost point-blank range. Hernandez, 25, is accused of fatally shooting Lloyd, who had been dating his fiancée Shayanna Jenkins' sister, in an industrial park near his North Attleboro, Massachusetts, home in June 2013. He also faces a variety of firearms charges. Ward left the courtroom in tears twice in the early days of the trial, and the judge warned her not to cry while she gave her testimony. Since then, Ward usually leaves the courtroom before graphic images are shown. Tuesday was the first occasion when she has decided to stay while witnesses give graphic testimony about her son's violent death. She was accompanied by Odin's girlfriend, Shaneah Jenkins. Across aisle sat Terri Hernandez, mother of the defendant, who returned to court after a number of days away. As proceedings began, a woman who cleaned Hernandez's Massachusetts home testified that the former Patriots star's fiancée was visibly nervous the day after Lloyd was killed. Massachusetts State Police Trooper Heather Sullivan holds up bloodied clothing with bullet holes from the body of Odin Lloyd as evidence in the murder trial of Aaron Hernandez on Tuesday . Hernandez's fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, spent time on the telephone, peeking out the window and crying after hauling away a large trash bag in the trunk of a red car, 31-year-old Carla Barbosa, a native of Brazil, told the court. Miss Jenkins was not in court on Tuesday. 'She was nervous, she was walking back and forth,' said Barbosa, who added that police were outside when she left the house on June 18, 2013, a day after Odin Lloyd's bullet-riddled body was found. Earlier that day, Barbosa testified, she saw Jenkins carry a large trash bag out of the home. 'It was held close to her, she had her arms around it,' she said in Portuguese, which was translated by an interpreter. Jenkins has pleaded not guilty to perjury charges for lying to a grand jury about not knowing where she disposed of a box Hernandez had asked her to throw out. She was granted immunity recently but it remains unclear if she will testify. Prosecutors showed video from Hernandez's home surveillance system of Jenkins carrying a large trash bag from the house. The day after Lloyd's body was found on wasteland a mile from the Hernandez home, the football player's fiancée, Shayanna, was seen on their own surveillance cameras taking a large trash bag from the home . On Monday, two other housekeepers testified that they found several guns around Hernandez's home in the weeks before Lloyd's murder . Marilia Prinholato, 28, said that a black handgun fell onto the floor while she was changing sheets in a basement guestroom at the house where Hernandez lived with his fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, and their baby. 'I just took the gun and looked at it and put it back,' Prinholato said, adding that the gun was 12 to 16 inches (30 to 40 cm) long and had a full magazine. Prinholato said another housekeeper, Grazielli Andrade Silva, showed her a second, smaller gun that Silva found in a pocket of a pair of pants the former tight end left in the master bedroom. It was silver with black accents, she said. Hernandez's house cleaners, Grazielli Silva (left) and Marila Prinholato (right), testified during the murder trial on Monday about finding guns at the NFL star's Massachusetts mansion . Silva testified that the gun was small enough to fit in the palm of her hand, and that she saw another gun, like 'a normal gun that the police use,' in Hernandez's sock drawer. Lloyd's body was found by a teenaged jogger on June 17, 2013, in an industrial park about a mile from Hernandez's home. Authorities have not located the gun used in the slaying. Hernandez, who has pleaded not guilty, had a $41 million contract with the New England Patriots when he was cut from the team shortly after being arrested in June 2013. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. He will face a second trial later this year on charges he killed two Cape Verdean men outside a Boston nightclub in 2012. Earlier on Monday, two people who worked in the industrial park where Lloyd's body was found testified that they heard sounds like fireworks at the time of his death. | Video evidence shown in Hernandez's murder trial on Thursday shows him dancing as he fills his vehicle with gas . The footage was filmed just hours before prosecutors say Hernandez killed Odin Lloyd . Co-defendant Carlos Ortiz wears a white towel around his shoulders in the video - a similar to that found near Lloyd's body later that day . Earlier on the evening of the murder, Hernandez had ran up a $243 bar tab and smoked marijuana . | 2923bf195e1763581e8d6f19a62e336d0b1e3bee |
A village primary school with just 13 pupils was put into special measures after an Ofsted inspection found too many incidents of racist or homophobic bullying and serious acts of violence. But the chairman of governors at Ravenstonedale Endowed School in rural Cumbria has fought back, claiming the report was based on a single incident of children using the word ‘gay’ as a throwaway comment and not knowing what it meant. Liz Morgan said it had been ‘blown out of proportion’ and also denied there had been any racism at the remote school, where all of the children are white. Ravenstonedale Endowed School, pictured, in rural Cumbria was put into special measures after an Ofsted inspection found too many incidents of racist or homophobic bullying and serious acts of violence . She said she believed Ofsted had an agenda against small schools and suspected they’d been unfairly labelled racist because racism and homophobia were treated as one category by Ofsted. Parents of pupils said the report was ‘ludicrous’. Ravenstonedale Endowed School, near Kirkby Stephen, was labelled ‘inadequate’ – the lowest rating out of four grades. Inspectors visited the school in April, where pupils range from ages five to 11 and travel in from nearby hamlets and farms. Their report condemned the behaviour of pupils and highlighted ‘too many incidents of racist or homophobic bullying’, and ‘serious instances of violence’. Staff were warned they urgently needed to improve pupils’ behaviour as parents had already pulled out 12 children, out of just 25, in a six-week period this year. Ofsted claimed this was because parents were ‘concerned’ about behaviour. However the chairman of governors insisted that pupils had been taken out of the school mainly because of parents being anxious about the need for them to engage with larger numbers of children. She said: ‘Parents have taken children out for a variety of reasons – racism and homophobic bullying have never been a reason. ‘As the school is getting below a certain size, parents have been worried about the social side of education they think their children need.’ She said she believed Ofsted’s criticisms had been based on a single report in the school’s own discipline record about children using the word ‘gay’. She said the school did not tolerate it and spoke to the child and their parents – and had since challenged the report with Ofsted but received no response. Ravenstonedale Endowed School in Cumbria has no pupils but six members of staff . Helen Buckler, 43, who has three children at the school, said: ‘It is all absolute rubbish and upsettingly inaccurate. ‘It is totally ludicrous. I’ve never heard of any racism, homophobia or serious violence. There aren’t even any ethnic minorities at the school – every kid is white.’ A statement from the school said Ofsted was not ‘sensitive to the particular challenges faced by small rural schools’. It added: ‘We were particularly upset by the allegations of racist and homophobic bullying as we do not believe there have been any such incidents in the school.’ Ofsted stood by its report, insisting that both racist and homophobic comments had been made by pupils. | Ravenstonedale Endowed School in Cumbria was put in special measures . Ofsted inspectors reported incidents of racist or homophobic bullying and serious acts of violence . Chairman of governors says report is based on one incident of child using word 'gay' Parents of pupils have described Ofsted report as 'ludicrous' and 'rubbish' School has challenged the report, but has not yet received a response . | 0623b705bc04a36f9a5be9d2410489fe44035f26 |
By . Ted Thornhill . Cinema goers are used to looking out for warnings of nudity and violence in films. Now another category has been added to the list of movie dangers – male chauvinism. Cinemas in Sweden have introduced an ‘A’ rating to highlight films that have a shortage of ‘female perspectives’. The guidance system – named the Bechdel test after US feminist Alison Bechdel – will monitor whether at least two female characters talk to each other about subjects other than men. Feminism fail: The Star Wars films have been deemed as sexist by the Bechdel test. Pictured is Mark Hamill, as Luke Skywalker, right, and Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia . ‘The entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, all Star Wars movies, The Social Network, Pulp Fiction and all but one of the Harry Potter movies fail this test,’ said Ellen Tejle, the director of Bio Rio, an art-house movie theatre in Stockholm's trendy Sodermalm district. Bio Rio is one of four Swedish movie theatres that launched the new rating last month to draw attention to how few movies pass. Most visitors have reacted positively to the initiative ‘and for some people it has been an eye-opener,’ said Tejle, reclining in one of Bio Rio's cushy red seats. Beliefs about women's roles in society are influenced by the fact that movie watchers rarely see ‘a female superhero or a female professor or person who makes it through exciting challenges and masters them,’ Tejle said, noting that the rating doesn't say anything about the quality of the film. ‘The goal is to see more female stories and perspectives on cinema screens.’ The state-funded Swedish Film Institute supports the initiative, which is starting to catch on. Scandinavian cable TV channel Viasat Film says it will start using the ratings in its film reviews and has scheduled an ‘A’ rated ‘Super Sunday’ on Nov. 17, when it will show only films that pass the test, such as The Hunger Games, The Iron Lady and Savages. The Bechdel test got its name from American cartoonist Alison Bechdel, who introduced the concept in her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For in 1985. It has been discussed among feminists and film critics since then, but Tejle hopes the ‘A’ rating system will help spread awareness among moviegoers about how women are portrayed in films. In Bio Rio's wood-panelled lobby, students Nikolaj Gula and Vincent Fremont acknowledged that most of their favourite films probably wouldn't get an ‘A’ rating. ‘I guess it does make sense, but to me it would not influence the way I watch films because I'm not so aware about these questions,’ said Fremont, 29. One ratings test to rule them all: The Lord of the Rings trilogy has also been rated as sexist. Pictured is actress Liv Tyler, who plays the Elven beauty Arwen in the movie . At least one Hollywood star sounded excited by the idea when asked about it by The Associated Press. ‘A feminist ratings system? That's so interesting!’ actress-producer Jada Pinkett Smith said in Beverly Hills, California, where she was attending a benefit dinner for gender equality. ‘I say, hey, let's see if it works!’ The ‘A’ rating is the latest Swedish move to promote gender equality by addressing how women are portrayed in the public sphere. Sweden's advertising ombudsman watches out for sexism in that industry and reprimands companies seen as reinforcing gender stereotypes, for example by including skimpily clad women in their ads for no apparent reason other than to draw eyeballs. Since 2010, the Equalisters project has been trying to boost the number of women appearing as expert commentators in Swedish media through a Facebook page with 44,000 followers. The project has recently expanded to Finland, Norway and Italy. For some, though, Sweden's focus on gender equality has gone too far. ‘If they want different kind of movies they should produce some themselves and not just point fingers at other people,’ said Tanja Bergkvist, a physicist who writes a blog about Sweden's ‘gender madness.’ The ‘A’ rating also has been criticized as a blunt tool that doesn't actually reveal whether a movie is gender-balanced. ‘There are far too many films that pass the Bechdel test that don't help at all in making society more equal or better, and lots of films that don't pass the test but are fantastic at those things,’ said Swedish film critic Hynek Pallas. Pallas, who moved from communist Czechoslovakia to Sweden in the 1970s, also criticized the state-funded Swedish Film Institute - the biggest financier of Swedish film - for vocally supporting the project, saying a state institution should not ‘send out signals about what one should or shouldn't include in a movie.’ Research in the U.S. supports the notion that women are underrepresented on the screen and that little has changed in the past 60 years. Of the U.S. top 100 films in 2011, women accounted for 33 per cent of all characters and only 11 per cent of the protagonists, according to a study by the San Diego-based Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. Another study, by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, showed the ratio of male to female characters in movies has remained at about two to one for at least six decades. That study, which examined 855 top box-office films from 1950-2006, showed female characters were twice as likely to be seen in explicit sexual scenes as males, while male characters were more likely to be seen as violent. ‘Apparently Hollywood thinks that films with male characters will do better at the box office. It is also the case that most of the aspects of movie-making - writing, production, direction, and so on - are dominated by men, and so it is not a surprise that the stories we see are those that tend to revolve around men,’ Amy Bleakley, the study's lead author, said in an email. In 2010, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director for The Hurt Locker. That movie - a war film about a bomb disposal team in Iraq - doesn't pass the Bechdel test . | To get an 'A' rating movies must have at least two female characters who talk to each other about something other than men . Scandinavian cable TV channel Viasat Film says it will start using the ratings in its film reviews . | cfdf3e2cb193de15df70b1eb879b2ac05e9fb1c2 |
By . Mark Duell . Last updated at 6:46 PM on 25th October 2011 . A mother shot and killed her two sons, her ex-husband and her stepmother - then tried to make it look like her son was the killer, police said. Susan Hendricks, 48, of Pickens County, South Carolina, allegedly wanted to collect life insurance policies on all of the victims. She was in one of two homes where the shootings took place and told police her youngest son had been using drugs and was suicidal. 'Cover up': Susan Hendricks shot and killed her two sons, her ex-husband and her stepmother then tried to make it look like her son was the killer, police said . Officers found a gun by his body, and Hendricks said he left her a note on the kitchen table. But investigators said on Tuesday it was all staged. Matthew Hendricks, 23, was found dead in . bed. Her stepmother Linda Ann Burns, 64, was found dead inside another . bedroom in her home. ‘Her statements were inconsistent with the scientific and forensic evidence' Walt WilkinsGreenville County Solicitor . Next door authorities found her ex-husband Mark Hendricks, 52, and her other son, Marshall Wayne Hendricks, 20. Both were shot in the chest. The homes are about five miles outside Liberty, in an area of mixed farms and suburban residences in the state's west. ‘Her statements were inconsistent with the scientific and forensic evidence,’ Greenville County Solicitor Walt Wilkins said. Scene: Pickens County Sheriff David Stone defended his decision to only arrest Hendricks nine days after the killings . Prosecutors would not say how much insurance she had on the victims, but it was a large amount. This isn't the first deadly shooting at her home. Doyle ‘Brian’ Teague, 36, was shot to death in April 2006 after entering the house uninvited and threatening someone inside, the coroner's office said. ‘In a case of this magnitude, but where . there appears to be no significant risk to the public and the suspect . can be readily monitored, prudence dictates that sufficient forensic . tests be done prior to an arrest being made' David StonePickens County Sheriff . Investigators ruled at the time she acted in self-defence. Pickens County Sheriff David Stone defended his decision to only arrest Hendricks nine days after the killings. 'In a case of this magnitude, but where there appears to be no significant risk to the public and the suspect can be readily monitored, prudence dictates that sufficient forensic tests be done prior to an arrest being made,' he said. She was arrested on Monday night and charged with four counts of murder. It wasn't immediately clear if she had an attorney. | South Carolina mother Susan Hendricks, 48, arrested . 'Wanted to collect life insurance policies on victims' Told police youngest son was using drugs and suicidal . | bd9a7438661f49af1384c4422c41b9525e7fcc00 |
With its beautiful parks, enviable healthcare and location next to one of the world's best coastal drives, it's little wonder people want to live in Melbourne. While it may not necessarily have the glamorous appeal of Sydney, Australia's second city has been ranked the world's most liveable city for the third year running. Home to almost 4.25million people, it beat Austrian capital Vienna into second place, with Vancouver in Canada ranking third. Top spot: Melbourne was lauded in every category from healthcare to education in the rankings which saw it crowned number one place to live in the world for the third year running . Australia dominates the ranking with four cities - Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Perth - in the top ten, with Canadian cities accounting for three of the others. Despite its popularity with tourists however, London is nowhere to be seen. The rankings were compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit which explains that the destinations that score highest are 'mid-sized cities in wealthier countries with a relatively low population density.' The ratings take into account: stability, worked out by looking at crime rates and civil unrest; quality of healthcare; culture and environment; education and infrastructure. Each city was given an overall score out of 100 based on its ranking in each catergory. As well as the best places to live, the EIU also ranked the worst - with 28 cities seeing their score drop because of civil unrest from the Arab Spring. Unsurprisingly, war-town Syrian capital Damascus finished bottom of the list. Tripoli in Libya and Tehran in Iran also ranked close to the bottom. Winner: Australia's second city was lauded in all categories, scoring the maximum 100 out of 100 for its healthcare, education and infrastructure and being awarded 95 and 95.1 in the stability and culture and environment categories respectively. The city, home to 4.2million, has topped the rankings for the past three years, scoring 97.5 overall. Melbourne is famed for its vibrant multi-culturalism, burgeoning arts scene, excellent food and wine and is the sporting capital of Australia. Runner up: Vienna was one of only two European cities to make the top ten. Like Melbourne, it scored maximum marks in terms of healthcare, education and infrastructure, and matched the city in terms of stability. But surprisingly, given that the Austrian capital is steeped in history, it fell short in the culture and environment category with a score of 94.4. As well as its history Vienna has a colourful contemporary arts and culture scene, a bustling nightlife, picturesque vineyards on the outskirts and an innovative performing arts scene. Third place: Vancouver in Canada Scored top marks for health, education, and culture and environment. It gained third spot thanks to its 95 out of 100 ranking in terms of stability and a 92.9 mark for infrastructure. The city is known for its majestic natural beauty located between the Coast Mountains and the Pacific ocean. The city is relatively small compared to some of the other top ten destinations with a little over 600,000 living there. Fourth: Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the most populated city in Canada. It scored top marks in terms of stability, healthcare and education, but fell short of the winners as it scored 97.2 in terms of culture and environment and a relatively low 89.3 in terms of infrastructure. The city's most famous landmark is the CN Tower, which at 1,815 ft tall is one of the world's tallest buildings. The city's surrounds are home to some stunning wineries. Fifth: Calgary is the largest city in Alberta, with a population of almost 1.1million. It scored 100 out of 100 in the stability. healthcare and education categories as well as an impressive 96.4 in terms of infrastructure. But it didn't hit top spot because of its 89.1 rating for culture. It was once ranked the world's cleanest place to live by Forbes magazine. It's a relatively young city but still claims to have a rich history and was the first ever venue for the Winter Olympics. Sixth: Known as Australia's wine capital, Adelaide scored top marks for healthcare and education. But it could only muster 95 in terms of stability, 94.2 in terms of culture and environment and 96.4 in terms of infrastructure. The city's tourism website describes it as the '20 minute city' with all amenities including the airport and beauty spots such as Adelaide Hills within a short distance of the city centre. Adelaide has a diverse cultural mix. Seventh heaven: Sydney is the third of Australia's four cities in the top ten. It scored top marks for healthcare, education and infrastructure, but 90 for stability and 94.4 for culture. Famed for its outdoor lifestyle, the city's iconic landmarks include the Harbour Bridge, the Opera house and some of the world's most beautiful beaches. Sydney is a great place to live if you like watersports, surfing, seafood and wine. Eighth: The Finnish capital scored top marks for stability and healthcare and impressive scores of 96.4 for infrastructure, 91.7 for education and 90 for culture and environment. It is the most populous city in Finland and located on a picturesque arm of the Baltic Sea coastline. It is famed for its art nouveau architecture and maintains its small-town feel despite being an international municipality and a hub for Finnish commerce. Nine: The final Australian entry in the top ten. Perth hit top marks in healthcare, education, and infrastructure and scored 95 in the stability category. But its overall marked was dragged down by an 88.7 score for culture and environment. It is the largest city in Western Australia and home to almost 1.9million people. Australia's 'sunniest capital city', Perth mixes vibrant city culture with stunning nature and is home to some gorgeous beaches. Top ten: Auckland in New Zealand scored top marks for its education. It scored 95 and above in all other categories bar infrastructure, which saw it score 92.9. Like many others in the top ten, Auckland, known as Tamaki Makaurau to the indigenous Maori people, combines nature and a vibrant city life. The city claims that everyone lives within half hour of a beautiful beach, a hiking trail and 'a dozen enchanted holiday islands'. | Melbourne was lauded for its healthcare, education and infrastructure . The city beat Austrian capital Vienna into second place in the rankings . The table was compiled by the Economist intelligence Unit . | f7aa875981e62b1f4a2d4d7b29090da90c14ff25 |
By . Bianca London . PUBLISHED: . 08:54 EST, 10 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:40 EST, 11 July 2013 . Their skinny jeans have graced many a . well-toned leg - from the Duchess of Cambridge to Cameron Diaz, J . Brand's denim designs seem to flatter in all the right places. The American brand has over eight years of experience in making must-have jeans including collaborations with high-end . fashion names such as Hussein Chalayan and Proenza Schouler. And now the trendy label is launching a capsule collection of the ultimate skinnies: jeans that are designed to make it look like you have been Photoshopped. Scroll down for videos . The best you can be: J Brand's new a/w 13 . collection is designed to make it look like you have been Photoshopped to perfection . The jeans are black, sleek, and, by all accounts, created to make you look a better version of yourself. The secret is apparently a patented . technological fabric that has been designed to resist the dreaded sag . that often forms in the derriere region and the brand maintain that their new trousers will give you the perfect silhouette. The brand maintain that the specially pioneered fabric and unique stretch doesn't sag and that you don't have to put them in the dryer to get that extra tight effect when you've just washed them. New ethos: The label is shifting their focus from classic denim to 'party dressing' for autumn/winter 13 and Sam Rollinson is the star of their campaign . Donald Oliver, J Brand’s creative . director, added: 'We have always looked at new and unusual ways to . freshen up our denim offerings. 'This season we paid a lot of . attention to fabric and fabric technology to give the J brand woman the . softness she wants but without losing the fit and recovery of the . fabric.' The . jeans, which are usually priced between £75-£285, have also been . designed to be comfortable, despite their figure-hugging style. Shot by British fashion photographer Craig McDean, the new jeans are modelled by Sam Rollinson. Speaking to Grazia Daily about his work, Craig said: 'Working with Sam Rollinson on the J Brand fall campaign was a pure delight, . 'She brought a sense of professionalism and her own unique character and beauty to the pictures that expressed the modernity of the clothes perfectly. It was a great collaboration.' Sam's big break into the fashion world came in 2010, when she was cast in a Burberry campaign alongside Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Douglas Booth. She has since been a clothes horse for Balenciaga, Zara and Prada. In her jeans: The Duchess of Cambridge wore J Brand jeans three days in a row in Canada . | Jeans designed to make it look like you've been Photoshopped . Fabric designed to resist the sag . that forms in derriere region . Label loved by Duchess of Cambridge and Cameron Diaz . | edf289da08be7dc2c3e05e00fd50f9d1d813322b |
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Adam West became a pop icon with his original portrayal of Batman 45 years ago, but the actor is now offering a different portrait of the caped crusader. West will drive the original Batmobile to a Beverly Hills, California, art gallery for the opening of the first exhibit of his paintings and drawings depicting his vision of Batman and his crime-fighting world Friday evening. "The pictures are pretty raw and untamed, just like me," West said as he prepared for the exhibit, which will run for a month at the David W. Streets Beverly Hills Art Gallery. West is a "cultural pop art expressionist," said gallery owner Streets. "This is a huge genre coming out of pop culture, American television history and culture," Streets said. "It's really a tremendous art form and really fun." The energetic 82-year-old West said it was time "to open up a new phase" of his career. "After 45 years of doing all this nonsense, who better to bring it to life in paintings or drawings than the guy who created the character for film," West said. "People seem to like it and respond to it." One painting titled "The Birth of Batman," is a surrealist depiction of the pain and agony of a young Bruce Wayne's transformation from an orphan to a superhero, he said. "Batman saw his parents murdered in front of him as a little boy and, of course, he had to train for many years to create the kind of avenger crime fighter that he is," West said. "So, this represents a really tough birth." Another frame holds what West said is his "sense in some kind of dream of Bruce Wayne." West has kept busy in recent years attending fan conventions, but he still is in demand as an actor. He is a regular on "Family Guy," playing Mayor West on the animated Fox series. "In a very real sense, I represent pop culture in an iconic way," West said. "It's been very good to me, so anything I can do to help the fans to tumble along -- it's good." West began painting "without anyone knowing, except the folks in my household, about 40 years ago," he said. Few people have seen his art work until now. "I'm flattered that they want to pay money for my pictures," he said. "It's terrific." The gallery opening Friday night promises to be a reunion for the original Batman cast with the first Catwoman, Julie Newmar, and sidekick Robin,played by Burt Ward, also expected. | Adam West began painting privately 40 years ago . His art is "cultural pop art expressionist" West says he's opening "a new phase" of his career . | b13fd01f273eb1c82a645c83f65671f5aa23de96 |
By . Daily Mail Reporter . Last updated at 3:37 PM on 2nd August 2011 . Drama: Warren Jeffs, right, is escorted to court by a Texas Ranger. Jeffs again called for the judge to be removed - saying God wanted it . The sexual assault trial of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was interrupted by gasps of astonishment yesterday as jurors were shown pictures showing him kissing and cuddling a 12-year-old girl. The photographs show the head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the young redhead, who he is alleged to have raped, grinning and kissing the girl. The images, which are said to have been taken on July 27, 2006 – days after the girl’s 12th birthday - drew gasps from the public gallery while jurors attempted to remain stony faced. The drama at the Tom Green County Courthouse in in San Angelo, Texas, capped a long session that dragged late into the evening after Jeffs made a third attempt to remove the trial judge. This time the 55-year-old claimed God himself had demanded that Barbara Walther should ‘step away from this abuse of power against a religious and pure faith in the Lord’. Jeffs, who faces life in prison if convicted, is accused of sexually assaulting two girls, then aged 12 and 15, that he took as brides in ‘spiritual marriages’. The charges stem from a police raid in April 2008 at the Yearning For Zion compound of his church, an offshoot of mainstream Mormonism that believes polygamy brings exaltation in Heaven. Jeffs has repeatedly called the raid an illegal search and wants a separate hearing on whether authorities violated his First Amendment rights to freedom of religion. Interaction: A sketch of lead prosecutor Eric Nichols speaking to the jury on Friday. Today, he showed them pictures of Jeffs kissing a 12-year-old girl . Warning: Judge Barbara Walther, who limps after suffering from polio, was told by Jeffs that God had sent 'a crippling disease upon her which shall take her life soon' Mrs Walther, who walks with a limp after suffering polio in childhood, has refused - prompting three different calls to recuse her by the defendant, whose followers believe is God’s spokesman. Yesterday, Jeffs, who fired his lawyers last week and is representing himself, claimed his latest motion was based on a revelation the Lord gave him on Sunday. He addressed the judge directly, saying: ‘I, your lord, say to you, I shall bring to light your evil intent now, before all people, to destroy my Church on earth.’ Jeffs also attached what he called ‘Exhibit A’, consisting of 29 orders from the Lord, including one in which God sent ‘a crippling disease upon (Walther) which shall take her life soon.’ He regularly objects when prosecutors enter new evidence — arguing that his religious freedoms are being trampled. Yesterday Jeffs told the court: ‘We are a people of historical abuse. This is not new to us because of prejudice in the populace and government.’ Lawyers usually ignore his objections and let Mrs Walther overrule them. But yesterday lead prosecutor Eric Nichols finally hit out by responded that ‘this is not a proceeding against a people. This is a proceeding against an individual.’ Mrs Walther yesterday ruled that a hearing would eventually take place on Jeffs’s motion, but that the trial would continue . She said new Texas Supreme Court rules meant that an immediate hearing was no longer required to recuse a judge after a case has beguns. Testifying: Former sect member Rebecca Musser, outside court yesterday, said the church teaches young girls that pleasing men . 'pleases God' Evidence: Texas Rangers move boxes of evidence for the trial at Tom Green County Courthouse in San Angelo, Texas . No date has been set for a hearing on Jeffs' motion. The . trial continued with forensic analyst Amy Smuts, of the Human . Identification Center at the University of North Texas in Fort Worth, . testifying that a DNA sample collected from Jeffs had 15 major markers . that matched a sample taken from a girl born to a 15-year-old mother. Miss Smuts said that made her ‘more than 99.99 per cent certain’ that Jeffs fathered the child, who was born in October 2005. Mugshot: Jeffs after being arrested following the 2009 raid on his church . In other testimony, former sect member Rebecca Musser explained that FLDS women are taught that they must rely on their husbands or fathers to find grace in heaven. She also said the church governs all aspects of members' lives, from dictating when they wake up every day to what clothes they wear, what work they do, how they comb their hair, and what they eat. Miss Musser was born into the sect but left in 2002. She was married in 1995, at age 19, to 85-year-old Rulon Jeffs, Warren Jeffs' father and predecessor as ecclesiastical leader. She said Warren personally gave detailed lectures to young girls on what was expected of them sexually once they were ordered into spiritual marriages with older members. ‘They are taught what the duties are as a wife to that husband, not just spiritually but physically,’ she said. ‘You give yourself to him and that means body, mind and spirit.’ Mr Nichols asked: ‘Are young girls taught that giving themselves to that man and pleasing him is, in effect, pleasing God?’ ‘Yes,’ Miss Musser replied. Authorities raided the Yearning For Zion compound, 45 miles south of San Angeleno, after receiving an anonymous call to an abuse shelter, alleging that girls at the compound were being forced into polygamist marriages. The call turned out to be a hoax, and more than 400 children who had been placed in state custody were returned to their families. Old-fashioned garb: Women from Jeffs's polygamist sect pictured after their relocation from Yearning for Zion in 2008 . But police seized marriage records and thousands of pages of documents and eventually charged Jeffs and 11 other FLDS men. All seven sect members who have been prosecuted so far were convicted of crimes including sexual assault and bigamy and received prison sentences of between six and 75 years. Jeffs went through seven attorneys in the six months leading up to the trial, firing his last defence team just as opening statements were to begin. | Pictures show head of Mormon sect with young redhead he is accused of raping . Court drama also sees Jeffs tell judge who suffered polio: 'God has sent a crippling disease upon you' Jeffs claims God revealed to him that He wants Barbara Walthers to be removed as trial judge in West Texas . | 2e719ca54413427b7da9af6c7754d943d51affec |
James Rodriguez's glowing reputation following his World Cup displays have grown even further after the Colombian was awarded Goal of the Tournament in Brazil. The 23-year-old's stunning last-16 volley against Uruguay received the majority of the votes, from over four million FIFA.com users, with Holland captain Robin van Persie's ingenious header against Spain coming second. VIDEO Scroll down to watch the Top 10 Goals from Qualifying . Top dog: Colombia's James Rodriguez has been awarded the World Cup Goal of the Tournament . Winning moment: Rodriguez (left) has won the award for his stunning volley against Uruguay last month . Exquisite: Rodriguez's effort came in the first-half of Colombia's 2-0 last-16 win at the Maracana Stadium . Pick that out: Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera had no chance in stopping Rodriguez's shot . The Flying Dutchman: Robin van Persie came second in the voting for his header in Holland's 5-1 win vs Spain . VIDEO Top 10 Goals from Qualifying . Rodriguez scored both goals in his country's 2-0 win against their South American rivals last month, but it was exquisite opener that captivated those 70,000 spectators inside the iconic Maracana Stadium and the millions around the world watching. The midfield playmaker chest controlled a looping header from team-mate Juan Cuadrado before swivelling and unleashing an unstoppable effort that crashed in off the underside of Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera's crossbar. The Real Madrid bound star becomes the third successive South American winner of the award. At the last summer showpiece in 2010 Uruguay's Diego Forlan won the award for his breath-taking effort against Germany during their third-place play-off encounter; while in 2006 Argentina's Maxi Rodriguez collected the accolade for his thumping volley against Mexico in their pulsating last-16 clash. It is the second award Rodriguez has collected for his summer showpiece exploits after winning the Golden Boot. Rodriguez, who Sportsmail understands is set to sign for Real from Ligue 1 outfit Monaco in a £60million move on Wednesday, scored six goals in Colombia's run to the quarter-finals. Belter: Argentina's Maxi Rodriguez won the award at the 2006 World Cup for his volley against Mexico . Star man: Forlan won the 2010 Goal of the Tournament award as Uruguay finished fourth in South Africa . | James Rodriquez wins the Goal of the Tournament award for the 2014 World Cup . Rodriguez stunning volley against Uruguay in the last-16 received the majority of the votes from over four million FIFA.com users . Holland's Robin van Persie's diving header against Spain came second . | cb7b423a80db80ec5ffa54da3d8a1f00d5c396a7 |
(CNN) -- A suspect in a series of bank robberies in which the thief pedaled off on a bicycle has been apprehended, California authorities said Thursday. Hubert Rotteveel, 47, of Dixon, California, was arrested Wednesday afternoon after two banks in the Woodland, California, area were robbed in just over an hour, Sgt. Anthony Cucchi of the Woodland Police Department said. The robber pedaled up to the River City Bank in Woodland shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday, police said. Wearing black clothing, sunglasses and a white bicycle helmet, he held tellers at gunpoint and demanded money before fleeing on a bike, authorities said. At approximately 3 p.m., the First Northern Bank in West Sacramento was robbed by a bike-riding bandit. "As he's fleeing that bank on his bicycle," Cucchi said, "he passes a police officer from West Sacramento and the dye pack (in the stolen money) in his bag explodes in front of the officer. "He tries a quick getaway and the officer gets right on him and apprehends him," Cucchi said. Rotteveel was being held at the Yolo County jail, with bail set at $200,000, authorities said. Authorities believe the suspect may be linked to several armed bank robberies in northern California, including one in Santa Cruz on Monday afternoon. | Bike-riding bandit has hit several banks in northern California . Two robberies occurred about an hour apart; robber pedaled off from both . After second heist, dye pack exploded as suspect rode past police officer . | 203cb72717f1ae65fdc5602a7b79bd7446f888f3 |
LONDON, England (CNN) -- British new wave ska legends The Specials rounded off the Brixton leg of their 30th anniversary tour with an electric performance that threatened to bring the crumbling south London venue crashing to the ground. The frenzied crowd at London's Brixton Academy . The six-piece 2-tone outfit originally from the English Midlands played a total of five dates at what is now the O2 Academy, such was the phenomenal demand for tickets. It's no surprise really. From the rarefied perspective of the VIP bar, the sea of bobbing heads and mobile phone displays (which seem to have replaced cigarette lighters) created a fantastic spectacle. But down among the rude boys and rude girls the carnival atmosphere seemed to ratchet up a notch with each song. Balding, sweaty 40-something men in Fred Perry polo shirts were transported back to the late 1970s as they bounced around unselfconsciously, while post-Margaret Thatcher indie kids sloshed their pints in the air and enjoyed this unique experience for the first time. No one was standing with their arms folded here. Despite songwriter Jerry Dammers' continued absence and Lynval Golding's lost voice, the band was as tight as it ever was, both musically and personally. As soon as the curtain rose the band wasted little time plugging into the hysteria that greeted them. If "Do The Dog" appeared to hit the spot, then tracks such as "Too Much Too Young," and "Gangsters" literally had the earth moving in this imposing old theatre. Terry Hall, showing no sign of fatigue after a recent throat infection and the band's homecoming gig in Coventry the previous night, was in a chirpy mood. The Manchester United fan enjoyed reminding the London audience about his team's league success that afternoon. Meanwhile, the irrepressible Neville Staple seemed to galvanize the rest of the band with his seemingly limitless energy -- he must have spent the entire gig running on the spot. The dapper singer has aged well and was clearly reveling in the band's return to the spotlight. Despite only reforming recently, The Specials have rediscovered their mojo. They possess the kind of stage presence reserved for the truly great acts, while their lyrics still resonate today. "Ghost Town" encapsulated the gritty reality of Britain's urban landscape in 1981, and few in the audience would have argued that it remains a relevant portrait in today's troubled economic times. | The Specials reformed for a 30th anniversary tour . The six-piece 2-tone outfit are originally from the English Midlands . Songwriter Jerry Dammers chose not to take part in the tour . Band played hits including "Too Much Too Young," "Gangsters" and "Ghost Town" | c11dfe02f4b8e810fff143590bc2062244f7a3bd |
By . Steph Cockroft . It is a British tradition that has brought joy to millions of families for more than 150 years. Now one of Britain's favourite dishes, fish and chips, has been voted as the country's greatest-ever double act. The meal polled above the likes of Posh and Becks and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in a survey of the top 50 British combinations. The survey asked 1,000 adults to choose their favourite British pairing, from areas such as comedy, music, food, business or sport. Winners! Fish and chips (left) voted as Britain's greatest-ever double act in a poll, while another British tradition, tea and biscuits (right), came second. Bacon and eggs, strawberries and cream and roast beef and Yorkshire pudding were also featured in the top 10 . Second in the list was tea and biscuits, . followed closely by comedy duo Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, who polled . at number three. The rest of the top ten was dominated by classic food pairings, including bacon and eggs, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, sausage and mash and strawberries and cream. Other duos which clinched a top ten spot included The Two Ronnies, otherwise known as Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker, and fictitious duo Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, played in the latest BBC series by Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. The list showed Britons' appetite for comedy, with Steptoe and Son and Delboy and Rodney Trotter, from Only Fools and Horses, both featured in the top 20. Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders polled at number 22. Comedians Eric Morecambe, left, and Ernie Wise, right, pictured in 1960, came third in a poll which asked 1,000 adults to choose their favourite British pairing. Other comedians in the top 50 included The Two Ronnies and French and Saunders . The musical world was also well represented. Beatles songwriters John Lennon and Paul McCartney, pop rock duo Chas and Dave and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards from The Rolling Stones all featured in the list. The list also included much-loved British brands, including Marks & Spencer, which came in at number 10, Procter & Gamble, Rolls-Royce and Fortnum and Mason. Two Coronation Street stalwarts also made the list, including Jack and Vera Duckworth and Newton & Ridley, the fictional brand of beer served in the TV show's pub, Rovers Return. From sport, there was Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean and football pundits Ian St John and Jimmy Greaves. Other pairings included Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Carry On's Barbara Windsor and Sid James and Posh and Becks, who polled at number 42 - one spot below sitcom couple Gavin and Stacey. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge featured at number 28, two spots below Sooty and Sweep. TV presenters Ant and Dec, gin and tonic and Wallace and Gromit were also featured in the list. The survey was commissioned by chocolate brand Elizabeth Shaw to launch their latest Flutes chocolate batons range. A spokesman for the company said: 'We love our double acts and combinations in this country, from Posh and Becks to Wills and Kate, bacon and eggs to cheese and crackers. 'They all show just how well two different elements can go together to create something magical, whether it is showbiz, sport, food or business.' Vera Duckworth, left, from Coronation Street, with her on-screen husband Jack. The pair came 35th in a list of the greatest British pairings . 1. Fish & chips 2. Tea & biscuits3. Morecambe & Wise4. Bacon & eggs5. Roast beef & Yorkshire pudding 6. Sausage & mash 7. The Two Ronnies8. Strawberries & cream 9. Sherlock Holmes and Watson 10. Marks & Spencer11. Steak & Kidney12. Boiled egg and soldiers 13. Torvill & Dean 14. DelBoy & Rodney15. Salt & Vinegar 16. Lennon & McCartney 17. Cheese & Crackers 18. Steptoe & Son 19. Gin & Tonic 20. Rolls & Royce21. Wallace & Gromit 22. French & Saunders 23. Victoria & Albert 24. Ant & Dec 25. Tate & Lyle 26. Sooty & Sweep 27. Fruit & Nut 28. William & Kate 29. Coffee & Mints 30. Fortnum & Mason 31. Pimms & Lemonade 32. Chas & Dave 33. Sid James & Barbara Windsor 34. Morse & Lewis35. Jack & Vera Duckworth 36. Taylor & Burton 37. Procter & Gamble 38. Jagger & Richards 39. Vic & Bob 40. Benson & Hedges 41. Gavin & Stacey 42. Posh & Becks 43. Saint & Greavsie44. Ronnie & Reggie 45. Newton & Ridley46. Keith Harris & Orville47. Robson & Jerome 48. Exchange & Mart 49. Brighton & Hove 50. Kensington & Chelsea . | Other top ten duos include bacon and eggs and sausage and mash . The Two Ronnies and Sherlock and Dr Watson also featured in top ten . | 6376432df47eaef2eaa896a1399d2afc88acd48f |
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday froze the U.S. assets of eight members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which it has deemed a narco-terrorist organization. The Treasury's action, termed a "designation," also prohibited Americans from conducting business with FARC. "Today's designation exposes eight 'International Commission members' of the FARC," said Adam Szubin, director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. "Through their service to the FARC as international representatives and negotiators, these persons provide material support to a narco-terrorist organization." The organization, comprised of Colombian leftist rebels, is best known as FARC, its Spanish acronym. The eight in Tuesday's designation represent the FARC in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico and Canada, the Treasury Department alleged. "As representatives of the FARC and members of its International Commission, these individuals work abroad to obtain recruits, support and protection for the FARC's acts of terrorism," the department said in a written statement. "Some are also themselves violent criminals." One, Jairo Alfonse Lesmes Bulla, was arrested in August for allegedly plotting the assassinations of some South American officials, Treasury said. Bulla represents FARC in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay, according to the department. Another, Orlay Jurado Palomino, who represents FARC in Venezuela, is wanted in Colombia on charges of kidnapping, rebellion and terrorism, the department said. And Francisco Antonio Cadena Collazos, who represents FARC in Brazil, was arrested in August 2005 at the request of Colombia on charges of rebellion, the Treasury statement said. A fourth, Nubia Calderon de Trujillo, was recently granted asylum by Nicaragua, the department said. The other four are Ovidio Salinas Perez; Jorge Davalos Torres; Efrain Pablo Rejo Freire; and Liliana Lopez Palacios, according to the Treasury statement. | Treasury Department targets members of Colombia rebel group . The group, known as FARC, has been deemed a narco-terrorist organization . Action also prohibits Americans from doing business with FARC . | 2aadd878ccfc15b3d28a69841db932a69f6e6aa7 |
By . Mike Dickson In Paris . Follow @@Mike_Dickson_DM . Despite being someone who has won the championship eight times, Rafael Nadal has never enjoyed an unconditional love affair with the French Open or the Roland Garros public. On Monday, returning yet again to begin the defence of his title, he will find himself taking his bow on the secondary Court Suzanne Lenglen, with Novak Djokovic and Australian Open champion Stanislaw Wawrinka playing their matches on the main Court Philippe Chatrier. The indications last night were that the Nadal camp were none too impressed with the undisputed king of clay being treated in such a manner. Back to his best? Rafa Nadal, watched by uncle Toni, practices at Roland Garros before his title defence . Unloved: While Nadal attracts the admiration of the French crowd he has never been completely accepted . His public relations manager Benito Perez Barbadillo gave an obvious clue to how the world number one was thinking when he tweeted: '3rd in Suzanne Lenglen tomorrow. What do you think?' While there is no unshakeable convention here as at Wimbledon that a returning men’s champion gets to kick off at an appointed hour on the equivalent of Centre Court, and it is not the end of the tennis world, some irritation is understandable. It is not that Djokovic or Wawrinka have especially juicy opponents – although the latter needs to watch out against Guillermo Garcia Lopez – and women’s champion Serena Williams was put on Chatrier on Sunday. Nadal will have to wait his turn to tackle American Robby Ginepri and it will add to the sense that not everyone would be unhappy if someone else won this year. All sport needs unpredictability and through his sustained brilliance on clay the Spaniard has sometimes turned this into a procession. For that reason the Parisian crowd could hardly hide their delight in 2009 when he lost at this event to Robin Soderling, having been booed off court when he retired injured in late 2008 at the indoor Paris Masters that happens each November. His uncle and coach Toni Nadal did not attempt to conceal his fury five years ago, calling them ‘stupid’, among other things. The way of tennis crowds is often only to love a player when they are on the downslide. Today’s scheduling may add to the determination of his nephew to prove the doubters wrong over the next fortnight as, for the first time since the middle of the last decade, he comes here as many people’s second favourite. Made to wait: The defending champion will not being his campaign until after late on Monday . Strong: Federer breezed through his first round match against Lukas Lacko and says Nadal is still the man to beat . The world number one has lost three times on clay this year and looked well beaten in the recent Madrid final before Kei Nishikori succumbed to a back injury. He has talked of losing some of his ‘inside power’ and theories have abounded about the relative slippage in his results. Some believe it to be a minor loss of confidence while in a recent interview with the New York Times, former Spanish Davis Cup Captain Emilio Sanchez suggested his footwork on the backhand may have marginally changed to protect his left knee. It was hard to agree with Roger Federer – a comfortable opening day winner over Luckas Lacko in straight sets – that Nadal is ‘probably where he wants to be’ after losing to Djokovic in the Italian Open final. Betting against Nadal in this event may well be foolhardy, although the bookies now make the Serb the marginal favourite for the title. Federer became unusually tetchy when asked if he considered the Spaniard was less fancied than Djokovic. Favourite: Novak Djokovic goes into the tournament as favourite after beating Nadal in Rome last week . 'I don’t know who is saying it, I definitely didn’t. It doesn’t go week to week, you know. Three weeks ago Novak couldn’t play tennis anymore (a reference to his brief wrist injury). When he was injured it was ‘Everything is terrible, oh my God’, now everything is great. 'Rafa has played the matches he needs to play. He is the favourite, then Novak and then the rest. It’s very clear.' Few are rating Andy Murray’s chances especially highly, and he will have to wait until Tuesday to play his first round, against Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev. Heather Watson also plays then. Of the three British players in the singles qualifier James Ward joins the fray on Monday lunchtime after being slotted into the draw against the number seventeen seed Tommy Robredo. It is not much of a reward for coming through the qualifying, neither a glamour tie nor against an especially vulnerable opponent. Robredo is a hugely tough and consistent competitor who rarely loses to players ranked much below him, and it will require a career-best performance from world number 170 Ward to topple him. But the British number three is in good form and has nothing to lose, playing with house money . | Defending champion will not start on Court Philippe Chatrier . Bookies have Novak Djokovic marginal favourite for title after Rome win . But Roger Federer says Nadal is ‘probably where he wants to be’ | a25c0cec43402f0875a8b5bcddcb94fc37a7c897 |
A teacher has resigned over Ebola fears after her school ordered her to stay home for 21 days following a mission trip to Kenya - even though there have been no cases of the virus there. Susan Sherman, who worked for the Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky for 16 years, was asked to stay away from St Margaret Mary Catholic School because of parents' and parishioners' concerns. But Sherman, a registered nurse, complained that the demands were never properly communicated to her and that the decision was based on 'ignorance', she told WLKY. 'It is with sadness that I tell you that I have resigned my position as your teacher,' she wrote in a letter to students. 'Apparently, I have lost the trust of a large number of people in our school community.' Snub: Susan Sherman has quit her job at a Louisville school after being put on 'precautionary leave' for 21 days after returning from a mission trip to Kenya last month - a decision she said was based on ignorance . In the letter, which relatives shared on Facebook, she said that 'contrary to some perceptions, I did not go on this mission trip recklessly or without thought'. Rather, she kept up-to-date with the news and took all of the necessary vaccinations and medications. 'This was my fourth trip to Migori, Kenya to work in the Kenya Relief clinic,' she explained. 'I went with full confidence that knowing that my hosts would take heroic measures to keep me and my fellow healthcare workers safe. I'm committed to return to Migori at least once each year.' The 60-year-old had visited Kenya with her husband Paul, 64, a retired orthopedic surgeon, on a medical mission with the faith-based organization Kenya Relief, the Courier-Journal reported. The tiny Kenyan village where she worked is more than 4,000 miles from where the main outbreak of the virus has been reported in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia in West Africa. Despite the distance between her and the virus, parents and parishioners expressed their concerns - at a time when 'a new or suspected Ebola patient was being named [in the U.S.] each day,' the Archdiocese said in a statement shared with WHAS11. Thousands of miles apart: Sherman was on a mission trip to a tiny town in Kenya - which is more than 4,000 miles away from the Ebola-ravaged countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, seen left . Anger: Sherman, pictured left with her husband Paul and right with one of her daughters, is a registered nurse and said she took Ebola fears seriously - but that she was thousands of miles away from any outbreak . 'Some St. Margaret Mary parents were googling and distributing media articles naming Kenya as a "high risk" country and were approaching the local media about their fears,' it said. 'Unfortunately attempts to communicate facts and reduce fear were unsuccessful, so parish administrators decided to ask Mrs. Sherman upon her return to take a precautionary leave of 21 days with pay and to secure a doctor's note about her health. 'This decision was made to protect the well-being of students in light of the uproar.' But the requested leave was 'not effectively communicated' to the teacher and she only learned about the leave when she returned from the trip, the Archdiocese said. 'This communication failure is unacceptable, and the leadership of St. Margaret Mary and the Archdiocese has apologized to Mrs. Sherman for this failure,' it continued. 'Mrs. Sherman, however, communicated to the parish that in light of the poor communication and all that had been transpired, she felt unwelcome and did not see how she could effectively continue as a teacher.' Clash: She has worked for the district for nearly 20 years but had started at St Margaret Mary Catholic School, pictured, only earlier this year. The Archdiocese said it regretted her decision to resign . The school 'is deeply apologetic for any pain that this situation has caused Mrs. Sherman and very much regrets Mrs. Sherman's decision to resign,' it said. The school is now working to replace Sherman. The Shermans said that other members of the team who went to Kenya have returned to their jobs without any problems. Mrs Sherman had worked for the Archdiocese as a teacher from 1998 to 2004, and then continued as a substitute teacher. She joined St Margaret's this year. 'More than anything I want educators to educate, and parents to support them, and administrators to support the educators,' she wrote in a statement. 'Then the kids get the best education and that is part of the problem here, the kids were lost in this equation.' | Susan Sherman went on a medical mission to a small Kenyan town that was more than 4,000 miles away from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa . But parents and parishioners became concerned about the virus and the school agreed to put her on a 'precautionary leave' for 21 days . Sherman said the decision was based on 'ignorance' and that the leave was never properly communicated to her and she has now resigned . The school has apologized to Sherman and says it regrets her resignation . | 62b4d65b5e1f11610c0e40142fab4fdc2c4ea2dd |
By . Tim Shipman, Deputy Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 18:41 EST, 4 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:09 EST, 4 November 2013 . Ed Miliband’s plan to encourage businesses to pay a ‘living wage’ would put 300,000 young people out of work, a former aide to Tony Blair warned yesterday. The Labour leader will today announce that he would offer tax breaks to firms who pay their employees £8.80 an hour in London and £7.65 in the rest of the UK – far higher than the minimum wage, which is £6.31 an hour. But John McTernan, who helped Mr Blair introduce the minimum wage in 1999, warned yesterday that the policy would be a disaster for jobs and hit young people particularly hard. Political adviser John McTernan who helped Tony Blair roll out the minimum wage in 1999 has warned new living wage estimates will be dangerous to jobs . ‘The national minimum wage was subject to intense economic scrutiny to make sure you set the level at a level which would not destroy jobs,’ he said. ‘The London Living Wage is £8.80 an hour, which is a 40 per cent increase or more on the minimum wage. ‘I don’t think you can increase wages that much without destroying jobs. ‘A study says that if you implement it across the country it would lead to 300,000 young people losing their jobs and I don’t think we can afford that at a time of high unemployment. ‘Many decent people support this campaign. But they are wrong.’ The Labour leader is expected to suggest people are 'working for poverty' in a speech today . Mr Miliband will use his speech today to say that there is a ‘low-pay emergency’ in Britain, with people ‘working for their poverty’. ‘More than five million people are now paid less than the living wage – up 1.4 million in just the last four years to one in five of all employed workers,’ he will say. ‘And low wages aren’t just bad for working people, they cost money in benefits too as the country has to subsidise more and more low-paid jobs with higher and higher tax credits and benefits. ‘Many businesses now recognise that a low-pay economy is bad for them, too. Better pay means lower turnover of staff, higher productivity.’ Attempting to make the cost of living the major battle line before the general election, Mr Miliband will again press his calls for state controls on energy prices. Labour figures – audited by the House of Commons Library, – show how the wholesale cost of energy has risen at an average rate of 1.6 per cent a year since 2011, while the Big Six energy firms have increased retail prices by an average of 10.4 per cent a year. Labour will force a vote in the Commons tomorrow on Mr Miliband’s plan for an energy price freeze for 20 months after the next election. The Labour leader challenged the Tories and Lib Dems to back the plan. | John McTernan warned the policy will hit young people particularly hard . Political adviser helped Tony Blair introduce minimum wage in 1999 . Ed Miliband will suggest people are 'working for their poverty' in speech . | 74e3c4f74835307195aae9947f9c952c331dfd9f |
Australian senator Cory Bernardi, who said legalising gay marriage would spark calls to legalise bestiality, is attending a conference of young Conservatives in Britain . The Conservatives today sought to distance themselves from an Australian MP linked gay marriage to bestiality as he prepares to attend a Conservative conference in the UK this weekend. Liberal senator Cory Bernardi is flying into London after claiming legalising gay marriage could trigger demands for bestiality and polygamy to be legalised as well. He is due to attend the European Young Conservative Freedom Summit in Oxford this weekend, according to The Australian newspaper. Labour said his appearance at the event was 'astonishing' and accused the Tories of paying 'lip service' to equality. But Conservative HQ has moved to play down his links to the party. A party spokesman said: 'We haven't organised this event and are not in control of who attends. 'We strongly condemn Mr Bernardi's comments which don't reflect David Cameron's or the Conservative party's viewpoint in any way.' Mr Bernardi was forced to resign as Bernardi has resigned as parliamentary secretary to opposition leader Tony Abbott are sparking a furore with his comments during a debate on same sex marriage. Mr Bernardi said if same sex couples were allowed to tie the knot in Australian, it would lead to more extreme demands. ‘The next step ... is having three people that love each other be able to enter into a permanent union endorsed by society, or four people,’ he said. ‘There are even some creepy people out there, who say that it's OK to have consensual sexual relations between humans and animals. Will that be a future step?’ Mr Abbott said Senator Bernardi had made ‘ill-disciplined remarks’ and then repeated them on the radio. He had made ‘one mistake too many’. The European Young Conservative Freedom Summit is being held at St Hugh's College, Oxford from Friday to Sunday. ConservativeFuture, the youth wing of the British Conservative party for under-30s, has urged young Tories to attend, saying: 'This is your chance to join us at the leading conference for young conservatives of its kind in Europe.' Mr Bernardi’s arrival in the UK comes at a sensitive time when the British Conservative party is split over plans to legalise gay marriage. Former Labour Cabinet minister Ben Bradshaw said: 'It's astonishing that a youth wing of the Conservative Party could invite someone who has compared same sex marriage to bestiality to speak at one of their events. 'David Cameron should stop this appearance and make it clear that views like this have no place in his party. 'It's clear that while the Tories may pay lip-service to equality, too many of their supporters are prepared to endorse outrageous and offensive views like this.' David Cameron was applauded by the Tory party conference last year when he urged them to back the change in the law. ‘I don’t support gay marriage in spite of being a Conservative,’ he said. ‘I support gay marriage because I am a Conservative.’ However, a number of senior Tory backbenchers have voiced opposition to the plans. VIDEO: Opposition leader says it's 'one mistake too many'... | Cory Bernardi said legalising same sex marriage would lead to calls for bestiality and polygamy to be legalised . Forced to quit as an aide to his party leader, he will attend European Young Conservative Freedom Summit . Tory HQ insist he does not represent David Cameron's views . Labour MP Ben Bradshaw accuses Tories of paying 'lip service' to equality . | 9be42d990ce4b7e57b3f5addfc095fdde56834db |
A police chief's daughter accused of joining in with male friends in violently bashing two Philadelphia gay men appears to have a long history of questionable social media behavior. A Twitter account reportedly belonging to Kathryn Knott reveals the 24-year-old emergency medical technician's propensity for bashing not just gays, but also sick patients and her own liver. Tweets on the account, which was opened in 2011 and features thousands of posts, have hastags such as '#gay #ew,' and 'Why do Asians always put their kids on a leash' among other potentially incriminating messages. Scroll down for videos... Liked to tweet: Kathryn Knott is accused of being a part of a brutal gay bashing in Philadelphia and has an active social media presence that reveals a propensity toward drinking and ridiculing others . '#gay #ew': Some of the messages could reveal a dislike for gay people, though the 24-year-old denies having played any role in the beating of the couple on September 11 . Though some years old, the tweets show a person very accustomed to the risks of overindulgence. Authorities say the group members involved in this months attack were potentially intoxicated . Suspended: A medical ethics expert told Philly.com that Knott's frequent tweets about patients at the Pennsylvania hospital where she worked could make her a liability and cost her job, from which she's already been suspended . Knott and two male friends have been charged for allegedly brutally beating a gay couple in Philadelphia after internet sleuths helped cops identify them. Knott, the daughter of Chalfont Police Chief Karl Knott, Philip Williams, 24, and Kevin Harrigan, 26, turned themselves into Philadelphia Police early on Wednesday. The student-turned-medical tech has a lot to say about her binge drinking in addition to a nearly daily stream of complaints about the patients who come in dire need to the emergency room where she works. 'Ended my night spreading a** cheeks to suture her hemorrhoids while they pulsated blood all over me #disgusting #arewekidding?' she wrote in August 2012. It's one insensitive tweet among many that sometimes also include photos of patient x-rays and even body parts. The Philadelphia Police Department took this mugshot of Kathryn G. Knott and released it late Wednesday . Some of the tweets are merely in poor taste, while others could end up costing Knott her job, experts say . Tasteless: The account @kathryn_knott hasn't been used since last October, but since 2011 racked up some 2,500 tweets . 'A patient gave me a bag of ice with his two fingers in it!' she wrote, along with a photo of what is presumably a bag of fingers. This is the same Twitter user who brags about frequent drunkenness. 'We just got banned from the bar in HIlton Head,' she wrote in March 2012. 'When will I learn to stop drinking whiskey,' she wrote later that year. There are glimpses of a potential dislike for gay people, as well. 'Jazz flute is for little fairy boys,' she once wrote. As well as: 'the ppl we were just dancing with just turned and mafe out with eatch other #gay #ew.' Surrendered: Katheryn Knott, the daughter of a Philadelphia-area police chief, has turned herself into cops for allegedly being part of a group that viciously beat up a gay couple two weeks ago . The Philadelphia police also released these mugshot of Philip R. Williams, left, and Kevin J. Harrigan, right, on Wednesday . While most of these tweets are merely in questionable taste, Medical ethicist Art Caplan told Philly.com that the divulged patient info could cost Knott her job. 'I think she could be looking at legal liability,' Caplan said. 'If there's enough information in the tweets for others to deduce who's being discussed, that's a clear HIPAA violation.' Knott has been suspended from her position at Lansdale Hospital in Pennsylvania. In the mean time, prosecutors said the trio face criminal conspiracy, aggravated and simple assault and reckless endangerment charges for their alleged part in the vicious beating. They were allegedly part of a group that approached a gay couple, aged 26 and 28, in Center City on the evening of September 11 and said to one of the men: 'Is that your f***ing boyfriend?' The group then proceeded to beat up the men, leaving them bruised and hospitalized. One of the men needed to have his jaw wired shut. The case gained national attention when police posted a video of the well-dressed suspects and online sleuths identified them by matching the footage with photos taken in nearby restaurants and shared online. On Wednesday, Williams' attorney Fortunato Perri Jr. told reporters that the case was not related to sexual orientation, but was instead a 'mutual confrontation' in which his client 'was not the aggressor'. Heading to police: Philip Williams pictured hearing to a police station on Wednesday with his lawyer. He was one of three 20-somethings who turned themselves in today . Hurt: One of the victims shared this photo of his injuries. One of the men needed his jaw wired shut . Knott's attorney Louis Busico has also denied that the dispute was motivated by anti-gay bias and said his client neither threw any punches nor hurled any insults. 'My client played no role in this,' Busico told reporters on Wednesday. As well as the three suspects, each of whom was photographed in a mugshot released by the police, another allegedly member of the group - who has not been arrested - has been fired from his job as a Catholic high school basketball coach. Fran McGlinn, 25, was said to be among the dozen men and women when the group launched the attack on the couple. Kenneth Gavin, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, told the Daily News that McGlinn has been fired and prohibited from working at any archdiocesan school. Daddy's girl: Kathryn Knott's father, Karl Knott, left, is the police chief for Chalfont, Pennsylvania . Party-goer: Knott's attorney said she did not throw any punches or yell anything at the men during the fight . Night out: The group were caught on surveillance footage the night they allegedly beat up the two men . Gavin said that McGlinn had been serving as a coach on a 'contract basis' at the high school and was not a teacher. District Attorney Seth Williams said on Tuesday in announcing the charges that the case 'shocked the entire country'. 'An assault on people because of their sexual orientation has no place in Philadelphia,' he said. The trio have now been released on bail. KYW-TV reports that they left the police department's Central Detectives division at about 3:30 a.m. Thursday. Court documents indicate that Williams and Harrigan posted $75,000 bail and Knott posted $50,000 bail. Police had previously thanked members of the public for helping them track down suspects after they posted surveillance footage of the group online. One internet sleuth posted an image of the group he had received from a 'friend of a friend of a friend' showing the group dining out at a restaurant that evening. Caught: Internet sleuths then uncovered this photo of the same group out at a restaurant, leading them to identify some of the members. Cops thanked the internet users for working so swiftly . Kicked out: Fran McGlinn, 25, pictured left and right, has been fired from his job as a basketball coach at a Catholic high school after he allegedly featured in the video. He has not been arrested . Others identified the restaurant as La Viola and then another member of the public found out who had 'checked in' to the restaurant on Facebook - and matched the profiles with the group picture. He then contacted authorities with a list of names. Pennsylvania's hate-crimes law does not cover crimes motivated by a person's sexual orientation. Under current law, a hate crime includes incidents motivated by race, ethnicity, or religion. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, along with openly gay state Rep. Brian Sims of Philadelphia and others, have said the case illustrates the need for a change in the law. See below for video . | Kathryn Knott, the daughter of a Philadelphia-area police chief, Philip Williams, 24, and Kevin Harrigan, 26, surrendered to cops on Wednesday . A Twitter account that reportedly belongs to Knott reveals a rich history of bashing her patients and her own liver . They 'were part of a larger group who approached a gay couple in Center City on September 11 and viciously beat them, leaving them hospitalized' The smartly-dressed group had been captured on surveillance footage and internet sleuths helped identify them . Another member of the group, Fran McGlinn, was fired from his basketball coaching job after he was also allegedly involved in the attack . Williams and Harrigan posted $75,000 bail and Knott posted $50,000 bail . | f2ae46f77bb173bab7dec627268df0118d3dee8d |
Wily: Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne . The only thing we have to fear is fear itself’ was the famous exhortation delivered to the American people by Franklin D. Roosevelt when he became US President in 1933. His opponent in the preceding election, the hapless Herbert Hoover, had spent much of the campaign insisting that the only real problem with the economy was a lack of confidence. Of course, FDR’s catchphrase and Hoover’s analysis actually amounted to saying the same thing in different ways. But Roosevelt went on to become the longest-serving President yet and Hoover is regarded as one of the great failures of US politics. George Osborne seems to have learnt directly from the Roosevelt playbook. Every word of his Autumn Statement was laced with tactical electoral calculations and a determination to limit Labour’s room for manoeuvre to virtually zero. In many areas, the Chancellor has stolen the Opposition’s clothes and is daring them to criticise him for putting them on. An objective assessment of the Coalition’s strategy would point to the stark failure to reduce the vast budget deficit. This now appears to be stuck, for the time being at about £90 billion – meaning that the Government is overspending by around £1,500 for every man, woman and child in Britain, every year. The Government’s declared intention was to eliminate this deficit by the time of the next General Election. Osborne has missed that target by several country miles. Tax receipts have been lower than expected. And despite all the sound and fury about ‘the age of austerity’, overall government spending is down by only a fraction in real terms. IN normal circumstances, you might think that the governing party would expect to be hounded from office in the upcoming Election. Osborne is having none of such talk. Instead, he is displaying the hide of a rhino and the cunning of a fox. Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls will point across the Dispatch Box and rage about how the deficit is far greater than the Tories promised. But the unspoken truth is that the Coalition have long since abandoned their plan to get spending under control. Instead, they have basically adopted the much slower, much less ambitious target proposed by the Labour Party at the last Election – to close off the deficit in about ten years rather than in only five. Sure, the deficit is much higher than Osborne initially planned – but isn’t this just what the Opposition wanted? Scroll down for video . They insisted that the more responsible plan was to get the deficit to come down gradually, not rapidly. That is exactly what is happening. So what are the Labour Party complaining about exactly? I am not so cynical as to suggest that the Chancellor has deliberately failed to eliminate the Government’s overspend on target. But he appears to have concluded that such a failure may actually give him an extra ace up his sleeve. If state expenditure were more tightly under control, voters might accept that the Conservatives’ work had been completed and they could now afford to put in place a Labour-led government to go on a spending spree. But Osborne’s plea is that his task is only half-done and you simply can’t trust Labour to complete it. This is why the Tory mantra of the need for a ‘long-term economic plan’ is the centrepiece of their campaign. Machiavelli set out his theories in 1513's The Prince . Changes in stamp duty were the most dramatic tax change unveiled by the Chancellor last week. But even here the motivation seems to be to set a clever political trap for his opponents. Ending the absurd cliff-edge effects of the previous system was a very good move in principle. But the devil was in the detail. The political thinking of Osborne was most definitely in the detail too. Properties worth more than £2 million will see a dramatic rise in stamp duty. This is likely to mean that large London properties become harder to sell or fall in value. It also makes imposing a mansion tax on top of this is now even harder to justify. In essence, Osborne has introduced a ‘mansion purchase tax’. For Labour to demand a further tax on top of this for owning a so-called mansion, in addition to buying one, now looks even more like the narrow-minded politics of envy. The Government is still raising and spending far too much money. Our absurdly complex tax rulebook gets even longer and more complicated every time the Chancellor makes a statement. Those of us who want dramatic economic reform will feel the Coalition has been rather unambitious. But observers of raw electoral tactics might consider Osborne something of a genius. Indeed, had the master of the dark political arts, Machiavelli, been present last Wednesday, it is likely that he would have been the first to rise to his feet and applaud. | The vast budget deficit appears to be stuck at £90 billion for the time being . This means the Government is overspending by £1,500 for every person . The coalition had intended to eliminate the deficit by next election . Osborne is showing 'hide of a rhino and cunning of a fox,' says Littlewood . | 2cb6b4e71c49536087fdab36cffbc1165b57f99f |
By . Sophie Jane Evans . PUBLISHED: . 05:18 EST, 18 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 12:25 EST, 18 November 2013 . This is the horrific moment an off-duty New York policeman was beaten to within an inch of his life during a 5.30am brawl. Sergeant Mohammed Deen was attacked outside a restaurant in Ozone Park, Queens, while his wife watched helplessly from their parked car. The 40-year-old was knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked and punched - before being left unconscious on the street. Scroll down for video . Brutal: Sergeant Mohammed Deen, 40, was repeatedly punched and kicked outside a restaurant in Queens. His attacker - identified police as Hayden Holder, 29 - has been remanded in custody on a felony assault charge . Sgt Deen - who has worked for the NYPD for 18 years - suffered serious injuries in the brutal assault, which was captured on a passerby's mobile phone and uploaded to Facebook. He was taken to Jamaica Hospital and has now been placed in a medically induced coma, according to the New York Post. The sickening footage shows his attacker - identified by police as Hayden Holder, 29 - repeatedly bashing Sgt Deen's head against the ground outside St John's Express restaurant on Liberty Avenue. Terrifying: Holder tries to smash the windows of Sgt Deen's parked BMW, where his horrified wife is cowering . Holder then tries to attack the Sgt Deen's terrified wife - who is cowering in the police officer's BMW sedan - by attempting to smash the car's windows. Failing to do so, Holder then returns to his unconscious victim - who is lying motionless of the ground - before continuing to punch and kick his body. 'This was a vicious, savage beating,’ said a shocked police officer who was called to the scene. Holder, from Jamaica, attempted to flee the scene, but was later arrested and charged with felony assault. He was taken to the police station in a hospital gown after being treated for injuries to his hand. Sgt Deen, who is currently assigned to the 32nd Precinct in Harlem, is believed to have argued with the thug at Maracus nightclub, about a mile away, earlier in the night. It was unclear what sparked the row - however, Facebook users have speculated that Sgt Deen accidentally bumped into Holder. Holder has been remanded in custody. Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons. | Sergeant Mohammed Deen, 40, was attacked outside restaurant in Queens . He was repeatedly punched, kicked and had his head slammed on ground . Thug then tried to attack his terrified wife, who was sat parked BMW . Victim has been placed in medically induced coma following 5.30am brawl . Hayden Holder, 29, has been remanded in custody on felony assault charge . | 93177698a423c0d0e4be7234419e383b99f5a753 |
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 14:31 EST, 6 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 16:56 EST, 6 November 2013 . A prison inmate today testified that a Mormon doctor accused of killing his wife admitted to the crime by telling him: 'I'm getting away with the murder of my wife.' The testimony came as the trial in Provo, Utah resumed on Wednesday in the case against Martin MacNeill, who is accused of killing his wife Michele in April 2007 so that he could be with his mistress. Witness Jason Poirier recounted his conversation with MacNeill in December 2012 at Utah County jail, a few months after MacNeill's arrest in the death. Scroll down for video . Speaking out: Attorney Randy Spencer, right, questions Jason Poirier, a former inmate who served time with Martin MacNeill, a doctor accused of killing his wife. Poirier said MacNeill acknowledged the murder . Poirier, who was being held on suspicion of shoplifting at the time, told the court that the conversation started when he asked MacNeill how he was able to get away with wearing custom-made shoes in jail. He said MacNeill replied: 'I can get away with a lot of things. I'm getting away with the murder of my wife.' A few days later, Poirier said, he asked MacNeill if the remark had been serious. The doctor replied he was serious, threw up his arms and said, 'Look where I'm at,' Poirier claimed. Poirier took the stand under a limited . grant of immunity. Defense lawyers attacked Poirier's credibility by . getting him to acknowledge he thought he would avoid charges by . informing on MacNeill. On trial: MacNeill is accused of killing his wife with a lethal cocktail of drugs so he could continue an affair . Three other prison inmates testified on Tuesday that MacNeill regularly cursed his wife and bragged that investigators couldn't prove he killed her. One inmate said MacNeill referred to his wife as a 'b****' and that he said: 'If I did [kill her] they don't have any evidence.' Those inmates were from a federal prison in Texas where MacNeill was held on fraud charges. Prosecutors are now nearing the end of . their mostly circumstantial case against MacNeill and are expected to . wrap up their evidence on Wednesday. Prosecutors say MacNeill, 57, hounded . his wife to get cosmetic surgery then knocked her out with painkillers, . Valium and sleeping pills before leaving her to die in the tub. Affair: Prosecutors claim that MacNeill killed his wife to be with his mistress, Gypsy Willis, pictured last week . Loss: MacNeill, a former Sunday school teacher, and his wife Michele had eight children together . Defense lawyers have argued that MacNeill had a heart attack and died after falling into a bathtub in 2007. But a cardiologist testified last Friday that Mrs MacNeill wasn't at risk of a heart attack. Utah cardiologist David Cragun told a court that the 50-year-old had a mild form of heart disease that wouldn't have killed her. Prosecutors called Cragun and another expert to suggest Michele MacNeill's death must have involved foul play. 'My opinion is that Michele died as a result of drowning,' testified Joshua Perper, a forensic pathologist from Florida. Anna Walthall, a mistress of Martin MacNeill, previously testified that he once described over 'pillow talk' how he could induce a heart attack in someone that would appear natural. | Jason Poirier, who was in jail with Martin MacNeill in December 2012, claimed doctor said: 'I'm getting away with the murder of my wife' Comes after other inmates testified MacNeill called his wife a 'b****' and that authorities had no evidence to convict him . MacNeill is accused of killing his wife Michele in April 2007 so he could continue an affair with his long-time mistress Gypsy Willis . | 2b243fd71210954245c23be81cf44ee2749ee715 |
(CNN) -- A new study finds that 54 percent of teens talk about behaviors such as sex, alcohol use, and violence on the social networking giant MySpace -- presenting potential risks even if all they're doing is talking, researchers said Monday. Do you know what your teen has posted on social networking Web sites? The study looked at MySpace profiles of 500 people who identified themselves as 18-year-old males and females in the United States. References to risky behaviors included both words and photos, the authors said. Not all teens who write about risky behaviors in their profiles actually engage in them in real life, said Dr. Megan Moreno of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, one of the authors of the study, which appears in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. They may instead talk about sex, substance use, or violence because they are contemplating doing those things, or because they want to brag without actually doing what they say, Moreno said. Even if teens have not actually engaged in risky behaviors but merely brag about them online, this can still affect their future behavior, said study co-author Dr. Dimitri Christakis, professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington and director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children's Hospital. Those who lie about the behaviors to show off may receive positive feedback from others -- comments such as "that's great" or "I do the same thing" -- that encourage them to actually try out the behaviors, he said. Apart from that, teens who claim such behaviors are more likely to be victims of bullying and unwanted invitations for sex, he said. In a second study, Moreno and colleagues identified 190 profiles of 18- to 20-year-olds that contained three or more references to sexual behaviors or substance abuse. The authors then made a profile of their own, called "Dr. Meg," from which they sent a single e-mail to half these profiles, warning them about the risky information and offering information about clinical resources. They found that, after three months, 42.1 percent of the profile owners who received the e-mail -- and 29.5 percent of those who did not -- either removed references to risky behaviors or made their profiles private. "It's really not that MySpace is bad or good. I think the lesson is that it's a tool, and how you use it determines the kinds of outcome you're going to get," Moreno said. Experts say the bottom line is that parents should get more involved in the online lives of their children. "I tell parents that they should absolutely create their own MySpace and Facebook page," Christakis said. The study inspired him to create his own Facebook account, and his 10-year-old already wants to know about his "friends," he said. In some cases, parents should even have their children's passwords for these social networking sites, especially when the children are around age 13 or 14, said Vivian Friedman, child-adolescent psychologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Friedman was not involved with the study, but she is well aware of the problem. One of Friedman's patients, the daughter of a preacher, posted nude photographs of herself online, a move that cost her father his job, Friedman said. But she said 54 percent as a figure for profiles with risky behaviors seems too high, given that most of what happens on social networking sites is "chit-chat." "I have parents that catch their kids bragging about something on MySpace, and when you actually confront them, the kid says 'I really wasn't doing it,' and they can prove they were not at the party where they were supposed to have been drinking," she said. Beyond keeping a watchful eye on risky interests and pictures, parents should also use social networking sites such as MySpace -- which had about 120 million users as of this summer -- as an opportunity to learn about their childrens' favorite movies and hobbies, as well as their top friends, she said. "You so often hear parents say 'I don't even know my kid anymore.' Here's a very easy tool to get to know your kid again," she said. , . | Study: 54 percent of MySpace profiles of 18-year-olds mentioned risky behaviors . Authors looked at 500 randomly chosen Web profiles from U.S. teens . Many teens took down content or made profiles private after e-mail warning . Experts: Parents should know what their children are doing online . | d951172df04219412ce1fbcba0c4722ed4191da6 |
By . Darren Boyle for MailOnline . Diana, Princess of Wales' former chef has attacked her brother Earl Spencer for what he calls the neglect of her final resting place at his Althorp Estate in Northamptonshire. Darren McGrady, who cooked for Diana as well as the Queen has posted several photographs of the memorial on Twitter, showing the lake near her grave covered in algae. However, the estate has maintained that her burial site is being well looked after, saying the hot summer months had caused the algae to spread quickly, making it more difficult to remove - and that this has been a widespread problem for waterways across the country. Scroll down for video . Former Royal Chef Darren McGrady, centre, said he was disappointed by the state of Diana's Althorp memorial . In a series of emotional Tweets, Mr McGrady implored Earl Spencer to remove the algae around the memorial . A spokesperson for Althorp said a team regularly cleans the lake but the algae is a problem in hot weather . Taking to Twitter, Mr McGrady said: 'If I cared for Princess Diana in life as you are doing in death I would have been fired. 'Please tidy up the vegetation on the island.' Posting photographs after apparently visiting the site, he added: 'Made me so sad to see how Althorp Estate has neglected Princess Diana's resting place.' The exact spot where the the princess is buried is secret for security reasons, but a memorial to the mother-of-two was located on a small island in the middle of a lake. Visitors pay £18 to visit the house and 14,000-acre estate and can lay flowers at a specially constructed temple near the island, with thousands visiting every year to pay their respects. Gardeners . and contractors have been battling to control the spread of algae in . Round Oval lake, and after taking advice from experts have taken measures such as placing bales of barley in the water. Some . 2,000 carp have also been introduced into the lake in the hope they . will eat the algae blooms, which are almost impossible to completely . eradicate. Siblings: Earl Spencer (left) with his sister Diana (center) on Prince Charles' (right) 21st birthday . Earl Spencer, right, arriving at his sister's memorial with former South African President Nelson Mandela . Diana was buried in her childhood home of Althorp in Northamptonshire, pictured, following her death . 'Algae is an unsightly problem for many lakes in the summer months,' a spokesman from the Althorp Estate told MailOnline. 'Althorp employs contractors to deal with what is a highly invasive and fast-growing weed on a regular basis, and the Althorp gardeners also tackle it as part of their summer programme - the exceptional temperatures of this summer have made the task of keeping it entirely under control extremely difficult.' The spokesman added that the gravesite's security and maintenance were dealt with by Earl Spencer 'with matchless care', and that he takes his responsibility for the site 'extremely seriously'. Algae has been a common sight across many of the UK's waterways this summer. Blooms can be caused by a combination of soaring temperatures and sharp downpours. Algae blooms are more prevalent in very sunny spots. The chef spent 11 years working Buckingham Palace but left the Royal household after Diana's divorce from Prince Charles in 1996. He then went to work for Diana in Kensington Palace. Mr McGrady is now living and working in Texas and has written cookery books featuring recipes enjoyed by the royals. Earlier, McGrady paid a visit to the Paris underpass where Diana died following a high speed car crash . In the hours after Diana's death, several rows erupted between the Queen, Prince Charles and Earl Spencer. The Queen, it was reported, did not want Diana's remains brought to any royal palace upon their return from Paris. Prince Charles went to France to accompany his ex-wife's body back to the country. In a misjudgement of public opinion, the Queen initially refused to cut short her annual holiday in Balmoral . It is understood that Prime Minister Tony Blair had to mediate. However, Diana's mother Frances Shand Kydd and a spokesman for Buckingham Palace later denied reports of any row, describing it as 'a rag-bag of nonsensical speculation'. Downing Street and Earl Spencer also denied any rift. The Queen wanted any funeral to be a private affair, however, the public demanded a major ceremony to allow them to pay tribute. Earl Spencer then decided that Diana should be buried on the Althorp estate rather than committed to family's crypt in the church in Great Bington because of security concerns. | Darren McGrady spent 11 years working in Buckingham Palace . He later worked in Kensington Palace after Diana's 1996 divorce . Mr McGrady is now living and working in Texas and has written cook books . McGrady said he was sad seeing the algae surrounding Diana's memorial . A spokesman for Althorp said the algae was caused by long hot stretch . Earl takes his responsibility for site 'extremely seriously', says spokesman . Spread of the weed has been a problem for many waterways across the UK . Gardeners on the estate have introduced carp to the lake to reduce algae . Bales of barley also placed in the lake to reduce the blooms . | 24f80c191f8e30a2c122a087c30bf477ffc47967 |
(CNN) -- The future of a reality show that Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein was working on for MTV remains undecided after his death Friday night, his publicist said Monday. Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein claimed to have 11 years of sobriety after being addicted to crack cocaine. "It is too soon to have made any decisions at this time regarding the status of the show," Jenni Weinman said in an e-mail regarding "Gone Too Far," a show about drug addiction that was set to debut in October. It was a subject close to his heart. The successful deejay and entrepreneur was a self-described crack cocaine addict who had 11 years of sobriety and wanted the show to help others. Since his death, blogs and message boards have been full of speculation over whether the show contributed to his death. Goldstein's body was found in his New York City apartment with a crack pipe nearby and a half bag of crack cocaine and prescription drugs in the home, a police source told People.com. In an interview with MTV this summer, Goldstein, 36, admitted that producing the series presented its share of trials for the recovering addict in him. iReport.com: DJ AM brought rock, rap together . He recalled one moment early in shooting in which he purchased a crack pipe from a local corner store to show how easy they were to procure. "I realized after I was holding it my palms were sweaty and I was like, wait a minute, this is not smart for me to be holding this and I started really kind of freaking out," he said in an interview in July. "It's been tough, it's like I'm on the borderline of seeing people in their disease that I used to be in. But I have to know why I'm there. There's no better way for me to remember how low my bottom was than to see someone else at their bottom and offer them a chance out of it." He said that his experiences as a recovering addict inspired him to do the project. Before MTV approached him about the project, Goldstein said outreach to other drug addicts was already a second vocation for him after deejaying. "Part of me feels like, 'Who am I?' I'm a DJ. This is my one chance. I owe it as a human who's sober to say something to them. So that's my job. That's what I'm there for," he said. "I see myself in every single addict that I've done an episode on ... I see a part of me in them. We completely relate to each on how we started, why we started and the fact we cannot stop on our own." After he survived a fiery plane crash last year that killed four and left him in need of skin grafts, Goldstein told People.com that he had a nurse dispense pain medication. "In recovery, they say, 'Take what is exactly prescribed and stop when they say to stop.' I do what I'm told," he said. Rapper Jay-Z recalls how even after the crash, Goldstein stood by his commitment to deejay for him at a concert shortly after the tragic event. "The accident happened and you know I'm thinking OK we'll get up next year, whenever he gets back on his feet. But he called, 'like man, don't count me out for the concert.' I'm like 'what?' And he came and he had a bandage on his head," he told CNN. "It was just a small thing, but his passion and love for what he did that's what is always going to stick with me." | "It is too soon to have made any decisions," publicist says of MTV reality show . Show cast Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein in role setting drug addicts on path to recovery . Goldstein told MTV he purchased crack pipe for show, faced other intense moments . Goldstein, 36, reportedly found dead with crack pipe, crack cocaine in home . | 66cb658bf156947bc5691ca8fda61a08344ccecb |
(CNN) -- Rafael Nadal survived a scare in his opening round match against John Isner at the French Open on Tuesday as the big-serving American took the five-time champion to five sets. The World No.1 eventually prevailed against marathon man Isner 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 6-4 in just over four hours to set up a second round match with compatriot Pablo Andujar. Nadal started the match in typically dominant fashion breaking Isner in the seventh game of the opening set, before serving out to take a one-set lead. But Isner -- who won the 11-hour epic against Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon last year -- wasn't about to give up and promptly raised his game. The six-foot-nine American -- ranked 39 in the world -- took both the second and third sets on the tiebreak raising the prospect of handing Nadal only his second defeat at Roland Garros and causing one of the biggest upsets in years. But the Spaniard immediately mounted a comeback gaining an early break in the fourth before closing out the set 6-2. Nadal secured another eary break in the fifth set but Isner didn't crumble and pushed his opponent all the way. But Nadal's persistence was rewarded as he took the final set 6-4. "It's always a very, very close match against John because you play under pressure all the time and at moments in the tie-breaks. I didn't play very well, I was too nervous," Nadal said in an on-court interview after the match. Clijsters wins on Paris return . In other matches, fourth seed Andy Murray eased into the second round beating French qualifier Eric Prodon in straight sets 6-4 6-1 6-3. The Briton will play Italy's Simone Bolelli in his next match. Fifth seed and 2009 runner-up Robin Soderling needed four sets to beat American Ryan Harrison. The Swede's 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-5 victory means he will play Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Austria's Jurgen Melzer, a losing semi-finalist last year, beat Germany's Andreas Beck 6-3 6-4 6-2. But 11th-seed Nicolas Almagro of Spain is out after losing in five sets 3-6 2-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 to the Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot. | Five-time French Open champion beats American John Isner in opening French Open tie . Isner led two sets to one, but Nadal fight back ensures passage to second round . Andy Murray and Robin Soderling both into second round after victories on Tuesday . | 8af4bff6233e71a5777285e6dc6b66576ee2bde1 |
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 06:10 EST, 23 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:47 EST, 23 May 2013 . Its absence had left fans feeling a little deflated but after being given a spring clean, the giant duck is back. The 50ft high yellow inflatable was seen floating in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour after more than a week away. It has now been reinstalled after being cleaned and checked. Back to its best: The giant inflatable duck is re-inflated at Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour after a clean . Out of air: The floating exhibition - called Spreading Joy Around The World - was deflated for checks . Pictures of the enormous duck lying . deflated on the surface of the water led to predictions of the duck's . demise but exhibition organisers confirmed it was simply enjoying . 'sleepy time'. The duck - named Spreading Joy Around The World - was created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman. Hong Kong's biggest shopping mall Harbour City, which organised the exhibition, heralded the duck's return on Twitter. A spokesman tweeted: 'Thanks for all the support everyone! I am all freshen up! (sic)' It has attracted tens of thousands of visitors since it first bobbed into the harbour this month. On the up: It was pumped back up again using a generator and organisers said it had been freshened up . The floating sculpture was due to remain at the Ocean Terminal for a month. Since 2007, it has travelled to ten countries and 12 cities, including Osaka, Sydney, Sao Paulo and Amsterdam. It is always deflated for transportation and then re-inflated in its new home using a generator. It's next scheduled stop after Hong Kong is a closely guarded secret. Feeling flat: Fans had feared the demise of the duck after it was pictured floating deflated on the water . | The duck called Spreading Joy Around The World was deflated last week . Has returned to Victoria Harbour after being checked and given a clean . | 938ae2d15006b284e6097030f96f8848452c4f45 |
By . Rebecca Evans . and Vanessa Allen . Hacked to death: Lt Col David Parkinson (right) was attacked by five intruders as he was sleeping beside his wife of 35 years, Sonja (left), in Kenya . A gang that hacked to death a former Parachute Regiment officer in Kenya may be linked to a previous attack on a British couple, police revealed yesterday. Nature reserve manager Lt Col David Parkinson, 58, was killed by five robbers at his remote home. They took the equivalent of £1.90 in cash plus a laptop and bottles of wine after Sonja Parkinson, 52, managed to escape and barricade herself in the house’s panic room. A local man has been detained and questioned over the attack on the Parkinsons but has not been formally arrested in connection with Sunday’s break-in at their home in Lolldaiga Hills, near Mount Kenya National Park. The couple were asleep when the robbers used smashed their way into their bedroom and demanded money and guns. Mrs Parkinson was tied up and threatened and her husband attacked as he fought to defend her. Police believe he may have been knocked unconscious before being struck with broad-bladed machetes, known locally as pangas. Lt Co Parkinson, from Brighton. East Sussex, was formerly a director of Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya, where Prince William spent part of his gap year. He was awarded an OBE in 1998 for his military service. Police said there were parallels with the robbery and a raid on the home of another former British army officer and his wife in the region in June. Two men are expected to face trial for that attack, but two other raiders had not been traced. It is likely that Lt Col Parkinson bled to death during a raid in which by an armed gang stole a laptop, $3 and bottles of wine. A former grammar school pupil from Brighton, he was awarded an OBE at St James’ Palace by Prince Charles in 1998 for his military service. Last night, Kenyan police said the retired soldier’s hand was cut off as he struggled with the intruders in order to give his wife enough time to reach safety. Local police chief Maurice Tum said the robbers gained entry by smashing the windows and ordered Lt Col Parkinson to hand over money and guns. Crime scene: David Parkinson's house in Nanyuki, Laikipia where robbers raided his home and killed him . Grief: Friends of Lt Col Parkinson at his farm are coming to terms with his brutal murder . Tragedy: Lt Col David Parkinson was killed in the farmhouse of the Lolldaiga Hills ranch in Kenya (pictured) He added: ‘A fight ensured between the men and the soldier and they cut off his left hand and left him bleeding profusely. 'The . wife hid in the strong room. It was this decision which saved her. She . came out and found her bleeding husband and contacted the police.’ Lt Col Parkinson, who served in the Army for 30 years, became manager of the ranch after leaving Lewa in 2008. Before taking up his place at St Andrews University, Prince William spent his gap year at Lewa, helping with various conservation projects. In 2010, he and Kate holidayed there, staying in a secluded rustic log cabin where William proposed. The Duchess said: ‘He’s a true romantic and we had a wonderful holiday in Africa. It was very romantic and it was a very personal time for both of us.’ Last night the Duke of Cambridge, who is a patron of Lewa, said he was ‘saddened’ to hear about Lt Col Parkinson’s death. Mrs Parkinson, who owns a local arts and crafts company called Mitumba Art, was taken to hospital and treated for shock. 'Saddened': The soldier was formerly a director of Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, where Prince William (right) spent his gap year as a 19-year-old and where he proposed to Kate Middleton (left, with Prince George) A friend and neighbour said: ‘He was very . dynamic, doing an amazing job in Lolldaiga for both conservation and . the community. He was a very well-liked man.’ Lt Col Parkinson joined the Army in 1973 after graduating from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. 'A fight ensured between the men and the soldier and they cut off his left hand and left him bleeding profusely' Maurice Tum, local Kenyan police chief . Known to his fellow soldiers as Parky, he joined the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces, before becoming chief instructor at Sandhurst. On his last tour before retiring, he commanded the British Army training organisation in Nairobi. In 2003, he and his wife permanently relocated to Kenya where he took up his post with Lewa, a growing conservation and community development project. The couple sold their home in Hassocks, West Sussex, for £500,000 three years later. They have two daughters, Anna, 33 and Renate, 29. Lt Col Parkinson took up the post with Lolldaiga Hills at the start of this year. A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: ‘We are aware of the death of a British national in Kenya and our team at the High Commission in Nairobi are providing consular assistance.’ | Lt Col David Parkinson, 58, attacked as he slept beside wife Sonja . Mother of two managed to escape by fleeing to secure 'panic room' Retired colonel was formerly a Lewa Wildlife Conservancy director . It is where Prince William spent his gap year and proposed to Kate . | 1804af8c3fec2bd7702d9c7db96306fb25b2318d |
(CNN) -- "Hannah Montana: The Movie" is exactly what it purports to be, no more, no less: a two-hour version of a "Hannah Montana" TV episode. Miley Cyrus stars as Hannah Montana -- and Miley Stewart -- in "Hannah Montana: The Movie." Hannah's popularity becomes too much for Miley Stewart (Cyrus). Miley retreats to Tennessee, learns what really matters, performs some songs and kisses a boy, and everything turns out all right in the end. Peter Chelsom -- whose checkered career includes the terrific "Funny Bones" and "Hear My Song" as well as the bomb "Town & Country" -- handled the direction. It's a sunny movie for Easter weekend. There are no Blofelds threatening the world, no sexual intercourse with pies, no bodies shot into pieces by machine guns smuggled in cocaine. Just sweet Miley Cyrus, her soul-patched dad and the huge Disney movie machine humming along. Watch Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus talk about "Hannah" » . Which means that perfect counterprogramming is "Observe and Report," which walks a fine line between brilliant and revolting. CNN.com's Tom Charity thinks it's great; the New York Press' Armond White calls it "the ugliest, most hate-filled comedy since 'Borat.' " (Which, for many, could make "Observe" a must-see; if White wanted to discourage people, he should have said "the ugliest, most hate-filled comedy since 'Waiting.' ") Also opening this weekend is "Dragonball: Evolution," and, for a handful of markets, there's "Anvil!: The Story of Anvil," about an '80s metal band that never grasped the brass ring but whose history certainly makes for entertaining watching. That film is earning a 98 percent rating at Rotten Tomatoes and 83 percent at Metacritic, some of the highest marks of the year. Watch a preview of "Dragonball" » . On the DVD front, more 2008 holiday movies have found their way on to video, including "Yes Man," "Bedtime Stories," "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "Doubt," the latter of which was nominated for five Oscars. That's five more than "Yes Man," "Bedtime Stories" or "The Day the Earth Stood Still," for what it's worth. Bob Mould, Neil Young and the Doves released albums last week; among the acts putting out albums Tuesday are Fastball and Silversun Pickups. (And now "The Way" is running through my mind.) Watch an interview with country star Jason Aldean » . So, not a bad Easter weekend -- and it will conclude (more or less) with the final round of the Masters golf tournament. Miley Cyrus will probably not be there. She's got some wholesome singing to do. | "Hannah Montana: The Movie" opens this weekend, starring Miley Cyrus . "Observe and Report" is "Hannah's" opposite: crude and cutting . Masters golf tournament ends Sunday . | 6153086ceea417c154de1a5a880225fc788b35e6 |
By . Francesca Chambers . Elected officials and rumored 2016 presidential candidates descended upon Detroit, Michigan, today to woo progressive activists at the annual Netroots Nation conference. But one high-profile, political figure is noticeably missing from the fray: Hillary Clinton. Clinton has not attended the gathering since 2007 when she was competing in the Democratic primary for president, and conference organizers said she declined an invitation to speak this year. The former Secretary of State opted to spend the week promoting her book, instead, holding book signings in New Jersey and Connecticut. This afternoon she sat down with Charlie Rose in his Manhattan office for an hour long interview that will air tonight on PBS. Hillary Clinton, pictured here on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Tuesday, put promoting her book ahead of speaking to progressive activists at a gathering this week in Detroit . Republicans . lept to criticize Hillary's absence from the 3,000 person gathering as . further proof that the 2016 frontrunner is out of touch with her base. 'Hillary Clinton is just too busy on her book tour to take time out for the Netroots conference in Detroit but with all of the news about how the Clintons have struggled financially, we get it, money first, even as colleges dole out millions to hear her speak despite rising tuition costs,' Republican National Committee spokesman Raffi Williams said, touching on Hillary's recent gaffes. 'Sounds like she’ll have to find another occasion to try to placate the liberal left as Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden make their 2016 plays after seeing an opening with Hillary’s book tour stumbles and her 2016 moves echoing her failed 2008 campaign.' However, conference . attendees said they weren't offended she didn't make speaking to them a priority this year. 'I think she’s obviously a very busy woman,' said Christine Soliz, a organizer with Planned Parenthood in the Detroit area who described herself a Hillary supporter. 'It's her loss,' said another attendee, adding that it's too early in the election cycle to 'harangue' Clinton for skipping the gathering. Netroots Nation spokeswoman Mary Rickles told MailOnline she's 'not surprised' Hillary didn't attend again this year because 'she has not declared yet.' 'Most of the events that she’s doing are pretty benign . non-political events,' Rickles continued. The San Francisco resident pointed out that pro-Clinton PAC Ready for Hillary had a substantial presence at the conference as a sponsor of both the conference itself and both a Motown-themed party on Friday evening. It also provided attendees with coffee during a snack break this morning. ‘Her team knows that she has a presence here, and regardless . of whether or not it fits her schedule, she’s still got a presence here, ' Rickles said. 'The . Ready for Hillary folks know what they’re doing.’ Asked for a comment on it's chosen candidate's absence from the conference today, Ready for Hillary spokesman Seth Bringman told MailOnline in an email, 'We're just thrilled to be a part of Netroots Nation and thrilled to be a co-sponsor of this amazing gathering. 'Hillary's support from progressives across the country - who are the backbone of our more than 2.5 million supporters - has been absolutely inspiring,' he said. A spokesman for Clinton did not respond to a request for comment on Clinton's decision to skip the conference. Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, and Barack, right, participate in the Yearly Kos Convention's Presidential Leadership Forum in Chicago in 2007. Clinton has not attended, Yearly Kos, now called Netroots Nation, since that debate . While Netroots attendees said they would still vote for Hillary if she were the Democratic nominee in 2016, it's no secret that Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is most activists' candidate of choice. 'Her values . are consistent with what I believe and what a lot of people here believe,' said Paula Branter, Executive Director of . Workplace Fairness, a Washington, D.C. based organization that . advocates for the fair treatment of workers and provides legal advice on . worker’s rights. Warren spoke at the conference in 2012 in person as a candidate, and gave a video address as a lawmaker last year. This year she is slated to give the keynote speech on Friday morning. 'It’s really . good to have the affirmation of someone that high [up] in a position of power . who’s saying all the right things,' Branter gushed. 'I would love it,' she replied when asked how she felt about Warren's potential presidential run. As one attendee noted, Hillary has a 'troubled' relationship with the left wing of the Democratic Party. The former first lady and her husband are seen as too moderate for many progressives' taste and their willingness to accept large sums of money from the 'too big to fail' financial crowd is concerning to anti-Wall Street activists. 'From my perspective it’s problematic,' Pennsylvania resident Gerald Hoffman said, referring to the millions of dollars Bill and Hillary have received from the financial industry to speak at events. 'You have to wonder who a politician is beholden to if they’re getting all their money from people who are giving it in huge chunks,' Hoffman said. 'So I’m worried about that.' ‘If she gets elected, we’re going to have to continuously poke her to make sure that she stays to the left.' Branter said Hillary may be avoiding the conference because she thinks kissing up to progressive activists is a waste of her time. ‘I think . that she might say, "Well look, I’m not gonna win over this crowd." ' 'I can’t imagine being enough of an activist to want to come . to this conference and not having an opinion about Hillary,' Branter said. 'This is not a . persuadable audience.' Another attendee, Garth . Eisenhard, a Silver Spring, Maryland, resident who described himself as ‘left . of Karl Marx,’ said progressives are 'either going to vote for . her or not if she’s the candidate, regardless of what she says or does,' so Hillary may as well continue ignoring the party's base. 'I mean it doesn’t matter if she comes here or not for . 95 percent of the people,' he said. 'I will vote her with no reservations if she is the . Democratic candidate. I will vote for whoever is the Democratic candidate.' However, Jason . Parsely, Associate Publisher of South Florida Gay News, a website that covers . the gay community, said Hillary will need the grassroots activists who attend this conference to have her back if she wants to make it that far in the first place. ‘If you want to build a grassroots network for any Democratic primary, these are the people you definitely need to rely on,' he said. ‘I’m . disappointed that she’s not [here].' 'This is the largest, liberal, progressive . gathering of activists around the country, so you’d think she would’ve . made an attempt to be here.’ If Hillary runs for office and doesn't attend next year, however, Netroots-goers said they wouldn't let her off the hook so easily. 'If she’s running next year and even if she’s the frontrunner and seems to be the only one, she needs the progressive turnout,' said seven-year Netroots veteran Norman Buchwald. 'She should be here.' | Netroots Nation is the largest annual gathering of progressives . Presumed 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was invited to speak but declined . Clinton opted to spend this week promoting her book Hard Choices instead . The last time she addressed the conference was in 2007 when she was trying to win attendee's support in the Democratic presidential primary . | d3e787a2258357df636c158e58df49bedfc743c1 |
Ahead of the release of his new movie, Manny Pacquiao has been showing off his acting skills as he put on an impressive Scottish accent. The boxer was appearing on sports talk show Men in Blazers as he was invited to discuss football, boxing and the release of 'Manny', which will be out on Friday. During the show the WBO welterweight champion broke into a Scottish accent and said: 'I'm from Scotland and I'm fighting for freedom against the Englishmen.' Manny Pacquiao gave an impressive Scottish accent during appearance on talk show Men in Blazers . The WBO welterweight champion had the presenters in hysterics with the accent . Pacquiao arrives at Heathrow airport from the United States on Thursday and was greeted by supporters . Pacquiao smiles for the cameras as he poses for pictures with fans after touching down in London . Pacquiao signs autographs as fans take pictures of the boxer as he leaves the airport . Perhaps the Filipino is practicing an audition for the role of William Wallace in the re-make of 'Braveheart'. Meanwhile, Pacquiao, who is desperate to fight Floyd Mayweather, has set the undefeated American a January deadline to agree their $200million bout. The Filipino has already agreed terms for the most eagerly-awaited fight in boxing which has been penciled in for May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. But Mayweather has yet to commit to a bout that has been more than five years in the making. | Manny Pacquiao appeared on sports talk show Men in Blazers . The WBO welterweight champion put on a Scottish accent . Pacquiao's new film 'Manny' is due to be released on Friday . The Filipino is waiting for Floyd Mayweather to agree to mega-fight . | e6c5097e80c8279bde01df38150312372478a000 |
(CNN) -- With fish as witnesses, the president of Maldives and his Cabinet wore scuba gear and used hand signals Saturday at an underwater meeting to highlight the threat climate change poses to the archipelago nation. The Maldives declaration will be presented at a U.N. summit on climate change in December. The meeting, chaired by President Mohamed Nasheed, took place around a table about 16 feet (5 meters) underwater, according to the president's Web site. Bubbles ascended from the face masks the president and the Cabinet wore, and fish swam around them. At the meeting, the Cabinet signed a declaration calling for global cuts in carbon emissions that will be presented before a U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December. "We are trying to send our message to let the world know what is happening and what will happen to the Maldives if climate change isn't checked," Nasheed said, according to his Web site. Asked what would happen if Copenhagen fails, the president said, "we are all going to die," according to the site. The ministers signed their wet suits, which are being auctioned, to raise money for coral reef protection in the Maldives, the Web site said. Maldives is grappling with the very likely possibility that it will go under water if the current pace of climate change keeps raising sea levels. The Maldives is an archipelago of almost 1,200 coral islands south-southwest of India. Most of it lies just 4.9 feet (1.5 meters) above sea level. The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change has forecast a rise in sea levels of at least 7.1 inches (18 cm) by the end of the century. The country's capital, Male, is protected by sea walls. But creating a similar barrier around the rest of the country will be cost-prohibitive. Watch how the Maldives are fighting to survive » . Soon after his election in November, Nasheed raised the possibility of finding a new homeland for the country's 396,000 residents. The tourist nation wants to set aside part of its annual billion-dollar revenue into buying a new homeland, he said at the time. "We will invest in land," he said. "We do not want to end up in refugee tents if the worst happens." Nasheed's government said it has broached the idea with several countries and found them to be "receptive." Lands owned by Sri Lanka and India were possibilities because the countries have similar cultures, cuisine and climate as the Maldives. Australia is also being considered because of the vast unoccupied land it owns. CNN's Saeed Ahmed contributed to this report. | President, Cabinet don scuba gear to sign carbon emissions declaration . "We are all going to die," leader says, if climate change isn't checked . Most of archipelago lies less than 5 feet above sea level . Experts expect water levels to rise more than 7 inches by end of century . | 66a258a05933d5a2317d891843f0777c1224ca5c |
By . James Chapman . PUBLISHED: . 22:48 EST, 16 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 22:59 EST, 16 March 2014 . The first new garden city for 100 years will be constructed in an attempt to boost housebuilding, it has been revealed. Chancellor George Osborne said the measure will be in his Budget this week, arguing Britain needed to ‘get building’ in order to secure the economic recovery. The new garden city will be built at Ebbsfleet in Kent, which will initially provide 15,000 homes. As it is now: The new garden city will be built at Ebbsfleet in Kent, which will initially provide 15,000 homes . It will be modelled on popular garden cities built at the beginning of the last century, including Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City. The Government is to set up an urban development corporation, involving both private and public companies, to help build the new city, and offer £200million in public investment. In addition, the controversial Government-backed Help to Buy scheme is to be extended until the end of the decade. The idea of a new city in Ebbsfleet, which has a Eurostar train station, has been mooted for years but progress has been slow. To date, only 150 new homes have been built. ‘At Ebbsfleet there is the land available, there is fantastic infrastructure with a high speed line, it’s on the river, it’s in the South East of England where a lot of the housing pressure has been,’ the Chancellor said. Plan: Chancellor George Osborne (left, on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show yesterday) said the measure will be in his Budget this week, arguing Britain needed to 'get building' in order to secure the economic recovery . Colourful: The new location will be modelled on popular garden cities built at the beginning of the last century, including Letchworth (left) and Welwyn Garden City (right) ‘You’ve got local communities and MPs who support the idea. We are going to create an urban development corporation. There are already some home being built on the site, but on a much, much smaller scale. 'At Ebbsfleet there is the land available, there is fantastic infrastructure with a high speed line, it’s on the river, it’s in the South East of England where a lot of the housing pressure has been' Chancellor George Osborne . ‘It will be a proper garden city. It is not something this country has attempted for decades. That is one of the messages of my Budget. ‘Britain has to up its ambition, Britain has to up its game, Britain has to earn its way in the world. Yes, the economy is recovering but that is not enough. We have got to finish the job.’ But Emma Reynolds MP, Labour’s shadow housing minister, said: ‘The Government has had four years to make progress on garden cities but instead of getting on and building them, ministers have spent their time making empty announcements and suppressing reports. ‘We will wait to see the detail in the Budget, but people will want to know how (yesterday’s) announcement to build 15,000 homes in Ebbsfleet differs from the announcement to build 20,000 homes in the same place in 2012. Long-running saga: The idea of a new city in Ebbsfleet, which has a Eurostar train station (pictured), has been mooted for years but progress has been slow. To date, only 150 new homes have been built . Map: Ebbsfleet is located on the south bank of the River Thames, opposite Grays and just east of Dartford . ‘Labour is clear that you can’t deal with the cost-of-living crisis without building more homes. ‘That’s why Labour has committed to getting 200,000 homes a year built by 2020, including by building a new generation of new towns and garden cities.’ 'The Government has had four years to make progress on garden cities but instead of getting on and building them, ministers have spent their time making empty announcements and suppressing reports' Emma Reynolds, Labour's shadow housing minister . The Local Government Association, which represents almost 400 councils in England and Wales, expressed alarm at the Chancellor’s plan to set up a garden city and urban development corporation. Chairman Sir Merrick Cockell said: ‘While we support the government’s aims to build more houses, democratically accountable councils have been at the forefront of delivering local growth and the creation of a separate, remote quango is unnecessary. ‘Residents will be concerned that such a body, unelected and accountable to central government, could have the power to make local decisions about investment, planning, development and possibly even local transport. These decisions should be taken at the local level.’ | Chancellor George Osborne says measure will be in Budget this week . New city to be built in Kent town and will initially provide 15,000 homes . It will be modelled on popular garden cities built at start of last century . | 23ed83d9d8d10e2499e4e55454527cf40da2c8d6 |
A recent fight between Rosie O'Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg has producers at The View looking to add a cool-down room for the ladies. After being cut off by Goldberg during an episode last week so the show could go to commercial, O'Donnell began to express how upset she was and, after being told repeatedly by Goldberg it was not the right time to have that discussion, eventually got cursed out by the Oscar winner. Goldberg told O'Donnell, 'F*** it, I told you to leave it alone and you just don't want to listen. If you want to go there Rosie, I will dammit. I'm really sick of your s***!' Scroll down for video . Temper tamper: Producers of The View may build a calm-down room for the ladies after Rosie O'Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg (above, with actor Neil Patrick Harris) came to blows in front oft he audience last week . Overblown: Goldberg told Thomas Roberts on his show Way Too Early this week that the ladies of The View (above) are like family, and sometimes gets 'cranky' According to a source, 'At this point, you could've heard a pin drop. It was like everything came to a standstill and Rosie finally backed down.' Goldberg seemed to confirm what happened when she phoned in to Way Too Early this week and told host Thomas Roberts that the four women on the show are like family and 'like family, some days you're cranky.' She then went on to call co-host Nicolle Wallace 'one of the smartest people I ever met' and praised Rosie Perez for being incredibly 'well read.' She did not say anything about O'Donnell. Cussing: Goldberg (left) screamed at O'Donnell (right) 'I'm really sick of your s***!' after she complained that Goldberg cut her off during a segment . As for the cool-down room, producers think it will be a perfect way to avoid any negative press that could come of spats between the hosts or talent in front of the audience. 'Having a live audience can be sensory overload,' a source told the Daily News. 'Rosie needs an area to tap into her inner peace, and the rest of the cast can use it for a quick unwind during a commercial break, rather than let feelings boil over on set.' Old friends: Prior to the show,. Goldberg and O'Donnell had been friends for years, seen here at the premiere of American idiot in 2010 . The source also added that these rooms aren't that uncommon on shows. 'Talent are notoriously difficult,' they explained. A rep for the show declined to comment. | A fight between co-hosts Rosie O'Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg has producers of The View considering the addition of a cool-down room . After Goldberg cut off O'Donnell last week because the show had to head to commercial, O'Donnell voiced how upset she was in front of the audience . Goldberg eventually fired back at O'Donnell, telling her 'I'm really sick of your s***!' The fight seemed to be confirmed by Goldberg when she appeared on Way Too Early this week . | 1d4ea8815355a619e64678bc6edce8db9c632c83 |
By . Ruth Styles for MailOnline . Showing off their shoulders in strapless frocks and revealing acres of leg in their micro skirts, the ladies of York proved that they are more than a match for the chilly northern weather today. Despite the odd downpour and the mercury barely touching 13 degrees, racegoers arriving for Ladies Day at York Races had pulled out all the stops as they went for a win in the style stakes - goose bumps or not. But while the short skirts and strappy tops might have proved less than practical, the gorgeous array of hats bedecked with silk blooms and ribbons on show certainly helped to brighten things up. Scroll down for video . Enjoying the day: Four beautifully dressed racegoers show off their style nous courtesy of pretty shift dresses and huge hats as they arrive in York for the races . Colourful: A lady arrives in a cheerful buttercup yellow and aqua blue ensemble while another plumps for pretty summer florals accessorised with delicate pearls . Hats you win: The vogue for elaborate hats has spread beyond the borders of Berkshire and proved just as popular with racegoers at York as it did at Ascot . York is currently hosting the Yorkshire Ebor Festival, one of the biggest events on the racing calendar, which attracts vast amounts of prize money and some of the best horses, jockeys and trainers in the world. Like its southern counterparts Ascot, Cheltenham and Goodwood, the meet also includes a Ladies Day with a top prize of a short break for two in the Emirati city of Dubai for the best dressed racegoer. As a result, the local ladies pulled out all the stops, with colourful shift dresses in summery apricot, peach and crimson, and sky high platform heels among the most popular choices. Others opted for short and sweet ensembles, with one lady plumping for a bright pink dress cut daringly low at the front and accessorised with a pair of bright white platform shoes. But while goose bumps were the accessory most frequently spotted, beautiful hats weren't far behind with top titfers bedecked with glamorous silk roses and impressively large plumes in evidence. Bold choice: A lady arrives wearing an ensemble composed of sunset hues such as delicate shimmering apricot and punchy cerise on her day out at the York races . Daring: Some of the racegoers arriving opted for more daring ensembles, despite temperatures of just 13 degrees, among them this lady in her pink frock . Different choices: Monochrome, a perennial favourite, was very much in evidence at York (left) as, indeed, were summery brights - a racing season staple this summer . Stylish: A pair of glamorous racegoers demonstrate their eye for a good hat, with one opting for delicate silk roses, while the other plumps for an eclectic mixed bouquet . Although racegoers watching from the paddock aren't required to follow a set dress code, those enjoying the races from the County Stand are encouraged to dress up by race organisers. Like the Ascot style police, those at York say that gentlemen should wear 'a jacket, collared shirt and tie' and complete the look with 'smart trousers and formal shoes'. Ladies, meanwhile, are only advised to avoid jeans and trainers, although organisers do warn that 'common sense restrictions' and 'taste and decency' apply to all areas of the racecourse. With none falling foul of York's style police, racegoers had plenty of time to devote to watching the action while doing their best to keep warm and dodge lurking showers. On the course, highlights included the Pinsent Masons Lowther Stakes, which was taken by Irish filly Tiggy Wiggy, and the Clipper Logistics Handicap, the favourite for which was Russian Realm, a horse educated by the Queen's trainer, Sir Michael Stoute. Dazzling: A lady goes for gold in a statement black hat and a cream frock lavishly embellished with sparkling rhinestone beads, accessorised with a pair of huge earrings . Striking: A racegoer in a bold ensemble of a royal blue shift dress and a contrasting mustard hat enlivened with feathers arrives for the races in York . Pink ladies: A racegoer is glamorous in a dusty pink ensemble and enormous hat while another opts for pretty summer florals and a sensible pashmina shawl . Good time: A pair of racegoers brave the chilly 13 degree weather as they arrive sporting strappy dresses, fascinators and lashings of fake tan on their day out at York . Aintree might have the world's biggest race in the shape of the Grand National but York is just as prestigious and like its Liverpudlian competitor, has plenty to offer in the style stakes. Both Aintree and York offer relatively relaxed dress codes compared to Ascot, which has become famous in recent years for its exhaustively detailed style guides, and Cheltenham. As at Aintree, York is a hotbed of northern glamour with short skirts and sky high heels regularly spotted in and around the paddock. Colourful hats are a more recent innovation, although as today's event demonstrates, the ladies of York know a thing or two when it comes to buying hats. Indeed, with the majority of ladies arriving dressed to kill, organisers have decided it is male racegoers who require a bigger nudge, with most of the rules in the brief style guide applying to them . 'Racegoers at York like to make it a . special occasion and choose to dress accordingly,' it reads. 'Gentlemen are required . to wear a jacket, collared shirt and tie in County Stand. Most . gentlemen would choose to wear smart trousers and formal shoes to . complete the look. 'So whilst there is no formal restriction on wearing . jeans and trainers, these are rarely seen in the County Stand. In a . similar vein, whilst we encourage a sense of style in the County Stand, . if gentlemen believe the weather warrants shorts then there is no formal . restriction to them being worn. 'In Grandstand and Paddock and . Course Enclosure the dress code is more relaxed - shorts and t-shirts are . worn by racegoers enjoying the sun. The only common sense restrictions . would be those of taste and decency which would apply to all areas, for . example regarding style and slogan t-shirts. Bare chests are not . acceptable.' Dressed for the weather: While the majority of racegoers opted for delicate ensembles that looked rather cold, others came prepared in warm coats and jumpers . Dressed . to the nines: Bright colours and high heels proved popular choices . among the ladies flocking to York for a day of racing at the Yorkshire . Ebor Festival . Stunning: The Ebor Festival has already seen some of racing's hottest names appear on the course, among them Australia who took victory on day one . Highlight: York Racecourse is currently hosting the Yorkshire Ebor Festival, one of the most prestigious events in the racing calendar . | York Racecourse is hosting the Yorkshire Ebor Festival, one of the most prestigious events on the racing calendar . On Ladies Day, the best-dressed guest wins an all-expenses paid holiday in a five star hotel in UAE city, Dubai . As a result, the local ladies pulled out all the stops and arrived dressed up to the nines, complete with huge hats . But with temperatures plummeting to just 13 degrees and regular showers forecast, most looked a bit chilly . | 32d84b90793c92c6e3bcbcfc5ef24bca085b6b96 |
Liverpool will have to move quickly to land Fiorentina goalkeeper Norberto Neto as the Brazilian goalkeeper has a verbal agreement to join Juventus at the end of the season – and is being offered around £1.5m a year net salary to join the Serie A Champions. Liverpool are searching for a goalkeeper to provide competition for Simon Mignolet and Brad Jones and the 25-year-old Brazilian is high on their list with the club examining their options this month after missing out on former Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes, who signed for Manchester United. But Neto has also attracted attention from Juventus – though he would be up against club legend Gianluigi Buffon for the No.1 shirt there - while at Liverpool he would have a clearer route to first-team football. Fiorentina goalkeeper Norberto Neto has verbally agreed to join Juventus at the end of the season . The Brazilian has been offered a £1.5m net salary to join Juventus but Liverpool remain keen . Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers wants to sign competition for goalkeeper Simon Mignolet (above) The Reds missed out on signing Victor Valdes (centre) who instead joined Manchester United . Neto is out of contract at the end of the season at Fiorentia and so attracting attention from major clubs. Liverpool’s best hope would be to convince him that he more chance establishing himself in the first-team at Anfield – but they would have to top Juve’s wage offer, which equates to around £55,000 a week in the UK. Having missed out on Valdes, Liverpool’s options are limited but Sampdoria’s Sergio Romero, the Argentinian No.1, is also out of contract this summer and therefore available for a limited fee this January. | Norberto Neto has verbally agreed to sign for Serie A champions Juventus . Liverpool are keen on landing the Fiorentina goalkeeper . Brazilian is high on the list of targets this month . | 0a8f051343c787b04367b063bbd3c2833059b0f3 |
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- A jury convicted former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky on 45 of 48 counts related to sexual abuse of boys over a 15-year period, ending a painful chapter for victims and the Penn State community. Jurors delivered the verdict around 10 p.m. Friday after deliberating for 21 hours. There were convictions related to all 10 sexual abuse victims, with the three not-guilty verdicts applying to three different individuals. Sandusky stood slightly hunched, looking down with his hand in his pocket but showing no visible emotion as the guilty verdicts were read out in court. His wife, Dottie, blinked back tears. Reaction to the Sandusky verdict . Judge John Cleland revoked Sandusky's bail and ordered his arrest. Sandusky left the courthouse in handcuffs, headed for a police car destined for the Centre County jail. When asked if he had anything to say to the victims, the 68-year-old remained silent as he ducked into the back seat of the car. "The Sandusky family is very disappointed by the verdict of the jury, but we respect their verdict," defense lawyer Joe Amendola told reporters gathered outside. Jeering crowds occasionally interrupted his comments. At the same time, Amendola pointed to a "tidal wave of public opinion" against his client as one of several factors that led him to believe this outcome wasn't surprising. "It was the expected outcome because of the overwhelming evidence against Jerry Sandusky," he said. Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly, expressed satisfaction in the jury's decision to hold the ex-coach accountable. She was especially thankful for the victims who testified, in some cases many years after they were abused. "It was incredibly difficult for some of them to unearth long buried memories of (what) they had suffered," Kelly said. "This trial was not something that they sought, but rather something that forced them to face the demons of their past." Victim No. 6: Violation and vindication . Back inside the courtroom, the young man identified in court documents as Victim 6 was in tears as he hugged prosecutors. Sandusky should be sentenced in about 90 days, the judge said. Amendola indicated "we have some appeals we will pursue," though he did not elaborate. The case has gripped the nation since last fall, when it led to the dismissal of legendary coach Joe Paterno and one of America's highest-paid university president, Graham Spanier. The family of Paterno, who died in January, issued a statement Friday after the verdict. "Although we understand the task of healing is just beginning, today's verdict is an important milestone," the statement said. "The community owes a measure of gratitude to the jurors for their diligent service. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the victims and their families." The university, meanwhile, said it had "tremendous respect for the men who came forward to tell their stories publicly." "No verdict can undo the pain and suffering caused by Mr. Sandusky, but we do hope this judgment helps the victims and their families along their path to healing," Penn State said in a statement. Penn State said it will invite the victims to participate in a program to facilitate resolution. "The university wants to provide a forum where the university can privately, expeditiously and fairly address the victims' concerns and compensate them for claims relating to the University." During closing arguments, prosecutors described the ex-Nittany Lions defensive coordinator as a pedophile who preyed on victims using a charity he founded for troubled children, repeatedly abusing young boys in his care. His defense sought to poke holes in the prosecution's case throughout the trial, such as pointing to inconsistencies in the testimony of Mike McQueary, a former graduate assistant who testified that he witnessed Sandusky apparently sodomizing a boy in a university shower. Amendola reminded jurors of the lack of physical evidence in the case, accusing the alleged victims of conspiring for financial gain, while also blaming the media for what he described as biased coverage. iReport: Share your reaction . Lead prosecutor Joseph McGettigan rebuffed those arguments, telling jurors that "the commonwealth has overwhelming evidence against Mr. Sandusky." In a bombshell announcement Thursday evening, Matt Sandusky -- one of Jerry Sandusky's six adopted children -- said through his attorney that he was sexually abused by the former coach, adding that he had been prepared to testify against him. Legal analysts say the accusation could bring additional charges, including incest charges, against the former coach. The broader scandal has also brought charges against vice president Gary Schultz and former Athletic Director Tim Curley for perjury and failing to report the abuse. After a week of testimony, during which time witnesses graphically described sexual encounters with Sandusky that they said occurred during their boyhoods, jurors made their decision without ever having heard from Sandusky on the witness stand. What Sandusky has said about child rape allegations . On Tuesday, Sandusky's wife told jurors that she could remember at least six of her husband's accusers staying overnight at their house, but that she never witnessed sexual abuse. All you need to know about allegations, how case unraveled . Eight young men testified, often in disturbingly graphic detail, of how Sandusky forced them to engage in sexual acts in various places, including showers in the Penn State coaches' locker room, hotel rooms and the basement of his home. One told jurors that Sandusky -- whom he met, like many of the accusers, through The Second Mile foundation that the ex-coach founded -- had threatened him if he told others about the abuse. Another said Sandusky warned him that he might send him home from a trip to Texas, where they'd gone to watch a Penn State bowl game. The defense challenged the accusers' timetable, questioned the various allegations and called multiple character witness to defend Sandusky's stellar reputation in the community. 'The Sandusky 8' describe seduction, molestation and betrayal . Though Friday night's verdict prompted cheers outside the courtroom, inside, the mother of Victim 6 did not claim victory. "Nobody wins. We've all lost," she said before hugging her son. CNN's Elisa Roupenian, Susan Candiotti, Ross Levitt, Jason Carroll, Dana Garrett and Laura Dolan and In Session's Michael Christian and Mayra Cuevas contributed to this report. | NEW: Penn State: "No verdict can undo the pain and suffering caused by Mr. Sandusky" Sandusky's lawyer calls the outcome "expected ... because of the overwhelming evidence" The ex- coach is guilty on 45 of 48 counts for sexually abusing boys over 15-years . He says he is not guilty, admitting to showering with boys but not abusing them . | ba14f404e8ce7b5addfc19286cf1b1c6029df8d9 |
A devoutly Christian Washington state couple who went on the run with their children amid an ongoing custody dispute with Child Protective Services have been found in California, with the mother arrested for allegedly headbutting and kicking officers. CPS went to the Bellingham address of Cleve Goheen-Rengo, 23, and Erica Carey, 29, on January 28 to take their three young children into protective custody following numerous welfare concerns over a chaotic home life, however the family had fled. The couple - who hit headlines last year after saying they lost custody of their newborn twins for delivering them via homebirth with no assistance - were not officially wanted, but a 'Be On The Lookout' had been issued to law enforcement across the West Coast, according to KSBW. Local news outlets also ran the notice, and a member of the public spotted the family at a gas station in Aptos, south of San Francisco, on Thursday and called police. Tracked down: Washington couple Cleave Rengo and Erica Carey were found in California on Thursday - along with their three young children - after going on the run. They had lost custody of their kids for a second time . 'Holistic Christian lifestyle': Erica Carey, 29, was arrested after being tracked down on Thursday after 'head-butting a sergeant', 'kicking a sheriff' and screaming for help from Jesus . Highway patrol and Santa Cruz County Sheriff's deputies seized upon the gas station and found the family. The children - three-month-old twins Moran Kai and Daniel and one-year-old son Levi - were not harmed. Erica Carey was arrested, however, for allegedly attacking police. 'She head-butted one of our sergeants and kicked a sheriff's deputy,' CHP Officer Brad Sadek told KSBW. Carey also reportedly screamed out for Jesus and told a local cameraman: 'Send a message to America for me. Children don't belong to the government. The government belongs to the people.' The father was not arrested. The three children have been placed in the care of Child Protective Services. The children had been removed in November following the birth of the twins, amid reports they were underweight and going without proper medical care. The couple claimed their refusal to travel to hospital with paramedics - who were called to the house after a neighbor called 911 over Carey's birthing cries - contributed to the CPS decision. The state said the children were removed for health and domestic reasons and not because of the home birth. One of the reasons was a refusal to treat their one-year-old son's eczema with proper medication, the state said. Carey and Rengo say they live a 'holistic lifestyle based on their Christian beliefs', according to The Billingham Herald. They admitted to only realizing they were having twins after the birth of the first baby, having not had one ultrasound. Dad and son: Rengo and his son, Levi, who was also taken into custody by social services in Washington State . The children were returned in December, however the were still under state protection, so would be checked upon regularly. Carey and Rengo were also ordered to undergo counseling. Commissioner Thomas Verge told Rengo, 23 and Carey, 29, that the couple's religious beliefs had caused a chaotic home life for their children. He said that if the state believes the children's lives are in danger again they will be removed. 'This is about second chances because you blew the first one,' said Verge to the couple according to The Herald. But Verge also pointed out he could see the 'love you both have for your children.' Unconventional: Erica May Carey, 29 and Cleave Rengo, 23, are common-law husband and wife . When the CPS heard of the verdict they said, 'We accept this ruling and will work with the family to provide them with services aimed at helping keep the children safe in their home.' The court removed one-year-old, Levi and twins Moran Kai and Daniel, on November 5. In his verdict to return the children, Verge said that the home-birth, 'has no bearing whatsoever on my decision here.' During the case which was heard in court in December, the state 'attempted to show an unstable household marked by numerous contacts with law enforcement … within the past two years and refusal to provide medical treatment to the children,' according to the Bellingham Herald. It was only after the couple, who are common-law married in Washington because they have never got a marriage license, decided to have their home birth that the CPS became involved. 'I’ve done a lot of research about other women who have done it and they said the spiritual experience was so much more wholesome. It was just us. We wanted to preserve that sanctity and sacredness in our birth,' said Carey as she justified her decision to give birth at home. The CPS began showing up at their home after the 911 call in November and said that after they took custody of the children after one-year-old Levi developed pneumonia and ear infections. Assistant Attorney General Rob Olson told the Washington court that law enforcement have been in contact with the famiy 21 times since 2013. The calls related to refusal to provide medical care for their children, with concerns they were underweight and domestic issues between the couple, such as Rengo's mental health and bipolar disorder. However, Christina Nelson-King, the attorney for the couple argued that 'Most of the safety risk was primarily speculative,' according to the Bellingham Herald. Alternative: Erica Carey, seen here with son Levi, 1, admitted she did not know she was carrying twins until she gave birth in November because she had never had an ultrasound . 'Parents have a Constitutional right to parent as they see fit,' Nelson-King added. However, he criticized them for their attitude towards the CPS which he said was doing its job properly. 'They did exactly what they should do,' he said, adding that they tried everything to help the family and were met by resistance. 'Their lives are dedicated to children. They are not the enemy. They are the heroes.' Washingon Governor, Jay Inslee waded into the controversial case to recognize the support the Rengo family received last year. 'I want to thank you for your concern and willingness to be vocal,' said Governor Jay Inslee on his official Facebook page. The Governor also sought to clarify any rumors surrounding the removal of the children by social services. 'I’d like to be clear: every child’s safety is our top priority in situations like these. Rumors have circulated that the removal of the Rengo children was due to breastfeeding or their home births,' wrote Inslee. 'Those rumors are false. Breastfeeding and home birthing are not factors that would cause CPS to take children from a home. Their removal from the home was based on factors unrelated to a home birth or breastfeeding.' | Erica May Carey, 29 and Cleave Rengo, 23, have been in a custody dispute with Child Protective Services since the birth of their twins in November . Lost custody of the boys and their other son Levi, 1, for one month . State claimed it was because of a chaotic home life and improper care . Couple said it was because they delivered the twins via homebirth . Family fled as CPS served papers they were again losing custody . Found Thursday at a gas station in Aptos, California . Mother Carey was arrested the children taken in by CPS . | 8998146e6825860b3b5b2ed23e10102fb7ef9913 |
By . Lucy Crossley . PUBLISHED: . 01:20 EST, 27 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:45 EST, 27 December 2013 . England football fans travelling to next summer's World Cup in Brazil are at risk of being targeted by violent criminal gangs, it was claimed today . Armed thugs are reportedly planning to steal from and even kidnap supporters, who they have branded 'naive', sometimes at gun-point. Gangs will seek out England fans, because they believe they will be carrying the most money on them, as well as expensive items such as smartphones and cameras. At risk: Brazilian gangs are planning to steal from and even kidnap . England supporters, who they have branded 'naive', sometimes at gun-point, it is claimed . Prized: Gangs will seek out England fans, because they believe they will be carrying the most money on them, as well as expensive items such as smartphones and cameras . Sao Paulo, where the team will play its opening match against Uruguay on June 19, is already one of the most dangerous cities on the planet. More than 100 violent murders are carried out every month, and this September alone there were nearly 11,000 armed robberies. More than 60,000 street robberies have taken place in the city, which has a population of 27million people, this year, and more than 360 people have been killed during hold-ups. And according to the Daily Star, the gangs are threatening to up the number of attacks during the World Cup, when 600,000 tourists are expected to visit the city. Stark: An aerial view of one of Sao Paulo's slums - home to many criminal gangs . The boss of one gang, operating out of a shack just yards from opening ceremony venue the Corinthians Arena, said he expected to make around 100,000 reals, worth roughly £25,000, during the tournament. 'Every England fan who can afford to travel to Brazil is rich, in my view. I'm poor, so they'll all be richer than me,' he told the newspaper, brandishing a .38 calibre pistol. 'They'll be naive and easy to rob, much easier than people from Sao Paulo, who are used to having a gun pointing at them.' Crime: Brazilian police make arrests during a search for gang members . The man, who called himself Joao, said the tourists would also carry valuable items, such as cameras and phones, with them - unlike locals. He said that all criminals would need to do to find their victims is to look for those wearing England replica shirts, and that although fans would be safe once inside the stadium, they would have to use public transport or taxis to get there. 'I'm not interested in targeting the footballers, and we don't do kidnappings. But there are other groups who are planning these things,' said the 35-year-old from the Vida Loka gang. He added that there were criminals operating in the city who would 'do anything' to get money. | Thugs to target England supporters as they will be carrying money . Sao Paulo, where England team play opening match, is one of the world's most dangerous cities with more than 100 murders carried out each month . 600,000 tourists to visit city during month-long tournament . | 168c23735a8674e78163de74642736be777bccbb |
(CNN) -- Funny thing about fish: You can see right through them in their infancy and watch their organs develop. That gave scientists looking into the aftereffects of 2010's Gulf of Mexico oil spill the chance to watch the growing hearts of large commercial species like tuna and amberjack after exposing them in laboratories to oil collected from the undersea blowout. The results ranged from abnormal heartbeats in fish exposed to low concentrations of oil to "severely malformed and malfunctioning hearts" at high levels, said John Incardona, an environmental toxicologist from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Incardona is the lead author of a NOAA-led study published Monday that warned those heart defects could lead to widespread losses of popular deep-sea fish in the gulf. He and his colleagues exposed bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna and amberjack embryos to concentrations of oil "that mimicked what happened in the Gulf of Mexico," he said. Even where the volatile compounds in oil made up as little as one millionth of a gram per liter, some fish ended up with heart problems, they reported. "Those fish would in all likelihood survive the immediate effects of oil exposure, but would also probably end up with a milder heart malformation that could reduce their aerobic performance -- which for fish, means swimming," Incardona said. Fishermen hauled in more than 1,500 tons of tuna and amberjack across the gulf in 2012, according to NOAA catch statistics. Scientists have already tracked a sharp decline in bluefin tuna, but the findings may spell trouble for other big fish as well, Incardona and his colleagues reported. How extensive any losses may be is still under study, but estimates may come "in a few months," said Barbara Block, a Stanford University biologist and co-author of Monday's study. The spill struck at a time when fish were spawning, with their embryos and larvae floating on the surface of the gulf. Since bluefin tuna in particular take eight years or more to grow up, the "the trickle-down impact of this oil spill will take a long time to manifest upon the population on a level that one could see," Block said. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on the 25th anniversary of what had been the worst U.S. oil spill -- the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska. It's one of the "key studies" commissioned by the federal government to gauge the damage left behind by the Deepwater Horizon disaster, NOAA official Tom Brosnan said. "It's one of the most difficult aspects of this oil spill to the particular population that we're talking about," Block said. But since bluefin have been extensively tagged electronically, both before and after the spill, "those data sets exist, and they're currently being explored to get answers to those questions." Millions of barrels of crude poured into the gulf after the April 2010 explosion that sank the drill rig Deepwater Horizon off Louisiana and killed 11 workers. Well owner BP has already paid $43 billion in cleanup, restoration costs and fines for the 2010 blowout, and an ongoing federal court case in New Orleans could add several billion more on top of that. BP immediately disputed Monday's findings. "The paper provides no evidence to suggest a population-level impact on tuna, amberjack or other pelagic fish species in the Gulf of Mexico," the company said in a written statement. "The oil concentrations used in these lab experiments were rarely seen in the gulf during or after the Deepwater Horizon accident. In addition, the authors themselves note that it is nearly impossible to determine the early life impact to these species. To overcome this challenge, it would take more information than what's presented in this paper." But Fernando Galvez, an environmental toxicologist at Louisiana State University, said the samples to which the embryos were exposed were "environmentally realistic." The effects seen in individual fish "have very strong indications for population-level impacts," he said. "You mess up the heart, you mess up the ability of species like this to do simple functions like swim to catch its prey," said Galvez, the co-author of a 2013 study that pointed to similar problems among fish in coastal marshes hit by oil. BP also disputed those findings. Opinion: After 25 years, Exxon Valdez oil spill hasn't ended . More about oil spills . Halliburton pleads guilty in 2010 Gulf oil spill case . | Study: Gulf oil exposure causes "severely malformed' hearts in tuna, amberjack . The report may spell trouble for big, deep-water commercial fish . The research is part of the damage report after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill . BP says the oil levels used in the study "were rarely seen in the gulf" | 2a9c16b56baab3d31a05585cdb5825d47b18d60b |
By . Daily Mail Reporter . Last updated at 5:22 PM on 25th July 2011 . The largest and farthest reservoir of water ever detected in the universe has been discovered 30billion trillion miles away. Looking into a quasar - one of the brightest and most violent objects in the cosmos - researchers have found a mass of water vapour that's at least 140trillion times that of all the water in the world's oceans combined, and 100,000 times bigger than the sun. Because the quasar is so far away, its light has taken 12billion years to reach Earth. The observations therefore reveal a time when the universe was just 1.6billion years old. An artist's impression of a quasar, or feeding black hole, similar to APM 08279+5255, where scientists have found the largest and farthest reservoir of water ever detected in the universe . Matt Bradford, a scientist at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said: 'The environment around this quasar is unique in that it's producing this huge mass of water. 'It's another demonstration that water is pervasive throughout the universe, even at the very earliest times.' A quasar is powered by an enormous black hole that is steadily consuming a surrounding disk of gas and dust; as it eats, the quasar spews out huge amounts of energy. Two teams of astronomers, each led by scientists at the California Institute of Technology, studied a particular quasar called APM 08279+5255, which harbours a black hole 20billion times more massive than the sun and produces as much energy as a thousand trillion suns. Since astronomers expected water vapour to be present even in the early universe, the discovery of water is not itself a surprise, according to Mr Bradford. There's water vapour in the Milky Way, although the total amount is 4,000 times less than in the quasar, as most of our galaxy's water is frozen. Nevertheless, water vapour is an important trace gas that reveals the nature of the quasar. In this particular quasar, the water vapour is distributed around the black hole in a gaseous region spanning hundreds of light-years - a light-year is about six trillion miles - and its presence indicates that the gas is unusually warm and dense by astronomical standards. Although the gas is a chilly -53C (-63F) and is 300trillion times less dense than Earth's atmosphere, it's still five times hotter and ten to 100 times denser than what is typical in galaxies like the Milky Way. The water vapour is just one of many . kinds of gas that surround the quasar, and its presence indicates that . the quasar is bathing the gas in both X-rays and infra-red radiation. The interaction between the radiation and water vapour reveals properties of the gas and how the quasar influences it. For example, analysing the water vapour shows how the radiation heats the rest of the gas. Furthermore, measurements of the water vapour and of other molecules, such as carbon monoxide, suggest that there is enough gas to feed the black hole until it grows to about six times its size. Whether this will happen is not clear as some of the gas may end up condensing into stars or may be ejected from the quasar. Mr Bradford's team started making their observations in 2008, using an instrument called Z-Spec at the Caltech Submillimetre Observatory (CSO), a ten-metre telescope near the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Z-Spec is an extremely sensitive spectrograph, requiring temperatures cooled to within 0.06C above absolute zero. The instrument measures light in a region of the electromagnetic spectrum called the millimetre band, which lies between infra-red and microwave wavelengths. The researchers' discovery of water was possible only because Z-Spec's spectral coverage is ten times larger than that of previous spectrometers operating at these wavelengths. The astronomers made follow-up observations with the Combined Array for Research in Millimetre-Wave Astronomy, an array of radio dishes in the Inyo Mountains in southern California. The research will be published in Astrophysical Journal Letters. | Mass of water vapour is 140trillion times the size of all the water in the world's oceans combined . The reservoir is 30billion trillion miles away . It takes light 12billion years to reach Earth from there . | 140efa85d1a56f3fccf7d5b4e17fe06f4b6bfbb1 |
By . Snejana Farberov . Gifted: University of Pennsylvania sophomore Elvis Hatcher, 18, died Tuesday after hanging himself . The University of Pennsylvania community is reeling from the suicide of an 18-year-old sophomore, which came just three weeks after another student at the Ivy League college ended her life. Elvis Hatcher, a native of Miami Beach, Florida, hanged himself Tuesday, according to police. The teen was rushed to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was pronounced dead. A popular figure on campus, Hatcher was the treasurer of Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity and worked in IT support at the Wharton School. Hatcher obtained an associate’s degree in mathematics from Miami Dade College, graduating in 2012 with a 4.0 GPA, before enrolling in University of Pennsylvania. During his freshman year, Hatcher made the Dean's List and was a National Merit Scholarship finalist. He was expected to complete his studies in 2016. The bespectacled, eccentric 18-year-old had not declared a major, instead preferring to take a variety of courses, including calculus, French, art history, printmaking and sex and human nature. Scroll down for video . Fascinating character: Those who knew Elvis described him as a bright and funny young man who had many interests, including math, art, music and fashion . Prestigious: Hatcher enrolled in the Ivy League university last year, pursuing a bachelor's degree, after graduating with an associate's degree in mathematics from Miami Dade College . Hatcher's French professor Sophie Degat-Willis called the charming teen one of her 'brightest and funniest students,' The Daily Pennsylvanian reported. 'He was ... a brilliant person, and it's terrible that he passed away,' Hatcher's former neighbor Minji Kwak told the paper. On Wednesday, Hatcher’s brothers at Pi Lambda Phi released a statement about the passing of the fraternity treasurer. ‘We are deeply saddened by this unfortunate incident and are currently supporting the family during their loss,’ it read. ‘Pi Lambda Phi has been truly blessed to have a brother like Elvis, and will miss him very much.’ Hatcher's sudden passing is the fourth student death at UPenn since the beginning of winter. On January 17, freshman Madison Holleran, 19, took her own life by jumping from a parking garage in Philadelphia. Loss: Penn sophomore Madison Holleran, a talented runner and soccer player, jumped to her death January 17 as she struggled with school life . Overwhelmed: Madison's father (right) said his daughter cracked under pressure to do well in her studies . In mourning: Friends wipe away tears as they arrive at the funeral service in Madison's hometown late last month . Holleran’s father said Madison, a track and field star, had been struggling with her school workload. Her parents suggested that she transfer to a different school or go on a hiatus, but the freshman decided to return to UPenn after the Christmas break. Between December and mid-January, the Ivy League institution suffered two other losses. Kevin Zhao, a 21-year-old senior in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, died from cardiac arrest while on a family trip to China. A few weeks later, computer science major Pulkit 'Josh' Singh, 20, was found dead in his room off campus. The student's cause of death is still pending. On Wednesday, Hatcher's friends and classmates took to Twitter to pay tribute to the beloved young man. One user wrote of Hatcher: 'You had an awesome style, a great spirit and wonderful smile. Wish I could have gotten to know you better.' Too young: Kevin Zhao (left), a 21-year-old senior in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, died from cardiac arrest in December; computer science major Pulkit 'Josh' Singh, 20, was found dead in his room off campus from an unknown cause . The band Norwegian Arms, which featured Hatcher in a music video last July showing the teen wiggling around and dancing, posted a touching tribute in his honor on their Tumblr account Wednesday. One of the band members recalled meeting Elvis for the first time during a concert in 2012. ‘Effortlessly cool, it was instantly apparent that this was a special person,’ the eulogy read. ‘His dance moves were otherwordly, a combination of voguing and interpretive dance so incredible that we ended up approaching him that night and asking him if he’d like to be involved in our first music video.’ 'Rest Assured - he'll be missed,' the post concluded. For confidential support in the U.S., call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255. For confidential support call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or see www.samaritans.org. | Elvis Hatcher, 18, a fraternity treasurer and IT expert, died after hanging himself Tuesday . Hatcher is fourth Penn students to pass away since the beginning of winter . Madison Holleran, 19, plunged to her death from a parking garage last month because she was overwhelmed with her workload . Two students from Penn's Engineering and Applied Science School passed away in December in mid-January from apparently natural causes . | a9448e1139cd99849d251b6a88ab9a4ef516a6ff |
Toilet humour usually always gets a few laughs - but the victim of this prank really didn't see the funny side. In an effort to win an ongoing prank war, a Czech woman sprayed her boyfriend Cenek's toilet roll with pepper spray in the hope of burning his backside. Talking to the camera before the prank unfolded the woman explains that she is 'sick of pranks on me', and that 'today it will be my revenge'. A woman 'sick of being pranked' got her own back on her boyfriend by pepper spraying his toilet papper . In the video she gleefully shows herself spraying the toilet paper before putting it on the toilet roll holder . She then turns on a camera at the back of the lounge room and sets up another outside the toilet door, right . Scroll down for video . She then sets-up cameras and waits for Cenek to use the facilities. But the reaction she got once he had was far from amused. After emerging from the bathroom, holding his bum, Cenek keels over in pain, asking repeatedly, 'what is it?'. Eventually he simply lays on his side while clutching his bum and moaning, as his girlfriend chortles in the background. His girlfriend then explains that she pepper sprayed the toilet paper, to which he responds, 'what kind of prank is this?' As Cenek writhes in pain, his girlfriend continues to point the camera at him, to which he replies: 'Don't film me. Go away!' Her boyfriend, Cenek, hobbles out of the bathroom, clutching his bum with his hands while moaning in pain . Cenek pleads for his girlfriend to stop filming; when she doesn't he slides into the wardrobe to hide . His girlfriend then offers him ice to ease the burning, as he desperately asks her 'do you think it will help?' The woman then gleefully reveals that she had earlier sprayed the ice with pepper spray as well . After telling Cenek not to 'overreact' his girlfriend follows him to the shower where she continues to film him as he uses a detachable shower head to spray water on his backside . He then slithers into a closet and pulls the door shut behind him. Viewers of the video might assume Cenek's girlfriend then experiences some pangs of guilt, as she's seen getting her beau some ice cubs from the fridge. But after he applies them to his burning backside, and the pain seemingly escalates, she reveals she has also sprayed them with pepper spray. To top it off, she then tells Cenek not to 'overreact'. Cenek then escapes to the bathroom where he climbs into the shower fully clothed. While sitting on the floor he uses a detachable shower head to ease his suffering. Despite his pleas for privacy, his girlfriend never stops filming. | Czech women who was 'sick of being pranked' decided to get her own back . While her boyfriend was out she pepper sprayed his toilet paper . Her beau later emerged from the toilet hobbling, before collapsing in pain . His girlfriend gave him ice, but then told him that she had sprayed that too . | b9d3e3b6d17224a7db256dc59c9ca6aa067ae78d |
The South African man who shot Anni Dewani dead on her honeymoon in Cape Town has died in prison from brain cancer. Xolile Mngeni was handed a life sentence in 2012 after being found guilty of hijacking a cab that Anni and her husband Shrien were riding in, before shooting her in the neck. In July this year it was reported that he was due to be freed from prison on compassionate grounds after 11 doctors signed a waiver saying he didn't have long to live, but the attempt failed. Scroll down for video . Xolile Mngeni, the man who shot Anni Dewani dead in Cape Town while she was on her honeymoon with husband Shrien Dewani, has died of brain cancer . Shrien Dewani is currently on trial in South Africa after Mngeni's accomplice, Mziwamadoda Qwabe, told the court Dewani ordered his wife's death. Mngeni had been due to appear, but was deemed to be too ill . Mngeni was first diagnosed with aggressive tumour in 2011. He was jailed for the killing in 2012, and was back in hospital earlier this year. He had been attempting to get released from prison on compassionate grounds . In September it is believed Mngeni met with his lawyers to discuss a second bid, claiming he could be cared for at home by one of his relatives who is a health care worker, but the case was never brought back before a judge. Mngeni had been suffering from pineoblastoma since 2011, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer which has a very low survival rate. After he was convicted of Anni's killing, her father branded the drug dealer 'a weak and spineless coward' for killing his 'defenceless' daughter. He was jailed along with accomplice Mziwamadoda Qwabe, who admitted his part in the crime, but told the court the killing had been ordered by Shrien Dewani, who paid £1,400. Mngeni (left) and Qwabe were jailed for Anni Dewani's killing in 2012. Mngeni had been diagnosed with cancer before his trial, but after chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, was deemed fit to stand . Mngeni and Qwabe hijacked a cab Shrien and Anni Dewani were travelling in as they drove through a notorious district of Cape Town. The men threw Shrien out, before Mngeni shot Anni in the neck, severing her spine . Qwabe has been appearing for the prosecution at Shrien Dewani's trial, saying that he hijakced the Dewanis' car as it drove through the notorious Gugulethu township, before throwing Shrien out. He told the court that he had been driving as Mngeni turned around and shot Anni in the neck, severing her spine and killing her. He alleged that Dewani had ordered the killing to be done in this way to make it look like an ordinary street crime. It was believed Mngeni had been due to appear at the trial, but was too ill to take to the stand. Anni Dewani is pictured on her wedding day shortly before she was killed during a carjacking in South Africa . Anni Dewani's family arrive at her husband's trail in South Africa this week. It was their outcry at the possibility of Mngeni being released that, in part, led to the appeal being turned down . During his previous court appearances, Mngeni had appeared frail, and on several occasions had to use a frame to walk to the dock. Mngeni was diagnosed with cancer before his initial trial in 2012, but after several rounds of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, he was deemed fit to stand. He was convicted and handed a life sentence, but was rushed to hospital again at the beginning of this year in critical condition after the cancer returned. His condition was stabilised, but judges were asked to consider releasing him from jail after 11 doctors assessed him and concluded that time was running out. Shrien and Anni were riding in this cab when it was hijacked by Mngeni and Qwabe. Anni's body was found slumped in the back seat the following day . The new husband, the taxi driver and the gunman... 'murder plot' which saw new bride Anni Dewani killed . On November 13, 2010, Anni Dewani was killed by a single gunshot wound to the neck while on honeymoon with her husband, millionaire Shrien Dewani. Shrien maintains his wife was killed as part of an everyday hijacking. However, he is now on trial accused of ordering her murder after others involved in the crime pointed the finger at him: . Gunman Xolile Mngeni . Mngeni was first arrested on November 16, three days after Anni was killed, at his home and charged with robbery and kidnapping. He denied the charges and was held in custody. On December 7 his accomplice, Zola Tongo, was jailed after pleading guilty. As part of his plea bargain, Tongo named Mngeni as one of the kidnappers. The following year Mngeni was first diagnosed with pineoblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. After chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery he was deemed fit to stand trial. On August 8, 2012, Mngeni's associate Mziwamadoda Qwabe also pleaded guilty to his part in the crime. At the time he told a court he and Mngeni kidnapped the couple, but said it was Mngeni who shot Anni. In November Mngeni was found guilty of premeditated murder at the Western Cape High Court. The following month he was sentenced to life in prison for the killing. In early 2014 he was rushed to hospital in critical condition after the brain tumour came back. Eleven doctors assessed his condition and ruled he should be released as he did not have long to live. However, after an outcry from Anni's family, a judge turned the request down and Mngeni was returned to jail. Earlier this month Shrien went on trial accused of ordering his wife's killing. Mngeni was thought to be a future witness for the prosecution, but earlier today he died behind bars. Taxi driver Zola Tongo . Tongo, who had been driving Shrien and Anni Dewani through Cape Town when their car was hijacked, was arrested four days after Mngeni, and held in custody by police in South Africa. Just over two weeks later he agreed to plead guilty in return for a reduced sentence of 18 years behind bars. As part of his plea bargain, he told judges that Shrien Dewani paid him £1,400 to arrange his wife's killing, a statement strongly denied by the millionaire businessman's family. In his statement, Tongo said he recruited Xolile Mngeni and Mziwamadoda Qwabe to hijack the cab he was driving before executing Anni. He says he was ordered to make the killing appear like a random street crime. Kidnapper Mziwamadoda Qwabe . Qwabe was arrested shortly after Mngeni and charged with similar offences. On August 8, 2012, after being named by Tongo as part of his plea bargain, Qwabe also pleaded guilty to Anni's kidnapping and murder and was given 25 years in jail. At the time, he told the court that he was recruited for the job by Tongo, and went on to confirm Tongo's statement. He also said that Dewani told the group that the killing must look like a street crime. He claimed that, while he hijakced the cab Anni and Shrien Dewani were travelling in, he did not kill the bride. Instead, he testified that Mngeni pulled the trigger. New husband Shrien Dewani . On the day Anni was killed, Shrien had been riding in the cab with her through Gugulethu township when Mngeni and Qwabe stopped the vehicle and hijakced it. Shrien was thrown out of the car, and the two men made off with Anni. Her body was found the following day, with a single gunshot wound to the neck. Dewani returned to the UK shortly after the killing where he had treatment for stress. After Anni's body was flown back, he attended her funeral on November 21. Shrien Dewani (left) pictured with his new bride Anni at their wedding shortly before she was killed . Shrien Dewani arrives at Western Cape High Court earlier this month accused of ordering his wife's murder . Only a few days later, he was forced to issue the first denial that he was responsible for his wife's death after allegations were made against him. On December 7, Tongo claimed in open court that Dewani ordered the killing of his wife, and the same day Dewani was arrested in Bristol under a South African warrant. At the beginning of 2011, Dewani was moved to the Priory Hospital in Bristol where he was reported to be suffering severe post-traumatic stress disorder. He was later detained under the Mental Health Act in his home city. Meanwhile, at his extradition hearing, the prosecution cited an unnamed witness who testified that Dewani said he needed to 'find a way out of' his marriage months before his wedding. On August 10, District Judge Howard Riddle ruled that Dewani could be extradited to South Africa to stand trial. However the following year, as Mngeni and Qwabe were jailed, the High Court halted Dewani's extradition on health grounds, but judges said he should still be sent abroad 'as soon as he is fit'. During his trial, Shrien Dewani has admitted to having accounts on gay dating sites such as Recon (pictured), but said he was bisexual and loved his wife . Throughout 2013, Dewani was moved in and out of mental hospitals while continuing to fight his extradition. After repeated appeals, three judges at the Supreme Court - the highest in the land - rejected Dewani's last attempt to stay extradition early this year. Dewani arrived in South Africa on April 8, and after a medical team ruled that his condition had improved, his defence council said he would be fit to take the stand. On October 6, two weeks ago, Dewani attended the first day of his trial, accused of ordering his wife's killing. So far, the court has heard that Dewani surfed gay dating websites, where he described himself as a 'submissive', and asked an older man's advice about coming out as gay. Dewani, however, denies these claims and says he is bisexual. He also told police that Anni wanted to visit the dangerous township where she was killed. Police also said he was found sobbing on the night she died. The trial continues. | Xolile Mngeni, the man who shot bride Anni Dewani dead, has died of cancer . Mngeni was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for killing Anni in Cape Town . He was diagnosed with tumour in 2011 and was in hospital again this year . In July doctors said he did not have long to live and asked for early release . However, judge turned bid down and Mngeni has now died behind bars . | 8cf0d746a47594e4d04239944d761cb51569be8f |
(CNN)From footfalls to climbing stairs, to opening doors, the cities of the future will look at ways of tapping energy from all the mechanical energy we expend going about our daily lives. When looking at the amount of kinetic energy produced in the average metro station at rush hour, or even on the dance floors of nightclubs, harvesting electricity from human activity makes sense. The technology that makes it possible -- the piezoelectric effect -- is more than 130 years old: in 1880, the brothers Jacques and Pierre Curie discovered that placing crystals under pressure produced an electric charge. Today, manufacturing technology has made it possible to place piezoelectric devices in the most unlikely places and one company, Pavegen, has developed power-generating systems for pavements, football fields and even school corridors. "People walk up to 150 million footsteps in their lifetime," Pavegen CEO Laurence Kemball-Cook told CNN. "When I was walking through a busy train station in London I thought what if we can convert the energy from every single person walking at the station into a meaningful amount of power." The company's footfall harvesting technology -- a deflecting pad covered with the type of soft ground surface commonly found in playgrounds - can produce up to 7 watts of energy with each step. Collecting this energy, Kemball-Cook says, is enough to power lights and other small devices for minutes at a time from a mere one hundred or so footfalls. The technology is most effective in areas with high traffic, producing an efficient solution that matches supply with demand. In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for instance, the company installed 200 kinetic tiles into a local football pitch in Morro da Mineira -- a favela plagued by blackouts. The Pavegen tiles work day and night alongside solar panels to power the lights for up to 10 hours on a full battery, creating the world's first ever people-powered football pitch. "It's not only a way of inspiring future generations into energy savings but it shows we need different energy mixes," Kemball-Cook said. "Some people walk 40,000 steps a day, so there's a lot of potential in those wasted footsteps. "Most people go to a gym so why are we plugging in those treadmills? Why not have those self-powered to charge your cellphone? To power the aircon in the building? Use the energy in a new way?" The company this year installed 36 tiles to create two people-powered dance floors at the 20th Essence Festival, placing digital screens in front of the dance floors to display the amount of energy produced during each dance off. Energy-harvesting technology has even been developed for miniature applications including self-powered contact lenses that use blinking as their power source. Much like Google glasses, the battery-free contact lenses could deliver information to a user that would be projected before a users' eyes as if it were thrown up on a screen. Despite the one-off niche applications, Pavegen has ambitious plans for the sector as a fully scalable renewables producer. Analysts estimate the energy harvesting industry could be worth as much $30 billion by 2018. Read more from Tomorrow Transformed: . NASA's plan for a floating city above Venus . Wind farms of the future go underwater . Is the Darknet a glimpse into the web of the future? | A company called Pavegen has developed a technology to turn footsteps into electricity . Walking and other human activities can generate power via piezoelectric cells . Pavegen's energy harvesting technology can produce up to 7 watts of electricity with each footstep . Analysts estimate the energy harvesting industry could be worth as much $30 billion by 2018 . | 51f7bc562c27201b75c00da8d191cba36a7749f1 |
Maroua, Cameroon (CNN) -- Nigeria's Boko Haram is responsible for kidnapping a French priest in neighboring Cameroon -- the same day the U.S. government labeled the group a terrorist organization -- said the governor of Cameroon's Far North region. Though Gov. Fonka Awa Augustine ordered his region's border with Nigeria closed, it may be too late, as eyewitnesses reported seeing the armed militants cross into Nigeria on motorcycles after Wednesday's kidnapping. "This is shocking," the governor said Friday. "All expatriates should restrict their movement in this region. They should stay within much secured areas and avoid visiting touristic sites." The priest, Georges Vandenbeusch, was snatched from his parish church in Nguetchewe, about 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the Nigerian border, security officials said. "Our Father Georges was kidnapped just a few minutes after celebrating holy Mass that night," Mbah Anatole Asah, a Christian in the parish, said Wednesday night. Witnesses said they believed Vandenbeusch was targeted because he is French and Christian. Boko Haram has declared a "war on Christians" as it strives to spread a strict brand of Sharia law across northeastern Nigeria. Boko Haram has not claimed responsibility for Vandenbeusch's abduction. The abduction comes the same week that the Nigerian army killed seven Boko Haram militants and injured others during a firefight in the Damboa area of Borno state, about 115 kilometers (72 miles) from the Cameroon border. Soldiers also seized a pickup truck, two motorcycles, "large arms" and ammunition, according to a statement. The army said it has recently intensified its patrols in the forested areas of Damboa and Gwoza, destroying Boko Haram camps, hideouts and vehicles. Earlier this year, Boko Haram kidnapped a French family of seven, including four children, in Dabanga near the Nigerian border. They were released unharmed days later. Security analysts in Cameroon blame the kidnappings on the lawlessness in north Cameroon and poor security along its porous border with Nigeria. Witnesses said the unarmed Cameroonian border patrol fled when the heavily armed militants approached the border Wednesday night. "The security is weak. It is very weak," legal expert Ngalim Bernard Yongabi said. The kidnappers left bullets in the priest's home, state radio reported. Security officials said they believe the bullets are a sign of Boko Haram's willingness to fight as Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan seeks this month to extend a state of emergency in the northeast. The state of emergency was declared in May. Boko Haram militants do not have the financial capacity to conduct large-scale military operations, Yongabi said. "Their activities in northern Nigeria have been stoked by the Nigerian military. They are now exploiting the weak security in Cameroon to hibernate in Cameroon and take foreigners hostage," he said. Fonkam Azu, governor of Cameroon's northern region of Maroua, said specialized military forces have been sent to secure the border with Nigeria. Dozens of foreigners, including U.S., French and British citizens, have been pulled back from dangerous areas in northern Cameroon into more secure cities. In freezing the group's assets and placing travel bans on Boko Haram's members this week, the U.S. State Department said the organization is responsible for thousands of killings since 2009. Human rights groups put the number at 3,000. Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, has a $7 million bounty on his head. U.S. designates Boko Haram as a terrorist organization . The terror outfit, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa-Fulani language, has attacked numerous targets since forming in the late 1990s, killing and kidnapping Westerners and bombing schools, churches and mosques, according to the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center. Recently, Boko Haram was blamed in an August mosque attack in Nigeria's Borno state that killed 44 worshippers, September attacks in Benisheikh that left 160 civilians dead, many of them Muslim women and children, and a September assault on an agriculture school in which 50 students were killed in their dorms while they slept. The United Nations has said it wants to try members on war crimes after an attack on a wedding party that killed 30 people. An estimated 8,000 Nigerians have fled to Cameroon to escape the violence, while another 5,000 people have been internally displaced, the United Nations says. Opinion: Should U.S. fear Boko Haram? CNN's Eliott C. McLaughlin and Greg Botelho contributed to this report. | Governor orders border with Nigeria closed after witnesses say militants crossed over . French priest was snatched by Boko Haram, a group waging a "war on Christians" State Department calls Boko Haram a terror outfit, accusing it of thousands of killings . Bullets left in priest's home may be warning sign that group is willing to fight, officials say . | 4573b5ae1cab3e405c0cd3bd3161bd53447d9f86 |
Swansea may have suffered a heart-breaking set-back after blowing their lead against Manchester City but if they've let it get them down they aren't showing it. Swansea were on track to going level with City on the Premier League ladder when Wilfried Bony scored his fifth of the season inside the opening 10 minutes at the Etihad - but Stevan Jovetic and Yaya Toure goals saw to it that the Swans went home empty handed. Still, sitting in seventh - just one point from fourth placed Manchester United - there is a buoyant mood inside the camp at Fairwood Training Ground. Star striker Wilfried Bony (centre) smiles as he leads his side around the Fairwood Training Ground . (From left) Jonjo Shelvey, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Leon Britton and Wayne Routledge rest in the gym on Tuesday . There was plenty of laughter at their headquarters on Tuesday as the team got to work in preparation for Crystal Palace's visit on Saturday. Angel Rangel found an additional use for the foam rollers used for muscle and ITB release - a golf club - as his team-mates Jefferson Montero and Jordi Amat watched on. The club's star re-signing Bony was also all smiles on the training pitch and in their state-of-the-art gym after putting his signature on the contract that keeps him there until summer 2018. Angel Rangel (centre) uses a foam roller as a golf club watched byJordi Amat (left) and Jefferson Montero (right) in a light-hearted moment as the Swansea work out on Tuesday . 'I was really happy to sign a longer contract,' Bony said in a statement. 'I have a great relationship with the club. I like the feeling within the club and also the direction I believe the club is heading. 'Signing an extended contract means I can just focus on Swansea and continue giving everything I have for this club. 'I enjoy it here – I have a good relationship with my team-mates, the coaches and our fans.' Looking ahead to the visit of 15th-place Palace and bottom-placed QPR, Bony said his side were disappointed to lose at City but looking forward to two matches in which six points are expected. Swansea players work on their ITBs during a gym session on Tuesday watched by a trainer . 'We played well and we could have taken a point from the game,' he told Swanseacity.net about their City defeat. 'But we must take the positives from this for the games coming up at home against Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers.' City back up their Champions League clash with Bayern Munich against high-flying Southampton with second place the reward for the winner before Manuel Pellegrini's side head to Sunderland. Swansea have a golden chance to fly up the ladder over the next fortnight, as United have tricky visits from Hull and Stoke. Meanwhile, fifth-placed Newcastle and sixth-placed West Ham go head-to-head at Upton Park this weekend before Toon visit Burnley and the Hammers go to West Brom. Bony, who's signed with the club until 2018, celebrates his opener in their loss to Manchester City . | Swansea all smiles at training on Tuesday at Fairwood Training Ground . Garry Monk's side putting defeat at Manchester City behind them . Next two matches are 15th-placed Crystal Palace and bottom-placed QPR . Wilfried Bony has signed a new one-year deal keeping him there to 2018 . | 34b953c837b7288f9449049f1cbf1f0670696616 |
By . Adam Crafton . Follow @@AdamCrafton_ . As Manchester United prepare to present Louis van Gaal to the media for the first time at Old Trafford on Thursday afternoon, the flashing cameras and assembled press will eagerly await the first sound bites from the famously confrontational Dutchman. Van Gaal is expected to reveal his blueprint for United’s present and future and Sportsmail can reveal a fascinating glimpse into the core principles that have guided him in a prestigious career that has boasted stints with Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. A fortnight before the World Cup, Van Gaal took to the stage in his native Holland, addressing an audience of business experts at ‘De Week van de ondernermer’ – The Week of the Businessman – where he outlined his coaching vision. In a charismatic speech inside FC Twente's stdium in Enschede, the suited Van Gaal unveils the secrets behind his success, detailing his passion for preparation and answering those accusations that he is arrogant… . VIDEO Scroll down to watch Louis van Gaal claims focused arrogance is key to his success . Making his point: Louis van Gaal was speaking at a presentation for Dutch businessmen before the World Cup . Revelations: Van Gaal let the business leaders into all kind of secrets during the presentation . 'The national coach (me) sees opportunities because he believes in vision and structure. When I say that, I mean MY vision, and my structure. Yes, that is arrogant. I bet you hear that more, that people find me arrogant. It does not bother me. I am NOT arrogant. But I do believe in my vision. So the people who work in my organization have something to hold on to. That is what I believe in.' 'I see chances because I believe in preparation. That is half the job. My mum used to say that. And she only went to primary school. But she knew that! You don’t think I would be standing here without preparing? Training. In football that is normal. Is it normal in a company. You recruit people and do you train them to create the best product? I do that! I train them every day. I go over certain things every day. I do training, analysis and evaluation. That is what I believe in.' Visionary: Van Gaal refuted claims that he is arrogant but did concede that he has a clear idea of what he wants . Be prepared: The new Manchester United manager is big on everyone knowing their roles . 'I can’t do it on my own. Because I don’t know everything, do I? I know you start laughing, because I am portrayed continuously that I do know everything. I listen to specialists? Do you listen to your employees? They produce your stuff. 'Look here: The coaches, these are my staff. If I go back to what I believe in: Preparation, training, analysis, evaluation, than it all comes down to the use of my organisation! I have 12 members of staff who are working for me, who are preparing, training, analysing and evaluating for me. But I am the one who has to guide them, steer them in the right direction. 'We have two assistant coaches and a goalkeeper coach. So, including me as head coach, that is a group of four staff members who are just focusing on skills and tactics. And I have a total of 12, including all the others, physiologists, video analysts, etc. This is how important it is to work in my organisation so I can get the best product possible on the pitch. All together, there are 37 people in my staff. The leader: Despite listening to his staff and delegating, ultimately Van Gaal is still the boss . 'When I became national coach, the whole world thought I was going to pick the players who had to get us to the World Cup. No! First the staff! I always first pick my staff! I have to surround myself with good staff. We have to surround the players with quality staff. Why? It does not matter whether is a product, a tool, a machine, or knowledge you want to pass on to a big public, I always make sure that I have specialists in every department who advise me.' 'Almost always I follow the advice of the specialists in my organisation. Almost always, as I am still the boss and I take the decisions. When you look at all the figures, my staff, and you add the number of players in the squad, than it comes usually to 60 people I am working with on a daily basis. By vision on the football process. 'Vision is not just about the game. My vision also stands for my vision on each person, on society, on the way I speak. My tone of voice, If I leave gaps in between my sentences. There is always a reason for that. It always comes back to my football team.' Management team: Van Gaal with one of his valued staff members, his assistant Giggs . Dutch master: Van Gaal smiles for the camera as he starts his new role as United manager . 'A team with tactics with a triangle shape midfield, with the point in the direction of the defence. When I saw the Dutch squad players for the first time two years ago, I showed them something. And why? Because it was something that could bind us. 'We are all in this for the same reason, we are engaged with the game. So I showed them Barcelona, who play with the triangle midfield with the point directing to the defence, one controlling midfielder, that is how they play. But they don’t have a real striker. They have a different kind of striker. Well, OK, that is (Lionel) Messi, indeed, a very different striker. VIDEO: Louis van Gaal reveals his management secrets (in Dutch) 'But I had something to say about that . to my players. I prefer to have a real striker in my team. Not a false . No 9, which is Messi (crowd laughs, Van Gaal smiles): "I don’t mean . anything with that…". So I also showed the players Spain. Otherwise the . players would say: "Yes boss, but how can we adapt to a new system when . we only meet up 8 times a season for a couple of days?" Well they’d be . right saying that. 'So I . showed them the Spanish national team, they play like that. The boys in . my squad knew from day one what the vision of Van Gaal stood for. That . was very important. I was clear to them. I made sure there was . transparency. You always have to be transparent!' VIDEO Manchester United sign record shirt deal . | Van Gaal gave a talk before leading Holland at World Cup . 'I am NOT arrogant... but I do have a vision,' insists new United boss . Van Gaal reveals he always chooses his staff before picking players . Dutchman will be presented to media on Thursday . | c646b21b4c51c9402f9edfc0660524b1d77d2f8c |
(CNN) -- Discrimination against women and girls takes a staggering toll around the world, says author Sheryl WuDunn. It leads to as many as 100 million fewer females than males in the world. Ending the oppression of women is the great moral challenge of the 21st Century, a cause she compares to fighting slavery in the 19th century and totalitarianism in the 20th Century. WuDunn, a former reporter for The New York Times who is now an investment banker, and her husband, Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, wrote "Half the Sky," a book focusing on the role of women in the world. She spoke about their findings at the TED Global conference in Oxford in July and in an interview with CNN. Watch an interview with Sheryl WuDunn . During their time as correspondents in China, WuDunn and Kristof learned of the phenomenon of an estimated 30 million "missing" baby girls in the nation. WuDunn says part of the gap could be attributed to infanticide by families who were determined to have a male child under China's one-child policy and in part to the development of the sonogram. That medical device can be used to determine the gender of a child before birth, prompting some parents to obtain abortions. "One peasant in the southern part of China once told us, 'The sonogram's great, we don't need to have baby girls any more.' " TED.com: Radical women embrace tradition . The problem is not limited to China; WuDunn says there are between 60 million and 100 million missing females in the world, even though women outnumber men in some more developed nations. The solutions, she says, are education and economic opportunity. Overpopulation is one of the larger contributors to poverty, WuDunn said. "When you educate a girl, she has significantly fewer kids." Girls who go to school get married later in life and educate their children "in a more enlightened way." WuDunn says her work is not just about helping reveal the plight of women and girls in many countries, it's also about helping provide the groundwork for a movement to solve the problem. In the Western world, where many people have all their material needs satisfied, it's an obligation to reach out and help others, she says. TED.com: Eve Ensler on embracing your inner girl . WuDunn told the story of an American aid worker in Darfur who had seen great suffering but never broke down. On a vacation back in the United States, she visited her grandmother and noticed a bird feeder in the backyard. "She was in her grandmother's backyard and she basically broke down. And she realized that not only was she able to feed and clothe and house herself but also see that people in her country were able to feed wild birds so that they don't go hungry in the winter. She knew that with that luck and fortune also comes great responsibility." Here are excerpts from "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn: . "So let us be clear about this up front: We hope to recruit you to join an incipient movement to emancipate women and fight global poverty by unlocking women's power as economic catalysts. That is the process under way -- not a drama of victimization but of empowerment, the kind that transforms bubbly teenage girls from brothel slaves into successful businesswomen. This is a story of transformation. It is change that is already taking place, and change that can accelerate if you'll just open your heart and join in. ... "The tide of history is turning women from beasts of burden and sexual playthings into full-fledged human beings. The economic advantages of empowering women are so vast as to persuade nations to move in that direction. "Before long, we will consider sex slavery, honor killings and acid attacks as unfathomable as foot-binding. The question is how long that transformation will take and how many girls will be kidnapped into brothels before it is complete -- and whether each of us will be part of that historical movement, or a bystander." | Sheryl WuDunn: Tens of millions of girls die young or aren't born due to discrimination . Educating girls and giving them economic opportunity could transform the world, she says . Girls who are educated have fewer children and educate them better, she says . WuDunn: Those who have their material needs satisfied should aid women around the world . | 22416c3967407376c9e0be7ee61f75ac13ca7084 |
By . Ryan Lipman . 'You were a moody, disrespectful little brat' - these are the vulgar words of a high school teacher just 24 hours after one of his 16-year-old students committed suicide. Australian teacher Simon Cox posted the offensive rant, in which he also called the student a 'brat' and said he was happy he was 'gone', to his Facebook page. He then targeted the boy's parents, saying they had made excuses for their son, before finishing his extraordinary post by describing the boy's death as unimportant, signing off with; 'Nothing special - now I've got to wash my hair.' 'You were a bully to kids smaller and younger than yourself, I saw you intimidate, stand over and beat up on younger kids (never anyone your own size),' The Northern Territory teacher posted. Vulgar: Simon Cox posted a vulgar rant on his Facebook about a student who had just committed suicide . In his post, Mr Cox, pictured, accused the deceased teenager of making life 'hell' for other students and teachers . 'You made life hell for genuine students wanting to learn and teachers trying to teach. 'You were a moody, disrespectful little brat in and away from school who was always given excuses by your parents and soft people in authority. Your (sic) gone, good no sympathy or empathy from me. 'Nothing special - now I've got to wash my hair.' The boy's uncle, Peter Britten, said the family was left reeling by the shocking comments. 'It was unjustified,' he said. 'It seems (there was) a falling out between the teacher and the student.' Mr Britten said the hundreds of tributes flooding the student's Facebook page were proof he was popular, loved and a 'good kid'. 'He was so loved by everyone. I can't fathom what went down,' he said. 'Any suggestion he was bad is not true... he was not a bully - he definitely was not a bully.' Struggling to comprehend why the teacher would post the message, Mr Britten said his nephew had had potential for a bright future. 'He was a stay at home kind of kid who looked up to his older brother who is a policeman and sister who is in the police, too.' The teacher was stood down following his post and is expected to be fired for this Facebook post . The post was eventually passed on to the outraged parents of other students who, blown away by the callousness of Mr Cox's rant, immediately contacted the school. Education department deputy chief executive Susan Bowden told MailOnline the department had been in contact with the family of the student regarding the post. '(The department) deeply regrets the stress to family and friends caused by this teacher’s alleged actions,' she said. 'The matter was brought to the attention of the department by a staff member and there have been a number of subsequent complaints received in response to the teacher’s alleged actions. 'This type of behaviour by any teacher is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.' Ms Bowden said Mr Cox was stood down on Tuesday, the same day the department became aware of the post. He has been given 24 hours to respond to the allegations. A decision on the teacher's employment will be made once all evidence had been considered, Ms Bowden added. | The Australian teacher posted the message the day after the pupil had committed suicide . Simon Cox called the student a 'bully' and 'brat' who'd 'made life hell' Most callously of all, he said it was good that the student had died, saying the pupil would get 'no sympathy or empathy from me' The post was passed on to parents, who contacted the school. The teacher has been stood down . The boy's uncle said the shattered family had been hurt by the post . | 6ec04da0c511d02e992f6eaa3be7adade2d53b09 |
Liverpool have reportedly expressed interest in Marseille central midfielder Mario Lemina, according to reports in France. L'Equipe claims that Brendan Rodger's side has 'enquired' about the 21-year old Gabonese-born French player, although specific details over the potential transfer have been kept to a minimum. Lemina arrived at Marseille for 4m Euros in 2013 and has a contract with the Ligue 1 club until 2018, meaning the Reds would have to pay a sizeable fee to complete a deal for the defensive midfielder who has made a single appearance for France's Under-21s. Marseille defensive midfielder Mario Lemina (left) is reportedly a target for Premier League side Liverpool . Meanwhile, Zinedine Zidane has been discussing everything Real Madrid in an interview with Spanish daily AS. The World Cup winner and Los Blancos coach insists that Cristiano Ronaldo will win more Ballon d'Or awards than his nemesis Lionel Messi - after the Portuguese picked up a third golden globe last week. Zidane also believes that much maligned striker Karim Benzema 'always does the right thing for the team', but reserved highest praise for Spain international midfielder Isco, who he claims 'reminds me of myself'. Zinedine Zidane talks Real Madrid while Lionel Messi leads Cristiano Ronaldo in the hat-trick stakes . The World Cup winning legend also says that Real Madrid playmaker Isco reminds him of himself . Mundo Deportivo pays homage to 'Mister Hatrick' aka Messi who netted his 30th treble for Barcelona against Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday - reminding readers that the Argentinian now leads Ronaldo 33-30 if his three international hat-tricks are included. While Marca keeps its Real Madrid readers content with an interview from coach Carlo Ancelotti claiming|: 'To coach Madrid is the easiest thing in the world', there are also reports of Chinese magnate Wang Jianlin increasing his share in Atletico Madrid to 20 per cent. The Italian press is focused on two stories - firstly, Juventus' attempts to keep star midfielder Paul Pogba away from the clutches of Real Madrid. Juventus have a challenge on their hands to keep Paul Pogba from leaving for Real Madrid . Silvio Berlusconi has critcised AC Milan following their 1-0 defeat to lowly Atalanta . The Turin club's director general Guiseppe Marotta told Tuttosport: 'I think Paul will stay, we have the strength to refuse any offer even if it will be hard for him to say no to some wages.' However, La Gazetta dello Sport, have perhaps gauged the situation more pragmatically with the headline: 'Juve's crazy idea, keeping Pogba'. Finally, former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi appears to have deflected attention from his own troubles by laying in to AC Milan and, in particular coach Pippo Inzaghi, claiming: 'It’s unacceptable to lose to a team which earns one fifth what our players do,' in reference to the Rossoneri's recent 1-0 defeat to Atalanta. | Liverpool have expressed an interest in Marseille midfielder Mario Lemina . Zinedine Zidane claims Real Madrid playmaker Isco 'remind me of myself' Lionel Messi leads Cristiano Ronaldo 33-30 in the hat-trick stakes . Juventus are confident of keeping Paul Pogba from joining Real Madrid . Silvio Berlusconi has criticised coach Pippo Inzaghi and AC Milan . | 89c668d0979bbbbfd6803caf112ba724771da9fa |
By . Eddie Wrenn . PUBLISHED: . 05:46 EST, 17 September 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 06:16 EST, 17 September 2012 . It is one of the strangest photographs returned from Mars yet - giving a snapshot of what Mars was like when it had a dynamic surface. The small spherical objects in this image from Opportunity - still scouring the surface of Mars after nearly 10 years on the Red Planet - are tiny mineral-rich nodules, nicknamed 'blueberries' by NASA, which are sticking out of the face of a crater. Now the Opportunity has been joined by the Curiosity - but the older brother is still proving its worth, capturing the geological formations which show how Mars was once a wet world with surface water. The 'spherules' are small - only three millimetres across each - and have been magnified for this image, which shows an area only 2.4inches (6 centimeters) across. They appeared on an outcrop called 'Kirkwood' in the Cape York segment of the western rim of Endeavour Crater. Martnan 'blueberries': This is a 2.4inches (6cms) patch of outcrop on the western rim of Endeavour Crater. The individual spherules are up to about three millimeters in diameter . The Microscopic Imager took the . component images during the 3,064th Martian day of Opportunity's travels . - September 6th by Earth time. Opportunity discovered spherules at . its landing site more than eight-and-a-half years earlier, and they were . promptly nicknamed 'blueberries'. They provided important evidence . about long-ago wet environmental conditions on Mars because researchers . using Opportunity's science instruments identified them as concretions . rich in the mineral 'hematite', which was deposited by water saturating . the bedrock. However these spherules are different . - they do not have the iron-rich composition of the blueberries, and . also differ in concentration, distribution and structure. Some of the spherules in this image have been partially eroded away, revealing concentric internal structure. Landscape: Opportunity captured this image of rock fins near Kirkwood in July . Opportunity's science team plans to . use the rover for further investigation of these spherules to determine . what evidence they can provide about ancient Martian environmental . conditions. Opportunity’s principal investigator, Steve Squyres of Cornell University, said: 'This is one of the most extraordinary pictures from the whole mission. Self-portrait: This picture shows Opportunity casting a shadow on the rim of Endeavour Crater . 'Kirkwood is chock full of a dense . accumulation of these small spherical objects. Of course, we immediately . thought of the blueberries, but this is something different. We never . have seen such a dense accumulation of spherules in a rock outcrop on . Mars.' The Martian blueberries found . elsewhere by Opportunity are concretions formed by action of . mineral-laden water inside rocks, evidence of a wet environment on early . Mars. Concretions result when minerals . precipitate out of water to become hard masses inside sedimentary rocks. Many of the Kirkwood spheres are broken and eroded by the wind. Where . wind has partially etched them away, a concentric structure is evident. Opportunity used the microscopic . imagern its arm to look closely at Kirkwood. Researchers checked the . spheres’ composition by using an instrument called the Alpha Particle . X-Ray Spectrometer on Opportunity’s arm. Squyres added: 'They seem to be . crunchy on the outside, and softer in the middle.,They are different in . concentration. They are different in structure. They are different in . composition. They are different in distribution. 'So, we have a wonderful geological . puzzle in front of us. We have multiple working hypotheses, and we have . no favorite hypothesis at this time. It’s going to take a while to work . this out, so the thing to do now is keep an open mind and let the rocks . do the talking.' Just past Kirkwood lies another science target area for Opportunity. The location is an extensive . pale-toned outcrop in an area of Cape York where observations from orbit . have detected signs of clay minerals. That may be the rover’s next study . site after Kirkwood. Four years ago, Opportunity departed Victoria . Crater, which it had investigated for two years, to reach different . types of geological evidence at the rim of the much larger Endeavour . Crater. Panorama: This is a 360-degree view of the area where the Opportunity rover spent its 3,000th day on Mars . | 'Blueberries' are mineral-rich bumps on side of crater - indicating water on Mars's surface in the past . NASA: 'They seem to be crunchy on the outside, and softer in the middle' | 0bbb67bae2ed1728aa8aee3e16d9882880893d78 |
There will be no US Open heroics from Dan Evans this year after the British No 3 slumped to a first-round loss in qualifying at Flushing Meadows. The Birmingham player had a match point in the second set against Jimmy Wang but could not take it and was eventually beaten 4-6 7-6 (11/9) 6-2. Twelve months ago the mercurial Evans made his major breakthrough by qualifying in New York and going on to reach the third round. Game over: Dan Evans fell at the first hurdle and failed to progress in US Open qualifying . His final match was a thrilling encounter against Tommy Robredo - who went on to beat Roger Federer - that he could and probably should have taken into a fifth set. Evans has not kicked on as he or those within British tennis would have hoped, the 24-year-old admittedly not helped by a niggling knee injury. Landing Wang, the 16th seed and world No 132, was a tough first-round draw but Evans battled hard to win the first set and, having let a golden chance to break go by at the start of the second, he dug in admirably. But he was edged out in the tie-break, Wang saving Evans' match point with an ace and then taking advantage of two poor points from the British player to end the set. It was Wang who had the momentum going into the decider and Evans never managed to wrestle it back. Long 12 months: Evans reached the third round of the US Open last year in his major breakthrough . The defeat will see Evans' ranking plummet from its current 176 well into the 200s and he must try to find something like his form of last summer to prevent it dropping further. There was British success from James Ward, who comfortably saw off unheralded Bosnian Aldin Setkic 6-2 6-2 to set up a second-round qualifying clash with France's Vincent Millot. Ward is at a career-high ranking of 131 after an excellent run on the North American hard courts and will have high hopes of making the main draw in New York for the first time. The 27-year-old was the only one of five British players to survive the first round, with Dan Smethurst joining Evans in exiting the tournament on Wednesday. VIDEO Murray needs to step up - McEnroe . | Dan Evans lost in the first round of qualifying . He was beaten in three sets by Jimmy Wang . Evans squandered a match point in the second set . | f16506c3363be6669ddb41dc40d0cfc676a0b3b6 |
By . John Hall . A secret underground bunker built to protect essential services in the event of a nuclear war is to go under the hammer. The bunker, which was constructed in Coswarth in Cornwall at the height of the Cold War, was built so experts at the then South West Water Authority would be able to maintain water and sewerage operations during a nuclear emergency. The 3,000 square foot bunker, built in 1978 to house 16 people - seven in the operations room, six in the communications room and three in the control room, has a guide price of £50,000. Cold War: The bunker, which was built in 1978, was designed so experts at the then South West Water Authority would be able to maintain water and sewerage operations during a nuclear emergency . Discrete: The rooms themselves are all deep underground, with the only hint of life below the surface being a small brick entrance building . The bunker's features include several blast-proof doors, an air lock, a decontamination room, a dining room, a recreation room and two dormitories. The rooms themselves are all deep . underground, with the only hint of life below the surface being a small . brick entrance building. Brian Blake, South West Water's asset performance manager, worked for the Authority at the time and can recall visiting the bunker as it was being prepared for potential habitation. 'I remember that the Government said we had to provide an underground control centre in case of emergency which was bomb and nuclear proof,' he said. 'It wasn't fully kitted out as there was no furniture in there, but if something had happened you could have lived in there for weeks.' Floorplan: The bunker's features include several blast-proof doors, an air lock, a decontamination room, a dining room, a recreation room and two dormitories . Space: The 3,000 sq ft bunker, built in 1978 to house 16 people - seven in the operations room, six in the communications room and three in the control room, had a guide price of £50,000 . The bunker and adjacent land eventually sold for £140,000, nearly three times the asking price . Chris Shapland, the Authority's property manager, added: 'We regularly auction redundant assets to reduce our costs and keep customers' bills as low as possible, but this is the first time we've offered a genuine piece of Cold War history.' 'Novelty sites with small areas of surplus land always attract strong interest as people are able to invest relatively modest sums for their 'little bit of England',' he added. Mr Shapland said several of the Authority's former storage reservoirs and pumping stations have already been converted by their new owners into unusual homes. Speaking of the new bunker's sale he added: 'It will be interesting to see what happens to the bunker - you never know who could end up using it.' The bunker and some adjacent land will be sold at auction on March 25. | Bunker was built in 1978, at the height of the Cold War, to protect services . Experts at South West Water Authority would have fled to site in emergency . Water supplies and sewerage operations could be managed from the bunker . The only hint of life below the surface is a discreet brick entrance building . Now 3,000 square foot bunker is to be auctioned with a £50,000 guide price . | 7863e1b5e9317228091a63df573a46c64bb017c7 |
By . Patrick Collins . For those who savour the spectacle of a manager at bay, David Moyes is providing splendid sport. The poor fellow is being scrutinised with sadistic relish. Are those stress lines on his brow? Does he seem a touch haggard? Has he lost the trust of his players? Is he crumpling under the pressure? Might he be considering something drastic; resignation, perhaps? The possibilities are endless. This past fortnight has not been kind to English clubs in the Champions League. Manchester City were gently passed to pieces by Barcelona. What next? United players look dejected as Olympiacos go 2-0 up in Greece in midweek . Where's the passion? Moyes has had his fair share of criticism, but the players deserve there's too . Arsenal, more creditably, were beaten by the reigning champions Bayern Munich, while Chelsea at least managed a goal in their insipid draw with Galatasaray. But it was Manchester United who commanded most of the shock–horror notices by losing to Olympiakos. While the other results were merely disappointing, United’s first-leg performance carried darker overtones. This was a defeat which seemed to crystalise all the doubts and suspicions which now surround United. For this looked horribly like an exercise in shoulder-shrugging indifference. It was the kind of performance that demeaned a major European club. And worse, it damaged the reputation of ‘the best League in the world’. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, that banal title is so often bestowed that it is rarely questioned. Its supporters insist that no other league can offer such pace, such physical strength, such unstinting, often misguided, effort. And then there is the money; uncounted and uncountable, blissfully bubbling from a tap which is never turned off. Everything about the Premier League reeks of extreme wealth, from the gargantuan television contracts to the munificent patronage of sheik and oligarch, the stunning transfer fees, the steepling salaries, the insatiable taste for tacky excess. Sure, it cannot produce the equal of a Bayern, a Barcelona or a Real Madrid, neither can it produce enough capable English players to mount a credible World Cup challenge, but no matter. The Premier League makes a lot of ordinary players insanely rich, and it yields a winter’s worth of Super Sundays and Magic Mondays. The best in the world? No contest. Such is the delusion, one which Roy Keane dismissed in a few contemptuous phrases the other evening. Keane described the notion as ‘nonsense’. Invisible: Wayne Rooney put in an absent performance in Athens on Tuesday night . He said we had been ‘brainwashed’, that it was not ‘the best league’ but merely ‘the best brand’. In other words, the marketing is superb while the football is all too frequently second rate. And reality kicks in when our clubs approach the sharp end of a European campaign. Which brings us back to the manager of Manchester United. Moyes has been in the job for less than a season and he has undoubtedly been disturbed by the discovery that the team he inherited are woefully unfit for purpose. The flaws present themselves. Tom Cleverley’s attempts to influence midfield affairs are as fruitless with United as they are with England. Nemanja Vidic is no longer of relevance and as for the likes of Ashley Young, Chris Smalling and Antonio Valencia, the least said the better. Off colour: Tom Cleverley was hotly-tipped not so long ago, but has been disappointing overall . Helpless: Olympiacos' Michael Olaitan skips past Nemanja Vidic as the Serbian looks on . Robin van Persie was anxious to avoid any shadow of blame for his team’s plight: ‘My fellow players are sometimes occupying the spaces I want to play in, and when I see that it makes it difficult,’ he explained. Then, having missed from 10 yards against Olympiakos, he reflected that it was: ‘A shame because I don’t get a lot of chances.’ Van Persie is reported to be ‘considering his future’ in the summer. While he is at it, he might give some thought to his recent past. Clueless: United players look frustrated as Dominguez runs away in celebration at the first goal . Down and out? David Moyes slumps back into his seat after Olympiacos score their second goal . Yet we doubt that there will be any serious self-examination from any of these people. Indeed, Michael Carrick seemed mildly miffed when it was suggested that United’s players might have brought their troubles upon themselves. Carrick, you see, is a famous footballer and just 10 months ago he and his chums won the championship of the best league in the world. As such, they are immune from criticism. No, if anybody deserves censure for United’s abysmal season, then we must turn to the usual suspect, to the man whose ongoing agonies are public property. Of course Moyes has made his share of mistakes. His pragmatic strategies have often seemed at odds with United’s cavalier tradition, his bearing has sometimes appeared dourly disgruntled, while his transfer dealings have been uninspired. Maestro? Carrick is usually United's go-to man, but was poor on Tuesday night at Olympiacos . Outstretched: David De Gea is well beaten by Campbell's shot in the 55th minute to deflate United . Flat out: Robin van Persie lies on the floor after missing United's best chance of the game late on . Yet he is a talented, driven man who has taken on a massive task. If he is to succeed, he will have to spend vast sums of money and shed a cargo of footballers. And he will do so in the knowledge that little or no public blame will be attributed to those under-performing young men, nor to their successors. If it should all go wrong then he, the manager, will carry the can. Such is the nature of the job and David Moyes understood that when he signed his handsome contract. He neither seeks nor deserves our sympathy but, as the headlines grow harsher and the Twitterati prattle their doltish abuse, he is entitled to a degree of intelligent understanding. It is not a lot to ask, from the best league in the world. Greg Dyke’s first six months as Football Association chairman have not been an unqualified success. From his opening battle cry — ‘I don’t think anyone realistically thinks we are going to win the World Cup in Brazil’ — to his fatuous cut-throat gesture at the announcement of England’s World Cup draw, to his ham-fisted attempts to recruit a so-called ‘England Commission’, Dyke has proceeded with the measured tread of a drunk on roller skates. But his latest mishap is far more serious. Not present: Dyke was presiding over an FA board meeting in London while Finney's funeral was taking place . On Thursday, when the English game was gathering in Preston to bury one of the noblest, most sublimely gifted men it has ever produced, Dyke was presiding over an FA board meeting, 218 miles away in London. Now, it is possible that Dyke does not understand how much Sir Tom Finney meant to English football, nor how rich was his contribution to the nation’s game. If so, then somebody, somewhere should have had the wit to brief him. Because the chairman of the Football Association should not have been swapping platitudes with a bunch of blazers. He . should have been seated in St John’s Minster to honour Sir Tom. It was . more than a matter of priorities; it was a question of duty. Lining the streets: The hearse carrying Sir Tom Finney passes Preston's Deepdale ground . Carried in: Finney's coffin arrives for his funeral at Preston Minster, carried by former North End players Alan Kelly (left) and Graham Alexander (centre) and current star Joe Garner . Vincent Tan’s attempts to endear himself to Cardiff City followers have taken another fascinating turn. His earlier efforts included firing the successful manager, Malky Mackay, and changing the club’s colours from the traditional blue to a ‘lucky’ red. Now, with his club in the bottom three of the Premier League, the owner has warned supporters not to take him for granted. ‘Right now, I will stay,’ he said. ‘Unless the fans p*** me off so much, then I may leave.’ Clearly, the old charmer sees this as an ominous threat. He may well be mistaken. On the attack: Vincent Tan launched a tirade against former manager Malky Mackay . 'Beserk': Tan said Mackay only got the club promoted because he went 'beserk' with the owner's cash . A week ago, in an item on Fulham FC, I mentioned two of their former players, Johnny Haynes and Tosh Chamberlain. Haynes was described as a ‘great’ player, Chamberlain as ‘a blissfully under-talented winger’. I was attempting to convey my belief that, by comparison with the brilliant Haynes, everyone who played for Fulham in that era was ‘blissfully under-talented’. As many Fulham fans have pointed out, it was a poor choice of words which was quite unfair to a fine footballer and a much-loved character. I have apologised to Tosh and accepted his affectionate, and very ‘Fulhamish’, reprimand. Famous faces: Fulham old boys Johnny Haynes (left), Tosh Chamberlain (right) | Moyes has inherited a team that is woefully unfit for purpose . The boss has made his fair share of mistakes too, with his pragmatic strategies at odds with United's tradition . But Tom Cleverley, Nemanja Vidic, Ashley Young, Chris Smalling and Antonio Valencia have underperformed, among others . Greg Dyke should have been at Sir Tom Finney's funeral, not presiding over an FA board meeting with a bunch of blazers in London . | ad4d3b9e924d00eb2283fa6a2f7fe42fc3442120 |
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Islamic parties in Indonesia will not get enough votes in the coming election to nominate a presidential candidate, according to polls, analysts and an Islamic party official. Supporters of Indonesia's Democratic Party of Struggle take part in a campaign event in Jakarta on March 24. Nevertheless, the influence of Islam on politics in Indonesia -- the world's most populous Muslim country -- has many nationalist parties changing their strategy. The April 9 national elections will determine the makeup of Indonesia's 550-seat parliament, as well as its regional representation council, provincial, county and city assemblies. More than 38 parties are vying for these seats, but very few are expected to get the 20 percent of parliamentary seats needed to nominate a presidential candidate in the July election. In fact, the only party expected to meet the 20 percent threshold is President Susilo Bambang Yudyohono's Democratic Party. Other parties will have to join alliances to nominate a president. Yudyohono's "charming" personality, and his government's ability to weather the current worldwide financial downturn, have kept him on top of the polls, according to James Castle, who analyzes Indonesian politics and economy. Castle said despite the influence of Islam on Indonesian politics, voters are more concerned about economic issues. "Like everywhere in the world, economics is the key factor," he said. "It's quite clear from all these surveys, when inflation was high, the president's popularity is low. Now that inflation has come down, the president's popularity is high, and he and his party are doing very well in the polls coming into the election." So far, Indonesia has not felt the impact of the global recession, partly because its economy is more isolated than other countries'. But the government has taken steps to protect the currency and the economy from the downturn, Castle said. "This will probably just be a speed bump for Indonesia," he said. Although financial issues are the main concern for voters in Indonesia -- where poverty is rampant -- Yudyohono's Democratic Party has recently had to bow to pressure from Islamic groups. Andi Mallarangang, a spokesman for the president, acknowledged that the party's support for an anti-pornography bill -- which was passed in October -- was a "symbolic gesture" to the Islamic groups that had called for the measure. "During the process of legislation, (the government) made sure we do not support pornography," Mallarangang said. "But there should be no limitation on freedom of arts and expression" He noted that the final law was not as strong as the initially proposed bill. Another issue that has made headlines in the Indonesian media is the government's position on Ahmadiyah, a Muslim sect that does not believe Mohammad is the last prophet. The government recently restricted the freedoms of the group, but has so far refused to ban the group. "In Indonesia, one group of Islamic radicals would like the government to ban Ahmadiyah ... so the government's using the middle approach in which we will not ban Ahmadiyah because they have a right," Mallarangang said. "But there are certain things that are sensitive to (their) operation that are regulated by government." One of those groups that has been outspoken in its rejection of Ahmadiyah is Indonesia's Ulama Council. The chairman of the council, Amidhan, disputed media reports that the council has given Yudyohono's government a deadline to ban the sect or it will issue an edict against voting for Yudyohono. Amidhan -- who goes by one name -- said the council's fatwa against Ahmadiyah was first issued in 1980, but it had to reissue the edict last year because of complaints that the sect was trying to convert other Muslims. "We agree Ahmadiyah must be a new religion, not part of Islam," Amidhan said. The council is an independent organization, but remains very influential. In January, it issued several new fatwas -- including bans on smoking for children and pregnant women, and chanting during yoga. A fatwa is a legal pronouncement for Muslims, but the council said it has no authority to enforce them. Indonesia's Islamic parties are also adopting more moderate positions to attract more voters, which has caused internal divisions -- particularly for PKS, translated as the Prosperous Justice Party. PKS legislator Zulkieflimansyah, known as Bang Zul, said the party "is between a rock and a hard place." "We have to behave like a political party and also an Islamic movement," he said. That has led to a split between the hard-liners and the moderates in the PKS. "We are using the elections as a test," Bang Zul said. "Hopefully, if we are able to convince the public, PKS will continue to be a significant player in politics." Another Islamic party, the National Awakening Party, or PKB, said it intends to use the 2009 election to position itself for the next election in five years. "All parties want to reach the 20 percent threshold (to nominate a presidential candidate), PKB included," said the party's vice secretary-general, Helmy Faishal Zaini. "But realistically almost no party will be able to nominate on its own." That does not mean that a small party like PKB cannot succeed, he said. Zaini said PKB hopes it can put forward a vice presidential candidate who could possibly run for the top spot in the 2014 election. "We need to build a foundation now," he said. "So one way to do this is to join one of the senior people (politicians) with a junior person this time. ... "2009 could be the beginning of the new generation" of politicians. | April 9 elections will determine the makeup of Indonesia's 550-seat parliament . Few of over 38 parties expected to get enough seats for a candidate in July election . Analysts: Islamic parties won't get enough votes to nominate a presidential candidate . Influence of Islam on politics has many nationalist parties changing their strategy . | 9c278530609f30ac78251eab2320343b77b0bf1e |
(CNN) -- U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey suffered a fainting spell Thursday night, according to Gina Talamona, spokeswoman for the Department of Justice. Michael Mukasey is helped as he begins to collapse during his speech Thursday night. Mukasey, 67, did not suffer a stroke or experience a heart attack, she said Friday morning. Mukasey collapsed while giving a speech Thursday at the Federalist Society dinner at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington. He was giving a spirited defense of the Bush administration's legal policies when his speech began to slur and he lost track of his thoughts about 30 minutes into his talk. Seconds later, he became rigid and then began to slump. Watch Mukasey's speech and collapse » . Mukasey was rushed to George Washington University Medical Center, said Peter Carr, a Justice Department spokesman. "The attorney general is conscious, conversant and alert," Carr said Thursday night. "His vital statistics are strong and he is in good spirits. President Bush placed a call to Mukasey Friday morning. "The AG sounded well and is getting excellent care," presidential spokeswoman Dana Perino said. Mukasey was telling jokes and was ready to go home from the hospital, said a Justice Department official, who was not authorized to speak on the record about Mukasey's condition. As Mukasey began to collapse, two people grabbed him and laid him on the stage. On a tape of the speech, a voice can be heard saying "Oh, no oh! Oh my God!" He was given medical attention on stage by a woman and three men before he was rushed to the hospital. EMS personnel arrived on the scene less than 15 minutes after his collapse. Watch update on Mukasey's condition » . Before the EMS arrived, one man is heard asking people to please stay in their seats. In the background, a voice is heard saying "bring his feet up." While Mukasey was being attended to, the audience remained seated and quiet. Outside the hotel, numerous police cars rushed to the scene. Moments later, a fire truck arrived and then an ambulance. White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto told CNN that President Bush has been informed of the situation and has Mukasey in his "thoughts and prayers." Watch Jeffrey Toobin's comments on Mukasey » . As he approached the podium and during the bulk of his appearance, Mukasey showed no signs of ill health. During his speech, he praised the administration for "nothing less than a fundamental reorganization of our government" after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and blasted the "relentless critics of the very policies that have kept us safe." Early in his speech, Mukasey noted Supreme Court justices were in attendance, and he praised John Roberts and Samuel Alito as "remarkably accomplished justices." His speech was punctuated several times by applause from the audience. Mukasey is a retired federal judge appointed to the bench by President Ronald Reagan. Mukasey was nominated to be attorney general by President Bush in September 2007 and was confirmed by the Senate in November 2007. As a judge, Mukasey ruled that the U.S. government's detention of "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla was constitutional, but that he must be allowed to meet with his attorneys. During his attorney general confirmation hearings, Mukasey said he would make legal decisions based "on facts and law, not by interests and motives." Mukasey also said he would resign from office if faced with a presidential order he believed was unconstitutional. | NEW: Attorney General did not suffer stroke or heart attack, spokeswoman says . Michael Mukasey, 67, collapsed while making a speech Thursday night . Mukasey reported to be "conversant and alert" in hospital, telling jokes . | deb58ac5fccdc55f61bdd4a56eff12dec830712a |
By . Victoria Woollaston . Although smartwatches are a relatively new tech trend, Apple was working on a version as far back as 2011, according to its latest patent. The files detail a wristband fitted with a detachable electronic touchscreen device. The shape and size of the device in the patent images resembles a sixth-generation iPod Nano and in one design, the word iTime is written on its face. Apple's latest patent was filed in 2011 and awarded today. It details a wristband (pictured) fitted with a detachable electronic touchscreen, which resembles the shape and size of the sixth-generation iPod Nano . Speculation around Apple's iWatch began at the end of 2012 and a rumoured release date was initially set for the end of 2013. Speculation . around Apple's iWatch began at the end of 2012 and a rumoured release . date was initially set for the fourth quarter of 2013. Chinese websites reported in December 2012 that the computer giant was working with chip-maker Intel on a wrist-worn gadget. It was said to have a 1.5-inch screen and use Bluetooth to communicate with other devices, including an iPhone. Other . rumours suggest the iWatch will feature Siri voice controls that let . users dictate messages, rather than use the tiny screen. The watch could also be used as a remote control to change music tracks or pause video, on the phone or tablet. In July last year, reports in the Financial Times said Apple was hiring outside help to tackle design problems with its iWatch. Last year the firm was awarded a patent for the name 'iWatch', but it’s still unclear what Apple’s much-rumoured wristband will be called. The latest patent was filed almost three years ago to the day, on 20 July 2011. Called ‘Wrist-worn electronic device and methods therefor’, the patent said: ‘An electronic wristband to be worn on a wrist of a user, comprising a central portion having a receptacle area configured to receive and electrically connect to a mobile electronic device, the mobile electronic device including a display and being independently useable, and at least one band portion coupled to the central portion.’ Put more simply, this means the device could be used in its own right, even when not connected to the wristband. Images also reveal the electronic device could slot in, and out, of the band similar to the Fitbit or Withings Pulse O2 activity trackers. One image reveals the name 'iTime' (pictured left), although an 'iWatch' patent was filed in 2013 so it's still unclear what the device will be called when it's eventually released. The patent images resemble the iWatchz Kube band sold as an official accessory on the Apple store, fitted with an iPod Nano (pictured right) Images also reveal the electronic device could slot in, and out, of the band similar to the Fitbit or Withings Pulse O2 activity trackers (pictured) The square shape of the device looks like the iPod Nano, released by Apple in 2010, and the whole watch resembles the iWatchz Kube band, sold as an official accessory on the Apple store. Embedded into the strap would be sensors, according to the patent, as well as a ‘vibration module.’ The module would alert wearers to notifications, for example, while the sensors would respond to hand and wrist gestures. The patent explained these could then be used to answer or reject calls and texts. ‘Another aspect of invention pertains to use of gestures with one's arm or wrist to provide a user input to an electronic wristband,' explained the patent. Embedded into the strap would be sensors, according to the patent, as well as a 'vibration module.' The module would alert wearers to notifications, for example, while the sensors could be used to detect hand and wrist gestures. The patent explained these could be used to answer or reject calls . Reports have previously claimed Apple's iWatch could double up as an activity tracker. This concept image reveals how the rumoured device and health tool might look. Dubbed the Diet Watch, it could track calories and steps as well as heart rate . ‘For example, once a notification request is received, the electronic wristband can notify its user. The wristband can also seek a response to the notification. Sensors including an accelerometer and a gyroscope will then correspond to specific movements. Examples detailed in the patent include ‘a horizontal movement for one user input option (e.g., decline incoming call), and might be a vertical movement for another user input option (e.g., accept incoming call).’ Alternatively, the gesture might be a single shake, bounce or tap, or a combination. Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty claimed Apple’s iWatch is expected to cost around $300 and will sell between 30 and 60 million units. She believes it could sell as many units as Apple's iPad, and far more than the iPhone in its first year. | The patent was filed in 2011 but only awarded earlier today . It details a wristband that can be fitted with an electronic device . The shape and size of the device resembles a sixth-generation iPod Nano . One image shows the name 'iTime', but an 'iWatch' patent was filed in 2013 . Elsewhere, a ‘vibration module’ could alert wearers to notifications . Calls and texts can then be answered using hand and wrist gesture . | ce826df1fc45ba25487a3bff5c4d27f245a97e02 |
England completed their biggest ever Champions Trophy win over Pakistan, beating their Pool A rivals 8-2 in India. England came into the match off the back of a 3-1 win over the world's number one side Australia on Saturday and they continued that form with a dominant performance in Bhubaneswar. Mark Gleghorne got the ball rolling, getting a touch on Alastair Brogdon's cross, before Nick Catlin doubled England's lead with a powerful strike. Chris Griffiths (right) celebrates scoring with teammate Mark Gleghorne during England's win over Pakistan . Alastair Brogdon plays a shot as England romp to their highest ever Champions Trophy victory . David Condon made it three as he connected with Tim Whiteman's cross before Barry Middleton and Ashley Jackson made the game safe for England before the break. Sam Ward scored his third goal of the weekend to make it six before Brogdon grabbed a second. Muhammad Arslan Qadir got one back for Pakistan before Chris Griffiths scored England's eighth. Muhammad Irfan netted on the final hooter to score a consolation for Pakistan. David Condon (left) rounds Pakistan's goalkeeper Amjad Ali to score during the impressive 8-2 victory . | England beat Pool A rivals Pakistan 8-2 in the Champions Trophy . Mark Gleghorn, Nick Catlin, David Condon, Barry Middleton, Ashley Jackson, Sam Ward, Chris Griffiths and Alastair Brogdon scored . In-form England had previously beaten world No 1 Australia . | 0611dcb2fbb217a45686c924b74774a4c90ef8cb |
(CNN) -- The Archdiocese of Seattle has settled 30 claims of sexual abuse that were filed against the archdiocese and members of the Christian Brothers religious order, the archdiocese announced Tuesday. Members of the Christian Brothers were accused of sexually abusing boys at two schools the order operated: the Briscoe School, a boarding and day school for boys in the Kent Valley, beginning in 1914, and O'Dea High School from 1923, the archdiocese said. The archdiocese and lawyers for the complainants said the settlement was for $12.1 million. Some of the cases are almost 60 years old and the most recent cases are nearly 30 years old, the archdiocese said. "I deeply regret the pain suffered by these victims," Archbishop J. Peter Sartain said. "Our hope is that this settlement will bring them closure and allow them to continue the process of healing." Lawyers for the complainants, Michael T. Pfau and Jason P. Amala, said the archdiocese and the Christian Brothers failed to protect the boys from known abusers. The lawyers said in a statement that 11 of the men were abused by a former O'Dea teacher who'd been removed from four other schools where he had abused children. The lawyers said one student's family complained about the teacher in 1974 to the school vice principal, who said the situation would be handled. However, the teacher was not removed until 1978, even though O'Dea officials kept receiving complaints from other families, the lawyers said. Pfau and Amala said they have settled more than 75 claims against the Christian Brothers and the Seattle Archdiocese for more than $35 million during the last decade. | Seattle Archdiocese settles 30 sex-abuse cases . The abuse occurred at 2 schools operated by the Christian Brothers . Lawyers said abusive priests were left on the job despite complaints . | 52baef0abf4ed7275985e123e8f33127012937b7 |
Gallman, Mississippi (CNN) -- A 42-year-old man was charged Wednesday with arson and two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of a woman and her 7-year-old son in Mississippi. Wearing a bulletproof vest, Timothy Burns appeared in Copiah County Justice Court. He said he has no lawyer, so one will be appointed to him. No bond was set. He's being held in the deaths of Atira Hughes-Smith and Jaidon Hill. The boy's stepfather, Laterry Smith, was also killed. There's some question as to whether Smith was killed in a different county, said Copiah County Sheriff Harold Jones, explaining why Burns was charged with two, rather than three, counts of murder. There's no indication the suspect had anything against the three victims, the sheriff noted, nor that he even knew them. "We don't think there is (a relationship)," Jones said. "But we haven't tied that loose end up yet." The seeming randomness of the crime makes the deaths all the more inexplicable to loved ones, as well as to neighbors in the city of Brandon they called home. As Vinson Jenkins, Hughes-Smith's cousin, said: "We don't know why anybody would want to do any harm to them." The family was last seen Friday in a car that was later found flipped and on fire. The Copiah County sheriff says authorities now believe that Burns was driving that car when he got in an accident, then set it ablaze. Was he alone at the time? Jones said he has "no way of knowing that right now." After finding the vehicle, investigators found bloody clothes belonging to the victims next to a gas station trash bin. Then their bodies were discovered in a wooded area, all shot to death, said Jones. According to CNN affiliate WAPT, Jaidon was a student at Stonebridge Elementary School in Brandon, a city of some 22,000 people about 15 miles east of Jackson. His teacher Jennifer Owen recalled his omnipresent smile, big eyelashes and how he'd "concentrate on his work so hard that his little tongue would stick out the whole time." The boy's great-grandfather Sidney Kersh told WAPT that he and others were heartbroken as they tried to make sense of the deaths, especially that of young Jaidon. "He was my heart, and he was so innocent," Kersh said. "I just hate for him to have to be caught up in this." In July: Mysterious Mississippi murder stokes suspicions bred by an ugly past . CNN's Gary Tuchman reported from Gallman, Mississippi, and CNN's Greg Botelho reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Dana Ford, Leah Smith and Meridith Edwards contributed to this report. | Timothy Burns is charged with arson and two counts of murder . He's accused in the deaths of Atira Hughes-Smith and Jaidon Hill, 7 . The sheriff says there's no known relationship between the suspect and victims . | e64e822d3b0e9aeeaee863b32fb384a67e8e638e |
Being the England coach can be a very lonely place. I can remember times when I just shut the door to my office and had a quiet word with myself. Thankful of a couple of hours to think, I’d repeat in my head: ‘OK, you can do this, keep calm and get the job done.’ It’s an all-consuming job but champions and winners in all areas of life, not just sport, perform at their best when the pressure is at its greatest. England head coach Stuart Lancaster (right) looks on at his squad as they take part in a team huddle . Lancaster looks very composed during games and trusts his coaching team, according to Sir Clive Woodward . South Africa head coach Heyneke Meyer looks on during Springboks training on Friday . The key to dealing with pressure is to sit down and speak to your team and plan how you are going to react to every scenario. You have to prepare and practise... even how to lose. Do not underestimate the pressure these two coaches are under. Both teams are in a corner and the stakes are huge. Whoever has dealt with that pressure better this week will win on Saturday. From the outside, England appear to have handled it well — something that is epitomised in Lancaster’s consistent selection — and it should carry them home in a must-win match. Stuart Lancaster and South Africa’s Heyneke Meyer act very differently during games. Lancaster looks very composed, trusting his coaching team, but becoming more animated if the game is not going his way. Meyer shouts into his microphone and clearly lives and breathes every tackle. There is no right or wrong, but to make the correct calls you cannot get carried away with the emotion of the game. England’s players will have looked to Lancaster for leadership over the course of this week. The loss against New Zealand will be felt more acutely because England were in a position to win the game and will know they did not perform well in the second half. (From left) Billy Vunipola, David Wilson, Ben Youngs, Jonny May and Courtney Lawes run during training . England fly half Owen Farrell practises his kicking during training at Twickenham on Friday . The players will have looked to see how Lancaster handles the pressure of that defeat. Trust me, players want to know how well their coach can handle the intensity of top-level sport. Lancaster appears to be admired and respected by his players and coaching team, but it is in weeks like this as a coach that you have the opportunity to show your resolve, your strength and lead from the front. Handling pressure when you win is one thing, handling it when so much is at stake is another. I had a chance to catch up with Meyer at the Barclays 02 ATP tennis this week and he and his team were, as usual, great ambassadors for the game and their country. Meyer was on good form, the squad relaxed and philosophical about their loss in Ireland. Meyer really did seem in control of everything. England are by no means in disarray and there is no need to panic. Indeed too often coaches and teams over-react to a loss. But a reaction is needed after four losses on the bounce, and there really is no better game for it than South Africa at Twickenham. Lancaster will have had to take the lead in every session. His voice needs to be the loudest and clearest within the set-up. It’s important that a coach has a couple of people outside the squad who you can trust just to offload a bit. I would confide in the former England and Lions prop Fran Cotton. When I made my debut for England, Fran was one of the senior players and the respect I have for him and his opinion has never wavered. South Africa's stars are put through their paces during the captain's run on Friday . Tendai Mtawarira stretches during the Springboks session on the Twickenham pitch . Bryan Habana passes the ball during the South Africa captain's run at Twickenham . He could be brutal at times in his assessments but he gave it to me straight. That’s what I liked and that is what I needed. His favourite line after a period of silence was always: ‘Woody — I wouldn’t have done that!’ I hated hearing those words. Things can start to fall apart if you fail to plan for the bad times and just try to make it up as you go along. I hope Lancaster had planned his response to defeat against the All Blacks, it’s his job to be one or two steps ahead of his own team. He also needs to find out exactly who in his squad is prepared to really front up, which players and coaches thrive under this pressure. I’d listen to the media and use any criticism as inspiration and motivation. I would create a siege mentality, knowing the best players would channel criticism and up their performance. ‘England Expects’ is one of my favourite lines from my time as head coach. It really came to the fore in matches like this. The message was simple: no longer were we going to accept the role of the underdog, valiant performances and the occasional victory against the southern-hemisphere nations. Our team, like this England team, was capable of better. The English fans, the media and ourselves all expected victory. And England really can deliver on the expectation on Saturday. This is the perfect game for them — everyone knows what is coming at them today, nothing flash is needed in defence other than sheer guts and bravery. Deliver that and England will win. England players look dejected during the demoralising defeat against New Zealand last Saturday . New Zealand celebrate after beating England 24-21 in an impressive display at Twickenham . South Africa, arguably, have the best and most physical pack in world rugby. They will run directly at you with very few offloads from their forwards. Not only will they try to hurt the tackler, but they are also looking to cause maximum pain at the contact. The gainline is everything to them — it’s in their DNA and part of their macho make-up. Their two powerful centres will look to smash their way across it. I was on the receiving end when I played for the Lions in 1980 and their philosophy hasn’t changed much since. You pay for that physicality in collisions unlike in any other match, but South Africa’s predictability makes them totally beatable. The key is to stretch them. You need to get the ball away from the breakdown swiftly and make at least one more pass after the first receiver and offload wherever possible. The support play has to be through the roof. The back row is crucial here. I’d look for Chris Robshaw and Billy Vunipola to show their handling skills in this regard, keep the ball alive and do not get drawn into their comfort zone. Space is everything — find it, exploit it, kick into it and the raw speed of Anthony Watson and Jonny May will be England’s greatest asset. For England to win they will have to out-think South Africa and be more inventive. England No 8 Billy Vunipola puts his hands out ready to receive the ball during training on Friday . Skipper Chris Robshaw led out his side for the captain's run at Twickenham on Friday ahead of the match . I want to see new backs moves and for England to be far more creative with their kicking game. I hope to see lots of dummy runners too — because you absolutely know the South Africans will take the contact. They can’t help themselves. I’d like to see kickers at 10 and 12, but in many ways I’m pleased Lancaster has stuck with Kyle Eastmond at inside centre. It shows he’s not being cowed by other people’s opinions. Mike Brown needs to get far more involved as an effective second kicker and allow Eastmond to use his quick feet in the wider channels. England must get the ball to their dangerous runners more often, having failed to do so against the All Blacks. They need to offset the Bok defence and target space. I want to see a tough, aggressive English team take the field and I’d like Twickenham to be more hostile and uncomfortable for the South Africans. I’m concerned that the way the ground is being marketed as ‘the home of English rugby’ makes it too cosy for England and their opponents alike. England are playing the toughest team in world rugby — a home is a warm welcoming place. I wouldn’t be surprised to see yellow or red cards. South Africa have a history of not handling pressure well when they’re backed into a corner. Back in 2002 their entire team lost the plot and we crushed them 53-3. I don’t expect the same on Saturday, but one or two of their players could cross the line. The pressure is on both teams but I feel that England have handled it slightly better. This game will go down to the wire. Who can handle the pressure in the last few minutes will be key. England want this game more and that should see them home — just. | Stuart Lancaster has to show his leadership skills after All Blacks defeat . England face South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon . There is no need to over-react to the loss suffered against New Zealand . England want the game more and that should see them over the line . | 28ecfd1a1dcc5d13b7e759237aa816e67be60534 |
By . Anna Edwards . PUBLISHED: . 11:34 EST, 27 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 17:25 EST, 27 March 2013 . Roger Buckingham stabbed a brave street cleaner who tried to stop him with his broom as he was leaving a house with a stolen laptop . A burglar has been jailed for a minimum of 27 years today for killing a brave street cleaner who tried to stop him with his broom. Piotr Mikiewicz, 40, was stabbed through his heart as he tackled Roger Buckingham, who was trying to flee a house with a stolen laptop. Buckingham, 31, of Shepherd’s Bush, west London, was found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey and jailed for life. The Recorder of London Judge Brian Barker said 'cowardly' Buckingham, a petty criminal and drug addict with 25 previous convictions for 51 offences, must serve at least 27 years. The judge said: 'He was a brave man who acted beyond the call of duty. He ignored his own safety and he paid for his actions with his life. 'He was a truly exceptional man. He was a valued member of the community.' Buckingham had acted 'in frustration and temper', said the judge. 'On any view, it was cowardly and selfish.' The court heard the Polish national Mr Mikiewicz was working in Rylett Road, Shepherd’s Bush, in August, last year, when Buckingham broke into a house. He tripped the burglar alarm and was making his getaway with £30 and a laptop when Mr Mikiewicz saw him and hit him with his broom to stop him getting away. But Buckingham had taken a knife from the kitchen and stabbed the public-spirited cleaner. He ran off while local people tried in vain to help Mr Mikiewicz on the ground. Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee QC said Mr Mikiewicz had shown a 'laudable sense of civic duty and right and wrong'. He added: 'That man, armed only with his dust cart and broom, took on the defendant, striking him in order to apprehend him and prevent him leaving with the fruits of his crime. Scroll down for video . Roger Buckingham can be seen in the stairwell of a block of flats shortly after the stabbing . A CCTV image from the Metropolitan Police shows Roger Buckingham walking along Askew Road, London, shortly after the stabbing . 'It was a terrible and needless waste of the life of a man who provided a service to the local community and did that which we all wish we had done.' Buckingham had claimed the death was 'a terrible accident' but the jury took only four hours to convict him of murder. The murder weapon was found abandoned in an Opel Zafira, which Buckingham stole from a petrol station a few days previously. It had been ticketed by a traffic warden in Bentworth Road, near Buckingham’s home that morning. Buckingham was later arrested at his girlfriend’s home as he made plans to flee to Cyprus. Buckingham stood with his hands behind his back as he was sentenced. His family had earlier shouted abuse at the jury. Police combed the streets after the street cleaner was stabbed to death by an armed burglar . The cleaner repeatedly hit the thief with his broom as he tried to stop Buckingham fleeing the affluent semi-detached property in Shepherds Bush, west London . An officer stands outside the cordoned off house following the incident . Mr Mikiewicz's sister Anna told the court in a statement that her brother had been living in London for nine years and considered it his home. She said: 'He was a wonderful man, full of compassion for others. He did not tolerate lies and theft. He was a believer and lived according to these principles.' Busie Mikiewicz said her husband was a 'brave and selfless man who wasn't frightened to stand up for what he believed was right'. She added in a statement: 'He was someone who represented everything that is good about decent people and was prepared to fight for what was right. 'Anyone who knew Piotr knew he was a truly good and honest person. He had a strong sense of what was right and wrong. 'He wasn't just a road sweeper, he was part of the community that genuinely cared for him. 'Piotr was a truly good person who was immensely proud of the job he did. 'A cruel and thoughtless act can take away his life, but not the inspiration that he brought to so many people.' Detective Chief Inspector Matt Bonner said: 'Piotr Mikiewicz demonstrated extreme courage when he spotted Buckingham leaving a house he had burgled moments earlier. 'He acted on pure instinct to right a wrong but unfortunately paid for his brave act with his life.' | Roger Buckingham stabbed Piotr Mikiewicz through the heart as he fled a home with a stolen laptop . Petty criminal and drug addict has 25 previous convictions for 51 offences . Must serve at least 27 years after he was found guilty of murder . Street cleaner tried to stop burglar by tackling him with his broom . Mr Mikiewicz 'exceptional man and valued member of the community' | 05acd063a8ff2ec93687f1c6fe7a017da4061aa5 |
By . Paul Bentley . PUBLISHED: . 06:34 EST, 14 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:39 EST, 15 January 2013 . A former lifeguard is ‘probably responsible’ for killing April Jones, a court heard yesterday. Nevertheless, Mark Bridger, 47, denies abducting and murdering the five-year-old, whose disappearance in Machynlleth, mid Wales, last October, triggered a huge search. A statement by defence barrister Brendan Kelly QC that the accused was not guilty of murder, but that he accepted that he was probably responsible for her death, could be reported, a judge at a plea hearing said yesterday. A sketch of Mark Bridger in the dock, right, as April Jones's parents, left, sat less than 10ft away from him . 'Probably responsible': Mark Bridger, 46, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of April Jones. The former lifeguard is pictured right leaving Mold Crown Court yesterday . April on her beloved bike which she was riding when she went missing on October 1 last year. The picture was issued today by her grieving family . Mr Justice Griffith-Williams told . Mold Crown Court: ‘The defendant’s case is that he was probably . responsible for the death of April.’ April’s mother, Coral Smith, 40, sat less than 10ft from the defendant. She dabbed her eyes with a tissue . during the hearing and her hands shook as she stared intently at . Bridger, a former neighbour, who is the uncle of April’s two . half-sisters. She had arrived in court dressed in . pink, April’s favourite colour, with her husband, Paul Jones, 43, who . has two daughters from a previous relationship with the sister of . Bridger’s former girlfriend. Coral and Paul Jones, both dressed in pink, leave court yesterday morning after a hearing in which they heard Bridger was 'possibly responsible' for their daughter's death . Bright pupil: April, aged 5, had been allowed to play out on her bike the night she was taken as a reward for a good school report . Mrs Smith wore a pink top and Mr . Jones wore a pink shirt and a small pink ribbon, the symbol used by . their community in the past few months to symbolise the search for . April. It was the first time April’s parents had faced Bridger since he was arrested on the afternoon after she disappeared. Bridger, who appeared with close cut . hair and a goatee beard, seemed to try to compose himself before staring . straight ahead as he pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnap, murder . and perverting the course of justice through the disposal of April’s . body. April's family today thanked the public for their support as they issued a new picture of the little girl. Hours after the hearing, Coral and Paul wrote on Facebook : 'Thanks to everyone for their messages and support it means a lot to our family.' The girl was last seen playing with . friends on her bike about 100 yards from her home on the Bryn-y-Gog . estate in Machynlleth on the evening of October 1 last year. A huge police manhunt began almost . immediately after the alarm was raised that night but the girl, who had . cerebral palsy, has still yet to be found. April Jones went missing on October 1 after she was playing outside on her bike . Coral Jones, the mother of missing schoolgirl April Jones arrives at Mold Crown Court yesterday morning to hear Bridger enter his plea . April's father Paul Jones, right, wearing a pink shirt as a tribute to his daughter, arrives at court yesterday . An artist impression of Coral and Paul Jones in court , with Coral dabbing her eyes with a tissue during the hearing . The search has covered the rugged . terrain in the countryside surrounding her home town and the depths of . the fast-flowing Dyfi river. The spiralling cost of the continued hunt for April is likely to be as much as £2.4million. On Sunday, April’s family released a . photograph of her playing on the bike she would have been cycling on the . night she disappeared. She had been allowed to play late in the evening as a treat for a glowing school report. On New Year’s Eve, Mrs Smith wrote of her huge sense of loss in a heartbreaking Facebook update. Accused: These photographs show Mark Bridger, the man charged with the murder of missing April Jones, on holiday, left, and playing with two dogs on a beach, right . The post read: ‘April you should be . home. I can’t stop crying today, I’ve been doing some house work and . I’ve come across some of April’s things and pictures. ‘I love you so much April – please if you are that person out there who knows please come forward.’ Her mother also made a desperate plea for . her return in time for family birthdays this month. She wrote on . Facebook previously : 'Make my birthday wish come true. I love you so . much, come home so my heart can be fixed. I miss you like hell.' She revealed that April's Christmas present was at home still waiting for her. Bridger, a father of four from . Ceinws, near Machynlleth, was arrested the day after April went missing . and was charged four days later. The former lifeguard, who has also . worked in an abbatoir and as a mechanic, was yesterday remanded in . custody at Strangeways prison in Manchester. He now faces a four-week trial at Mold Crown Court, which is due to begin on February 25. Tiny: April suffered from cerebral palsy but was a very bright pupil. The search for her body is still going on in the rugged terrain around her home town of Machynlleth, mid Wales . Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons. | April went missing after she was seen getting into a car on October 1 . Mark Bridger will stand trial later this year . April's parents Coral and Paul Jones attended court yesterday . Girl's family today thanked public for support and issued new picture of her . | 03a241b759940ca220c8e9015727018f1146963c |
By . Claire Bates . Last updated at 4:54 PM on 14th December 2011 . An eight-year-old boy with an aggressive form of cancer has fallen victim to a 'postcode lottery,' after his health authority refused to fund his place on a trial that could save his life. Adam Bird has undergone two-and-a-half years of intensive treatment since he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, which affects the nerve tissue. Doctors say immunotherapy - which is offered in Germany - could slow down the condition and even provide a potential cure. Battling on: Adam has continued to go to school in between treatments for his rare condition . His consultant at the Royal Marsden applied for funding in June but the request was turned down by Adam's local NHS trust. Yet his parents had met families from Dorset, Cornwall, Devon and Wales who all had children receiving NHS funding for the treatment. His father Nick said today: 'It is totally unacceptable for Adam to . be treated differently from children from other parts of the UK - he . should not be discriminated against simply because of where he lives. 'This isn’t a life prolonging treatment . for Adam. This is potentially a cure - the difference between him making . 90 or his ninth birthday.' Refusing to be beaten, his parents set up the charity Adam's Appeal, which has funded his ongoing treatment. He now spends two-and-a-had weeks in Germany . getting treatment and the same amount of time at home. Mr Bird, 40, and his wife Alison, 41, . from Epsom in Surrey have two other children who are 10 and 12 who stay with other family members when they take Adam abroad. The whole family are now going to Germany this week so they can be with Adam while he has treatment over Christmas. Good spirits: Adam undergoes an EEG to check on his seizure risk during treatment . However, they said there were many other children who would not be able to raise the £68,000 needed to pay for the whole trial. 'Life is simple hard hard enough as . it is when things out of your control make it harder still you just . resent it,' said Mr Bird. 'However, I am doing it for other . families who may be in the same situation as ourselves, who cannot raise . the money - it is simply not right.' He added that he still strongly disagreed by the decision made by the Surrey Primary Care Trust to refuse to pay for Adam's treatment. 'We do question the unfairness of . Adam being treated differently from other children throughout the . country - how can that possibly be justified?' he asked. Mr Bird father said the Department of Health had decreed during an appeal for another boy with neuroblastoma that funding would be made available for overseas trials of immunotherapy if children did not qualify in Britain. However, some PCTs were not honouring this. The charity, Neuroblastoma Alliance UK, has helped the family throughout Adam’s illness. Adam, pictured here in June, is heading over to Germany for more treatment over Christmas, after his parents raised the necessary funds . 'It seems very unfair that children do not receive the same treatment from the NHS across the UK,' said the charity’s chief executive, Alison Moy. 'There really is a postcode lottery in terms of receiving this potentially life-saving treatment, which is something that the Government urgently needs to address.' Linda Honey, head of pharmaceutical commissioning at NHS Surrey, acknowledged that requests for the specialist treatment would only be considered under an individual funding request policy and needed to demonstrate “exceptional” clinical circumstances to be put forward. She said the decisions made by other primary care trusts to fund the treatment were 'local decisions which take into account individual circumstances.' 'I understand that Adam is currently receiving monoclonal antibody treatment and we wish him well,' she said. 'Clearly, Adam’s family are disappointed with our decision to not fund his treatment abroad - our decision takes into account the clinical evidence available, individual circumstance and an assessment of the benefits to the patient. 'Monoclonal antibody treatment is only available in clinical trial in the UK - unfortunately, where patients fall outside the eligibility criteria for entry into this trial this has left the patients and their families in very difficult situations.' For more information on Adam's charity visit http://adamsappeal.org/ . | Adam is receiving treatment after parents raise tens of thousands of pounds . They warn other children may not be so lucky . | 93780e33e241e95b71decc42a2a884813d7dd0e6 |
(CNN) -- European foreign ministers said Monday that they would loosen travel restrictions on senior members of the Myanmar government in recognition of the Southeast Asian country's recent efforts at political reform after decades of military rule. Describing the Myanmar government's program of changes as "remarkable," the foreign ministers said they had decided to suspend a visa ban on the country's president, vice presidents, Cabinet members and speakers of Parliament. The European Union ministers met in Brussels to discuss Myanmar and other issues. In recent weeks, the Myanmar regime has pardoned hundreds of political prisoners, approved the participation of the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party in April elections and pledged to pursue a peace deal with an ethnic rebel group. Western governments have applauded the effort, with the United States announcing this month that it would exchange ambassadors with Myanmar for the first time since 1988. That came after a visit to the country last month by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the first top U.S. diplomat in the nation in more than five decades. Top European officials have followed in Clinton's footsteps, including the foreign ministers of Britain and France. And on Tuesday, Pakistan said that President Asif Ali Zardari was leaving for a two-day visit to Myanmar, where he would meet government leaders and Suu Kyi. Myanmar has been ruled by a military junta since 1962, but the generals are loosening their grip on the country after coming under criticism for their human rights record and as the economy suffered from economic sanctions. Thein Sein, a former general, became president in March 2011 after elections that were criticized by democracy activists. But his rapid introduction of reforms has raised hopes of a lasting improvement in civil liberties within the country. The EU ministers on Monday called the suspension of the visa ban on Sein and other officials "a first step" that could be followed by a "further easing" of restrictions in the coming months. The lifting of more restrictive measures is dependent on the Myanmar government following through on its commitment to "continue and complete these reforms," the ministers said, "notably by the unconditional release of the remaining political prisoners within the next few months and by the free and fair conduct" of the parliamentary by-elections in April. The ministers also drew attention to the commitment by Sein's government to address "the ethnic conflicts through an inclusive political process." The government earlier this month reached a cease-fire with the Karen National Union. The largely Christian Karen have been fighting in the country's eastern jungles for greater rights since the nation's independence from Britain in 1948. Karen leaders and activists said when the cease-fire was signed that it was too early to gauge whether peace would take hold. Other ethnic minorities in Myanmar, such as the Shan, are also at odds with the country's government. | EU foreign ministers praise Myanmar's "remarkable" political reforms . They say they have decided to suspend a visa ban on senior Myanmar officials . That "first step" could be followed by further easing of restrictions, the ministers say . The Pakistani president will be the latest in a string of foreign officials to visit the country . | 89eaf32030677793298d72bf164bbd6347c909d5 |
A lawmaker wants to hand out Vladimir Putin's sperm to Russian women en masse in a bid to create a new generation of 'military and political elite'. Yelena Borisovna Mizoulina, the Chairwoman of Parliamentary Commission on women's affairs, children and family, told colleagues that giving the president's sperm to would-be mothers would improve patriotism in Russia. Ms Mizoulina, who has a PhD in law, made the bizarre proposal during a round table discussion on fertility in Russia. A lawmaker wants to hand out Vladimir Putin's sperm en masse to Russian women in a bid to improve patriotism in the country . According to the Russian-language newspaper, Trust, she told the State Duma that Putin's brood would then be given 'special allowances' from the state, in return for their 'devotion' to the country. She said: 'The essence of my proposition is simple. 'Every citizen of Russia will receive by mail the genetic material of the president, to get pregnant from him and have a baby. These mothers will receive a special allowance from the state.' Yelena Borisovna Mizoulina told colleagues that giving the President's sperm to would-be mothers would create a new 'military and political elite' Adopting the assumption that Putin's offspring would be male, she went on to describe how the children would be educated in 'special institutions that resemble Souvorov Schools' - a type of boarding school in the former Soviet Union. The aim would be that the child would be 'devoted to the homeland and personally to the President of the Russian Fedaration', she said. She added: 'Children born from the Russian president in the future will form the military and political elite of the state.' But Mikhail Klikishin told the Observer the story is 'total BS from Ukrainian yellow press'. The open discussion about Putin's sperm is out of the ordinary. The Kremlin usually gives nothing away about the president's private life. Putin also becomes prickly when asked about his family. Putin's two daughters, Maria and Yekaterina, and their private lives are protected by a strictly obeyed code of silence among Russia's media. There is also ongoing speculation about Putin's relationship with Alina Kabayeva, 30, who was first named as the president’s mistress five years ago. Putin divorced his wife, Lyudmila, 55, earlier this year. Ms Mizoulina is infamous for her strange law-making suggestions. She recently recommended that all Russian Jews consider leaving the country, stating: 'We have enough problems'. Earlier this year, she also introduced a bill that banned higher education for young women who had yet to give birth. She also drafted a law prohibiting 'sexual intercourse in the territory of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol.' The law was not adopted. | Yelena Borisovna Mizoulina made bizarre proposal during round table debate . She told State Duma move would create children 'devoted to the homeland' Putin's offspring would then be given 'special allowances' by the state . One critic described story as total rubbish from 'Ukrainian yellow press' Ms Mizoulina recently said all Russian Jews should consider leaving country . | 121d077bd76064de8454727358dccca17c316e4b |
By . Deborah Arthurs . PUBLISHED: . 06:42 EST, 3 May 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 03:57 EST, 4 May 2012 . It was a gloomy day at Westminster today when Samantha Cameron accompanied David to the polling stations where they were to vote in the London Mayoral election. But the Prime Minister's wife made sure to cut a swathe through the grey as she stepped out in a pair of bright orange trousers. She paired the tapered style, a pair of £39.99 cigarette pants from Zara, with an ivory blouse, grey round-necked jumper from high street store Cos and a pair of grey suede LK Bennett heels. Scroll down for video . 'Nice trousers, darling!' David Cameron admires his wife's orange Zara cigarette pants as the two arrive at Westminster's Central Methodist Hall for the London Mayoral and local elections . Lucky outfit? Samantha Cameron wore an almost identical outfit last October at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, right, even down to the grey sweater and suede pumps . It was a striking look for SamCam, and clearly one that she is fond of given that she wore the exact same ensemble, give or take a neckline, for the Conservative Party Conference last year. Samantha debuted the vibrant cigarette pants back in October, when she paired them with a grey V-neck sweater from Zara, and the same grey LK Bennett pumps she wore today. The look is a tried-and-tested one for the PM's wife, and one that skilfully treads that delicate line between adventurous and sensible. The sobering effect of the schoolgirl grey sweater acts as the perfect foil for the tropical tone of her bottom half, and the grey shoes pull the look together neatly. Slim silhouette: Cigarette pants are a flattering cut, elongating and slimming the legs, though they are unforgiving on the bottom, so best suit someone with a slender figure like Samantha's . It is an outfit that says 'I'm fashionable, quirky, contemporary - but dependable and approachable'. The juicy tangerine toned trousers are a welcome break from the norm, given that Samantha Cameron, while frequently fashion-forward, more often than not favours her trusty black Joseph cigarette . pants for public events. But where her tailoring is sober, elsewhere, Samantha is no stranger to colour in her wardrobe. She may favour simplicity on so many occasions, but she is . equally at home in bright pink Roksanda Illincic, for example, or jade . green Burberry. A confident dresser, she is never afraid to experiment with her style, and manages to . mix high fashion, high-end pieces into her more sober 'political wife' wardrobe with aplomb. Playing it safe: Accompanying her Labour leader husband Ed to the polling station, Justine Miliband wore an unadventurous look of jeans, navy blazer and brown boots . Indeed, one political wife who could take a leaf out of Samantha Cameron's book is Justine MIliband, who accompanied her Labour leader husband Ed to the polling station today. Wearing baggy jeans and an uninspiring navy blazer, she failed to set Westminster alight. As for Nick Clegg's wife Miriam, whose style leans towards the flamboyant, she was nowhere to be seen. A clear win for Samantha Cameron, whatever the outcome at the polling booths. | Samantha Cameron also wore the £39.99 trousers last year at the Conservative Party Conference . | 386024e4241789bafcd2e795840c02b020004b66 |
By . Sam Webb . A British husband and wife team have spent an arduous 568 days cycling in an attempt to break the record for distance travelled - on a tandem bicycle. Kat and Steve Turner set off from Christchurch in New Zealand in April 2012, just eight months after they wed, and have traversed a vast portion of the globe on trusty tandem 'Hooch' - mostly sleeping in a tiny two-man tent. The intrepid couple gave up well-paid jobs as a teacher and caseworker for the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman before leaving their chickens and cat at their home in Forest Hill, south east London, with friends who are house-sitting for them. A bicycle made for two: Kat and Steve Turner are trying to break the world record for the longest tandem ride . Breather: Steve takes a break as the couple near the end of their trek through China . Incredibly, Kat, 32, had never even ridden a bike more than a few yards before they decided to take on the challenge, which is being made to raise money and awareness for development charity Practical Action. So far they have travelled through New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and are currently in Greece. The couple hope to return to the UK in early 2014, having beaten the previous world record of 38,143kms set by Phil and Louise Shambrook 15 years ago. In more remote parts of central Asia and the Far East, many people had met few foreigners, if any . The couple admit to tensions, but say their relationship is now stronger than ever. Due to inflation, Steve was given a carrier bag full of money (right) in Uzbekistan in exchange for gingerly handing over $50 . So what did their family and friends think when they first announced the epic trip? Steve, 34, said: 'Initially they were surprised and of course they raised a few worries about our safety but from the outset we had overwhelming support from our family and friends who were excited on our behalf of all the places we would see and adventures we would have. Now they, like us, are astounded that we have cycled all this way.' The couple say they are constantly 'inspired and amazed' about the glimpses they get into the daily life of all the different communities they cycle through, such as the hill tribes of Northern Laos and Northern Vietnam, the minority groups in Yunnan province of China, aborigines in Central Australia, the nomadic people of Kyrgyzstan and the shepherds on horse back in Kazakhstan. Some of the landscapes the pair cycled through were almost otherworldly . Home sweet home: Some of their sleeping quarters were unconventional to say the least . Tandem: Steve and 'Hooch' in Malaysia - but there's no time for a shave . 'What really inspires us is that while there are vast differences in culture, language, fashion, wealth and religion, to all these communities family, friends, love and laughter are the most important thing,' Kat added. However, the trip has not been without its moments of tension, even danger. They say they had the most difficulties with authorities in China. If they were staying at a hotel, there were many times when the police would bang loudly and incessantly on the bedroom door. Steve added: 'Two to five officers would barge into our room, demanding our passports and reasons for our presence in their town. 'They were always courteous but we could never relax when staying in a hotel as we waited for the dreaded knock at the door and we found their interrogations about our comings and goings intimidating.' Epic ride: The couple's journey from New Zealand to London via three continents will last well into 2014 . Kat added: 'There was an occasion when the police refused to let us onto the only road to Urumqi which skirted between the Gobi Desert to the north and the Taklamakan Desert to the south. The police insisted we use the old road which we knew from our research no longer existed and which they also admitted they knew no longer existed. 'Despite this there was a stand-off between us and them for about an hour as we explained they were putting our lives at serious risk by sending us into the middle of the desert on a road they knew was not there.' 'They insisted that bicycles were not allowed on the only road to Urumqi despite us seeing at least two Chinese cycle tourers cycle past on that very road. 'In the end we took the old road, which soon turned to dust. It was impossible to even see, let alone cycle. We managed to find a gap on the only road and snuck onto it.' Still smiling: Kat had barely any experience cycling before they took on the challenge . Odyssey: Over two years, the couple plan to cycle from New Zealand back to their home in Forest Hill, London . Hardened: The pair traded comfortable lives in London for intense physical activity and spartan conditions . At the beginning of the trip in New . Zealand, the couple were forced to cycle through the night as their . progress to the nearest campsite had been hampered by a rough gravel road, endless hills, strong headwinds and icy rain. 568 days on the road . Distance cycled - 26,200km . World Record - 38,143km . 11,943km left to go . Elevation Gain - 249,365m(Everest climbed 28 times) Time moving in the saddle: 1585 hours (Kat could have typed the complete works of Shakespeare three times) Kat . added: 'We had to cycle through a gorge with a sheer cliff rock face to . our left and a huge drop to a raging river to our right. Due to the . terrible weather, there was water . pouring out of the weaknesses in the rock face and evidence of rock . falls and boulders the size of footballs. It was a very scary situation to be in.' They were also in the eastern Chinese town of Dingxi when an earthquake hit, killing 95 people. There were health trials too. Steve suffered with a terrible episode of heat exhaustion in Cambodia, Kat had a fractured knee-cap after they hit a railway track and she was also bitten by a dog on a campsite in the Outback. Steve said: 'We've both had regular bouts of poorly tummies, sore bums after long days, bad backs after terrible roads, but all in all we've probably been healthier than when we are at home. The trip has been full of incredible experiences, but the Turners say Kyrgyzstan was the highlight so far. 'It was a great experience because we didn't know what to expect as we'd never heard of it before and couldn't even spell it,' said Steve. 'The mountains were stunning, the nomadic people on horseback were friendly, it was interesting to see yurts being packed up for the winter and we spent peaceful nights camping under the stars.' The pair have have also eaten an incredible variety of different cuisines as they traversed Asia. They say the best meal was shashlik (barbequed kebabs) and bread in Central Asia - a treat after so many months of eating rice and noodles. Desolate beauty: Much of the ride took them through unspoilt countryside . The worst meal was probably pig intestine served as a special dish at the home of a 'wonderful' Chinese couple who had never met a foreigner in their 70 years. Kat said: 'It wasn't a terrible taste but a difficult texture. However, being hungry cyclists, any food usually looks and tastes pretty good to us.' How have most people they have met reacted to their odyssey? Steve said: 'The sight of us two on our huge tandem and trailer makes people laugh. People are excited to talk to us about our trip. 'We've been completely taken aback by the many acts of kindness we have received, from being handed a chocolate bar or cold drink out of the window of a passing vehicle, to being warmly welcomed into the homes of strangers and fed wonderful meals.' They admit to missing roast dinners, clean toilets and being part of a community in England, but also feel there are some things to be learned from other cultures, such as less emphasis on material possessions and less fear of strangers, the unknown and taking chances. They are completing the trip to raise money for British international development charity Practical Action, which uses technology to help solve the problems of people living in poverty in the developing world. Steve added: 'Practical Action is a . charity that sets out to use technology to challenge poverty and more . often than not, it is the simplest ideas that have the biggest impact.' The food Steve most enjoyed was shashliks (a type of kebab) found in central Asia . Creature comforts: The Turners admit they miss toilets in the UK . He added: 'A great example of simple technology is the bicycle. It is such a simple form of transport – yet it is life changing to millions around the world and in our case is capable of taking us around it. Our trip has taken us through thousands of villages, towns and communities of all walks of life. But no matter what the local religion, culture or climate is - the basic physical, emotional and spiritual needs are universal. 'Basic human needs are actually quite simple, yet there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor of the world, with many people on the planet struggling to meet even their basic physical needs. 'The resource and ideas to raise all people above the poverty line are in our hands and Practical Action is a charity that seeks to do this is a practical and sustainable way.' To read more about their journey click here. | Kat and Steve Turner plan to beat previous tandem journey record . Kat had to learn how to ride before selling possessions and leaving home . Suffered health problems, been bullied by police and survived rockfalls . They say they have also been stunned by kindness of people and scenery . | 98abe8b12183d642718dfdc5e2339815d0129c87 |
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's military is pounding Taliban targets in the country's Swat Valley, trying to clear militants who control parts of the district's main city, military officials said. Pakistani army trucks transport cannons for the military operation against the Taliban. The Pakistani forces had killed 35 militants in Wednesday's fighting, the officials said. The officials said there are reports of some civilian casualties in Wednesday's fighting -- which has been concentrated in Swat's district capital of Mingora -- but they denied local media reports that 35 civilians died. An eyewitness said he saw the bodies of 15 civilians were being taken from a village near Mingora on Wednesday. Twelve of the dead were children. Taliban militants have laid siege to Mingora, looting banks, attacking army headquarters, the police station, and the main power grid station, the officials said. They are also occupying civilian houses and government buildings in the city center, according to the military. See a map of Taliban-controlled areas » . The fighting has trapped 80 boys inside an orphanage in the city, according to Muhammad Ali, the director of the facility. Another 20 staffers are also holed up inside the four-story building, and they only have enough food for two more days, Ali said. Local government officials issued an evacuation order for the Swat area Tuesday, ahead of the military operation. An estimated 40,000 people have fled Mingora, according to Khushhal Khan, district coordination officer. Government officials warn that the fighting could lead to the exodus of 500,000 civilians. Watch as thousands flee military offensive » . For the last two weeks, Pakistani troops have battled Taliban fighters in Buner and Lower Dir, two districts bordering Swat. Army generals claim to have killed scores of militants. Fighting continues in those two districts, and the operations are "progressing smoothly," the military said Wednesday. Militants struck a girls' college in the area with rocket fire, partially damaging the building, the military said. Watch conditions in a refugee camp in Pakistan » . Pakistan's government recently signed a deal that would allow Islamic law, or sharia, in the Swat Valley, in exchange for an end to fighting. The government began its military operation after Taliban militants moved into the Buner district and refused to disarm, in violation of the agreement. Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday in Washington. Obama is hoping to build an enduring regional alliance with both countries, enlisting them as full partners rather than treating them as battlefields for U.S. soldiers to fight extremists. Last week, Obama said Pakistan's government appears to be "very fragile" and argued that the United States has "huge national security interests in making sure that Pakistan is stable" and doesn't end up a "nuclear-armed militant state." CNN's Samson Desta and Elise Labott contributed to this report. | Pakistani military pounds Taliban fighters, killing 35 in Swat Valley offensive An estimated 40,000 people flee city of Mingora as forces clash . 500,000 civilians expected to flee Swat Valley area as offensive continues . Pakistani President Zardari meeting U.S. President Obama Wednesday . | f59b438e3647f90394cc91517ae5392e95fe1fc8 |
By . Jenny Hope Medical Correspondent . Three cuppas a day keep the doctor away: Tea can help your heart, according to new research . Drinking three cups of tea a day can help to ward off heart disease by improving circulation, scientists claim. A reaearch team found that high levels of tea-drinking reduce the ‘stiffness’ in arteries, keeping them younger and more elastic and speeding up circulation. The results were the same for all types of tea, including black tea and green tea. High consumption was classified as more than 450ml daily, which is three large cups a day, over the course of a year. Scientists in Taiwan measured the tea intake of 3,135 healthy people and compared it against the performance of their circulation system. The findings, published in the science journal PLOS One, showed that those who drank more tea had a 22 per cent cut in measurements of arterial stiffness. People drinking moderate amounts of tea did not have a reduction in risk. Scientists say flavonoids found in tea . are responsible for the benefits, as these compounds have been shown to . improve arterial function, possibly by increasing nitric oxide . production. The findings come from the first study to evaluate the link between tea consumption and abnormal arterial stiffness using a brachial ankle test. The test compares blood pressure measured at the ankle to blood pressure measured at the arm, using a pressure cuff wrapped around both arms and ankles. It is a good indicator of how well blood flows around the body. Time for a brew: Tea has health benefits, it is claimed - though the jury's still out on the biscuit . The researchers from universities in Taiwan took account of factors such as age, sex, current smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise and obesity which can influence study findings. The volunteers were drawn from a healthy population who did not have diagnosed heart problems. The researchers said: ‘Arterial stiffness is characterised by arterial wall thickening and loss of elasticity. ‘Independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors, arterial stiffness is a predictor of total mortality and future disease, such as myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart failure and stroke.’ The study added: ‘Tea, the most commonly consumed beverage after water, has attracted considerable attention for its potential cardioprotective effects. ‘The benefits of tea consumption in cardiovascular health are thought to be largely due to flavonoids, which may reduce arterial stiffness by augmenting nitric oxide production.’ This can help open up the blood vessels in the body, says the study. British institution: We are a nation of tea-drinkers, from David Cameron to Gordon Brown to Prince Charles . Overall, flavonoids found in tea are thought to control inflammation, reduce excess blood clotting, promote blood vessel function and limit furring up of the arteries. One cup of tea provides 150-200mg of flavonoids and it is the best source in the British diet. In terms of the delivery of antioxidants, two cups of tea is equivalent to five portions of vegetables or two apples. Other research shows tea drinkers have a lower risk of cancer, of around 30 per cent. Dr Tim Bond, spokesman for the industry body the Tea Advisory Panel, said ‘Of note is that the study group was drawn from an apparently healthy population and as such is a good reflection of a normal group of tea consumers. ‘This is good news for Britain’s tea drinkers as this study contributes to the growing evidence of tea’s benefits for the health of the heart and vascular system.’ | Tea has plant materials called flavonoids which make arteries more elastic . People who drank more than three cups improved by 22 per cent . Study of 3,135 healthy people in Taiwan published in the journal PLOS One . | 9c4bfb8f24ca23bef603d6d044556a278c9cca1f |
There Is something romantic about one of the supreme footballers of all time passing away just as his country of birth comes to the climax of its bid to win the World Cup. Vamos, vamos Argentina – in memory of Alfredo The Great. There is a consoling grace about Senor Di Stefano taking his leave of we mere mortals having just celebrated his 88th birthday in his usual affectionate company of family and friends. VIDEO Scroll down for Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano graces the Bernabeu . Dapper: Di Stefano, with not a hair out of place, posing in the Argentina kit ahead of the 1947 Copa America . Silverware: Di Stefano in 1960 with the five European Cup trophies he won with Real Madrid . Diamonds: Real Madrid stars (L-R) Raymond Kopa, Rial, Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas and Gento before a La Liga match at the Bernabeu in 1959 . Kickabout: Di Stefano playing with the ball with Real Madrid team-mate Laszlo Kubala of Hungary in 1958 . Balls: Di Stefano in training with Real Madrid in 1956 . Partners in crime: Di Stefano embraces his legendary Real Madrd team-mate Ferenc Puskas after they score all the goals between them in a 7-3 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1960 European Cup Final. Historic: Di Stefano celebrating after Real Madrid beat Reims 4-3 to lift the first ever European cup in 1956 . Throwback: Di Stefano during a game in August 1963 against Oporto in Caracas, Venezuela . Free: Di Stefano talking to the media at the Spanish embassy in Caracas in 1963 after being released from his kidnappers . VIDEO Real Madrid great De Stefano dies ages 88 . This gentleman lived his 88 years to the full. There is a sense of history about the ultimate Real Madrileno bidding us farewell even as the Argentine successor to his throne in Spain is striving to join him among the top five players ever. Arise to the occasion, Lionel Messi, destiny beckons in Brazil these coming days. There is something uncanny, from our peculiarly English perspective, about The Maestro taking his final bow just as the Promenade Concert season is about to open at the Royal Albert Hall. Because Di Stefano’s unique mastery of the game in all its facets may best be described as him being, not only the virtuoso, but also the composer and conductor of every football orchestra in which he played. To watch him was to be enchanted by the creative magic he wove in midfield, to marvel at his reading and control of the game, to be astonished by his genius for scoring goals. To see him for the first time – as did a multitude of privileged Scots among the 127,621 crowd at Hampden Park and my generation of Englishmen on black-and-white television – was to be awoken to football so alien that it might have come not from Madrid but from Mars. That occasion, on a balmy Glasgow evening in May 1960, celebrated the fifth of the consecutive triumphs with which Real launched the European Cup into orbit. 100: Di Stefanao leads out a Rest Of The World side against England for the FA Centenary Cup in 1963. Captaining England was Jimmy Armfield, with Bobby Moore just behind him . Meet and greet: Di Stefano meets Manchester United manager Sir Matt Busby (centre) and his assistant Jimmy Murphy (left) at Ringway Airport . Greats: Sir Alex Fergusn, then manager of Aberdeen, greets Di Stefano, then coach of Real Madrid, ahead of the European Cup Winners Cup final in 1983 . Contrast: Di Stefano sits alongside striking Colombian keeper Rene Higuita on the bench . Double trouble: Di Stefano congratulates his fellow countrymen Diego Maradona after he received the 'Golden Ball' award for lifetime achievement in Paris on Jan 3, 1995 . It remains, in our memory as living witnesses, the most wondrous of all the finals in this competition, by whatever name it is known. Di Stefano had scored in the four preceding finals. There was never a doubt he would do so again on this night and more than half a century later he is still the only man to score on five of these occasions. Just to make sure, he ran up a hat-trick. His illustrious left-hand man Ferenc Puskas went one better as they claimed all Real’s goals between them in a 7-3 victory which also starred Gento and Del Sol. What made it all the more impressive was that Eintrach Frankfurt were typically formidable German opponents, who actually took the lead before the avalanche. For many of us, football changed that night. To see Di Stefano in person, as I was fortunate to do on a trip to Madrid not long before he departed Real in 1964, was to pay homage to the master. By then Don Alfredo had gone a mighty long way towards scoring a phenomenal 485 goals in 664 club appearancs for River Plate and Huracan in Argentina, Millonarios in Colombia, Real and finally Espanyol in Spain. In addition to those five European Cups, he racked up a host of league and cup-winners’ medals in all three of those countries and had twice been elected European Footballer of the Year. Winners: Di Stefano talks with then Real Madrid player Luis Figo holding his Golden Ball trophy in 2001 . Cup winners: Di Stefano holds the Champions League trophy in April 2003 alongside Sir Bobby Charlton (left) and Bill Foulkes . Influential: Di Stefano was still a key part of the Real Madrid backroom into his later years, helping secure the signings of the likes of David Beckham in 2003 . Laden: Di Stefano poses with Real Madrid captain Raul and a whole load of trophies in 2006 . Embrace: Di Stefano and Zinedine Zidane before a friendly game in 1956 against Stade Reims, 50 years after the first European Cup Final . Secured: Di Stefano and Real Madrid President Roman Calderon (right) presenting new signing Fabio Cannavaro in 2006 . 510 official matches played by Di Stefano for five clubs: River Plate and Huracan in Argentina, Millonarios in Colombia and Real Madrid and Espanyol in Spain. 418 goals scored in his club career. 3 countries represented. Di Stefano played for Colombia and Argentina early in his career before later moving to, and playing for, Spain. 22 club trophies won as a player, including eight league titles and five consecutive European Cups with Real Madrid between 1956 and 1960. 5 Di Stefano scored in all five of those European Cup finals with Madrid, including a hat-trick in the last one against Eintracht Frankfurt in Glasgow.12 teams managed, including Valencia, Real Madrid and fierce Argentinean rivals Boca Juniors and River Plate. 6 trophies won as a manager, including a league and cup double with Boca Juniors. He won five runners-up medals with Real Madrid but managed just one title with Los Blancos - the 1990 Spanish Super Cup . So desperately sought after was Di Stefano in Spain that his transfer from Millonarios in 1953 was a matter of huge controversy. He had signed a first option to Barcelona but when their president questioned his value and hesitated, Real stepped in. Issues remained with River Plate, who retained his registration in Argentina. FIFA washed their hands of the mess and with the Spanish FA split on Barca v Madrid party lines there was much speculation that General Franco, Spain’s dictator, applied pressure for them to approve di Stefano’s signing for Real, of whom he was an avid supporter. It is more certain that Franco rubber-stamped second citizenship for the Buenos Aires-born di Stefano so he could play for Spain. FIFA had not recognised his four appearances for Colombia, while with Millonarios, but they refused initially to approve the Spanish request because he had played half a dozen times for Argentina. They relented, following diplomatic entreaties from Madrid. That complicated Di Stefano’s international career. A combination of injuries and failures by Argentina and Spain to qualify deprived him of participation in the World Cup Finals. That was football’s loss, also. Even so, he scored 29 goals in his 37 official appearances for Argentina and Spain. Greats of the game: Di Stefano with France legend and UEFA boss Michel Platini during an homage to the Argentine in 2008 . Aloft: Di Stefano holding up a trophy in tribute to him in Madrid in 2008 . Elder statesmen: Di Stefano with Manuel Pellegrini after he was appointed Real Madrid boss in 2009 . Unveiling: Di Stefano with Eusebio at the unveiling of Cristiano Ronaldo in July 2009 . All smiles: Di Stefano and Ronaldo in the dugout at the Bernebau . Golden boots: Di Stefano with Portuguese legend Eusebio presenting Cristiano Ronaldo with the Golden Boot 2011 . Argentine trio: Di Stefano with Maradona presenting an award to Lionel Messi in 2009 . His exceptional football intelligence carried over into management, where he won multiple leagues and cups in Argentina and with Valencia in Spain. However, he was cursed to come second in five competitions in one season with Real, including the 1983 European Cup Winners’ Cup Final defeat by Aberdeen which, not least because of Di Stefano’s illustrious presence in the opposite dug-out, Sir Alex Ferguson counts as one of his greatest successes. That did not stop Real loving him. The feeling was mutual as he and Gento expressed to a few of us, Bobby Moore included, on one long, warm evening London in the 90s. It was an education to listen to him reflecting nostalgically on the attacking spirit which had been at the founding heart of the greatest of all club teams. Real made him their honorary president. They gave him a permanent, rent-free home in a most pleasant apartment close by the Bernabeu, near which he was walking when the suffered his second, and this time fatal, heart attack. Always forever: Di Stefano was associated with Real Madrid right up until the end, posing in 2013 with new signing Gareth Bale . Crossing borders: Di Stefano represented both Argentina and Spain during his illustrious career . Thank you Alfredo: Real President Florentino Perez paying tribute to the legend following his passing on July 7, 2014 . The Blond Arrow, . as he was known, has flown. He leaves to Pele’s tribute: ‘The most . complete footballer in the history of the game.’ That . he was, even if Pele’s mountain of goals, Diego Maradona’s dramatic . talents and Garrincha’s magical ball skills – all World Cup-winning – . probably out-rank him in this all-time list: . 1) Pele . 2) Diego Maradona . 3) Garrincha . 4) Alfredo di Stefano . 5) Johan Cruyff (unless and until Lionel Messi delievers at this World Cup . | Alfredo di Stefano has passed away at the age of 88 . Considered one of the greatest ever by Sportsmail's Jeff Powell . Former forward represented Spain, Colombia and Argentina . Born in Buenos Aires, he was Real Madrid’s second highest scorer . Member of Real Madrid side that won five consecutive European Cups between 1956 and 1960 . Scored opening goal in iconic European Cup final of 1960 when Real beat Eintract Frankfurt 7-3 at Hampden Park . | 009dd6c51d81072a7db7e811ec7edebd20b9ac2f |
(CNN) -- Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has made a rare "surprise" visit to an educational center in the capital, Damascus, in an apparent effort to show that it is "business as usual" for the regime, despite the country's brutal civil war. A video posted on YouTube by al-Assad's office shows him driving up to the building in the al-Tijara neighborhood -- at the wheel of his own car -- on Wednesday and walking inside, alone, watched by families from balconies and apartments nearby. The film then shows the president, wearing a dark suit and tie, smiling as he is greeted with applause, before talking to those who have gathered to meet him. He is seen hugging one woman, shaking hands with a man, and putting his hand on the shoulder of a young woman wearing a pink headscarf. Middle East expert Christopher Phillips, of think tank Chatham House, said the video and reports of the meeting chime with efforts to portray al-Assad as an approachable man of the people. He said the visit was part of efforts to convince those inside and outside the country that life is carrying on as normal in Syria. The regime has continued to pass laws and hold elections in spite of the deadly conflict tearing the country apart. Read more: Al-Assad, defined by violence . "The pretense is a vital part of the strategy," he told CNN. "The regime still believes it will win the war; to do that it is important that al-Assad is not seen as a deranged, butchering madman, but as a normal person. "They believe that they can survive isolation, that they can defeat what they call the 'insurgency' and that, after a time, they will be reintegrated into the international fold... but they have to maintain that pretense." Up to 70,000 Syrians are believed to have died in the Syrian conflict since March 2011, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in February. What began amid the turmoil of the Arab Spring as an uprising against Bashar al-Assad has spiraled into a bitter civil war which now threatens to destabilize the Middle East. More than a million refugees have fled the fighting, crossing the border and flooding into overloaded camps in neighboring Turkey and Jordan. Read more: Profile: Asma al-Assad . Syria's official SANA news agency reported that the president and his wife Asma later met the families of teachers and students "martyred due to terrorist attacks" to offer them support. SANA quoted al-Assad as saying: "Today Syria as a whole is wounded... there is no one that didn't lose one of his or her relatives, a brother, father or a mother," before insisting that the country is involved in "a battle of will and steadfastness," calling on the audience to remain strong to protect others. It was the second public outing for the normally camera-shy al-Assad family in less than a week, after months out of the limelight: Asma al-Assad was spotted at a "Mother's Rally" at the Damascus Opera House last weekend, scotching rumors she had fled the country for Russia, the UK or Jordan. Philips said the reappearance of Syria's glamorous Sunni first lady was highly significant, with the civil war becoming increasingly sectarian in recent months. "In marrying Asma -- a non-veiled, secular Sunni -- Bashar al-Assad, who is Alawite, crossed the sectarian divide, and their relationship helped create an image of Syria as an integrationist, non-sectarian society," he explained. "Making sure she is seen in public, showing that she is still with him, supporting him is very important... it is part of the show of defiance, of them saying 'We're still here, and we're still doing things our way.'" Read more: Getting to know Syria's first family . | Normally camera-shy Syrian president makes surprise visit to arts education center . Bashar al-Assad met families of those killed in "terrorist attacks", state news agency reports . YouTube video of visit shows al-Assad arriving at the center at the wheel of his own car . Official Syrian news agency says president, first lady later spoke to "families of martyrs" | 154a554f9000b26b043185e3c3bc2ca2287d8966 |
Pyeongchang, South Korea (CNN) -- The cheers were deafening in Pyeongchang, South Korea, early Thursday when the city was named to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. Thousands of South Koreans gathered at the foot of a ski jump well past midnight in a passionate display of excitement that included fireworks, singing, dancing, picnicking and kimchi -- the traditional Korean side dish. "This is the victory of the South Korean people," said President Lee Myung Bak in Durban, South Africa,Wednesday, where the decision was announced. "I thank you all," he added. Pyeongchang beat out two other bid cities: Munich, Germany, and Annecy, France. Their slogan for the Winter Olympics is "New Horizons." Pyeongchang narrowly failed in its bids for the 2010 and 2014 Winter Games, losing by three votes to Vancouver, Canada, for last year's event and by four votes to Sochi, Russia, for the 2014 games. The sheer number of locals who came to watch the pre-announcement show at the ski jump showed their confidence in this year's decision. "I cannot even tell you how happy I am," said one resident. "Everyone came together and prayed that we would win." South Korea has never hosted the Winter Games, though the capital city of Seoul hosted the 1988 Summer Games. Winter games gold for Korean economy . France has hosted three editions of the Winter Olympics, most recently in 1992 in Albertville. Annecy met with many difficulties in its bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics, including a small budget and change in leadership on the bid committee. Had it won, Munich would have been the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics. The city attracted the Summer Games in 1972. Representatives from the three cities made their cases to committee members in Durban, South Africa Wednesday. | NEW: Pyeongchang, South Korea is chosen for the 2018 Winter Olympics . France has hosted three editions of the Winter Games . South Korea has never hosted the Winter Games . Munich was trying to become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics . | 2a6f13f5db221b00da0e593b76655a6838dc9093 |
(CNN) -- Dark smoke rose from the upper floors of Radio France's headquarters in Paris on Friday as a fire prompted an evacuation of the building. There were no reports of injuries, Radio France spokeswoman Marine Billoir said. Firefighters eventually extinguished the flames, reported France Info radio, part of Radio France. The fire started in an unoccupied section that was under construction, Billoir said. Information on what caused the fire wasn't immediately available. Pictures distributed by Agence France-Presse and Getty Images showed smoke billowing out of several upper-floor windows of the circular facility. Photos on social media also showed smoke rising above the Paris skyline, visible from some distance. | NEW: Firefighters put out flames at Radio France's headquarters in Paris . NEW: There were no reports of injuries . The fire started in part of the building that was unoccupied and under construction . It wasn't immediately clear what started the fire . | c4b8b7b1e421b5606abac724fa3462f8a278aa17 |
(CNN) -- French fashion designers don't hold a monopoly on haute. Every April the country's top pâtissiers and chocolatiers prove they can be just as outlandish as they unveil their annual collection of chocolate Easter eggs. These edible delights take countless forms. Master pâtissier Christophe Roussel looked East when creating "Sweet Japon," a sushi plate made entirely of chocolate, chocolate paste, marzipan and nougat. Chop sticks allow choc-o-holics to dip their sugary maki and sushi in salted butter caramel. Guy Krenzer and his army of pastry chefs at Maison Lenôtre dreamed up a blue-and-white chocolate egg that resembles traditional Chinese porcelain. At Le Bristol Hotel, head pastry chef Laurent Jeannin has sculpted an open-work chocolate egg that is inspired by the Piaget Rose jewelry collection. Children staying at the hotel can participate in the Bristol's annual Easter egg hunt in its French garden. The child who finds a pink egg will win the sculptured chocolate—and an 18-carat pink gold Piaget diamond ring that is hidden inside. Pierre Mathieu, the head pastry chef at the Mandarin Oriental Paris, says that France's obsession with the high-end egg stems from the country's history of gastronomy and Catholicism. Apparently a gorgeous egg honors both. For his part, Mathieu and his team have crafted 50 limited edition eggs, each of which weighs 450g (the same as a 12 ounce can of soda), and costs 68 € ($95). Inspired by the Chinese tangram puzzle, the egg has seven removable pieces that together form a shape at the egg's base. "I thought I could work on the idea of a chocolate egg that could be as delicious as it is playful, with an 'Asian' story and origin," Mathieu says. "This was a good way to combine the French knowledge we use to make chocolate with the Mandarin Oriental Asian heritage." But this is no game. "The most difficult part of the process is to fix the whole egg with the most accuracy and neatness as possible," he says. "I want the egg to look like a jewel, or a collectible." International appeal . French chefs are bringing their magic to the U.K., and helping to elevate Easter eggs beyond the cream-filled, grocery store variety. At the Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane, French pastry chef Loic Carbonnet spent 25 days making 50 Easter eggs, which are actually three eggs in one. A nine-inch egg, made from the finest Valrhona chocolate, houses a five-inch egg, made with the brand's Ivoire White chocolate, which in turn contains a three-inch egg made from Madagascan dark chocolate. The $125 price tag reflects the labor involved in this most delicate process: Loic and his team spent seven hours crafting the first egg. They had to watch the temperature throughout. To temper the chocolate Carbonnet first had heat it to around 50 or 55 degrees Celsius (122 to 131 degrees Fahrenheit), then cool it to around 28 degrees C (82 degrees F), and then mold and shape it at no more than 32 degrees C (90 degrees F). "It's a long process because you have to temper the chocolate, then mold it, then create the right thickness," Carbonnet says. "If it's too thick guests cannot break it. If it's too thin it will be too fragile to travel." Four millimeters is a safe thickness. Carbonnet points out two other perils of his work. If water finds its way into the chocolate bowl, the chocolate will never harden and it will be impossible to use during molding. The other issue is timing. A chef who leaves his chocolate on the stove for 15 minutes is signing his own pink slip. "The chocolate dictates your work and when it's ready," he says. "It's like cooking a piece of meat for a guest who wants it medium rare. If you wait and let the meat rest for too long it will be overcooked. It's the same with chocolate. You cannot have a second chance." All dressed up . For luxury hotels, Easter eggs are more than just sweet treats for guests. They are also an opportunity to help connect their brand with the joys of Easter. At Claridge's, London's iconic Art Deco hotel, limited edition Easter eggs have become one of the hotel's most anticipated traditions. Pastry Chef Ross Sneddon now has the process down pat. "We use two molds which we then assemble to make one hollow egg," he says. "Once they are gently warmed, we melt and temper the chocolate by flooding, pouring, lining each egg shell 3 times with thin layers of chocolate. These shells are left to crystallize properly in their molds overnight." They then de-mould the eggs, assemble the two halves, fill them with miniature chocolate eggs, and, to avoid a heavy and unsightly seam, use a warm metal tray "to melt the seam edge of the eggs which are then carefully joined together and left to set." But perhaps the most crucial step—and the one responsible for the first impression—is the packaging. His team use special black-and-white foil meant to invoke the hotel's lobby. "We hope and hear that people love our Easter Eggs," he says. "It's a little bit of magic of Claridge's that people can take away with them". Marcela Kunova contributed to this article . | Elaborate chocolate Easter eggs can take days to make . Chocolate artists must carefully watch the temperature of chocolate . Excess moisture makes it difficult for chocolate to harden properly . Pastry chefs say France's history of gastronomy and Catholicism make Easter eggs important . | 628fba7490de805cdd4d5811ae8cbf6b2299a995 |
NEW YORK (CNN) -- McDonald's new ad campaign is taking a non-too-subtle jab at Starbucks. McDonald's placed this billboard near Starbucks' corporate headquarters in Seattle, Washington. Residents in Seattle, Washington, the birthplace of Starbucks, can now see approximately 140 McDonald's billboards emblazoned with "large is the new grande" or "four bucks is dumb." In a statement released Thursday, McDonald's called it "a light-hearted, fun approach to our brand," aimed at promoting the company's McCafe coffee products. However, Starbucks is not finding the ad campaign funny. "Comparative campaigns are all well and good but only when they're credible and authentic. If the claim is not supportable or the tone is off, you risk losing credibility," Deb Trevino, director of global communications for Starbucks, told CNN. A 12-ounce cup of coffee at Starbucks in Seattle costs just $1.40, only a penny more than the average price for a same size cup at McDonald's. Credibility is something that Starbucks claims it is not short on. A portion of coffee sales currently goes towards health care for Starbucks' baristas, while another goes towards helping AIDS victims in Africa, according to the company. "We will not enter into a tit-for-tat," Trevino said. "Our customers are interested in more than just the coffee, they come for the experience." For now, McDonald's said it does not plan to take its "four bucks is dumb" campaign nationwide. | McDonald's new ad campaign pokes fun at Starbucks . McDonald's billboards in Seattle, Washington, read "four bucks is dumb" "We will not enter into a tit-for-tat," Starbucks official says . | 35921e51c453a2e2984a2e811cbf996a45d39252 |
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 18:57 EST, 27 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 18:57 EST, 27 September 2013 . Penny-pinching pensioner: Glynne Evans, 71, has become Britain's oldest community service workers after being handed 100 hours for benefit fraud . A retired nanny aged 71 has become the oldest defendant known to have been given community service. Glynne Evans was given 100 hours at Teesside Crown Court for an £18,000 benefit fraud. But she won’t be clearing ditches and is likely to have to work in a hospice or charity shop. A Probation Service source said: 'We’ve never had one quite so old, but I’m sure we’ll find something suitable.' Evans, of Eaglescliffe, near Stockton, claimed pension credits as a single person while living with her partner. In . an interview with a probation worker, she seemed to regard it as a . victimless crime committed by accident. But Judge Howard Crowson told . her: 'There is £18,000 missing as a result. This can’t be brushed under . the carpet. 'It seems you are someone who is public-spirited and you can pay off your debt to society by working for it.' Peter Wishlade, mitigating, told Teesside Crown Court that Evans looked after her 93-year-old neighbour. 'She might be 71, but she’s a fit 71,' said Mr Wishlade, who suggested a curfew if it meant avoiding prison. Judge Crowson said: 'I’m not sure it will be a great punishment, having to stay in her home in the winter.' Evans admitted fraud by false . representation at an earlier hearing. The court heard how she made bogus . claims for pension credits between 2006 and 2012 as a single person. Mr . Wishlade said the claims were made 'at a time of great stress' and said . the benefits system was 'complex'. Since her arrest last year, Evans . has been repaying £150 a month from her private and state pensions. Judge . Crowson said: 'I am asked to consider this as a victimless crime, . committed by someone by accident. It’s £18,000. Do you think the public . think that’s a drop in the ocean? 'I’m pleased to see it’s being repaid.' | Glynne Evans claimed single-person pension credits while living with partner . | 76696ea2bddcdf349c7b6a7671262015d13492e7 |
Winter Olympic skeleton gold medallist Lizzy Yarnold is set for a return to competitive action this week as she continues the defence of her World Cup title in Altenberg, Germany. The 26-year-old from Kent was forced to miss the second race of the season last month after experiencing dizziness during her victory at the season opener in Lake Placid. But she has linked up with the British squad ahead of this Friday's heats and is relishing her return. Lizzy Yarnold poses outside Windsor Castle after being awarded an MBE by the Queen . Yarnold crosses the line to win gold at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014 . 'I always enjoy competing in Europe as the tracks are varied and always challenging, the atmosphere is brilliant and lots of family and friends come out to support me which I love,' she said on British Skeleton's official website. 'I'm preparing for race three of the World Cup at the moment and there's lots more yet to come from all the Brits. 'We'll soon be in Igls, Austria (the seventh race of the season), where I won my first race in 2010 so I'd love to win another medal there.' The reigning world and Olympic champion missed the second World Cup race but returns to action on Friday . Yarnold will be hoping to be as dominant in 2015 as she has been in the last 12 months - a year that saw her claim a historic Olympic and World Cup double. In her absence in Calgary, British compatriot Laura Deas claimed her maiden medal at a World Cup with a second-place finish. | Lizzy Yarnold won opening World Cup race of the season in Lake Placid . Olympic champion missed the second one after complaining of dizziness . But Yarnold returns for the third World Cup race in Altenberg, Germany . | e6f3c65d489214d5c8cd4d37bd16121313df629a |
(CNN) -- Living in a house made from shipping containers isn't exactly everyone's idea of a dream home. But a new design could change all that, building on the ethos of sustainability without cramping your style ... or your space. Eco-Pak distinguishes itself from the container crowd, says its U.S. and British creators, by not only being a structure but also a vehicle for all structural components of the house. Seattle-based architect Matthew Coates and James Green, a British aircraft structural engineer, joined forces just over a year ago to build on Green's original idea for incorporating shipping containers within a bespoke steel shell. The containers form part of the foundation for the building, Green says, as well as being a building block that aids the quick and easy assembly of the frame around it. Coates, who specializes in sustainable design, was familiar with recent innovations in container housing, he says, but Green's idea immediately stood out. "I think its advantages over traditional housing are quite profound. It's an excellent option for emergency housing -- the containers could be shipped to a site in large quantities, set down and assembled very quickly," Coates said. "The other thing is that it doesn't need a typical foundation. It can actually be put down right on the ground or on concrete blocks or pin piles," he said. Coates envisages other markets for Eco-Pak beyond emergency housing, with a two-story house targeted at the affordable housing market and a 1,300 square feet three-story structure retailing for approximately $80-100,000. Robert Kronenburg, professor of architecture at the UK's University of Liverpool and author of "Houses in Motion: The Genesis, History and Development of the Portable Building," says sustainability is "very, very crucial" and is driving architectural design more and more. "Prefabrication is a fantastic way to make things quicker, more economical and improve quality. And trying to find new ways to make affordable housing is obviously important," he said. He points to the successes already achieved in this area by New York architectural firm LOT-EK -- one of the pioneers of container housing -- and Jennifer Siegal, founder of the Los Angeles-based Office of Mobile Design. "What it comes down to in the end is the quality of the system you are creating," Kronenburg says, "how things fit together, how good the parts are, how easy it is to assemble. It's really about practice, testing and making sure it works." With a patent for the Eco-Pak design granted in May this year, Green and Coates are ready to take their project to the next level. With the help of sponsorship from a U.S. non-profit organization, Coates says a fully functioning prototype is on schedule to be completed by the spring of 2013. "We intend to sell Eco-Pak internationally," Coates said, "so people could order just the structural parts or a turnkey option -- where we would provide all the exterior wall panels and parts." Green hopes Eco-Pak will change the "living in a box" perception of shipping containers at a price which won't break the bank. "If you make this thing aesthetically pleasing, people will buy it," he says, "and it promotes the greener side of things." | New design for container housing aimed at providing emergency shelter and affordable housing . Design result of collaboration between British aircraft engineer and U.S. architect . Containers used as a structure but also carry all materials required to build house . Three-story version of house will cost around $80-100,000, according to creators . | 64d9b8393b23951a094a1281cb285fac5458e2ac |
Cairo (CNN) -- Egypt's prosecutor general, appointed to the job just last month by President Mohamed Morsy, gave into demands of lower prosecutors by agreeing to resign next week. The protesters converged on the prosecuting general's office at the High Court Sunday, refusing to leave until Talaat Abdallah resigned. The siege by the prosecutors ended Monday when Abdallah signed a resignation letter that was then read to reporters. The letter will be delivered to Egypt's Supreme Judicial Council on December 23, the prosecutor's office said. Read more: Islamists claim victory in first round of referendum . The prosecutors objected to Abdallah's appointment by Morsy because of his connection with the Muslim Brotherhood. They became angry when Abdallah replaced attorney generals with judges affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. The latest flare up happened last week when Abdallah transferred Attorney General Mostafa Khater, who had freed defendants arrested by Morsy supporters during clashes outside the presidential palace on December 5. Read more: Former President Mubarak hurt in prison bath fall . Morsy said in a televised speech on December 6 that the defendants confessed to being paid thugs, while investigations were still ongoing. A document reportedly written by Khater referred to pressure by the prosecutor general to change the results of the investigations. Khater's transfer was reversed a day later. | Prosecutors demanded Talaat Abdallah resign because of Muslim Brotherhood ties . His resignation letter will be delivered to Egypt's Supreme Judicial Council on December 23 . Judges affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood were made attorney generals . | a7cb3e10a8b0cf76f569be556bc0a397e08d974e |
A British jihadi has died after setting off a suicide bomb in Iraq killing 'dozens' of people, according to pro-Islamic State reports. The bomber, named as Abu Abdullah al-Britani, was said to have caused the blast near the city of Samarra, around 78 miles north of the country's capital Baghdad. He reportedly detonated a bomb in a car, targeting a group of police officers in the city's Al Mu'tasim district. Suicide bomber: Abu Abdullah al-Britani (pictured) is said to have caused the blast near the city of Samarra, around 78 miles north of the country's capital Baghdad . Scene of the attack: Abu Abdullah al-Britani died after setting off a suicide bomb in the Iraqi city of Samarra (pictured) killing 'dozens' of people . Samarra, which was once the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007, has been the scene of fierce fighting in recent days between Iraqi Security Forces and ISIS supporters. Militant bases nearby were the focus of US air strikes on Friday. However, pro-ISIS sources were claiming that the part of the city where the bombing is said to have taken place was now under the control of the Islamic militants. Reports of the blast, and of the district being under ISIS control have not been verified. The ISIS-linked Al-Battar Media Foundation tweeted: 'Dozens of apostates killed in the operation of Abu Abdullah al-Britani in al-Mu’tasim area near #Samarra#IS #ISIS.' Militants: Some 32 British nationals are known to have died fighting for IS forces in Iraq and Syria . Other reports said that the source of the blast had been a car bomb and the targets had been police officers. Charlie Winter, a researcher with anti-extremist think thank the Quilliam Foundation, tweeted: '#Iraq: Another Briton dies in #IS VBIED op - Abu Abdullah al-Britani targeted a police gathering near #Samarra.' A British jihadi with the same name was reported as being killed in an airstrike in Syria last month and a number of IS fighters from the UK are believed to use the moniker. Some 32 British nationals are known to have died fighting for IS forces in Iraq and Syria. Reports of the blast came after at least nine people were killed after militants attacked a police station the village of al-Salman, around 60 miles away from Samarra. The al-Salman attack came a day after a bombers targeted Shia areas around Baghdad, killing ten people . The attack started at dawn with a suicide car bomber hitting the blast walls that surround the police station in the village, just outside the town of Tarmiyah, a police officer said. An assault by armed militants then followed. The attack killed five police officers and four civilians, leaving 11 other people wounded. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Iraqi forces, backed by US-led airstrikes, are fighting the extremist Islamic State group, which now controls about a third of the country. The al-Salman attack came a day after a string of bombings targeting Shia areas around Baghdad killed ten people amid tight security measures to protect pilgrims heading to the holy city of Karbala to attend the religious commemoration known as Arbaeen. The event, which draws hundreds of thousands of Shia pilgrims, marks the passing of 40 days after the anniversary of the seventh century martyrdom of the revered Shia saint Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. | Bomber named as Abu Abdullah al-Britani reportedly caused deadly blast . Car bomb said to have targeted police officers near city of Samarra . City was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2007 . Reports of the suicide bomb attack have not been verified . Comes after a police station was attacked in village 60 miles away . Nine people killed and 11 wounded in car bomb in al-Salman . | cdeeac1a539aa70a01206aebbada12fd6eca776a |
Two weeks before he tested positive for Ebola in Liberia, American journalist Ashoka Mukpo talked about the bleak situation there. "Man oh man, I have seen some bad things in the last two weeks of my life," he posted on Facebook last month from the Liberian capital of Monrovia. "How unpredictable and fraught with danger life can be. How in some parts of the world, basic levels of help and assistance that we take for granted completely don't exist for many people." The 33-year-old freelance cameraman for NBC News started feeling achy and tired Wednesday, and he quarantined himself. A day later, a test at a Doctors Without Borders facility in Monrovia confirmed that he had Ebola. Anxious parents . Mukpo was among a team working with Dr. Nancy Snyderman, the agency's chief medical correspondent. In an interview with NBC's "Today" show Friday, his mother said he'll leave for the United States on Sunday. NBC News has said the entire team will return aboard a private charter plane. "The enormous anxiety I have as a mother ... is the delay between now and him leaving on Sunday," Diana Mukpo said. "The State Department has been fantastic. They've been compassionate. I can only hope and pray that his symptoms don't worsen." Mukpo's father told the "Today" show that although he is able to walk around and has only a mild fever, his son is worried. "Obviously, he is scared ... he has been filming what's happening in Liberia for two weeks and seeing the death and tragedy," Dr. Mitchell Levy said. "And now it's really hit home for him. But his spirits are better today." Your Ebola questions answered . Sick a day after he was hired . NBC News hired him Tuesday, and Snyderman said she'd worked with him for only a few hours when he started feeling sick. "My suspicion is that he was infected before we met him and then he became symptomatic once we met him," Snyderman said Friday on the "Today" show. "The amount of virus in his body is low. We should have a very good prognosis." Before working for NBC, he wrote for a series of other international media, including Al Jazeera and Vice News. His passion for Liberia comes through in his work, which makes references to visits to the nation dating years ago. "He spent two years in Monrovia working with a nongovernmental organization, and really made a strong connection to the Liberian people, and ... wanted to go back and see if he could make a difference," Levy said. Can you catch Ebola on a plane? Team to be put in isolation . The rest of the medical team does not have any symptoms, but when the team members return to the U.S., they will be quarantined for 21 days -- the disease's incubation period -- as a precaution. The cameraman is believed to be the fourth American stricken by the disease while in Liberia. Dr. Kent Brantly, Nancy Writebol and Dr. Rick Sacra all contracted the disease while working in the country. All three recovered after they were evacuated from Liberia and treated at hospitals in Atlanta and Omaha, Nebraska. Ebola has killed more than 3,000 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and the United Nations says those numbers are vastly under-reported. Complete coverage on Ebola . | "Obviously, he is scared," Ashoka Mukpo's father says . Mukpo, 33, started feeling achy and tired Wednesday . He was diagnosed with Ebola on Thursday in Liberia . His mother says he'll return to the United States on Sunday . | 550c7ab0699c7e2221e8d79f9c60eccd4bba4125 |
Manchester United stars including Robin van Persie, Angel Di Maria and Juan Mata brought some Christmas cheer to young patients at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital by paying them a visit. The trio were joined by fellow Old Trafford team-mates such as Ander Herrera, Phil Jones, David de Gea and Marcos Rojo as they met the children before presenting them with gifts. The young patients were beaming with smiles as they met some of their heroes, a heart-warming moment that also touched the players. VIDEO Scroll down to see Man United stars visit the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital . Manchester United stars including Robin van Persie (left) and Angel Di Maria visited young hospital patients . The duo were joined by Juan Mata (right) at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital . Ben Amos (left) and Phil Jones pose for a picture with a young patient at the hospital . Manchester United fans are encouraged to get involved with the club's 'Pass the Parcel' campaign by texting ‘BALL’ to 70755 to donate £5 or click here. 'This is unbelievable. All the people that are working here and helping these people to get through their bad moments is something that I will always respect,' said Mata. The festive visit to the hospital was the Spain international's first and like the playmaker, fellow midfielder Herrera was equally humbled by his time with the kids. 'If we can make the children smile, then I'm very happy. It's a pleasure for me to be here and I wish that they can have a good Christmas,' added the 25-year-old. Defender Jones echoed the duo's sentiments - adding that the sobering visit provided a reality check for Louis van Gaal's squad. 'It's a reality check for probably most of us. It's not nice to see the kids like this especially over Christmas. Hopefully the presents and toys will give them something to smile about,' said Jones. United's next excursion on-the-pitch is a Premier League home clash against Newcastle. The Red Devils know victory will aid their top four credentials and put a smile once more on the face of the patients at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. Marcos Rojo arrives at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital bearing gifts for the young presents . Goalkeeper David de Gea shows off his safe pair of hands too as he also arrives with a sackful of presents . United midfielder Mata (left) enjoys a chat with a young fan during his visit at the hospital . Argentina international Di Maria shows his artistic side by colouring in a book with a little boy . Manchester United fans are encouraged to get involved with the club's 'Pass the Parcel' campaign by texting ‘BALL’ to 70755 to donate £5 or click here. | Some of Manchester United's players paid a festive visit to young patients . Robin van Persie, Juan Mata and Angel Di Maria gave gifts to the kids . Ander Herrera, Phil Jones, David de Gea and Marcos Rojo were also in attendance as they spoke and interacted with the young children . | 659412dfaf567c2644dfe9d809acaf956fcc72c2 |
A Quran teacher in central Somalia was the fifth beheading victim in one week at the hands of Al-Shabaab, the al Qaeda-linked militant group based in Somalia. "The Quran teacher was snatched from his house in Qandho by Al-Shabaab militants on Friday and they dumped his headless, beheaded body near his home town on Saturday morning," local town spokesman Abdiaziz Durow told CNN. The teacher was identified as Mohamed Hussein, 45, a resident of the Qandho near the besieged town of Bulo Burde, 217 miles north of Mogadishu in central Somalia. "The reason the Quran teacher was murdered is that he was one of the few residents that refused orders from Al-Shabaab to leave his village that was recently seized by Somali and AU troops," Durow said. Al-Shabaab had warned local residents to leave their houses in the towns they have seized, according to Durow. Last week, the militant group abducted and beheaded two Somali policewomen in the city of Teyeglow, located in the southwest region. The beheadings prompted a government soldier whose wife was among the victims to kill five Al-Shabaab wives in retaliation. Al-Shabaab also beheaded two government soldiers near the town of Bur Hakaba in the Bay region in south Somalia. Al-Shabaab is a Somali group that was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government in March 2008. It is seeking to turn Somalia into a fundamentalist Islamic state. The group is believed to be responsible for attacks in Somalia that have killed international aid workers, journalists, civilian leaders and African Union peacekeepers. | Officials say Al-Shabaab is responsible for five beheadings . The latest was a Quran teacher . The terrorist group had demanded people to leave a village . | ce5347453db97ef2b95a909a7cccf4b11bb485f2 |
A loyal dog refused to leave a graveside for two weeks in a remarkable display of devotion after the death of his teenage owner. After Bhaskar Shri, 18, died in a car accident, his dog Tommy went without food and water for 15 baking days and freezing nights guarding his grave in Chennai, southern India. The young construction worker had adopted the dog five years ago and the two quickly became inseparable. Then, when Bhaskar was killed in a tragic road collision the dog refused to leave him. Loyal: Tommy the dog sits by his owner's grave, where he stayed for two weeks until he was rescued . Mourning: Tommy's owner, Bhaskar Shri, was killed in a road accident on August 2 . Dawn Williams, an animal rescue officer working with the non-profit Blue Cross of India finally rescued the famished dog after he endured more than a fortnight in the open. She said: ‘I first spotted the brown dog sitting on a fresh grave one evening as I happen to walk past in the first week of August, but at the time I didn’t think anything of it. ‘But on August 13 I was in the area again while on a different rescue mission and saw him again. He was sitting in the same spot in the same position. 'It looked like he hadn’t moved for weeks.’ The dog seemed troubled, even apparently having tears in his eyes as she approached him, Ms Williams said. 'I could see he was in a disturbed condition. He was famished and I’m certain he had tears in his eyes,' she said. 'I gave him water and biscuits but he refused to move. Then, with my teammates, I walked around the area and asked locals if they knew the dog. 'They told me the dog was called Tommy and he was guarding his owner’s grave.’ Inseparable: Bhaskar, who was 18, adopted Tommy five years ago, and they were always together . Enduring: An animal rescue officer from the Blue Cross of India believes Tommy was there for two weeks . Ms Williams finally managed to track down Bhaskar’s mother, Shrimati Sundari, also a construction worker. She added: ‘When Tommy saw her; he jumped on her and was licking her before he rested his face on her feet. It was obvious he knew her.' Ms Sundari told Ms Williams her son and Tommy were always together, even at the construction sites. But after the car accident on August 2 Tommy had disappeared. She thought he’d found another home. ‘She was really happy he was back. She called him a loyal friend and she would keep him as a reminder of her son,' said Ms Williams. 'It was quite sad seeing them walk off together. But I was glad they were reunited. I’m sure Tommy will help Shrimati with her grief, dogs are amazing in times of emotion.’ | Bhaskar Shri adopted Tommy five years ago and the pair were inseparable . The construction worker even took his dog to work on building sites . After he was killed in an accident the distraught dog would not leave his side . Finally Tommy was rescued by the Blue Cross of India, an animal charity . Their rescue worker found Bhaskar's mother and reunited her with Tommy . | 2ef0f350a24f27554ee814760642da2592d3baf4 |
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's local petting farm has banned photos on the premises to ensure the privacy of royal visitors, it is claimed. Prince George, one, and his mother are said to regularly visit the animals at Bucklebury Farm, near Reading, Berkshire, which is close to Duchess's parents' home, Bucklebury Manor. Now staff at the petting zoo have put signs up banning visitors from taking 'unauthorised photographs ... of other guests,' reports The Sun. Scroll down for video . Please, no pictures: Bucklebury Farm Park, the location of Prince George's favourite petting zoo, has banned visitors from taking photographs of other visitors in an effort to ensure the privacy of the heir to the throne . It comes after armed close-protection police surrounded a family after their car broke down on the way to Bucklebury Farm for fear they might be terrorists with a royal target. Set in 77 acres of Berkshire countryside, Bucklebury Farm Park offers deer watching, nature walks, indoor play and tractor rides, as well as the petting zoo. It is highly rated on comparison websites, but locals were not impressed with the farm management's intervention with one telling The Sun's Emily Andrews it felt like an 'overreaction'. 'Every photo we take there, even of our own children, could unwittingly capture other people and their kids,' said the local. 'I took my daughter there the other day and saw Kate's mother with George and his nanny. I thought about taking a photo and decided not to. 'But protection officers still came over to us and challenged us. They were quite difficult about it.' Very important persons: Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge pictured with their son Prince George in April. She now has to deal with looking after a tireless one-year-old while pregnant . Popular attraction: Set in 77 acres of Berkshire countryside, Bucklebury Farm Park offers deer watching, nature walks, indoor play and tractor rides, as well as the petting zoo . The attraction describes itself as a family-friendly day out with deer safaris, nature trails and farm animals on the 77-acre site. Animals include reindeer, llamas, pygmy goats, donkeys, chickens, ponies, cattle, wild boar and even a 'guinea pig village'. Older children can also pan for gold, hitch a ride on the zip wire, drive a go-kart, climb a lookout tower or just stay in the playground. The farm hosts a gold birthday party package including a hot dog and chips meal - though cuddly piglets from the gift shop cost extra. Last month it emerged the Duchess of Cambridge, 32, had taken refuge with her parents in Bucklebury, while 'struggling terribly' with debilitating antenatal sickness. Sources said the Duchess 'hasn't been at all well' as she battles hyperemesis gravidarum, which causes severe vomiting in expectant mothers. The whole area has since been subject to massively tightened security, as one family found out when their car broke down on the way to a day out at Bucklebury Farm. Adam De Marco, 40, his partner Claire Lennon, 39, and their daughter Mia, seven, were on a family day out in Bucklebury, near Newbury, Berkshire, when their BMW's tyre punctured. Their stricken vehicle quickly attracted the attention of royal minders, who ordered them out of the car, they said. But the security men put away their guns when they realised what had happened. The family say they later spotted Kate, her mother Carole Middleton and Prince George at the nearby farm. Adam De Marco, 40, his partner Claire Lennon, 39, and their daughter Mia, seven, were on a family day out in Bucklebury, near Newbury, Berkshire, when their BMW's tyre punctured and they were surrounded by police . Mrs Middleton has apparently helped to take charge of her recovery and has been researching alternative sickness cures, such as herbal tea, on the internet. And despite the presence of Spanish nanny Maria Borallo, Mrs Middleton has also been taking George off her daughter's hands. She has been seen in local shops with her 15-month-old grandson, prompting one startled assistant to write on Twitter: 'Served Kate Middleton's mum and Prince George today at work. He is gorgeous!' The Duchess says she feels far more relaxed at the Middleton family's £5million Georgian mansion, Bucklebury Manor, than at Kensington Palace. One source told the Mail: 'Kate is feeling so lousy that she just wanted to be with her family and out of public view. 'She is extremely close to Carole, who is very much a hands-on grandmother. Between her and their nanny, Maria, Kate has all the help she needs with George while she is feeling so sick. 'And Bucklebury is somewhere she can just relax and be herself.' Elizabeth Hartley Russell, whose family owns the Bucklebury Estate, told MailOnline the policy was a 'moral issue' to protect children's privacy and was brought in after the Leveson inquiry. She said: 'It's not been done to protect any individual - it's been done to protect the rights of children. 'We're a family farm park. We're not here for people to take pictures of other people and put them on Twitter and Facebook. 'We've had children of actors, TV presenters and politicians. All sorts of people have come to visit the farm over a period, as they have to other family attractions. We're not alone in this. 'It's been a long-standing policy that we've had, and it's something we feel very strongly about.' She added in an e-mail statement: 'This is something of a storm in a tea cup, as our polite request is purely for no unauthorised photographs of other guests not a blanket ban on photography. 'Nor has it been done in relation to any one individual. Like any operator of a family visitor attraction, we are acutely conscious of the rights of the child – any child – to enjoy the freedom and privacy afforded by family days out at venues such as ours. 'The joy of special family moments such as these must be something that all parents and carers identify with and cherish.' | Prince George is said to regularly visit the animals at Bucklebury Farm . It is close to the Middletons' grand family home Bucklebury Manor . One angry local calls the management's photo ban an 'overreaction' But owners said policy was the right thing to do to protect all children . | 64f1ff7b0c959efecf80c545ef55152a5d615430 |
Mastermind: Virgin Atlantic pilot Mark Entwistle was jailed for 14 years for orchestrating a £30m scam . A Virgin Atlantic pilot who blew 'prodigious sums' in Las Vegas casinos while masterminding a £30million mortgage fraud has been jailed for 14 years. Innocent families had to leave their homes in and around Windsor, Berkshire, after they were unwittingly caught up in the scam by 47-year-old Mark Entwistle. He and three accomplices tricked top lenders including RBS into issuing mortgages on other people's houses. In one case they managed to take out five mortgages on a single property. But instead of investing in homes, Entwistle funded a high-rolling lifestyle which included a platinum membership at Vegas casinos Bellagio’s and Caesar’s Palace . Entwistle, an established property developer living in Windsor, also frittered away the cash on a luxury boat and paid off other debts - 'robbing Peter to pay Paul' - as the housing crisis tightened in 2009. He even blew vast sums on the gambling website Betfair, Southwark Crown Court heard. Entwistle recruited Jonathan Gilbert, 45, to act as his solicitor and mortgage brokers Nicholas Pomroy, 58, and Matthew Robinson, 40, to process the sophisticated frauds. The four men were jailed for 34 years between them after a six-month trial as Judge Martin Beddoe branded Entwistle ‘arrogant and greedy, brazen to the last with no expression of remorse'. The judge told him: ‘This trial has been nothing but another gamble for you but the odds have proved to be too long this time. ‘Between 2005 and 2009 a substantial and sophisticated fraud was committed against banks and other lenders, some 14 of them or so. ‘The fraud was for the benefit of you, Mark Entwistle, orchestrated by you and Jonathan Gilbert and assisted in some ways by Mr Robinson and Mr Pomroy. ‘Only a small amount was ever used for the purposes of the loan, and it was often a case of “robbing Peter to pay Paul”. Partners in crime: Entwistle, 47 (left) recruited Jonathan Gilbert, 45 (right) to act as his solicitor in the complex four-year fraud, which left innocent families in the Home Counties having to move out of their homes . ‘A great deal of money was blown on your excesses Mr Entwistle, to keep up the vague pretence to your friends and others of what a rich and successful man you were.' He added: 'This was very well orchestrated, professional offending over a long period of time, using and abusing the identities of others. 'This is a story of arrogance and greed. ‘You may be a good pilot and had a great vision for the development of properties in and around Windsor but none of that exceeds your arrogance or greed. ‘You thought you were better than anyone else and you were unable to get over the need to show off your entrapments of wealth. ‘When it was all falling apart you could so easily joke with Mr Gilbert - you were cynical to the last. ‘You were dishonest and had no compunction but to lie and defraud. Ever since the enquiry in mid-2009 by lenders and the enquiry of Thames Valley Police in 2010, you have continued in the same vein and lied’. Spree: Entwistle had a platinum membership at the Las Vegas casino Caesar's Palace, the court heard . The court heard Entwistle and Gilbert fleeced RBS and Northern Rock out of more than £6million, using variations on the name Rigby Group to secure illegal mortgages between 2005 and 2009. At first the money was genuinely used to redevelop property and sell it on at a profit, said prosecutor Michael Shorrock QC. ‘As time went by, however, he began to raise finance by fraud,' said Mr Shorrock. ‘The loan applications would state that loan funds were to be used to refinance or purchase or develop a particular property.' When mortgages were approved, Gilbert did not tell the Land Registry about other mortgages on the property, tricking lenders into thinking they had more legal rights and collateral than they did. One house in Ascot, Berkshire, was remortgaged five times for more than £3million pounds and has since been demolished. In other cases the gang took out mortgages on properties already owned by unconnected people, who had no idea of the loan until the lender told them payments had been missed. One family had to move out of their £1.5million home for three years after building society bosses arrived to repossess it. Caught: Matthew Robinson, 40 (pictured) helped process the fraudulent mortgage applications. He was jailed for five years after he was found guilty following a six-month trial. The judge branded him 'inherently dishonest' The alarm was finally raised in July 2009 when Wilmett Solicitors in Maidenhead, Berkshire, where Gilbert was a partner, was wound up due to the debts with the loss of 70 jobs. Gilbert was banned from practising as a solicitor in the same year, but his fellow partners faced financial ruin when they were saddled with the liability. During the police investigation, it emerged paperwork held by Gilbert at the solicitors’ firm had been destroyed. But investigators established Entwistle had netted just over £30million over four years, with the loss to today’s money lenders calculated at £17,798,939. He had paid Gilbert by giving him an American Express card which he used to buy holidays to New York, Sardinia and New Zealand. Entwistle also paid the rent on Gilbert’s home in Windsor, Berkshire, allowing him to live there for free. Con: Broker Nicholas Pomroy, 58, who 'deliberately told lies and made up figures', was jailed for three years . The ringleader was sentenced in July, but the fraud can only be reported now after a court order was amended. He was jailed for 14 years after being convicted of 21 counts of conspiracy to defraud and one count of conspiracy to launder criminal property. He was acquitted on one count of conspiracy to commit corruption. Entwistle's right-hand man Gilbert, of Penarth, South Glamorgan, pleaded guilty to 18 counts of conspiracy to defraud and was jailed for 12 years. The judge said his crimes were 'as bad a breach of trust as it could get'. 'Inherently dishonest' Robinson, of Richmond, Surrey, was jailed for five years after being found guilty of four counts of conspiracy to defraud and one of conspiracy to launder criminal property. And Pomroy, of Baughurst, Hampshire - who 'deliberately told lies and made up figures that were untrue' - was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to defraud and jailed for three years. Two other defendants - Philip Barker, 47, of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, and Shon Williams, 48, of East Grinstead, West Sussex - were cleared of all counts after the trial. Both were acquitted by the jury of involvement in any conspiracy to defraud or commit corruption. Detective Chief Inspector Mick Saunders, of Thames Valley Police, said today: 'Fraud is not a victimless crime. 'Testimony was heard in court about the stress suffered by some whose homes seem to have been sold from underneath them, those who lost life savings and investments and those who lost jobs due to the callous and predatory actions of Entwistle and those who worked with him. 'This organised gang defrauded millions of pounds and I am pleased with the prison terms handed down to them. 'I hope their time behind bars will give them the opportunity to reflect on the pain and misery their actions have caused. 'We continue to investigate their financial affairs to bring Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings against them to ensure they do not benefit from their crime.' Treat: Gilbert was handed an American Express card which he used to travel to New York as payment . One couple first learned of the fraud when bailiffs arrived on their doorstep in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, telling them their £1.5million home would be repossessed. The husband and wife had to take their 12-year-old son out of school and move in with their in-laws for three years when the house became caught up in legal wrangling. The knock on the door came in mid-2007 from a Birmingham Midshires Building Society representative. 'He said he was here about a repossession,' said the wife, who asked to remain anonymous. 'They came because the mortgage had not been paid by Rigsby... He said the owners were Rigsby. I said "What are you talking about? We are the owners". 'I didn’t know what was going on. I thought we were going to be evicted from our house.' Once the problem was reported, fraud teams quickly began investigating the case, but that did not prevent the family’s problems mounting. They were unable to sell their home as they had already planned, because it was caught up in the case. Instead they had to rent it out to try to save money. That meant moving nearly 80 miles away to stay with in-laws in Littlehampton, West Sussex. 'It has caused us five years of turmoil,' she added. 'It was a big relief at the end because it was a lot of stress.' Her husband, a semi-retired IT manager, said of Entwistle: 'I don’t think he actually thinks he’s done anything wrong. It really impacted on our lives.' | Mark Entwistle and accomplices drew mortgages on other peoples' homes . But cash used to pay off debts and fund rich lifestyle including luxury boat . He recruited solicitor Jonathan Gilbert, 45, to con top lenders including RBS . Mortgage brokers Matthew Robinson and Nicholas Pomroy also helped scam . Some victims in Windsor, Berkshire, had to move out of their family homes . Four fraudsters jailed for 34 years between them at Southwark Crown Court . Judge branded Entwistle, 47, 'arrogant, greedy and brazen to the last' | 86b42e9019ec37af5aa73a709874428ad66495db |
A child who was suspected to have been infected with Ebola has been cleared of the illness in a Melbourne hospital on Sunday. The one-year-old Nigerian baby was rushed to the Royal Children's Hospital on Friday after presenting symptoms similar to those experienced by Ebola patients. It was understood that the child had arrived in Australia after being in a West African nation where the disease is known to be prevalent. Scroll down for video . A one-year-old Nigerian baby was rushed to Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital after presenting Ebola symptoms on Friday . Paramedics donning full protective suits transferred the baby to an isolation room according to the Herald Sun. The Ebola scare would have been the first real test of Victoria's Ebola Virus Disease Response Plan which was rolled out across metropolitan and regional health services following a scare in Brisbane earlier this month. Victorian health minister David Davis issued a statement on Thursday outlined the details of the Response Plan. 'The plan outlines the exact actions that will be taken by the Department of Health, Commonwealth border agencies, Ambulance Victoria, any health service and in particular the two hospitals that will receive a suspected case,'the statement said. Pictured: An official health checkpoint for Ebola in Nigeria. Earlier this month, a Brisbane man was feared to have Ebola after returning from a trip to the Congo . 'The Royal Melbourne Hospital is the designated facility for assessment and management of patients suspected to have a Viral Haemorrhagic Fever such as Ebola virus disease and is fully prepared. 'The plan requires the patient to be isolated in a single occupancy negative pressure room. Treatment and care would be provided by staff trained to use infection control precautions including specific personal protective equipment.' Boarder control measures have also been put into place, according to Victoria's Chief Health Officer, Dr Rosemary Lester, including questionnaires for people arriving from affected countries. 'All people returning from affected countries are given a card telling them to look out for symptoms for 21 days and to attend an emergency department or GP if they do become unwell,' she said. The Nigerian baby incident is the second scare involving Ebola on Australian shores this month. It comes shortly after a Brisbane man was feared to have been infected with the disease following his return from a trip to the Congo in August. | The baby was rushed to the Royal Children's Hospital on Friday . It had presented symptoms similar to Ebola after arriving from Africa . Paramedics wearing protective suits transferred the child to an isolation room . | 8046f1e1f4701c1e8c81e06a6d5b046979329796 |
By . Chris Pleasance . PUBLISHED: . 11:58 EST, 19 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 13:15 EST, 19 September 2013 . Harold Wilson once quipped that a week is a long time in politics. And by that measure Russian President Vladimir Putin has been in power for an eternity. But it seems that an eternity may not be enough for the ex-KGB premier, as he revealed he could run for a fourth presidential term in 2018. Scroll down for video . Putin was first elected in 2000 and served two four year terms until he handed control of the country to puppet president Dmitry Medvedev who served until 2012 when Putin was reelected, this time for a six year term . If reelected the hardline ruler will have been in power for nearly a quarter of a century which will make him the nation's longest-serving leader since Joseph Stalin. Putin, who served two consecutive four-year terms starting in 2000, stepped out of the presidential limelight and became prime minister in 2008 to observe a limit of two consecutive terms. However, he maintained his grip on power from the shadows with his longtime ally, Dmitry Medvedev, serving as a placeholder. During Putin's time in office his image has been carefully controlled leading to several bizarre PR stunts designed to show the leader as powerful and manly, including one in which he claimed to have shot a tiger . Medvedev initiated a law that extended the presidential term to six years, and Putin won a third term 2012, despite major public protests in Moscow against his rule. While a tearful Putin took to a stage in Moscow to deliver his victory speech, allegations of vote rigging circulated with footage emerging of one man feeding voting cards into an automatic voting machine. Putin won 62 per cent of the ballots, while his next closest rival won only 17 per cent. If he wins the next election Putin will have been in power for 24 years, including the time served by stooge leader Dmitry Medvedev (pictured left), the same amount of time as WWII dictator Joseph Stalin (right) Asked Thursday whether he would seek another term in 2018, Putin said that he doesn't exclude the option. If he wins the vote, Putin will have been either in direct or indirect control of Russia for 24 years, assuming he does not run again. Joseph Stalin, Russia's infamous Second World War dictator, became ruler of the nation in 1929 and died in the post 24 years later, in 1953. | Russian President has said that he wouldn't exclude running again . Has been in direct or indirect control of the country since 2000 . Joseph Stalin ruled for 24 years from 1929 until his death in 1953 . | d88476800188e00b6b963595dda9cabe1d6e79f2 |
By . Emma Innes . A multiple sclerosis patient who suffered from terrible tremors has been successfully treated - thanks to an implant inserted into his head. Father-of-one Graham Collinson, 43, was plagued by vicious tremors down the right side of his body after developing the neurological condition. They stopped him from carrying out simple everyday tasks such as getting dressed or picking money out of his wallet. Graham Collinson, 43, had surgery to insert electrodes into his brain to control a severe tremor in his right side. The electrodes can be controlled using a portable device (pictured) which turns them on and off . But after undergoing a risky and complicated operation to fit electrodes into his brain, he can enjoy a better standard of life. The operation is a treatment frequently used for Parkinson’s disease patients. Mr Collinson, from Hartlepool, said: ‘I’ve got a quality of life back that I thought I had lost forever. ‘I want to thank the amazing surgeons who have made a world of difference to my life. ‘They’ve given me my quality of life back, the ability to do simple everyday tasks that I thought I would never be able to do again. The device is my own miniature miracle.’ With his condition deteriorating and the tremor down the right side of his body getting worse, Mr Collinson was briefed about the possibility of undergoing the surgery last year. Mr Collinson has multiple sclerosis and he suffered from such bad tremors he struggled even to get dressed . After deliberating over whether to go ahead with the treatment, he decided he had nothing to lose. He underwent deep brain stimulation surgery in September 2013 at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary. The procedure that involves the surgeon implanting leads, which have electrodes at the end, into the brain. The leads are then tunnelled under the skin to a device similar to a pacemaker which is fitted in the chest or stomach area. It is thought that about 25 to 60 per cent of MS patients have a tremor. This is a trembling or shaking movement that the patient cannot control. It is usually a back-and-forth shaking movement but the tremor can also be irregular and unpredictable. It is often described as one of the more difficult symptoms of MS to manage but occupational therapy and drug treatments can help in some cases. The treatment Mr Collinson had is called deep brain stimulation. It involved electrodes being inserted into his brain attached to a device similar to a pacemaker. When the device is switched on, the electrodes send electrical pulses to target the area of the brain that causes the tremor reducing or preventing it. Source: Multiple Sclerosis Society . When switched on, the electrodes send electrical pulses to target the area of the brain which helps to control the tremors. Mr Collinson can now carry out simple everyday tasks that he had been unable to do for the last three years. He said: ‘My tremor hasn’t completely disappeared, obviously, but it’s so much better than it was. I have had to get used to a worsening tremor since my diagnosis. ‘The surgeon told me about this treatment but warned me of the risks. There was a risk of suffering a stroke, a brain bleed or getting an infection in the brain. ‘I put it off for a while but with my tremor getting worse fast I thought I had nothing to lose and said I wanted to go for it. ‘I never had any idea it would improve my quality of life so much. Things like getting dressed, brushing my teeth, fastening zips, getting money out of a wallet. ‘They all seem like such simple everyday tasks but I couldn’t do any of them. Now I can, it’s just made a world of difference. ‘On a morning when I switch it on I can feel it in my head as the power surges through. ‘I can feel a slight electric shock as well. But that’s a small price to pay to get my quality of life back.’ Multiple sclerosis is a condition which affects nerves in the brain and spinal cord causing a range of symptoms including problems with muscle movement, balance and vision. In some cases, it also causes severe tremors. The condition occurs when the protein around each nerve fibre in the brain and spinal cord is damaged. This disrupts the transfer of nerve signals and cause symptoms. | Graham Collinson, 43, had severe tremors down his right side . He struggled even to get dressed on his own and to pick up money . Has now been fitted with a device to help stop the tremors . Electrodes in his brain target the area that caused the tremor . He is now able to carry out simple tasks that were impossible before . Back to Mail Online home . Back to the page you came from . | 1f0f3c2aa3f0d69405c14a3efc09486810fcd02b |
An MI5 agent praised by Tony Blair for playing a key role in the UK’s war on terror is suing the Government after being told that he can no longer live in Britain. The 33-year-old Moroccan-born agent worked for MI5 for six years, risking his life to prevent terror attacks on the UK. He infiltrated Islamic extremist cells and worked on investigations into the 7/7 attacks on London and the Madrid bombings as well as providing intelligence which led to the arrest of Al Qaeda terror suspects. Danger: The agent leaves court with his face hidden by a hood and goggles following his 2003 arrest in Belgium . Now the Home Office has told him he has no right to remain in Britain because ministers say he has a criminal record. His case is due to be heard at a high-profile immigration hearing in May, where MI5 has been asked to give evidence. The agent, who married a British citizen with whom he has a five-year-old daughter, says he faces arrest and torture in his home country of Morocco if forced to leave. The man left Morocco when he was 15 and arrived in Britain three years later. He stayed in Finsbury Park Mosque where he met radical preacher Abu Hamza, whose followers sent him to Georgia and then Chechnya. According to legal papers seen by The Mail on Sunday, he claims that when he returned from Georgia to the UK in 2000 he was approached by MI5 and recruited as an agent. In December 2001 he was sent on a mission to Belgium to infiltrate an extremist cell but was arrested by Belgian security services. Terror: The number 30 double-decker bus which was destroyed in Tavistock Square, London, when a suicide bomber detonated his backpack bomb . He was held in solitary confinement without charge for two years before being convicted for associating with terrorists and possessing a false travel document. But in January 2004, when he faced a further two years in prison, he claims he was visited by an MI5 officer who told him then-Home Secretary David Blunkett had authorised his transfer to Britain. He claims he was offered the choice of remaining in prison in Belgium, returning to Morocco – where he faced arrest and torture – or continuing his work for MI5. The agent arrived in Britain in April on a specially chartered jet and immediately began training with MI5, including how to use fake documents and infiltrate extremist groups. He provided vital intelligence on the detonation system used by the terrorists in the 2004 Madrid bombings and helped track down extremists linked to the bombers in the 7/7 attacks in 2005. He was also sent on a mission to Ireland to infiltrate a suspected Al Qaeda cell. For this work he claims he was repeatedly told by MI5 that David Blunkett and Tony Blair were very pleased and that Mr Blair had personally made use of the intelligence he gathered from extremist groups. But in February 2006 MI5 summoned him to a meeting in a hotel in Surrey, where he was told the relationship was being terminated because he was no longer any use to them. He was offered a £10,000 bribe to leave the UK for Morocco and says in his legal claim that he chose to stay in the UK because he was promised he would be granted permanent residency if he remained. But he alleges that since he left MI5 he has been betrayed, with MI5 refusing to return his calls and the Home Office rejecting his claims for residency. He says this has caused his marriage to end. Last night David Blunkett denied he had any knowledge of the case. The man’s Belgian lawyer, Christophe Marchand, said he ‘believed he had no choice’ but to work for MI5. | Morrocan-born agent infiltrated extremist cells on behalf of British spies . He investigated 7/7 attacks in London and Madrid bombings . But his work for MI5 was terminated in 2006 because he 'wasn't needed' Now he is fighting deportation to Morocco where he could face torture . | b228ce782b8bd90dba3df01f50e9dbb47902fad6 |
His artist’s eye must have found the scene irresistible. The abbey ruins in the distance were bathed in the setting sun and the stony heath where he stood with his easel was lush with the green of twisted holly oaks. If only Vincent Van Gogh had been happy enough with his painting that day to have signed it. But the grand Dutch master never liked the result of this particular excursion to the French countryside, and never put his name to it. Return of the vanished Van Gogh: Museum director Axel Ruger described the discovery as a 'once-in-a-lifetime experience' at an unveiling of the masterpiece . 'Sunset at Montmajour': It is the first full-size canvas by the Dutch master discovered since 1928. The museum said the painting belongs to an unidentified private collector and will be on display at the museum from September 24 . Yesterday – after being branded a fake, . dumped in an attic and hidden from public view for more than a century – . the oil on canvas was finally hailed as a masterpiece. Researchers . linked ‘Sunset at Montmajour’ to Van Gogh’s hand-written musings about . what he did that day in the summer of 1888 – and used 21st century . technology to confirm the painting’s authenticity. Now . the long-lost work is to go on show as the first full-size Van Gogh to . emerge for 85 years. If it is ever offered for sale it is likely to . attract bids in the tens of millions. The . landscape was painted on July 4, 1888, and mentioned the next day in a . letter the artist wrote to his brother Theo. He described the scene but . expressed disappointment at the painting, saying: ‘It was well below . what I’d wished to do.' Van . Gogh, who struggled with bouts of mental illness, was often highly . critical of his own work, including some of his most famous, such as . ‘Starry Night’, which he painted the following year. After . he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1890, ‘Sunset…’ was . listed by number in Theo’s collection. It was bought about 20 years . later by Norwegian industrialist Christian Mustad. But Mustad appears to . have been told it was a forgery, or at least wrongly attributed – so he . banished it to the attic. Van Gogh Museum director Axel Ruger, left, and senior researcher Louis van Tilborgh, right, unveiled the newly discovered 'Sunset at Montmajour' by Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh during a press conference at the museum in Amsterdam, today . First public viewing: Members of the press got their first glimpse of the newest Van Gogh discovery - a scene from near the artist's home at the time in Arles, France . In . 1991, the anonymous owners of the painting contacted the Van Gogh . Museum in Amsterdam for its opinion - but experts rejected it, partly . because it was unsigned. Yesterday the same museum announced that an intensive, two-year investigation . had concluded it was genuine after all. Chemical analysis of paint . pigments showed them to be identical to those Van Gogh used, and x-ray . examination of the canvas matched it to other paintings he did the same . month. Unveiling . the privately-owned work before it goes on show for a year, museum . director Axel Rueger described the discovery as ‘a once in a lifetime . experience’. It was a . painting from a time that many considered to be ‘the culmination of his . achievement’, he said. In the same period while living in in Arles, . Provence, he painted ‘The Yellow House’, ‘The Bedroom’ and many of his . most famous ‘Sunflowers’ series. Van . Gogh sold only one painting while he was alive and his work was only . beginning to win acclaim when he died. Today he is one of the world’s . most celebrated artists and his paintings are among the most sought . after on the rare occasions they appear at auction. In . 1987, ‘Vase With Fifteen Sunflowers’ sold for nearly £25million. When . he painted that one, however, he took the trouble to sign it. A world of brilliant colour: Van Gogh painted this self-portrait in 1887 . Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter whose work is most renowned for its bold colours, strong and heavy brush strokes and rough beauty. In his youth he worked as an art dealer in London, Paris and the Hague. He was also a teacher in England and later he worked as a missionary in Belgium, where he would sketch people from the mining community. From a young age, Van Gogh showed a flare for drawing but it wasn't until he was in his late 20s that he began painting professionally. His first major work was completed in 1885, titled 'The Potato Eaters'. A year later he moved to Paris and lived with his brother Theo, where he became immersed in the world of the French impressionists. He met and mingled with other like-minded artists at Cormon's studio, including British-Australian artist John Peter Russell, Émile Bernard, Louis Anquetin, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Towards the end of his time in Paris, he becamse friends with Peter Gauguin, who was new to the city and soon after, Van Gogh organised a joint exhibition with Gaugiun and others at an exclusive new resaurant. Works by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Bernard, Anquetin, and probably Toulouse-Lautrec all featured at the Grand-Bouillon Restaurant du Chalet, in Montmartre. Bernard wrote of the event: 'On the avenue de Clichy a new restaurant was opened. Vincent used to eat there. He proposed to the manager that an exhibition be held there .... Canvases by Anquetin, by Lautrec, by Koning ...filled the hall.... 'It really had the impact of something new; it was more modern than anything that was made in Paris at that moment' After a two-year stint in the city, Van Gogh moved to the south of France where, surrounded by vibrant colours and beautiful light his palette took on a more vivid shade. It was during his stay in Arles, in the south west of the country, from 1888-1889, that his most recognisable style was developed. Sunflowers became the subject matter synonymous with Van Gogh . He frequently painted self portraits, landscapes and still lifes. But perhaps his most famous subject matter were sunflowers in a vase. In preparation for a visit from his friend Gauguin, Van Gogh painted a new sunflowers piece especially. He wanted the two to live and work together. The Frenchman stayed several months but their relationship deteriorated. Van Gogh found Gauguin dominating and felt frustrated he was not treated like an equal. After an argument, Van Gogh stormed out to a brothel with a razor blade and sliced off part of his ear. While in hospital, Gauguin returned to Paris. In the last months of his life, the artists grew increasingly troubled and by early 1890, was struggling to work. He had been plagued by mental health problems throughout his life and suffered agonising depression, loneliness and self-doubt as well as episodes of hallucination. At the age of 37, Van Gogh is believed to have shot himself in the chest. Experts still speculate over the incident as the gun, a revolver, was never found. However, the wound was to prove fatal and the artist died with his beloved brother Theo at his side. Van Gogh had created more than 2,100 artworks in his short life but had only sold one painting. In the wake of his death, interest exploded. Memorial shows were held around the world and his work exchanged hands for vast sums of money. He is now recognised as one of the greatest artists of all time and his paintings sell for millions. | 'Sunset at Montmajour' was previously rejected as a fake because it does not have a signature . Dutch Van Gogh Museum now says evidence from letters, its style and materials prove it's an original . Painting came from a Norwegian man who kept it in his loft because he did not think it was authentic . | 5f7bd903ce4c25fbc9b843872da4998222d76f85 |
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Marilyn Monroe's white "subway" dress sold for more than $5.6 million in a Beverly Hills, California auction Saturday night in which bidders paid another $2.7 million for three other Monroe movie outfits. It was the first in a series of auctions to sell the massive Hollywood history collection that singer, dancer and actress Debbie Reynolds accumulated over the past 50 years. Collector Keya Morgan said Saturday's bids were "totally crazy, especially in this recession." Bidding for the iconic ivory pleated dress Monroe wore in "The Seven Year Itch" was "totally magical," Morgan said. Reynolds was in tears when, after 20 minutes of drama, the gavel sounded an end to bidding with the price at $4.6 million. With the auction company getting a $1 million commission, the buyer will pay $5.6 million. It had been expected to sell for $2 million, the auction house, Profiles in History, said. The buyer, who was relaying his bids over a telephone, was not immediately identified. The red-sequined showgirl gown and a feathered hat Monroe wore in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" sold for $1.47 million. The expected price was $300,000. Monroe's costumes from "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "River of No Return" brought another $1.2 million Saturday. The previous record price for a Monroe dress was $1.26 million paid in 1999 for the sheer white dress the actress wore in May 1962 when she sang "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy. Morgan, who is writing a book about Monroe's death, said the actress would have been shocked to know her dresses would sell for so much. She only had $2,000 in her bank account at the time of her death, he said. Reynolds accumulated 3,500 movie costumes and thousands of props over the past 50 years with the hope of housing them in a museum. Taking care of the treasures became a financial burden on the 79-year-old entertainer, leading to her decision to sell, she said. Other high-priced items included a blue cotton dress and a pair of ruby slippers made for Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz." Although both items were only test costumes never worn in camera, they brought a combined price of nearly $1.75 million. A matador outfit worn by Rudolph Valentino for the 1922 film "Blood and Sand" sold for $258,000. The auction house predicted before the sale it would go for about $80,000. One of Charlie Chaplin's signature bowler hats, worn in several films, sold for $135,300. The World War I military uniform worn by Gary Cooper in the 1941 movie "Sergeant York" was purchased for $67,650. A bidder paid $73,800 for the velvet brown racing silks and riding pants worn by a young Elizabeth Taylor in "National Velvet." | Four Marilyn Monroe movie outfits sell at a Beverly Hills auction Saturday . Debbie Reynolds is selling her collection of 3,500 film costumes . Bids are "totally crazy, especially in this recession," a collector says . | d2a9324b040161a391271db49ba5a06e2f0f306e |
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 11:23 EST, 20 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 16:02 EST, 20 September 2013 . Martha Stewart has always been known as an expert homemaker, but now a New York socialite is accusing her of home-wrecking. 47-year-old Laura Krupinski, the daughter of famed Hamptons builder Ben Krupinski, told the New York Post today that her father cut her off after she found out about an affair he was having with 72-year-old media mogul. The married man is a popular builder among the Hamptons set, and worked with Ms Stewart in the past restoring her 24-room house in East Hampton on Lily Pond Lane. The other woman? Laura Krupinski, daughter of Hamptons builder Ben Krupinski, has accused her father of having an affair with media mogul Martha Stewart, above . Father and daughter: Laura Krupinski, right, says her father Ben . Krupinski, left, had an affair with Martha Stewart and when she told her . mom she was ostracized by her parents . Working relationship: Mr Krupinski helped Ms Stewart renovate her East Hampton home on Lily Pond Lane, above . Something more: Ms Krupinski says she saw her father with Ms Stewart on the beach in Florida a few years ago, and it was 'obvious' something was going on between them . A New York Times article from 1992 referenced how he would often shuttle Ms Stewart to and from her home in Connecticut during construction. A video on Ms Stewart's website shows the two fishing. Daughter Laura, a former model turned jewelry designer, says she found out about their alleged affair a few years ago while they were all in Palm Beach. Ms Krupinski says she saw her father and Martha out on the beach one morning and 'it was obvious something was going on'. For years she held the secret in, not telling anyone. But this past March she finally told her mother, Bonnie Krupinski. Family torn apart: At first Laura, second right, kept her knowledge of the affair from herself. But in March she finally broke the news to her mother Bonnie, right. But both parents reacted by distancing themselves from their daughter . Kicked out: Since telling her mom about the affair, Laura says she has been striped of her $26,000 monthly allowance, and kicked out of her Bedford home . Unhappy family: Laura, left, says her father, right, denied the affair while her mother reacted angrily towards her, second right . Worried: After the revelation, Laura says her mother, right, would not return her calls. A source close to Mr Krupinski says they are 'worried' about their daughter . She says her father denied it and called her 'crazy', while her her mother got angry and wouldn't return her calls. Mr Krupinski cut off his daughter's monthly allowance of $26,000 in April and kicked her out of their Bedford house. She says they took away everything that she owned including clothes and wedding china. All gone: Laura says that her parents have taken away everything she owns, from clothing to wedding china . 'Dad told me he hated me and never wanted to see me again. We haven't talked since,' Ms Krupinski told the Post. 'They have tried to do everything to hurt me,' she added. 'They paint me as horrendous, I am their only child. There is no love; all they care for is money. I have no demons except my parents.' So far, Mr Krupinski has not commented. A source close to the builder called it a 'sad situation'. 'They are worried about Laura and they hope she can do something to help herself.' A representative for Ms Stewart also denied the affair. 'Martha has absolutely nothing to do with this situation. She is good friends with Ben and Bonnie.' | Laura Krupinski, daughter of Hamptons builder Ben Krupinski, says her father had an affair with Martha Stewart . A few years ago she spotted the two on a beach in Florida and says it was 'obvious' something was going on . She kept the affair a secret until March, when she finally told her mother Bonnie Krupinski . After coming out with the affair, she says her dad called her crazy and her mom refused to return her calls . Ms Krupinski has since been kicked out of her Bedford home and cut off of her $26,000 monthly allowance . A representative for Stewart has denied the affair . | 31c52a61bf73dc7e6a179f63eb92ad28c9c3c279 |
Stockholm was alight with flags, balloons and confetti today, as millions celebrated the National Day of Sweden. And the country’s Royal family were no exception: Princess Madeline, her husband Christopher O’Neill and their three-month-old daughter Princess Leonore all joined in the festivities from the Royal Palace. Princess Madeleine, 31, waved and beamed for photographs, holding the baby princess with Christopher’s arm affectionately placed over her shoulder. Happy family: Christopher O'Neill (R) stands with wife Princess Madeleine of Sweden (L) who holds their three-month-old daughter Princess Leonore . Patriotic: Princess Madeleine of Sweden, husband Christopher O'Neill and Princess Leonore at the Royal Palace on National Day of Sweden . Royal wave: Princess Madeleine smiles at spectators whilst three-month-old Princess Leonore appears to sleep through the entire event . In keeping with the National Day, the Royals dressed in traditional Swedish clothing. She wore a brightly coloured folk outfit; a blue dress over a white collared shirt, with a mustard-coloured apron. The outfit is embroidered with flowers and worn with white tights and low heels. Adorably, she had dressed her Princess Leonore in a matching outfit – though of course the navy court heels were substituted for white socks. Mr O'Neill wore a dark suit and blue tie. Traditional: Princess Madeleine wore a brightly coloured folk outfit embroidered with flowers, whilst Leonore was dressed in a matching outfit. Christopher wore a dark suit and blue tie . Proud parents: Princess Madeleine of Sweden, husband Christopher O'Neill and Princess Leonore at the Royal Palace National Day of Sweden celebrations, Stockholm . Swedes . celebrate their National Day on 6 June in honour of two historical . events: on 6 June 1523, Gustav Vasa was elected king and, on the same . date in 1809, the country adopted a new constitution. It became a public holiday in 2004. Madeleine is the youngest child of Queen Silvia and King Carl Gustaf. Every . year the King and Queen take part in a ceremony at Skansen, Stockholm’s . open-air museum, where the yellow and blue Swedish flag is run up the . mast, and children in traditional peasant costume present the royal . couple with bouquets of summer flowers. Royal family: Princess Madeleine of Sweden and her husband Christopher O'Neill previously shared black and white photos of their three-month-old daughter Leonore . Celebration: The images on the Swedish royal family's official website accompanied an article about Leonore's baptism . Blue belle: Crown Princess Victoria speaks during the National Day Citizenship ceremony at the Ulriksdal Palace in Stockholm . She's electric (blue): Crown Princess Victoria was out and about during today's National Day of Sweden, speaking at National Day Citizenship ceremony in Stockholm . National Day also now recognises new Swedish citizens, welcoming them with special ceremonies held around the country. Not . normally known for being the most patriotic nation, National Day has . been embraced over recent years, with some groups even pushing for the . country to have a national dish, according to the country’s official website. Also out and about on the sunny day was Madeline’s sister, Crown Princess Victoria. Princess Victoria, 36, is the the eldest of the King and Queen’s three children, and also Sweden's deputy head of state. Conference: Prince Daniel (L) and Crown Princess Victoria (2nd R) during the National Day Citizenship ceremony at the Ulriksdal Palace in Stockholm . Smile! Crown Princess Victoria arrives at Ulriksdal Palace holding pretty flwoers and wearing an elegant blue dress and heels . Proud citizen: New Swedish citizen Mai Lundell takes a selfie together with Crown Princess Victoria at the National Day Citizenship ceremony . Wearing . an elegant blue dress with matching blue suede court shoes and an . elaborate gold necklace, her hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She was giving talks during the National Day Citizenship ceremony at the Ulriksdal Palace in Stockholm. Victoria . became the first female Swedish heir to the throne in 2010 when she . married Daniel Westling in an extravagant three-day celebration at . Stockholm’s Cathedral. Madeline’s daughter Leonore is now the fifth in line to the throne, but only if she takes Swedish citizenship and is brought up as a member of the Church of Sweden. Princess Madeleine lives with British banker Mr O’Neill in New York, where she works for the World Childhood Foundation, a non-profit group founded by her mother. Earlier this week the couple released official pictures of their newborn via the official website of the Swedish Royal Family. The proud parents were seen cradling the baby princess, who dozes peacefully in a white dress. | Royal family of Sweden joined in National Day celebrations in Stockholm . Princess Madeleine wore traditional folk costume at the Royal Palace . Dressed three-month old daughter Princess Leonore in matching outfit . Crown Princess Victoria was also on duty speaking at Citizen Ceremony . | e3566d57b7c7f44ca2c53845c6f3328f4afb8c1c |
Not since Jurgen Klinsmann swallow-dived his way into Premier League history 20 years ago has a foreign striker made quite such an impressive entrance into English football as Diego Costa. It is not just the goal record, which is extraordinary — with a hat-trick and seven goals in four games. As with Klinsmann, whose scored seven in his first six games, it is the sheer force of personality of the player that has enthralled English audiences. Klinsmann's charisma became evident with that self-parodying celebration, diving to mock his reputation for going to ground easily. With Diego Costa, who faces the biggest test of his short Premier League career on Saturday against champions Manchester City, it is his clear relish for the physical battle that has made such an impact. Diego Costa scores his side's second goal during Chelsea's Premier League match against Swansea . Costa scores Chelsea's sixth goal against Everton at Goodison Park earlier this season . Jurgan Klinsman after scoring for Tottenham against Newcastle with one of his trademark celebrations . Klinsmann holds off Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira during a meeting between the sides in 1997 . Klinsmann heads home spectacularly for Tottenham against Coventry during a Premier League game in 1998 . Plenty of wonderful players have needed time to adjust to the confrontational ways of English football before demonstrating their best; Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and Robert Pires would all fit into that category. By contrast, Costa, originally Brazilian but a naturalised Spaniard, looks like he was born to play in England. Defenders might look to be provoke or unsettle him — he has already been involved in spats with Everton's Seamus Coleman and Tim Howard — but Costa genuinely doesn't seem to care or even notice. 'The reality is, for the moment, I haven't had any really physical battles,' he said, when asked about that side of the League. 'Things have been going well. So far, I'm enjoying it.' The provocations? 'That happens here, it happened in Spain. 'Wherever I play, it'll always be like that. It's a perception people have of my character and people will look for any way to try to take advantage of it. 'They go looking for it. You've got to know how to manage these situations. The truth is I'm fairly relaxed. If they provoke me, I'll score against them!' Clearly Saturday's test against Vincent Kompany will be the severest yet, with Costa's manager Jose Mourinho conceding that playing him with a hamstring problem is a risk. Costa celebrates scoring his third goal during Chelsea's 4-2 over Swansea at Stamford Bridge . Costa used his power and strength to hold of Schalke duo Kevin Prince-Boateng and Chinedu Obasi . But Costa seems to be a fighter by nature. You suspected as much when he took on John Terry in the first leg of Atletico's Champions League semi-final clash last season, simply staring straight back at him as they squared up. Then, in the return leg, he gave as good as he got to Ramires and Branislav Ivanovic as they reprimanded him for taking an age to place the ball for his penalty, which he duly scored, effectively ending Chelsea's participation in the competition. All this at a time when it was fairly clear he would be moving to Stamford Bridge. Even his friends say he is a little crazy. 'Well, I don't like to lose, I think that gets noticed,' said Costa. 'It's something that many times goes well but other times goes badly for me. 'I'm just like that, I just always try to win, to get better, do my best and it always annoys me to lose. 'I think anyone in life, everyone in the world, no matter what work they do, should think of wanting to get on, to win, to improve. 'I don't think I am the type of person who thinks: 'Things are getting on top of me.' But it's not that I think I'm any different to most people. I always fight with all my strength, make the best of a situation.' Hard to believe now, but Costa was ignored by Brazilian clubs and was playing street football without a team until he was 16. Costa celebrates his strike for Atletico Madrid with his then team-mate Aguero back in 2010 . Costa has emerged from Aguero's shadow, and will line up against the Man City striker at the Etihad on Sunday . He was briefly at Barcelona Esportivo Capela, a club in the local reaches of Sao Paulo semi-pro football, before being brought to Braga in Portugal by agents. There his transfer value was eventually part-owned by Quality Sports Investment, the company which has Jorge Mendes, Mourinho's agent, as a key player and investor. They moved him to Atletico Madrid, where he sat behind Sergio Aguero, his City rival today, then Radamel Falcao in the Atletico pecking order. He was farmed out on loan to Celta Vigo, Albacete and Real Valladolid before eventually getting his chance. The transformation from being Aguero's back-up to becoming his direct rival today is fascinating. Costa said: 'I loved watching him. He is, for me, the best I saw play, the best as a teammate. He's one of the absolutely top-level forwards around. I knew when he was there, Sergio was God. You knew what a great player he was. The truth was I learned a lot with him. I hope things keep going well. Now, we'll see who comes out on top in this game.' Another Brazilian, Filipe Luis, has followed Costa to Chelsea from Atletico Madrid and knew him through the leaner years. 'I played with Diego five years ago and his growth has been huge,' said Filipe Luis. 'Every year he gets better and more confident. If you go back in his career and look where he started and how he suffered, he has never needed time to adapt in any place. Chelsea fans will be praying that the striker can continue his rich vein of goalscoring form at Manchester City . 'He always goes to a club and scores. For some players, like me, it is not easy when you get a new club, new team-mates and everything is new, especially the physicality. But for Diego it's never difficult.' The Chelsea left-back also sees a clear comparison between their manager and his star signing. 'Diego always wants to win and if he doesn't he gets crazy, he gets mad. He's that sort of person. Jose is also likes this. 'People with ambition, they always want to win and if you don't, it gets you mad. They try to get better and these sort of people really have to succeed in life. So even when he spent the early part of his career as second best and sent on loan, Costa didn't despair, according to Filipe Luis. 'He wanted to go. He wanted to prove first to himself and then to other clubs that he was a good player and that he deserved his place at Atletico. He is a simple person with a big heart. Sometimes on the field he looks like he is crazy and he has one of the purest hearts I've ever known so I am proud to be his friend.' VIDEO We must support Toure - Pellegrini . | Diego Costa has made a superb start to life in the Premier League . The Spain international has scored seven goals in four games for the Blues . Costa's impact is similar to that of Jurgen Klinsmann when he joined Spurs . Costa faces his biggest test in the Premier League to date when Chelsea travel to champions Manchester City on Sunday . | 0aa082fa964ce0e3c610f98795bedd68d7b4a0bb |
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